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Post by Andorinha on Jul 9, 2018 12:14:52 GMT -6
Trying to learn how to upload photos -- have forgotten...  Practice Sumerian Ur III tablet, circa 2000 BCE: God Dimtaba his lady (king) Shulgi repeated twice God Dimtaba Dingir Dim-ta-ba nin-a-ni Shul-gi Shul-gi Shul-gi Dingir Dim-ta-ba Going to try some runic tablets as well. |
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Post by fanuidhol on Jul 9, 2018 15:47:45 GMT -6
Very, very cool!
Is the tablet (more or less) hand sized?
Another question: The first Shul-gi appears to be different than the other two. Is it a matter of lighting or a different stylus?
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Post by Andorinha on Jul 9, 2018 18:00:14 GMT -6
The first tablet is about 3 inches long, 2 inches wide. The first Shulgi was done with a different stylus, thinner but longer strokes. The second and third Shulgis were done with a chop stick end that made shorter strokes and heavier characters. Some other variations were simply due to my unsteady hand, and other variations are caused by differential lighting. I'm doing a full copy of the original text now, with yet a third stylus that is a cut-down popsicle stick -- and gives me more control over the angles of the characters. I have also noticed that my "handwriting" is gradually improving in uniformity of characters, and reduction in size as I complete more practice work. When I finish the full text, I'll upload the redone version to see if I have made any improvement... For this second tablet text, the reverse side of #1, I used yet another stylus, a thicker bladed chop stick, but the size and shape of the signs are a bit better (I thought). I see that I need to create a smoother tablet surface, some wrinkles/ dimples in the clay show up as "static/ clutter" when photographed!  Dingir Dim-tab-ba nin-a-ni Shul-gi ush-kala-ga Lugal shesh-ab- ki ma Lugal Ki-en- gi ki ke4 __________________ E2 E2 a-ni The goddess Dimtaba his lady Shulgi the mighty warrior King of Ur King of Sumer ________________ temple her temple |
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Post by fanuidhol on Jul 10, 2018 4:47:35 GMT -6
Having a harder time "reading" the 2nd tablet. I think there is just a tad too much light, so not enough contrast for my older eyes. Could be my computer, but, I tried making adjustments and that was unsatisfactory.
On the tablet and the literal translation of the marks, I count 9 lines. The English translation has 7. Since I am a novice, I want to be sure of that my "pairing up" of marks with Sumerian and English is correct.
Must be tough working on such a small surface. The marks in the upper portion seem crisper than on the first tablet. Can't make out the bottom portion so well, due to the light.
Are you sharing your efforts with the academic community?
Keep them coming!
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Post by Stormrider on Jul 10, 2018 6:08:44 GMT -6
What are you making the tablets out of? You mentioned clay. Do you have to bake them in an oven or just let them dry out?
It is a challenge to write in ancient script. I had a challenge with re-copying the Rohirric text when Twizzle was writing things in that other thread.
You seem to have a nice steady hand. I agree with Fan. The first tablet is easier to make out the runes. I also like the dividing lines.
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Post by Andorinha on Jul 10, 2018 10:11:54 GMT -6
Fan: Interesting, both photos taken with same light/ camera, but yes, one is more faded-flashed-out... There are actually only 7 lines on the white tablet I made for #2 here. The Sumerians broke their messages into discrete word groups, and if they ran out of room on the tablet while moving horizontally across the clay, they would form a separate sub-line, usually indented right to show the thought was being continued. Here is another example:  Notice line 5 on this photo of a black tablet has two sub-lines of text, the second starts indented to the right. This shows that this 2 sub-line unit is all part of one unit of meaning. In this case the royal title: Lugal Shesh-ab- ----- ki-ma King of Ur ----- town If the tablet had been wider, the royal title would have been written altogether as one line: Lugal Shesh-ab-ki-ma Line six is another compound that was too long to fit on what we would call one line and so was inscribed as 2 sub-lines: Lugal Ki-en- ----- gi Ki-URIM-ke4 King of Sumer -----and of Akkad In this example Sumer is KENGIR written Ki-en-gi and Akkad is written with an ideogram URIM = Land of Akkad. As both phrases are part of one formulaic expression, they form one line of meaning as shown by being separated from the next unit by the full horizontal line. In counting up lines, modern scholars would count the horizontal bars as "line units." Hence this tablet would be assigned only 8 lines despite the eye seeing 10. |
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Post by Andorinha on Jul 10, 2018 10:30:21 GMT -6
Stormy: I'm using two different clays, both white in color. One ("Sculpey" brand name) remains flexible until baked in the oven, does not need a special potter's kiln, just regular kitchen oven. I use this clay for practice, so if I mess up a sign (happens a lot) I can "erase" it and start over. The other clay is "Crayola" brand "air-dried" clay that becomes porcelain hard if left in the Arizona sun for 12 hours.
Yes, different scripts require different approaches, cuneiform needs a single impression per character element, and you need to control size, angle, and depth... I'm hoping runes will be easier to "draw," but they may not be suited to clay tablet formations?
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Post by fanuidhol on Jul 12, 2018 16:04:43 GMT -6
Thanks for the clarification, Andy. I often do the indenting thing when I am writing notes for something. And here I thought I invented that.  |
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