Ancient Texts, Modern Tools and Technologies
Laurie Pearce, Lecturer
Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Applications for Spring 2026 are closed for this project.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Are you interested in ancient civilizations and modern technologies? Would you like to contribute to the preservation of knowledge and cultural heritage? Do you have or would you like to develop skills with databases and image preparation tools?
Research apprentices associated with the URAP project Ancient Texts, Modern Tools will assist in the preparation of text and/or visual data for the project Hellenistic Babylonian: Texts, Images, and Names (HBTIN). This project is building a resource for the study of cuneiform texts written in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) after Alexander the Great extended his empire throughout the ancient Near East. The texts provide a rich picture of the lives of the last native Babylonians, members of the elite, urban residents in the ancient city of Uruk.
The cuneiform script, developed in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), was one of the world’s earliest writing system---in use from c. 3200 BCE – 75 CE. It was used to record texts in Sumerian and Akkadian, as well as Hittite (an Indo-European language spoken in Anatolia). Hundreds of thousands of documents are preserved, and cuneiform scholars worldwide are contributing to the building of an On-line Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (Oracc).
HBTIN is currently developing a digital version of a catalogue raisonée of the seal impressions that appear on the edges of legal documents of sale (of property, temple income, and slaves) and identify the principals in and witnesses to the transaction. Dr. Laurie Pearce, lecturer in the department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC), invites applicants to work with her and her colleague, Dr. Ronald Wallenfels (NYU), author of the original print catalogue, to prepare digital and legacy film photographs for upload to the HBTIN project. Student assistants will manipulate digital images to conform to project standards, upload images to the project server, insert links to the images to the on-line document, maintain a careful inventory of materials processed, and engage in best practices of file and project management. All work can be done on student laptop with software available through UC Berkeley.
Students with interest in the history of the Hellenistic period may contribute to the research and writing of background content.
This URAP project offers apprentices the opportunity to participate in an active, on-going research project that is part of collaborative and international scholarly agendas. It provides a close, supportive working environment, especially (but not exclusively) for the apprentice with a wide range of interests and skills — including art history, classics, ancient history, Near Eastern history, cultures in contact, digital humanities, and cultural preservation. The apprentices learn about an ancient society and actively contribute to scholarly efforts to preserve cultural and textual heritage in one of the world’s early, great, literate societies.
Role: STUDENT ROLES:
Student apprentices contribute to:
1. the expansion of the web portal for HBTIN project on the Oracc platform.
2. the preparation of images for a digital catalogue of seal impressions on texts from Hellenistic Uruk. Students will work with image management/cataloging software; those without prior experience will be trained in its use.
3. updating the html of the catalogue document. Students with no prior experience with html will be trained in the specifics needed.
4. preparing a database of names and orthographies (spellings) of individuals attested in the Hellenistic Uruk text corpus. Students do not need prior experience with cuneiform and/or the Akkadian language.
Qualifications: Student qualifications:
Students eager to engage in digital humanities projects, who are meticulous in handling data and text files, and have strong organizational skills are encouraged to apply. Familiarity with html, Word, database/spreadsheets, and digital graphics programs are a plus; willingness to learn new programs and workflows a necessity! The research assistant will meet with the project director weekly; some work may be completed outside of meeting times. No academic background in the study of the ancient Near East is required. Students with interests in the ancient world, classics, art history, anthropology, and digital humanities are especially encouraged to participate; others are welcome as well!
Hours: 3-5 hrs
Related website: http://build-oracc.museum.upenn.edu/hbtin/
Related website: http://oracc.org