Recognize Assyrian cuneiform characters by virtual
dataset
Abdul Monem S. Rahma#1, Ali Adel Saeid#2, Muhsen J. Abdul Hussien#3
#
Department of computer science, University of Technology
Iraq- Baghdad
1
110003@uotechnology.edu.iq
Abstract— Cuneiform symbols represent a complex problem in
pattern recognition, in particular for OCR (optical character
recognition) due to challenges related to cuneiform-like
character distortion and font heterogeneity. This paper
proposes new approaches to recognise Assyrian cuneiform
characters using OCR to classify the symbols. as a new way to
recognize the Assyrian letters by dealing with symbols of
complex character. The dataset utilised consists of 16 patterns
to reflect all probabilities associated with each cuneiform
symbol related to their shape and directions, assuming each
character consists of a set of symbols. Polygon approximation
techniques are used to generate feature vectors for the
classification tasks. The proposed method obtains classification
ratios up to 91% depending on the algorithm used for the
feature vector.
Keywords— Cuneiform, polygon approximation, dataset,
pattern recognition, OCR.
I. INTRODUCTION
Cuneiform writing is one of the oldest written systems
invented in the land of Mesopotamia during the third
millennium BC around 3200 BC [1]. The beginning of this
system depended on a collection of symbols depicting
images of things and appeared in the ancient Sumerian
language. This language underwent stages of evolution that
transformed the symbols into cuneiform patterns used in
Babylonian and Assyrian languages. The cuneiform system
differs from the hieroglyphic visual language as it is more a
vocal and expressive language and is formed in different
terms to express certain meanings. Around 100,000
cuneiform tablets were discovered, which are now located
in museums around the world [2], especially the Iraqi
Museum in Baghdad, which contains nearly 20,000
cuneiform tablets representing different civilisations.
Because of the small number of translations that deal with
the cuneiform language, it is necessary to use information
technology, especially those areas dealing with the
interpretation of patterns and symbols, to solve the problem
of translation. Therefore, the field was opened for
researchers to adopt different concepts and approaches to
achieve efficient translations. From a recognition approach,
Hilal Yousif [1] adopted a density curve of cuneiform
symbols to create feature vectors to classify symbols using
a KNN classifier. Fahimeh Mostofi [3] suggested a
character recognition system for Old Persian cuneiform
based on a neural network mythology for classifying tasks.
Leonard Rothacker [4] proposed a new approach for
identifying cuneiform symbols by considering each
cuneiform symbol with statistical metrics (e.g., Bag-of-
Features and Hidden Markov) and the use of SIFT
descriptors. For documenting and presenting cuneiform
image tablets, Jonathan Cohen [5] adopted an internet
deployment platform that supports searchers from a digital
archive comprised of images of cuneiform tablets with
different 2D views based on applying a scanning technique
supported with Java programming tools.
This paper proposes a new method to recognise
cuneiform Assyrian characters using OCR (optical character
recognition) techniques. The process analyses segmented
symbols of a cuneiform character to determine their quantity
and directions (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) to be used
as classification characteristics based on a generated feature
vector containing appropriate boundary features. A polygon
approximation technique creates the feature vector.
II. ASSYRIAN CUNEIFORM LANGUAGE
The Assyrian cuneiform language represents one stage in
the development of cuneiform writing in Mesopotamia,
which continued from the beginning of the first millennium
BC to 600 BC. Its method relies on drilling symbols on clay
or stone tablets from left to right to form groups that reflect
basic language meanings. The cuneiform language includes
a set of about 600 letters, each of which consists of one or
more symbols. These symbols or wedges are organised in
either horizontal, vertical, or diagonal directions [1]. The
letters and their corresponding symbols vary from one
character to another, such as the number of symbols, their
direction, and their location, as seen in Figure (1).
Many challenges associated with cuneiform writing
contribute to obstacles in the processes of analysis and
recognition. One issue is related to the distortion of
characters and heterogeneity of fonts and patterns, as
compared in Figure (2). Another complication results from
shadows of symbols that may change from one image to
another (of the same character) due to varying angles of
reflected light due to the three-dimensional geometry of the
cuneiform symbol [6].

Fig. (1). Models of Assyrian cuneiform writings.
(a) (b)
(d)
Fig. (2). Different fonts may be distinguished between the first (a-c)
and second letters (d-e).
Figure (3) illustrates how various locations of dark areas from
one image to another can depend on the angle of illuminating light.
This issue affects the character recognition analysis and is evident
when two images of the same character are subject to segmented
processes and generate different results.
Fig. (3). The effect of the direction of reflected light.
III. OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION (OCR)
OCR is considered a main branch of pattern recognition
since the middle of the twentieth century. Specifically, since
1950, this field has been the subject of many research and
development areas as it supports institutional government
applications and is easily explored in financial, banking, and
archiving applications. There are several definitions for
OCR, such as a process for selecting an image segment and
determining the corresponding text character or the process
of choosing the correct pattern for an image segment [7].
Others define OCR as a process of reading written text and
converting to the ASCII formulation [8].
A general model for OCR follows the process:
1. pre-processing
2. segmentation
3. feature extraction
4. classification
5. post-processing
A. Pre-processing
This first step consists of sequential processes to deal
with the raw image data. The aim is to remove noise in the
image and enhance the image’s data with acceding to
requisite efficiency to support the subsequent stages. Pre-
processing utilised in this paper follows the steps:
1. Image enhancement: Remove noise from the image,
which was created from a scan or photograph. The
median filter is used,
Y(n)= med[X(n - k),..., X(n),..., X(n + k)] …(1)
(c) where Y(n) is the output image and [X(n - k),..., X(n
+ k)] are the ranked pixels values in a specific
window size.
2. Image binarization: Convert the grey level intensity
colours to a binary image with only two colour tones,
black and white, representing background and
foreground regions. This paper adopts Otsu’s [9,10]
(e) method for global binarisation to segment the
cuneiform images, which depends on selecting
threshold values as a minimum sum of weighted
variants between the background, b, and foreground,
f. Starting with separate image density colours in two
intervals, dark and light, or V1 and V2 respectively,
the initial intensity colour V0={0, 1,.. v} and the
second is V1={v,v+1,..,l-1,l}, the threshold value is
then calculated according to the following formulas
for each interval:
ᅊ2w= wb(v) * ᅊ2b(v)+ wf(v) * ᅊ2f(v)…… (2)
where
wb(v)=σ௩௜ୀଵ ‫݌‬ሺ݅ሻ……………………………. (3)
wf(v)=σ௩௜ୀ௩ାଵ ‫݌‬ሺ݅ሻ………………………….. (4)
μb(v)= σ௩௜ୀଵ ݅ ‫݌ כ‬ሺ݅ሻ/wb(v)………………….. (5)
μb(v)= σ௟௜ୀ௩ାଵ ݅ ‫݌ כ‬ሺ݅ሻ/ wf(v)………………. (6)
μb(v)= σ௟௜ୀ௩ାଵ ݅ ‫݌ כ‬ሺ݅ሻ/ wf(v)………………. (7)
ᅊʹ„ሺ˜ሻൌ σ௩௜ୀଵሺ݅ െ Ɋ„ሺ˜ሻሻ ʹȀwb(v)…………... (8)
ᅊʹˆሺ˜ሻൌ σ௟௜ୀ௩ାଵሺ݅ െ Ɋˆሺ˜ሻሻ ʹȀ wf(v) ……… (9)
Next, the separation process is iterated to choose new
interval density colours (e.g., in each iteration, shift
one level density colour) and recalculate the above
equations (3-8) until satisfying a minimum value of
(2) as the selection criterion.
3. Removing spots: Cuneiform tablets suffer from
distortions features, such as spots, because of
obsolescence and the nature of the materials used,
such as stone and clay. This causes spots to appear in
the image and negatively affects the analytical
results of the subsequent stages, as seen in Figure (4).
To remove these spots, an image connected-
component labelling technique is adopted to solving
this problem.
Fig. (4). Spots, unrelated to the symbols, appear in the two
images.
Image connected-component labelling represents an
important field of pattern recognition, computer
vision, and machine intelligence. By using this
technique, each connected segment in a binary image
will be characterised with a unique label to
distinguish it from other labels, as represented in
Figure (5). This technique is also required in other
applications, such as target identification, diagnosis
applications, and biometric applications [11]. Many
theories and algorithms, such as multi-scan
algorithms, two-scan algorithms, hybrid algorithms,
and tracing-type algorithms have contributed to the
evolution of this technique, which especially
improved the speed of performance in real-time
applications [11]. This work adopts the multi-scan
algorithms with image morphology as an
implementation [12]. This approach depends on the
dilation principle with the flow formula:
‫ ܤ ْ ܣ‬ൌ ቄ‫ݖ‬ȁ൫‫ܤ‬෠ ൯௭ ‫׎ ് ܣځ‬ቅ ǥ ǥ ǥ Ǥ ሺͺሻ
where A and B are a set in z and the dilation A by B
is defined as‫ܤ ْ ܣ‬.
Fig. (5). Image labelling.
The flowing algorithm steps for connected- component
labelling (CCL) based on the morphology concept is
outlined in the following algorithm.
Image Labeling Algorithm
Input: threshold image, Output: labelled image
Start with binary image content with foreground
segment A and let B be the structure element, with
Label = 0.
DO
Scan the binary image row-by-row to
Step 1: determine the first seed point, P, for the
first segment.
Step 2: Label = Label + 1.
Step 3: Let X0 = P.
Apply the flowing formula,
Step 4:
ܺ௞ ൌ ሺܺ௞ିଵ ْ ‫ܤ‬ሻ ‫ܣ ת‬ǡ ݇ ൌ ͳǡʹǡ͵.
Set A(i,j) = 0, where A(i,j) == XK(i,j), y =
Step 5:
Label.
If (XKĮXK-1), go to step 4
Step 6:
else Label = Label + 1.
Step 7: Go to step 1.
Step 8: Print y, the labelled image.
while sum(A(i,j)) Į 0
B. Image segmentation
This stage OCR recognition system is a segmentation
process, which separates the image components into distinct
parts depending on the analyses mythology adopted by the
recognition system. Therefore, the districted parts may be a
character from a word or line segment from paragraph. In
this paper, the segmentation process is applied by the
connected-component labelling algorithm previously
described in III.A.3.
C. Feature extraction
Feature extraction is an important step in character
recognition because all successive analysis steps are
dependent on its results. This step is defined by its process
to extract a minimum amount of important points or
character features to represent the character best. Feature
extraction techniques in character recognition methodology
are classified into the four groups of statistical, global
transformation, geometric, and approximation features [13,
14]. This work applies the approximation approach for
feature extraction, which depends on selecting the optimal
points to represent the boundary shape from a rejoin. This
selection procedure creates the feature vector for classes to
represent each pattern. The polygonal approximation
method is a contour approximation technique that reforms
the closed curve of a polygon into a new shape with a
minimum number of lines or polygonal segments [15].
Mathematically, this approach is defined by letting
G={g1,g2…gn; g1=gn} = {(x1,y1),..,(xn,yn)}, which represents
a polygon’s vertices in 2D space, and are approximated with
a polygon of line segments Vs consisting of (V+1) vertices,
Q={q1,..,qm+1 ;q1=qm+1}. In general, there are three strategies
adopted in the implementation of polygon approximation,
including the sequential method, split and merge method,
and the hybrid method. The method utilised in this research
for the recognition system is based on an updated concept
on the sequential method [15], which is derived from the
idea of dominant points (DP).
The algorithm starts from generating a breakpoint from
the shape’s boundary after determining the boundary by
digitising the points. Next, Freeman’s chain code is applied,
as shown in Figure (6) to determine the breakpoints that
satisfy the condition, where the breakpoint is the point with
a value (chain code) that is not equal to the value of the
previous and subsequent point. The breakpoints in this stage
represent the initial version of the dominant points, as
presented in Figure (6).
Fig. (6). (a) Freeman’s chain. (b) Dominate points.
To apply sequential principles, the associated error value
(AVE) must be calculated such that the perpendicular
distance between the boundary and strength line join
between two dominate points (DPj), for all dominate points,
and then determine the minimum number of points for all
elements. Then, the AVE is recalculated for the eliminated
points of the two neighbours, (DPJ-1, DPJ+1), and the
maximum error is computed to determine a termination
value about the condition. This iterative procedure for
eliminating new points (DP) continues until the termination
condition is satisfied. The following outlines the pseudo
code for this algorithm [15].
Polygon Approximation Algorithm
Input: binarized image, Output: approximate polygon
points
Started with the binary image.
Step 1 Apply edge detection method with a suitable
filter.
Step 2 Apply thinning technique.
Step 3 Compute Freeman’s chain code for the
boundary.
Step 4 Find the breakpoints.
Step 5 Compute AVE for all DP.
Step 6 Repeat.
Step 7 Determine DP with a minimum value, DPmin.
Step 8 Remove DPmin from the dominant table.
Step 9 Recalculate AVE for DPmin’s adjacent
neighbour.
Step 10 Compute maxerror.
Step 11 Repeat until (max error< threshold).
Step 12 The remaining points about the DPs are the
approximate polygon points.
D. Classification method
No more than three levels of headings should be used in
the last stage for the classification task, and the K-Nearest
Neighbor (KNN) is adopted for this classification approach.
The classification decision depends on distance as a metric
for determination and is calculated by the Euclidian distance
between the feature vector of the shape or symbol under
consideration with all other feature vectors of the patterns in
the learning set. The results are ranked to determine the
minimum number which corresponds to the appropriate
pattern.
ඥσ௡ଵሺ݈݅ െ ‫ݐ‬ሻሺ݈݅ െ ‫ݐ‬ሻ ………………………..(9)
where
n: number of features vectors in the dataset,
li: features vectors in the dataset,
t: tested features vector.
IV. PROPOSED MODEL
The model proposed here to recognise the cuneiform
Assyrian characters includes two components. The first is
related with the proposed dataset and the second is with
applied OCR concepts, according to the following
discussion.
A. Proposed dataset
The design of the dataset plays a major role in the
classification process. This paper proposes a virtual dataset
consisting of 16 patterns with triangular forms consistent
with the geometric shapes of three-dimensional cuneiform
symbols. This set covers all the possible configurations of
cuneiform characters with any direction (horizontal, vertical,
or diagonal), and is compatible with the patterns of
cuneiform symbols that include issues with shadows as
previously discussed. Figure (14) shows the classification of
trigonometric dataset patterns consistent with all probable
cuneiform symbols. Categorizing one pattern from another
depends on two factors: the number of heads and the
direction. This is adopted in the construction of feature
vectors where the designed dataset is used not only for test
data.
B. Feature vector design
The construction of a dataset containing feature vectors
representing each pattern is shown in Figure (7). Each one
consists of data with the Cartesian coordinates for each head,
which corresponds to the shape of the pattern. For example,
in Figures (7) and (8), the pattern with three heads has a
vector including 14 cells, represented by the (X,Y)
coordinates seven vertices.
 By constructing the feature vector with the polygon
approximation concept, the following algorithm depends on
the previous dominant point’s algorithm.

Polygon Approximation Algorithm

Figure (7). The selected features points form each pattern, where
Input: binarized image, Output: approximate polygon
(a) has seven feature points and (b) has five features points. points.
Start with the binary image.
Let z = 0, where z is the number of heads or vertices.
Set th = 1, where th is the threshold.
Fig. (8). Feature vector for the pattern in Figure (7a).
Step 1 Apply edge detection method with a suitable
filter.
C. Proposed recognition system Step 2 Apply thinning technique.
The system in this research is consistent with a general Step 3 Compute Freeman’s chain code for the
model of OCR, as previously described. The pre-processing boundary.
stage on the image utilizes a medina filter and the Step 4 Find the breakpoints.
binarization technique by Otsu’s method provides the result Repeat.
in Figure (9). Step 5 Compute AVE for all DP.
Step 6 Repeat.
Step 7 Determine DP with a minimum value, DPmin.
Step 8 Remove DPmin from the dominant table.
Step 9 Recalculate AVE for DPmin’s adjacent
neighbor.
Step 10 Compute maxerror.
Fig. (9). The output of binarization technique. Step 11 Repeat until maxerror < th.
Step 12 z = remaining points about DP’s approximate
The following connected-component algorithm solves polygon points.
the spots problem. Step 13 Delete all DPs, which construct a straight
angle with its neighbours.
Spot Removal Algorithm Step 14 th = th – eps, where eps epsilon value, e.g.,
Input: binarized image, Output: spot-free image 0.009.
Start with binarized image, B, with content foreground Step 15 Repeat until ((z == 3) or (z == 5) or (z == 7)
segment and spots. or (z == 9)).
Step 1 Apply image labelling algorithm. Step 16 End, where z = number of heads.
Step 2 Apply histogram process on the image, let
labelling vector be Hi. The results obtained from this algorithm on the
Step 3 Calculate the total number of pixels in the cuneiform symbols are shown in Figure (11).
image, T.
Step 4 Let R be the ratio vector, R = 0.
Step 5 Divide each label’s count result from Step 2
by T, R(i)=Hi/T, where i = number of labels.
Step 6 For each element on R(i), if R(i) < threshold,
then R(i) = 0.
Step 7 Scan each pixel in B, if corresponding label
value about R(i) == 0, then B(x,y) = 0.
Step 8 Print B, representing the spot-free image. Fig. (11). Red circles indicate the candidate points from the dominate
Step 9 End. points.
Figure (10) presents results from the proposed algorithm.
The coordinates of the red dots form the basis to construct
the feature vector.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This section reviewed the results that are achieved after
applied the proposed system Figure (12). To demonstrate
the system’s efficiency, test data consisting of 85 images
(a) (b) taken from the Iraqi Museum from the Assyrian Hall is used,
Fig. (10). (a) Binarized image, (b) Spot-free image.
which consist of 350 cuneiform symbols where the goal as
stated relates with evaluate the proposed recognition method
with states of cuneiform symbol and new dataset. Different
methods are used to construct the feature vectors, the results
of which are compared to the proposed method. The KNN
classifier provides results of 67%, 73%, and 81% accuracy.
The Zerink moment, Hu moment, and projection
histogram are used to construct the feature vectors and are
compared to applying the proposed system, which resulted
in 91% accuracy, as shown in the following table. Where the
drawback of calcification related with Zerink moment and
projection histogram it's require high proportion of
similarity between symbols and the corresponding pattern,
this can not be achieved with irregular symbols. The
weakness of the third method is centered on invariant factor
that lead to achieved incorrect classification especially with
direction of pattern . The KNN classifier was adopted in
this paper to evaluate the level of reliability about the
approximation process for generate feature vector.
Generally KNN provide fairly acceptable classification
level , in spite of that the value achieved about proposed
method is high and it will support to adopts another higher
classification model like SVM.

TABLE I
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PROPOSED FEATURE VECTOR Fig. (13). The diagram for classifying the dataset patterns.
ALGORITHMS. AND OTHER ALGORITHMS

Method used to construct

Classification results
feature vector
Zerink moment 67%
Hu’s moment 73%
projection histogram 81%
Polygon approximation 91%

The following figure shows some of matching results

obtained from the classification.

Fig. (12). The proposed system output.

Fig. (14). The framework of the proposed system.

 VI. CONCLUSIONS [14] Gaurav Y. Tawde , **Mrs. Jayashree M. Kundargi.” An
Overview of Feature Extraction Techniques in OCR for
A new recognition method is proposed for images of
Indian Scripts Focused on Offline Handwriting”
Assyrian character cuneiform tablets, which depends on an International Journal of Engineering Research and. Vol. 3,
OCR technique with polygon approximating to identify Issue 1, January -February 2013, pp.919-926.
cuneiform symbol features. The proposed model was tested [15] Hamid AbbasiMohammad Olyaee,Hamid Rezahafari.”
and compared with results from other approaches. Rectifying Reverse Polygonization of Digital Curves
Depending on the method used to construct the feature forDominant Point Detection IJCSI International Journal of
vectors, the results achieve here are optimal classification Computer Science Issues, Vol. 10, Issue 3, No 2, May 2013
rates of 91%. The classification task is implemented through
a new proposed virtual dataset containing 16 patterns that
reflect all possible configurations of cuneiform symbols.
The spots problem associated with the binarization
technique is solved by a connected-component labeling
algorithm using a morphology concept.

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