New scroll CT data released
Also: data server changes, and on this day in 2011...
Scrolls 1B and 2B
We are excited to release more scroll data today! The second halves of Scrolls 1 and 2 are now available on the data server.
Scrolls 1 and 2 are so large, especially by micro-CT standards, that neither of them could be imaged in a single CT scan. They’re each taller than the maximum vertical travel of the movement stage at our favorite particle accelerator. As a result, each of these scrolls was imaged in two overlapping halves.
When we launched Vesuvius Challenge, we released the first half of each scroll - Scrolls 1A and 2A. Today, we are able to release the second halves - Scrolls 1B and 2B!
The segmentation team has created some initial segments to explore 1B that we are also releasing. The above visual shows some of those segments in place on the unrolled Scroll 1, and also indicates the overlap between scroll volumes. There are some new 1A segments too! Here are the new segment IDs:
20240102231959 (1A)
20240110113230 (1A)
20240116164433 (1A)
20240101215220 (1B)
20240109095720 (1B)
We’re working on a merged volume combining both halves for Scroll 1, and possibly for Scroll 2. When that is available, we’ll help transform existing segmentations into the new, larger volume coordinates. For now, feel free to go ahead and explore the second halves as released!
Breaking changes on data server
We changed a few directory names and edited some .json files on our data server. If you want to update your local data copies accordingly, see the details on Discord. We also updated the URLs on our website, but let us know if you find something we missed.
On this day: June 4, 2011
13 years ago today, an imaging team from BYU presented a final set of CDs to the Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples, containing more than 30,000 digitized images of the Herculaneum collection. This work began in 1999, and the multispectral imaging that was performed revolutionized the study of Herculaneum papyri by allowing scholars to more clearly see the text on the fragment surfaces. These are some of the many tall shoulders we stand on as we aspire to create the next revolution in Herculaneum papyrology!