Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet
Clay
2.63 x 4.04
CT.011
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:
Clay Tablet with 41 lines of Sumerian Cuneiform on Obverse, Reverse and Left Edge. The Sumerians had an unlimited supply of reeds, which could grow to even 20 feet high, and they used them for a large number of purposes: houses, boats, dams, reinforcement within large brick structures such as ziggurats, and in addition for many small domestic and professional purposes: mats for the floor or wall-hangings, doors of houses, and styluses for writing tablets. Thus gathering reeds was a well organized thing, and this tablet is a rare one, but explicitly about gathering reeds for some large economic organization such as a temple or the palace. They were gathered in bundles of an agreed size. The tablet has some surface damage which obscures particular lines, but it is divided into sections, all of which follow the same pattern save for a summary at the end.
Translation:
7200 bundles of reeds with reference to (Mr)…………
Document of Za(…..), foreman of the craftsmen.
5400 bundles of reeds with refernce to Akalla and Adallal.
(Document) of Ribati, king’s scribe.
(5)400 bundles of reeds with reference to Tuda and Warad-Ashki.
Document of Kubati, scribe-sur eyor.
5400 bundles of reeds with reference to Iddin-(…..) and Sahum.
Document of Ilum-bani, scribe-surveyor.
5400 bundles of reeds with reference to Elme and Lu-Ningirsula.
Document of Abushunu, scribe-surveyor.
5400 bundles of reeds with reference to Ashki-ellassu and Titi.
Document of Inassir and Puzur-Haya.
Total: 34200 bundles of reeds put to the account of ……………….
From Ashtar-alshu……………..
Document of the boatmen and Tuda Year after Simanum was destroyed.
The arithmetic is correct, but one wonders just how 34200 bundles of reeds were put to use!
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:
Clay Tablet with 41 lines of Sumerian Cuneiform on Obverse, Reverse and Left Edge. The Sumerians had an unlimited supply of reeds, which could grow to even 20 feet high, and they used them for a large number of purposes: houses, boats, dams, reinforcement within large brick structures such as ziggurats, and in addition for many small domestic and professional purposes: mats for the floor or wall-hangings, doors of houses, and styluses for writing tablets. Thus gathering reeds was a well organized thing, and this tablet is a rare one, but explicitly about gathering reeds for some large economic organization such as a temple or the palace. They were gathered in bundles of an agreed size. The tablet has some surface damage which obscures particular lines, but it is divided into sections, all of which follow the same pattern save for a summary at the end.
Translation:
7200 bundles of reeds with reference to (Mr)…………
Document of Za(…..), foreman of the craftsmen.
5400 bundles of reeds with refernce to Akalla and Adallal.
(Document) of Ribati, king’s scribe.
(5)400 bundles of reeds with reference to Tuda and Warad-Ashki.
Document of Kubati, scribe-sur eyor.
5400 bundles of reeds with reference to Iddin-(…..) and Sahum.
Document of Ilum-bani, scribe-surveyor.
5400 bundles of reeds with reference to Elme and Lu-Ningirsula.
Document of Abushunu, scribe-surveyor.
5400 bundles of reeds with reference to Ashki-ellassu and Titi.
Document of Inassir and Puzur-Haya.
Total: 34200 bundles of reeds put to the account of ……………….
From Ashtar-alshu……………..
Document of the boatmen and Tuda Year after Simanum was destroyed.
The arithmetic is correct, but one wonders just how 34200 bundles of reeds were put to use!