27-06-2026 21:34
via science.slashdot.org
Scroll Burned in 79 AD Volcanic Eruption Finally Deciphered Using AI
When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., it buried hundreds of papyrus
scrolls. They were rediscovered in the mid-1700s, remembers Smithsonian magazine, "the only
surviving collection of its kind from the Greco-Roman
world..."
"But when scholars tried to unroll them, the carbonized manuscripts
crumbled to dust."
Every generation that followed faced the same dilemma: They could wait for
technology to advance, abandoning hope of reading the ancient texts
in their own lifetime. Or they could try to op
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scrolls. They were rediscovered in the mid-1700s, remembers Smithsonian magazine, "the only
surviving collection of its kind from the Greco-Roman
world..."
"But when scholars tried to unroll them, the carbonized manuscripts
crumbled to dust."
Every generation that followed faced the same dilemma: They could wait for
technology to advance, abandoning hope of reading the ancient texts
in their own lifetime. Or they could try to op