An ancient papyrus scroll that was charred due to the eruption of Vesuvius roughly 2,000 years ago has seen the light of day thanks to the efforts of archaeologists. Despite being rendered “unreadable” due to the destruction of the eruption, experts have managed to use new and powerful methods on this ancient scroll, bringing with it its centuries-old secrets. By using powerful X-rays and AI, this ancient papyrus scroll became “carbonised”, making it now legible for researchers who further discovered that it was originally written by the Greek philosopher Philodemus.
The scroll was found in the remains of the Roman town of Herculaneum, roughly 12 miles from Pompeii. Unfortunately, as with most things in this region, when Vesuvius hit, the building that housed this ancient scroll was buried under layers of volcanic ash and mud.
The intense heat produced by the eruption, combined with the lack of oxygen, caused the papyrus scroll to look like a badly burnt sausage.
So burnt, in fact, that the scroll changed colour, becoming black and too brittle to unroll.
Thanks to X-ray imaging and artificial intelligence, which helped them peer further at some of the scroll’s innermost layers, researchers have been able to pinpoint its writer.
Philodemus was said to be integral to spreading Epicureanism to Rome, a system of philosophy founded in 307 BCE based on the teachings of Epicurus.
Epicurus’s main teaching was that one’s ultimate goal in human life is pleasure and should be the standard by which all goods are judged.
Epicurus also believed that happiness comes from achieving a state of tranquillity and freedom from fear, including having the absence of pain, which is achieved through modest pleasures and limiting desires.
The scroll’s title, “On Vices and Their Opposite Virtues and In Whom They Are and About What,” was also deciphered. This further indicates the philosopher’s main message on how best to cultivate a virtuous life.
This was deciphered by Micha Nowak and Marcel Roth from the University of Würzburg, who are also the proud prize winners of £44.9k thanks to the Vesuvius Challenge, a project that encourages members of the public to help decipher ancient texts.
Known by scholars as PHerc. 172, the scroll originates from the grand Villa of the Papyri, which is thought to have belonged to Julius Caesar’s father-in-law.
This building was said to have contained the largest known collection of classic sculpture, but its true wealth was in its library.
It is the only one to survive from the Greco-Roman world, which, thanks to the “carbonised” method, is now no longer unreadable.
Researchers behind this scroll-deciphering effort believe the results are a powerful proof of principle with the ultimate aim being to read many more carbonised scrolls from the same building in the hopes even more secrets and discoveries can be learnt.