Babylonian cuneiform tablet of Sumerian text from the third dynasty of Ur 2100-2000 BCE, having incised on both sides material relating to commerce in Ur., 2100-2000 BCE -

Containers:

Bound Bound

Extent:

1 tablet. 5 x 4.5 cm.

Scope and content:

1. Date of tablet has been placed in the nine year reign of Amar-suena (ca. 2047-2039 BCE) according to Gordon D. Young, Purdue University, 11 July 1975.
2. Drawing of tablet, transcription and English translation by Stephen D. Simmons published in Journal of Cuneiform Studies, XVII: 32 (April 1936) (PJ3102 .J86).
3. Transcription and English translation by Edmond Sollberger published in Sollberger, Business and Administrative Correspondence Under the Kings of Ur, Locust Valley, N.Y., J. J. Augustin publisher, 1966, page 20 (Texts from Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 1) (PJ4075 .S68).
4. The top three lines tell of a religious festival for which the sheep and grain are needed. Below that is given the name of the person to whom they are to be sent. The name of the writer of the letter is not given on the tablet. Originally this tablet would have been in a clay envelope on which the seal of the writer would have appeared. This would have been sufficient to identify him. In writing on one of these tablets it was grasped between thumb and first finger at the top of the sides. The indentations here can still be felt on this tablet. This tablet has been partially baked. (Information from Ferris J. Stephens, Curator of Babylonian and Assyrian Clay Tablets, Yale University Library, 1958, January 23.)

Acquisition information:

Purchased. Bodley Book Shop, New York (Catalog 103, item no. 42). 1948.

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