Large Proto-Sumerian Terracotta Cuneiform Tablet

拍品描述

4th-3rd millennium B.C. Pillow-shaped with incised grid to the broad faces, dense cuneiform text in the columns with impressed pellet numerals. Cf. Monaco, S., Archaic Cuneiform Tablets from Private Collections, CUSAS 31, Cornell, 2016, for other comparable tablets. 236 grams, 89 mm (3 1/2 in.). (For this specific lot, 5% import VAT is applicable on the hammer price.) Private collection, acquired in the late 1980s-early 1990s; thence by descent. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13179-249318. Various collections of cuneiform tablets form a corpus of texts mainly of an administrative nature, from the Uruk III and Ur III periods. The proto-cuneiform, as a system of proto-writing, emerged in Mesopotamia ca.3500-3200 BC, during the Uruk period. TimeLine Auctions follows a rigorous vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists. See our website for more information.

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