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1892.26.2.2

Painted plaster cast copy of a case tablet.

On display

1892.26.2.2

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Painted plaster cast copy of a case tablet.
Long description
Painted plaster cast copy of a case tablet with impressed inscriptions in cuneiform.
Geographical reference
Iraq
Asia > Western Asia > Iraq
Person
PRM source Cuthbert Edgar Peek
Date / Period
Date made: 2175-2140 BC Archaeological period: Babylonian
Date collected
Before 1892
Acquisition information
Donated: 1892
Materials and processes
Material Plaster, Material Pigment, Material Clay, Process Inscribed, Process Cast, Process Impressed
Dimensions
Length: max 77 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1892.26.2.2 Other numbers: 14
Research and responses

Babylonian Bab- ilu, Old Babylonian Bab- ilim, Hebrew Bavel, or Babel, Arabic Atlal Babil, one of the most famous cities of antiquity. It was the capital of southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia) from the early 2nd millennium to the early 1st millennium BC and capital of the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) Empire in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, when it was at the height of its splendour. Its extensive ruins on the Euphrates River about 55 miles (88 kilometres) south of Baghdad lie near the modern town of al-Hillah, Iraq. [Encyclopaedia Britannica on line] [AP 24/3/2000]

Cuthbert Edgar Peek's father, Henry William Peek collected and researched Babylonian tablets. He wrote a book published in 1899 entitled "Inscribed Babylonian Tablets In The Possession of Sir Henry Peek translated and explained by Theo. G. Pinches. " Our object is a plaster cast of tablet No. 14, discussed in the book. According to Peek the text of tablet 14 discusses the sale of land. A full transcription is provided in the book [copy in Related Documents File] [SM (Verve) 29/9/2016]

Associated publications
The original case tablet that our object is a plaster cast of was published by Sir Henry Peek in 1899 "Inscribed Babylonian Tablets In The Possession of Sir Henry Peek translated and explained by Theo. G. Pinches. " A copy of pages 59-65 and two unnumbered pages that refer to case tablet 14 are stored in the Related Documents File. [SM (Verve) 29/9/2016]

Search terms: Reproduction, Writing, Cast, Inscription, Document

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