The Harvard Gazette has an interesting piece on the preservation of the university’s cuneiform tablet collection.
The Harvard Gazette has an interesting piece on the preservation of the university’s cuneiform tablet collection.
When those Akkadian and Ugaritic tablets that were once known as the Claremont Ras Shamra Tablets arrived in 1969/70, most (all?) were unbaked (a couple were also very incrusted). After a careful cleaning, Loren Fisher had them baked to conserve them. But before these tablets were assigned to the kiln, test runs were done on a couple of unbaked neo-Assyrian tablets from CST’s (then STC) collection. It was all rather spooky. Luckily, none of the tablets were broken in the process. But there sure was anxiety about the whole affair.
Very cool stuff, Duane.