Herculaneum papyri

As Herculanensische papyri (also Herculaneum papyri, Latin papyri Herculanenses, PHerc abbreviated. ) Are papyri from Roman antiquity known that discovers 1752-1754 during excavations at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The 1792 papyri are now in the National Library of Naples.

Apart from the papyri of Herculaneum hardly ancient papyri are preserved. Due to their preservation is the spillage of the city by lava and ash due to an outbreak of the volcano Vesuvius in the year 79 The papyri contain mainly of Epicurus and Philodemus of Gadara writings.

Discovery

The papyri were found during excavations between October 1752 and August 25, 1754 19. They were in a small room in the Villa of the Papyri was later named after this discovery.

Preservation

It is believed that the papyrus obtained due to the action of heat and are still legible. As lava and ash buried the town, they were exposed to a high temperature of about 300 degrees Celsius, causing the decomposition of their organic material was prevented. The deformations of the scrolls can be explained by the pressure of 25 to 30 m high lava and ash layer.

Unrolling and deciphering

Since their discovery, several methods have been developed and applied to unroll the already damaged papyrus scrolls.