Front Tablet 7, Date: Ur III, Šu-Suen 1/I/22, Location: Puzriš-Dagan, Translation: An administrator receives small numbers of sheep and goats destined for various senior officials.
Babylonian Cylinder Seal, Date: 1700 BCE, Excavated at Amlash, Mesopotamia.
Part of The History of the Written Word.
The Cuneiform Tablets Collection (MSS 2016-002) consists of twenty-five clay tablets with text in cuneiform script. The content of the tablets is primarily related to agriculture and commerce; they are essentially temple records and business documents dating from over 4000 years ago. The collection was sold to Florida State College for Women in 1922 by Edgar J. Banks.
Dates
The tablets range in date from 2350 to 1788 BCE. The collection contains nineteen tablets from the Third Dynasty of Ur, mostly from Umma; five from the Old Babylonian period, including two inscriptions of Sînkæšid; and one illegible neo-Babylonian tablet (Robson & Clark, 2009).
Language
Sumerian
Geographic source
Known geographical sources of the tablets include the Sumerian cities of Umma, Puzris-Dagan, Girsu, and Uruk.
Special Collections & Archives has one of 12 editions of The History of the Written Word, a portfolio consisting of original leaves removed from rare books and manuscripts. A Babylonian clay tablet and cylinder seal with wax impression are the earliest examples of text included in the portfolio.
Visit SCA Online
Special Collections & Archives Website
FSU Library Catalog
Filter results for SCA by selecting "Library > FSU Special Collections and Archives"
Visit SCA In-Person
SCA Research Center
110 Strozier Library, Main Floor
(850) 644-3271
Claude Pepper Library
Claude Pepper Center, 636 W Call St
(850) 644-9217
© Florida State University Libraries | 116 Honors Way | Tallahassee, FL 32306 | (850) 644-2706