EveryÂone knows that Mount VesuÂvius eruptÂed in 79 AD, entombÂing the Roman town of PomÂpeii in ash. Almost everyÂone knows that it also did the same to sevÂerÂal othÂer towns, includÂing wealthy HerÂcuÂlaÂneum on the Bay of Naples. CountÂless scholÂars have dedÂiÂcatÂed their lives to studyÂing these unusuÂalÂly well-preÂserved first-cenÂtuÂry ruins and the hisÂtorÂiÂcal treaÂsures found withÂin. We now underÂstand a great deal about the layÂout, the strucÂtures, the social life of HerÂcuÂlaÂneum, but some aspects remain unknowÂable, such as the conÂtents of the scrolls, charred beyond recogÂniÂtion, that fill its libraries — or at least that remained unknowÂable until now.
“In the 18th cenÂtuÂry, workÂmen employed by King Charles III of Spain, then in charge of much of southÂern Italy, disÂcovÂered the remains of a magÂnifÂiÂcent vilÂla, thought to have belonged to Lucius Calpurnius Piso CaesonÂiÂnus (known as Piso), a wealthy statesÂman and the father-in-law of Julius CaeÂsar,” writes SmithÂsonÂian’s Jo Marchant. There, “in what was to become one of the most frusÂtratÂing archaeÂoÂlogÂiÂcal disÂcovÂerÂies ever, the workÂmen also found approxÂiÂmateÂly 2,000 papyrus scrolls.” But since the heat and gasÂes of VesuÂvius had turned them “black and hard like lumps of coal” — and indeed, some of Charles III’s workÂmen misÂtook them for coal and threw them away — attempts to open them “creÂatÂed a mess of fragÂile flakes that yieldÂed only brief snipÂpets of text.”
The time of Charles III bareÂly had sufÂfiÂcient know-how to avoid destroyÂing the scrolls of HerÂcuÂlaÂneum, let alone to read them. That task turns out to demand even the most cutÂting-edge techÂnolÂoÂgy we have today, includÂing cusÂtom-made 3D modÂelÂing softÂware, artiÂfiÂcial intelÂliÂgence, and the most advanced x‑ray facilÂiÂties in exisÂtence. MarchanÂt’s artiÂcle focusÂes on an AmerÂiÂcan comÂputÂer sciÂenÂtist named Brent Seales (ProÂfesÂsor and Chair of ComÂputÂer SciÂence at the UniÂverÂsiÂty of KenÂtucky), whose quest to read the HerÂcuÂlaÂneum scrolls has become a quest to develÂop a method to virÂtuÂalÂly “unroll” them. This requires not just the comÂputÂing powÂer and logÂic to deterÂmine how these blackÂened lumps (Seales calls two of them “Fat BasÂtard” and “Banana Boy”) might origÂiÂnalÂly have opened up, but the most advanced parÂtiÂcle accelÂerÂaÂtors in the world to scan them in the first place.
You can read more about Seales’ work with the HerÂcuÂlaÂneum scrolls, which after twenÂty years has shown real promise, at MenÂtal Floss and Newsweek. Though quite expenÂsive (demand for “beam time” on a parÂtiÂcle accelÂerÂaÂtor being what it is), hugeÂly time-conÂsumÂing, and occaÂsionÂalÂly, in Seales’ words, “excruÂciÂatÂingÂly frusÂtratÂing,” the invenÂtion of a reliÂable method for readÂing these and othÂer seemÂingÂly lost texts from antiqÂuiÂty could make subÂstanÂtial addiÂtions to what we think of as the canon. (The texts revealed so far have had to do with the ideas of EpiÂcuÂrus, a primer on whose phiÂlosÂoÂphy we’ve preÂviÂousÂly feaÂtured on Open CulÂture.) But gainÂing the fullest posÂsiÂble underÂstandÂing of what our ancesÂtors knew in the first cenÂtuÂry may first require a few more 21st-cenÂtuÂry develÂopÂments in physics and comÂputÂer sciÂence yet.
via MenÂtal Floss
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
Google Puts The Dead Sea Scrolls Online (in Super High ResÂoÂluÂtion)
Based in Seoul, ColÂin MarÂshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities and culÂture. His projects include the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.
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