Telling ancient tales to modern machines: ontological representation of Sumerian literary narratives

Abstract

This thesis examines the potential of semantic web technologies to support and complement scholarship in Assyriology. Building on prior research, it is unique in its assessment of the suitability of three existing OWL ontologies (CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model, FRBRoo and Ontomedia) to adequately capture and represent the heterogeneous and incomplete narratives published as composites by the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.

Its agenda sits firmly within the interdisciplinary context of the Digital Humanities and Web Science, and it describes a process centered on the development, implementation and valuation of an ontological representation system (mORSuL), designed to reflect the needs, desires, challenges and opportunities of Assyriological research paradigms. Underlying the process are two fundamental assumptions: firstly, that semantic technologies can be used to support academic endeavours in the Humanities, and secondly, that the benefits of doing so can be identified and evaluated.

The thesis culminates in the conclusion that these existing ontologies are mostly suitable for the representation of the narrative content of these ancient texts, requiring only a few additions and changes.

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ORCID for Graeme Earl: orcid.org/0000-0001-9077-4605

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