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Source Description
From a unique group of early documents recording the transfer of land (in this case one "bur'u," which is around 157 acres), this tablet illustrates the transition from a writing system based on pictures to one where signs represent sounds. The vase and foot are easily recognized but represent sounds rather than objects. In the bottom row, the two wavy lines sprouting plants is the sign for garden.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
11639
label
Protoliterate Tablet
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
9
Source metadata
id
11639
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Protoliterate Tablet
description
From a unique group of early documents recording the transfer of land (in this case one "bur'u," which is around 157 acres), this tablet illustrates the transition from a writing system based on pictures to one where signs represent sounds. The vase and foot are easily recognized but represent sounds rather than objects. In the bottom row, the two wavy lines sprouting plants is the sign for garden.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, by 1909 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931, by inheritance; Joseph Brummer, Paris and New York, 1941, by purchase [Brummer inv. no. N5009]; Walters Art Museum, 1941, by purchase.
date
ca. 3100-2900 BCE (Late Uruk; Early Dynastic I-II)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Stone
tablets
imageCount
9
pageCount
9
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
6.6
height
6.6
depth
2.3
dimensionsRaw
H: 2 5/8 x W: 2 5/8 x 7/8 in. (6.6 x 6.6 x 2.3 cm)
Source extras
cul
Mesopotamian
inscriptions
[Inscription] On obverse [For transcription
see https://cdli.ucla.edu/P005987]
med
red stone
creator_ids
4252
collection_ids
ANE
exhibition_ids
13
2507
Page inventory
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