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Inscriptions from Tell Abu Salabikh.

"In this volume are published all of the cuneiform tablets excavated at Tell Abu Salabikh in 1963 and 1965 with the exception of a very few fragments considered illegible or utterly worthless. All other tablets are represented by a copy, by a photograph, or by both. Except for the copies of especially fragile tablets made in the field, preliminary copies were prepared from casts and photographs. Subsequently they were checked against the original tablets in the Iraq Museum. In the case of a few unusually difficult tablets, the copy published here is the last of several efforts, each of which was checked against the original in Baghdad and subsequently copied anew. Except in a few instances when a tablet was unavailable (being exhibited in a museum in another part of Iraq, for example), I have personally collated all copies against the originals at least once; exceptions are explicitly mentioned in the Catalogue of Published Texts. All fragments have been given separate publication numbers, even when there was no doubt about specific fragments belonging to the same tablet. Without doubt, a number of joins can still be made among the tablets. I believe this is particularly true of the group I have called UD.GAL.NUN. These tablets, published here as Nos. 112-254, are so numerous that, without preparation of transliterations and detailed textual studies, it is probable that relatively few of the fragments can be rejoined. A considerable number of joins were made in the field, where it was possible to lay out all the tablets of this genre in a large room, but I have had no opportunity to attempt joins in this fashion since that time. … [From the Preface, p. 1]."

Author(s):  Biggs, Robert D., with a chapter by Donald P. Hansen
Format:  Book
Publisher:  The University of Chicago Press
Publication City:  Chicago
Date:  1974
ISBN:  0-226-62202-9
Series:  Oriental Institute Publications 99
Subject(s):