“Technology and Texts: New Scientific and Digital Methods for the
Analysis of Ancient Near Eastern Writings.” This will be a new
session at the Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental
Research in San Diego, November 19-22, 2014.

This session will be co-chaired by Annalisa Azzoni
(annalisa.azzoni@gmail.com) and Christopher Rollston
(Christopher.Rollston@gmail.com). Please feel free to contact them
to discuss possible paper proposals or to request further details
regarding the session. The Steering Committee for this session also
includes Anat Mendel and Jason Bembry.

This new session will focus on technologies used in the decipherment,
enhancement, reading, recording, and dissemination of ancient textual
material, including things such as RTI imaging of inscriptions, photo
grammetry of tablets and incised texts, the uses of digital
microscopes for detailed images of texts (e.g., seals, bullae, coins),
new methods of drawing and measuring inscriptions using software such
as Photoshop, new three dimensional imaging techniques, digital
enhancing of the ink of texts, source analysis of clay and stone,
on-line databases of texts and images, digital coding of texts.
Because it is an aspect of the history of technology in the field, we
are also interested in a paper or two which focuses on some of the
technologies used in the early history of modern research on texts,
including and especially the making of “paper squeezes” during the
late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the use of mylar paper during
the second half of the 20th century. The texts discussed in the
papers may be from any region of the ancient Near Eastern and
Mediterranean worlds.

In short, we are interested in any and all technologies used to
enhance the reading and understanding of texts as well as the methods
for creating broad-based access to epigraphic images and corpora.

For further information about submitting a proposal, go to:
[www.asor.org]. Please note that
our session has just been accepted, so it may be a few days before it
shows up on the list of approved sessions.

In addition, please remember the following:

(1) Paper Proposals (accompanied by detailed abstracts) must be
submitted by February 15, 2014, via the ASOR web site
(http://www.asor.org/am/2014/call-4.html).

(2) Professional Membership is required for paper presenters (see the
"Rules for Participation" component of the ASOR web site).

(3) Registration for the Annual Meeting is required at the time of
paper proposal (and abstract) submission.