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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1983.101
Title
Fragment of Cuneiform Tablet: Old Assyrian Letter
Classification
Tablets
Work Type
tablet
Date
c. 1900-1750 BCE
Period
Bronze Age, Middle
Culture
Assyrian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/289654

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Clay
Technique
Impressed
Dimensions
4.9 x 4.8 x 1 cm (1 15/16 x 1 7/8 x 3/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Nanette Rodney Kelekian, New York, formerly in the possession of her father Charles Dikran Kelekian; gift to Fogg Art Museum, 1983.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
CDLI P393100

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Nanette B. Rodney
Accession Year
1983
Object Number
1983.101
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Fragment of clay tablet with cuneiform writing. The fragment is inscribed with ruled lines of text written in the Old Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language. This fragment preserves part of the obverse of the tablet including the lower left corner and part of the left edge. The reverse surface is completely missing. There are no seal impressions preserved. The tablet probably comes from the trading colony (karum) by the mound of Kültepe (ancient Kanesh) near Kaiseri in Cappadocia (central Anatolia).

The letter is addressed to one Assur-tab from Puzur-Ishtar. The text describes the contents of a shipment of goods, mostly textiles (TUG2.HI.A: lines 6', 9', 11' and 12' (?)) but also a large quantity of some kind of metal, maybe tin or silver, placed under seal for security (lines 4'-5'). Part of the shipment, maybe 41 textiles (line 6'), was brought from Hahhum (line 8'; key stopping point on one of the main routes from Assyria to Kanesh) to Nesha (line 7'; another name for ancient Kanesh). The name of Assur-malik (line 10'), a transporter well-known from other texts, is also still preserved.

IMAGE: Middle row; tablet first on the right.

Publication History

  • Deena Ragavan, “Cuneiform Texts and Fragments in the Harvard Art Museum / Arthur M. Sackler Museum”, Cuneiform Digital Library Journal (2010), no. 6.5

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2019 - 01/08/2020; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 01/02/2022; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/02/2023 - 12/30/2023; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2024 - 01/05/2025

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu