Mesopotamian Shell Beads

A copper-alloy ibex statuette modelled standing on a tiered plinth, suspension loop to base of neck; mounted on a custom-made display base. 45 grams total, 58 mm high including stand



Acquired before the early 1970s. Ex London, UK, gallery. Property of a London gentleman.

A very large banded agate bead in the style of ancient Western Asiatic examples with symmetrical banding; drilled for suspension. 149 grams, 90 mm



Acquired 1969-1999. London collection of the late Mr S.M., thence by descent.

A pillow-shaped administrative clay tablet bearing cuneiform text to both principal faces, relating to a barley debt; Aramaic graffiti to one edge. 114 grams, 67 mm wide



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.

The tablet records a promissory note of a typical kind to pay for barley. It concludes with the names of witnesses, town and date. The Aramaic script transcribes the cuneiform name of the debtor into Aramaic script, making it easier for scribes to identify who each tablet refers to. It dates to the Achaemenid period, to the reign of Artaxerxes I (465-424 B.C.). Such late administrative tablets are typically carelessly written, as is apparent on our example as some script has been rendered slanting sharply downwards.