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Papers by Jacob Dahl

Akkadica, 2023

Andréa Vilela : Réflexions sur les notions de sauvage et domestique en Mésopotamie à travers l'ex... more Andréa Vilela : Réflexions sur les notions de sauvage et domestique en Mésopotamie à travers l'exemple du chien 1 Annunziata Rositani : 'Death certificates' in the bīt asīrī : New texts from the British Museum Akkadica is an anonymously peer reviewed journal Akkadica is a A1 journal (Thomson Reuters-Web of Science) NOTICE FOR CONTRIBUTORS For instructions on manuscripts for publication see www.akkadica.org under the heading Contributors

attested one time attested two times attested a maximum of 9 times 1050 signs 300 signs 1700 sign... more attested one time attested two times attested a maximum of 9 times 1050 signs 300 signs 1700 signs Table 1: Frequency 1-9 1 The creation of the proto-Elamite writing system followed rapidly upon that of the proto-cuneiform writing system of neighboring Southern Mesopotamia. Proto-Elamite exhibits a few ideographic loans from proto-cuneiform and a nearly complete adoption of its metrological systems and numerical signs. Proto-Elamite was used over a wide geographical area comparable to the extent of modern day Iran, stretching from Susa in the west-in close proximity to Mesopotamia-to Shahr-i Sokhta in the east-closer to the Indus valley than to Susa. 2 P. Meriggi, La scrittura proto-elamica. Parte II a : Catalogo dei segni (Roma: Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, 1974). The problems faced in using this sign list have been commented upon in recent publications [P. Damerow and R. Englund; The Proto-Elamite Texts from Tepe Yahya, 1989. And again R. Englund, The State of Decipherment of Proto-Elamite, forthcoming (preprint no. 183 at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science web-server: http://www.mpiwgberlin.mpg.de/Preprints/P183.PDF)] 3 Compare this to the 6,000 proto-cuneiform texts with ca. 50,000 occurrences of non-numerical signs. 4 Although generated electronically this sign list follows that of P. Meriggi, see footnote no. 2. 5 Proto-cuneiform, on the other hand has yielded evidence for an evolution in the repertoire of signs, see R. K. Englund, "Texts From The Late Uruk Period," in P. Attinger et al., eds., Mesopotamien, Späturuk-Zeit und Frühdynastische Zeit (=OBO 160/1: Freiburg 1998), p. 67. 6 The Chinese oracle bones from Anyang are traditionally dated to the Shang period ca. 1200 to 1050 BC. However, precursors predate these inscriptions by several centuries. I do not suggest any relationship between the two except for a purely graphic similarity. 7 P. Damerow, "The Origins of Writing as a Problem of Historical Epistemology" (1999), p.11-13. [Preprint no. 114 at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science web-server: http:// www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/Pre prints/P114.PDF]. See also R. Englund, 1998, p. 68 fn. 131, for a comparable survey, and see p. 70-71 for a list of the most frequent proto-cuneiform signs.

This paper examines the potential applications of Citizen Science and Open Linked Data within a c... more This paper examines the potential applications of Citizen Science and Open Linked Data within a critical Web Science framework. Described here is a work-inprocess concerning an interdisciplinary, multiinstitutional project for the digitization, annotation and online dissemination of a large corpus of written material from ancient Mesopotamia. The paper includes an outline of the problems presented by a large, heterogeneous and incomplete dataset, as well as a discussion of the potential of Citizen Science as a potential solution, combining both technical and social aspects. Drawing inspiration from other successful Citizen Science projects, the current paper suggests a process for capturing and enriching the data in ways which can address not only the challenges of the current data set, but also similar issues arising elsewhere on the wider Web.

Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies, Sep 1, 2012

Twelve proto-Elamite tablets and fragments were found during the 2006-07 excavation at Tape Sofal... more Twelve proto-Elamite tablets and fragments were found during the 2006-07 excavation at Tape Sofalin in the northern Central Iranian Plateau. The form and content of these tablets is entirely consistent with that of the standard and late proto-Elamite tablets from Susa, except TSF 11, which we date to the Susa II/GodinV Period. Although all of the inscribed objects from Tape Sofalin published here are very fragmentary, they document the existence of a developed administration system.

Introduction §1.1. The proto-Elamite material offers a unique opportunity to survey the early dev... more Introduction §1.1. The proto-Elamite material offers a unique opportunity to survey the early development of a pristine, or at least only partially derivative writing system. Albeit unquestionably inspired by the slightly earlier writing system of southern Mesopotamia conventionally called proto-cuneiform, proto-Elamite exhibits a high degree of independent development of both sign repertoire and text structure. §1.2. The present study explores how complex graphemes are formed in proto-Elamite. That information is subsequently used to isolate specialized vocabularies and text-groups. In the course of the article, the text MDP 17, 77+212+226, is discussed. Tablets that were not available for collation have only been included in this study when necessary to strengthen an argument, but due to the questionable quality of the majority of primary publications, no argument concerning proto-Elamite can be made without reference to the original tablets. Throughout this study, I have noted whether or not a tablet has been collated.

Of Rabid Dogs, Hunchbacked Oxen, and Infertile Goats in Ancient Babylonia: Studies Presented to Wu Yuhong on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday. Eds: Sven Günther, Wayne Horowitz & Magnus Widell, 2021

Food and Urbanisation. Material and Textual Perspectives on Alimentary Practice in Early Mesopotamia, 2015

What's in a Name? Terminology Related to Workforce and Job Categories in the Ancient Near East (AOAT 440), 2018

Digital Imaging of Artefacts: Developments in Methods and Aims, 2018

This chapter presents the work of the 12-month project Seals and Their Impressions in the Ancient... more This chapter presents the work of the 12-month project Seals and Their Impressions in the Ancient Near East (SIANE), a collaborative effort of the University of Southampton, Oxford University and the University of Paris (Nanterre). Recognising the need for improved visual documentation of ancient Near Eastern cylinder seals and the potential presented by new technologies, there have been several approaches to 3D-imaging cylinder seals in recent years (e.g. Pitzalis et al. 2008; Reh et al. 2016; Wagensonner forthcoming). SIANE focused on the development of equipment and workflow that can quickly capture the maximum amount of meaningful data from a seal, including 3D data from structured light and an automated production of ‘digital unwrappings’. The project addressed some issues regarding the physical mounting of seals and developed a method of efficient data-capture that allows the imaging of large numbers of cylinder seals for research and presentation purposes. A particular research benefit from 3D image capture of entire seal collections is the potential for exploring computer-aided image recognition, which could contribute to comparative glyptic studies as well as helping to address the question of whether any original seals can be linked to known ancient impressions on tablets or sealings possibly separated across modern collections.

Persian translation by Parsa Daneshmand

Cuneiform Digital Library Notes, 2014

Akkadica, 2023

Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies, Sep 1, 2012

Food and Urbanisation. Material and Textual Perspectives on Alimentary Practice in Early Mesopotamia, 2015

What's in a Name? Terminology Related to Workforce and Job Categories in the Ancient Near East (AOAT 440), 2018

Digital Imaging of Artefacts: Developments in Methods and Aims, 2018

Persian translation by Parsa Daneshmand

Cuneiform Digital Library Notes, 2014

Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology Volume 39, 2020

Textes cunéiforme du Louvre 32, 2019

see https://youtu.be/VxMEEYcAkG0

Imaging the three-dimensional cuneiform characters, written in clay, metal and on stone, has been... more Imaging the three-dimensional cuneiform characters, written in clay, metal and on stone, has been a challenge since Carsten Niebuhr, Henry Rawlinson and Julius Oppert published the first of these inscriptions in the 19th century. Since then, hundreds of thousands of these inscriptions have been drawn, photographed, scanned; vectorized, hologramed. They have been included and assembled in printed publications, online databases and annotated media. Today, the importance of imaging these inscriptions is highlighted by the rapid destruction of this shared world heritage in the Near East, and an understanding that all inscribed objects from the ancient Near East are fragile. In our talk we want to ask what do specialists need; what are the requirements that both Assyriologists and colleagues from related fields expect from the visual documentation of ancient inscribed artifacts? In recent years, interactive 2D+ and 3D models of ancient inscriptions have been produced that conceal metric data which surpass the pure imaging purpose. But reliance on such cutting edge technologies comes at a great increase in cost (equipment, capture and processing time), potentially limiting access to the data. Producing images of ancient inscribed artifacts, and making them available with searchable metadata allows research to ask both traditional research questions as well as entirely new ones, in fact, we may not always know what questions researchers will ask of the data. In this paper, we will draw on our expertise in cultural heritage imaging built up over the past two decades in Leuven (portable dome project) and Los Angeles-Oxford-Berlin (CDLI), and suggest a sustainable path towards imaging any and all cuneiform documents.

Cuneiform Digital Library Notes, 2014

Current Research Website, Co-authored with Dahl, J. L. and Green, J. D. M., Feb 2011

Autumn 2010 saw the arrival of a powerful digital imaging system at the Ashmolean Museum. As part... more Autumn 2010 saw the arrival of a powerful digital imaging system at the Ashmolean Museum. As part of “Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) for the Study of Ancient Documentary Artefacts”, a collaborative pilot project between the University of Oxford and the University of Southampton, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the RTI system is being tested on a range of inscribed artefacts from amongst the rich and diverse collections of the Department of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum. The imaging system developed by the project will allow researchers to study documentary and other artefacts remotely (online) in great detail and without being restricted by the fixed lighting angles of traditional photography and flatbed scanning where details can be obscured by shadows. In developing the RTI system, the project aims to ensure that high-quality digital images of inscribed artifacts, viewable from multiple light sources, can be consulted by scholars and the general public around the world.