Western Asiatic Neo-Sumerian Messenger Tablet from Iri-Sagrig

Western Asiatic Neo-Sumerian Messenger Tablet from Iri-Sagrig
Dated to 2028 BC
A pillow-shaped terracotta messenger tablet from the palace archive of the Sumerian city Iri-Saĝrig with cuneiform text in columns to both broad faces and one edge. 38 grams, 46 x 38 mm (1 3/4 x 1 1/2"). Extremely fine condition.
Provenance
Property of a Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK collector; formerly in a private Swiss collection; formerly in a London, UK, collection, formed in the 1980s.
Published
Cf. David I. Owen, Cuneiform Texts Primarily from Iri-Saĝrig / Āl-Šarrākī and the History of the Ur III Period, CDL Press 2013, p.238, text no.620.
Footnotes
A 'messenger tablet' was a voucher for rations of food and drink to be collected at way stations during a journey. This one is particularly unique because each of the named messengers is followed by a description of his mission: 'Lushalim, royal messenger, when he came for the secretary of the litigants.' According to Prof. David Owen, the Iri-Saĝrig archive is probably the archive of the governor whose office was in the local palace. The king and other members of the royal family occasionally travelled to Iri-Saĝrig, perhaps on their way to or from Nippur or other towns. No town in Sumer was visited more often by the king than Iri-Saĝrig. This may explain the presence of so many royal messengers and other royal functionaries associated with the town.