Western Asiatic Gemstone Necklace Pendant Collection

Comprising a group of mixed beads of various forms and in a variety of mostly natural stones and materials; each pierced for stringing. 134 grams total, 5-28 mm



UK gallery, early 2000s.

Spherical hollow clay mass with the remains of impressions to the exterior and ceramic tokens inside; surface cracked. 169 grams, 61 mm



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.

This bulla envelope likely belonged to the Sumerian or Uruk culture. It is believed that there are less than 250 complete and fragmentary examples of this type of bulla envelope worldwide. This is one of only a handful of examples ever offered at auction. The bulla first emerged in Mesopotamia around 8000 B.C. The clay envelopes contain a number of pre-baked accounting tokens, which were used in commercial and stock-taking transactions. Placing the tokens inside the bulla greatly enhanced the honesty of the transaction, as the bulla would have to be broken or crushed to reveal its contents.

Recto bearing twenty-one incomplete lines of cursive Avestan text concerning a list of sheep supplied, reading: '...which from...a list for... and (?) which from the requisition...in the city...[from] Yolan: three sheep.-From Kh[...]yog: three sheep.-From [...]z: two sheep.-From Pap: three sheep.-From Nat-[...]nd: two sheep.-From Waraz-warahran:...sheep.-From Bagwye-shan: one sheep.-From Yolwyeshan: two sheep.-From Mihrbaman: one sheep.-From Bag-mareg: one sheep.-From Wind-fruman-yamsh together with Piyar-yamsh: one sheep.-From Bakh-arag:...sheep.-...-[From...]man: one sheep.-From Bib-sen: one sheep.'; verso bearing five incomplete lines of text; accompanied by a typed transcription and translation of the text, additional contextual information and bibliographic references. 3.81 grams, 19.5cm long

Fair condition.

David Lindahl, Sweden, 2001. Collection of Bruce Ferrini, USA. Central London gallery. Property of a UK collector. For UK buyers only, this item is not exportable from the UK.

The Bactrian kingdom of southern Transoxiana was only known from a handful of inscriptions, seals and coins until circa 1991, when a cache of around 150 documents was discovered in an archive belonging to the ruler of the city of Rob, dating between the 4th-8th century AD, leading to major developments in the understanding of the Bactrian language. Many of these documents were sold on the art market and collected by Dr. David Naser Khalili for his Nour Foundation.