## 4 Open-Access Repository and CDE
### Sealing Practices  
The second purpose of the database is to facilitate comparative analyses of particular elements relating to the document or the sealing method. Fields relating to the language of the text and its textual typology respond to this need. The field for recording the content of the text includes a direct link to the transliterations available via the CDLI.  
As noted above, 3D scanning and post-processing work reveal details on the surfaces of objects that cannot be detected by the naked eye. Thus, specific fields are dedicated to sealing methods. Two fields are designated for recording the presence of sealings on an artefact and the person who performed the sealing (or rather, the owner of the seal). This allows for very fruitful cross-references with the database of seals and seal impressions hosted by the CDLI and the Database of Neo-Sumerian Texts (BDTNS), which is restricted to the Ur III period [4].  
In a free text field, further elements are recorded concerning the number of seal impressions and the orientation and level of the impressions with respect to the inscribed text (i.e., whether the document was pre-sealed or post-sealed), as well as other characteristics that may be identified during a thorough inspection of the sealed surface of the tablet. This field is the place for recording information gained through 3D modelling and post-processing work. For instance, while working on the corpus of Ur III cuneiform documents preserved in the Musei Reali of Turin, we observed that the text of some tablets clearly indicates that the tablet was sealed, even though the tablet itself shows no traces of actual sealings, perhaps because it was enclosed in a clay envelope. The ability to capture invisible surface details in high-definition 3D models could clarify such matters. Finally, a field for recording bibliographical references relevant to the artefacts in the database is provided.  
The 3D and semantic data collected from important administrative documents must be securely archived as well as published in order to preserve and disseminate knowledge. Online smart repositories and common data environments (CDEs) could be the proper solution, although they may need to be tailored to specific datasets.  
Regarding the project described herein, the tablet dataset deals with different types of information and file formats, ranging from 3D models to 2D images and related metadata. Open-access repositories and CDEs should permit a homogenous view of these data to facilitate complete access and investigation by project collaborators and common users. For this reason, we designed a draft version of an online CDE (Figure 16) for the purpose of analysing cuneiform tablets and their features via a web browser (without any specific hardware limitations).  
Figure 16: Draft version of the common data environment for 3D data and metadata on cuneiform tablets.  
In the future, this draft version will be implemented by the Italian National Council of Research, thus becoming stable and secure.  
From a technical point of view, this environment is essentially composed of a 3D scene coupled with the semantic database apparatus. In this way, 3D models are linked to metadata: descriptions, materials, extracted features, metric information, and the content of the tablet can be easily analysed. Finally, a full-immersion 3D viewer was developed for the purpose of navigating the digital representation of the tablet and performing simplified post-processing analyses.  
In the updated version of the repository, relational and semantic queries based on specific ontologies and standards can be performed to investigate historical and extracted metadata and relate them to 3D models.  
Designing a smart and open-access environment will facilitate the exchange of semantic data and ease project management and revisions.