Sumerian Clay Tablet Recording Livestock Transactions

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Sumerian Clay Tablet Recording Livestock Transactions

Place of OriginIraq, Puzriš-Dagan (modern Drehem)

Date2048 BCE

Dimensions3 1/8 × 1 7/8 × 9/16 in. (8 × 4.8 × 1.5 cm)

MediumClay

ClassificationUtilitarian Objects

Object number

1913.502

Not on View

DescriptionRectangular clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform text on both obverse and reverse. Surface shows impressions from stylus writing, with clear line divisions marking separate entries.

Label TextDuring the Ur III period (ca. 2100–2000 BCE), the administration of the Sumerian empire relied on extensive record-keeping. This cuneiform tablet, written in Sumerian, comes from Puzriš-Dagan (modern Drehem, Iraq), a major administrative hub where livestock and other goods were redistributed on behalf of the state. The tablet records a transaction of large numbers of oxen, sheep, and other animals, sent by the king in the “month of the barley harvest” during the year “Kimash and Hamurti were destroyed.” This historical reference dates the tablet to the reign of King Šulgi (Šulgi Year 46). Such documents were crucial to managing the economy of the Ur III state, ensuring the distribution of resources across temples, officials, and laborers.Published References

Langdon, S., "Miscellanea Assyriaca" in Babyloniaca: etudes de philologie Assyro-Babylonienne, 7, 1922-1923, p. 75, no. 4.

Kang, S.T., Sumerian Economic texts from the Drehem Archive, Urbana, 1972, pp. 73-75.

Van der Meiroop, Marc, "Cuneiform Tablets from The Toledo Museum of Art," Revue d'Assyriologie, no. 1, 1985, p. 18, repr. p. 24. “Babyloniaca 07, 075 04 Artifact Entry.” (2001) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). August 15, 2024. https://cdli.ucla.edu/P104762. http://bdtns.filol.csic.es/catalogo_directo_new.php?numBDTS=003744 https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/epsd2/P104762