Scientists to give $ 250,000 to the person who will use modern technology to decipher 2000-year-old manuscript

Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and a group of scholars have announced the Vesuvius Challenge, whereby they will award a person or team $ 250,000 for deciphering a 2000-year-old manuscript.

First, participants must use modern technology to decipher X-rays of two scrolls with a resolution of 8 microns and scans and images of pieces of papyrus from the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum. The unique findings belong to the Institut Français in Paris.

If the participants' methodology proves successful and they are able to solve the first part of the scrolls, the Vesuvius Challenge team will give them access to the other half of the artifacts.

In total, the winning team will have to read four passages of text from the inside of the scrolls to win the grand prize. The work will be evaluated by a group of papyrologists. Users interested in participating in the competition can download the scroll data files and papyrus fragments on the Vesuvius Challenge website, and all applications must be submitted by 23:59 on December 31, 2023.