Workshop Object - Text - Image
April 28, 2025, 14:00 - 18:00 CET
Looking back
The workshop of the Community Cluster ‘Objects as Inscription Carriers’ took place on 28 April 2025 at the Archäologisches Zentrum Berlin and online and brought together experts from archaeology, art history, Egyptology, numismatics and digital humanities, including from the NFDI consortia Text+ and 4Memory. The aim of this event, which followed an initial workshop in October 2024 (Fig. 1), was to discuss current projects and challenges in the digital indexing and modelling of inscription carriers, particularly with regard to standard data, interoperable metadata models and ontologies, as well as the creation of synergetic strategies in various projects and consortia. The DOIs of the contribution presentations are listed at the end of the synopses.
Programme of the 1st workshop of the Community Cluster on 22.10.2024
Part I: Project presentations and central themes
Anne Herzberg-Beiersdorf presented her project on the digital recording of private monuments from Memphis (New Kingdom period, ca. 1550-1070 BC). Over 1700 objects, 2409 persons and 992 Egyptian official and functional titles had already been recorded in a PostgreSQL database as part of her dissertation project and put in relation to each other. The methodological framework of social network analysis was used to prepare and analyse the data. The database records various metadata categories, such as information on material, dating, provenance and location, using standardisation data sources (e.g. MET, THOT and Trismegistos, TopBib, Geonames and Wikidata). A central challenge is the standardisation of the location and position of the inscriptions in their respective superordinate context (e.g. the carrier medium, archaeological/epigraphic context), as no standardised specialist vocabularies for archaeological contexts exist to date.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17020596
Alexander Ilin-Tomich presented his prosopographical project on Egypt in the Middle and Early New Kingdoms. The database of 53,198 individuals is published both as a web-based MySQL database and as a graph database. The data model requires in particular the links between people, iconography, language, history and archaeology, with the speaker describing a gap between field archaeological, museological, historical, pictorial and text-based specialisms as emblematic also of the workshop theme. The modelling of the relationship between objects and inscriptions is based on an ontology referenced on CIDOC CRM, whereby the distinction between physical objects, virtual objects and texts remains problematic. In particular, multi-part, non-linear texts (e.g. palimpsests) and objects consisting of several finds or museum pieces illustrate the erroneous conclusions caused by heterogeneous ontological classifications (e.g. E22 human-made-object vs. E24 human-made-thing) and different definitions of object and inscription.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17021378
Daniel Werning presented the modelling of artefacts and texts in the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae (TLA). The data model of the TLA differentiates between texts (BTSText) and objects (BTSObject), whereby shortcomings were also described that can already be solved to varying degrees. Particular challenges result for the precise integration of object data from fragmented text carriers, multi-part and non-linear texts as well as pictorial elements. An exemplary mapping to the ontology of the FAIR Epigraphy Project led to a largely accurate fit of the modelling there, in which mainly only the transfer of individual classes used there to the Egyptological requirements left certain ambiguities. Various detailed solutions were proposed for the self-critically described shortcomings in the integration of text-object references in the TLA, for example through segmentation and annotations.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17021761
In his contribution, historian Philipp Schneider focussed on digital heraldry. The coats of arms of the later Middle Ages and the early modern period are compositions composed of various layers, including the conceptual arrangement of individual pictorial elements, colours and shapes. The DigitalHeraldry project (headed by Torsten Hiltmann) has created a knowledge graph with four (sub-)ontologies (Objects, Representations, Entities, Heraldic Elements) for heraldry from RDF-indexed data from a local heraldry database. The ontology models the complex relationships between coats of arms, their components and contexts, which are crucial for the adequate interpretation of the coats of arms. The challenge lies in the fine-grained analysis of the heraldic elements as well as in the integration of pictorial data (e.g. in IIIF) and multilingualism. In the follow-up project HERALDic Identity in Context, the data model and the ontology are to be made open access.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17022254
Part II: Keynote speeches and practical modelling
The model presented by Sarah Wagner sees the inscription of objects as part of the digital object biography and serves to integrate heterogeneous and distributed object information. The object is considered in the context of events, such as its creation, its use, a museum or collection context, its modification or research activities, each of which can be linked to actors, time and place and must always be documented with sources. The object biography is modelled using the N4O Objects Ontology, whose top-level ontology is CIDOC CRM version 7.1.3. Inscriptions are currently recorded in the digital object biography in two contexts: when the object is created or produced (E12 Production) and when it is modified (E11 Modification), for example when inscriptions are added, restored or otherwise altered. When recording an inscription (E34 Inscription), its transcription (E31 Document) and language (E56 Language) can be documented. The inscription, in turn, is linked to a physical feature (E25 Human-made Feature) by which it is carried (P128 is carried by) and on which it can be located (P59 has section). Particularly in the case of objects that bear several inscriptions, the question arises as to the level of detail of the recording (case study Behaim globe from 1492/94 in the GNM Nuremberg, which bears over 2000 place names). In the course of the discussion, the question was raised as to whether inscriptions should not also play a role in the context of the use of an object, for example when they are read aloud by certain actors.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15632274
Anja Gerber presented modelling approaches for integrating heterogeneous archaeological data into the NFDI4Objects Knowledge Graph. Multidisciplinary application examples from the N4O Task Areas 1-4 are required for this task, which is largely driven by the ‘N4O Object Metadata Set & Object Ontology’ TWG. A path was outlined that uses LIDO as a metadata schema to describe object data based on LIDO (XML) for the N4O ObjectMetaDataSet. By referencing CIDOC-CRM 7.1.3, among others, an RDF-capable representation is then created in the N4O Object Ontology. A key challenge is to map the different data formats interoperably and without loss of information. Approaches were presented for modelling complex objects, multi-part and non-linear texts as well as pictorial elements. It is particularly important to determine which relationships between objects, texts and images should be expressed with which properties. The approach of the minimum data set recommendation for museums and collections used as a starting point for the metadata model is not sufficient to adequately represent more complex relationships between texts and objects. In close cooperation between NFDI4Objects, the Minimal Dataset Working Group and the German LIDO AG, the needs of the consortium will be incorporated into the further development of the minimal dataset and an archaeological application profile for LIDO.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17023156
Christoph Klose used a coin from the late 1st century BC to present the current situation and shortcomings in the recording and visualisation of text-object relationships in numismatic research data. Despite the diverse use of standard data for persons, corporate bodies, geographical locations and other numismatic concepts, modelling the linking of pictorial and textual information remains a challenge. When exporting in the IKMK’s LIDO-XML data format, the legend and image description are mapped in the ‘Inscription’ and ‘Inscription Description’ elements, which can result in insufficient separation of the textual and pictorial object properties, so that there is a need for alternative ontological referencing, for which suggestions have been made: A separation of inscription information into the Lido concepts of ‘Inscription Transcription’ (for the reproduction of textual information) and ‘Inscription Description’ (for the description of formalities such as direction or textures such as recessed inscriptions).
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17023338
Key aspects of Florian Thiery’s contribution, of which unfortunately only the presentation could be made available due to time constraints, concern the mapping of special application ontologies to CIDOC CRM and the use of the TEI Epidoc metadata schema widely used in (classical) epigraphy on the basis of two object resources: Celtic Ogham stones and Roman stamped pottery (see in particular slides 2, 10, 14, 15, 25 and 27 of the presentation).
Slide 2 from Florian Thiery’s article on the integration of object data into the Knowledge Graph of NFDI4Objects ©Florian Thiery CC BY 4.0
A key point of the contribution is to emphasise the interoperability of different metadata schemas and ontologies and their integration into the N4O Knowledge Graph. In addition to the examples frequently mentioned in the workshop (such as LIDO and CIDOC CRM), this also applies to Wikibase instances and Factgrid (Fig. 2).
https://zenodo.org/records/15310724
Babette Schnitzlein focussed on the metadata of cuneiform artefacts. The recording of museum numbers including joins, text editions, script (levels) and classification is essential in order to make textual evidence usable in digital collections. The standardised documentation in the ‘Reading the Library of Assurbanipal’ project (LMU and BM London) for plates and plate fragments with colophons offers good approaches, for example through the use of harmonised localisations, such as in the classification. The latter is (now revised several times) also used in the electronic Babylonian Library (LMU and Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities). The discussion emphasised the need to integrate such standardisations with stable identifiers as norm data in other databases and to improve data quality through clear guidelines.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17023440
Overarching topics, questions and future steps
Key questions regarding the customisation of the CIDOC CRM classes and properties were discussed in order to adequately map the diverse object properties. There is a need for low-level and top-level ontologies as well as for the modelling of multi-part objects, e.g. funerary steles located in different museums. The modelling of serial inscriptions and multi-part text carriers was repeatedly described as a challenge.
For the next steps, the collection of specific mappings of metadata to standards such as CIDOC CRM, Wikidata, Factgrid, LIDO XML and TEI Epidoc was agreed. The aim is to drive forward the integration of selected object texts into the shared database and improve interoperability between the various data sources. Best practice examples are also to be developed in order to standardise and simplify the modelling of complex inscription carriers in digital collections.
Announcement
On April 28 (2-6 pm), the CC Objects as Inscription Carriers of NFDI4Objects will host the workshop Object - Text - Image in the Brugsch Pasha Hall of the Archaeological Center Berlin (with hybrid component).
Case studies and project proposals from various disciplines and material groups will be presented in 15-minute keynote speeches, and modeling proposals for object/image/text constellations using different ontologies and controlled vocabularies will also be discussed. The aim of the workshop is to promote the exchange between specialist representatives and other NFDI consortia in order to create cooperation and synergies and to find answers to the following key questions:
- Where do projects/projects/data collection systems stand in terms of labeling the relationships between objects, texts and image elements?
- Which of the essential relationships and object properties can be represented by existing data capture schemes and how; where is there a need for development?
- How must research data be structured and qualified for a common knowledge graph?
- And how can ongoing projects at different levels of the process take the necessary steps to provide research data of an appropriate quality?
The contributions and discussions will be incorporated into a joint publication that takes stock of possibilities and application scenarios and formulates recommendations for the implementation of appropriate steps in the digital publication of objects as inscription carriers.
Place & time: 28.4.2025, 14-18 CET, Archaeological Center, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 2-8, 10117 Berlin
Online participation: https://spk-berlin.webex.com/meet/c.klose
Contact: Christoph Klose: c.klose@smb.spk-berlin.de
Program
Part I: 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: 15-minute lectures (+ 5-minute discussion)
Welcome and introduction
1.) Anne Herzberg Beiersdorf: Inscriptions, Identities, Interfaces. On the digital recording and analysis of inscribed private monuments from Memphis
2.) Alexander Ilin Tomich: A digital name book and prosopography of Middle and early New Kingdom Egypt: Where to put the object metadata?
3.) Daniel Werning: Modeling slides and text inscriptions in the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae
4.) Torsten Hiltmann / Philipp Schneider: Digital Heraldry
Coffee break
Part II: 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
1.) Sarah Wagner et al. (virtual): Handling inscriptions in digital object biographies
2.) Hands-on data modeling for integration into the LIDO/CIDOC CRM-based NFDI4Objects Knowledge Graph. Moderated by Anja Gerber (with examples from Bernhard Weisser / Christoph Klose, Florian Thiery / Allard Mees, and Babette Schnitzlein)