Outlet A-she-er gi-ta, balag to Innin/Ishtar ca. 2nd–1st century B.C. Seleucid or Parthian - Replica Ancient Clay Cuneiform Tablet
WARNING: The tablets are made with white clay. It is then painted with acrylic paint. For this reason, there may outlet be letter, tone and texture differences. The photos are of the original pieces in the museum. Please consider this when shopping. In addition, cargo numbers are entered into the system after passing through customs. Due to unforeseen reasons, the shipping time may be extended. The responsibility for this issue belongs to the cargo company.
This cuneiform tablet records part of a balag, a song of lament that accompanied a stringed instrument. The text is typical of the Seleucid period, where the words are written in Sumerian but with a large number of lines accompanied by an Akkadian translation. Sumerian was the language spoken in southern Mesopotamia until around 2000 B.C., while Akkadian had probably ceased to be a spoken language by the time this tablet was written, having been replaced by Aramaic and Greek throughout much of the Near East. However, both Sumerian and Akkadian continued to be written in cuneiform until the early centuries A.D. by learned scribes.
This tablet contains a lament by Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of fertility, over the destruction of her cities and shrines, and contrasts her present humiliation with her previous power. There are parallels with well-known myths dating from the late third and second millennia B.C.—such as the Sumerian version of the myth of Inanna's descent to the netherworld—demonstrating the very longlived literary tradition maintained by the temple scribes of Mesopotamia.
Title: Cuneiform tablet: a-she-er gi-ta, balag to Innin/Ishtar
Period: Seleucid or Parthian
Date: ca. 2nd–1st century B.C.
Geography: Mesopotamia, probably from Babylon (modern Hillah)
Culture: Seleucid or Parthian
Medium: Clay
Dimensions: 3 7/8 x 3 1/4 x 1 in. (10 x 8.3 x 2.4 cm)
Credit Line: Purchase, 1886
Accession Number: 86.11.286a
NewEduba