The best news I've read lately is about how, with the help of artificial intelligence, a team of engineers and papyrologists managed to decipher some of the hidden text from ancient scrolls, nearly 2,000 years old, which were buried under layers of volcanic ash from the eruption of Italy's Mount Vesuvius, that also buried the famed city of Pompeii.

The scrolls were found in the world's only known library to have survived from the antiquity, a house called Villa of the Papyri, which belonged to a Roman statesman thought to be Julius Caesar’s father-in-law. Exposure to the volcanic gas and ash carbonized the scrolls, which effectively preserved them, though at the same time, it made them extremely difficult to unroll.



In the deciphered text, the writer, Philodemus, a philosopher of the Epicurean school, discusses pleasures (such as music, the taste of capers, and the color purple) and whether the abundance of goods available can affect the amount of pleasure they give. It concludes: “As too in the case of food, we do not right away believe things that are scarce to be absolutely more pleasant than those which are abundant."



Over two centuries researchers tried various techniques to access the contents of the papyri: X-rays, digital photography, microscopy. The story of the researchers who tried to read the scrolls, the competition between them, and the $700,000 grand prize contest that gained the attention of the computer prodigies who finally decoded the texts is very interesting as well.

I'm looking forward for more revelations from these ancient scrolls and I am in awe of how AI systems are revolutionising the exploration of historical sites and documents.

Image source: ancient-origins.net