# Matching works, but only on transliterated fragments

> Still possible: Text matching over transliterated fragments finds joins at several times the historical rate, but only among fragments someone has…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform/answers/ANS0DEEAA05JR5T/matching-works-but-only-on-transliterated-fragments  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Unread cuneiform: half a million tablets and the limits of Sumerian](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform)[Can the broken tablets of Babylonian literature be reassembled by automated matching of fragments?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT3VBZYJY/can-the-broken-tablets-of-babylonian-literature-be)Answer

Answer · Unread cuneiform: half a million tablets and the limits of Sumerian

# Matching works, but only on transliterated fragments

Text matching over transliterated fragments finds joins at several times the historical rate, but only among fragments someone has already transliterated.

**Still possible** Answers **1** question0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** One piece of evidence for, none against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Join rates rise in step with the number of newly transliterated fragments, not independently of it.

## What would rule it out

- Joins are found at scale among fragments with no human transliteration, e.g. from photograph-based sign detection alone.

## Evidence 1 for · none against

[The matcher works on transliterations: three Maqlû manuscripts were found among about 27,000 transliterated fragments…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DEEAXQEF6RJ/the-matcher-works-on-transliterations-three-maqlu)

Supported

FOR

## The questions it answers

[Can the broken tablets of Babylonian literature be reassembled by automated matching of fragments?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT3VBZYJY/can-the-broken-tablets-of-babylonian-literature-be)

Open2 answers, none ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Matching works, but only on transliterated fragments [Answer ANS0DEEAA05JR5T]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEEAA05JR5T
```

Key

**ANS** 0DEEAA05JR5T

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Version

1

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