Villa dei Papiri

THE SCROLLS

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The villa is named after the over 1800 papyrus scrolls that were discovered in the villa. The scrolls had been burned and charred by the eruption, but they were all encased. That, along with the volcanic ash, actually helped semi-preserve the scrolls. 

When first attempted to be unrolled, the scrolls fell apart. However, a priest named Antonio Piaggio created a machine to unroll the scrolls. This allowed them to be read. New technology has advanced the reading of the scrolls even further using a method called multi-spectral imaging, which uses both infrared and ultraviolet light to read the text. 

Once the scrolls were able to be read, archaeologists discovered that the majority of them consisted of Epicurean philosophy by Philodemus. Epicurean philosophy taught the idea that man is mortal, and it emphasized pleasure as a means of obtaining a good life.