Mesopotamian Pictographic Clay Tablet

CIRCA 3000 B.C.

2 3/4 in. (42 grams, 69 mm).

Inscribed on one face with a seven-panelled pictographic grid, with a branch above; the reverse inscribed with a branch and a motif containing two drilled circles.

Provenance

Specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1992.
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 early 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 no.11335-190939.

Literature

Cf. similar tablet in the collection of the British Museum, London, under accession number 114789.

CONDITION

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LOT 0205