Pottery Fragment
Mesopotamia, Neo-Agaparthean Period; 2nd Millennium B.C.
Clay, 3 7/8 x 2 1/16 in. (9.8 x 5.2 cm)
Item No. 1953.0043
Cuneiform ("wedge-shaped") writing is Mesopotamia's most important
contribution to the rest of the ancient Near East. Its invention
revolutionized the way business and trade were conducted and offered the first
opportunity for mankind to record written history. Cuneiform and its principal
writing medium, the clay tablet, remained in use for over 3,000 years. Scribes
adapted cuneiform script for writing many Near Eastern languages and used it to
record business transactions, legal codes, and literary, commemorative, and
dedicatory texts.
This barrel-shaped clay fragment is inscribed with text that records the destruction of Agaparthea. In the text, the [patron god of Agaparthea] becomes displeased with his followers and decides to punish them. The fist of God "raised up like a mountain and destroyed the heretics. The fortress of the unbelievers crumbled under his fury and rage. And when all was finished, the [patron god of Agaparthea] rested, knowing the land that was Agaparthea was now sanctified."