The dense canal system in southern Mesopotamia is well visible on remote sensing data. However, not only modern canals but also relict canals and palaeochannels can be detected based on satellite imagery data. The aim of this project is to bundle all available information for a reconstruction of the hydrology of Sumer. The results of previous studies about this topic will be digitized and integrated into a geographic information system (GIS). In collaboration with Sergio Alivernini (Prague) and Edoardo Zanetti (Rome/Munich) information about ancient canals and former river beds from written sources will be analyzed and integrated into a database. Additional information about the hydrology of Sumer will be provided by the distribution of settlements. The analysis of historic and modern satellite imagery data will give further evidence for a reconstruction of the hydrology of Sumer. The results of this project will be published online as freely available interactive web maps. The database and basic GIS data will be made available under a Creative Commons License.

1. The Rivers of
Mesopotamia
Susanne Rutishauser (University of Bern)
Sergio Alivernini (Academy of Science of the Czech Republic)
Edoardo Zanetti (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich)

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3. Aim of the Project
• Recontsruction of the hydrology of Sumer
• Timespan: 3rd
and 2nd
millenium B.C.
• Publication form: web maps
Project partners:
Sergio Alivernini (Prague): A contribution to the
history of trade and communication: the route
of boats and ships along rivers, canals and sea in
Mesopotamia between Ur III and Old Babylonian
period (ca. 2100-1600 B.C.)
Edoardo Zanetti (Munich/Rome): Reconstruction
of the Lagash landscape during the 3rd
millenni-
um B.C.

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Encoding Data for Digital Discovery
open data

5. http://corona.cast.uark.edu/
Corona Atlas of the Middle East

6. Aim of the Project: Open data
1. Open License:
provided under an open license
2. Access:
work must be provided as a whole
should be downloadable without charge
3. Machine readability:
provided in a form readily processable by a computer
individual elements can be easily accessed and modified
4. Open format:
can be fully processed with at least one free/libre/open-source tool
Open definition: 2.1 http://opendefinition.org/od/2.1/en/

7. TAVO maps (Reichert) Der Neue Pauly Supplemente 3 (Metzler)
Printed Maps

8. Aim of the Project: Paleoenv. Reconstruction
• Alluvial plain
• Coastlines

9. Aim of the Project: Paleoenv. Reconstruction
• Palaeochannels
• Palaeoshorelines

10. Work Plan: Archives and Sources
Bring together different archives
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1. Coring data
2. Archaeological data
3. Written sources
4. Remote sensing data
Adams (1981)SRTM-C SRTM-X TanDEM-X

11. Work Plan: Tools
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1. Database
2. Geographic Information System (GIS)
Adams 1981: Fig. 8. Cole/Gasche 1998: Map 5.

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Encoding Data for Digital Discovery
metadata

13. Work Plan: Metadata
• Project Open Data Metadata Schema v1.1
"The challenge is to define and name standard metadata fields so that a data con-
sumer has sufficient information to process and understand the described data."
JSON is a lightweight data-exchange format that is very easy to read, parse and gen-
erate. Based on a subset of the JavaScript programming language, JSON is a text for-
mat that is optimized for data interchange. JSON is built on two structures: (1) a col-
lection of name/value pairs and (2) an ordered list of values.
• Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT) by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dcat/
https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/
https://www.opendatasoft.com/2016/03/22/metadata-for-open-data-portals/

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Encoding Data for Digital Discovery
layers

15. Magarsos (Cilicia): Layers
Advante of encoding data:
• combining different data sets
Photo: Ralph Rosenbauer
Ercan, P. Zur Geschichte und Lokalisierung von Magarsos und Mallos. Hefte des
Archäologischen Seminars der Universität Bern 2007, 103–106.
Rosenbauer, R.; Sayar, M.H. Die Siedlungsmauer am Kap Karatas. Ein Indiz für die
Stadtneugründung von Antiochia am Pyramos an der Stelle von Magarsos? In Helle-
nismus in der Kilikia Pedias; Hoffmann, A., Ed.; Ege Yayınları: İstanbul, 2011; pp 155–
174.

16. Magarsos (Cilicia): Layers
Photo: Ralph Rosenbauer

17. Magarsos (Cilicia): Layers
CORONA scene

18. Magarsos (Cilicia): Layers
Quickbird scene with overlay (geomagnetic survey)

19. Magarsos (Cilicia): Layers
Rosenbauer (2011)

20. Magarsos (Cilicia): Layers
Quickbird scene with overlay (geomagnetic survey)

21. Magarsos (Cilicia): Layers
CORONA scene

22. Çineköy (Cilicia): Layers
Photo: Klaus-Peter Simon, wikimedia

23. Çineköy (Cilicia): Layers
Tekoglu 2005: Fig. 23.
Tekoglu 2005: Fig. 27.

24. Results: Web Maps
• the results will be published as web maps
• for experienced GIS users additional data will be available

25. Results: Web Maps
• Data driven journalism
https://www.nytimes.com/by/kevin-quealy http://projekte.sueddeutsche.de/paradisepapers/

26. Results: Story Maps
http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2016/bruised-borders/index.html

27. Results: Story Maps
http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2016/bruised-borders/index.html

28. Results: Story Maps
http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2016/bruised-borders/index.html

29. Results: Story Maps
http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2016/bruised-borders/index.html

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Encoding Data for Digital Discovery
new publication forms
web maps:
zoomable, layers, interactivity, participation
digital sustainability

31. Digital Discovery
https://www.emojione.com/emoji/v3

32. http://de.disney.wikia.com/wiki/Dagobert_Duck

33. Idea: Virtual Cilicia Project
http://www.virtual-cilicia.org/