Cuneiform writing emerged from the practice of marking clay tokens to record economic transactions which became more numerous and complicated with the growth of early civilizations in the Near East. Eventually tokens were replaced with tablets in various forms which were marked with pictographs and later (ca. 2800 B.C.) with formalized abstract writing known as cuneiform is dreived from the Latin for wedge shaped, and came into use in the late 18th Century when European scholars rediscovered the inscriptions and began attempting to translate them. During the 3000 years of use, cuneiform writing recorded at least 15 different languages, including Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian. The latest inscription dates to 75 AD. Cuneiform was succeeded by Aramaic script, which in turn, was replaced by Arabic in the 7th Century. This is a document, written in Babylonian cuneiform, on baked clay tablet from Southern Mesopotamia. These tablets contains very unusual text which appears to have no obvious precedent. It pertains to quantities of an unspecified commodity measured by volume. These quantities are linked with various cities via names individuals. The fact that the tablets were baked suggests that the information on it was of some importance, possibly a record of taxes from Umma, an administrative center situated between the cities listed. Each apprx 1-1/8" x 7/8".
300/600 Sold $379.50
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