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Technology

Ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets could be decoded by an AI

By Chris Stokel-Walker

16 September 2021

cuneiform tablets

Enuma Elish, a Babylonian Epic of Creation, written on cuneiform tablets in Sumero-Akkadian script in the 7th century BC

www.BibleLandPictures.com/Alamy

A deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) model can predict missing words, fragments and sentences from cuneiform tablets that are up to 4500 years old.

Clay tablets inscribed with text written in the Akkadian language are key tools for understanding the cultures that existed in and around Mesopotamia – centred on present day Iraq – between 2500 BC and 100 AD. But the tablets’ age means many are damaged, with key sections of text missing.

Computer scientist at the Hebrew…

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