On The Scroll Prize:
The objective of the Vesuvius Challenge is to make history by reading an unopened Herculaneum scroll for the very first time. We believe that an open competition will accelerate progress and enable us to achieve this goal in 2023.
The Vesuvius Challenge isn't just an interesting contest in the machine learning realm; it's a groundbreaking endeavor that could redefine our understanding of the humanities if successful. The opportunity to digitally unroll and read the Herculaneum Papyri could offer unprecedented insights into ancient civilizations and the total feedstock of civilization today. This is not merely about filling in some historical gaps; it’s about fundamentally altering how we understand antiquity and, by extension, our own intellectual heritage.
The loss of the Library of Alexandria has long been considered a "dark age" event for intellectual progress. Now, consider the Herculaneum library—a collection of papyri from a villa once owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law, carbonized but preserved by the Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD. Hundreds of these scrolls are unreadable because their carbon-based ink blends in with the carbonized papyrus, and thus are invisible to conventional imaging techniques. Yet, these scrolls are quite possibly on the cusp of revelation.
Recent developments have introduced machine learning and high-resolution X-ray scans as methods for reading these "unreadable" scrolls. What texts do they contain? Treatises on science and philosophy? The lost books of Livy? The epic cycle? Governmental policies like the Twelve Tables? It’s a tantalizing question because whatever is locked in those scrolls could be an unfiltered look at the Roman Empire—an empire that fundamentally influenced the trajectory of Western culture, religion, governance, and philosophy.
Ponder a history of Rome that has not been retouched by myriadic emperors, by Constantine's Christianity, or the interpretive lens of the Roman Catholic Church. Unmediated accounts of Roman society, unaltered by the layers of religious and political power that came later, could rewrite our textbooks and shift the justification of history. It’s not just about enriching our understanding of ancient civilizations; this could be a cornerstone on which to build a fresh philosophical understanding of human society.
If the project succeeds, there will be repercussions in the academic realm. The humanities have long struggled to justify their existence in a world that increasingly prizes STEM and lacks any novel sources for the classical world. Suddenly, there could be a concrete, urgent task at hand: to decode, interpret, and integrate an influx of new knowledge. The Vesuvius Challenge could revitalize the field, offering an unforeseen but compelling reason for its study. In essence, it provides a utilitarian justification for the humanities, one that transcends 'cultural enrichment' and enters the realm of 'historical redefinition.'
The Vesuvius Challenge could be the hinge upon which history swings, yielding intellectual treasure that could be as groundbreaking as the writings that were lost in Alexandria. For millennia, those scrolls have remained unread. Now, it's a software problem. That's not just a challenge; it’s an imperative.
The presence of specific works in the Herculaneum Papyri could dramatically impact our understanding of major historical events.
In particular for me, I pray that the biography of Herod the Great by Nicholas of Damascus is discovered intact. While mainstream accounts generally portray the life of Herod within the context of Roman patronage and Judaean politics, uncovering a contemporary account by a close intimate (and used as a primary source by Josephus) would offer fresh, unmediated insights into his rule and its socio-political intricacies. Chronologies of the life of Jesus could be explicitly validated or disproved.
The relevance here is far from academic. Consider the following naturalistic hypothesis: that the inception and rise of Christianity was entirely a dynastic struggle within the Hasmonean-Herodian line. What if the tale of Jesus is, in essence, a dramatized, mystified rendition of a 1st-century dynastic conflict, one that was subsequently co-opted and transformed into a religious narrative by an early form of conspiratorial thinking? Something like a 1st-century version of Q-anon, distorting real events to serve an alternative, concealed agenda in the aftermath of the First Jewish-Roman War.
Unveiling a document like Nicholas of Damascus' biography could be groundbreaking in testing such a hypothesis. If Herod's life and rule were detailed without the religious overlays that later Christian interpretations bring into the picture, one could make more definitive assertions about the socio-political environment of the time. Furthermore, it could provide concrete evidence to either substantiate or refute theories about Christianity's emergence as a byproduct of a Herodian-Hasmonean power struggle.
The fact that such a theory could be *tested* is significant in its own right. Traditionally, discussions about early Christianity rely heavily on religious texts and subsequent historical accounts, many of which are fraught with dogma and ideological interpretations. A primary source devoid of such influences would be a game-changer, offering a baseline of raw data from which more accurate and reliable hypotheses could be drawn.
And it's not limited solely to Christianity. Rabbinic Judaism could have equally monumental implications as a result. The owner of the villa, likely a wealthy Roman, would be unlikely to have had any primary Hebrew texts like the Pentateuch. However, that doesn't rule out the possibility of possessing Greek or Latin works discussing Jewish culture, beliefs, and politics. Given the villa's historical context, it's conceivable that there might be indirect ethnographic accounts from the period surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD but before the Council of Jamnia, traditionally dated around 90 AD, which helped canonize Hebrew scriptures.
Why is this important? The Council of Jamnia is often cited as a crucial moment for the development of Rabbinic Judaism. It allegedly led to the fixing of the Hebrew Bible canon and crystallized what would become Talmudic tradition. If documents were to surface that provide a snapshot of Judaic thought and practice just before this council, it could upend millennia of precedent and identity.
In a broader context, discovering pre-Jamnia ethnographic sources could significantly change our understanding of how Judaism adapted and evolved in the aftermath of the Second Temple's destruction. This could lead to far-reaching questions. How much of the Talmudic tradition was actually a post-hoc rationalization or systematization of beliefs and practices that were far more fluid before the Council of Jamnia? How much anti-Romanism was pared away to prevent suppression? Moreover, how would such a revelation interact with or even challenge the validity of current Rabbinic and Orthodox Jewish practices?
The implications for the Judeo-Christian heritage as a whole are staggering. If both Christianity and Judaism could be traced back explicitly to politically or socially motivated machinations, rather than divinely inspired or time-honored traditions, the entire foundation of Judeo-Christian culture would come into question. In essence, the Vesuvius Challenge has the potential to destabilize two of the world’s major religious traditions at their historical roots. It is difficult to overstate the potential impacts.
The Vesuvius Challenge is not just an academic or technological endeavor. Its success could instigate an unparalleled epistemological crisis in religious studies and the humanities. It provides the opportunity to re-examine, with primary sources, the historical foundations of Western religious, cultural, and ultimately political traditions. We're not just potentially rewriting history here; we're reevaluating the very frameworks through which that history has been understood.
I don't regret reading that.
The scrolls we have now may be just the beginning. When part of the Villa of the Papyri was cleared in the 1990s, archaeologists realized that the building was much larger than previously thought, with two unexcavated levels. At the very least, these floors likely contain more papyri in cabinets and carrying cases. And it’s probable that they conceal a far greater treasure.
The full size of the villa, with potentially a much bigger library; drawn by Rocío Espín (source)
We have not yet found the villa’s main library, which would have contained a much wider range of Greek and Latin literature. That library, with its thousands or even tens of thousands of scrolls, must still be buried. If those texts are discovered, and if even a small fraction can still be read, they will transform our knowledge of classical life and literature on a scale not seen since the Renaissance.
Holy shit
Man it would be cool if these scrolls contained works of fiction written by romans.
The Golden Ass is kino, but sadly its the only surviving novel from the period
Gaius Asinius Pollio is my second sought-after author. He "was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic, and historian, whose lost contemporary history provided much of the material used by the historians Appian and Plutarch. Pollio was most famously a patron of Virgil and a friend of Horace and had poems dedicated to him by both men."
He was a close friend of Augustus and was the mentor of one of the son's of Herod the Great, Alexander:
The unfortunate fate which persistently pursued the Hasmonean house overtook this prince also. As heir presumptive to the throne by right of descent on his mother's side, he was sent to Rome for his education in the year 23 BC. He remained there in the household of Asinius Pollio until about the year 17 BC, when Herod himself brought him and his younger brother Aristobulus, who had been with him, home to Jerusalem.
Alexander's handsome presence and frank bearing made him a favorite with the people, and they longed for the day when the house of the Maccabees should mount the throne instead of the half-Jewish Herod. But, on the other hand, a certain degree of vanity and a spirit of vindictiveness, which marked him no less than his prepossessing qualities, rendered him extremely unpopular with the partisans of Herod, who had much to fear from a future King Alexander.
Alexander's father was Herod the Great, the builder of the Second Temple. His mother was Mariamne I, the last Hasmonean princess. During the period prior to his birth, Herod the Great killed all the male scions of the Hasmonean dynasty. He then entrusted custody of Mariamne to an elder family member, Joseph, when Herod was recalled to Rome with instructions for Joseph to execute Mariamne if Rome killed him (source: Josephus). When *false* reports returned of Herod's death, Joseph fled with Mariamne out of Jerusalem. Herod suspected Mariamne and Joseph of adultery and had the latter put to death, with Mariamne following years later. Herod the Great later ordered Alexander to be put to death as well.
I intuitively believe that Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews, who was found in his father's temple, who promised his followers a kingdom, was in hiding until Herod the Great died and attempted to become the rightful heir and king, but the Herodians and Romans had him executed in order to continue Roman Judea.
In the aftermath of the First Roman-Jewish War and the deification of Augustus, supporters of the failed King Alexander made a secret history to continue his struggle. "The son of the man" being a grammatically strange construct in Koine Greek was a breadcrumb in the Synoptic Gospels pointing to both Herod the Great and the name "Alexandros."
If Asinius Pollio or Nicholas of Damascus survived in the Herculaneum library, this outlandish theory likely could be directly proved or refuted solely on the basis of either. Given their favored status by the Julian dynasty, they would likely be common works in an aristocratic household. Yet even if not, any contemporary accounts of Roman Judea will likely contain details that will fundamentally change the understanding of the period. The only question then is if they were one of the few scrolls destroyed by early extraction.
Revelation's seven seals might be being broken by the Lamb:
Certain words and phrases used in The Revelation had a clearer meaning to ancient readers familiar with objects of their time. For example, important documents were sent written on a papyrus scroll sealed with several wax seals. Wax seals were typically placed across the opening of a scroll, so that only the proper person, in the presence of witnesses, could open the document. This type of "seal" is frequently used in a figurative sense, in the book of Revelation, and only the Lamb is worthy to break off these seals.
“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the way side are they that hear; then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away. And that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground, are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience. Now no man lighting a candle covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it upon a candlestick, that they who come in may see the light. For there is not any thing secret that shall not be made manifest, nor hidden, that shall not be known and come abroad. Take heed therefore how you hear. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given: and whosoever hath not, that also which he thinketh he hath, shall be taken away from him.” (Luke 8:11-18, DRV)
Only time will tell, but in any case, the Empire Never Ended.
I look forward to hopefully hearing more about this. Anything impacting the historicity of Christ's story is big news. Look at how much impact the works of Josephus had on Christendom. Thanks for bringing this to light.
https://twitter.com/natfriedman/status/1712470683207532906
First word decoded.
It's going to be some consumer complaint about substandard purple dye.
Thiatrian purple off da chain, son.
The prize has been awarded
https://scrollprize.org/grandprize
Apparently it's a text from a dude named Philodemus
The general subject of the text is pleasure, which, properly understood, is the highest good in Epicurean philosophy. In these two snippets from two consecutive columns of the scroll, the author is concerned with whether and how the availability of goods, such as food, can affect the pleasure which they provide.
Do things that are available in lesser quantities afford more pleasure than those available in abundance? Our author thinks not: “as too in the case of food, we do not right away believe things that are scarce to be absolutely more pleasant than those which are abundant.” However, is it easier for us naturally to do without things that are plentiful? “Such questions will be considered frequently.”
Oh that's cool, I like Epicurean philosophy. I can't wait to read it!
I have often wondered if there was not something more to be said about scarcity and demand.
That's ironical, but the scarcity of this type of text (saved from being dust) makes them immediately important. When the whole library will be found, our ability to discern good books from bad books will reactivate.
I feel excited by the fact we can now read a papyrus from the past, that we saved from being nothing, but I can't help to think that the content of it is still insignificant : because it has a special status, due to the situation, it seems very important; excess of instances makes the entire class a bit dull