Scientists virtually unwrap and read entire Herculaneum scroll sealed since Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD using X-rays and machine learning; reveals 2nd century BC Stoic philosophical text without physically opening it.

An entire Herculaneum scroll has been read for the first time

We read an entire scroll — without ever opening it PHerc. 1667, sealed since the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, has been virtually unwrapped and read from beginning to end. June 25th, 2026 Read the preprint: Complete virtual unwrapping and reading of a rolled Herculaneum papyrus (PDF). The data is openly available at scrollprize.org/data, and the code on GitHub. For almost 2,000 years, the carbonized library of Herculaneum has kept a cruel bargain: its scrolls survived the eruption of Mount Vesu...