The Ennigaldi Foundation preserves works of cultural, scientific, and historical significance, for the benefit of historians in the distant future. A hard drive can preserve information for decades. A book can last for centuries. Our tablets, laser-etched on tempered glass, can endure for millennia.
Many of our society’s cultural and intellectual crown jewels exist only in digital form. While this is convenient for us to access today, digital archives require ongoing maintenance, updates, and repair. Little of today’s digital data will remain intact in a hundred years, let alone a thousand.
Preserving Today’s Text For The Distant Future
Most important texts are eventually lost. Of the roughly 2,000 ancient Greek authors still known to us by name, we possess works by only 13%. Most of that is merely fragments. Today, link rot destroys important works faster than ever before. We cannot count on chance, or on present popularity, to preserve the writing most important to us for our distant descendants. Without action today, much of our culture will be lost forever.
Many of the oldest surviving texts were written in very durable materials like stone or clay, which can last for eons in good conditions. The Ennigaldi Foundation follows similar logic. Based on our research, we believe tempered glass is an ideal medium for mass-producing tablets, readable by the naked eye, to endure into the distant future. We will store these in vaults designed to keep them safe for posterity.