Texts, Tells and Semantics: Modelling the Historical Geography of Upper Mesopotamia in the 2nd mill. BC by an integrated analysis of cuneiform texts, archaeological data and space using geo-informatics and the semantic web

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Kai-Christian Bruhn; Professorin Dr. Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum; Professorin Dr. Adelheid Otto
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies ; Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Cartography
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 246583176

The project TEXTELSEM is a joint iniative of three disciplines: Ancient Near Eastern Archeology, Assyriology and Computer Science. It aims to (1) develop a platform that integrates spatial data from the archeological, geoarcheological and textual sources of the Ancient Near East and thus (2) to provide new methods and visualization tools for research in historical geography.The cuneiform sources provide a 'thick net' of information regarding toponyms, landscapes, routes, and thoroughfares, both explicit and implicit. The archeological data yield information on settlement structures, and holloways, physical geography and environmental conditions. In the face of the ever increasing quantity and complexity of these data, the use of IT-based formats for knowledge management are a conditio sine qua non for future research. TEXTELSEM aims at connecting these different types of data through the creation of integrative concepts for the description of semantic data management. The project will develop transdisciplinary shared ontologies so as to umambigously describe the data generated within each of its member disciplines. TEXTELSEM will make use of the prototypes explored within the interdisciplinary project HIGEOMES, while at the same time elaborating and broadening both their field of application and the historical data included within them. From a geo-historical perspective, TEXTELSEM will encompass not only Upper Mesopotamia but also the lands East of the Tigris, a region that has witnessesed settlement cluster of the utmost importance within the history of the Ancient Near East. With the recent intensification of archeological field work in Iraqi Kurdistan, we have a unique opportunity to link actual geoarcheological data with the textual sources and provide new ideas and perspectives on the history of the 2nd millennium BCE. The chronological frame of the project reflects the fact that cuneiform sources from the Old Babylonian and Middle Assyrian Archives provide a detailed and at the same time complementary perspective on Upper Mesopotamia.Our French-German cooperation is characterised by complementary competences in a number of different fields, combining fundamental research in highly specialized areas of historical investigation with inspiring developments in new analytical methods and visualization techniques. The core feature is a coorporate knowledgebase system that integrates the expert data so as to allow not only for querying and disseminating, but also the retrieval of semi-automatically processed knowledge, knowledge that in turn encourages the formulation of new hypotheses.Techniques of knowledge discovery can also help to answer vague questions like "somewhere in region XY" and are able to process assumed localisation of places based on the available information. The technologies developed in the context of this project (datamodels and visualization concepts) can then be applied to other periods and geographical regions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Participating Persons: Professor Christophe Cruz, Ph.D.; Dr. Nele Ziegler