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22h ago

Philodemus Scroll Identified Through Breakthrough X-Ray Imaging

Researchers confirm the title and author of a carbonized Herculaneum scroll for the first time using advanced imaging and AI techniques.

The scroll was digitally unwrapped to reveal writing, which researchers are working to decode.
PHerc. 172 was burned nearly 2,000 years ago, when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.
Title revealed on PHerc. 172 using ink detection model
A scan of the inside of PHerc. 172, which cannot be physically unrolled or it could be damaged.

Overview

  • The charred scroll PHerc. 172 has been identified as part of Philodemus's ethical treatise 'On Vices' through visible ink revealed by X-ray scans.
  • This marks the first time a scroll's title and author have been confirmed using noninvasive imaging technology on carbonized papyri.
  • The scroll, buried in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, was found in a Roman villa believed to have been owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law.
  • Researchers from the Vesuvius Challenge and University of Würzburg independently verified the findings, with the Bodleian Libraries reviewing the results.
  • Efforts now focus on processing scan data from 18 recently imaged scrolls, with 20 more scheduled for scanning at European synchrotron facilities.