Cuneiform Tablet from Iraq

NOTE: 344991D WAS ON LOAN TO NMAH'S NUMISMATICS DIVISION FROM 1961 TO DEC. 1, 2000. (S. CRAWFORD, DEC. 4, 2000). As of 2010, tablet is on display in National Museum of Natural History Hall of Human Origins exhibit.

See 2008 student report by Anne Starkweather in accession file. This object is featured in the report (listed as 344991-6). Starkweather shared photos of this object with Dr. Lance Allred, Cornell University. He provided a translation and context for the tablet. According to him, the tablet is written in Sumerian and dates to ca. 2000-2100 BCE (probably closer to 2000), from the Third Dynasty of Ur (UR III), a period which lasted for about a century. Dr. Allred believes the tablet comes from the ancient site of Puzrish-Dagan (called Drehem), in southern Mesopotamia, just a few kilometers south of the important religious city of Nippur. According to his translation the front side of the tablet reads: [#] barley-fed sheep, second quality [#] barley-fed sheep, third quality [#] barley-fed goats, fourth quality (for) the god Enlil [#] barley-fed sheep, second quality [#]+1? barley-fed sheep, third quality [#]+1? barley-fed sheep, fourth quality (for) the goddess Ninlil The left edge of the tablet is somewhat damaged, so it is unclear how many animals are involved. Dr. Allred said that usually the numbers are small, around 3 or 4 for each entry.

Dr. Allred believes that the tablet text has been published by David I. Owen in Neo-Sumerian Texts from American Collections, vol. 15 of Materiali per il vobabolario neosumerico (MVN 15), Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1991 as text number 297. According to this publication, the reverse side of the tablet reads: Royal entry 24th day of the month Expended from Tahish-atal The conveyor (of the order) was Puzrish-Enlil the messenger The month "Festival of (the god) Mekigal" (=11th month of the year) The year "The boat of (the god) Enki was built" (=2nd year of the king Shu-Suen, the 4th king of the dynasty).

7 Jul 2021

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