São Paulo – In 1921, researchers of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, in the United States, started deciphering the 28,000 words of the Assyrian language, one of the first written languages, developed in the region in which Iraq is currently located, and not spoken for almost 2,000 years.
The epic Gilgamesh, considered the first work of art of literature, was written in the language. It was also used by Hamurabi to write the first code of laws, in 1.600 BC. Now, 90 years after the beginning, its translation has come to an end.
And it came out through the hands of Martha Roth, the current editor and person in charge of the “Assyrian Dictionary Project”. At 58 years of age, she says that she is proud and satisfied for having completed the project that took her 32 years, but not with slight sadness. “I also feel a small sense of loss, that this effort which has so defined my career is now behind me,” she said to ANBA, by e-mail.
The Assyrian and Babylonian dialects were spoken by the people of Mesopotamia between 2,500 BC and 150 AD. These are some of the peoples that developed cuneiform script, created by the Sumerians in 4.000 BC. This scrip was produced on clay using stone cracking tools.
Part of this technique was developed in the city-states that arose on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where Iraq and Syria are currently located. Alongside the Assyrians, the Babylonians and Acadians were the first civilisations to dominate writing, though in different dialects. And it was in the work of these people that the researchers concentrated.
It was not easy to translate it all. After all, some entries, or words, cannot be described in a few lines, as in a common dictionary. This dictionary is divided into 21 volumes and is similar to an encyclopaedia. Some entries have over 10 pages in explanations.
The complexity of translation, due to the language being so ancient, explains part of the delay in conclusion of the dictionary, as does the method employed by Assyrians, Babylonians and Acadians for communication in writing, and the simple research technology.
The researchers did not use special devices or modern x-ray technologies. “The early efforts to compile the data set (millions of file cards) employed duplicating technologies such as hectograph, mimeograph, and Xeroxing,” said Martha.
She also reveals that scholars needed to develop typewriters to include the diacritics, the marks added to works to distinguish sounds (accents, for example). Even IBM punched cards were used to decipher the dictionary in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the researchers started typing the translation into the first PCs.
Specialized techniques and personnel required investment. Martha said it is hard to define how much was spent over the 90 years, but recalled that the government agency that finances research, the National Endowment for Humanities, invested US$ 1 million in 25 years through assistance to post-doctoral students and employees. “In the meantime, the University of Chicago paid the salaries of all of the professors, residents and researchers.”
There were times in which the project progressed rapidly. While one team was deciphering one volume, the editors were completing another and the original copies of one more book were being proofread. But it was not always like that. “But in the last decade, as each volume was published the ‘pipeline’ was noticeably slowing and there were no “new” volumes coming up. The team of researchers thus also diminished, from five or more active participants to eventually just me and one part-time assistant,” said Martha.
Now, with the meaning of ancient symbols at hand, researchers may study part of history that was previously not understandable. “The Dictionary is truly an encyclopedic compendium of the material culture, social history, scientific accomplishments, and linguistic variation of several cultures that we refer to under the rubric of ‘ancient Mesopotamia’. It is used most directly and essentially by scholars and students of ancient Mesopotamia. It is an essential tool for the study of the Hebrew Bible and of ancient Israel. […] It is the definitive work on the dialects of East Semitic spoken and written over more than 2000 years,” said Martha.
The work of deciphering this dictionary is the end of a project, but probably the beginning of several others. It took 90 years to be concluded, longer than the life of many of those who worked on the project, but little if compared to the 2,600 years in which the dialect was spoken and written.
“The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary will remain a fundamental tool for understanding these texts as more and more are excavated from the modern Middle East and published by scholars. As these new texts emerge, we will gain yet additional insights into our history and cultural heritage,” observed the researcher.
Service
The Assyrian Dictionary may be bought by anyone. The price of each one of the 21 volumes ranges from US$ 45 to US$ 150, but it is also possible to download each volume for free on site http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/cad/.
*Translated by Mark Ament
