Card catalog
Photography courtesy Chicago Assyrian Dictionary
Volumes of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary projected by Oriental Institute founding director James Henry Breasted in 1933:
6
Volumes actually needed to complete the dictionary:
21
Number of editors in charge since the first volume was published in 1956: 3
(A. Leo Oppenheim; Erica Reiner, PhD’52; Martha T. Roth)
Years that Akkadian was the predominant language in ancient Mesopotamia:
Approximately 2,500
Years that Ignace Jay Gelb, then editor in charge, predicted in 1947 would be required to complete the dictionary:
10
Years it took from that point:
64
Total years needed to complete the project:
90
Approximate number of words cataloged in the dictionary:
28,000
Pages taken up by a single word, “umu,” meaning “day,” in the final volume, a fairly typical entry:
17