Description:

Ancient Near East, Sumeria, ca. 3rd to 2nd millennium BCE. Two cone shaped clay tablets with incised cuneiform around their bodies. The top of each has a flat "nail head" below which the body tapers to a rounded point. Made of white clay, the inscriptions are deep, dense, and clear. Clay nails like these are also referred to as dedication pegs or foundation pegs; they were inscribed, baked, and stuck into walls made of mud-brick to mark ownership either by a god or a ruler. These dedications sometimes include stories or boasts about the rulers they describe, and are some of our earliest sources of written royal history. Size of largest: 2.5" W x 4.25" H (6.4 cm x 10.8 cm)

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#138543

  • Condition: The larger of the two is missing its tip and its lower quarter has been repaired. The smaller is intact. Both have light wear and chips commensurate with age. Light encrustation. Much of the cuneiform is still legible.

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September 13, 2018 7:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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