Cuneiform Tablet: Old Assyrian Legal Text

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1992.256.7
Title: Cuneiform Tablet: Old Assyrian Legal Text
Classification: Tablets
Work Type: tablet
Date: c.1900-1750 BCE
Period: Bronze Age, Middle
Culture: Assyrian
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/289110

Physical Descriptions

Medium: Clay
Technique: Impressed
Dimensions: 3.7 x 3.9 x 1.3 cm (1 7/16 x 1 9/16 x 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History: Louise M. and George E. Bates, Camden, ME (by 1971-1992), gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 1992.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Louise M. and George E. Bates
Accession Year: 1992
Object Number: 1992.256.7
Division: Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact: am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description: Square shaped clay tablet with cuneiform writing on both sides. The tablet is inscribed with ruled lines of text written in the Old Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language The tablet probably comes from the trading colony (karum) by the mound of Kültepe (ancient Kanesh) near Kaiseri in Cappadocia (central Anatolia), from the period karum-Kanesh level II (c. 1927-1836 B.C.E).

The text is a loan contract recording a debt of silver owed by Imlik-Ea to Ela.

Text reads:
(obv.) 11 GIN2 KUG.BABBAR / s,a-ru-pa2-am / i-s,i2-ir / Im-li-ik--a / E-la i-šu / iš-tu3 ha-mu-uš-tim / ša Li-u2-ši2-im / (rev.) ITI.1.KAM Ti-i=na-tum / li-mu-um / A-al-DUG3 / ki-ma a-wa-at ka3-ri-im / s,i2-ib-tam2 / u2-s,a-ab2 / IGI Ša-lim-A-šur3 / IGI Puzur4-A-šur3

11 shekels of refined silver are owed by Imlik-Ea to Ela from the hamushtum-period of Liušum, in the month of Tinatum in the eponym year of Al-t,ab He will add interest according to the decree of the karum-authority. Witnessed by Shalim-Assur; witnessed by Puzur-Assur.

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

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