January 1, 2026
Indiana Jones with a GPU
Gemini 3.0 Deciphered the Mystery of a Nuremberg Chronicle Leaf's
AI 'solves' 500-year mystery; fans cheer, skeptics cry hype
TLDR: Gemini 3 Pro reportedly decoded cryptic notes in a 1493 book into an Abraham timeline, impressing many. But the community split fast: fans love the cheap, clever assist, while skeptics flag source credibility and demand expert review, invoking Voynich fatigue—making proof vs hype the real story.
The internet watched Gemini 3 Pro go full AI archaeologist on a lavish 1493 book, the Nuremberg Chronicle, “decoding” four cryptic handwritten circles into a timeline that reconciles Greek vs Hebrew dates for Abraham’s birth—allegedly for just two cents. The post claims the bot read messy Latin shorthand, cross-referenced the printed page, and stitched together a plausible story. Cue the crowd: one side yelled, “This is how you use AI,” while others slammed the brakes hard.
Top drama: @BigTTYGothGF doesn’t buy that “several experts” couldn’t crack it, calling the setup sus. @dhedberg drops Voynich manuscript vibes, warning that flashy AI “solutions” often fall apart on inspection. And @fresh_broccoli goes full hall monitor: rapid upvotes, sketchy blog, AI-generated art—red flags everywhere. Meanwhile, @jgeralnik wants more human commentary over raw bot output, basically asking for a grown‑up in the room.
There were jokes for days: “Indiana Jones with a GPU,” “Abraham’s birth certificate, signed by Gemini,” and memes about paying $0.026 for medieval Latin homework. Even the article admits the AI misread some dates, fueling calls for expert review and provenance. So while some are dazzled by AI’s visual reading superpowers, others demand receipts. The fight isn’t about Abraham—it’s about proof vs hype.
Key Points
- •A 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle leaf contains four handwritten circular marginal notes whose meaning had been unclear.
- •Five images (two-page spread plus four roundel zooms) were input to Gemini 3 Pro with High Media Resolution for analysis.
- •Gemini 3 Pro proposed the roundels form a conversion table reconciling Septuagint and Hebrew Bible chronologies for Abraham’s birth.
- •The AI transcribed and translated Latin abbreviations, tied them to the printed page, and derived Anno Mundi and BC dates (e.g., AM 3184).
- •Despite some misread dates, the article claims the AI delivered the first plausible explanation of the annotations; cost was ~$0.026008.