Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet, 2027 BCE
Clay
1.85 x 2.59
LSO.1026
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 a total of 29 lines of Sumerian Cuneifor This is a complete tablet in very good condition. It is an administrative document from the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur, dated to the 2nd day of the month “Barley Harvest” of the second year of Ihbi-Sin, last king of the dynasty, c.2027 B.C. It lists the rations issued to servants of the king to sustain them on official journeys:
Translation:
10 sila of beer, 10 sila of bread: Laqipum, butler, king’s messenger.
When he went to the king’s offering.
30 sila of beer, 30 sila of bread: Lu-gina, groom, king’s messenger.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Ir-Nanna king’s messenger.
When they went from Der to the king.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Awilum-shalim, king’s messenger.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Libur-Amar-Sin, king’s messenger.
When they went to Der.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Nur-ili, king’s messenger.
When he went to Diniktum.
5 sila of beer, 5 sila of bread: Zallum, king’s messenger.
When he went to call up the …..men.
5 sila of beer, 5 sila of bread: Nanna-shagga, king’s messenger.
When he went for shoes.
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Pulullu, groom.
When he went to the…..Donkey.
A disbursement: month Barley Harvest.
Year: the high priestess of Inanna of Uruk was chosen by divination. (on left edge): 2nd day.
A sila was a measure of capacity, about .85 if a litre. This is entirely clear when applied to beer, but bread is not obviously measured by bulk. Perhaps the flour used is meant, which was later baked to make the bread. The journeys alluded to are not all clear. Der was a town in the Diyala valley, so that is clear, but “shoes” is hardly a place.
While the wording is generally very clear and simple, the reality is often unclear. One man received tem times the quantities of beer and bread as the next one. Why? And would a messenger take a long 25 litres of beer with him on the journey? If not, what happened to it? These are practical documents of administration and the ancients certainly knew what they were doing, but they had no interest in passing on their knowledge to us.
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 a total of 29 lines of Sumerian Cuneifor This is a complete tablet in very good condition. It is an administrative document from the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur, dated to the 2nd day of the month “Barley Harvest” of the second year of Ihbi-Sin, last king of the dynasty, c.2027 B.C. It lists the rations issued to servants of the king to sustain them on official journeys:
Translation:
10 sila of beer, 10 sila of bread: Laqipum, butler, king’s messenger.
When he went to the king’s offering.
30 sila of beer, 30 sila of bread: Lu-gina, groom, king’s messenger.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Ir-Nanna king’s messenger.
When they went from Der to the king.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Awilum-shalim, king’s messenger.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Libur-Amar-Sin, king’s messenger.
When they went to Der.
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Nur-ili, king’s messenger.
When he went to Diniktum.
5 sila of beer, 5 sila of bread: Zallum, king’s messenger.
When he went to call up the …..men.
5 sila of beer, 5 sila of bread: Nanna-shagga, king’s messenger.
When he went for shoes.
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Pulullu, groom.
When he went to the…..Donkey.
A disbursement: month Barley Harvest.
Year: the high priestess of Inanna of Uruk was chosen by divination. (on left edge): 2nd day.
A sila was a measure of capacity, about .85 if a litre. This is entirely clear when applied to beer, but bread is not obviously measured by bulk. Perhaps the flour used is meant, which was later baked to make the bread. The journeys alluded to are not all clear. Der was a town in the Diyala valley, so that is clear, but “shoes” is hardly a place.
While the wording is generally very clear and simple, the reality is often unclear. One man received tem times the quantities of beer and bread as the next one. Why? And would a messenger take a long 25 litres of beer with him on the journey? If not, what happened to it? These are practical documents of administration and the ancients certainly knew what they were doing, but they had no interest in passing on their knowledge to us.