“For nearly two millennia, many of these texts have been physically preserved but intellectually inaccessible,” Brent Seales, Vesuvius Challenge co-founder and the Stanley and Karen Pigman Chair of Heritage Science at University of Kentucky, says. “Today — after years of interdisciplinary work combining advanced imaging, artificial intelligence (AI), academic research and an innovation contest — we are finally able to read them.”

One of the oldest scrolls in the collection

Among the most significant findings announced is the recovery of substantial new text from PHerc. 1667 — a scroll housed in Naples, Italy.

The Vesuvius Challenge team has now virtually unwrapped the surviving portion of the scroll — revealing nearly 1.5 meters of continuous text and approximately 20 columns of writing.

“This scroll was deemed completely unreadable when part of it was opened in the 1980s,” Federica Nicolardi, assistant professor in papyrology at the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, said.

The scrolls from Herculaneum. Credit: EduceLab.

“The scroll's handwriting and internal references suggest the artifact dates from the second century B.C. or possibly from the late third century B.C. — making it one of the oldest scrolls in the collection,” she explained.

While the title and author remain unknown, both the early dating and its contents suggest a writer other than Philodemus of Gadara — the Greek philosopher whose works predominate the discoveries from Herculaneum papyri to date. 

A philosophical -stoic?- treatise

According to the papyrological team’s analysis, the text does appear to be a philosophical treatise concerned with ethics, arts and human behavior, likely reflecting Stoic thought. 

The recovered text preserves discussions of core Stoic concepts, including ὁρμή (hormē), or impulse, understood as the drive to act common to both humans and animals. The author appears to warn against excessive impulse — ὁ πλεoνασμός κατὰ τὴν ὁρμήν (ho pleonasmos kata tēn hormēn — when reason fails to regulate behavior and leads to a harmful passion or diversion from one’s goals.

Another key concept is φρόνησις (phronēsis), or practical wisdom — the set of intellectual activities that guide one to make the right choices and to choose virtues over vices.

New Philodemus text identified

A second major finding announced is the identification of a new book title within PHerc. 139.

In the final portion of the virtually unwrapped surface, papyrologists from the Vesuvius Challenge were able to read: Φ̣ι[λοδ]ή̣μου | περὶ θεῶν Η̅ — Philodemus, On Gods, Book 8. 

The overlined Η is understood as a book number.

The discovery is significant. For the first time, it establishes that On Gods was a multi-book work extending to at least eight books. Until now, only the first book was known (PHerc. 26).

Early readings from the virtually unwrapped surface have revealed key theological terms and phrases that offer initial insight into the work’s content. Taken together, these elements point to a sustained philosophical treatment of Epicurean theology, including the nature of the gods, the role of providence and the structure of the universe.

From Scanning to Scholarship

The discovery was made possible through high-resolution micro-CT scanning conducted at major synchrotron facilities, including Diamond Light Source and the ESRF.

Vesuvius Challenge capitalized on the new capabilities of ESRF’s Extremely Brilliant Source, and of the flagship beamline BM18.

“The beam produced by the Extremely Brilliant Source is both exceptionally fine and remarkably stable. At BM18, it enables us to detect extremely subtle variations and reconstruct high-quality tomographic images,” said Alessandro Mirone, ESRF. “Our role is to provide the most precise three-dimensional representation possible. These data serve as the foundation for the virtual unwrapping pipeline developed by the Vesuvius Challenge team, as well as for their neural network analysis.”

The Vesuvius Challenge scans represent the largest dataset ever produced by the ESRF. Individual scans generated datasets measuring as much as 300 terabytes per scroll — creating the most detailed three-dimensional maps of the carbonized artifacts to date.

From discovery to cultural recovery

For centuries, the study of ancient papyri has been constrained by fragmentary evidence and the physical limitations of fragile artifacts. 

Researchers say today’s discovery marks a turning point — not in technology, but in purpose.

As new texts are emerging faster than ever from the carbonized papyri, the focus is shifting from the engineers and computer scientists designing high-tech tools to the experienced papyrologists, classicists and historians who can interpret, contextualize and ultimately bring these ancient works back into human knowledge.

“This is no longer just about imaging or machine learning,” Seales said. “Now we need experts who can read, edit and understand what they are saying.”

More than 600 Herculaneum scrolls remain unopened. Recovering them has become a truly international effort — uniting research institutions, libraries and cultural heritage organizations across Europe and the United States to restore one of the most important surviving libraries of the ancient world.

“Today, we are hearing voices that have been silent for 2,000 years,” Seales said. “For the first time, we are uncovering and reading them — but most importantly — we are beginning to understand them.”