Cuneiform tablet impressed with cylinder seal: receipt of goats
Unknown Artist
ca. 2040 BCE
Medium
Clay
Dimensions
4.1 x 3.7 x 1.6 cm (1 5/8 x 1 1/2 x 5/8 in.)
Classification
Clay-Tablets-Inscribed-Seal Impressions
Culture & Period
Neo-Sumerian · Ur III
Department
Ancient Near Eastern Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Henry E. Coe, 1957
Accession Number
57.16.3
Art Historical Context
Step back over 4,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia with this unassuming yet extraordinary clay tablet from the-Sumerian Ur III period, around 2040 BCE. just 4.1 x 3.7 x 1.6 cm, this small artifact from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Ancient Near Eastern collection records a simple yet vital transaction: a receipt for goats. Inscribed with cuneiform script—the world's earliest writing system—and impressed with cylinder seal, it exemplifies the bureaucratic precision of one of history's first great empires. Cylinder seals were a hallmark of Mesopotamian artistry and administration. Artisans carv...