Peer inside the Herculaneum scroll for the first time in 2,000 years

Scientists used x-ray scanning, ink-detection software and AI to virtually unfurl a 'badly burnt' manuscript that was charred during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 .

The Herculaneum scrolls are thought to contain profound philosophical and literary texts from ancient Greek and Roman scholars.

The problem is that any attempts to unroll the burnt cylinders will turn them to dust because they are fragile meaning the words would be lost forever.

A few hundred scrolls were excavated that were never opened, and remain rolled up with their contents sealed away.

In 1756 , Abbot Piagio invented a machine that could unroll a single manuscript in four years .

In the early 1800s , PHerc.172 and other scrolls were given to the future George IV of England by Ferdinand IV, the king of Naples and Sicily .

Modern attempts have focused on digital methods to read the texts without physically unrolling the papyri to prevent damage.

The discovery has been hailed as a 'complete novelty' - and the Italian Culture Ministry hopes they can be restored and opened to the public. Upper stores have seldom been found among the ruins of the ancient town, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six meters of ash and volcanic rubble. Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still being discovered to this day ..