The life cycle of the Book of the Dead as a Digital Humanities resource

Abstract

This contribution tracks and analyzes the life cycle of the Book of the Dead as a digital project and a rather complex research resource. It gives an account of how the digital archive “Das altägyptische Totenbuch – Ein digitales Textzeugenarchiv” was constructed in the context of the digitization efforts of the Academy for Science of North Rhine-Westphalia. From the beginning, the design of the archive has factored in a life of the digital archive beyond its funding period and has sighted to create a sustainable information resource. The main issues to be discussed here are what experiences have been made with sustainability, use and reuse of the Book of the Dead archive since the official end of the project in December 2012, with a focus on conceptual, technical and organizational aspects. The lessons learned can be of interest for future undertakings in the creation of XML and web-based digital platforms in Digital Classics and beyond. In a nutshell, they are: (a) the importance of wary technological choices in an initial phase cannot be underestimated, (b) the application and presentation layers of a digital resource, if present, are an essential part of it, (c) a certain degree of commitment from the research community and funding bodies alike is indispensable for maintaining a web-based complex Digital Humanities resource.

Keywords

• digital archive
• sustainability
• eXist
• Egyptology
• Book of the Dead