£360
CUNEIFORM CLAY TABLET FROM LAGASH IN IRAQ LISTING PAYMENTS MADE IN ANIMALS; Fine 2046 BC Sumerian baked clay tablet (c.33x40 mm) of the Ur III Period from the ancient Iraq city of Lagash (aka Shirpurla, located NW of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about 22 km east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah) being an administrative document. With full transcription and translation (by the 1980s expert Dr Irving Finkel) of the 17 lines of readily legible Sumerian text (back and front); "1 large goat for the seat/throne, delivery Adda the laputtu official, Pitrum the maskim official; 1 goat for the Eninnu-bird temple [in Lagash], delivery Hunhabtash, Ur-Bau the maskim official. 3 oxen, 2 cows, 5 sheep, 7 female sheep, 3 goats for use in the cookhouse for the riders. [written by] Irmu the maskim official, on the 10th day from Nasaga, Sesdaku month, of the first year of Amar-Su'en" [who reigned 2046-2038 BC; i.e. 2046 BC]. Rare and attractive example of an authenticated and very early clay tablet. [Provenance; purchased by the vendor in the 16 July 1985 Christies Antiquities sale (one of 3 in lot 285) and listed as the "Property of a Lady" - believed to have been the widow of Sir Kenneth Clark, 1903-83, the famous broadcaster and art historian]. Cross Reference: IRAQ, EARLY LETTERS
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