Egitto e Vicino Oriente, Roma (30 June 2022)
Overview
The project Kassite Prosopographic Records (KPR) aims at providing a structured digital collection of data regarding individuals involved in administrative, economic, and social activities in Kassite Babylonia (1595-1155 BCE) in order to facilitate the reconstruction of the socio-economic organization of Babylonia during this period. While most individuals are known only by their first names, the project highlights the significance of analyzing their roles within the complex system and their interactions within specific contexts. By considering even simple names as valuable sources, the project aims to shed light on the economic and social organization of Babylon in the 14th-13th century BCE. The study employs a traditional prosopographical approach, combining conventional methods with digital tools, such as a structured data collection utilizing a modified version of the Factoid Prosopography Ontology (FPO). The project also utilizes visualization techniques and statistical analysis, including Social Network Analysis (SNA). A comprehensive database, developed with Omeka S, is designed to represent the complexities and unique features of the Kassite epigraphic and prosopographic record, following an ontological scheme inspired by the FPO. This database enables effective extraction and quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the data, facilitating the reconstruction of the network of interactions between various actors, both individual and institutional, within the system documented by the epigraphic record.