c.18th century B.C. A ceramic pillow-shaped cuneiform tablet; accompanied by an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Old Babylonian Administrative Document.about land. This has a total of 28 lines of cuneiform on obverse and reverse and is in fair condition, some gashes and a few chips have removed a few signs, but most remain. The tablet is dated to the 42nd year of the Hammurabi, king of Babylon, c.1751 B.C. It is a list of areas of agricultural land with their borders defined and the officers named under whose administration they fell. The purpose was to ensure that this land, which belonged to the state and was used for various state purposes, was clearly regulated. It could be given to servants of the crown as remuneration, on which they would live though the freehold belonged to the crown. The hand is a Late Old Babylonian cursive, which is abbreviated and difficult to read, for which reason the following translation is only provisional: Translation / 504 iku, land under cultivation, 20 iku, not cultivated, / from the field of Ishbi.to the assigned work / field of Iddin-yatum: sustenance field with oxen, / under the supervision of Shelimatim. / 180 iku, the assigned work field of Enlil-nasir, under / the supervision of Iddin-yatum, from the Oxen Field / up to the . of Shamash. / 168.iku, the assigned work field of . under / the supervsion of Shelimatim. / District of .zinnutu / 45 iku, the assigned work field of Nabi'um-malik / 45 iku, the assigned work field of Ilum. / together. which they took from the / district of the Exorcist. / 72 iku: sustenance field with oxen: foreman: Ili-amtahar, / under the supervision of Shelimatim. / District of the Banker's. / 2240 iku: fields assigned to work for tax / 2196 iku: land under cultivation, 20 iku not cultivated, / sustenance land with oxen / Total: 5517 iku of cultivated land, 20 iku not cultivated / .. the other side on the west. / Tablet of Lu-Ninshuburka, Sin-iddin-Sin and the mayor, their colleagues. / Month: Nenegar / Year: the city wall of Kar-Shamash'. 253 grams, 10.5 cm (4 1/4 in."). Earlier 20th century collection. Alex Szolin Ancient Art, UK. Dr D.G. collection, 1990s-2019. Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note and translation by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. An iku was approximately 3500 square metres.

Fine condition.