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Foundation Tablet

Babylonian (Artist)
1785-1778 BCE (Old Babylonian)
limestone
(Ancient Near East )

This tablet is plano-convex, with a cuneiform inscription of Sin-iddinam on two faces.

Inscription

[Translation] on obverse: (For) Utu, / lord of justice of heaven and earth, / learned in decision, / the one who choses in favor of innocence, / the king of Ebabbar, / his king, / Sin-iddinam, / the shepherd who decorates everything / for Nippur, / the provider of Ur, / king of Larsa, / king of Sumer and Akkad, / the Ebabbar, / his beloved house,; [Translation] On reverse: for the sake of his life, / he built (it) / For abundant distant days / he enlarged that dwelling place. / With the thing that he (Sin-iddinam) has done, / (may) Utu, / rejoice. / A life of sweet things / (and) bright days / as a reward, / may he (Utu) give to him (Sin-iddinam).

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931, by inheritance; Joseph Brummer, Paris and New York, 1941, by purchase [Brummer inv. no. N5019]; Walters Art Museum, 1941, by purchase.

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Geographies

Mesopotamia (Place of Origin)

Measurements

H: 5 13/16 x W: 3 3/4 in. (14.8 x 9.5 cm)

Credit Line

Museum purchase [formerly part of the Walters Collection], 1941

Location in Museum

Not on view

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

41.222

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