Syrian Digital Library of Cuneiform: Building Lines of Communication to Ancient Syria

The Syrian Digital Library of Cuneiform (SDLC) project represents the collaborative efforts of a Syrian and international team of researchers to prepare an interactive Arabic / English / French presentation of a rich and indigenous cuneiform tradition dating back five millennia.

The cuneiform tablets collections, kept mainly in the museums of Damascus, Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Idlib, originate from close to 40 different archaeological sites. Based on an integrated catalogue, those texts which have already been published will be the subject of an electronic edition, consisting of digital images and transliterations, presented via the web-pages of the SDLC. This presentation will be directly linked to the international project CDLI, making the texts part of an ever growing corpus of cuneiform texts freely available online, and benefitting from the powerful search tools of that project.

The SDLC website will facilitate the establishment of new line of communication among members of an international community that is growing increasingly aware of the contributions of ancient Syria to modern culture.

Partners institutions:
- DGAMS (Direction générale des Antiquités et musées de Syrie), Damascus
- CDLI (Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative), Los Angeles (UCLA)
- CNRS (Centre national de la Recherche scientifique), Paris
- MPIWG (Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte), Berlin
- IFPO (Institut français du Proche-Orient), Damascus
- BISI (British Institute for the Study of Irak), London

• Investigators: Bertrand Lafont (CNRS Paris), Wissam Habib (DGAMS), Imad Samir (Damascus University), Jacob Dahl (University of Oxford)
• Partners: Antoine Suleyman (DGAMS), Myasar Yabroudi (National Museum, Damascus), Robert K. Englund (CDLI/UCLA), Christina Tsouparopoulou (MPIWG)
• Staff: Matthew Ong (UCLA), Amjad al-Qadi (Damascus), Maciej M. Wencel (Oxford)

Syrian Ministry of Culture	Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI)
General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums	Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG)
Syrian Museums Damascus National Museum Aleppo National Museum Idlib Museum Deir ez-Zor Museum Raqqa Museum Overview of the cuneiform tablets collections in Syria