Description:

Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, ca. 3rd to 2nd millennium BCE. A fine gathering of three hand-built clay tablets with rectangular bodies and convex faces. The smallest tablet contains 15 lines of impressed cuneiform script, the medium-sized tablet with 17 lines, and the largest with 17 lines. Cuneiform script is created by impressing a sharpened reed or stick into the still-wet clay just before undergoing the kilning process. While the medium and large tablets are stand-alone items, the smallest tablet is actually fused inside of its original clay envelope, a practice used when the tablet writer wanted to keep confidential the inscribed information. These tablets, though untranslated, give us an insight into the daily lives of ancient Mesopotamian peoples as well as how they communicated across vast distances. Size of largest: 2.375" W x 3.375" H (6 cm x 8.6 cm).

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#138542

  • Condition: Medium and large tablets repaired from multiple pieces with small losses and light adhesive residue along break lines. Small tablet has losses to one side and around peripheries. All items have chips and abrasions to faces and peripheries, with fading to cuneiform text, and light encrustations. Nice earthen deposits throughout.

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January 10, 2019 7:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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