Another Cuneiform Tablet from Drehem in the Ur III Period

Abstract

Although M. Sigrist and others spent some time in translating cuneiform texts at the Siegfried Horn Museum, there was one more unpublished Drehem tablet in the James White Library Archives and another tablet. The Adventist Heritage Center of the James White Library of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, MI, obtained this tablet from a private collector, George Barr Suhrie (1905-1985) in 1976. This text dates to the 45th year of Šulgi which is 2050/49 BCE. It is an economic text listing animals brought for various deities: En-lil; Nin-lil; by at least three individuals from Nippur to Drehem. Lugalazida was the son of the king, Ursukkal was a wine attendant and Šešdad was a temple-administrator. A large number of animals, bull, cows, sheep, ewes, kids, goats, equids, were received by Ilum-bani in 2050/2049 BCE. Two texts from the Oriental Institute of Chicago: Text 235 = A4977 and Text 417 = A2978, are dating also to Šulgi’s 45th year with the order of the items in the year formula identical to AUAHCCT 1 Reverse line 12. Biblical chronology is an exact science and according to strict biblical reckoning, with the 4th year of Solomon as 970 BCE, Jacob was born in 2080 BCE, 30 years before this tablet. The influence of the Ur III dynasty, with Šulgi deifying himself, can be seen in Jacob’s household and others with him, when he asked them to “put away the foreign gods among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments,” Genesis 35:2. Of course this event was a decade or two after this tablet because Esau got married in 2040 BCE and Jacob left afterwards.