AI reads 2,000 Hittite tablets, marking another milestone in Türkiye’s digital museology

Approximately 2,000 Hittite tablets in Ankara, Istanbul and Corum are scanned, digitized and deciphered because of the groundbreaking AI technology

Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Gokhan Yazgi announced that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has read nearly 2,000 Hittite tablets – thousands of years old historical documents.  

The first phase of the project, which was initiated to read, scan and digitize Hittite cuneiform tablets in the inventory of the Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Istanbul Archaeological Museums and Corum Museum using artificial intelligence, was completed in recent months.

Within the framework of the project carried out in cooperation with Ankara University and the General Directorate of Museums with Cultural Assets of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, thousands of years-old tablets found in the Hittite capital Hattusa were photographed in high resolution and scanned in 3D.

Hittite tablets and digital library

The project’s first stage involved learning 500 cuneiform Hittite tablets with artificial intelligence, which achieved 75.66% success. So far, artificial intelligence has read 2,000 tablets. The data obtained from the readings will be shared with the scientific world, and a study will be conducted by Hittitologists.

Hittite tablets containing historical documents will be opened to the world with the digital library established.

At the “On the Trail of the Hittites: New Information and Perspectives” symposium in Corum, Yazgi stated that they are making a great effort to use technology to understand the Hittite civilization better.

Yazgi added that the data obtained from the tablets will be shared with the public through a scientific study by Ankara University and the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Source: Newsroom