Vesuvius Challenge 2023 Grand Prize awarded: we can read the scrolls! | Vesuvius Challenge

One-liner

Winners of the 2023 Vesuvius Challenge Grand Prize decrypted a 2000-year-old scroll revealing Epicurean philosophy on pleasure, music, and food, marking an extraordinary achievement in virtual papyrus unrolling.

Key insights

  • Discovery of Scrolls: The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD carbonized ancient papyri, with over 800 scrolls stored in Naples, Italy. Traditional unrolling risked damage, prompting the Vesuvius Challenge in 2023.
  • Challenge and Success: Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and Brent Seales organized the challenge to decipher the scrolls, with a global community leveraging machine learning and computer vision. Winners Youssef Nader, Luke Farritor, and Julian Schilliger unveiled remarkable text, earning the $700,000 Grand Prize.
  • Finding Philosophy: The recovered scrolls delve into Epicurean philosophy on pleasure, presenting unreleased text focused on life’s pleasures, the availability of goods, and comparisons with Stoicism. The discovery hints at further works yet to be revealed from the scrolls.

Key quotes

  1. "The thoughts of our ancestors, locked in mud and ash for 2000 years, hidden in darkness — now, with the light of a worldwide effort shining upon them, finally seen again."
  2. "Epicureanism says hi, with a text full of music, food, senses, and pleasure!" - Federica Nicolardi
  3. "Scholars might call it a philosophical treatise. But it seems familiar to us, and we can’t escape the feeling that the first text we’ve uncovered is a 2000-year-old blog post about how to enjoy life." - Unnamed Scholar

Make it stick

  1. Unveiling the Vesuvius Challenge Grand Prize unveiled 2000-year-old scrolls, offering insights into ancient Epicurean philosophy on pleasure, food, and music.
  2. Machine learning and global collaboration allowed for the decryption of carbonized papyri, leading to a historical breakthrough.
  3. The scrolls hold untold treasures waiting to be unveiled, promising a revolution in classical literature studies and insights into ancient civilizations.
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