Publishing Sumerian Literature on the Semantic Web

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL) is an existing web resource that provides access to some 400 transliterated and translated composite texts. Although not actively developed since 2006, it remains a frequently cited source in literary Sumerological scholarship. An example of this examines the possibility of using Semantic Web technologies such as Linked Data and structural frameworks (known as ontologies in the sphere of Computer Science) to publish literary narratives online in a machine-readable format. In this paper, the practicalities and the benefits of using Linked Data (a method for the publication of structured information on the web) are explained in the context of Assyriological philology. Three existing ontologiesthe CIDOC CRM, FRBRoo, and Ontomedia are evaluated, and two custom-built structures (SuLO and mORSuL) are described. Literary Sumerology, and Assyriology in general, are in a position to be relevant and significant in the on-going development of Semantic Web technologies (through the promotion of common data formats and exchange protocols on the web, for example). The rich philological material of the ancient Near East can be used to evaluate the robustness and flexibility of models and schemas designed from the perspective of other disciplines but with the aim of upper-level (and thus universal) applicability. Assyriological research can in turn be supported by knowledge from other data-streams, and find itself becoming increasingly relevant in interdisciplinary research agendas, disseminated further, and better known in the public domain