Medieval History
Thousands of fragments of centuries-old Jewish texts, from shopping lists to historical documents, are being joined together using new software.
The scraps of the Cairo Genizah being cataloged include a letter from a wife complaining about her husband and a rabbinical judge?s authorization of the kosher status of cheese sold by a Jerusalem grocer.
The software, developed by Tel Aviv University professors Lior Wolf and Nachum Dershowitz, is analyzing texts that span about 1,000 years of Middle East history. The algorithm program adapts facial recognition technology to identify similar handwriting on documents which are then sorted into digital loose-leaf binders.
?The computer found thousands of items running for a week,? Dershowitz said in a telephone interview. ?Then it took months for the scholars to look at it and decide if the computer was correct.?
Click here to read this article from Bloomberg News
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- Bodleian Libraries Cairo Genizah Collection Now Available Online
The Bodleian Libraries have digitized and made available for the first time their exceptional collection of the Cairo Genizah fragments. The website launch is marked by a bequest of five Genizah fragments from the library of the late Eli Weinberg. The...
- Medieval Jewish Manuscripts Discovered In Afghanistan Include An Unknown Work By Saadia Gaon
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Medieval History
Israel Computer Solves Jigsaw of Letters, Prayers Scattered for Centuries
Thousands of fragments of centuries-old Jewish texts, from shopping lists to historical documents, are being joined together using new software.
The scraps of the Cairo Genizah being cataloged include a letter from a wife complaining about her husband and a rabbinical judge?s authorization of the kosher status of cheese sold by a Jerusalem grocer.
The software, developed by Tel Aviv University professors Lior Wolf and Nachum Dershowitz, is analyzing texts that span about 1,000 years of Middle East history. The algorithm program adapts facial recognition technology to identify similar handwriting on documents which are then sorted into digital loose-leaf binders.
?The computer found thousands of items running for a week,? Dershowitz said in a telephone interview. ?Then it took months for the scholars to look at it and decide if the computer was correct.?
Click here to read this article from Bloomberg News
- Israeli Library Unveils Medieval Manuscript Collection Discovered In Afghanistan
A trove of ancient manuscripts in Hebrew characters rescued from caves in a Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan is providing the first physical evidence of a Jewish community that thrived there a thousand years ago. On Thursday Israel's...
- People Of Medieval Scotland Online Database Officially Launched
A new interactive online database, which will make thousands of the oldest documents in Scotland?s history available to the public, has been officially launched today during an event at the University of Glasgow. The People of Medieval Scotland (PoMS)...
- New Facial Recognition Software To Help Solve Art Mysteries
Anyone who has admired centuries-old sculptures and portraits displayed in museums and galleries around the world at some point has asked one question: Who is that? Three University of California, Riverside scholars have launched a research project to...
- Bodleian Libraries Cairo Genizah Collection Now Available Online
The Bodleian Libraries have digitized and made available for the first time their exceptional collection of the Cairo Genizah fragments. The website launch is marked by a bequest of five Genizah fragments from the library of the late Eli Weinberg. The...
- Medieval Jewish Manuscripts Discovered In Afghanistan Include An Unknown Work By Saadia Gaon
This much is known: rare, medieval Jewish manuscripts have been discovered along the fabled Silk Road in Afghanistan and are for sale. Are they authentic? Scholars who have examined them say they are. The rest ? who found them, where they came from, whether...