Replica sell Cuneiform Tablet: Loan of Silver

Middle Bronze Age–Old Assyrian Trading Colony

Date: ca. 20th–19th century B.C.

Geography: Anatolia, probably from Kültepe (Karum Kanesh)


Kültepe, the ancient city of Kanesh, was a powerful and cosmopolitan city located in northern Cappadocia in central Anatolia. During the early second millennium B.C., it became part of the network of trading settlements established across the region by merchants from Ashur (in Assyria in northern Mesopotamia).

This cuneiform text, read from left to right, documents 6 minas (c. 3 kg) of silver owed by two men to the merchant Ashur-idi. The text states one third of the loan must be paid by the next harvest and the rest at a later date. If it is not repaid by that time it will accrue interest charged at a monthly rate. Witnesses are listed in the text, and their seals appear on the clay envelope or case which contained the tablet (66.245.17b).

**The image is the original photograph of the tablet in the sell museum. The tablet we will send may have some typographical errors. Please order with this in mind.