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Genre/Form: | History Sources Specimens Spécimens |
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Document Type: | Visual material |
All Authors / Contributors: |
Robert E Massmann; Donn W Sanford; Paul F Spalter; Luizu; Ludingira; Ferris J Stephens; Oak Knoll Books (Firm),; Pre-1650 Manuscript Collection (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rare Book & Manuscript Library. |
OCLC Number: | 881824733 |
Language Note: | Sumerian. |
Notes: | Cuneiform inscription. Title supplied by cataloger. Accompanying material: Tablet previously enclosed in a pigskin binding (85 x 90 mm.) fashioned by Paul F. Spalter, including descriptive text written in calligraphy on vellum with an illuminated title page and a map of the ancient Middle East. Text includes description of life in ancient Umma and Ferris Stephens' translation. Origin: Inscribed in Mesopotamia ca. 2000 B.C., presumably in Umma. Provenance: 1. Belonged to librarian and noted miniature book collector Robert E. Massmann, as per bookplate in accompanying binding -- 2. Belonged to Donn W. Sanford as per his sale (Oak Knoll Books, cat. no. 303) -- 3. Purchased from Oak Knoll Books, 16 September 2013. Shelf-mark: Urbana, IL, University of Illinois Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Pre-1650 MS 0218. |
Description: | 1 item : clay tablet ; 51 x 39 x 13 mm. |
Abstract:
Cuneiform tablet excavated from Umma in Mesopotamia, dating to about 2000 B.C. and written in Sumerian. Ferris J. Stephens, curator of the Babylonian collection of Yale University, translated the inscription in 1960. According to Stephens, the tablet records a loan transaction of grain between an individual named Luizu and another person whose name is obscured by damage to the tablet. It also mentions an official (mashkim) named Ludingira. The transaction most likely took place in the temple of Umma, with this tablet effectively being a promissory note.
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