Sumerian Clay Tablet Documenting Offerings to Inanna

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Sumerian Clay Tablet Documenting Offerings to Inanna

Place of OriginIraq, Puzriš-Dagan (modern Drehem)

Date2050-2049 BCE

Dimensions1 3/4 × 1 9/16 in. (4.5 × 3.9 cm)

MediumClay

ClassificationUtilitarian Objects

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1913.498

Not on View

Collections

Decorative Arts

Published References

Langdon, S., "Miscellanea Assyriaca" in Babyloniaca: etudes de philologie Assyro-Babylonienne, 7, 1922-1923, pp. 72-73, no. 1.

Van der Meiroop, Marc, "Cuneiform Tablets from The Toledo Museum of Art," Revue d'Assyriologie, no. 1, 1985, pp. 17, 25. Sallaberger, Walther, Der kultische Kalender der Ur III-Zeit, Berlin, De Gruyter, 1993, no. T 69d.

“Babyloniaca 07, 073 8 Artifact Entry.” (2001) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). August 15, 2024. https://cdli.ucla.edu/P104759.

http://bdtns.filol.csic.es/catalogo_directo_new.php?numBDTS=003741

https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/epsd2/P104759

Label TextThis administrative tablet, written in Sumerian cuneiform, originates from Puzriš-Dagan (modern Drehem, Iraq) and dates to the Ur III period (ca. 2100–2000 BCE). The text records livestock transactions, including oxen and sheep, designated as offerings to the goddess Inanna. These records were essential to the centralized administration of the Ur III state, ensuring the accurate distribution of resources. The document is dated to the reign of King Šulgi (r. 2094–2047 BCE), one of the most influential rulers of the dynasty, known for his extensive bureaucratic reforms.