Anthropology

Ptah

(33,492 posts) Fri Jul 7, 2023, 11:47 AM Jul 2023

Excavating Cuneiform Tablets in Iraq with the Girsu Project Curator's Corner S8 Ep3

The British Museum is currently excavating at the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu, in Southern Iraq. However, most of the Girsu Project's time has been spent, not so much excavating the ancient city itself, but excavating through the spoil heaps (piles of dirt) left behind by French archaeologist over 80 years ago. Within these great mounds of dirt are countless objects, including cuneiform tablets, that were abandoned, and that are currently at risk of being lost forever due to erosion of those spoil heaps.

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Excavating Cuneiform Tablets in Iraq with the Girsu Project Curator's Corner S8 Ep3 (Original Post) Ptah Jul 2023 OP

Have Republikkkans banned 'em yet? Hermit-The-Prog Jul 2023 #1

What a shame that they were dug up and dumped. wnylib Jul 2023 #2

Hermit-The-Prog

(36,586 posts)

1. Have Republikkkans banned 'em yet?

Reply to Ptah (Original post)

Fri Jul 7, 2023, 12:33 PM

Jul 2023

wnylib

(24,374 posts)

2. What a shame that they were dug up and dumped.

Reply to Ptah (Original post)

Sun Jul 9, 2023, 04:14 AM

Jul 2023

Besides damage to the materials themselves, the positioning of them on their original context has been lost. But since they are written artifacts, they can tell a lot of their own story when deciphered.

It's like finding a history book and reading it. But with such small, fragmentary pieces, it will take a lot of work to read the materials in as full of a record as possible to put together.

I've always been fascinated by ancient written records that require deciphering. It's like a detective mystery to solve.

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