Sumerian·Book

The corpus

All tablets.

Every tablet in the corpus — sortable by date, title or period; filterable by theme and period. Use the controls below or change the URL parameters directly.

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~539 BCE·Achaemenid PersianEditorial

Cyrus Cylinder

Often called the world's first declaration of human rights — a 20th-century characterization that overstates its scope; it is, more accurately, a typical Mesopotamian royal accession text framed as Marduk's restoration of order. But its references to religious tolerance and the return of exiled peoples (which the Hebrew Bible echoes in describing the end of the Babylonian Exile) have made it one of the most politically resonant cuneiform artifacts ever recovered.

LawWriting & Literature
~450 BCE·Achaemenid PersianEditorial

Astronomical tablet BM 32234

Tablet image sourced from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). No scholarly translation referenced in source metadata. Source description: Clay cuneiform tablet. Astronomical, lunar eclipse table for at least 609-447 BC. Dated 4th century BC. From Babylon. Refers to the murder of the Persian king Xerxes I (485-465 BC) by his son. BM 3223

Astronomy & Mathematics
~450 BCE·Achaemenid PersianEditorial

Clay tablet. The cuneiform text mentions the murder of Xerxes I (r. 485-465 BCE) by his son and a lunar eclipse (609-447 BCE). From Babylon, Iraq. British Museum

Tablet image sourced from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). No scholarly translation referenced in source metadata. Source description: Clay tablet. The cuneiform text mentions the murder of the Achaemenid king Xerxes I (r. 485-465 BCE) by his son and a lunar eclipse (for at least 609-447 BCE). 4th century BCE. From Babylon, Iraq. Bri

Astronomy & Mathematics
~450 BCE·Achaemenid PersianEditorial

Cuneiform tablet- Atra-hasis, Babylonian flood myth MET 266810

Tablet image sourced from Wikimedia Commons (CC0). No scholarly translation referenced in source metadata. Source description: Babylonian or Achaemenid; Cuneiform tablet; Clay-Tablets-Inscribed

Mythology
~450 BCE·Achaemenid PersianEditorial

Cuneiform tablet- Atra-hasis, Babylonian flood myth MET 266811

Tablet image sourced from Wikimedia Commons (CC0). No scholarly translation referenced in source metadata. Source description: Babylonian or Achaemenid; Cuneiform tablet; Clay-Tablets-Inscribed

Mythology
~450 BCE·Achaemenid PersianEditorial

Cuneiform tablet- Gula incantation MET hb86 11 130

Tablet image sourced from Wikimedia Commons (CC0). No scholarly translation referenced in source metadata. Source description: Babylonian or Achaemenid; Cuneiform tablet; Clay-Tablets-Inscribed

Mythology
~450 BCE·Achaemenid PersianEditorial

Cuneiform tablet- ritual fragment MET ME86 11 359

Tablet image sourced from Wikimedia Commons (CC0). No scholarly translation referenced in source metadata. Source description: Achaemenid or Seleucid; Cuneiform tablet; Clay-Tablets-Inscribed

Mythology