The ancient Herculaneum scrolls from 79AD have finally been partially deciphered using AI, unlocking secrets hidden for 2000 years. The first word decoded was "purple" in ancient Greek.
Buried and charred by Mt Vesuvius' eruption, the fragile scrolls resisted reading attempts without being destroyed. The Vesuvius Project challenged teams to use AI to non-invasively extract text from scroll X-ray scans.
AI and computed tomography visualize the subtle density differences between ink and charred papyrus without unrolling the scrolls. Machine learning then processes the scans to identify letter shapes.
A University of Nebraska student developed an algorithm that detected Greek letters within the rolled papyrus. This enabled the first full ancient word to be decoded - "purple", relating to royalty.
An Egyptian student then independently found the same word from the same text section, confirming the accuracy of the AI approach. He was amazed to read 2000 year old thoughts with this virtual time machine.
Rather than hoping to manually decipher the scrolls, AI provides a non-destructive method to digitally unfold and read the fragile, burnt documents. This preserves the artifacts while unlocking lost ancient knowledge.
The breakthrough demonstrates the huge potential in blending antiquity's treasures with modern technology's capabilities. AI can act as a channel to lost voices without physical intervention.
More refinements may allow even larger passages to be revealed within the scrolls. This will provide invaluable insights into philosophy, culture and life when the Roman Empire reigned.
