AI helps read papyrus scroll burnt to crisp during Vesuvius eruption

AI Summary

Artificial intelligence technology enabled researchers to virtually unroll and read a charred papyrus scroll from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. The text includes 20 columns of previously hidden writings on stoic philosophy discussing ethics, art, and human behavior dating back to the second or late-third century BC.

Previously hidden text revealed without unrolling scroll discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour The surviving part of an ancient scroll that was burnt to a crisp when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago has been virtually unwrapped and read with help from artificial intelligence. Researchers uncovered 20 columns of previously hidden text covering more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically unrolling the scroll. The work discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour and dates to the second or late-third century BC. Continue reading...