Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, Sumer, city of Drehem (also Puzrish-Dagan), Third Dynasty of Ur, reign of Shulgi, ca. 2094 to 2047 BCE. A miniature clay tablet of a rectangular form with rounded peripheries and slightly convex faces. Displayed on the faces as well as one periphery are 8 lines of cuneiform text formed by impressing a sharpened reed or stick into the still-wet clay just prior to being placed inside of a kiln. While not fully translated, this tablet indicates that its purpose was a receipt for a quantity of lamb, dated to the 18th day of the 3rd month of the 41st year of the reign of King Shulgi. Size: 0.9" W x 1" H (2.3 cm x 2.5 cm)
Provenance: Dr. Jerome R. Johnson collection, Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA; ex-Superior Stamp & Coin Co., Beverly Hills, California, USA, acquired before 2010
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#146713
Condition
Minor encrustations in expected areas, with softening to some impressed cuneiform characters, otherwise intact and very good. Nice preservation to most cuneiform characters. Old inventory number written in green ink along on periphery.