Free Republic

Greek writing inside a 2,000-year-old scroll burned during the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius has been deciphered by a team of student researchers. This latest development may lead not only to the discovery of a previously illegible text, but also pave the way for new applications of artificial intelligence to the archaeological field. The scroll hails from the luxury Roman villa Herculaneum and is one of more than 1,800 intact papyri turned carbonized ash, known as the Herculaneum scrolls, excavated in the 18th century. The scrolls that have previously been read relate to the Athenian philosophy of Epicurus who...

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...