4th-3rd millennium BC. A clay tablet containing columns of cuneiform text to three sides, possibly a letter or a contract; accompanied by a scholarly note issued by W.G. Lambert, Professor of Assyriology at the University of Birmingham 1970-1993, which states: 'Sumerian Cuneiform Clay Tablet. Clay-circa 65 x 60 mm. Part of a letter on a tapering tablet, circa 10 columns of text preserved on the recto, a further three continuing over the edge onto the verso, while further lines of text on the verso are concealed by a fragment of a clay envelope which suggests that the tablet was a letter or contract which was sealed. A clean break across the tablet is repaired.' 121 grams, 66mm (2 1/2"). Ex central London gallery; acquired on the UK art market in 1998; formerly from an old London collection; believed examined by the late Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s; and accompanied by a copy of a typed and unsigned scholarly note. [No Reserve]