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List of Provisions

2100 BC - 2000 BC
Clay
Uruk
3.3 cm x 3.0 cm x 1.1 cm
A5531

Oriental Institute Museum

Artifact Description

List of Provisions

The cuneiform script, like our own alphabet, was used to write many different languages. This clay tablet, written in Sumerian, contains a list of provisions. It is one of the tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets found by archaeologists that document the ways in which the ancient Mesopotamians organized and controlled agriculture and manufacturing.

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

Hunter, Erica. First Civilizations: Cultural Atlas for Young People. New York: Facts on File, 1994.

Kramer, Samuel Noah. Cradle of Civilization. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1967.

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

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