Ex Edgar Banks, UK, gifted in the 1920's. Edgar James Banks (May 23, 1866 - May 5, 1945). American diplomat, antiquarian and novelist. Banks was an antiquities enthusiast and entrepreneurial roving archaeologist in the closing days of the Ottoman Empire, who has been held up as an original for the fictional composite figure of Indiana Jones. Starting from his position as American consul in Baghdad in 1898, Banks bought hundreds of cuneiform tablets on the market in the closing days of the Ottoman Empire and re-sold them in small batches to museums, libraries, universities, and theological seminaries, several in Utah and the American Southwest and across the United States. These tablets had been dug up by locals at sites like Telloh and the many other tells of central Mesopotamia. Banks purchased many more cuneiform inscriptions from a dealer in Istanbul. The Ottoman government did not regulate the trade in such minor antiquities. Though he had been funded for an expedition to the site of Ur, Banks was foiled by the Ottoman administration, who would not permit digs at Babylon or Tell Ibrahim, other prominent sites. In 1903 it was decided that his excavations were to be at Bismya, the site of ancient Adab, in Iraq. His 1912 publication about his excavations at Bismya/Bismaya (Adab), the Sumerian city now in Iraq, contains some lively accounts of his struggles with the Ottoman bureaucracy In 1909 Banks became a professor of Oriental languages and archaeology at the University of Toledo.[1] After World War I, Banks travelled and lectured extensively, scattering his cuneiform tablets among purchasers wherever he went. Tablets Banks sold to Charles W. Ames are now in the Science Museum at the University of Minnesota and many other private and public sites in the U.S."

&P464227 = Falk 001\\

The object has been entered in the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative database as P464227.[^Bob Englund, private communication, 18 March 2013.^]

Obtained at auction, the auction description given is as follows:[^ Ancient Resource LLC, Montrose, CA 91021, Lot 174B, 28 September 2013^]  (Note that the dating of the tag has been subsequently identified as being earlier than that provisionally given in the auction description.)

A preliminary partial translation has been generously provided by Dr Robert Englund, principal investigator at the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative at  the University of California at Los Angeles.  Dr Englund notes that this is a tag receipt for 1 ewe and 1 ram, fallen (ri-ri-ga), possibly from mar(dumu)-ihur (but this needs confirmatory translation by an expert on Old Babylonian administrative script). It is "a very nice catch" because the tag was originally on a string, and because the seal indicates the receiving party was important being almost certainly dedicated to King Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (… / lugal kal-ga / x i3-si-in). Given this, the tag is from the “middle chronology” with the text thus dated to 1934-1924 BC.

Obtained at auction, the auction description given is as follows:[^ Ancient Resource LLC, Montrose, CA 91021, Lot 174B, 28 September 2013^]

"An Old Babylonian cuneiform tag, c. 1894 - 1595 BC [sic], used as a label for sheep carcasses. Nicely preserved with well-incised text on either side and cylinder seal roll-outs containing text on the back and the sides. 2" x 1 3/8" (5.1 x 3.5 cm). Intact with light deposits.

A preliminary partial translation has been generously provided by Dr Robert Englund, principal investigator at the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative at  the University of California at Los Angeles.  Dr Englund notes that this is a tag receipt for 1 ewe and 1 ram, fallen (ri-ri-ga), from mar(dumu)-ihur (maybe; but needs translation by an expert on Old Babylonian administrative script). It is "a very nice catch" because the tag was originally on a string, and because the seal indicates the receiving party was important, since the seal legend was almost certainly dedicated to King Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (… / lugal kal-ga / x i3-si-in). Given this, the tag is from according to the “middle chronology”,  the text to be dated to 1934-1924 BC.

Dr Englund notes that the provision for the string in this tag is interesting because as a general rule such strings went  in once, were tied in the middle, and came out twice. This tag  (and some others) has just one hole through it. As these tags were “hung”, this  may help indicate whether scribes were still writing and reading top to bottom, as some (including Dr Englund) think, rather than left to right.

The clay tablet (or in this case tag) in this collection is about 3,500 years old,  from the early Babylonian civilisation (~1894 BC-~1595BC), and displays cuneiform characters for both numbers and the alphabet.

"An Old Babylonian cuneiform tag, c. 1894 - 1595 BC, used as a label for sheep carcasses. Nicely preserved with well-incised text on either side and cylinder seal roll-outs containing text on the back and the sides. 2" x 1 3/8" (5.1 x 3.5 cm). Intact with light deposits.

The object has been entered in the Digital Library Initiative database as P464227.[^Bob Englund, private communication, 18 March 2013.^]

The formal transliteration of the tag for the database (with control characters) by Dr Englund is:

The formal transliteration of the tag for the database (with control characters omitted) by Dr Englund is:
P464227 = Falk 001
atf: lang sux
object tag
obverse
1. 1(disz) u8 1(disz) udu-nita2
2. ri-ri-ga
3. ki dumu-i-hu-ur
uncertain
reverse
blank space
seal impression
1. iti sig4-a
2. mu inim {d}en-lil2 x
uncertain
seal 1
@column 1
1. {d}li-pi2-it-esz18-dar
2. lugal kal-ga
3. lugal i3-si-in{ki}
4. [...]
@column 2
1. lu2-{d}x-x-x
2. dub-sar
3. dumu x-x-x
4. [ARAD2-zu]

The formal transliteration of the tag by Dr Englund is:
&P464227 = Falk 001
#atf: lang sux
@object tag
@obverse

# uncertain
@reverse
$ blank space
# seal impression

# uncertain
@seal 1

(:title Old Babylonian cuneiform tag, 1934-1924 BC BC:)

(:title Old Babylonian cuneiform tag, ~1894 BC - ~1595 BC:)

A preliminary partial translation has been generously provided by Dr Robert Englund, principal investigator at the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative at  the University of California at Los Angeles.  Dr Englund notes that this is a tag receipt for 1 ewe and 1 ram, fallen (ri-ri-ga), from mar(dumu)-ihur (maybe; but needs translation by an expert on Old Babylonian administrative script). It is "a very nice catch" because the tag was originally on a string, and because the seal indicates the receiving party was important, since the seal legend was dedicated to a king, perhaps of Isin (… / lugal kal-ga / x i3-si-in). Dr Englund stresses that this reading should be confirmed by an expert on this particular script.

(:title Old Babylonian cuneiform tag, ~1894 BCE - ~1595 BCE:)

The Sumerian civilisation was the source of cuneiform script, the earliest known alphabetic writing system arising in the period prior to 3,500 BCE in the fertile plain of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The characters were shaped in a manner suitable to the medium being impressed on clay using wooden "stamps".  The number system developed within this script was based on powers of sixty rather than powers of ten as in contemporary systems. Even so, these ‘sexagesimal’ numbers were constructed with patterns corresponding to the numbers from 1 to 10. During the period of Akkadian rule, which lasted to 2100 BCE, the abacus entered Sumerian life creating a further extension to the capacity to form basic arithmetic operations. The Babylonian civilisation replaced that of the Sumerians around 2000 BCE.

The clay tablet (or in this case tag) in this collection is about 3,500 years old,  from the early Babylonian civilisation (~1894 BCE-~1595BCE), and displays cuneiform characters for both numbers and the alphabet.

A preliminary partial translation has been generously provided by Dr Robert Englund, principal investigator at the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative at  the University of California at Los Angeles.  Dr Englund notes that this is a tag receipt for 1 ewe and 1 ram, fallen (ri-ri-ga), from mar(dumu)-ihur (maybe; but needs translation by an expert on Old Babylonian administrative script). It is "a very nice catch" because the tag was originally on a string, and because the seal indicates the receiving party was important, since the seal legend was dedicated to a king, perhaps of Isin (… / lugal kal-ga / x i3-si-in). Dr Englund stresses that this reading should be confirmed by an expert on this particular script. The object has been entered in the Digital Library Initiative database as P464227.[^Bob Englund, private communication, 18 March 2013.^]

The clay tablet (or in this case tag) in this collection is about 3,500 years old,  from the early Babylonian civilisation (~1894 BCE-~1595BCE), and displays cuneiform characters for both numbers (the character for 1 is visible top centre) and the alphabet.

A preliminary partial translation has been generously provided by Dr Robert Englund, principal investigator at the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative at  the University of California at Los Angeles.  Dr Englund notes that this is a tag receipt for 1 ewe and 1 ram, fallen (ri-ri-ga), from mar(dumu)-ihur (maybe; but needs translation by an expert on Old Babylonian administrative script). It is "a very nice catch" because the tag was originally on a string, and because the seal indicates the receiving party was important, since the seal legend was dedicated to a king, perhaps of Isin (… / lugal kal-ga / x i3-si-in). Dr Englund stresses that this reading should be confirmed by an expert on this particular script.[^Bob Englund, private communication, 18 March 2013.^]

I’ll enter it to CDLI (P464227) but keep it offline until I hear from one of you it is okay to make it public.



Obtained at auction, the description given is as follows:[^ Ancient Resource LLC, Montrose, CA 91021, Lot 174B, 28 September 2013^]

The clay tablet (or in this case tag) in this collection is about 3,500 years old,  from the early Babylonian civilisation (~1894 BCE-~1595BCE), and appears to display cuneiform characters for both numbers (the character for 1 is visible top centre) and the alphabet.  Obtained at auction, the description given is as follows:[^ Ancient Resource LLC, Montrose, CA 91021, Lot 174B, 28 September 2013^]

The Sumerian civilisation was the source of cuneiform script, the earliest known alphabetic writing system arising in the period prior to 3,500 BCE in the fertile plain of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The number system developed within this script was based on powers of sixty rather than powers of ten as in contemporary systems. Even so, these ‘sexagesimal’ numbers were constructed with patterns corresponding to the numbers from 1 to 10. During the period of Akkadian rule, which lasted to 2100 BCE, the abacus entered Sumerian life creating a further extension to the capacity to form basic arithmetic operations. The Babylonian civilisation replaced that of the Sumerians around 2000 BCE.

The clay tablet (or in this case tag) in this collection is about 3,500 years old,  from the early Babylonian civilisation (~1894 BCE-~1595BCE), and appears to display cuneiform characters for both numbers (the character for 1 is visible top centre) and the alphabet.  Obtained at auction, the description given is as follows:[^ Ancient Resource, Lot 174B, 28 September 2013^]

The clay tablet (or in this case tag) in this collection is from the early Babylonian civilisation (~1894-~1595BCE) and appears to display cuneiform characters for both numbers (the character for 1 is visible top centre) and the alphabet.  Obtained from Ancient Resource auction, Lot 174B, 28 September 2013, the description given is as follows:

Ex Edgar Banks, UK, gifted in the 1920's. Edgar James Banks (May 23, 1866 - May 5, 1945). American diplomat, antiquarian and novelist. Banks was an antiquities enthusiast and entrepreneurial roving archaeologist in the closing days of the Ottoman Empire, who has been held up as an original for the fictional composite figure of Indiana Jones. Starting from his position as American consul in Baghdad in 1898, Banks bought hundreds of cuneiform tablets on the market in the closing days of the Ottoman Empire and re-sold them in small batches to museums, libraries, universities, and theological seminaries, several in Utah and the American Southwest and across the United States. These tablets had been dug up by locals at sites like Telloh and the many other tells of central Mesopotamia. Banks purchased many more cuneiform inscriptions from a dealer in Istanbul. The Ottoman government did not regulate the trade in such minor antiquities. Though he had been funded for an expedition to the site of Ur, Banks was foiled by the Ottoman administration, who would not permit digs at Babylon or Tell Ibrahim, other prominent sites. In 1903 it was decided that his excavations were to be at Bismya, the site of ancient Adab, in Iraq. His 1912 publication about his excavations at Bismya/Bismaya (Adab), the Sumerian city now in Iraq, contains some lively accounts of his struggles with the Ottoman bureaucracy In 1909 Banks became a professor of Oriental languages and archaeology at the University of Toledo.[1] After World War I, Banks travelled and lectured extensively, scattering his cuneiform tablets among purchasers wherever he went. Tablets Banks sold to Charles W. Ames are now in the Science Museum at the University of Minnesota and many other private and public sites in the U.S."

%center% http://meta-studies.net/pmwiki/uploads/Tag1.jpg


%center% http://meta-studies.net/pmwiki/uploads/Tag2.jpg

%center% http://meta-studies.net/pmwiki/uploads/Tag3.jpg

%center% http://meta-studies.net/pmwiki/uploads/Tag1.jpg

(:title Old Babylonian cuneiform tag, ~1894 - ~1595 BCE:)