Pair of Cuneiform Tablets, 2080 BCE - 2000 BCE
Clay
45
CT.039
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:
Pair of Sumerian inscription in cuneiform addressed to the same person, A Mr Namah. The sender is not named, but it must have been a government or temple official in charge of some organization. Both are business instructions.
(a) This clay tablet (45mm x 39mm) consists of 6 lines in a clear large scribal hand, two small spots of damage on the reverse, otherwise in good condition.
Translation:
Speak to Nammah: he should give 10 sila of beer and 10 sila of bread to Mr. Shu Erra. Month: Sum...la.
A sila was a measure of capacity, about .85 lof a litre. Beer easily suits this, but how bread was so measured is never stated. Perhaps the quantity of flour was meant. The month name is not well known, but each city has its own month names at this period. An impression of a cylinder seal (obviously that of the sender) appears on the reverse, but only the upper parts of the seated god remains.
(b) This clay tablet (44mm x 38mm) consists of a total of 7 lines of cuneiform in a large clear scribal hand, one corner is damaged, otherwise it is in good condition.
Translation:
Speak to Nammah: he should interrupt the flow of that water for 10 days. He should release his men.
The water is no doubt that flowing in an irrigation canal, of which Mr. Nammah had charge. As the annual flood in Sumer rose and fell a whole network of such canals had to be washed and controlled with great care.
These tablets come from the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2080-2000 BC.
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:
Pair of Sumerian inscription in cuneiform addressed to the same person, A Mr Namah. The sender is not named, but it must have been a government or temple official in charge of some organization. Both are business instructions.
(a) This clay tablet (45mm x 39mm) consists of 6 lines in a clear large scribal hand, two small spots of damage on the reverse, otherwise in good condition.
Translation:
Speak to Nammah: he should give 10 sila of beer and 10 sila of bread to Mr. Shu Erra. Month: Sum...la.
A sila was a measure of capacity, about .85 lof a litre. Beer easily suits this, but how bread was so measured is never stated. Perhaps the quantity of flour was meant. The month name is not well known, but each city has its own month names at this period. An impression of a cylinder seal (obviously that of the sender) appears on the reverse, but only the upper parts of the seated god remains.
(b) This clay tablet (44mm x 38mm) consists of a total of 7 lines of cuneiform in a large clear scribal hand, one corner is damaged, otherwise it is in good condition.
Translation:
Speak to Nammah: he should interrupt the flow of that water for 10 days. He should release his men.
The water is no doubt that flowing in an irrigation canal, of which Mr. Nammah had charge. As the annual flood in Sumer rose and fell a whole network of such canals had to be washed and controlled with great care.
These tablets come from the period of the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2080-2000 BC.