Ancient Roman scroll digitally unrolled with AI
A charred Roman scroll, buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, has been digitally unrolled and deciphered using artificial intelligence. Found in Herculaneum, the scroll was too fragile to open physically. Researchers at Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, UK, used a synchrotron to scan the scroll, and AI algorithms then identified faint traces of ink, revealing the hidden text. This breakthrough offers a new way to access historical documents damaged by time and disaster, potentially unlocking vast amounts of information from antiquity.
This particular scroll is one of hundreds discovered in Herculaneum, preserved but also damaged by the volcanic ash. While some scrolls have been partially deciphered through traditional methods, many remain unreadable. The AI-assisted approach offers hope for these other scrolls, potentially revealing more about Roman law, philosophy, and daily life. The scanned scroll, a letter from a lawyer, provides a snapshot into a legal dispute just before the eruption. Researchers continue to work on a full translation, which could offer valuable historical insights.
