Cuneiform Clay Tablet, 2029 BCE
Clay
1.81 x 2.55
CT.046
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 17 lines of Cuneiform Scrip
The obverse, with 8 lines, is perfectly preserved, but the bottom of the reverse is damaged, where the date occurs. Fortunately the year-name can be restored in full, but the month name remains uncertain. The date is the 9th year of Shu-Sin, fourth king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2029 B.C.
The text is an administrative document recording the yield of barley on a particular piece of irrigated land with proper documention for the authorities. A matter of interest is that much of the message is written in Babylonian, not in Sumerian as was normal at this time.
Translatio
60 iku of plow-land: the barley from it: 12 gur,
from Mr. Ela-nu-id, when he had completed the cultivation for The-House-of-Day-1
Document of Ela-nu’id, supervisor: he will take it to the city governor.
Iddin-Adad the scribe took an oath by the life of the king (that if it were) otherwise, he would be put to death.
Document of Puzur-Mamm
(Cylinder Seal ……. Puzur-Mamma,
Inscription) …………. ……………..
Month: …….., end of the 30th day,
Year: (Shu)-Sin, king of U® buil
the temple of (the god Shara) of (the town) Umma.
An iku was a measue of area, about 37600 square feet. The gur was a measure of capacity, about 252 litres.
There is sime mystery about this document, which refers to another one which was being taken to the city governor, and about the oath, neither feature being normal. Apparently there was some doubt about the accuracy of the claimed yield, so the person responsible for it had to take his record to the dity governor, and the scribe who normally recorded such things had to swear that he had faithfully recorded the figure given to him.
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 17 lines of Cuneiform Scrip
The obverse, with 8 lines, is perfectly preserved, but the bottom of the reverse is damaged, where the date occurs. Fortunately the year-name can be restored in full, but the month name remains uncertain. The date is the 9th year of Shu-Sin, fourth king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2029 B.C.
The text is an administrative document recording the yield of barley on a particular piece of irrigated land with proper documention for the authorities. A matter of interest is that much of the message is written in Babylonian, not in Sumerian as was normal at this time.
Translatio
60 iku of plow-land: the barley from it: 12 gur,
from Mr. Ela-nu-id, when he had completed the cultivation for The-House-of-Day-1
Document of Ela-nu’id, supervisor: he will take it to the city governor.
Iddin-Adad the scribe took an oath by the life of the king (that if it were) otherwise, he would be put to death.
Document of Puzur-Mamm
(Cylinder Seal ……. Puzur-Mamma,
Inscription) …………. ……………..
Month: …….., end of the 30th day,
Year: (Shu)-Sin, king of U® buil
the temple of (the god Shara) of (the town) Umma.
An iku was a measue of area, about 37600 square feet. The gur was a measure of capacity, about 252 litres.
There is sime mystery about this document, which refers to another one which was being taken to the city governor, and about the oath, neither feature being normal. Apparently there was some doubt about the accuracy of the claimed yield, so the person responsible for it had to take his record to the dity governor, and the scribe who normally recorded such things had to swear that he had faithfully recorded the figure given to him.