Edward A. Dickson Cuneiform Tablet collection, Ur III period-Neo-Babylonian period (ca. 2100-562 BCE) LSC.1813
Transliterations by Justin Cale Johnson. Finding aid prepared by Sara Brumfield in the Center for Primary Research and Training
(CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli, 2008; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
© 2009
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Edward A. Dickson Cuneiform Tablet collection
Creator:
Dickson, Edward A. (Edward Augustus)
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1813
Physical Description:
1 oversize box
Date: Ur III period-Neo-Babylonian period (circa 2100-562 BCE)
Abstract: The majority of the eight tablets are administrative in nature, citing loans, receipts, and inventories. Most of the administrative
texts date to the Ur III period (Third Dynasty of Ur). One tablet contains a royal inscription from the Early Old Babylonian
period (ca. 2000-1800 BCE) on a clay cone. This collection was donated to UCLA by Edward A. Dickson.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in Cuneiform.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Edward A. Dickson Cuneiform Tablet collection (Collection 1813). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processing Note
Transliterations by Justin Cale Johnson. Processed by Sara Brumfield in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT),
with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli, 2008.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language
that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they
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Biography
Edward Augustus Dickson donated his collection of tablets to the University of California-Los Angeles. Dickson was one of
the founding fathers of the Los Angeles campus for the California university system. He was appointed to Board of Regents
in 1912 and served until his death in 1956, at the age of 76.
Scope and Content
The majority of texts in this collection are administrative in nature, citing loans, receipts, and inventories. All but one
of the administrative texts date to the Ur III period (Third Dynasty of Ur), known for its abundance of economic documents.
During the Ur III period (ca. 2100-2004 BCE), the state reached a level of centralization that was unprecedented. To accommodate
the large population of workers and products under this state run economy, written records of business transactions and inventories
were constantly issued.
The collection also contains a royal inscription from the Early Old Babylonian period (ca. 2000-1800 BCE) on a clay cone.
Clay cones were often used to commemorate the building of monumental architecture. An inscription praising the king and his
deities would be written around the cone on its vertical axis. Then the cone would be inserted into the wall of the structure
obscuring the inscription from human eyes.
The cone is from the reign of Lipit-Ishtar (ca.1934-1924 BCE). His seat of power was in the city of Isin. Lipit-Ishtar is
best known for his set of laws, issued even before Hammurabi's famous law code. When Lipit-Ishtar published his law code,
he also built the Enisisa (literally, "house of justice") and he had its construction recorded on over a hundred clay cones,
of which this is just one.
Organization and Arrangement
Tablets are described at the item level.
Related Material
Online Items Available
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Dickson, Edward A. (Edward Augustus), 1879-1956--Archives.
box 1
Administrative tablet of sheep and goats from Drehem in the 5th month of the 8th year of Amar-Suen's reign Item: 1
2039 BCE
Administrative tablet excavated in Puzriš-Dagan (mod. Drehem), dated to the Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC) period
Scope and Content
List of sheep and goats from Drehem, Iraq dating to the Ur III period (2100-2000 BCE). The 8th year of Amar-Suen's reign dates
to 2039 BCE. The festival of Ninazu is the 5th month of the Drehem calendar year.
box 1
Administrative tablet of sheep and goats from Drehem in the 5th month of the 47th year of Shulgi's reign Item: 2
2048 BCE
Administrative tablet excavated in Uncertain (mod. uncertain), dated to the Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC) period
Scope and Contents note
List of sheep and goats from Drehem, Iraq dating to the Ur III period (2100-2000 BCE). The 47th year of Shulgi's reign dates
to 2048 BCE. The festival of Ninazu is the 5th month of the Drehem calendar year.
box 1
Administrative tablet of types of grain from Umma in the 1st year of Ibbi-Suen's reign Item: 3
2028 BCE
Administrative tablet excavated in Uncertain (mod. uncertain), dated to the Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC) period
Scope and Contents note
Lists of different types of grain from Umma, Iraq dating to the reign of Ibbi-Suen (c. 2030 BCE). The first year of Ibbi-Suen's
reign dates to 2028 BCE. The month that "the brick was placed in the brick mold" is the second month of Umma's calendar year.
box 1
Administrative tablet of reed mats Item: 4
ca. 2000 BCE
Administrative tablet excavated in Umma (mod. Tell Jokha), dated to the Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC) period
Scope and Contents note
A note describing a reed mat(?) of unknown provenience dating to the Ur III period (2100-2000 BCE).
box 1
Adminstrative tablet of sheep and goats from Drehem in the 42nd year of Shulgi's reign Item: 5
2053 BCE
Administrative tablet excavated in Puzriš-Dagan (mod. Drehem), dated to the Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC) period
Scope and Contents note
List of sheep and goats from Drehem, Iraq dating to the Ur III period (2100-2000 BCE). The 42nd year of Shulgi's reign dates
to 2053 BCE. The month of "eating the gazelle" is the first month of Drehem's calendar year.
box 1
Administrative tablet of sheep and goats from Drehem in the 4th year of Amar-Suen's reign Item: 6
2042 BCE
Administrative tablet excavated in Uncertain (mod. uncertain), dated to the Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC) period
Scope and Contents note
List of sheep and goats from Drehem, Iraq dating to the Ur III period (2100-2000 BCE). The 4th year of Amar-Suen's reign dates
to 2042 BCE. The month of An's festival is the 10th month of Drehem's calendar year.
box 1
Administrative tablet of hired workers in Umma from the Ur III period. Item: 7
ca. 2050 BCE
Scope and Contents note
A list of two hired workers and oxen from Umma, Iraq dating to the Ur III period (2100-2000 BCE). Currently missing from Special
Collections holdings.
box 1
Royal inscription from the reign of Lipit-Ishtar Item: 8
ca. 1930 BCE
Official or display cone excavated in Uncertain (mod. uncertain), dated to the Early Old Babylonian (ca. 2000-1900 BC) period
Scope and Contents note
Royal inscription of Lipit-Ishtar on a clay cone dating to the Old Babylonian period. Lipit-Ishtar was king in Mesopotamia
for ten years between 1934-1924 BCE. Lipit- Ishtar ruled from the city of Isin and is famous for issuing a set of laws. When
he published his laws, Lipit-Ishtar also built Enisisa, the "House of Justice," and he had its construction recorded on lots
of clay cones like this one. Note: this text = RIME 4.1.5.4 (Frayne 1990, 52-54). For another exemplar of this inscription
see:
http://special.lib.umn.edu/rare/cuneiform/UM15.phtml
box 1
Administrative tablet of a silver loan from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II Item: 9
ca. 580 BCE
Administrative tablet excavated in Uncertain (mod. uncertain), dated to the Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC) period
Scope and Contents note
Citing loan of silver and witnesses involved dating to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II in the Neo-Babylonian period. Nebuchadnezzar
II was king of Mesopotamia from 604-562 BCE.
