Researchers recently used cutting-edge technology to read a word from irreparably damaged handwriting. They used an AI program to read from an ancient scroll that was burned and carbonized by the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Researchers have been reading an ancient scroll using AI as part of the Vesuvius challenge. (X/@NEHgov)
Brent Seales, a professor at the University of Kentucky, hosted the conference and live-streamed the event, which took place in Great Britain, writes the University of Kentucky blog. Seales and his team began working on the scroll when he accepted the Vesuvius Challenge – “a machine learning and computer vision competition to read the Herculaneum papyri”.
What are the Herculanean papyri?
In AD 79, during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, a villa in Herculaneum, believed to have belonged to Julius Caesar’s father-in-law, was buried in hot mud and ash. After it was discovered, experts were surprised to find a vast library of burnt papyrus scrolls inside. The scrolls are impossible to read by unfolding them, as the attempt will shatter them into pieces.
The scrolls are carbonized by the heat of volcanic debris. But they are also preserved. Interestingly, this unique storage condition makes the scrolls safe from decay in the air.
Researchers believe the scrolls contain the secrets of “Roman and Greek philosophy, science, literature, mathematics, poetry and politics.”
What word are the researchers reading?
Researchers were able to extract several letters from the papyrus scroll, reports The New York Times. Not only that, they also managed to read the whole word, ‘porphyras’. It means ‘purple’ in ancient Greek.
The University of Kentucky also reached out to YouTube to share insight into the process they used to look inside the scroll.
What did Seales say about this feat?
“These texts were written by human hands at a time when world religions were emerging, the Roman Empire was still ruling, and many parts of the world were unexplored,” Seales told the University of Kentucky. “A large part of the writings from this period has been lost. But today the scrolls from Herculaneum are not lost,” he added.
“For me, reading the words from the Herculaneum scrolls is like stepping on the moon,” Seales told The Guardian. “Honestly, I knew the text was there, waiting for us to arrive, but the arrival only happens at the last step. And with such a talented team working together, reading the words is that step into new territory, and we’ve taken it. Now is the time for research,” he further told this newspaper.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn