REIGN OF KING WARD-SIN OF LARSA, 1834-1823 B.C.

Details

AN OLD BABYLONIAN LIMESTONE CYLINDER
REIGN OF KING WARD-SIN OF LARSA, 1834-1823 B.C.
Cylindrical in form, with twenty lines of Sumerian cuneiform in two columns, recording a dedication to the Temple of Inanna Zabala, reading: "For the goddess Inanna of Zabala, my lady, (I) Warad-Sin, king of Larsa, for my life and the life of Kuduk-mabuk, the father who bore me, built for her the shining gigunu (a high sacred terrace), her residence of valor. I raised its head more than a lofty mountain. May she rejoice at my deeds and grant to me as a gift a life of long days"
5 7/16 in. (13.8 cm.) long

Provenance

with Elias S. David (1891-1969), New York; thence by descent.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

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Lot Essay

The form of this limestone cylinder is unusual. Most Mesopotamian examples are barrel-shaped and made of clay. This small limestone example is in the shape of a geometric cylinder, with parallel sides and flat ends. It is a twin to another cylinder in the British Museum, no. 91085. There are two other known examples with the same inscription, one on a stone tablet in a private collection and another also on another stone tablet, once offered by Elias S. David to the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, possibly to be identified as the example presented here (see D. Frayne, Early Old Babylonian Period, 2003--1595 B.C. 4 RIM.4.2.13.11.1).

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