A “bionic eye scan” of an ancient, burned scroll points to Plato's long-lost tomb
A research team's “bionic eye” decoded thousands of new words hidden inside ancient scroll charred during the eruption of Vesuvius– and the new text points to the long-lost, potential final resting place of the philosopher Plato.
The 1,800-scroll collection, housed on the property now known as the “Villa of the Papyri,” was burned almost instantly during the historic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, before being buried in layers of pumice and ash was buried. The latest discovery is part of ongoing global efforts The focus was on the ancient Greek library, believed to have belonged to Julius Caesar's father-in-law.
Although the text treasure was rediscovered in 1792, it remained almost completely inaccessible due to the fragility of the carbonized parchment and blackened writing. However, in recent years, contributors to projects such as Vesuvius Challenge have been working to finally uncover the potentially invaluable information contained in the charred artifacts. In February, the project's organizers announced that one team had been successful 2,000 characters translated Within a scroll through a combination of machine learning software and computer vision programming. Now a separate group's “bionic eye” has discovered even more.
(Related: 2,000 new characters from a burnt ancient Greek scroll deciphered with AI.)
According to the Italian news agency ANSAExperts used infrared hyperspectral imaging alongside a relatively new approach called optical coherence tomography (OCT) to see through the carbonized material. OCT uses high-resolution cross-sectional images, most commonly used by optometrists to photograph the back of the eye. In this case, however, the combination of the two tools allowed researchers to bypass the carbon layers to read much of the scroll, discovering faint evidence of handwriting that the human eye can no longer detect.
Now it appears the team has helped solve a major mystery in the history of philosophy – the location of Plato's tomb. According to the translation of the section, it appears that Plato was eventually buried in a garden near a shrine to the muses at the Platonic Academy in Athens. Furthermore, the text describes the central philosopher's last night before he supposedly succumbed to illness. Plato, suffering from a high fever, was unfortunately not a fan of a nearby musician's attempt to comfort him by playing “sweet notes” on the flute. According to the scroll, he even went so far as to criticize her “poor sense of rhythm.”
The section also provides a revised timeline of Plato's life, stating that the philosopher lived in either 404 or 399 B.C.E. was sold into slavery. Before the new discovery, historians believed that he lived in 387 BC. was enslaved.
The researchers don't stop there either. As Interesting technology notes that the team will use its “bionic eye” for further scans through 2026, while the Vesuvius Challenge will pursue its own methods to gain even more insight into the scrolls.
