Saturday, December 17, 2011

News: The Truth Behind the Tablets








Thursday, December 08, 2011

Persepolis Fortification Archive Upload to InscriptiFact

The InscriptiFact Team reports in an email to registered users
We have just uploaded 2112 new images of 229 new texts from the Persepolis Fortification Archive. Most of these images are RTI images (Reflection Transformation Imaging). The Greek, Akkadian and Old Persian tablets are now posted.

In addition, we have added the Assyrian Reliefs from the Oriental Institute, RTIs of KTU 1.18, and RTIs of objects from USC's Archaeological Research collection and the Los Angeles Unified School District's Art and Artifact Collection.
 See here for a previous announcement about the PFA from Inscriptifact.

About InscriptiFact
http://www.inscriptifact.com/isfbanner.jpg
The InscriptiFact Project is a database designed to allow access via the Internet to high-resolution images of ancient inscriptions from the Near Eastern and Mediterranean Worlds. The target inscriptions are some of the earliest written records in the world from an array of international museums and libraries and field projects where inscriptions still remain in situ. Included are, for example, Dead Sea Scrolls; cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia and Canaan; papyri from Egypt; inscriptions on stone from Jordan, Lebanon and Cyprus; Hebrew, Aramaic, Ammonite and Edomite inscriptions on a variety of hard media (e.g., clay sherds, copper, semi-precious stones, jar handles); and Egyptian scarabs. These ancient texts represent religious and historical documents that serve as a foundation and historical point of reference for Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the cultures out of which they emerged...
Examples of screens and searches in HTML format for viewing in a web browser.
Step-by-step instructions for conducting searches and retrieving images in InscriptiFact, in PDF format.
Step-by-step instructions for using the InscriptiFact Viewer, featuring RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) images, in PDF format.
One possible way to search for texts in InscriptiFact is by choosing "Text or Publication Numbers," i.e., common abbreviations used in the field of Ancient Near Eastern Studies. This PDF documents gives bibliographic information for the abbreviations or references used in InscriptiFact.
Download this document and fax it as stated to obtain access to InscriptiFact.
Click on this link to be taken to the download site for the InscriptiFact desktop client.




Tuesday, December 06, 2011

OI Members Lecture: 'Of Faith and Fire Altars: New visual evidence for ritual in the seals and sealings of the Persian Empire'

Mark B. Garrison, of Trinity University, will be giving a lecture entitled 'Of Faith and Fire Altars: New visual evidence for ritual in the seals and sealings of the Persian Empire'.


  • When: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 
  • Time: 19:00 - 22:00
What was the role of Zoroastrian religion in the Persian Empire? This question has dominated much of the analyses of the royal inscriptions that invoke the god Auramazda. A critical resource in these inquiries has been the visual evidence. This lecture investigates the representation of "fire altars" by examining the early reigns of Darius I and Xerxes at their capital city of Persepolis. This tight focus gives us the advantage of dealing with only the most critical, formative period of the Persian Empire, when most of the visual and courtly protocols were established and canonized. Analyses of these sort can help us understand the complex connections between art, religion, and politics in the Achaemenid Persia.

Join us for a reception following the lecture in the Lasalle-Banks room.





Persepolis in Pleiades http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/922695