EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES. 53 



ii. Assyrian : — 



A collectioa of tv/o liundred and fifty-one tablets 

 from various sites in Lower Babylonia, of the 

 period of the rule of the kings of the Ilnd 

 dynasty of Ur, about B.C. 2500-B.c. 2300. A 

 considerable number of these are Avritten in the 

 ancient Sumerian language, and the inscriptions 

 represent memoranda drawn up for incorpora- 

 tion into large reports on the extent of the 

 temple properties. The estates which formed 

 the possessions of the temple oi Shirpurla, or 

 Lagash (the modern Tell Lo) lay on each side of 

 the Hai River, and were divided into sections, 

 apparently on a system which was based on 

 their productive qualities. Such sections were 

 carefully measured, and the amounts of the 

 products of each, i.e., of dates, fodder, wheat, 

 &c., were duly registered on the tablets which 

 concerned the various districts. Subsequently 

 figures and details from the smaller documents 

 were incorporated in large tablets from twelve 

 to eighteen inches square. The remaining tablets 

 in the collection are contracts drawn up 

 in the script and style which were current in 

 Babylonia from B.C. 2300-B.c. 1800. Several of 

 these are what is known as " case-tablets," i.e., 

 tablets enclosed within clay envelopes ; the 

 contract or deed is inscribed both on the tablet 

 and on the envelope, but on the latter the 

 impressions of the seals of the witnesses are 

 often found. 



HI. — Presents. 



I. — I. The first half of the beautiful hieroglyphic 

 copy of the Book, of the Dead which was 

 written for Queen Netchemet, the mother of 

 Her-Heru, the high priest of Amen, and first 

 priest king of Egypt, about B.C. 1040. The 

 other half is preserved in the Museum of the 

 Louvre. The text of the papyrus contains a 

 number of chapters of importance, but in 

 places the scribe copied his text backwards, 

 and does not appear to have discovered 

 his mistake. Artistically the vignettes are 

 most instructive and valuable, as they illus- 

 trate a pha?e of decoration of funeral papyri, 

 and show the order which was assigned to 

 them in royal and canonical papyri of 

 the period. This papyrus is a trustworthy 

 authority for the text and arrangement of 



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