Keywords: Sumerian - Record of Temple Workers - Walters 481767 - View A.jpg This is one of the largest clay tablets to survive from the Neo-Sumerian period The 24 columns of writing on the back and front record the names of nearly 20 000 temple workers from the Umma area It dates to the 37th year of the reign of Shulgi a king of the 3rd Dynasty at Ur During this period Ur controlled much of Mesopotamia by means of a highly centralized bureaucratic system Large schools of scribes oversaw the training of select young men in the skills of reading and writing the Sumerian language which contained over 500 signs representing entire words logographs and individual syllables ca 2094 2047 BC Neo-Sumerian Ur III baked clay cm 31 30 5 5 accession number 48 1767 29941 Dikran Kelekian Paris and New York date and mode of acquisition unknown Henry Walters city Baltimore Walters Art Museum Henry Walters Acquired by Henry Walters 1912 Inscription place of origin Cappadocia Turkey Walters Art Museum license Ancient Near East art in the Walters Art Museum Art of Sumer Cuneiform on clay tablets Media contributed by the Walters Art Museum needs category review |