L2/04-081
From: Jeremy Black
Date: 2004-02-02 11:51:59 -0800
Subject: cuneiform Unicode proposal

Dear Mr McGowan,

I am writing as a scholar of Ancient Iraq who over the last 7 or 8
years has had some considerable degree of involvement in electronic
technology, chiefly as the Director of the Electronic Text Corpus of
Sumerian Literature project here at the University of Oxford
(www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk).

As you will be aware, Prof. Jerrold S. Cooper and Dean Snyder at
Johns Hopkins (under the aegis of the Digital Hammurabi project)
together with various colleagues including Prof. Steven J. Tinney of
U. of Pennsylvania have worked on a proposal for the implementation
into Unicode of a model of cuneiform (N2698) which will be presented
at the 98th meeting of the Unicode Technical Committee. This model
will, we believe, work well for the needs of cuneiform scholars
around the world.

You will be aware that the proposal has been discussed at some length
and in great detail within the field of cuneiform studies. We now
believe this to be the best solution for the requirements of
cuneiform. I am aware that certain objections have been brought
forward to proposal N2698. However, scholars within the field of
cuneiform studies strongly support the work of the group who have
been labouring to implement the proposal that is before your
committee, and I hope that you will agree to accept it.

Yours sincerely
Jeremy Black

Dr J A Black
Oriental Institute
Pusey Lane
Oxford
OX1 2LE