Scientists Virtually Read a Fully Charred 2,000-Year-Old Herculaneum Scroll

As part of the Vesuvius Challenge, researchers virtually unwrapped and deciphered papyrus PHerc. 1667, carbonized in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago. Papyrologists recovered 22 columns of Greek text across 1.4 meters of papyrus — a Stoic treatise on ethics, human nature and moral progress.

• Entire scroll PHerc. 1667 from Herculaneum virtually deciphered
• 22 columns of Greek text recovered across 1.4 meters of papyrus
• Text is a Stoic treatise on ethics and human nature
• Method relies on X-ray tomography and computer vision