Ca. 1900 BC
A complete Old Babylonian terracotta tablet carved in the characteristic pillow-shaped form. The tablet is inscribed on both the obverse, sides, and reverse with cuneiform script neatly organised into vertical columns. The tablet displays the cuneiform sign ‘ki’ or ‘e2’, indicative of a place or house respectively.

Cuneiform script is one of the oldest types of writing, originated in the Middle East around 3500 BC. The name comes from the shape of the marks imprinted on small clay tablets with a piece of a wedge-tipped reed. Its creation was related to the administrative and economic needs of the developing civilisation. For similar see: The British Museum, Museum Number: 1897,0510.3.
 
Provenance: From a London private collection, H.G.; formerly acquired in the early 2000s in Belgium; previously in a 1970s European collection.