Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative proposes to develop tools and techniques leading to the systematic digital documentation and new electronic publication of cuneiform sources. Despite the 150 years that have passed since first decipherment of cuneiform many basic research tools remain to be developed that will allow this material to be studied in depth by specialists and generally made available to the public. This project, conducted in close collaboration with a number of organizations (including the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the California Digital Library) will: Create virtual archives of widely dispersed early cuneiform tablets Implement an integrative platform of data presentation combining raster, vector and 3D imaging with text translation and markup Establish for collaborating museums a lasting archive procedure for fragile and often decaying collection of cuneiform records The project's dataset will be built using platform-independent text encoding and markup conventions and linked to accurate, high-resolution images. Typologies and extensive glossaries of technical terms will be included, later supplemented by linguistic tools for accessing the primary sources by non-specialists.