A 2,000-year-old scroll from Herculaneum has been read for the first time without being unrolled

The Triumph of Technology Over the Ravages of Time

The devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE sealed the fate of several ancient cities. Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried under volcanic ash and debris, preserving priceless treasures in time. Among these remains, a charred papyrus scroll remained sealed for two millennia, surviving the ages without ever being physically opened.

Today, a true scientific revolution is putting an end to this long wait. According to the source article, researchers have achieved the feat of reading a manuscript from Herculaneum in its entirety without even unrolling it. They relied on high-resolution X-rays combined with machine learning to digitally unroll the ancient document.

This technological feat has made it possible to preserve the precious artifact perfectly intact. The scroll, formally identified as PHerc. 1667, thus becomes the very first in the Herculaneum Library to be read from beginning to end. Scientists were able to examine the entire surviving portion of the text, revealing an unexpected literary treasure.

The Library of Herculaneum and the Failures of the Past

The origin of this historical document is as fascinating as its content. The library from which it came was discovered in the mid-eighteenth century, amid the ruins of a vast complex known as the Villa of the Papyri. This site housed at least 1,800 scrolls, narrowly preserved by the catastrophe that buried the region.

This burial under ash transformed the building into the only major library from classical antiquity to have survived to the present day. Despite this remarkable state of preservation, the manuscripts remain extremely fragile. Historically, all attempts to physically open them have resulted in their irreparable destruction.

Mistakes made in the past attest to this extreme vulnerability. During the nineteenth century, researchers caused part of the PHerc. 1667 manuscript to disintegrate while attempting to unroll it. Equally clumsy interventions carried out in 1969 and in the 1980s resulted in the loss of additional portions of the papyrus.

Artificial Intelligence in the Service of Archaeology

To avoid repeating these destructive methods on the surviving portion of the manuscript, experts radically changed their approach. Artificial intelligence and advanced digitization techniques have become the preferred tools for attempting to decipher the text of PHerc. 1667 safely, without any physical handling.

This strategy builds on major advances made in recent years. In 2023, these same methods led to a spectacular breakthrough when scientists succeeded in deciphering the very first word written on a separate scroll, restoring hope to the international scientific community.

Now, the team has reached a decisive milestone in its exploration of these ancient archives. The virtual unrolling of this specific scroll reveals the impressive scope of its content, spanning 22 columns written in Ancient Greek. This continuous reading of sentences opens a new window onto the intellectual world of that era.

An Unprecedented Insight into Stoic Philosophy

While technology has worked a miracle of readability, some information remains lost forever. The title of the work and the author’s name were unfortunately lost during previous attempts to physically unroll the scroll. Researchers had to rely on the remaining passages to identify the work’s central theme.

Analysis of the texts reveals that the manuscript contains an in-depth discussion of Stoic philosophy. The writings explore fundamental concepts such as human nature, the superiority of the virtue of reason over emotional impulse, and the moral development of human beings.

The author concludes his reflection by mentioning the name Aristocreon, whose uncle was none other than the famous Stoic philosopher Chrysippus. In particular, the researchers highlighted the following sentence: “We will investigate something, but we will not grasp it, if in some way we distance ourselves from ourselves and our own nature.”

Dating, Scientific Significance, and Prospects

This technological triumph offers much more than simply reading words erased by fire. By analyzing the scroll’s content and writing style, experts estimate that the document was written during the second century BCE. These chronological clues confirm the staggering significance of this scientific breakthrough.

The researchers have detailed their methodology and findings in a new study, available as a scientific paper that has yet to undergo peer review. This publication highlights the complexity of the virtual restoration process developed by the team.

The authors note that it remains unclear whether their technique will work on all of the Herculaneum scrolls. In any case, the exceptional success achieved with manuscript PHerc. 1667—despite having been charred 2,000 years ago—is enough to bring a smile to even the most stoic among us.

Source: iflscience.com

A 2,000-year-old scroll from Herculaneum has been read for the first time without being unrolled