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University of Tübingen archaeologists headed by Professor Peter Pfälzner have made sensational finds in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. The researchers from the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies found a cuneiform archive of 93 clay tablets dating from 1250 BCE -- the period of the Middle Assyrian Empire. What the tablets record remains a mystery for the time being. The researchers will have to decipher them -- a long and difficult task.
The tablets were found at the Bronze Age city site of Bassetki, which was only discovered in 2013 by archaeologists from the Tübingen collaborative research center 1070, ResourceCultures. The Tübingen archaeologists continued their work undisturbed even in September and October of this year -- despite the turbulence caused by the Kurdish independence referendum and the sharp responses of governments in the region. In recent months, the researchers excavated layers of settlement dating from the Early, Middle, and Late Bronze Age, as well as from the subsequent Assyrian period. "Our finds provide evidence that this early urban center in northern Mesopotamia was settled almost continuously from approximately 3000 to 600 BCE. That indicates that Bassetki was of key significance on important trade routes," Pfälzner says.
Year 2350, archaeologists have uncovered a trove of information on an ancient format: zip disk. After many arduous months, they have managed to decipher the content...
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday October 25 2017, @04:48AM (5 children)
likely just records of amounts owning to a local ruler.
and/or poker winnings.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday October 25 2017, @05:17AM (4 children)
Probably spot on for the most part.
IIRCC the main reason these kind of tablets survived to this age is because the clay was fired at some point. What was usually the case was when the debt was paid, annual tax collected, ect. the clay tablet would be dropped into a bucket of water and recycled. While some tablets may have been intentionally fired for some reason or other most that have been found so far were fired because some body knocked over an oil lamp and torched the storage building.
I'm surprised no one has made an app to scan and rough translate these things automatically already. The researchers who found them probably couldn't get a good signal :)
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 25 2017, @05:31AM (2 children)
It's Iraq. Didn't the Americans invade and install a first-world class telco monopoly?
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday October 25 2017, @06:27AM
Yes, but you have to be either US armed forces, or you're a target.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by arulatas on Wednesday October 25 2017, @01:29PM
Yes but their data caps are 20 Megs a month.
----- 10 turns around
(Score: 4, Funny) by Bot on Wednesday October 25 2017, @03:03PM
> The clay tablet would be dropped into a bucket of water and recycled.
- The man from the past: oh you got tablets too?
- me: of course we do, they are far more advanced than yours
- Oh! they can retain data for more than 3 millennia?
- errr...
- Oh, you mean you have to recycle them now and then?
- errrrr.....
- Oh, well, at least do they have a beautiful alphabet?
- Oh it's very essential, two letters
- wow! You must have to read a lot to get information then
- errrr... we actually cannot read them directly, the tablets are smart and they decide when and what to show us
- Wow finally something cool.
- and they decide IF to show us.
- listen, man, the time machine has two seats, why don't you come back with me and escape this madness?
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