DASI is an ERC-Advanced Grant project aimed at digitizing the pre-Islamic inscriptions from Arabia and fostering best practices for the digitization of the epigraphic heritage related to Semitic languages. This paper describes the content model, the standards chosen, and exemplifies the vocabularies in view of a possible harmonization of data pertaining to the specific domain. The architecture of the system and the tools for encoding and retrieving textual content are also illustrated.
The Digital Archive for the Study of Pre-Islamic Arabian Inscriptions (DASI) is a five-year ERC project of the University of Pisa, directed by Prof. A. Avanzini. Started in May 2011, the project seeks to collect the whole corpus of pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions in an open-access archive, with the aim of fostering studies and scientific publications on the epigraphic heritage of Arabia. The paper describes the main activities carried out in the first two years of the project: the IT research on the cataloguing methodologies of the epigraphic material, the digitization of thousands of pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions, and the setting up of the archive website for the fruition of the catalogued material, which opened in October 2013. The project also encourages the involvement of international partners and promotes interest in pre-Islamic Arabia through a series of related activities and projects, such as the IVIEDINA digital library and the IMTO archaeological database, which are promoted in the Arabia Antica portal of the University of Pisa.
New instruments can lead to radical changes in scientific knowledge: the role of Galileo's telescope in the revolution in astronomy is well known in this respect. I am convinced that the use of computer technology must hold an analogous function in the humanities. So far, this role has been under-valued because of the technical means' former embryonic status. However, the power of today's computers is transforming the ways in which we do research: quantitative change eventually leads to qualitative change. We can now engage in cross queries of vast corpuses in a way unimaginable only ten years ago. In addition, thanks to networking, all of the documentation is potentially accessible from any point on the planet, or at least nearly so. I would like to present an example of computer use that suggests a paradoxical situation. We can now exploit the oldest archives of humanity by using the latest computer technology, making them available to all via an online database. The “Archibab” project began six years ago in response to a call for proposals entitled, “Corpus and tools for research in the humanities” issued by the French National Research Agency. It covers Mesopotamian records from the Old Babylonian period, dating from the 20th –17th B.C.E., hence the acronym ARCHIBAB (Fr., “ARCHIves BAByloniennes;” Eng. “Babylonian archives”) by which the project is designated. I would like first to define the spirit that guided the development of this project; second, to give concrete examples of what we can ask of the Website created through this project; and finally to outline the developing prospects for the coming years.
The EPNet project aims to examine the framework of the Roman economic organisation and its networks by analysing epigraphical data from amphorae. This aim is to be realised through complex network analysis, model building and computer simulation. The objective is to create an experimental laboratory for the exploration, validation and refutation of historical theories, and the formulation of new ones.