For the First Time, a Scroll Carbonized in Vesuvius Eruption Is Fully Deciphered
Researchers have for the first time fully digitally unrolled and read a papyrus scroll damaged by the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius, revealing ancient knowledge from two millennia ago.
Since 2023, when a team of scientists launched the "Vesuvius Challenge," progress has been made in deciphering individual words from the surviving manuscripts. Now, for the first time, one of the scrolls has been completely digitally "unrolled" and nearly fully read, offering a glimpse into ancient wisdom.
Brent Seales, one of the lead researchers, has been working on this problem for over 20 years. In 2002, he and colleagues developed a method to virtually unroll damaged manuscripts using X-ray tomography without physically harming them. The method was initially tested on laboratory-made scrolls, and in 2009, it was applied to actual scrolls from the ruins of Pompeii stored in France.
The first volumetric images revealed the complex internal structure of the scrolls scorched by the Vesuvius eruption. Although progress was slow, now, thanks to technological advancements and the competition, one of these ancient documents has been fully deciphered. It is expected that the contents of all scrolls found in the ashes of Pompeii could be decoded in the coming years.
