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LOT 0226
Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet Listing Goods Including 1 Shekel of Refined Silver from Mr Enshaga
EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 2500 B.C.
2 1/2 in. (95 grams, 64 mm).
Pillow-shaped with impressed text to both faces; accompanied by an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Clay tablet 58x64 mm. with 26 Compartments and One Column of Sumerian Cuneiform. This is oblong with rounded sides and edges. each side is divided into 3 columns, and all but the last two are filled with script. This is some kind of legal document from a Sumerian city not so far known for such texts. The first five columns list items, each with a number and followed by a compartment of a different kind. The last column, on the reverse, is different from the others in giving the name and title of an official who in some way presided over the transaction here recorded. Since it is without exact parallel, it is difficult to translate even when the text is clear (there is some surface damage and one corner is broken off). The items given start with "one donkey", and include a quantity of barley (3 gur of barley), "one shekel of refined silver," and "two iku" (acres of agricultural land) is the last item. after which the document concludes: "Mr Enshaga was their seller." Other items are followed by, apparently, personal names, but only once at the end does "was their seller" appears. More study and more similar documents are needed to clear up the problems. The last column begins clearly enough: Ege-anda, Nugig but the final line is not clear. Nugig is a title of a priestess, but only here, it seems, is such a lady a high official giving her blessing to the sale just recorded. This is a most interesting Sumerian document dating to the later early Dynastic periods, c. 2500 B.C.'
ProvenanceEx private collection of Mr S H; thence by descent,1980-1990.
Accompanied by an original typed and signed scholarly note by the late W.G. Lambert, Professor of Assyriology at the University of Birmingham, 1970-1993.
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.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0226
Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet Listing Goods Including 1 Shekel of Refined Silver from Mr Enshaga
Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,105
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Old Syrian Haematite Cylinder Seal
Early 2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £975
With frieze in three scenes: crouching gryphon with one foreleg raised above a guilloche scene-divider with a crouching ibex below; three human figures standing, the outer two wearing an ankle-length skirt with waistband, one arm bent holding a frond and, between them, a standing figure in flounced robe flanked by a squatting monkey with tail raised and a freestanding cruciform symbol; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 5.86 grams, 19 mm
From the 'S' collection, acquired 1970-1990s. The collection was seen and studied by W.G.Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology at the University of Birmingham, 1970-1993. 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. -
South Arabian Offering Table with Inscription
6th century B.C.Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £900
With three D-section stub legs and channel with pouring lip; incised Phoenician or proto-Hebrew inscription, in reverse, to the notched rim. 1.47 kg, 21 cm
Private collection, Canada, acquired by descent from the collection of the present owner’s father, formed 1965-1990. Acquired from the above by the current owner, 2020. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12842-240719. 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. -
Late Assyrian Yellow Chalcedony Cylinder Seal with Standing God
800-600 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £598
With standing divine figure and animals, restrung pair of red stone beads, old handwritten label '1605'; accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of Yellow Chalcedony with Ivory Coating in Part. 33 x 16 mm. The engraving shows a standing god dressed in a long robe open at the front, from which one leg projects, holding off on either side a winged quadruped which is facing backwards. This is typical Late Assyrian or Late Babylonian seal dating c. 800-600 B.C., engraved with a combination of cutting wheel and drill. The purpose of the scene is to display the power of the god, no doubt meant as the god of the seal owner, but there is nothing to indicate exactly which god the seal engraver had in mind. Apart from a chip off the upper edge not reaching the design, the seal is in very good state of preservation.'; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. 16.7 grams, 33 mm
UK private collection, acquired 1980-1983. Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in 1991. 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.
