Sumerian Clay Tablet Recording Sheep Transaction

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Sumerian Clay Tablet Recording Sheep Transaction

Place of OriginIraq, Puzriš-Dagan (modern Drehem)

Date2043 BCE

Dimensions15/16 × 7/8 × 1/2 in. (2.4 × 2.3 × 1.2 cm)

MediumClay

ClassificationUtilitarian Objects

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

1913.512

Not on View

DescriptionA rectangular clay tablet with cuneiform inscriptions on multiple sides. The text is written in Sumerian and records an administrative transaction concerning the distribution of sheep and goats.

Label TextThis clay tablet is an administrative record from the Ur III period (ca. 2100–2000 BC). It was excavated at Puzriš-Dagan (modern Drehem, Iraq) and records a livestock transaction, documenting the receipt of sheep and goats. The cuneiform text, written in Sumerian, follows a standard bureaucratic format used in Mesopotamian record-keeping. Tablets like this one provide valuable insight into the economic and administrative systems of the time.Published References

Langdon, S., "Miscellanea Assyriaca," Babyloniaca, 7, 1922-1923, p. 79, no. 15.

Kang, S.T., Sumerian Economic texts from the Drehem Archive, Urbana, 1972, pp. 89-113.

Van der Meiroop, Marc, "Cuneiform Tablets from The Toledo Museum of Art," Revue d'Assyriologie, no. 1, 1985, p. 18, repr. p. 27. “Babyloniaca 07, 079 15 Artifact Entry.” (2001) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). August 15, 2024. https://cdli.ucla.edu/P104773. http://bdtns.filol.csic.es/catalogo_directo_new.php?numBDTS=003755 https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/epsd2/P104773