DSOL’s One Year Anniversary!

Introduction: Purpose of DSOL

This month—November 2024—marks the one-year anniversary of the creation of this blog called the Digital Semitics Online Library! Originally called the Semitic Studies Online Library (SSOL), I initially envisioned the website as an online archive and repository of information related to ancient Near Eastern (ANE) studies, especially Semitic languages and epigraphy. My personal interests and much of the content of this website revolves around the following areas: comparative Semitic linguistics; Aramaic studies; Ugaritic studies; Northwest Semitic epigraphy and paleography; Akkadian dialectology; and digital applications in ANE studies.

Previous Blog Posts (Nov. 2023 through Nov. 2024)

Over the course of the past year, I’ve written and published over fifty blog posts (!) on DSOL (listed here in chronological order of appearance):

1. Nov. 20, 2023: What is the Digital Semitics Online Library? (updated Nov. 16, 2024)
2. Nov. 29, 2023: Learn to Read Ancient Akkadian: R. Caplice (2002), Prolegomena
3. Dec. 4, 2023: Bir-Hadad Stele (=Melqart Stele; ca. 850-775 BCE; AB B.1.1 = KAI 201)
4. Dec. 6, 2023: Learn to Read Ancient Aramaic: E. Cook (2022), Chapter One, “Introduction: Aramaic and Its Dialects”
5. Dec. 6, 2023: A royal brick inscription of Ur-Nammu (E3/2.1.1.33; BM No. 90015)
6. Dec. 7, 2023: A royal clay votive cone inscription of Gudea (E3/1.1.7.8; P232347)
7. Dec. 7, 2023: A royal brick inscription of Ur-Nammu (E3/2.1.1.4; BM No. 90009)
8. Dec. 8, 2023: A royal brick inscription of Gudea (E3/1.1.7.64)
9. Dec. 9, 2023: A royal brick inscription of Gudea (E3/1.1.7.62; BM No. 90289)
10. Dec. 10, 2023: A royal brick inscription of Gudea (E3/1.1.7.18; BM No. 90288)
11. Dec. 10, 2023: A royal clay cone inscription of Ur-Nammu (E3/2.1.1.11; P226926; Ashm 1935-0774)
12. Dec. 11, 2023: The most abundant royal inscription of Gudea (E3/1.1.7.37)
13. Dec. 12, 2023: A royal brick inscription of Gudea (E3/1.1.7.44)
14. Dec. 12, 2023: A royal inscription of Gudea (E3/1.1.7.31)
15. Dec. 12, 2023: A royal stone tablet inscription of Gudea (E3/1.1.7.4; P232332; IM 18647)
16. Dec. 13, 2023: A copper nail inscription of Ur-Nanše (E1.9.1.7)
17. Jan. 2, 2024: Semester in Review: Fall 2023 at JHU
18. Feb. 29, 2024: Two New (Online) Publications
19. Mar. 19, 2024: Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
20. Mar. 31, 2024: Learn to Read Ancient Aramaic: E. Cook (2022), Chapter Two, “Orthography”
21. Apr. 10, 2024: M. Richey: A (Brief) Literature Review
22. Apr. 12, 2024: Semitic Consonant Correspondences
23. Apr. 18, 2024: A Ugaritic Incantation against Snakebite (KTU 1.178 / RS 92.2014)
24. Apr. 24, 2024: Two More (Online) Publications
25. Apr. 27, 2024: Rare Semitic Languages
26. Apr. 28, 2024: A Sumerian Legal Case (ditila): Claim of Property and a Slave (ITT 3/2, pl. 21, 5279; Volk #38)
27. Apr. 29, 2024: Hammurabi Cylinder (Sumerian Translation from Old Babylonian Original)
28. Apr. 30, 2024: Šu-Suen Door Socket from Umma (RIME 3/2.1.4.17)
29. May 1, 2024: Sumerian Legal Case (ditila): A Lawsuit for Breach of Betrothal Promise (Volk #37)
30. May 3, 2024: A (Humorous) Model Court Case about Adultery (IM 28051; Volk #39)
31. May 5, 2024: Gudea Cylinder A i 1-29 (RIME E3/1.1.7.CylA)
32. May 6, 2024: Gudea Cylinder A ii 1-29 (E3/1.1.7.CylA)
33. May 7, 2024: Gudea Cylinder A iii 1-29 (E3/1.1.7.CylA)
34. May 8, 2024: Gudea Cylinder A xviii 1-28 (E3/1.1.7.CylA)
35. May 8, 2024: Law Code of Lipit-Ištar (Laws 8-18; CBS8284)
36. May 8, 2024: Gilgameš and Agga (Lines 1-17)
37. June 11, 2024: Travelogue: Iberian Peninsula (May 24-June 1, 2024)
38. June 23, 2024: Oxford University’s Anatolian Languages and Linguistics Summer School (June 17-22)
39. June 28, 2024: LTR Ancient Akkadian: Caplice, Lesson One
40. June 30, 2024: Leipzig AI and Harvard DH
41. July 6, 2024: Antwerp Digital Humanities Summer School
42. July 14, 2024: Venice Digital and Public Humanities Summer School
43. July 25, 2024: Two Cases of a Pseudo-Dual in Biblical Hebrew
44. Aug. 7, 2024: Leiden SSLL and Amsterdam ISBL
45. Aug. 30, 2024: Copenhagen: Digital Applications in Assyriology
46. Sep. 1, 2024: Spring and Summer 2024 Semesters in Review at JHU
47. Sep. 4, 2024: The Deuteronomistic History: Two Milestones in the History of Scholarship
48. Sep. 15, 2024: My First Half Marathon
49. Oct. 10, 2024: DtrH: The Göttingen School and Neo-Nothians
50. Oct. 26, 2024: Sara Milstein: A (Brief) Literature Review
51. Nov. 03, 2024: Thomas Jefferson: Monticello, UVA, and Hebrew/ANE Studies

Conclusion

As I reflect over the past year, DSOL has become exactly what I envisioned: a way to systematize and document some of the things I’m learning, and in so doing to catalogue my academic journey along the way. Ultimately, the DSOL project has made me more productive and has helped me solidify my understanding of complex topics by transforming scattered ideas into coherent entries. I already have several ideas for next steps with the website, including several new posts already in production. I plan to rely heavily on DSOL over the upcoming year as I complete my final semester of coursework (Spring 2025) as well as prepare for comprehensive exams (projected Fall 2025) and write my dissertation (2026-2027). Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey so far, and as always, Happy Researching!

About The Author

Matthew Saunders

Matthew Saunders is a PhD student in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He researches the languages and literatures of the ancient Near East, especially Aramaic Studies, Ugaritic Studies, and Comparative Semitics.

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