Skip to main content

Press

Press & media, use of images
press@scrollprize.org
Technology & AI
Paul HendersonTechnical Lead
Papyrology, archaeology & history
Federica NicolardiPapyrology Lead

About Vesuvius Challenge​

Vesuvius Challenge is an open science research organization reading the carbonized Herculaneum scrolls. Buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the scrolls are too fragile to open and unroll; we read them instead with high-resolution X-ray CT scans and AI, virtually unwrapping each sheet and recovering its ink. The work is done both by our in-house team of researchers and by a lively community, competing for monthly prizes anyone can enter. In 2023, the Grand Prize was awarded for the first passages ever read from inside a sealed scroll; in 2026, PHerc. 1667 became the first Herculaneum scroll read end to end.

2023Vesuvius Challenge launched
$2,008,500awarded in prizes so far
45scrolls & fragments scanned, data open to all
2026first Herculaneum scroll read end to end

Images & videos​

Below is a representative selection of images and videos. Everything on this site is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 unless otherwise noted, so you are welcome to use these or any other image on the site, with the credit "Vesuvius Challenge". For other uses or higher-resolution originals, email press@scrollprize.org.

PHerc. 1667 being virtually unwrapped.
PHerc. 1667 being virtually unwrapped.Download (MP4 · 3.3 MB)
The complete unwrapped writing surface of PHerc. 1667: roughly 1.4 metres of papyrus and around twenty-two columns of Greek.
The complete unwrapped writing surface of PHerc. 1667: roughly 1.4 metres of papyrus and around twenty-two columns of Greek.Download (WebP · 12000 × 924)
From object to text: the sealed roll, cross-sections through its X-ray scan, and the unwrapped surface of PHerc. 1667.
From object to text: the sealed roll, cross-sections through its X-ray scan, and the unwrapped surface of PHerc. 1667.Download (WebP · 2400 × 2148)
A cross-section sweeping through the X-ray scan of PHerc. 1667, revealing the sheet of papyrus wound inside the sealed roll.
A cross-section sweeping through the X-ray scan of PHerc. 1667, revealing the sheet of papyrus wound inside the sealed roll.Download (MP4 · 4.9 MB)
PHerc. Paris 4: the 2023 Grand Prize reading (top) and the newer 3D ink segmentation (bottom) of the same text.
PHerc. Paris 4: the 2023 Grand Prize reading (top) and the newer 3D ink segmentation (bottom) of the same text.Download (WebP · 2400 × 1750)
The title of PHerc. 139, revealed by enhancing the ink: Philodemus, On Gods, Book 8.
The title of PHerc. 139, revealed by enhancing the ink: Philodemus, On Gods, Book 8.Download (WebP · 2400 × 1862)