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LOT 0168
Neo-Babylonian Cuneiform Administrative Tablet from the Reign of Artaxerxes I, Achaemenid King of Persia
465-424 B.C.
2 5/8 in. (114 grams, 67 mm wide).
A pillow-shaped administrative clay tablet bearing cuneiform text to both principal faces, relating to a barley debt; Aramaic graffiti to one edge.
ProvenanceSpecialised 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.
Cf. The Metropolitan Museum, New York, 86.11.163, for similar.
FootnotesThe 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.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0168
Neo-Babylonian Cuneiform Administrative Tablet from the Reign of Artaxerxes I, Achaemenid King of Persia
Sold for (Inc. bp): £910
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Western Asiatic Gold Pendant with Turquoise
Late 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £156
A gold pendant composed of a central gold stem with loop finial and coiled sleeves, a coral bead between two filigree beads with granules between plain bands, triangular turquoise pendant. 1.54 grams, 33 mm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Western Asiatic Plaque with Seated Figure
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £195
A clay plaque fragment displaying a stylised incised tree of life and a figure seated right, depicted with pinched head, recessed eye and outstretched arms. 123 grams, 10 cm
Acquired early 1990s. Ex private American collection; thence by descent. Private collection since 1998. -
Syro-Hittite Terracotta Horse and Rider Figure
1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £800 - 1,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £444
A ceramic horse and rider figure modelled in the round, standing facing, the animal's ears pricked, simple recessed eyes, tail hanging between hindlegs, the rider riding bare-back, gripping the horse's mane at the base of the neck, his legs gripping its sides, wearing a textured garment hanging from the left shoulder, pinched face featuring large circular eyes and strong furrowed brow; one arm absent; repaired; mounted on a custom-made display base. 354 grams total, 14.2 cm high including stand
Collection of a deceased London gentleman, 1979-1999, by descent. Accompanied by a copy of thermoluminescence analysis report no.N122k30 from Oxford Authentication.
