Shown here is an ostracon from the sanctuary within the Judahite fortress at Arad. The last line of the inscription contains the phrase "the house of Yahweh." Photo: Israel Museum.
Posted on 05/23/2015 11:40:47 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Tel Aviv University researchers are writing a computer program that can read Paleo-Hebrew letters inscribed on First Temple period ostraca.
Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) are developing a computer program that can read a script used by the Israelites over 2,600 years ago... The project was begun by TAU Professor of Archaeology Israel Finkelstein and Professor of Physics Eliezer Piasetsky six years ago. Since then, the researchers have enlisted the help of epigraphy, archaeology and math experts along with TAU Ph.D. math students Arie Shaus, Shira Faigenbaum-Golovin and Barak Sober.
At the center of this ambitious project are First Temple period clay potsherds bearing inscriptions. During the First Temple period (c. 1000 to 586 B.C.E., when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and razed the Temple), the Israelites often kept administrative and military records by writing on broken pottery pieces -- known as ostraca -- with ink. The Paleo-Hebrew script was used by the Israelites during this time.
Normally, an epigrapher, a specialist in deciphering and analyzing inscriptions, would transcribe an inscription to the best of his or her ability in drawings done by hand. These drawings are based on what the epigrapher sees and therefore hinge on an interpretive process.
By creating a computer program that can recognize and transcribe handwritten Paleo-Hebrew letters, the TAU researchers hope to reduce human error and reveal aspects of inscriptions that may not be visible to the naked eye.
Working with 17 out of about 100 ostraca from the Iron Age fortress at Arad in the Negev desert, the researchers first took digital photos of the inscribed potsherds.
(Excerpt) Read more at biblicalarchaeology.org ...
Shown here is an ostracon from the sanctuary within the Judahite fortress at Arad. The last line of the inscription contains the phrase "the house of Yahweh." Photo: Israel Museum.
Gabriel’s Revelation, free eBook
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/free-ebooks/gabriels-revelation/
A high-tech quest to unlock the secrets of ancient Israelite letters
www.haaretz.com/life/archaeology/.premium-1.65284
Get past the paywall by heading to the link via this search results page:
http://www.google.com/search?q=A+high-tech+quest+to+unlock+the+secrets+of+ancient+Israelite+letters
I love that tag line .
I’d like to see them do this with Sumerian cuneiform as well.
(88-103)
http://www.varchive.org/ce/theses.htm
http://www.varchive.org/dag/cadmus.htm
> Placing Elibaal and Abibaal in the tenth and and early ninth centuries...
http://www.varchive.org/tac/libyans.htm
Just “WOW!”
:’) I wholeheartedly agree. Good idea, it takes ages to just try to process these by hand, and this doesn’t require much cleaning.
bookmark
Be nice if the computer could teach our kids to read and write English.
Apparently, we haven’t found the right .exe button yet since the leading programs can lead them to water but can’t make them learn.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
