28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

New AI Tool ‘Fragmentarium’ Brings Ancient Babylonian Texts Together

An artificial intelligence (AI) bot was developed by linguists at the Institute for Assyriology at Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany to assist in putting together and deciphering illegible fragments of ancient Babylonian texts. It’s been dubbed “the Fragmentarium.”

Enrique Jiménez, Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Literatures at the Institute of Assyriology, is leading a team digitizing every surviving Babylonian cuneiform tablet. Since 2018, the team has processed over 22,000 text fragments.

The team created the Fragmentarium, a groundbreaking database that automates the assembly of text fragments. The team worked with the Iraq Museum and the British Museum to photograph thousands of fragments.

This new AI program, which operates on both systematic and automated methods, has already identified hundreds of new manuscripts. Furthermore, it matches up old text fragments, including pieces from the most recent tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh which is considered the first work of literature in the world.

Professor Enrique Jimenez. Photo: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

This ancient Mesopotamian odyssey was written in the Akkadian language in 130 BC and tells the story of Gilgamesh, a ruler of the Mesopotamian city-state Uruk (Iraq). According to the researchers, the oldest known version of the epic, which was written in cuneiform characters on clay tablets over 4,000 years ago, is “significantly younger” than this recently discovered version of the ancient Epic. It is very interesting, remarks Jiménez, that people were still copying Gilgamesh at this late period.

“There’s so much work to do in the study of Babylonian literature. The new texts we’re discovering are helping us understand the literature and culture of Babylon as a whole,” said Enrique Jiménez.

He plans to publish the Fragmentarium, along with a digital version of the Epic of Gilgamesh—the first containing all transcriptions of cuneiform fragments that are currently known—In February 2023.

“Everybody will be able to play around with the Fragmentarium. There are thousands of fragments that have not yet been identified,” says Jiménez.

Around 200 academics from around the world have used the online platform for their research projects since the project began.

Ludwig Maximilian University

Related Articles

1,500-Year-Old Imperial Stone Inscription Unearthed in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia

18 August 2025

18 August 2025

A newly unearthed stone inscription, tentatively named the “Stele of the Emperor’s Northern Tour,” has been discovered in the vast...

Burial Cave in Israel May Belong to Herodian Princess Salome: From Royal Tomb to Christian and Islamic Pilgrimage Site

6 July 2025

6 July 2025

A recently reexamined Second Temple-period burial cave in southern Israel—long revered as the resting place of a Christian saint—may actually...

Maya city Tikal put today’s urban gardens to shame

26 June 2021

26 June 2021

The Maya civilization was known for its achievements in art, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and calendar systems. Tikal, the ancient Maya...

New study: Humans engaged in large-scale warfare in Europe 5,000 years ago ‘1,000 years earlier than previously thought’

3 November 2023

3 November 2023

Hundreds of human remains unearthed from a burial site point to a  warfare between Stone Age people long before the...

Artificial intelligence is Detecting New Archaeological Sites in the Arabian desert

5 October 2024

5 October 2024

A team of researchers at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi has developed a machine-learning algorithm to help them trawl vast...

Archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old burial ground and shell tool processing site in Taiwan

1 August 2022

1 August 2022

A 4,000-year-old cemetery and shell tool processing site has been discovered in Kenting National Park, Taiwan’s oldest and southernmost national...

3,700-Year-Old Bronze Age Ceremonial Site Discovered in Derbyshire, in Northern England

23 March 2025

23 March 2025

In a remarkable revelation, archaeologists have uncovered that the Farley Moor stone, previously thought to be a solitary monument, is...

Enigmas Roman Dodecahedron Uncovered by Amateur Archaeologists in the UK

24 January 2024

24 January 2024

Amateur archaeologists have unearthed a striking Roman dodecahedron in the serene countryside of Norton Disney, England, a mysterious class of...

The New Study, Reveals Invisible Stews

25 November 2022

25 November 2022

New Results of Organic Residue Analyzes of Beveled Rim Bowls in Mesopotamia Reveal Invisible Stews. The world’s first urban state...

A bronze seal matrix of St George slaying the dragon has been discovered at the royal Château of Villers-Cotterêts in northern France

21 March 2022

21 March 2022

A previously unpublished and unknown bronze seal matrix of Saint George slaying the dragon has been discovered at the royal...

Archaeologists Discover a New Pyramid from the Caral Culture, Known as South America’s Oldest Civilization

4 February 2025

4 February 2025

The team from the Caral Archaeological Zone has discovered a new pyramidal structure in the “Sector F” of the Chupacigarro...

2,400-year-old unearthed flush toilet in China

18 February 2023

18 February 2023

According to a China Daily report, the lower parts of a flush toilet estimated to be 2,400 years old have...

Over 7,000-Year-Old Traces of Life Discovered in Ratina Cave on Šćedro Island, Croatia

28 February 2025

28 February 2025

Recent archaeological excavations on Šćedro Island, located south of Hvar, have unveiled significant findings that challenge previous understandings of the...

1,500-Year-Old Stained Glass and Mosaics Discovered at Harran Cathedral Excavation in Türkiye

7 February 2025

7 February 2025

Recent excavations at the historic Harran archaeological site, which is included on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List, have yielded rare...

The ability to produce ceramic vessels came to Europe via Siberia and the Caspian Sea region

6 January 2023

6 January 2023

A new study suggests that the knowledge for making ceramic vessels came to Europe from the Middle East and the...