All the scrolls that have been partially read have been of Epicurean philosophy, mostly by the same author. Thanks to two FReepers for the links!
Posted on 02/07/2024 8:24:15 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The famous Herculaneum scroll, charred papyrus found buried by the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79AD, has been deciphered by artificial intelligence.
The feat was achieved by students in the Vesuvius challenge, which used algorithms to scan the artifact that would otherwise had been destroyed if unraveled by human hands.
The winning team read more than 2,000 'never-before-seen' texts that discussed sources of pleasure, such as music, the taste of capers and the color purple.
The three students, from Egypt, Switzerland and the US, share a $700,000 grand prize for uncovering hundreds of words across more than 15 columns of text, corresponding to around five percent of an entire scroll.
The Vesuvius Challenge was launched in March 2023 by Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky, and Silicon Valley backers.
At the time, Seales released thousands of 3D images of two rolled-up scrolls, as well as an AI program that had been trained to read letters in the marks left by ink.
Shortly after, Luke Farritor from Nebraska and Youssef Nader from Egypt independently revealed the same word hidden within the heart of the sealed manuscript - 'πορφύραc' - meaning purple dye or clothes of purple.
And the pair shared a $40,000 prize.
However, Monday's announcement revealed the grand prize winners, which also included Nadaer, Farritor, but in addition to Julian Schilliger, a Swiss robotics student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
All the scrolls that have been partially read have been of Epicurean philosophy, mostly by the same author. Thanks to two FReepers for the links!
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.................
“Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.”
L
A crummy commercial?
Herculaneum and Pompeii are two different places some distance apart. Pompeii was a serious commercial center, Herculaneum was a smaller seaside resort. The scrolls are from a buried library discovered some time ago at Herculaneum. They would have quickly burned at Pompeii.
“texts that discussed sources of pleasure”
What’s it say!? What’s it say!?
ruh ruhst rusty trrraaahhhmbone
rusty trombone
It really makes you wish they hadn’t completely destroyed so many of the burned scrolls in the 19th century to unwrap a tiny little bit.
“All your base are belong to us!”
> The three students, from Egypt, Switzerland and the US… <
Wait a minute. None of them are Italian. So what business do they have reading Roman scrolls? This sure looks like cultural appropriation to me.
Somebody ought to contact somebody over this.
“I am Spartacus!”
Congratulations on the birth of your child, Mr & Mrs Biden
... The general subject of the text is pleasure, which, properly understood, is the highest good in Epicurean philosophy. ...Destroyed AD 79.
I try not to think about that.
If I had a time machine, I'd go back the night before the eruption and steal the scrolls, digitally scan all of them, then return them ten minutes after stealing them. It wouldn't matter how long it took to get the scanning done, as long as I set up the scanning lab in a different time and place prior to their rediscovery. :^)
I've got some other great plans regarding the use of technology that doesn't exist (AFAIK) and using money I don't have. :^)
Awesome!
Other scrolls have been found in Pompeii, just no libraries (so far). They didn’t get carbonized as they did in Herculaneum. The House of the Vettei was owned by a couple of freedmen (brothers, probably) and they financed their remodeling and probably small business using loans from a private banker who lived down the street. The loan records survived in the banker’s house. Not bad. :^)
Give ‘em time.
Odd that the rest of the Empire continued to be interested in Epicureanism right up to the final fall, Constantinople, in 1453.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
