This is a guest post by Leah Knobel, a public affairs specialist in the Office of Communications.
Perhaps the oldest pieces in the Library’s collection of 171 million items are a group of clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia that date to the dawn of civilization.
The tablets contain an ancient writing system known as cuneiform developed by the Sumerians, who thrived during the third millennium B.C. Sumerians influenced culture and development beyond their original home in Mesopotamia (present-day southern Iraq) — the site of the world’s earliest civilization.
The materials used to create cuneiform — clay and reeds — were both readily available in this region at the time. Initially, cuneiform signs were pictograms but later became based on symbols, causing some ambiguity in their interpretation.
The Library acquired this collection of cuneiform materials in 1929 from art dealer Kirkor Minassian. The items were part of Minassian’s collection of Islamic book-bindings, manuscripts, textiles and ceramic and metal objects that demonstrate the development of writing and book art in the Middle East.
The oldest tablets in the collection date from the reign of Gudea of Lagash, from 2144–2124 B.C. That makes them more than 4,200 years old.
The tablets’ contents are diverse. Several contain inscriptions pertaining to the receipt of and payment for goods and services, while others appear to have served as school exercise tablets, used by scribes learning the cuneiform writing system. These latter tablets were originally unfired, as they were meant to be erased and reused; the account records, on the other hand, were fired and stored for future reference.
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Comments (6)
Civilization didn’t just start in one place. Mesopotamia was just one of several river valleys where it developed. Indus River.Nile River. Yellow River. Not just Tigris and Euphrates.
Thanks. Very interesting.
If this collection is specifically from 4200 bce, then there can’t be Islamic book bindings in it. There was no Islam until almost 5000 years later. Actually, there can’t be anyone’s book bindings in it, as books weren’t invented yet.
For a researcher and librarian – you are quite inadequate. I am not comfortable with you overseeing our public archivea, nor mentoring or teaching others. I am also dissatisfied that a librarian archive blog editor did not catch that error.
Hi there,
Thanks for writing. The article says the tablets are part of a collection of items that “demonstrate the development of writing and book art in the Middle East.” Cuneiform tablets are one subset of that collection, Islamic book bindings are another, and so on.
Cheers,
Neely
Thanks for the piece. Fascinating to know that ‘school exercise tablets’ have survived for 4000 years. Randomness of history is quite something.
The “Islamic bindings” also tell us about the manner that it was stored, with leather that wrapped completely around it, starting with a front cover that continued to a back side panel, then continued to a front panel, forward side panel, and then a flap on the back so that leather protected it al the way around. This could then be wrapped in cordage and possibly with a clasp to keep it closed for storage to protect it. Like paper, ancient clay tablets also needs protection.