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ARCHITECT'S DRAWING OF THE GROUND PLAN OF THE PALACE OF NUR ADAD IN LARSA | MS 3031

ARCHITECT'S DRAWING OF THE GROUND PLAN OF THE PALACE OF NUR ADAD IN LARSA

MS 3031
MS Short Title ARCHITECT'S DRAWING OF THE GROUND PLAN OF THE PALACE OF NUR ADAD IN LARSA
Text ARCHITECT'S DRAWING OF THE GROUND PLAN OF THE PALACE OF NUR ADAD IN LARSA
Description MS on clay, Larsa, Babylonia, 1865-1850 BC, 1 tablet, 12,0x8,8x2,5 cm, detailed drawing with the various halls, rooms and antechambers around the central courtyard.
Context Other architect's plans are MSS 2992, 2994, 2063 (Tower of Babel stele), 2993 and 3193.
Commentary Although there is no writing on the tablet, we can be sure of what it depicts. Firstly, it is written on the characteristic purplish Larsa clay. Secondly, the design of the palace and the proportions correspond almost exactly with the building remains of the Nur Adad temple unearthed by a French excavations that started in 1903. So far the only example of an identifiable plan of a known building on a clay tablet.
Published Jöran Friberg: A remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts. Springer 2007. Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection, vol. 6, Cuneiform Texts I. pp. 229.
Place of origin Babylonia
Dates 1865-1850 BC