They were turned to bitter carbonized and the violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Now, scientists are offering £400,000 to anyone who can decipher the burnt Herculaneum Scrolls.
These ancient papaya scrolls – paper-like materials – are considered contains extensive philosophical and literary texts from ancient Greek and Roman scholars.
The problem is that any attempt to open the burned cylinders turns them into dust, because they are fragile.
So, scientists have been turning to smart techniques like x-ray scanning, ink recognition software and AI to ‘unlock’ them.
Scientists at the University of Oxford have successfully used x-ray machines to reveal parts of the text on one of the scrolls, called PHerc.172.
But experts are calling for intelligent engineers who can develop AI methods to uncover hidden information – with a monetary reward to be won.
Earlier this year, students won $700,000 (£550,000) after using AI to find what is written on other manuscripts, held by the Institut de France in Paris.
The Bodleian scroll, better known to scholars as PHerc.172, was one of about 1,800 papyrus scrolls that were carbonized when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79.
Scientists say that the newly discovered words are Greek and have translated fragments of words, although they have not yet been able to translate complete sentences.
Scientists at University of Oxford used the nearby Diamond Light Source recording facility in Harwell, Oxfordshire to reveal new inscriptions on the Bodleian scroll Pherc.172, held at Oxford’s Bodleian Library.
They say that the words that have just been revealed are Greek and they have translated fragments of words, but they have not yet been able to translate all the sentences.
‘We are about to return the whole word,’ they say in a words.
Under one section, there may be the beginning of διατροπή, a word found in some Herculaneum scrolls that could mean something like ‘confusion, chaos, or disgust’.
Similarly, in another passage, the sequence of Greek letters τυγχαν may be the beginning of the verb τυγχάνω, meaning ‘to happen’.
Interestingly, the ink is best seen in the outer corners of the scroll, and in some cases, it is clear every other line – indicating that the scribe dipped their pen once every two lines.
‘A human hand wrote this text 2,000 years ago, and it is unforgettable to be the first person to see it at that time,’ said the group.
These ancient papyrus scrolls are thought to contain deep philosophical writings and writings from ancient Greek and Roman scholars.
Map showing Herculaneum and other cities affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The black cloud represents the distribution of the ash.
The deadline for this year’s top prize – awarded for the recovery of complete passages within several Herculaneum scrolls – is December 31.
Around £400,000 in prize money is being offered to anyone who can come forward to read the Herculaneum scrolls, reports. Time.
‘One thing we know is going to happen: we’re going to take a voice from the scroll but we need your help to do it,’ the team adds.
In all, 1,800 papaya scrolls were carbonized in the mountain about 2,000 years ago.
They lived in a large house in the Italian town of Herculaneum, which was one of the cities that was destroyed by the volcano.
In the 1750s, excavations began in the building and several scrolls were destroyed or thrown away in the belief that they were charcoal fences.
Unfortunately, hundreds more were lost in the attempt to free the scrolls, which are mostly held at the National Library in Naples.
Several hundred scrolls were unearthed that were not opened, and were folded with glue inside.
In 1802 or 1803, Pherc. 172 and five other scrolls were given by the king of Naples and Sicily, Ferdinand IV, to the future George IV of England.
In the early 19th century, the Bodleian scrolls and five other scrolls were given to the future George IV of England by Ferdinand IV, king of Naples and Sicily – allegedly in exchange for a kangaroo.
Modern experiments have focused on digital methods of reading the text without releasing the papyri from destruction.
Called ‘virtual unrolling’, such experiments often use X-rays and other lights to examine the material and reveal previously unknown expressions.
In Italy, a The team used a technique called shortwave infrared hyperspectral imagingwhich causes the light to come out of the black ink on the papaya.
A newly discovered passage from another manuscript that uses this technique suggests that Plato spent his last night playing a slave’s flute ‘quietly’ while he played the flute.
The philosopher, who had a fever, was listening to music and receiving visitors before he died at the age of 80 or 81 around 348BC.
Graziano Ranocchia, a scholar of manuscripts from the University of Pisa in Italy, said: ‘Plato is just the beginning’.
