Researchers Utilize AI to Decode Millennia-old Manuscript
Zurich: Researchers have unearthed a concealed message written on a document dating back 2000 years, using artificial intelligence.
After digitally scanning the document resembling pieces of charcoal, researchers employed 3D mapping and artificial intelligence techniques to decipher characters and virtually unfold the scroll.
The manuscript belonged to Philodemus, a philosopher who expressed thoughts on the consequences of food scarcity on human comfort, known as the Florentine manuscript.
This success was achieved by a team of three researchers (Youssef Nader from Freie Universität, Luke Ferretter from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Julian Schilliger from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich), and now the team is hopeful that more writings can be read using this technique.
These scrolls were discovered in Herculaneum's Roman villa, unearthed by an excavator during the 18th century.
It is worth noting that due to the intense heat from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, a large number of scrolls were charred but preserved in a delicate yet stable condition.
Prior attempts to read the inscribed writings in the scrolls were futile, as numerous attempts to unravel them resulted in damage to many, leaving over 600 remaining scrolls untouched.