James Moore has released the Digital Editions of Aramaic and Phoenician Sources database. This helpful tool includes an extensive, searchable listing of Aramaic (and other) textual artifacts, map of finds and collections, metadata on each item, transcriptions (with pop-up lexical information), a lexicon, and bibliography. For a particularly relevant example, see his entry for the Elephantine Aḥiqar manuscript. Thanks to James for his hard work and useful contributions!
Hey Drew. Thanks for sharing! My initial (and obvious) question is, "What's the difference from CAL?" (The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon for those who don't know.)
ReplyDeleteI just did a little looking around the website. A big difference is that you can search for text strings. Searches work across editorial symbols like brackets, etc. Holding libraries are noted. Texts and translations are available side-by-side. All of that is super slick.
The website said something about links to photographs but I didn't get far enough to find any. How far out are they hoping to go beyond the Achaemenid Persian period with this thing (and when)? Any ideas on what the intent is with copyright details when citing works made available through their website but originating elsewhere (e.g., TAD)? Seems like the idea is to cite the web link at the bottom of the page, though it's obviously a moving target for now. If nothing else, one could search for something on the website, track down the source from which it's taken, and go from there.
Hi Kyle. Thanks for interacting and sharing your experience with the website. James Moore (https://history.osu.edu/people/moore.5089) would be able to answer your specific questions far better than I.
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