AI Unwraps 20 Columns of Vesuvius-Burnt Papyrus, Revealing 2,000-Year-Old Stoic Text
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 24
AI Unwraps 20 Columns of Vesuvius-Burnt Papyrus, Revealing 2,000-Year-Old Stoic Text
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 24
Summary
Researchers recovered 20 columns of previously hidden text from PHerc 1667, virtually unwrapping more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically opening the scroll.
The breakthrough used AI and high-resolution X-ray imaging developed through the Vesuvius Challenge, showing that even badly damaged Herculaneum scrolls can now be read noninvasively.
PHerc 1667—one of the oldest scrolls in the Herculaneum library, dating to the second or late-third century BC—survives as a fragment just 8cm by 2cm after breakage and failed earlier unwrapping attempts.
Analysis suggests the text is a Stoic treatise on impulse, reason and practical wisdom, possibly by Chrysippus, rather than the Epicurean works that dominate much of the buried library.
The result, to be announced in Naples on Thursday, marks a shift from proving the technology works to interpreting the newly accessible texts from the villa destroyed in AD79.
Beyond Herculaneum, what other 'unreadable' artifacts from lost civilizations could this AI technology finally unlock?
AI has resurrected a lost Roman library. What forgotten wisdom for our modern world lies hidden inside?
20 Columns from the Ashes: AI and Teamwork Revive the Herculaneum Scrolls (2026)
Overview
In June 2026, researchers achieved a major breakthrough by virtually unwrapping and deciphering 20 columns of text from the Herculaneum papyrus scroll PHerc 1667. This success, announced at a conference in Naples, marks a pivotal moment in recovering ancient knowledge. The Herculaneum library, buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, holds thousands of fragile, carbonized scrolls that resemble charred logs. Because any physical attempt to open them would destroy their contents, this digital achievement offers a rare glimpse into texts long thought lost forever, opening new possibilities for understanding the ancient world.