The mystery of the Herculaneum papyrus scrolls, which have been buried for centuries after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, has been solved with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).
The Herculaneum papyri, a collection of 1,800 scrolls, was carbonized by the volcanic eruption, along with thousands of other relics. These scrolls are considered to be an invaluable resource for unveiling the life and culture of the ancient Roman empire.
After multiple attempts to unroll and read these scrolls failed, a breakthrough was achieved by three students who read fifteen columns in one of the scrolls. The students, Youssef Nader from Germany, Luke Farritor from the US, and Julian Schilliger from Switzerland, will now share the $700,000 grand prize after reading more than 2,000 letters from the scroll.
This achievement comes as part of the Vesuvius Challenge, a contest that offered a prize money of $ 1 million to solve the problem of unreadable papyrus scrolls.
The breakthrough in reading the scrolls was made possible with the help of coding machines powered by AI. The three students used a process called “virtual unwrapping” which creates a 3D scan of the text using a CT scan. The scan is then separated into segments, and inked regions are detected by a machine learning model – an application of AI.
Nat Friedman, one of the competition organizers, expressed his excitement about the discovery, calling it “the archaeological discovery of my lifetime”. He also revealed that the portion of text deciphered is only 5% of one of the scrolls that have been discovered, leaving the potential for thousands more scrolls to be found in the Villa of the Papyri.
The portion of text deciphered is believed to be written by Epicurean philosopher Philodemus, who wrote about music, food, and how to enjoy life’s pleasures. This discovery has wowed scientists and historians, including academic and presenter Professor Alice Roberts, who said that the findings offer new insights into the ancient world.
Ten months ago, we launched the Vesuvius Challenge to solve the ancient problem of the Herculaneum Papyri, a library of scrolls that were flash-fried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Today we are overjoyed to announce that our crazy project has succeeded. After 2000… pic.twitter.com/fihs9ADb48
— Nat Friedman (@natfriedman) February 5, 2024
Friedman also announced a new $100,000 grand prize for the team that can read at least 90% of all four scrolls that have been scanned by 2024. He believes that there is still more to be uncovered and hopes that this will inspire more researchers to join the effort in decoding these ancient scrolls.
The discovery of new text from the ancient world, never seen before, has sparked excitement and interest in archaeology and history enthusiasts around the world. The potential of uncovering more knowledge about the ancient Roman empire has also motivated researchers to continue their efforts in reading the remaining scrolls.
How researchers used #AI to read the Herculaneum papyri, charred in 79 AD by Mount Vesuvius’ eruption, potentially rewriting key parts of ancient world history! https://t.co/lnUmnngTOr pic.twitter.com/48BcbuTpi0
— 🇺🇦Evan Kirstel #B2B #TechFluencer (@EvanKirstel) February 5, 2024
The breakthrough in reading the Herculaneum papyri not only sheds light on the ancient world but also shows the potential for AI to be used in solving historical mysteries. This achievement marks a significant step forward in the field of archaeology and sets a precedent for using technology in uncovering the past.
