The Power of AI: Deciphering Ancient Scrolls

In an astonishing breakthrough, Luke Farritor, a 21-year-old computer science major from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, utilized artificial intelligence to decipher a nearly 2,000-year-old message from the Herculaneum scrolls.

These ancient Roman scrolls, damaged by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, have remained a mystery for centuries.

Farritor's AI program detected Greek letters on a charred papyrus scroll, which papyrologists later translated into the word “porphyras,” the ancient Greek term for "purple."

This discovery earned Farritor a $40,000 prize from the Vesuvius Challenge, a project initiated by University of Kentucky computer science professor Brent Seales.

The Herculaneum scrolls, believed to have been stored in a library near Pompeii, were discovered in the 1750s. Historians speculate these scrolls might have belonged to Julius Caesar’s father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus.

Due to their fragile state, many feared that unrolling them would cause irreversible damage.

Seales and his team have been working for decades to decipher the scrolls. With advancements in AI and technology, they launched the Vesuvius Challenge, offering over $1 million in prizes to those who could successfully translate the scrolls. Farritor's achievement marks a significant step forward in this endeavor.

The young scholar's discovery has not only shed light on the ancient world but also demonstrated the immense potential of AI in uncovering historical secrets. As researchers continue to delve into the scrolls, there's hope that more revelations await.

Related Reading

1. Decrypt
   AI Just Deciphered an Ancient Herculaneum Scroll Without Unrolling It

2. Smithsonian Magazine
   This 21-Year-Old Used A.I. to Decipher Text From a Scroll That Hasn't Been Read in 2000 Years

3. Nature - AI reads text from ancient Herculaneum scroll for the first time