Cuneiform texts were first developed in what is now Iraq. Credit: Penn Museum

Researchers are transforming access to some of the world's oldest written records using digital technology and multilingual tools. As part of the project, called Access to Cuneiform Texts (CDLI‑ACT), researchers have developed an Arabic digital interface to allow access to cuneiform texts—written on clay tablets across ancient Mesopotamia over more than three millennia.

The team, including researchers at the University of Al-Qadisiyah, Iraq, the University of York, UK, and Lund University, Sweden, have launched an Arabic version of the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), a resource for the study of cuneiform inscriptions worldwide, developed over the course of the last quarter century through the combined efforts of an extensive global research community.

While famous works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh—which tells the story of a legendary king's quest for immortality following the death of his friend—are widely known,…