Non-destructive way to examine Assyrian tablets developed

[guy]

New technology finally allows deciphering Assyrian tablets without breaking their seal.

A new ENCI mobile CT‑scanner has been used to read sealed Old Assyrian cuneiform letters from Kültepe/Kaneš without breaking their clay envelopes.

ENCI is a specialized mobile high‑resolution CT scanner (pictured above) designed specifically to read sealed cuneiform tablets without breaking their clay envelopes.
It is the first device engineered for non‑destructive imaging of Old Assyrian tablets still encased in their original clay coverings.

The Old Assyrian letters (pictured below) were written on a clay tablet, then wrapped in a second layer of clay — the envelope — which was sealed and stamped. Opening it destroys the seal, the archaeological context, and sometimes the tablet itself.

 

 

 

The creators of the sealed tablets were Old Assyrian merchants, families, and scribes living in the early 2nd millennium BCE, roughly 2000–1750 BCE, during the period known as the Old Assyrian Trading Colonies.
 

These people lived in Kültepe/Kaneš, in central Anatolia, and were part of a vast commercial network linking Assur (in northern Iraq) with dozens of Anatolian cities. They wrote letters on clay tablets and sealed them in clay envelopes to protect contracts, loans, shipments, and family correspondence.

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s40494-026-02568-7.pdf

Edited July 1 by guy