Cuneiform Clay Tablet, 2028 BCE
Clay
1.77 x 3.26
CT.043
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 32 Lines of Sumerian Cuneifro
The tablet has been joined from two pieces with almost no loss at the break, and apart from the left top corner of the reverse, where there is a little loss of surface, the tablet is in very good condition. It is an administrative document listing rations issued to government messegers during one month of a given year, which incidentally dates the tablet: it is the first year of Ibbi-Sin, last king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2028 B.C. The great interest of this tablet is that, inlike most so called Messenger tablets previously published, this one in many cases specifies the purpose of the journey.
Translatio
10 sila of beer, 10 sila of bread: Ili-meti, vizier, king’s messege
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Neparra, king’s messenge
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: for consumption in the cit
10 sila of bread: for the journey: Ubarra, king’s messenger, when they went to Harsh
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread; Shu-Ashtar, king’s messenger, when he went to thresh barle
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Ubarra, king’s messenger: when he went from Der to the kin
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: (…..), king’s messenger: when he went to …….
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Puzur-Ea, king’s messenger: when he went to the commissar Nanna-igis
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Shu-Adad, barber: when he went to the …. Fig tre
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Izzaz-meshar, groom: when he went to the hors
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Nanna-uru, the …….
Disbursement of the month Shunigga
Year: Ibbi-Sin, kin
A sila was a measure of capacity, about .85 of a litre. The ancient texts never explain how this measure was used for bread (for beer it is obvious). Perhaps the flour was measured in this way, not the finished, baked bread.
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 32 Lines of Sumerian Cuneifro
The tablet has been joined from two pieces with almost no loss at the break, and apart from the left top corner of the reverse, where there is a little loss of surface, the tablet is in very good condition. It is an administrative document listing rations issued to government messegers during one month of a given year, which incidentally dates the tablet: it is the first year of Ibbi-Sin, last king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2028 B.C. The great interest of this tablet is that, inlike most so called Messenger tablets previously published, this one in many cases specifies the purpose of the journey.
Translatio
10 sila of beer, 10 sila of bread: Ili-meti, vizier, king’s messege
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Neparra, king’s messenge
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: for consumption in the cit
10 sila of bread: for the journey: Ubarra, king’s messenger, when they went to Harsh
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread; Shu-Ashtar, king’s messenger, when he went to thresh barle
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Ubarra, king’s messenger: when he went from Der to the kin
3 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: (…..), king’s messenger: when he went to …….
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Puzur-Ea, king’s messenger: when he went to the commissar Nanna-igis
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Shu-Adad, barber: when he went to the …. Fig tre
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Izzaz-meshar, groom: when he went to the hors
2 sila of beer, 2 sila of bread: Nanna-uru, the …….
Disbursement of the month Shunigga
Year: Ibbi-Sin, kin
A sila was a measure of capacity, about .85 of a litre. The ancient texts never explain how this measure was used for bread (for beer it is obvious). Perhaps the flour was measured in this way, not the finished, baked bread.