WESTERN ASIATIC NEO-SUMERIAN CUNEIFORM ECONOMIC TABLET FOR KING IBBI-SIN
Ur III, dated 2026 BC
A clay pillow-shaped economic tablet (a loan of 4 5/6 shekels of silver) from an important palace archive of the Sumerian city Iri-Saĝrig, dated to 2026 BC, year 3 of King Ibbi-Sin, with cuneiform text to both broad faces and one edge: "4 5/6 shekels of silver belonging to Shu-Estar, received from Ashgi-bani(?) by Nur-Eshtar, merchant. Witness Shu-nisaba, witness Puzur-ashgi. Year Ibbi-Sin destroyed Simurrum." 35 grams, 42mm (1 3/4").
Condition
Very fine condition.
Provenance Property of a Scandinavian collector; formerly in a London, UK, collection; previously in an Adelaide, Australian collection; formed in the 1980s.
Published David I. Owen, David I. New Additions to the Iri-Saĝrig/Al-Šarrākī Archives. Libiamo ne’ lieti calici Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Lucio Milano on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday by Pupils, Colleagues and Friends, Münster 2016, pp.337-364.
Literature This text dates to the third year of King Ibbi-Sin, the last king of the Ur III. The text is particularly interesting because it deals with a large amount of silver (4 5/6 shekels = ca 40g). According to prof. David Owen the Iri-Saĝrig archive is probably the archive of governor whose office was in the local palace. The king and other members of the royal family occasionally traveled 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.