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LOT 0866
Ur III Cuneiform Tablet Fragment, an Inventory of Linen and Metal Artifacts
LATE 3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.
2 1/4 in. (21.9 grams, 56 mm).
A fragment of a ceramic pillow-shaped tablet with impressed cuneiform text to both broad faces, an inventory of linen and metal artifacts, including a bronze masatum. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx UK art market, 1970s.
Property of a London gentleman.
Cf. The Oriental Institute Museum, Woods, C. ed., Visible language: inventions of writing in the ancient middle east and beyond, University of Chicago, 2010, p.68, for type.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0866
Ur III Cuneiform Tablet Fragment, an Inventory of Linen and Metal Artifacts
Sold for (Inc. bp): £64
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Framed Indo-Persian Watercolour Manuscript Leaf
20th century A.D.Estimate: £80 - 100 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £40
A manuscript leaf with a painted scene composed of six men wearing turbans, seated in a landscape, text above and below; 17 rows of text to the reverse; mounted in a bifacial reveal and a glazed wooden frame. 1.5 kg, 41.5 x 30.7 cm
Fine condition.
Acquired on the UK art market, 1980s-1990s. The Woodbridge collection of Indo-Persian art. -
Amlash Ring Collection
Circa 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £130
A group of four copper-alloy finger rings displaying geometric designs. 36.1 grams total, 22-26 mm
Early 1990s London collection. Acquired on the UK art market. From a private collection, Lancashire, UK. -
Old Babylonian Cuneiform Letter from King Illuni to Inzuršakšu King of Niqqum About Being Attacked by the Elamites
Circa 1730-1720 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £5,200
A rectangular bifacial clay tablet bearing cuneiform text to both principal faces and two side edges; a letter from Iluni, king of Ešnunna, to Inzuršakšu, king of Niqqum; Iluni answered to a letter from his ally who accused him of not having respected their agreements by not sending him an army as he had asked in a letter; he says he is attacked by the Elamites (neighbors of Niqqum), Iluni defends himself and considers that it is on the contrary Inzuršakšu who is in his wrong, he accuses him indeed not only of being the aggressor, but also of wanting to push him to enter in conflict with the Elamites, whom he was indeed himself a vassal, an incomplete draft of this letter was already known; excerpts: 'About the Elamite troop which rose against my country I had written to you to send me a reinforcement troop but you did not send me any troop. You have therefore violated your divine oath (...). This is what you have just written to me. It is you who have just violated your divine oath! Now you are willing to do bad things to this country and you want me to be angry with the Elamites. (...)' 179 grams, 94 mm wide
Specialised 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.
A draft of this message was already known but the present one gives a more complete version.
