Large Proto-Sumerian Pictographic Tablet for Large Amounts of Grain

URUK III, CIRCA 3200-3000 B.C.

2 1/8 in. (68 grams, 55 mm).

Biconvex in profile with impressed lines dividing the face into zones, each with impressed dots, triangles or other symbols, some extending onto the edges.

Provenance

From a specialised collection of cuneiform texts, formed in the 1950s-1990s.
The property of a London gentleman and housed in London, thence by descent to family members.
Examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and 1990s.
The collection is exceptional for the variety of types, including some very rare and well preserved examples.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12242-220893.

CONDITION

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LOT 0182