66. Rune Rattenborg, Seraina Nett, Gustav Ryberg Smidt: Geomapping Cuneiform Artwork

Thin End of the Wedge

Thin End of the Wedge explores life in the ancient Middle East. There are many wonderful stories we can tell about those people, their communities, the gritty reality of their lives, their hopes, fears and beliefs. We can do that through the objects they left behind and the cities where they once lived. Our focus is on the cultures that used cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) writing, so mostly on ancient Iraq and nearby regions from about 3000 BC to about 100 AD. Thin End of the Wedge brings you expert insights and the latest research in clear and simple language. What do we know? How do we know anything? And why is what we know always changing? Why is any of this important today? We won’t talk to you like you’re stupid. But you won’t need any special training to understand what we’re talking about. This is an independent production by me as an individual. It is not supported by my employer or any other organisation I am involved with, and the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect theirs.

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Thin End of the Wedge

66. Rune Rattenborg, Seraina Nett, Gustav Ryberg Smidt: Geomapping Cuneiform

May 10, 2024 • Jon Taylor • Episode 66

Rune, Seraina, and Gustav discuss their recently completed project on geomapping cuneiform. Where were inscriptions found and where are they now? How many tablets are there? What counts as a tablet anyway? They reveal the challenges of integrating datasets, and explore the potential opened up by knowing where inscriptions really come from.

4:18 GLoW project
7:44 data collection
10:51 how many tablets are there?
13:50 provenance problems
17:06 why 'where' matters
20:50 what distribution tells us
24:20 why this hasn't been done before
27:06 integrating databases
33:56 what can we do now?

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Music by Ruba Hillawi

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