Harvard Art Museums > 1983.101: Fragment of Cuneiform Tablet: Old Assyrian Letter Tablets Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Fragment of Cuneiform Tablet: Old Assyrian Letter , 1983.101,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 25, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/289654. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1983.101 Title Fragment of Cuneiform Tablet: Old Assyrian Letter Classification Tablets Work Type tablet Date c. 1900-1750 BCE Period Bronze Age, Middle Culture Assyrian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/289654 Physical Descriptions Medium Clay Technique Impressed Dimensions 4.9 x 4.8 x 1 cm (1 15/16 x 1 7/8 x 3/8 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Nanette Rodney Kelekian, New York, formerly in the possession of her father Charles Dikran Kelekian; gift to Fogg Art Museum, 1983. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nanette B. Rodney Accession Year 1983 Object Number 1983.101 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Fragment of clay tablet with cuneiform writing. The fragment is inscribed with ruled lines of text written in the Old Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language. This fragment preserves part of the obverse of the tablet including the lower left corner and part of the left edge. The reverse surface is completely missing. There are no seal impressions preserved. The tablet probably comes from the trading colony (karum) by the mound of Kültepe (ancient Kanesh) near Kaiseri in Cappadocia (central Anatolia). The letter is addressed to one Assur-tab from Puzur-Ishtar. The text describes the contents of a shipment of goods, mostly textiles (TUG2.HI.A: lines 6', 9', 11' and 12' (?)) but also a large quantity of some kind of metal, maybe tin or silver, placed under seal for security (lines 4'-5'). Part of the shipment, maybe 41 textiles (line 6'), was brought from Hahhum (line 8'; key stopping point on one of the main routes from Assyria to Kanesh) to Nesha (line 7'; another name for ancient Kanesh). The name of Assur-malik (line 10'), a transporter well-known from other texts, is also still preserved. IMAGE: Middle row; tablet first on the right. Exhibition History 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2019 - 01/08/2020; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 01/02/2022; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/02/2023 - 12/30/2023 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
