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Clay Tablet

3300 BC - 3100 BC
Clay
Original Site Unknown
5.5 cm x 5.2 cm x 1.8 cm
A2514

Oriental Institute Museum

Artifact Description

Clay Tablet

The ancient Mesopotamians invented writing. Clay tablets such as this one are among the earliest known written records. Most of the texts, written in cuneiform, deal with administrative procedures.

Multimedia

Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
What was life like in ancient Mesopotamia? Find out in this video featuring Oriental Institute Assyriologist Dr. Martha Roth.

An Early Clay Tablet
See how this early clay tablet used pictures to communicate.

Suggested Readings

Claiborne, Robert. The Birth of Writing. The Emergence of Man series. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1974.

Roaf, Michael. Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. New York: Facts on File, 1990.

Walker, C.B.F. Cuneiform: Reading the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.

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