AMAR-SIN OF NIPPUR BRICK STAMP INSCRIPTION

MS 2764
MS Short Title AMAR-SIN OF NIPPUR, CHOSEN BY ENLIL,
Text AMAR-SIN OF NIPPUR, CHOSEN BY ENLIL, MIGHTY HERO, THE TEMPLE OF ENLIL, BRICK STAMP INSCRIPTION
Description MS in Neo Sumerian on white marble, Sumer, 2046-2038 BC, 1 brick printing block, 18,5x10,0x3,5 cm, single column, 7 lines in cuneiform script, with a handle on the back.
Context There are only 2 more brick printing blocks of Naram-Sîn known, one intact with a cylindrical handle in Istanbul, and a tiny fragment in British Museum.
Commentary Naram-Sîn was the first king to use blocks for printing bricks. Prior to him the inscriptions on the bricks were written by hand. These 3 brick stamps with the known bricks, is the earliest evidence of printing, in this case blindprinting on soft clay.
Published Andrew George, ed.: Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection, Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology, vol. 17, Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection, Cuneiform texts VI. CDL Press, Bethesda, MD, 2011, text 16, p. 20, pl. XII.
Place of origin Sumer
Dates 2047-2038 BC