( CNN ) In A.D. 79 , Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum . Almost 2,000 years later , researchers may be on the brink of reading some of the charred scrolls damaged in the eruption . The scrolls , which were buried in a Herculaneum library and excavated 260 years ago , are easily damaged or destroyed by unwrapping , so researchers have been unable to read them without risk . But by using X-ray phase contrast tomography -- a 3-D technique used in medicine for soft biological tissue -- they have been able to reveal writing on the tightly wrapped scrolls without unrolling them , wrote a team led by Vito Mocella of the Naples-based Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems of the National Council of Research . Their research was described in the journal Nature Communications . `` This attempt opens up new opportunities to read many Herculaneum papyri , which are still rolled up , thus enhancing our knowledge of ancient Greek literature and philosophy , '' they wrote . The Herculaneum library , which was uncovered in the 1750s , is the only ancient library to survive with its books , the researchers point out . The scrolls are primarily philosophical texts . The team looked at two scrolls given to Napoleon in 1802 , burnt by volcanic gases reaching about 600 degrees Fahrenheit , and were able to discern a handful of Greek letters through the X-ray technology . Though difficult to make out , `` the letters are there in relief , because the ink is still on the top ( of the papyrus ) , '' Mocella told the BBC . There 's still a long way to go to completely read the texts of the scrolls , but scholars are optimistic . One of them , the University of Michigan 's Richard Janko , told The New York Times we might find works thought lost to history . `` This technology , when perfected , does open the way to rediscovering a lot more ancient literature , '' he said .
X-ray technique used in medicine helps reveal ancient writing . Work on Herculaneum scrolls has promise for scholars .