Hub and cluster

Giorgio Buccellati – July 2023

The cluster

The title 4 Banks refers to a a cluster of websites dedicated to six complementary aspects of Mesopotamian civilization:

Each of the six websites is linked to a core narrative relating to the corresponding topic. The websites are identical in structure: they contain an extensive bibliographical coverage and develop themes relating to content and method. They are originally linked to printed volumes which serve as the guiding narrative in the organization of the material, but they serve at the same time as an independent bibliographical and topical repository.

The six websites in the cluster are tightly interlaced. This means that topics that overarch the scope of the individual subject matter of each website are developed concurrently and are cross-referenced among the websites. Thus a bibliographical item which touches on a political phenomenon may be relevant to literature, religion and art, and appropriate hyperlinks will show how the four develop in parallel ways. As such, the websites serve as a comprehensive resource for the study of Mesopotamian civilization. A comprehensive search function brings together all the websites in the measure in which they are published.

For the reasons behind the sequencing of the websites see below.

The hub

This website, 4banks.net, is the hub for the cluster by the same name. It serves as a portal that brings together the websites, an entry way that shows their commonality and interrelationship.

The structure of this hub website is as follows:

I. METHODOLOGY

The first three sections deal with methodological aspects.

1. HERMENEUTICS explains the “what”: a goal is to serve as an annotated bibliography, but one that is tightly interlaced with specific research questions.

2. DIGITALITY explains the how: the notions of digital discourse and interplanarity are critical for an implementation of the kind of interlacing that defines the nature of the bibliographical research proposed.

3. REFERENCES provide a minimum of links to studies that address the methodological issues as confrotned here.

II. OPERATIONS

The last two sections are focused on technical aspects.

4. THE FORMAT describes the structure that is common to all the websites within the cluster, while

5. PROGRAMMING describes the nature of the programs that handle the data and gives the specifications for input; it also addresses the isse of the portability and durability of the system.