13 Hethitologie-Portal Mainz (HPM). A Digital Infrastructure for Hittitology and Related Fields in Ancient Near Eastern Studies

Abstract

The Hethitologie-Portal Mainz is a not-for-profit, open-access digital infrastructure for Hittitology and related fields of research in Ancient Near Eastern studies. HPM, which was first established in 2001, gives access to an array of interconnected research documents, including critical editions of Hittite cuneiform texts, catalogues, bibliographies, onomastic databases as well as media archives with digital photos, drawings, and 3D models. The HPM community has been constantly growing over the past years and currently comprises more than fifty creators of contents and approximately 3,000 individual human users. User statistics and feedback by peers show that HPM has become essential to Hittitological research. Its digital strategy favours open-source, widespread software and standardized, welldocumented data formats in order to ensure long-term sustainability. The absence of low-level, permanent funding opportunities for digital infrastructures in the Humanities in Germany is one of the challenges faced by HPM.