Translation observatory: evidence and next actions
A connected observatory for translation availability, access, review limits and practical next actions.
Three questions, three answers
Has an English translation been published? Can a reader access it? How much has this library actually reviewed? Keep those fields separate. A paywall, damaged witness or blank browser window does not establish that a whole work is untranslated.
| Register | Coverage | Next use |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient-text translation register | 22 bounded source labels: includes unidentified labels and an artifact interpretation; not a census of unique works. | Open the work record and its named edition. |
| Older-text evidence register | 10 additional record pages with passage and edition review scopes; some works overlap the other register. | Read the content summary and exact next action. |
| Revelation manuscript record | English reading editions plus selected manuscript and variant doorways. | Follow the witness or chapter without assuming every Greek reading has been collated. |
Priority queue · as recorded on 29 October 2026
Start with unresolved identities, access to existing editions and incomplete passage reviews. This queue is a record of research work, not a claim that every item needs an emergency new translation. The earlier publisher and archive access requests are recorded in the request register; no replies or new translations are claimed here.
| Text | Review scope | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld | Selected passages read, not the entire composition. | Read the remaining passage sequence and consult the linked witness bibliography before writing a complete synopsis. |
| Enki and Ninmah | Selected opening, creation and allocation passages read. | Complete a line-by-line reading with the manuscript alternatives retained. No new whole-work English translation is needed merely to begin reading. |
| Instructions of Shuruppak | Opening and selected instructions read. | Read the full sequence, identify each instruction by line number, and compare witnesses before claiming an exact original wording. |
| Lament for Ur | Selected lament, appeal and return passages read. | Complete the poem’s sequence and its bibliography before assigning a precise historical event to every scene. |
| Dialogue of Pessimism | Scholarly introduction reviewed; full translated dialogue not read here. | Obtain a readable complete edition, record its translator, and verify every exchange before publishing a full passage summary. |
| Ludlul bēl nēmeqi · Righteous Sufferer | Introduction and selected Tablet III–IV translation passages read. The full 539-page volume has not been read. | Read the complete translated composite; list unresolved lines and compare the critical edition before proposing new translations. |
| Babylonian Astronomical Diaries | Project descriptions and British Museum exhibition text reviewed; no complete diary transcribed or translated here. | Select a diary by museum number, obtain its exact ADART translation, and record observations separately from missing entries and reconstructed dates. |
| MUL.APIN · astronomical compendium | Publication description reviewed. No line-by-line reading of the full edition completed. | Obtain the edition already requested, then read specific star-list and calendar passages. Do not commission a duplicate whole-work translation before checking the existing one. |
| Sefer Yetzirah · named versions and passages | Selected units checked, not a complete collation of recensions or manuscripts. | Save exact version metadata, compare Hebrew units, and check permissions for extended reuse. Build a witness-level comparison before declaring one universal correspondence table. |
| Genesis 1 · creation passages | Genesis 1 reviewed; no full biblical manuscript collation completed. | Keep translation, Hebrew textual witnesses, proposed composition history and later interpretation in separate fields. |
Why there is no global untranslated percentage
The records include different kinds of items and overlapping works. Adding their counts would create a false total. No verified census of the world’s unpublished or untranslated manuscripts has been established here. A reliable gap needs a named object or work and a publication search that can be checked.