Iraq's cuneiform tablets getting "virtual life"


	Iraq's cuneiform tablets getting "virtual life"

invictus

5-30-2008 9:20 AM

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tags:

archaeology, iraq, mesopotamia, writing, cuneiform, technology, science

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/40f1c257-7e0a-452d-b254-025be54661f6/46DC65C0-3A9F-43A6-A558-BC06AB703C8F/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/29/iraq-cuneiform-tablets.html" href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/29/iraq-cuneiform-tablets.html" style="font-size: 11px;">dsc.discovery.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/29/iraq-cuneiform-tablets.html"><P><STRONG>May 29, 2008</STRONG> -- A technology normally used in reconstructive surgery to create <A target="_blank" href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/08/30/robotarm_tec.html">prosthetic limbs</A> is now being applied to create reproductions of Iraq's precious and fragile <A target="_blank" href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/08/16/tablet_his.html">cuneiform clay tablets</A>, according to an Italian team of researchers.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/29/iraq-cuneiform-tablets.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/dsc.discovery.com/img/6C2E253F-AB24-4E09-B166-32842B2BE34A" alt="Oldest Writing" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/29/iraq-cuneiform-tablets.html"><P>Thousands and thousands of artifacts were stolen and broken at Bagdad's museums following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, in what has been called the most catastrophic theft of antiquities since World War II.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/29/iraq-cuneiform-tablets.html"><P>Called "Duplication and Rebirth," the project consist of an electronic catalogue with bibliographical references, photographs, and when possible, 3D images of the tablets. These three-dimensional models can then produce exact replicas of the original relics.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/29/iraq-cuneiform-tablets.html"><P>While scholars estimate that roughly five million of the tablets are still buried in the mounds of Iraq, some 500,000 are kept in museum and private collections worldwide.</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/46DC65C0-3A9F-43A6-A558-BC06AB703C8F/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>