Paleo-Akkadian Cuneiform Tablet Relating to Barley from Lugalnitazi

A hollow-formed gold finger ring with ellipsoid stepped bezel, granule to one edge for alignment, inset cabochon intaglio of a nude male gripping the edges of an arch. 7.52 grams, 24.20 mm overall, 18.16 mm internal diameter (approximate size British K, USA 5 1/4, Europe 9.95, Japan 9)



Private Swiss collection, acquired 1999. Ex Surena collection, London, UK. Private European collection.

A small copper-alloy square-section stamp seal with suspension loop; incuse design to each face: standing winged figure; vegetation with sun-disc above; standing robed female with raised hand; stag; each face with pelletted border above an below; base with bust wearing a solar crown. 13.15 grams, 25.95 mm



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

A large fired clay brick from the Wall of Babylon bearing six lines of stamped Babylonian cuneiform inscription to one face which reads: 'AG - ku -dur-ri-URU' / 'LUGAL ba-bi-lu' / 'za-ni-nu é-sag-ila' / 'u e-zi-da IBILA' / 'SAG.KAL. sa AG-IBILA-URU' / 'LUGAL ba-bi-lu ana-ku', which translates: 'Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who provides for Esagila and Ezida, the eldest son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, am I'; traces of bitumen on the blank side; accompanied by an old label which reads: 'Brick from the Wall of Babylon / Presented by W.Bro. Gentle-Cackett Secretary Bible Lands Mission / The impression records the fact that it was built by King Nebuchadnezzar [II]'. 13.6 kg, 33.5 x 33 cm



Ex Reverend Samuel W. Gentle-Cackett (1871-1943), in the 1930s. Gentle-Cackett was the secretary of the Bible Lands Missions’ Aid Society, 76 The Strand, London, WC2 (1904-1943), author of Palestine Portrayed, 1936, and Worshipful Brother of the Lodge of Sincerity 174. This brick formed part of an old collection of Masonic ephemera, and is believed to have originated from the Lodge of Sincerity 174. Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher. Accompanied by a copy of the book Palestine Portrayed, 1936, written by S.W. Gentle-Cackett. Accompanied by copies of the relevant pages from the book They Wrote on Clay, showing similar bricks in situ.

Genesis 11:3: "And they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly', and they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar." In the 1920s, Cackett read reports of Christian Armenians being orphaned as a result of attacks from Turks and in response he set up a refuge in Bedfont, where he was able to rehome 1500 children.