====The 10 Most Important Cuneiform Objects==== [[the_one_hundred_most_important_cuneiform_objects|[Back to main page]]] [[objects11to20|[Next 10 objects]]] ---- [[codex_hammurapi|{{ :images:wiki:1to10icons:codex_hammurapi.png?100|}}]] [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=codex_hammurapi|1. Codex Hammurapi]] Perhaps the most widely-known cuneiform object, this impressive monument lists laws of ancient Babylon in fascinating detail. [[codex_hammurapi|More information...]] //Artifact//: Stone stele\\ //Provenience//: Susa, modern Shush\\ //Period//: Late Old Babylonian (ca 1800-1595 BC)\\ //Current location//: [[http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/law-code-hammurabi-king-babylon|Louvre Museum, Paris]]\\ \\ \\ ---- [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=bisitun_inscription|2. The Bīsitūn Inscription]] [[bisitun_inscription|{{ :images:wiki:1to10icons:the_bisitun_inscription.png?100}}]] Often considered a key to the decipherment of cuneiform, the Persian “King of Kings” Darius tells how he seized the throne in this trilingual inscription. [[bisitun_inscription|More information...]] //Artifact//: Rock relief\\ //Provenience//: Kermanshah Province, Iran\\ //Period//: Persian\\ //Current location//: Kermanshah Province, Iran\\ ---- [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=the_flood_tablet|3. The Flood Tablet]] [[the_flood_tablet|{{ :images:wiki:1to10icons:the_flood_tablet.png?100}}]] A Mesopotamian tale of a great flood and one survivor chosen by the Gods, this section of the Gilgamesh epic cause a stir when discovered in the 19th century. [[the_flood_tablet|More information...]] //Artifact//: Clay tablet\\ //Provenience//: Nineveh\\ //Period//: Neo-Assyrian (ca. 911-612 BC)\\ //Current location//: British Museum, London (K 03375)\\ \\ ---- [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=sumerian_kings_list|4. The Weld-Blundell Prism/The Sumerian King List]] [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=sumerian_kings_list|{{ :images:wiki:1to10icons:the_sumerian_king_list.png?100|}}]] From mythical kings including Gilgamesh, to historical figures, this document lists an ideologically significant series of Mesopotamian kings. [[sumerian_kings_list|More information...]] //Artifact//: Clay prism\\ //Provenience//: Unknown\\ //Period//: Early Old Babylonian (ca. 2000-1800 BC)\\ //Current location//: [[http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/faqs/q001/|Ashmolean Museum, Oxford]] (Ashm 1923-444)\\ \\ ---- [[cyrus_cylinder|{{ http://cdli.ucla.edu/dl/photo/P386349_d.jpg?100|}}]] [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=cyrus_cylinder|5. The Cyrus Cylinder]] Famously cited today as a cultural and political document, this text presents Cyrus, king of Persia, as liberator of Babylon. [[cyrus_cylinder|More information...]] //Artifact//: Clay cylinder\\ //Provenience//: Babylon?\\ //Period//: Achaemenid (547-331 BC)\\ //Current location//: British Museum, London\\ \\ ---- [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=stela_of_vultures|6. The Stele of Vultures]] [[stela_of_vultures|{{ :images:wiki:1to10icons:the_stela_of_vultures.png?100}}]] An Early Dynastic Sumerian monument of conflict perpetrated by King and God. [[stela_of_vultures|More information...]] //Artifact//: Stone stele\\ //Provenience//: Girsu, modern Tello\\ //Period//: ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340)\\ //Current location//: [[http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/stele-vultures|Louvre Museum, Paris]]\\ \\ ---- [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=manistusu_obelisk|7. The Manistusu obelisk]] [[manistusu_obelisk|{{ :images:wiki:1to10icons:the_manistusu_obelisk.png?100}}]] A monument recording King Manishtushu’s purchase of various plots of land in the area of Akkad from his subjects. [[manistusu_obelisk|More information...]] //Artifact//: Stone monument\\ //Provenience//: Susa, modern Shush\\ //Period//: Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)\\ //Current location//: [[http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/obelisk|Louvre Museum, Paris]] (Sb 20)\\ \\ \\ \\ ---- [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=complex_calculations_jemdetnasr|8. Complex surface calculations at Jemdet Nasr]] [[complex_calculations_jemdetnasr|{{ :images:wiki:1to10icons:complex_surface_calculations_at_jemdet_nasr.png?100}}]] An economic document providing some of the earliest written evidence for social hierarchy and unequal distribution of resources. [[complex_calculations_jemdetnasr|More information...]] //Artifact//: Clay tablet\\ //Provenience//: Jemdet Nasr\\ //Period//: Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)\\ //Current location//: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Ashm 1926-583)\\ \\ ---- [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=sargons_letter_to_ashur|9. Sargon's Letter to Ashur]] [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=sargons_letter_to_ashur|{{ :images:wiki:1to10icons:sargon_s_letter_to_ashur.png?100}}]] King Sargon II of Assyria presents his military exploits in a letter addressed “to Assur, father of the Gods...” [[sargons_letter_to_ashur|More information...]] //Artifact//: Clay tablet\\ //Provenience//: Khorsabad\\ //Period//: Neo-Assyrian (ca. 911-612 BC)\\ //Current location//: Louvre Museum, Paris (AO 5372)\\ \\ ---- [[Plimpton322|{{ :p322-face-detoure.jpg?100|}}]] [[http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=plimpton322|10. Pythagorean Triples]] This widely known mathematical text in a tabular layout contains an array of Pythagorean triples. [[plimpton322|More information...]] //Artifact//: Clay tablet\\ //Provenience//: Unprovenanced\\ //Period//: Old Babylonian (ca 1800-1595 BC)\\ //Current location//: Columbia University, New York City\\