Vesuvius Challenge Successfully Reads Charred Scroll for the First Time

Due to the decomposition of papyrus over a few hundred years, most texts from that era have been lost over the millennia. The Herculaneum papyri were somewhat fortunate—due to the eruption of Vesuvius two thousand years ago, the scrolls were charred and buried, allowing them to be preserved.

In modern times, three-dimensional scans of the scrolls have been made using X-rays, and neural networks have been employed for their "virtual unfolding." Thus, in 2023, the winners of the Vesuvius Challenge were able to read a small excerpt from one papyrus, after which several participants were hired to work on this on a permanent basis, leading to the reconstruction of the entire scroll's content.

Unfortunately, a large portion of PHerc. 1667, the deciphered scroll, was physically destroyed during several attempts to open it in the 19th and 20th centuries, so only 8 out of 19-24 centimeters of the scroll physically survived. It is understood that this is a Stoic text, dated to the 2nd century BCE, and the author has been identified as Aristocles, a student of the famous Stoic philosopher Chrysippus.

There are still hundreds of scrolls waiting for their time, and the team does not plan to stop. New texts from the scrolls will become a regular event in the coming years.