Revealing letters in rolled Herculaneum papyri by X-ray phase-contrast imaging.

Vito Mocella,Daniel Delattre,Claudio Ferrero,Emmanuel Brun

doi:10.1038/ncomms6895

Abstract

Hundreds of papyrus rolls, buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and belonging to the only library passed on from Antiquity, were discovered 260 years ago at Herculaneum. These carbonized papyri are extremely fragile and are inevitably damaged or destroyed in the process of trying to open them to read their contents. In recent years, new imaging techniques have been developed to read the texts without unwrapping the rolls. Until now, specialists have been unable to view the carbon-based ink of these papyri, even when they could penetrate the different layers of their spiral structure. Here for the first time, we show that X-ray phase-contrast tomography can reveal various letters hidden inside the precious papyri without unrolling them. This attempt opens up new opportunities to read many Herculaneum papyri, which are still rolled up, thus enhancing our knowledge of ancient Greek literature and philosophy.

Highlights

Hundreds of papyrus rolls, buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and belonging to the only library passed on from Antiquity, were discovered 260 years ago at Herculaneum
After a first discovery of papyrus rolls in 1752, in 1754, from late February through August, an entire library was discovered in a small room of a huge villa containing hundreds of handwritten carbonized papyrus scrolls carefully stored in shelves covering its walls
Our results show that X-ray phase-contrast tomography (XPCT) is the first non-destructive technique that enables us to read many Greek letters and some words in the interiors of rolled-up Herculaneum papyri without impairing their physical integrity, as the previous unrolling techniques had done

Summary

Introduction

Hundreds of papyrus rolls, buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and belonging to the only library passed on from Antiquity, were discovered 260 years ago at Herculaneum. 6), in 1754 (refs 5,7,8), from late February through August, an entire library was discovered in a small room of a huge villa (thought by some to have belonged to the wealthy Roman statesman Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus9) containing hundreds of handwritten carbonized papyrus scrolls carefully stored in shelves covering its walls. This rich book collection, consisting principally of Epicurean philosophical texts, is a unique cultural treasure, as it is the only ancient library to survive together with its books. These techniques are not applicable to texts that remain rolled-up due to the superposition of papyrus layers and the weak penetration of most types of radiation exploited by multispectral techniques

Methods

Results

Conclusion