Published in 1912

371, Lot: 1176. Estimate $300. Sold for $4000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Terra cotta tablet recording an account of sheep delivered for various gods. Neo-Sumerian (Third Dynasty of Ur), King Shulgi (circa 2029-1982 BC).

The tablet is complete in fourteen lines of Sumerian cuneiform. Dated to year 46 of King Shulgi of Ur. There are a number of related administrative tablets.

This tablet was once the property of the Couvent Saint-Anne, Jerusalem (SA 024), and a translation was published (without transliteration) by E. Dhorme, in RA 09 (1912), p. 43. See Manuel Molina, “The Corpus of Neo-Sumerian Tablets: An Overview,” The Growth of the Early State in Mesopotamia (Madrid, 2008), p. 26, edited by Stephen J. Garfinkle and J. Cale Johnson.

The inscription is as follows:

1 sila₄ ^dUtu
mu-ku_x ensi₂ Gu₂-du₈-a^ki (=DU)
1 sila₄ ^dEn-lil₂
1 sila₄ ^dNin-lil₂
mu-ku_x zabar-dab₅ (=DU)
1 sila₄ ^dNuska
1 sila₄ ^dNin-urta
mu-ku_x Lugal-me-lam₂
zabar-dab₅ maškim
2 udu da-da dub-sar
Arad₂-mu maškim
zi-ga u₄ 10-kam (=DU)
iti ezem-^dŠul-gi
mu Ki-maš^kii u₃ Hu-ur₅-ti^ki ba-hul

lamb for (the god) Utu,
delivered by the governor of Kutha
1 lamb for Enlil
1 lamb for Ninlil
delivered by the zabardab-official
1 lamb for Nusku,
1 lamb for Ninurta,
delivered by Lugalmelam,
zabardab-official (and) maskim-official,
2 sheep for Dada, scribe,
Aradmu, maskim-official.
Issued on day 10,
month VII,
the year (named) "Kimash and Hurti were destroyed."

A well-preserved, pedigreed piece. Old collection number “WF 177” written on side. Dimensions: 4.1x3.3cm.

From the Dr. Stephen Gerson Collection, purchased in London, 1991. Ex collection of the Couvent Saint-Anne, Jerusalem.