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Re:Ancient public library discovered in Germany by ASalazarMX on Tuesday July 31, 2018 @07:51PM (#17658379)
At least for cuneiform tablets, somewhere I read most of them are utterly boring, mostly inventory and transactions. Maybe you could pass years sifting through it to finally find something valuable.
Re:Ancient public library discovered in Germany by peterburkimsher on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @12:18AM (#17659617)
Here's the cuneiform scans if you're interested:

https://cdli.ucla.edu/?q=news/machine-assisted-translation-c...

Re:Ancient public library discovered in Germany by singularity2001 on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @02:58AM (#17660243)
That's only the announcement that they will be scanned?
Re:Ancient public library discovered in Germany by wahern on Tuesday July 31, 2018 @09:15PM (#17658860)
In the aggregate that data might be incredibly valuable, and valuable in a way that might not be obvious to the gatekeepers of these materials. You never know what people can do with more data until you put it out there.

But neither do the people who might do something with it, which I guess is why there's little funding for such endeavors. You need somebody with the money and conviction to make the gamble.

Re:Ancient public library discovered in Germany by dan-robertson on Wednesday August 01, 2018 @10:10AM (#17662621)
This is very true. A lot about civilisation can be learned from tax records but just because there are lots of tax records it does not mean they are particularly easy to read or to recognise, even for an expert.
Re:Ancient public library discovered in Germany by sameyolo on Tuesday July 31, 2018 @09:30PM (#17658921)
Give me a civilizations inventory and transaction log and I'll show you their economy, and society.
Re:Ancient public library discovered in Germany by samstave on Tuesday July 31, 2018 @09:28PM (#17658908)
"Dammit Zuel, this is the last time I'll give you grain on credit. Bring the camels next week or else!" scribles another tally onto the tablets.