Finally together what should be together: 3D printed clay tablet fragments

All print projects on the PROTIQ marketplace are special, but some of them also have a very special background story: like a clay tablet model made of two fragments that was requested from us by the University of Hamburg a few weeks ago.

Clay tablets are one of the oldest writing materials of mankind. Today, however, the tablets from the ancient Orient, which are written in cuneiform script, are usually found only in fragments, with large parts of the text missing. And it is very difficult to piece together the matching counterparts, because the clay tablets are scattered all over the world through black market trade. In the case of two fragments from the Louvre and from the collection of the University of Giessen, this has been accomplished.

Using a mobile 3D scanner, 3D scans of the tablets were created at both locations and digitally stitched together. The impressive result shows that the pieces fit together perfectly and tell the story of a dispute between two merchants.

On the now additively manufactured plastic models made out of PA12 and Accura Xtreme, the story can be read in one piece, without trips to France and Germany.

You can read more about this – and why there is still no real happy ending – on the website of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures at the University of Hamburg.