Written in Stone: Historic Inscriptions From the Ancient Near East August 24, 2010

An inscribed tablet from the Middle Assyrian period of Mesopotamia records and commemorates the restoration of the temple of the goddess Ishtar in the capital city of Assur. The extremely rare object is on loan from a private collector and is part of a special exhibition of inscribed ancient Near Eastern stone objects. The tablet was made during the reign of King Tukulti-Ninurta I, ca. 1243 B.C.-1207 B.C. In addition to the tablet, other ancient Mesopotamian objects on view in the exhibition include: a stone bowl dating to about the twenty-fifth century B.C. with a dedication inscription in Sumerian; a stone foundation tablet dating to the twenty-first century B.C. with the name and titles of King Ur-Namma in Sumerian; an "eye stone" amulet with an inscription of King Kuigalzu I in Sumerian ca. early fourteenth century B.C.; and another "eye stone" amulet with an inscription of King Nebuchadnezzar in Akkadian ca. 604 B.C.-562 B.C. All of the items are part of the Morgan's notable collection of ancient Near Eastern artifacts.