In a stunning scientific achievement, a team of students has successfully deciphered parts of the ancient Herculaneum scrolls, previously unreadable documents that were buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. This significant breakthrough was enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), marking a pioneering moment in the intersection of technology and historical research.
Around 1,800 Herculaneum papyri were entombed and carbonized in the devastation of the eruption. The excavated scrolls—over 800 of which were retrieved from the remnants of an ancient Roman villa in the town of Herculaneum, close to the better-known site of Pompeii—are housed in a library in Naples. Although multiple attempts to unroll these scrolls and decipher their contents have been made, none succeeded until now.
In a remarkable success story, three industrious students employed AI-driven coding machines to read 15 columns of text from one of the scrolls. The advancement forms part of the Vesuvius Challenge—a contest with a prize pool of $1m (£796,000) intended to encourage technological solutions to reveal the scrolls’ contents.
The triumphant trio, Youssef Nader from Germany, Luke Farritor in the United States, and Julian Schilliger of Switzerland, deciphered over 2,000 ancient letters and will split the $700,000 (£557,000) grand prize. As one of the contest’s organizers, Nat Friedman, expressed, this unveiled section contains fresh insights from the ancient world, adding to our understanding of historical texts.
The deciphered content is most likely the work of Epicurean philosopher Philodemus who mused on topics like music, fine dining, and the appreciation of life’s simple joys.
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The innovative “virtual unwrapping” technique involves the creation of a 3D scan of the scroll via a CT-scan. Segments are distinguished, and the AI model precisely identifies inked sections.
This revelation has elicited excitement among scientists and historians alike, including Professor Alice Roberts, who hailed it as “the archaeological discovery of my lifetime”. Although this unveiled portion represents merely 5% of one scroll, the potential for further discovery is immense. Thousands more scrolls may still lie buried in the Villa of the Papyri, waiting to be uncovered. As Nat Friedman envisions for 2024, the ambitious goal is to read from fragments to entire scrolls, with a new $100,000 prize promised to the team that can decipher at least 90% of four scanned scrolls.
FAQs about the AI-Deciphered Herculaneum Scrolls
- What are the Herculaneum scrolls?
The Herculaneum scrolls are ancient papyrus documents that were preserved beneath the ashes of Mount Vesuvius’s eruption in 79AD. They are incredibly valuable for historical scholarship as they may contain lost works of philosophy, literature, and science.
- How were the scrolls read?
The scrolls were read using a virtual unwrapping technique that includes CT-scanning to create a 3D image of the scroll and then employing machine-learning AI to detect and read the ink on the papyrus, despite its burnt state.
- What is the importance of this discovery?
The ability to read these scrolls opens a window into the past, providing new texts from the ancient world. Considering many written works from antiquity have been lost, this technology has the potential to recover invaluable cultural heritage.
- Who deciphered the Herculaneum scrolls?
The scrolls were deciphered by a team of students, Youssef Nader, Luke Farritor, and Julian Schilliger, who used artificial intelligence in their groundbreaking achievement.
Conclusion
The application of artificial intelligence in deciphering the Herculaneum scrolls showcases the incredible potential of technology to aid in the preservation and understanding of human history. The collaborative efforts of international researchers and the innovative techniques employed not only offer insights into the literary world of antiquity but also hold promise for unlocking further secrets from the past. As this technology advances, we may soon witness the revival of ancient texts thought to be lost to time.