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Databases and Digital Archaeology Projects

The Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine project seeks to collect and make freely accessible all of the previously published inscriptions (and their English translations) of Israel/Palestine from the Persian period through the Islamic conquest (ca. 500 BCE - 640 CE). Epigraphy is the study of such inscriptions, defined as texts written on durable materials (except for coins, which falls under the academic category of numismatics). There are about 10,000 of these inscriptions, written primarily in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin, by Jews, Christians, Greeks, and Romans. They range from imperial declarations on monumental architecture to notices of donations in synagogues to humble names scratched on ossuaries, and include everything in between.

The AfO-Register (Archiv für Orientforschung: Register Assyriologie), curated by the Department of Near Eastern Studies of the University of Vienna, is an essential bibliographic bibliographic tool for Ancient Near. Eastern Studies. Starting with Volume 25 (1974–1977), it has published comprehensive bibliographies of new Assyriological literature and an index in most volumes, categorized by subject areas, Akkadian and Sumerian words, and texts and passages. With the kind permission of the AfO Redaktion, the Register has been digitized and made searchable by the eBL team, thus enhancing its accessibility for researchers, students, and enthusiasts interested in the history and culture of Ancient Mesopotamia.

This project aims to ease the accessibly to up-to-date information collected by a team of experts on Indo-European languages.

The Ancient World Mapping Center, in collaboration with the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, seeks Expressions of Interest from freelance and contract web developers interested in a small project to replace an online viewer for the so-called “Peutinger Map” of the Roman World. The current HTML+JavaScript web application has been in production on the Web since 2011, providing a seamless “pan and zoom” interface to a raster image of the map, with switchable SVG layers highlighting thematic features. Raster tile services were implemented in the application using the free and open-source Djatoka server application, which is now defunct.

The collection is under development as part of the Iraq Cultural Heritage Program Grant. The Iraq Cultural Heritage Project (ICHP) was established in 2008 through a grant from the US Embassy Baghdad. The Cultural Affairs Office at the Embassy oversees the project. International Relief and Development (IRD), a US-based non-governmental organization, implements the project for the Embassy. The aim of the AMAR project is to digitize 500 archaeological site reports describing archaeological excavations both in Iraq and in the immediately surrounding areas (Turkey, Syria, Iran and, the Gulf).

APAAME is long-term research project founded by David Kennedy and based at the University of Sheffield (1978-1990 and then the University of Western Australia (1990-2015). In 2015 it moved to the University of Oxford (School of Archaeology). Since 1998 it has been directed by Professor David Kennedy and Dr Robert Bewley. The project is designed both to develop a methodology suited to the region, discover, record, monitor and illuminate settlement history in the Near East. The archive currently consists of over 115,000 (mainly aerial) images and maps, the majority of which are displayed on the archive’s Flickr site.

This is a collection of Placemarks of archaeologically interesting locations of the ancient world. The list is continuously updated and expanded to give anyone with an interest in archaeology and history the possibility to look up the coordinates of relevant sites. Locations are included if they existed prior to 476 CE in the Old World (end of the West-Roman Empire) and prior to 1492 CE in the New World (re-discovery of the New World).

A new-ongoing attempt to compile a comprehensive bibliography of archaeobotanical site reports from the Near East.

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archive entered the government project of “intensifying national foundations and heritage”, with the aim of preserving and digitizing the British Mandatory section. The purpose of the project is to enable the wide public in Israel and across the world accessing this unique data. The digitations project includes, first and foremost, the physical preservation of the different files, which include hand and typewritten texts, photographs, maps and plans that appear on a variety of papers, including greaseproof, rice, stencils and others.

ARIADNE is a research infrastructure for archaeology. Its main objective is to support research, learning and teaching by enabling access to digital resources and innovative new services. It does this by maintaining a catalogue of digital datasets, by promoting best practices in the management and use of digital data in archaeology, by offering training and advice, and by supporting the development of innovative new services for archaeology.
The datasets that are registered in the ARIADNE catalogue are held by its partners and have been created through research, in excavations, in fieldwork, laboratory and other projects. In recent years archaeologists have been making increasing use of sophisticated digital equipment and techniques. During the course of a research project large volumes of data are created and collected, and become part of the research archive. ARIADNE aims to make these archives available through its portal for researchers to consult when starting new research.

AEMW is an on-going project that aims to bring together lemmatized, searchable editions and translations of archival texts written in Akkadian cuneiform from a wide variety of Eastern Mediterranean sites.

Based on the ancient harbors and the active cities and citizens of the Mediterranean, the mapping, the recording and the prominence of the local cultural identity may begin. At the same time, the conservation of the sea and the safeguard of peace may be enhanced. The Sea, which divides and unites, is the subject and underlay of climate change. Since the Ancient Ports and Cities of the Mediterranean are the basic factors of the activities performed by the active citizens, the latter, if related and collaborating, may begin the reversion and rebirth now.

Brings together editions and translations of archival texts from various sites within the Assyrian Empire and it aims to be an expanded and updated version of the State Archives of Assyria online (SAAo) corpus, which had been initiated in 2007 by Radner at University College London, with heritage data provided by Simo Parpola (Helsinki).

Inscriptions on stone are the most important documentary source for the history of the ancient city of Athens and its surrounding region, Attica. Dating from the 7th century BC through to the end of antiquity, Greek texts are available to scholars in Inscriptiones Graecae (IG) I (up to 403/2 BC) and II (after 403/2 BC) (website), updated annually by the Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum (SEG) (website) (access by subscription), and in the Packard Humanities Institute (PHI) Greek Inscriptions website. However, before the launch of AIO, very few of the inscriptions were available in English translation, whether in print, or online.
The core of the site comprises annotated English translations of Attic inscriptions. The most popular means of accessing a translation is via browse by source. If you browse by an outdated reference (e.g. an old edition of IG) you will always be led to a translation of the most up-to-date Greek text. Each translation includes a link to the Greek text translated, whether on an external site or in many cases on AIO. AIO's policy is to include our own Greek text of an inscription where no up-to-date text is available online elsewhere in open access. Every translation also includes links to any available online images of the inscription, on external open-access sites or on AIO.

The Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) Project is an investigative study led by a collection of anthropologists and heritage experts digging into the digital underworld of transnational trafficking, terrorism financing, and organized crime.

This collection assembles 3D models of ancient columns for the purpose of reconstructing their underlying building principles.

A searchable collection of links to projects, sort into categories, type, and keywords. Each entry has a short description.

This project offers editions of 224 texts from the priestly archives of Borsippa, published by Caroline Waerzeggers in The Ezida Temple of Borsippa (2010). The texts are dated from the reign of Ashurbanipal (668–631? BCE) until the second year of Xerxes (484 BCE), and they are part of the archives of brewers, bakers, butchers, and oxherds working at the temple of Nabû. The cuneiform tablets originate from illicit excavations at Borsippa (Birs Nimrud) in the late 19th century, and they primarily belong to the collections of the British Museum.

A resource structured around English translations of the inscriptions of ancient Athens and Attica. The core of the site comprises annotated English translations of Attic inscriptions. The most popular means of accessing a translation is via browse by source. If you browse by an outdated reference (e.g. an old edition of IG) you will always be led to a translation of the most up-to-date Greek text. Each translation includes a link to the Greek text translated, whether on an external site or in many cases on AIO. AIO's policy is to include our own Greek text of an inscription where no up-to-date text is available online elsewhere in open access. Every translation also includes links to any available online images of the inscription, on external open-access sites or on AIO.

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