Mesopotamia, Sumer, ca. late 3rd to 2nd millennium BCE. A fascinating pottery cuneiform tablet displaying one of the oldest known writing systems in the world upon both sides of the large rectangular faces! The script is made using a reed stylus and impressing wedge shaped marks into soft clay just before undergoing the kilning process that solidified the writing- preserving it through the centuries. Early cuneiform was pictographic, but in the 3rd millennium BCE it shifted to the more abstract form you see here. This tablet give us an insight into the daily lives of ancient Mesopotamian peoples and could perhaps be a fascinating translation project to undertake! Size: 2" L x 0.5" W x 4.375" H (5.1 cm x 1.3 cm x 11.1 cm)

Scribes began training at an early age- not only literacy but also tablet making skills in special schools known as edubbas, Sumerian for "scribe schools," and most learning took place in private homes rather than public buildings. The process making the tablets and how to use the stylus tools was just as important as the writing itself - students learned the right mixtures for clay consistency and shaping of the tablets. Ideally the tablet would have a flat side to write upon, and a convex face to rest comfortably in the palm of the hand as they wrote. Most of what we know about the edubbas and scribes unsurprisingly comes from cuneiform writing!

Provenance: East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010

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#137740

Repaired from 4 large pieces with visible break lines through the lower edge as shown. Remains of adhesive reside and clear fixative on the surface. Surface abrasions and chips throughout. Some softening and losses to cuneiform script, but most is intact and perhaps translatable.