American Friends of Herculaneum
promoting appreciation for herculaneum

The American Friends of Herculaneum (the AFoH) are scholars, students, docents, and amateurs of all levels interested in the ancient culture, the volcanic catastrophe, and scientific rediscovery of Herculaneum. Formally incorporated in 2012 and directly affiliated with the UK Friends of Herculaneum Society (est. Oxford 2004), our common objectives are:

to advance the education of the public concerning Herculaneum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
to promote research on Herculaneum, including the continued investigation of the Villa of the Papyri, and the publication of important research
to promote the conservation, for the benefit of the public, of artefacts and buildings at Herculaneum

We hope you'll join us!

Supporting High Quality Scholarship

The AFoH Board proudly supports annually graduate and undergraduate research fellowships.
Applications for 2025 are due 1 March.

The AFoH are proudly contributing to the forthcoming film by Jon Dunham of La Roma Films, an NEH-funded documentary about the next-generation technology being applied to the Herculaneum Papyri.

Why join the American Friends?

The AFoH promote public awareness of issues pertaining to Herculaneum.
We support students of papyrology, archaeology, history, and classical philology, and all who have even amateur interest in ancient Herculaneum benefit from membership.
Annual meetings, semi-annual publications of the newsletter, and on-site visits to Naples and Herculaneum arranged every other year (next in September 2022) keep AFoH members up to date and well connected.
All donations and membership subscriptions are tax deductible. Join here, or send email to "herculaneum at byu.edu".

Where We've Been

AFoH scholars lecture regularly in prominent venues
from Malibu to Boston and beyond.
Their study of Herculaneum takes them even farther afield.
Above, Ambra Spinelli, AFoH Scholar 2016, takes measurements
for her doctoral thesis in the Casa di Tramezzo di Legno.

AFoH Scholar 2020 Marzia D'Angelo has recently published a substantial edition of Philodemus On the Gods (De Dis) with a stunning, novel facsimile maquette of all the fragments informing her work. (Naples: Bibliopolis, 2023) AFoH board member Michael McOsker contributed to Dr D'Angelo's scholarly project.

Actively Fostering Young Scholars

We resume 2025 AFoH Scholarships (call for submissions)

Three 2023 AFoH Scholarships were awarded:
Marissa Bischoff (Brigham Young University),
Tara Wells (Duke University), and
Rory McLennan (University of Queensland)

Each is pursuing exciting, new work in the study of ancient Herculaneum. Read their reports, accessing them by clicking on the names above or
in Herculaneum Archaeology.

The American Friends of Herculaneum since 2018 have sponsored two to three annual scholarships for graduate and undergraduate students of ancient Herculaneum. The awards are typically announced in early Spring, and funding is typically available by April. Contact by email herculaneum@byu.edu for further information.

Above, Katy Knortz, AFoH Scholar 2018, studies pottery remains at Cappabiancha, Pollena Trocchia (NA) alongside other participants in the Apolline Project.

Quid novi?

Vesuvius Challenge:
The American Friends of Herculaneum endorse
The Scroll Prize, a machine learning and computer vision
competition to read the Herculaneum Papyri.
The Prize is $1,000,000.
Click here for detailed information.

Drunken Satyr, bronze found at Villa dei Papiri (1754), NM 5628

American Friends of Herculaneum promoting appreciation for herculaneum