Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet, 2028 BCE
Clay
1.85 x 3.66
CT.010
Sumerian cuneiform is one of the earlies known forms of written expression. Firs appearing in the 4th millennium BC in wha is now Iraq, it was dubbed cuneifor (‘wedge-shaped’) because...
Sumerian cuneiform is one of the earlies known forms of written expression. Firs appearing in the 4th millennium BC in wha is now Iraq, it was dubbed cuneifor (‘wedge-shaped’) because of the distinctiv wedge form of the letters, created b pressing a reed stylus into wet clay. Earl Sumerian writings were essentiall pictograms, which became simplified in th early and mid 3rd millennium BC to a serie of strokes, along with a commensurat reduction in the number of discrete sign used (from c.1500 to 600). The scrip system had a very long life and was used b the Sumerians as well as numerous late groups – notably the Assyrians, Elamites,
Akkadians and Hittites – for around thre thousand years. Certain signs and phoneti standards live on in modern languages o the Middle and Far East, but the writin system is essentially extinct. It wa therefore cause for great excitement whe the ‘code’ of ancient cuneiform was cracke by a group of English, French and Germa Assyriologists and philologists in the mi 19th century AD. This opened up a vita source of information about these ancien groups that could not have been obtained i any other way.
Cuneiform was used on monument dedicated to heroic – and usually royal –
individuals, but perhaps its most importan function was that of record keeping. Th palace-based society at Ur and other larg urban centres was accompanied by remarkably complex and multifacete bureaucracy, which was run by professiona administrators and a priestly class, all o whom were answerable to central cour control. Most of what we know about th way the culture was run and administere comes from cuneiform tablets, which recor the everyday running of the temple an palace complexes in minute detail, as in th present case. The Barakat Gallery ha secured the services of Professor Lamber (University of Birmingham), a renowne expert in the decipherment and translatio of cuneiform, to examine and process th information on these tablets. The following i a transcription of his analysis of this tablet:
This tablet as a total of 25 lines on obverse and reverse and is written in a large clear scribal band. The top of the obverse and the bottom of the reverse are damaged, but most of the text is preserved and clear. It is a document dated to the 6th year of Shu-Sin, fourth king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2032 BC. It is a list of bronze vessels under the care of a priest called the Lumah. Presumably this was the whole stock of such vessels in his place of worship. Other tablets of this period are known with such lists of vessels, but this one has many rare words and even one sign not yet understood.
Clay Tablet, with 34 Lines of Sumerian Cuneiform on Obverse, Reverse and Left Edge. This is an administrative document from the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur, dated to the first year of Ibbi-Sin, last king of the dynasty, c.2028 B.C. It is a listing of rations paid out to official messengers during one particular month.
The bottom of the tablet has been re-attached, with some loss of surface, and there is some surface damage to the obverse, but the reverse is better preserved.
Translation:
20 sila of beer, 20 sila of (bread),
1 sila of………….., Shu-Shulgi, king’s messenger.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Shari (………………..)
5 sila of bread, …………) Abu-tab, king’s messenger when they went to call up men for barley harvesting.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Bubbusu, king’s messenger when he went to………..
3 sila of beer, 2 (sila of bread): Shu-Ashtar, king’s messenger when (he went) from Der to the king.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Lugal-ushime, king’s messenger when he went for the oil of Ahuni.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Sharrum-ili, king’s messenger.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Ahuni, king’s messenger when they went for guard duty on………
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Ikum-meshar, dog warden.
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Nanna-uru, engraver.
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: ………inti, the……..(when) he went to………….
Disbursement for the month Shuniggal.
Year: Ibbi-Sni, king, 4th da
A sila was a measure of capacity, about .85 of a litre, an obvious way of measuring beer, but not for bread, a matter never explained by the ancient scribes. Perhaps the flour, not the baked product was measured. The tablet is important for giving the purpose of some these trips, something lacking from published tablets of this type.
Akkadians and Hittites – for around thre thousand years. Certain signs and phoneti standards live on in modern languages o the Middle and Far East, but the writin system is essentially extinct. It wa therefore cause for great excitement whe the ‘code’ of ancient cuneiform was cracke by a group of English, French and Germa Assyriologists and philologists in the mi 19th century AD. This opened up a vita source of information about these ancien groups that could not have been obtained i any other way.
Cuneiform was used on monument dedicated to heroic – and usually royal –
individuals, but perhaps its most importan function was that of record keeping. Th palace-based society at Ur and other larg urban centres was accompanied by remarkably complex and multifacete bureaucracy, which was run by professiona administrators and a priestly class, all o whom were answerable to central cour control. Most of what we know about th way the culture was run and administere comes from cuneiform tablets, which recor the everyday running of the temple an palace complexes in minute detail, as in th present case. The Barakat Gallery ha secured the services of Professor Lamber (University of Birmingham), a renowne expert in the decipherment and translatio of cuneiform, to examine and process th information on these tablets. The following i a transcription of his analysis of this tablet:
This tablet as a total of 25 lines on obverse and reverse and is written in a large clear scribal band. The top of the obverse and the bottom of the reverse are damaged, but most of the text is preserved and clear. It is a document dated to the 6th year of Shu-Sin, fourth king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2032 BC. It is a list of bronze vessels under the care of a priest called the Lumah. Presumably this was the whole stock of such vessels in his place of worship. Other tablets of this period are known with such lists of vessels, but this one has many rare words and even one sign not yet understood.
Clay Tablet, with 34 Lines of Sumerian Cuneiform on Obverse, Reverse and Left Edge. This is an administrative document from the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur, dated to the first year of Ibbi-Sin, last king of the dynasty, c.2028 B.C. It is a listing of rations paid out to official messengers during one particular month.
The bottom of the tablet has been re-attached, with some loss of surface, and there is some surface damage to the obverse, but the reverse is better preserved.
Translation:
20 sila of beer, 20 sila of (bread),
1 sila of………….., Shu-Shulgi, king’s messenger.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Shari (………………..)
5 sila of bread, …………) Abu-tab, king’s messenger when they went to call up men for barley harvesting.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Bubbusu, king’s messenger when he went to………..
3 sila of beer, 2 (sila of bread): Shu-Ashtar, king’s messenger when (he went) from Der to the king.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Lugal-ushime, king’s messenger when he went for the oil of Ahuni.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Sharrum-ili, king’s messenger.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Ahuni, king’s messenger when they went for guard duty on………
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Ikum-meshar, dog warden.
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Nanna-uru, engraver.
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: ………inti, the……..(when) he went to………….
Disbursement for the month Shuniggal.
Year: Ibbi-Sni, king, 4th da
A sila was a measure of capacity, about .85 of a litre, an obvious way of measuring beer, but not for bread, a matter never explained by the ancient scribes. Perhaps the flour, not the baked product was measured. The tablet is important for giving the purpose of some these trips, something lacking from published tablets of this type.