Monday, September 28, 2015

National Endowment for the Humanities support for the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project

National Endowment for the Humanities support for the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project



University of Chicago (Chicago, IL 60637-5418)
Matthew Stolper (Project Director, 07/24/2012 - present)
PW-51344-13
The Persepolis Fortification Archive Project
Cataloging and digitizing ca. 2,000 administrative documents dating around 500 B.C. from Persepolis, 
the chief imperial residence of the Achaemenid kings in the homeland of the ancient Persian Empire.
Since 2006, the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project has conducted an emergency program to record 
tens of thousands of clay tablets and fragments with texts in several languages and with the impressions 
of thousands of seals, a unique archive from the heart of the Achaemenid Persian empire at its zenith, 
about 500 BC. Access to these tablets in danger because of a lawsuit against the government of Iran; 
the digital images, catalogs, text editions, and drawings that the Project compiles and distributes 
online will preserve the archive's contents for scholars and the public in perpetuity.
Project fields: Ancient Languages
Program: Humanities Collections and Reference Resources
Division: Preservation and Access
Total amounts$280,000 (approved); $280,000 (awarded)
Grant period: 5/1/2013 – 4/30/2016

University of Chicago (Chicago, IL 60637-5418)
Matthew Stolper (Project Director, 07/19/2010 - present)
PW-50767-11
Persepolis Fortification Archive
Cataloging and digitization of administrative documents from Persepolis, the chief imperial 
residence of the Achaemenid kings in the homeland of the ancient Persian Empire.
This proposal seeks funding to support key personnel of the Persepolis Fortification Archive 

Project, an emergency program conducted since 2006 to record the texts and seal impressions 
on tens of thousands of clay tablets, a unique but imperiled archive from the heart of the 
Persian Empire at its height, C. 500 B.C.
Project fields: Ancient Languages
Program: Humanities Collections and Reference Resources
Division: Preservation and Access
Total amounts$300,000 (approved); $300,000 (awarded)
Grant period: 5/1/2011 – 4/30/2013

University of Chicago (Chicago, IL 60637-5418)
Matthew Stolper (Project Director, 07/19/2007 - present)
PW-50118-08
Persepolis Fortification Archive
Cataloging and digitizing administrative documents dating from 500 B.C. from Persepolis, t
he chief imperial residence of the Achaemenid kings in the homeland of the ancient Persian Empire.
In 1933, archaeologists from the Oriental Institute discovered tens of thousands of clay 

tablets and fragments at Persepolis, the palace complex of the Achaemenid Persian kings 
in Iran. They proved to be records of a regional administration from the imperial palaces 
in the years around 500 BC. The Persepolis Fortification Archive is a unique source for t
he languages, art, history, society, and institutions of ancient Iran and is in danger of being 
lost due to recent political and legal disputes. This project is conducting an accelerated program 
of recording the Archive, both texts and seal impressions. The Project uses several forms 
of electronic imaging, and co-ordinates the several kinds of information to be recorded 
with a suite of on-line tools for managing and presenting archaeological and textual data i
a common environment. The results are to be distributed both in electronic form, on a 
continuous basis, via both the web, and in conventional printed form.
Project fields: Ancient Languages
Program: Humanities Collections and Reference Resources
Division: Preservation and Access
Total amounts$350,000 (approved); $350,000 (awarded)
Grant period: 7/1/2008 – 6/30/2011