Posted on 11/21/2003 9:28:02 AM PST by blam
Ennis firm brings Gilgamesh back to Iraq
Friday, November 21 2003
by Matthew Clark
Ennis-based Kestrel 3D is currently working with the British Museum to scan hundreds of Iraqi artefacts in order to fabricate replicas for a museum in Mosul.
Kestrel 3D, which holds the rights to a unique scanning technology that captures both colour and dimensions, has been engaged in the project for months, although the current instability in Iraq has put the initiative temporarily on hold. But Kestrel 3D finance director Ken O'Mahony said that once stability is restored to the state, the University of Mosul would begin to receive shipments of replica cuneiform tablets, which tell some of the earliest tales recorded by humans.
Cuneiform, similar to hieroglyphics used by ancient Egyptians, is one of the earliest forms of writing, and the ancient Assyrians who lived in parts of what is now Iraq used the then-revolutionary technology to record practically everything about their culture on small clay tablets about the size of a credit card. Last year, Iraq's University of Mosul asked if the British Museum, which owns about 1,000 of these tablets, could send replicas to Iraq, where an exhibit on the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal, who lived over 2,600 years ago, was being planned.
Kestrel 3D's role in the transfer has involved the scanning of these 1,000 tablets to create detailed digital 3D images that can be used by the British Museum to quickly construct replicas. A handful of replicas have already been completed, though the war in Iraq and subsequent civil instability and violence has held the project up.
"This will go ahead when the situation in Iraq changes and for us, it will be a seven-figure, multi-year deal," O'Mahony told ElectricNews.Net.
The tablets themselves contain a wide array of data about the ancient Assyrians and their neighbours, with some containing information about farming, slave trades and commercial agreements. Others contain the chronicles of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, who in his youth defeated mighty Egypt and who later in life sacked Jerusalem while crushing a Judean revolt. Other, possibly more valuable tablets, recount the epic tale of Gilgamesh, the oldest written story known to exist.
The business arrangement between the Irish firm and the famous British Museum is not the first between the two, with Kestrel 3D scanning mummies and related artefacts for the esteemed institution earlier in the year for an upcoming project that will debut in the summer of 2004.
Its so-called "museum and heritage" business is one of four areas in which Kestrel 3D operates, with the other units consisting of engineering, medical and creative industries. Kestrel 3D licenses its technology -- previously known as "foundation" -- from Canadian company Arius3D, who holds the worldwide rights.
O'Mahony, who, along with CEO and former RAF pilot Jerry Connolly, owns about 75 percent of the company, said that the technology captures the 3D geometry and colour at levels unobtainable with other technologies. Most current 3D scanning technologies require potential users to first scan for shape and then slowly add the colours.
He added that Kestrel 3D aims to have the largest 3D image library in the world by 2005 and is carefully considering the prospect of an IPO within the next two years. The firm, an employer of 41 in four scanning centres in Scotland (3) and Northern Ireland (1), is currently in the midst of closing an EUR850,000 funding round and is aiming to raise a further EUR4.5 million before January.
The Atrabasis Flood story is even older than the Gilgamesh and Noah flood story.
King Ashurbanipal is the one who moved the Northern Tribes to the Nineveh area.
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Is that the one with the Skipper, Mary Ann & the Professor?
Layard speaks of the governor of Mosul at the time, one Mohammed Pasha, known as Keritli Oglu (the son of the Cretan). He remarks (sarcastically) that the governor "had revived many good old customs and impositions, which the reforming spirit of the age had suffered to fall into decay. He particularly insisted on dish-parassi; or a compensation in money, levied upon all villages in which a man of such rank is entertained, for the wear and tear of his teeth in masticating the food he condescends to receive from the inhabitants."
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