Fragment of Cuneiform Tablet: Old Assyrian Letter

Fragment of clay tablet with cuneiform writing. The tablet is inscribed on both sides with ruled lines of text written in the Old Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language. There are no seal impressions preserved. The tablet probably comes from the trading colony (karum) by the mound of Kültepe (ancient Kanesh) near Kaiseri in Cappadocia (central Anatolia). Only the upper half of the tablet remains so that the six first lines of the text on the obverse and the last three lines on the reverse are partially preserved. The majority of the reverse that is preserved is uninscribed. The text is mostly broken, but what is preserved of the beginning indicates a standard introductory formula typically used in letters. This letter is written from the "waklum", a title for the ruler of the city of Assur, found mainly in letters, and addressed to the trading colony, Kanesh. The letter concerns a legal verdict given in the sacred precinct of the god Adad, before two divine emblems. The subject of the lawsuit is not preserved, but the final line indicates a penalty was probably imposed (rev. line x+3: "they will pay"). IMAGE: Bottom row, first on right.