From the Cradle of Civilization to the 21st Century

The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery have announced the digitization of ancient near eastern inscriptions. The inscriptions currently preserved as Squeezes of text from archaeological sites such as Bastam, Persepolis, and Samarra.

The original inscriptions were preserved by Ernst Herzfeld, a German archeologist in the early 20th century. He developed a technique of layering a series of moistened sheets of paper to create a wet pulp which was then pressed upon the inscriptions to create a 3-dimensional mold. The Freer and Sackler archives currently hold 393 squeezes.

In 2010 the Smithsonian received a grant to electronically preserve the squeezes. Using a new imaging technique, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) allows digital copies to be made which allow the viewer to zoom in and enhance the image without damaging the original squeeze.

The Freer and Sackler Archives is dedicated to furthering the study of Asian and Middle Eastern art and culture. RTI has aided it in providing world wide access to a section of its collection to scholars and history enthusiasts.