Western Asiatic Basalt Tablet with Cuneiform Inscription

2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.

12 3/4 in. (7.85 kg, 32.6 cm).

Architectural fragment with rectangular band to one edge, carved decorative detailing with inscription.

Provenance

Private collection, Europe, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1980s.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12521-231989.

Literature

See similar inscriptions in basalt in Lauinger, J., Batiuk S., ‘A stele of Sargon II at Tell Tayinat’ in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, 2015; 105(1), pp.54-68.

Footnotes

Amid the many architectural, sculptural, and textual riches of Assyria and Mesopotamia, the broken pieces of basalt bearing fragmentary cuneiform inscriptions have received little attention, but are of fundamental importance. Despite being quite fragmentary, these broken pieces of basalt are the remains of an important witness to the Assyrian imperial presence in the Near East.

CONDITION

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Academically Important

LOT 1254