Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, Babylon, Middle Babylonian Period, ca. late 2nd millennium BCE. A hand-built clay tablet of a petite rectangular size with rounded peripheries and slightly convex faces. Presented on the obverse face are 6 lines of inscribed cuneiform characters - formed by impressing a sharpened reed or stick into the still-wet clay - as well as 3 partial lines along the verso. While untranslated, the uniformity of the lines suggests this tablet contains an accounting ledger, perhaps documentation of payment rendered to workers or a shipment manifest of various goods. Size: 1.3" W x 1.25" H (3.3 cm x 3.2 cm)
Display stand shown in photos is for photography purposes only.
Provenance: ex-Stein collection, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, acquired prior to 2010
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#163996
Condition
Minor abrasions to both faces and peripheries, with softening to some inscribed cuneiform characters, and light encrustations within some cuneiform characters, otherwise intact and very good. Nice preservation to most cuneiform characters.