Tablet Collection Research Articles

THE REPATRIATION OF GILGAMESH DREAM TABLET: REBUILDING THE IRAQI RELIGIOUS LEGACY

The Epic of Gilgamesh, a 3600-year 12-tablet collection, was looted from an Iraqi museum during the 1991 Gulf War, and fraudulently imported into the United States. In September, 2021, UNESCO facilitated its repatriation to Iraq, which is seen as an occasion to consolidate Iraq’s efforts to rebuild its legacy, since the Epic of Gilgamesh is of immense cultural, historical and religious value for Iraq The current study examines the Epic of Gilgamesh in the light of the ancient Sumerian and Akkadian traditions. This collection of tablets carries a great legacy of the contemporary Babylonian and Mesopotamian beliefs and socio-religious values, also evident in the use of cuneiform and clay tablets, being ancient forms of writings. The study made use of content analysis and historical and analytical approaches to retrieve data through a documentation research design. The study found that the Epic of Gilgamesh is not only a work of religious literature, but a treatise on civilization. On one hand it narrates the stories engrained in the Mesopotamian mythology, such as those of Ninsun, Shamash and Utnapishtim; on the other hand, owing to its content, literary style and tone, characterization and symbolism, this study would be a great contribution to relive the story of Gilgamesh from current literary, and socio-religious perspective and provide a comprehensive account of the legacy and inheritance that it brings in for the modern generation.

Tracing Regime Change during the Transition from the Neo-Babylonian to the Achaemenid Empire at Nippur: Reconstruction of Archives Excavated in 1889

It is generally assumed that the takeover of Babylonia by the Persian king Cyrus II in 539 BC went relatively smoothly. The current study suggests that at Nippur there might have been hitherto overlooked changes among the higher-ranking officials during the transition of 539 BC. A collection of Neo-Babylonian tablets from the ‘Tablet Hill’ at Nippur is analyzed and its original trench of excavation is pinpointed on the map of the site. Focusing on several dossiers of tablets at ‘Tablet Hill’ from the time of transition around 539 BC it can be shown that further insights can be gained from the unpublished archaeological documentation.

Encountering Ancient Environments

This article surveys different textual genres from Hittite tablet collections of Hattusa (Boğazköy/Boğazkale) and Tapikka (Maşat Höyük) with the goal of exploring specific instances where one can detect human responses, strategies, and adaptations in the face of the active presence and behavior of ancient nonhuman animals (henceforth animals). The examples under study explore the animal side of human-animal encounters and involve locusts, wolves, pigs, dogs, donkeys, horses, sheep, and cattle. They reveal the existence of at least two main interrelated modes through which these animals impacted human behavior. One exhibits animal competition with humans for food, leading ancient Anatolian populations to devise strategies to minimize their impact on nearby resources. The other reflects that the behavior of certain animals encouraged practices of containment, regulation, mobility, and care, depicting, overall, key features of how animals shaped the daily life of ancient Anatolia’s human inhabitants.

Deep learning of cuneiform sign detection with weak supervision using transliteration alignment.

The cuneiform script provides a glimpse into our ancient history. However, reading age-old clay tablets is time-consuming and requires years of training. To simplify this process, we propose a deep-learning based sign detector that locates and classifies cuneiform signs in images of clay tablets. Deep learning requires large amounts of training data in the form of bounding boxes around cuneiform signs, which are not readily available and costly to obtain in the case of cuneiform script. To tackle this problem, we make use of existing transliterations, a sign-by-sign representation of the tablet content in Latin script. Since these do not provide sign localization, we propose a weakly supervised approach: We align tablet images with their corresponding transliterations to localize the transliterated signs in the tablet image, before using these localized signs in place of annotations to re-train the sign detector. A better sign detector in turn boosts the quality of the alignments. We combine these steps in an iterative process that enables training a cuneiform sign detector from transliterations only. While our method works weakly supervised, a small number of annotations further boost the performance of the cuneiform sign detector which we evaluate on a large collection of clay tablets from the Neo-Assyrian period. To enable experts to directly apply the sign detector in their study of cuneiform texts, we additionally provide a web application for the analysis of clay tablets with a trained cuneiform sign detector.

A Hittite Scribal Tradition Predating the Tablet Collections of Ḫattuša?

Abstract This article discusses the origins of a group of four Hittite OS tablets, which share some unique and peculiar features with respect to their shape, spelling conventions and palaeography. It argues that these four tablets are the oldest documents of the Hittite corpus, and that they were not created in Ḫattuša, but have been imported from elsewhere. Originally, they belonged to an older writing tradition, predating the establishment of Ḫattuša as the Hittite capital. This implies that the royal tablet collections in Ḫattuša do not reflect the very first beginnings of Hittite cuneiform, but only the start of a royal administration there. The typical Hittite ductus was already created in the 18th century BCE – in Kuššara, Nēša or elsewhere in Anatolia.

Magnitude and factors associated with adherence to Iron and folic acid supplementation among pregnant women in Aykel town, Northwest Ethiopia

IntroductionPhysiological changes during pregnancy, foetal growth and development increase the requirement for Iron and Folic Acid. The increased demand of these nutrients is not meet through diet alone due to decreased bioavailability of nutrients during pregnancy. In 2004, Ethiopia adopted the global Iron and Folic Acid supplementation strategy targeting to reduce the prevalence of Iron deficiency anemia in women of reproductive age and children under five, by one third. However, the prevalence of anemia remains high and only 5% of pregnant women took Iron and Folic Acid tablets for 90 days or more during their most recent pregnancy in Ethiopia. Therefore, we conducted this study to assess the magnitude and associated factors of adherence to Iron and Folic Acid supplementation during pregnancy.MethodsA facility based cross sectional study was conducted from February to May, 2018 among pregnant women in Northwest Ethiopia. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select 418 study subjects. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed to identify predictor variables.ResultsRate of adherence to Iron and Folic Acid supplementation among pregnant women was 47.6%. Pregnant women who had a past history of abortion, knowledge of anemia and received health education were more likely to be adherent with Iron and Folic Acid supplementation. Furthermore, knowledge about benefits of the supplement and not facing any problem in the health facilities during Iron and Folic Acid tablet collection were factors associated with Iron and Folic Acid supplementation adherence.ConclusionsRate of adherence to Iron and Folic Acid supplementation was low in Aykel town. Therefore, strengthening and promoting health education, creating awareness and avoiding discouraging conditions in health facilities during tablet collection are very crucial to improve and increase the low rate of Iron and Folic Acid supplementation adherence in the study area.

Development of a Multi-Disciplinary Database of Cuneiform Tablets – an Improvement of 3D Models and Data Re-use

This contribution describes a digitized cuneiform tablet collection based on a complex database architecture that integrates several scientific domains of data obtained from various types of analyses. The system enables creating 3D enhanced digital models, coupling data from science and humanities to pose complex queries. Attention is also paid to the possibilities of re-use of the acquired data.

M. Rutz, Bodies of Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia. The Diviners of Late Bronze Age Emar and their Tablet Collection , Ancient Magic and Divination 9, Leyde/Boston, 2013

M. Rutz, Bodies of Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia. The Diviners of Late Bronze Age Emar and their Tablet Collection , Ancient Magic and Divination 9, Leyde/Boston, 2013

TABLETTES DE LA COLLECTION DE MICHEL DE GENOUILLAC

Henri de Genouillac (1881–1940), one of the leading Assyriologists of his time, owned a collection of cuneiform tablets and inscribed artefacts. On his death, it was divided into two parts. Whereas the majority of these objects were bequeathed to the Musée des Antiquités in Rouen, his native city, a smaller part remained the property of his nephew, Michel de Genouillac. The present paper, which offers the publication of the latter, also aims to reconstruct its history. The Michel de Genouillac collection consists of 20 Ur III tablets (9 from Puzriš-Dagan, 10 from Girsu, 1 of uncertain origin), 1 clay cone with an inscription of Gudea and 5 Sargonic administrative tablets from Girsu.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY INFORMATION SYSTEM OF ASSYRIAN CUNEIFORM TABLETS ENHANCING NEW RESEARCH POSSIBILITIES VIA HETEROGENEOUS DATA IN RECORDS

Abstract. This paper outlines recently started project dedicated to creation and development of information system for cuneiform tablets. The contribution deals with the architecture of a virtual collection of cuneiform tablets, conceived as a complex system combining and integrating several domains of information obtained from various types of analyses. The research team includes experts from the field of collection conservation with philologists and researchers in the 3D scanning and physical measurement. Multidisciplinary databases like the one described, represent a new tool in digital humanities and help to improve accessibility of collections to public and researchers.

Effectiveness of tablet family history collection in a multidisciplinary pancreatic tumor clinic in identifying patients with risk factors for hereditary cancer.

e13020 Background: A substantial percentage of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) harbor pathogenic germline variants in known cancer risk genes, some with relevance for treatment options. Robust collection of relevant personal and family cancer history risk factors for all patients with PDAC is needed to optimize identification of those who could benefit from genetic counseling and testing (GC/GT). Methods: 464 adult patients (≥18 years of age) presenting to a multi-disciplinary pancreatic tumor clinic were invited to complete a tablet based family cancer history survey prior to their clinic appointments. Standard family history entry into electronic medical record (EMR) was reviewed for comparison. Eight GC/CT referral criteria were developed based on existing guidelines for known syndromes associated with PDAC, reported findings from studies of GC/GT outcomes in patients with PDAC, and expert opinion. Presence of any of the 8 criteria were documented for both tablet and EMR collection methods in the subset of patients with PDAC (n = 230). Results: Completion rate for the tablet survey was high (87%). 78% of users completed the survey in ≤15 minutes (x̄ = 12 minutes). 202 patients with PDAC (88%) completed the tablet survey, and 100 (50%) met ≥1 GC/GT criteria. Most frequent criteria identified were: ≥2 relatives with related cancers (28%); ≥1 relative with PDAC (12.9%); personal history of related cancer (12.9%). Tablet data collection improved identification of relatives with breast cancer ca < age 50 from 1.5% to 5.5% due to missing ages at diagnosis in the EMR. The tablet survey also identified 12 patients with Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) ancestry (6%), a risk factor not accounted for in EMR. Conclusions: Tablet based family cancer history collection is well accepted by patients and easily integrated into clinic work flow. The tablet survey found GC/GT criteria in 50%, and improved identification of key risk factors for BRCA1/2 mutation (AJ ancestry, relative with breast ca < age 50). Further work should focus on integration of tablet based survey data into EMR, and decision support tools to optimize referral and follow through with genetic services.

A Medico-Magical Text from the Otago Tablets, Dunedin New Zealand

Abstract: Published here for the first time is the jewel of the cuneiform tablet collection of the Otago Museum in Dunedin, New Zealand. This tablet, E2014.62 preserves a rather unique exemplar of the medico-magical corpus. The obverse gives prescriptions against Lamaštu while the reverse preserves what seem to be a related ritual and accompanying incantations. The very bottom of the reverse provides a drawing of a human-type figure with a goat-like head, which we tentatively identify with “an oath with the feet of a goat”.

Åke W. Sjöberg

Memorial article over Orientalist and Near Eastern philologist Ake Waldemar Sjoberg, 1924–2014. Born in Sala, Sweden, educated in Uppsala and Heidelberg, active as professor and researcher in Chicago and Philadelphia. Curator of the Tablet Collections of the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Editor of the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary.

LA COLLEZIONE DI TAVOLETTE DEL COMPLESSO B-C-H DI BÜYÜKKALE

More than 400 texts come from the buildings B, C and H on the Büyükkale. The earliest tablets date from the Old Hittite period and almost all genres are documented. This paper represents the first attempt to study this tablet collection.

The aesthetics of libraries and reading rooms.

Libraries are a permanent feature in the cultural history of the world. The earliest, being collections of clay tablets, date back to 2600 BC (1). Library buildings were features in early town planning, in towns such as the Hellenistic Pergamum in Anatolia (today's Turkey) and Alexandria in Egypt (third to first centuries BC), both collections being widely famous in the ancient world. It is said that there were 28 libraries in Rome in the fourth century (1). After the fall of the Roman Empire, monasteries became the most significant book repositories. The books were collected and copied there from the seventh century onwards, but spectacular Baroque libraries were built in Benedictine monasteries as late as the 18th century. In parallel, from around the 11th century, libraries appeared in the new institutions: the universities. They became central to universities, and today often are an integral part of the image of a particular university, such as the Trinity College Library in Dublin, where the Book of Kells …

A Comparative Political History: Israel, Geshur and the ‘Amurrite Age’

This article offers a comparative approach to political history in ancient Israel. It focuses on political refugees and prétendants to thrones ( kaltū) documented in the cuneiform tablet collection from Mari and demonstrates how the careers of kaltū transpired at the nexus of domestic and international politics. Thereafter, it treats the Absalom narrative and argues that Absalom's political aspirations, which led him to become a political refugee in Geshur, precipitated a waning in the relations between Israel and Geshur. The clearest evidence of the deteriorating relations between Israel and Geshur, it is argued, comes from the narrative concerning Absalom's revolt against David.

Adherence to and outcome of isoniazid chemoprophylaxis among household contact children of adults having pulmonary tuberculosis in Alexandria, Egypt

Current international guidelines recommend 6-9 months of isoniazid (INH) preventive chemotherapy to prevent the development of active tuberculosis (TB) in susceptible children exposed to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, this is dependent on good adherence, as shown by previous studies. This study was conducted to describe the outcome of screening of contact children aged 5 years or less with household exposure to an adult pulmonary TB index case to determine the prevalence and possible risk factors of infection among contact children and to determine the extent and outcome of adherence of contact children to unsupervised INH chemoprophylaxis for 6 months. A descriptive facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2009 to August 2010. Research settings were three of the National TB control program chest dispensaries (primary care facilities) in Alexandria, Egypt. Facility-based TB treatment registers of the previous 3 months were used to identify all new adult pulmonary TB cases. All children aged 5 years or less living in the same house as the index cases were identified and screened for TB. The contact children were given unsupervised INH preventive chemotherapy once active TB was excluded. Adherence to and outcome of preventive chemotherapy were followed up. Preventive chemotherapy consisted of unsupervised INH monotherapy for 6 months with monthly collection of tablets from the clinic. Adherence was documented after completion of the 6-month preventive treatment period. Adherence was considered reasonable if tablets were collected for more than 4 months, poor if collected for 2-4 months, and very poor if collected for less than 2 months. (a) Prevalence of infection and disease and the possible risk factors among contacts. (b) The extent and outcome of adherence to unsupervised INH chemoprophylaxis among contact children. (c) Factors behind poor adherence. In total, 197 adult TB index cases from 187 households were identified. In all, 297 children aged 5 years or less experienced household exposure, of whom 252 (84.9%) were fully evaluated. Tuberculin test was positive in 136 of the 252 child contacts (54.0%), of whom 130 were contacts of sputum-positive patients and six were contacts of sputum-negative patients. The important risk factors for transmission of TB infection were younger age, male sex, severe malnutrition, absence of BCG vaccination, contact with a sputum-positive adult who was a source case, household overcrowding, and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Thirty-three children were diagnosed and treated for TB at the baseline screening and 217 received preventive INH chemotherapy. Of the children who received preventive chemotherapy, only 36 (16.6%) completed at least 4 months of unsupervised INH monotherapy. During the subsequent follow-up period, eight children developed TB (secondary attack rate for TB disease was 3.7%), of whom four received no preventive chemotherapy and four were poorly adherent. The prevalence of TB infection and clinical disease among children in household contact with adult patients is high, and risk is significantly increased because of child contact, index patients and environmental factors. Adherence to 6 months of unsupervised INH chemoprophylaxis was very poor.

Cuneiform Tablets from the Wiseman Collection

The remains of the Percy J. Wiseman collection of cuneiform tablets were acquired in 2010 by the British Museum, where they now form the 2010-6-022 collection. The tablets almost all originate from southern Iraq, including the sites of Drehem, Larsa, Nippur, Sippar and Umma. They constitute records from the Ur III and Old Babylonian periods (21st–17th century B.C.) and from the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods (6th–4th century B.C.). This article provides an overview of the collection and makes the texts available for further study.

Connecting local history, ancient history, and mathematics: the Eustis Elementary School pilot project

In Clark and Robson (2008), we described the re-discovery, translation, and edition of a collection of 25 cuneiform tablets that reside in the Robert Manning Strozier Library at Florida State University (FSU). In addition, we discussed the construction of a classroom instructional unit, intended for use with Grade 4 and 5 students (aged 9 to 11) in Eustis, Florida—the retirement home of Edgar J Banks, who sold the tablet collection to FSU in 1922. Here I describe piloting the instructional unit with students, their teachers, and district supervisors in Fall 2008. The unit was created from the historical text found on FSU 22 and FSU 23 and the grade level mathematics standards from Florida's Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) for mathematics (2007).

Ancient accounting in the modern mathematics classroom

Florida State University owns a collection of twenty-five cuneiform tablets, acquired from Edgar J Banks in the 1920s. We describe their rediscovery, present an edition of one of them (a twenty-first century BC labour account from the Sumerian city of Umma), and discuss their potential for use in undergraduate mathematics education.1 1We are very grateful to Steve Garfinkle, Denise Giannino, John Larson, Lucia Patrick, Plato L Smith II, and Giesele Towels for their help in the research and writing of this article.