rom the
explorations conducted by Pater V. Scheil at Abu Habba; the T or Telloh
collection from the explorations of De Sarzec.
A few tablets are owned by Sir Henry Peek, Bart.
A few tablets exist in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, the gift of
Mr. Bosanquet.
The Rev. J. G. Ward possesses a tablet, published by Dr. T. G. Pinches in
_P. S. B. A._, XXI., pp. 158-63, of the time of Mana-balte-el, which seems
to be of this period.
A number of other tablets of the period are known to be in different
museums or in the hands of private individuals.
(M30) The historical value of the events used in dating these tablets was
recognized by G. Smith, who published the dates of a number of the Loftus
tablets, in the fourth volume of the _Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western
Asia_, p. 36.
The earliest publication of the texts was by Pater J. N. Strassmaier in
the _Verhandlungen des V Internationalen Orientalistischen Congresses zu
Berlin_, 1881. In the _Beilage_ he gave the lithographed text of one
hundred and nine tablets under the title of _Die altbabylonischen Vertraege
aus Warka_. He made many important observations upon their character and
style, and gave a valuable list of words and names. As was to be expected
from a first attempt, both his readings of the texts and his
transcriptions from them leave room for some improvement. He arranged his
texts according to the reigns of the kings mentioned.
This edition formed the subject of M. V. Revillout's article, _Une Famille
commercant de Warka_, and of numerous articles by other scholars in the
journals. Dr. B. Meissner seems to have collated a number of these texts
for his _Beitraege zum altbabylonischen Privatrecht_.
In 1888, Dr. T. G. Pinches published _Inscribed Babylonian Tablets in the
possession of Sir Henry Peek, Bart._ It was followed by other parts and by
_Babylonian and Assyrian Cylinder-seals and Signets in the possession of
Sir Henry Peek, Bart._, in 1890. These are most valuable for their full
treatment--photographs of the originals, drawings, and descriptions of the
seals, transliterations, translations, and comments, giving a better idea
of what these documents are like than can be obtained without actually
handling the originals. Dr. Pinches in his introduction assigns their
discovery to the ruins of Sippara. The texts published by him only include
three from our period, Nos. 1, 13, 14; but nowhere will a beginner find
more assistance in his studies
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