Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet, 2039 BCE - 2029 BCE
Clay
2.08 x 4.09
LSO.1023
Sumerian Cuneiform is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. First appearing in the 4th millennium BC in what is now Iraq, it was dubbed cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) because...
Sumerian Cuneiform is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. First appearing in the 4th millennium BC in what is now Iraq, it was dubbed cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) because of the distinctive wedge form of the letters, created by pressing a reed stylus into wet clay. Early Sumerian writings were essentially pictograms, which became simplified in the early and mid 3rd millennium BC to a series of strokes, along with a commensurate reduction in the number of discrete signs used (from c.1500 to 600). The script system had a very long life and was used by the Sumerians as well as numerous later groups – notably the Assyrians, Elamites, Akkadians and Hittites – for around three thousand years. Certain signs and phonetic standards live on in modern languages of the Middle and Far East, but the writing system is essentially extinct. It was therefore cause for great excitement when the ‘code’ of ancient cuneiform was cracked by a group of English, French and German Assyriologists and philologists in the mid 19th century AD. This opened up a vital source of information about these ancient groups that could not have been obtained in any other way.
Cuneiform was used on monuments dedicated to heroic – and usually royal – individuals, but perhaps its most important function was that of record keeping. The palace-based society at Ur and other large urban centres was accompanied by a remarkably complex and multifaceted bureaucracy, which was run by professional administrators and a priestly class, all of whom were answerable to central court control. Most of what we know about the way the culture was run and administered comes from cuneiform tablets, which record the everyday running of the temple and palace complexes in minute detail, as in the present case. The Barakat Gallery has secured the services of Professor Lambert (University of Birmingham), a renowned expert in the decipherment and translation of cuneiform, to examine and process the information on these tablets. The following is a transcription of his analysis of this tablet:
Clay Tablet with 45 Lines of Sumerian Cuneiform.
The tablet is joined from two pieces with a little loss of surface on the right-hand adge, and on the last few lines of the reverse.
The lower reverse is partly covered with hard salt deposits, which could be removed by laboratory treatment. The present report is based on what is clear, When clean, the surface is clear and well preserved, but the ancient scribe rolled his cylinder seal over the surface after the writing was done, and this has made reading more difficult than usual. This is an administrative document from the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur. The date at the bottom of the reverse is clear enough to establish the reign of Shu-Sin (c.2039-2029 B.C.) as the right reign, but not the year of reign. The text is extremely unusual: it seems to give lists of the materials employed in the upholstering of certain thrones. Line 22 is a kind of colophon to the preceding lines: “House of Amar-sin,” and line 29 is similar: “House of Shu-Sim”. The names are those of two kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur in succession. Thus it seems that the thrones in question were made for and used in the houses of these kings. What document has plenty of obscure words and even signs, so the following is only provisional:
Translation:
1 5/6 minas, 2 shekels of combed, guzza fabric, ordinary quality, wool.
5 hides of grass-fed oxen, brown.
2 skins of grass-fed sheep, brown.
2 skins of grass-fed sheep, white.
3 shekels of oil.
A high-quality throne for an assembly, 1 stuffing.
5 minas of combed, guzza fabric, ordinary quality, wool.
5 hides of black oxen.
5 shekels of oil.
a high quality …….and (………)…….., 2 stuffings .
2 shekels of wool of grass-fed sheep, brown.
A …….throne for an assembly, I stuffing, and ……..of a foot-stool, 3 stuffings.
8 skins of grass-fed (brown) sheep.
1 skin of a white sheep.
10 shekels of tir-reed.
10 shekels of oil.
A …..throne for an assembly, 8 ….., and a ……throne, 3 stuffings.
House of Amar-Sin.
9 skins of brown sheep.
2 skins of white sheep.
15 shekels of tir-reed.
1/3 shekel of oil.
A ……throne for an assembly, 11 ……, and a ……throne, four stuffings.
House of Shu-Si
Cuneiform was used on monuments dedicated to heroic – and usually royal – individuals, but perhaps its most important function was that of record keeping. The palace-based society at Ur and other large urban centres was accompanied by a remarkably complex and multifaceted bureaucracy, which was run by professional administrators and a priestly class, all of whom were answerable to central court control. Most of what we know about the way the culture was run and administered comes from cuneiform tablets, which record the everyday running of the temple and palace complexes in minute detail, as in the present case. The Barakat Gallery has secured the services of Professor Lambert (University of Birmingham), a renowned expert in the decipherment and translation of cuneiform, to examine and process the information on these tablets. The following is a transcription of his analysis of this tablet:
Clay Tablet with 45 Lines of Sumerian Cuneiform.
The tablet is joined from two pieces with a little loss of surface on the right-hand adge, and on the last few lines of the reverse.
The lower reverse is partly covered with hard salt deposits, which could be removed by laboratory treatment. The present report is based on what is clear, When clean, the surface is clear and well preserved, but the ancient scribe rolled his cylinder seal over the surface after the writing was done, and this has made reading more difficult than usual. This is an administrative document from the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur. The date at the bottom of the reverse is clear enough to establish the reign of Shu-Sin (c.2039-2029 B.C.) as the right reign, but not the year of reign. The text is extremely unusual: it seems to give lists of the materials employed in the upholstering of certain thrones. Line 22 is a kind of colophon to the preceding lines: “House of Amar-sin,” and line 29 is similar: “House of Shu-Sim”. The names are those of two kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur in succession. Thus it seems that the thrones in question were made for and used in the houses of these kings. What document has plenty of obscure words and even signs, so the following is only provisional:
Translation:
1 5/6 minas, 2 shekels of combed, guzza fabric, ordinary quality, wool.
5 hides of grass-fed oxen, brown.
2 skins of grass-fed sheep, brown.
2 skins of grass-fed sheep, white.
3 shekels of oil.
A high-quality throne for an assembly, 1 stuffing.
5 minas of combed, guzza fabric, ordinary quality, wool.
5 hides of black oxen.
5 shekels of oil.
a high quality …….and (………)…….., 2 stuffings .
2 shekels of wool of grass-fed sheep, brown.
A …….throne for an assembly, I stuffing, and ……..of a foot-stool, 3 stuffings.
8 skins of grass-fed (brown) sheep.
1 skin of a white sheep.
10 shekels of tir-reed.
10 shekels of oil.
A …..throne for an assembly, 8 ….., and a ……throne, 3 stuffings.
House of Amar-Sin.
9 skins of brown sheep.
2 skins of white sheep.
15 shekels of tir-reed.
1/3 shekel of oil.
A ……throne for an assembly, 11 ……, and a ……throne, four stuffings.
House of Shu-Si