Message on 2,000-year-old scroll badly burnt by Mount Vesuvius revealed for the first time using incredible technique

The mysteries of an ancient scroll that almost burned to charcoal during Mount Vesuvius’ volcanic eruption in 79 AD might soon be discovered.

The scroll’s contents may now be viewed again after 2,000 years thanks to a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and X-ray imaging.

Since unraveling the papyrus scroll would probably reduce it to dust, it hasn’t been done yet.

Instead, rows and columns of text are visible after scientists deftly unraveled it digitally.

Though they think the results are encouraging, the team’s next step is to interpret the text.

“We’re confident we will be able to read pretty much the whole scroll in its entirety, and it’s the first time we’ve really been able to say that with high confidence,” stated Stephen Parsons, who is the project lead for the Vesuvius Challenge, an international competition that aims to unlock the Herculaneum scrolls.

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Researchers think it may be a philosophical work because some of the letters are already readable.

The scroll was found in the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum, which was buried beneath Mount Vesuvius’ enormous volcanic cloud.

Herculaneum included hundreds of scrolls, all of which had virtually turned to carbon.

Previously, some of the documents were torn apart but still in bits.

Many of the scrolls are in the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, but they have been unopened for decades.

This most recent scroll was removed from storage due to recent technological developments that enable the scrolls to be 3D recreated by strong X-ray beams without causing any harm.

Each layer of the scroll must be identified by researchers.

The ink is then detected by AI, which is a challenging task because the ink and the papyrus (thick paper) have both converted to carbon and are now nearly identical.

The ink is digitally put onto the scroll after it has been identified.

It is evident that the entire scroll is filled with text. We may now focus on making it more visible.

“We can tell the entire scroll is full of text,” Parsons remarked.

“We can now focus on improving its visibility. Instead of only a few words, we will now have lengthy sections.

The scroll was brought to the UK’s national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, by experts from the Bodleian.

An advanced X-ray device that can analyze materials at the atomic level is called a synchrotron.

How AI & X-rays are unravelling scroll secrets

By allowing scholars to visually “unroll” and decode manuscripts that are too delicate to handle physically, artificial intelligence (AI) and X-rays are transforming the study of ancient scrolls.

Scrolls can be scanned in three dimensions using X-rays, especially with more sophisticated techniques like X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT).

Without physically unrolling the paper or papyrus, these scans preserve its integrity by capturing the layers that are tightly wound or broken.

Additionally, changes in density brought on by metallic or carbon-based inks employed in ancient writing can be seen by X-rays.

By recognizing and distinguishing distinct scroll levels from 3D X-ray data, AI algorithms—especially those that use deep learning—are able to divide text layers, separating the text for study.

By magnifying weak lines or patterns that correlate to ancient writing, they may also recognize text, frequently showing characters that are imperceptible to the human eye.

AI systems are also capable of reconstructing missing portions. Any missing text can be predicted or filled in by machine-learning models.

AI can differentiate between metallic inks, which were generally employed in later eras of history, and carbon-based inks for scrolls where X-rays identify ink changes. This allows for a more thorough and context-sensitive interpretation.

Additionally, sophisticated photography can detect even the smallest traces of ink strokes, allowing for incredibly detailed text reconstruction.

About 5% of another Herculaneum scroll was read by the Vesuvius Challenge crew last year.

The Bodleian’s scroll is likewise anticipated to be an example of Greek Epicurean philosophy, as the old text was.

Even a $400,000 reward cash is up for grabs for the person who can decode PHerc.172, another Herculaneum artifact.

PHerc.172 is one of about 800 scrolls discovered in the Villa of the Papyri, an opulent home thought to have belonged to Julius Caesar’s father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus.

Based in the historic Herculaneum, the villa is said to contain one of the best libraries in antiquity, which includes perhaps unknown Roman literature and Greek philosophical works.

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In February 2024, three students shared a $700,000 prize for deciphering portions of another scroll, marking the first milestone in the Vesuvius Challenge.

Due to the competition’s success, tech titans like Elon Musk have been drawn to it and have contributed to its later stages.

The destruction of Pompeii what happened in 79 AD?

• Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near modern Naples, in the Campania region of Italy.
• It was destroyed, along with the Roman town of Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, and buried under volcanic ash in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
• The violent explosion killed the city s inhabitants, with the site lost for around 1,500 years until its initial rediscovery in 1599 and broader rediscovery almost 150 years later.
• The thermal energy released from Vesuvius was said to be a hundred thousand times that of the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima-Nagasaki.
• The remains beneath the city have been preserved for more than a millenium due to the lack of air and moisture in the ground.
• During excavations, plaster was injected into the voids in the ash layers that once held human bodies, allowing scientists to recreate their exact poses at the time of their deaths.
• Mount Vesuvius is arguably the most dangerous volcano on earth.
• It had been inactive for almost a century before roaring back into life and destroying Pompeii.
• Since then, it has exploded around three dozen more times most recently in 1944 and stands in close proximity to three million people.
• Although its current status is dormant, Vesuvius is an extremely active and unpredictable volcano, according to experts.
• To this day, scientists are finding cultural, architectural and human remains on the banks of Mount Vesuvius.
• Excavations at thermal baths in Pompeii s ruins in February revealed the skeleton of a crouching child who perished in the 79 AD eruption.