AI deciphers hymn on 4,000-year-old clay tablet to unlock mystery of ancient city of Babylon
AN ANCIENT hymn lost for 4,000 years on a Babylonian tablet has finally been deciphered using artificial intelligence (AI).
Advances in technology made the discovery possible in a fraction of the time, according to a new study.
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Without AI, it would have taken decades to decode.
The text, inscribed on an ancient tablet, is from Babylon, Mesopotamia – once the largest city in the world in 2000 BCE.
Babylonian texts were composed in cuneiform, the oldest form of writing, on clay tablets.
But they have only survived in fragments, meaning their messages are hard to decipher.
After digitising a selection of ancient texts, researchers at the University of Baghdad and Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich, uncovered an ancient hymn they believe Babylon residents would have sung.
“Using our AI-supported platform, we managed to identify 30 other manuscripts that belong to the rediscovered hymn—a process that would formerly have taken decades,” said Enrique Jiménez, professor of Ancient Near Eastern Literatures at LMU’s Institute of Assyriology.
Although parts of these texts were missing, scholars were still able to completely decipher the hymn of praise.
“It’s a fascinating hymn that describes Babylon in all its majesty and gives insights into the lives of its inhabitants, male and female,” added Jiménez.
Researchers believe children would have studied the hymn, which is comprised of 250 lines of text, at school.
Numerous copies of the hymn have been found inscribed on clay tablets from the era.
“The hymn was copied by children at school. It’s unusual that such a popular text in its day was unknown to us before now,” said Jiménez.
“It was written by a Babylonian who wanted to praise his city.
“The author describes the buildings in the city, but also how the waters of the Euphrates bring the spring and green the fields.
“This is all the more spectacular as surviving Mesopotamian literature is sparing in its descriptions of natural phenomena.”
Table of Contents
Excerpt from the ancient hymn
Here are some lines from the newly discovered hymn of praise:
“The Euphrates is her river – established by wise lord Nudimmud –
“It quenches the lea, saturates the canebrake,
“Disgorges its waters into lagoon and sea,
“Its fields burgeon with herbs and flowers,
“Its meadows, in brilliant bloom, sprout barley,
“From which, gathered, sheaves are stacked,
“Herds and flocks lie on verdant pastures,
“Wealth and splendour – what befit mankind –
“Are bestowed, multiplied, and regally granted.”
The ruins of the ancient city of Babylon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are located some 85 km south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Beyond the city and its pastures, the hymn also reveals new details about the lives of women in Babylon.
Women had roles as priestesses, which were described as being particularly virtuous.
They were praised in the hymn for their devotion and discretion.
Priestesses were famously celibate, and were among the professions established to to keep the population’s birth rate under control.
Their “partners”, mentioned in the hymn, are understood to be the gods they are devoted to.
The hymn also offers insights into the melding of different cultures in the early urban society.
For example, the inhabitants are described as being respectful to foreigners.
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While researchers have uncovered unprecedented detail about ancient Babylon, there are more secrets to uncover.
Roughly 100 lines of the hymn’s ending are still missing or mutilated, according to the study, so it is difficult to decipher what they might have contained.
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