The Vesuvius Challenge is an unparalleled competition in the field of classical studies, with the potential to pave the way for something akin to a second Renaissance. Its objective is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to virtually unroll hundreds of closed papyrus scrolls, containing ancient literature that has not been seen for 2,000 years.
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, it buried various cities at the Gulf of Naples under massive volcanic material – including Herculaneum, located near Pompeii. In the 18th century, an exceptionally luxurious Roman villa was excavated there, close to the ancient city walls and shoreline. The villa’s marvellous wall paintings, mosaics, busts and statues had been conserved by the ashes.
This building, Villa of the Papyri, is named after its most remarkable treasure. It housed the only preserved library from antiquity: around 1,000 papyrus scrolls that were not destroyed by the eruption, but carbonised (turned into a kind of charcoal) and sealed in the earth until their rediscovery.
