$250,000 Prize Offered for Deciphering Ancient Roman Scrolls

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, it destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, killing countless people and burying local artifacts.

Among those uncovered from the famously ossified ruins are the Herculaneum papyri, a collection of more than 1,800 bundles of scrolls carbonized by the intense heat of the explosion.

Discovered in 1752, but too fragile to read (as early attempts proved), hundreds of the remaining scrolls have since been digitized. And while scientists have virtually unrolled them using x-rays, the ancient texts remain unreadable.

Enter the Vesuvius Challenge(Opens in a new window).

Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Cue co-founder Daniel Gross, in partnership with University of Kentucky computer science professor Brent Seales, are offering $250,000 in prizes to the first team to read an unopened Herculaneum scroll.

All participants receive the same resources, including 3D x-ray scans of two unopened Herculaneum scrolls, scans and images of three papyrus fragments, and “the current best tools and techniques” for virtually unwrapping scrolls. The first team to read four passages from two intact scrolls—using machine learning, computer vision, or machine-assisted tools—will earn $150,000.

As an added incentive for contestants to solve subproblems and release their work (not to mention attract more participants), there are opportunities to win Progress Prizes up to $100,000 along the way.

The creators, whose objective is to “make history,” believe an open competition “will accelerate progress and enable us to achieve this goal in 2023,” according to the challenge website.

Contestants and “interested onlookers” are encouraged to join the dedicated Vesuvius Challenge Discord server(Opens in a new window) and follow @scrollprize on Twitter(Opens in a new window) for updates.