The Initiative for Cuneiform Encoding has just posted preliminary data associated with its proposal for the encoding of Sumero-Akakdian cuneiform in Unicode. Details can be found at <http://www.jhu.edu/ice/ signlist/>.
The sign lists published there represent an historic merging of two major unpublished cuneiform sign lists: 1) The Pennsylvania Sign List, representing in turn the unification of several historically significant cuneiform sign lists, including those of Dr. Miguel Civil, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Dr. Robert Englund, UCLA, and his colleagues at the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, and Dr. Steve Tinney, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary. 2) And the forthcoming Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon by Dr. Rykle Borger, Georg-August-Universit�t, Goettingen, the third edition of his sign list in preparation for over 10 years. MZL is expected to be out in Winter 2003-2004. In addition, we are consulting the standard printed sign lists of Fossey, Deimel, Labat, von Soden, Ruester & Neu, Steve, et al. Those interested in making comments, suggestions, and corrections are encouraged to join, if you haven't already, the cuneiform email list hosted by the Unicode Consortium. Just send an email to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" with "subscribe cuneiform" in the subject line. Our initial encoding proposal will be presented to the Unicode Technical Committee November 3 & 4, 2003, during its international conference being hosted at Johns Hopkins University by the Digital Hammurabi Project. Over the next several months we plan to finesse this initial proposal before making our final proposal to Unicode in the Spring of 2004. We are attempting to encode all graphemically contrastive, complex, but not compound, Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform signs beginning with the URIII period, including signs used for writing Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Hurrian, and Elamite. For various reasons the archaic period scripts will be added to Unicode later. Along with many other contributors, much thanks, in particular, are due the members of the ICE2 working group: Dr. Miguel Civil, Oriental Institute, Univ. Chicago Dr. Jerrold Cooper, Johns Hopkins University Dr. Karlj�rgen Feuerherm, Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Dr. Madeleine Fitzgerald, UCLA Dr. Eckart Frahm, Yale Univ. Cale Johnson, UCLA Dr. Matthew Stolper, Oriental Institute, Univ. Chicago Dr. Steve Tinney, Univ. Pennsylvania Dr. Kenneth Whistler, Unicode Consortium Respectfully, Dean A. Snyder Scholarly Technology Specialist Library Digital Programs, Sheridan Libraries Garrett Room, MSE Library, 3400 N. Charles St. Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland, USA 21218 office: 410 516-6850 mobile: 410 245-7168 fax: 410-516-6229 Manager, Digital Hammurabi Project: www.jhu.edu/digitalhammurabi
