Experts in Assyriology – who specialize in the archaeological, historical, cultural and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq) –spend many years painstakingly trying to understand Akkadian texts written in cuneiform, one of the oldest forms of writing known.
Cuneiform is translated as “wedge-shaped” because in ancient times, people wrote it using a reed stylus cut to make a wedge-shaped mark on a clay tablet.
But now, researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) and Ariel University have developed an artificial intelligence model that will save all this effort. The AI model can automatically translate Akkadian text written in cuneiform into English.
Who were the ancient Assyrians?
In 721 BCE, Assyria swept out of the North, captured the Northern Kingdom of Israel and took the Ten Tribes into captivity, after which they became lost to history. Assyria, named for the god Ashur (highest in the pantheon of Assyrian gods), was located in the Mesopotamian plain. Historians note that Assyrian Jews first appeared in that region when the Israelites were exiled there, and they lived continuously alongside the Assyrian people in the territories after the Assyrian exile.
Hundreds of thousands of clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia, written in cuneiform and dating back as far as 3,400 BCE have been found by archeologists – far more than could easily be translated by the limited number of experts who can read them.
Source: www.jpost.com
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