This is a rectangular clay pillow-shaped writing tablet dating to the Old Babylonian period. Cuneiform scripts are engraved on both the front and the back. The piece has been repaired using glue and displays cracks and flaking across its body. Cuneiform writing was one of the earliest forms of writing, developed in the ancient lands of Mesopotamia. Babylonian society was a complex social structure and had a need, as we do today, to record such things as temple acquisitions, land transactions, financial loans, as well as their epic stories and personal letters. They would write these documents and letters on a wet clay tablet, which was then dried. Measurements: Width~8.5cm, Height~5.1cm, Depth~2.2cm Provenance: Ex collection of a deceased gentleman by descent to his family in London and Geneva, collection acquired 1970-1990.