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LOT 0854
Old Babylonian Cassite Clay Cuneiform Letter
CIRCA 1600-1200 B.C.
2 in. (50.6 grams, 49 mm).
Written on two faces of the tablet; lentoid cross-section; accompanied by a handwritten and signed scholarly note issued by the late W.G. Lambert, Professor of Assyriology at the University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: '3 Cassite Babylonian letters, 1600-1200 B.C.'
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.
Accompanied by a hand written note signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert.
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AUCTIONS:
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Southern Mesopotamian Ceramic Mother Goddess Figure
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £585
The figure with two pierced ears and painted face detailing, neck ornamentation and arm bangles, continuing to the reverse; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 61 grams total, 13 cm high including stand
Ex UK collection formed in the 1980s. Acquired on the London art market. Accompanied by an Artemission, London SW5, certificate of authenticity.
Terracotta was a favoured material for the production of idols in the ancient Near East, the idols themselves representing deities, particularly goddesses that were connected to fertility. Such idols could even represent worshippers themselves. The Neo-Hittite civilisation, also known as the 'Syro-Hittite' civilisation, existed during the Iron Age in the areas that are now modern day northern Syria and Southern Anatolia. The Hittite empire collapsed around the 12th century B.C., an event which was proceeded by the decline of the Eastern Mediterranean trade networks, together with the fall of the major late Bronze Age cities in the Levant, Anatolia, and the Aegean. -
Chalcolithic Fertility Idol
3rd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Modelled at a highly stylised seated female figure with stub legs and outstretched stub arms, triangular head with simple facial features, conical breasts, buttocks and spine delineated with simple lines to rear. 169 grams, 92 mm high
From the collection of a deceased London gentleman, 1979-1999; thence by descent. -
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Western Asiatic Limestone Shekel Weight Collection
Iron Age III, 9th-7th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
A number bearing incised inscriptions; the set graduated in size, each weight with a domed profile; one with two old collection stickers to base. 96 grams total, 15-34 mm
Property of a North London gentleman.
Judean scale weights were primarily used to weigh amounts of silver, often in the form of hack silver. Modern scholarship has deduced that Judean weights were base on a standard of 11.4 grams to the shekel.
