20121204

Decoding the oldest undeciphered writing system





A new technology helps to decode the oldest and undeciphered writing system

Tuesday, November 6, 2012 08:49

Liliana Gianni

Researchers at the University of Oxford and Southampton have developed
a system for reflectance transformation imaging(reflectance
transformation of images) to collect high-quality images of ancient
and important historical documents (research funded by the UK Arts and
Humanities Research Council and the Andrew W . Mellon Foundation). The
system has recently been applied to the study of some relics preserved
in the basement of the Louvre. These and other images to documents
under investigation are now available free online at Cuneiform Digital
Library initiative.

Among the documents there are manuscripts written in proto-Elamite,
the oldest and undeciphered writing system known, used in ancient Iran
from 3200 to 3000 BC. Analyzing the images with high quality of these
documents and share them with the scientific community, the team at
Oxford University hopes to crack the code.

Dr Jacob Dahl, one of the leaders of the Cuneiform Digital Library at
Oxford University as well as Professor in the Faculty of Oriental
Studies, has spent ten years trying to decipher the writing
pro-Elamite and believes that the new system could lead to major
advances in research. Dr Dahl points out the importance of working on
images of high quality when it comes to coding manuscripts, that are
highlighted even small differences in the symbolic can be decisive in
the interpretation of the code.

The staff of the Archaeological Computing Research Group and the
Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton has
developed a methodology called reflectance transformation imaging :
the manuscript located at the center of a dome is photographed 76
times as it is illuminated by 76 lights placed in different angles.The
images produced are then combined so as to be able to move the light
along the surface of the digital image and use the differences of
light and shadow to highlight details.

Through the research conducted so far has shown that the pre-Elamite
writing not only uses symbols to represent things but also a
syllabary. For example, the word "cat" would not be represented by a
symbol of the animal, but as symbols for the syllables of the word.

As many as half of the signs seem to be so used were invented from
scratch to represent the sound. If this is confirmed, thanks to the
analysis of the images obtained in this way, would radically change
our interpretation and understanding of the early writings, where the
phoneticism is considered to have developed through the so-called
"principle of the puzzle."

Although certain features of the writing system is already known, the
scribes shared some signs with the writing of Mesopotamia (numbers and
signs representing animals or objects as a sheep, goat, cereals,
etc..), 80% -90% the system remains undeciphered.

Writing pro-Elamite was used in official documents and agriculture,
but not in schools.The lack of an academic tradition has meant that
many errors were inserted in the text and that the system is not
particularly useful for administrative functions.

Jokingly, Dr. Dalh said that "maybe this is the first known case of
system failure due to the lack of knowledge of the financing of
education."

The Louvre has access to 1100 pro-Elamite tablets, half of which can
now be found on the website of the Cuneiform Digital Library
Initiative.

Dr. Dahl has argued that the collection of the Louvre, and in
particular the tablets from Mesopotamia and Iran, are historically
important because they contain the first substantial code of law, the
first documentation of struggles between rulers, the first example of
propaganda and the first form of literature.

To publish and disseminate the fundamental documents of ancient
history is becoming increasingly important both to increase the
contribution to research and to preserve and protect the cultural
heritage in the areas affected by conflict. Suffice it to say that in
Iraq over the past 20 years, the historical and artistic heritage has
been subject to looting and neighboring Syria seems to have
unfortunately a similar fate.