Details

LOT 0627

Western Asiatic Sumerian King Ibbi-Sin Royal Messenger Tablet

URIII, DATED TO 2027 BC

3 1/4" (95 grams, 80mm.).

A clay pillow-shaped messenger tablet from an important palace archive of the Sumerian city Iri-Saĝrig, dated to 2027 BC, with cuneiform text on both sides: "1 roasted mutton, 5 sila soup Ur-suen, chancellor’s assistant when he came for Nana’s barley; 3 sila soup, 2 fish Laqipum, cup bearer, royal messenger when he went for royal offerings; 3 sila soup, 2 fish Nur-suen, cup bearer, royal messenger; 3 sila soup, 2 fish Nur-ili, cup bearer, royal messenger when they brought the female servant(s) as booty from the palace as a votive gift of Ninhursag; 1 sila soup, 1 fish Azabani, royal messenger when he came from Der to the king’s place; 1 sila soup, 1 fish Su-ú-ú, royal messenger when he came from Der to the king’s place; 2 sila soup, 2 fish Šugatum, royal messenger when he came to capture fugitive soldier-workers, servants of Ninhursag; 2 sila soup, 2 fish Dada, secretary, royal messenger when he came for the ’secretary’ of the litigants; 2 sila soup, 1 fish Pululu, equerry when he went for the sikum-mules; a disbursement for the month Nigenlila, 28th day."

Provenance

Property of a Scandinavian collector; formerly in a London, UK, collection: formed in the 1980s.

Published

See Owen, David I. Cuneiform Texts Primarily from Iri-Saĝrig / Āl-Šarrākī and the History of the Ur III Period, CDL Press, 2013, pp.366-67, text no.823; accompanied by copies of the relevant pages.

Footnotes

This text dates to the second year of King Ibbi-Sin, the last king of the Ur III. The text is particularly unique because almost each of the named messengers is followed by a description of his mission, e.g. "Nu-ur-ili, cup bearer, royal messenger when they brought the female servant(s) as booty from the palace as a votive gift of Ninhursag." The tablet records rations of food and drink distributed by the government to royal messengers. According to Prof. David Owen the Iri-Saĝrig archive is probably the archive of the governor whose office was in the local palace. The king and other members of the royal family occasionally travelled to Iri-Saĝrig, perhaps on their way to or from Nippur or other towns. No town in Sumer was visited more often by the king than Iri-Saĝrig. This may explain the presence of so many royal functionaries associated with the town.

CONDITION