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LOT 0223
Middle Assyrian Brick-Shaped Tablet with Funerary Inscription for Adad-Shumu-lesir’s Tomb
1363-912 B.C.
5 5/8 in. (333 grams, 14.3 cm).
A rectangular brick-shaped tablet, inscribed in cuneiform script across three vertical faces, with a single column to the fourth and a continuation of text across the top surface; the inscription a funerary curse relating to the tomb of Adad-šumu-lešir, warning against interference with the burial, reading in part:
"As for a stranger, or somebody who would approach that tomb, or would bring up a corpse out of it and bury his own within, or would touch the silver inside—Adad, Šamaš, or Nergal will fill his house and field with shortage, collapse, and murder. He will repay the property of that tomb sevenfold, dedicating it to Šuriha. For the offspring of Adad-šumu-lešir he shall be undone for taking out and bringing down objects in the tomb, and for burying another body within it. Month Kalmartu, third day, eponymy of Aššur-mušezib.”
Acquired in the 1996.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12872-241667.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Funerary inscriptions of this type are extremely rare survivals, serving both as legal texts and spiritual safeguards, invoking the major deities Adad, Šamaš, and Nergal to enforce the curse.
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LOT 0223
Middle Assyrian Brick-Shaped Tablet with Funerary Inscription for Adad-Shumu-lesir’s Tomb
Estimate £6,000 - 8,000€6,960 - 9,280 (for guidance only)$8,100 - 10,800 (for guidance only)
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Luristan Bronze Bowl
Circa 1000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £98
Of a rounded profile with rounded base, circumferential groove beneath the rim. 365 grams, 15.7 cm
Ex London, UK, collections, 1990s-2000s. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
In the Ancient East this was a form of vessel very common at every period. Such bronze dishes with a lip were, however, extremely rare. The specimens kept in Brussels and Berlin Museums, without lips, were also found in Luristan, but are of Mesopotamian manufacture. -
Western Asiatic Terracotta Beast Head
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £13
With applied eyes and mane, pricked ears, round-section nose; hollow-formed, possibly the spout from a rhyton or pitcher. 24.6 grams, 47 mm
Fair condition, chipped.
Early 1990s, London, Uk, collection. Acquired on the UK art market. From a private collection, Lancashire, UK. From the private collection of John Meredith, acquired since the 1990s; thence by descent. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Mesopotamian Bronze Javelin Head
3rd-2nd millennium B.CSold for (Inc. bp): £117
With foliate blade, rhomboidal in section, raised mid-rib, medium length stem widening at its base and forming a small discoid stop, rectangular-section tang with bent terminal. 224 grams, 46.5 cm
Acquired in the 1990s. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The specimen belongs to the category of tripartite spears with long pointed biconvex blade and single bevelled tang. They seem to be a Mesopotamian and Susian (Elamite) variant, and this type also includes decorated blades, like the spear from Tello with the inscription 'King of Kish'.
