Digital Hammurabi: design and development of a 3D scanner for cuneiform tablets

Daniel V. Hahn; Donald D. Duncan; Kevin C. Baldwin; Jonathon D. Cohen; Budirijanto Purnomo

doi:10.1117/12.641219

26 January 2006 Digital Hammurabi: design and development of a 3D scanner for cuneiform tablets

Daniel V. Hahn, Donald D. Duncan, Kevin C. Baldwin, Jonathon D. Cohen, Budirijanto Purnomo

Proceedings Volume 6056, Three-Dimensional Image Capture and Applications VII; 60560E (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.641219
Event: Electronic Imaging 2006, 2006, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Cuneiform is an ancient form of writing in which wooden reeds were used to impress shapes upon moist clay tablets. Upon drying, the tablets preserved the written script with remarkable accuracy and durability. There are currently hundreds of thousands of cuneiform tablets spread throughout the world in both museums and private collections. The global scale of these artifacts presents several problems for scholars who wish to study them. It may be difficult or impossible to obtain access to a given collection. In addition, photographic records of the tablets many times prove to be inadequate for proper examination. Photographs lack the ability to alter the lighting conditions and view direction. As a solution to these problems, we describe a 3D scanner capable of acquiring the shape, color, and reflectance of a tablet as a complete 3D object. This data set could then be stored in an online library and manipulated by suitable rendering software that would allow a user to specify any view direction and lighting condition. The scanner utilizes a camera and telecentric lens to acquire images of the tablet under varying controlled illumination conditions. Image data are processed using photometric stereo and structured light techniques to determine the tablet shape; color information is reconstructed from primary color monochrome image data. The scanned surface is sampled at 26.8 μm lateral spacing and the height information is calculated on a much smaller scale. Scans of adjacent tablet sides are registered together to form a 3D surface model.

Citation Download Citation

Daniel V. Hahn, Donald D. Duncan, Kevin C. Baldwin, Jonathon D. Cohen, and Budirijanto Purnomo "Digital Hammurabi: design and development of a 3D scanner for cuneiform tablets", Proc. SPIE 6056, Three-Dimensional Image Capture and Applications VII, 60560E (26 January 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.641219

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available