News Release

EVENT NEWS / October 23, 2007

Boise State University Class Creates 'Idaho iPods,' on Display Now in the Liberal Arts Building

A Boise State University introduction to book arts class got a chance to create an ancient form of communication, and the results will be on display until Dec. 1 in the Liberal Arts Building. Admission is free and open to the public.

Professor Tom Trusky asked his students to create a “real-time, full-text, random-access, read-only information storage and retrieval device” — in other words, a tablet made from clay dug in Idaho. Trusky dubbed the tablets “Idaho iPods” and asked his students to study ancient Mesopotamian and Babylonian tablets for inspiration.

The students later took a field trip to the Idaho State Historical Society Library and Archives in Boise, where director Linda Morton-Keithley showed them five 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets owned by the society. Mesopotamia — now called Iraq — is often credited as the birthplace of writing. The students were allowed to hold and examine the tablets, the oldest writing samples in Idaho.

The students dug the materials for their “iPods” at sites on Cartwright Road and Bureau of Land Management property between Grandview and C.J. Strike Reservoir; the clay also came from Harris Ranch, Bliss, and Boise’s Pullman Brick Factory. The resulting tablets were then fired or air-dried and are on display along with “Heritage Resource Preservation” cards produced by the United States Army. The deck of cards has been created to help soldiers respect Iraqi and Afghan heritage by allowing them to identify structures and artifacts — including cuneiform tablets — that they are supposed to protect.

In addition, the students wrote essays about their experiences in creating the tablets. Trusky wrote an article, “Iraq in Idaho,” about the number and location of cuneiform tablets in Idaho. The article has been accepted for publication in the spring issue of “Idaho Yesterdays.”

To learn more about the project, visit http://english.boisestate.edu/ttrusky/studwork.html.

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Media Contact: Julie Hahn, University Communications, (208) 426-5540, juliehahn@boisestate.edu

For the 10th time in the last 11 years, Boise State University has set an all-time record for Idaho higher education institutions with an enrollment of 19,540 – an overall increase of 3.5 percent. A record freshman class of 2,280 students is also the most academically talented group ever to enter Boise State, including 12 National Merit finalists.
 

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Last reviewed on Wednesday, November 07, 2007