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Lot Essay
The seven rows of stamped cuneiform on this brick read: “Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, Provisioner of Esagil and Ezida, Foremost Son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon.”
Esagil and Ezida were among the most important temples in ancient Babylon, and these bricks would have commemorated Nebuchadnezzar’s construction and restoration projects at these sites. For a list of bricks with the same inscription, see pp. 82-85 in C.B.F. Walker, Cuneiform Brick Inscriptions in the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the City of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, the City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
This lot is accompanied by a mid 19th century box and a 1857 handwritten translation by Sir Henry Rawlinson, often called the “Father of Assyriology,” who played a crucial role in deciphering cuneiform. His most significant work, Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun, published between 1846 and 1851, presented the first complete translation and analysis of the trilingual (Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian) inscription at that site in Iran. This linguistic achievement marked the beginning of Ancient Near Eastern studies as an academic discipline.
Esagil and Ezida were among the most important temples in ancient Babylon, and these bricks would have commemorated Nebuchadnezzar’s construction and restoration projects at these sites. For a list of bricks with the same inscription, see pp. 82-85 in C.B.F. Walker, Cuneiform Brick Inscriptions in the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the City of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, the City of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
This lot is accompanied by a mid 19th century box and a 1857 handwritten translation by Sir Henry Rawlinson, often called the “Father of Assyriology,” who played a crucial role in deciphering cuneiform. His most significant work, Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun, published between 1846 and 1851, presented the first complete translation and analysis of the trilingual (Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian) inscription at that site in Iran. This linguistic achievement marked the beginning of Ancient Near Eastern studies as an academic discipline.