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LOT 0186
Proto-Sumerian Pictographic Tablet for Distribution of Sheep by the Wife of E.Kisal
URUK III, CIRCA 3200-3000 B.C.
3 1/8 in. (72.3 grams, 80 mm).
Terracotta pillow-shaped tablet with grid to each broad face, each cell with an impressed image and a corresponding number of impressions from the tip of a rod, a list for the distribution of animals to the contrary reading:
Obverse:
Column 1
1. 2(N01) , U8 2 ewes
2. 3(N01) , UDUNITA~a 3 male sheep
3. 1(N01) , UD5~a 1 …-sheep
4. 4(N01) , MASZ2 |U4x1(N57)|# 4 goats day 1
5. , GAL~a SAL E~a (name?)
Column 2
1. 1(N01) , U8 1 ewe
2. 4(N01) , UDUNITA~a 4 male sheep
3.a. 5(N01) , MASZ2 5 goats
3.b1. 1(N01) , |U4x3(N57)|# GAL 1 large
3.b2. 4(N01) , |U4x1(N57)|# TUR 1 small
4. , |SZE~a.NAM2| …
Reverse:
Column 1
1. 1(N14) , SAL E~a [...] 1 …
2. 1(N14)# [...] 1 …
Column 2
1. 3(N01) , U8 (total) 3 ewes
2. 7(N01) , UDUNITA~a (total) 7 male sheep
3. 9(N01) , MASZ2 (total) 9 goats
4. 1(N01) , UD5~a (total) 1 …-sheep
Column 3
1. , |SIxKU~b1| 2(N14) , BA MASZ GAN2 SAL E~a KISAL~b1
(interpretation: distributed in the SI.KU settlement, the wife of E.KISAL being responsible).
From specialised collection of cuneiform texts, formed in the 1950s-1990s.
The property of a London gentleman and housed in London, 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 1990s.
The collection is exceptional for the variety of types, including some very rare and well preserved examples.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12117-215351.
Salvatore Monaco, Archaic Cuneiform Tablets from Private Collections, CUSAS 31, p. 97, no. 74 (CDLI 464160).
LiteratureCf. for a similar example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no.1988.433.3.
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LOT 0186
Proto-Sumerian Pictographic Tablet for Distribution of Sheep by the Wife of E.Kisal
Sold for (Inc. bp): £10,400
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Syro-Hittite Bronze Figure of a Man
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
Modelled in the round as a standing figure with pinched facial features and hollowed-out eyes, arms held out. 15.58 grams, 54 mm
UK private collection before 2000. On the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman. -
Western Asiatic Stone Weight Collection
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From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent. -
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From an important North London collection formed in the late 1980s. From a collection acquired from various auction houses in the UK. From the estate of Mr R.W., a private Wiltshire, UK, collector; thence by descent.