Using optical imaging, thermal imaging and tomography, researchers have identified 1,000 words, or roughly 30 per cent of the text written by Philodemus.
The Crosby-Schoyen Codex - written in Coptic on papyrus around 250-350 AD, and produced in one of the first Christian monasteries - has an estimated sale value of $2.6 million to $3.8 million, according to Christie s.
Papyrus, writing material of ancient times and also the plant from which it was derived. The papyrus plant was long cultivated in the Nile delta region in Egypt and was collected for its stalk or stem, whose central pith was cut into thin strips, pressed together, and dried to form a smooth thin writing surface.
Artificial intelligence and two students half a world apart have deciphered the first word from ancient scrolls that were turned to charcoal and buried for nearly 2,000 years.