Fragment of Cuneiform Tablet: Old Assyrian Letter

Fragment of clay tablet with cuneiform writing. The fragment is inscribed with ruled lines of text written in the Old Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language. This fragment preserves part of the obverse of the tablet including the lower left corner and part of the left edge. The reverse surface is completely missing. 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). The letter is addressed to one Assur-tab from Puzur-Ishtar. The text describes the contents of a shipment of goods, mostly textiles (TUG2.HI.A: lines 6', 9', 11' and 12' (?)) but also a large quantity of some kind of metal, maybe tin or silver, placed under seal for security (lines 4'-5'). Part of the shipment, maybe 41 textiles (line 6'), was brought from Hahhum (line 8'; key stopping point on one of the main routes from Assyria to Kanesh) to Nesha (line 7'; another name for ancient Kanesh). The name of Assur-malik (line 10'), a transporter well-known from other texts, is also still preserved. IMAGE: Middle row; tablet first on the right.