Tablet Fragments Research Articles

Royal hermeneutics: Observations on the commentaries from Ashurbanipal's libraries at Nineveh

The British excavations at Nineveh, initiated in 1845 by Austen Henry Layard, produced about 30,000 clay tablets or fragments of tablets, most of them coming from the citadel mound of Kuyunjik. This textual material can be divided into two main groups: on the one hand, library tablets, consisting of literary, lexical and historical texts, rituals, medical compendia, Sumerian prayers and above all omen texts, and on the other, archival documents, such as letters, contracts and administrative notes. The great, and rather unique, potential of the texts from Kuyunjik lies in the fact that they reveal to us, more than any other repository of cuneiform tablets ever found, how culture, represented by the first group of texts, and politics, represented by the second, were related to each other in ancient Mesopotamia.While the archival documents from Kuyunjik date to the reigns of several Assyrian rulers from the eighth and seventh centuries, the library texts seem to belong mostly, though not exclusively, to the reign of a single Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal (669 to about 630), a man deeply interested in the scribal arts of ancient Mesopotamia. His enthusiasm for reading and writing, which he seems to have shared with his wife, Libbāli-šarrat, can be traced back to his youth. From an autobiographical sketch about his intellectual socialization, we know that Ashurbanipal had received the education of a future scholar. In a passage somewhat reminiscent of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple, Ashurbanipal described the scribal training of his early years as follows:I learnt the craft of Adapa the sage, the hidden mystery of the scribal art. I used to watch the signs of heaven and earth and to study them in the assembly of the scholars. Together with the able experts in oil-divination, I deliberated upon (the tablet) “If the liver is a mirror of heaven”. … I looked at cuneiform signs on stones from before the flood.

Real-time automated visual inspection of color tablets in pharmaceutical blisters

In pharmaceutical blister packing, it is today part of the recommended security standard to inspect tablets in each blister before it is sealed. In this paper an automated visual inspection system is described, which detects missing and broken tablets, tablet fragments, as well as the color, size, and shape of individual tablets. The system operates either in “training” or “inspection” mode. In training mode, the image of defect-free blisters is used to extract the blister model, which is composed of the spatial color nonuniformity correction function, positions of blisters, positions of tablets in blisters, the color labeling function, and position, size, and shape of each tablet and corresponding pre-specified tolerances. The blister model allows effective and real-time analysis of blisters in inspection mode. The most important parts of the system are correction of the adverse effects of spatial color nonuniformity and color segmentation. A method recently proposed for spatial intensity nonuniformity correction has been extended to suppress spatial color nonuniformity in color images. A novel nonparametric clustering-based segmentation method is proposed, which finds the valleys between color clusters. The experimental results indicate that the segmentation method preceded by spatial color nonuniformity correction accurately extracts color clusters with complex shapes and therefore correctly segments the inspected images. The automated visual inspection system can thus be used in industrial environments where real-time inspection of color objects is required.

Dose variation that is associated with approximated one-quarter tablet doses of misoprostol

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate dose variation in approximated one-quarter tablet misoprostol fragments. Study Design: Misoprostol 100 μg tablets were weighed, separated into two lots, and quartered with a razor blade or a pill cutter. Fragments were reweighed, and the misoprostol content was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy. Results: Fragment weights varied more when a pill cutter was used (P <.0001). Fewer pill-cutter fragments than razor-cut fragments weighed within 10% of expected (24% vs 65%, P <.0001). Misoprostol content among the fragments that were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy was 103% ± 12% of expected (range, 73%-124%). Tablet fragments that weighed ≥27.5 mg contained misoprostol in excess of 110% of expected in seven of eight fragments, although none from fragments that weighed ≤26.5 mg did. Misoprostol was evenly distributed in all fragments that were assayed. Conclusion: Misoprostol is evenly distributed among tablet fragments. Accurate low-dose misoprostol cervical ripening is possible if the tablet fragments are individually weighed. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002;187:615-9.)

Old Babylonian Tablets from Nineveh; And Possible Pieces of Early Gilgamesh Epic

The cuneiform tablets in the British Museum published here come from Old Babylonian Nineveh. A tablet from the Ashmolean Museum is also published here because its contents, reminiscent of the Epic of Gilgamesh, seem to link it with some of the British Museum fragments. Despite the fact that it was registered in the same year, the Ashmolean tablet almost certainly does not come from Nineveh, as the ductus is entirely different, and so is the clay. According to the sequence of numbers to which it belongs, the most likely findspot is Kish.The tablet fragments and flakes numbered BM 134537 A–I and 134538 probably all belong to a single, very large tablet of the Old Babylonian period. They are written in Old Babylonian script quite similar to that of the letters from Tell al Rimah, and distinct from the script of Sippar. They were found by Campbell Thompson in the temple of Ishtar at Nineveh, together with other fragments which include a possibly bilingual text, and three letters.

Radiopacity of Clomipramine Conglomerations and Unsuccessful Endoscopy: Report of 4 Cases

The radiopacity of ingested substances may serve as a clue to the presence of particular compounds, as this characteristic varies considerably among medications and household products. Tablet conglomerations are also variably radiopaque. We report 4 cases of clomipramine poisoning associated with formation of radiopaque masses, believed to be clomipramine, in the area of the stomach. Four patients were admitted to the Toxicological Intensive Care Unit after ingestions of, respectively, 8.5 g (180 tablets of mixed strength), 7.5 g (100 tablets), 10.5 g (140 tablets), and 4.5 g (60 tablets) of clomipramine, along with other sedatives and antipsychotics. In each case, a rounded density was observed in the gastric area on plain chest radiograph. The hospital courses of each patient were marked by tachycardia, hypotension, QRS and QT prolongation, seizures, and decreased mental status. Three of 4 patients underwent unsuccessful endoscopy to remove tablet fragments and subsequently suffered gastrointestinal hemorrhage requiring transfusion. All patients were discharged recovered from the hospital. Clomipramine, a potent tricyclic antidepressant, has been previously reported to be nonradiopaque, and has not been reported to induce formation of concretions. These cases suggest that massive ingestions of clomipramine may form bezoars which are radiopaque and may be associated with serious toxicity. Careful consideration should be given prior to the use of gastric endoscopy for the retrieval of tablet fragments since significant hemorrhage, attributed to the procedure itself rather than to clomipramine toxicity, may ensue.

Archaic Bookkeeping: Writing and Techniques of Economic Administration in the Ancient Near East by Hans J. Nissen, et al

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 197 orthodox Darwinian response set out at all: that mankind’s environmen­ tal irresponsibility, linked to revival of a disease or two, could render the planet uninhabitable or have, say, the same effect as bubonic plague had on the later Middle Ages. The other difficulty I have with this otherwise stimulating and provocative chapter is the discussion of rival attitudes to, and conclu­ sions about, so many environmental problems. Bowler’s exposition emphasizes that there are opposing views among scientists employed by industry and those who appear to be in independent postions and that their conflicting evidence has shaken public confidence in both of them. Writing as someone who was originally in the latter position, but found himself in later life advising governments on pollution and related problems, I miss in his analysis the fact that most environmental problems are not cut and dried, so that science can rarely be certain about their origins and even less about their solutions. The conflict between industrialists and environmentalists arises in part because of those uncertainties. The two essays noted above in Science and Nature, and several of the others as well, reveal just how complex are the factors that make up a political decision. Moreover, once a problem is in the public domain the emphasis changes toward obtaining politically satisfactory solutions, however unreasonable these may be. Thus, if the Swedish government is demanding certainty in knowing that the proposed bridge joining Sweden to Denmark will have no environmental effects on the Baltic, it has set a question to which there is no present answer nor ever likely to be one. Both books are valuable contributions to the literature of the subject and can be recommended for any university library. Dennis L. Simms Dr. Simms was a member of the Toxic Substances Division of the U.K. Department of the Environment and chairman of the European Commission’s Advisory Research Committee on Environmental Protection before he retired. Archaic Bookkeeping: Writing and Techniques of Economic Administration in the Ancient Near East. By HansJ. Nissen, Peter Damerow, and Robert K. Englund. Translated by Paul Larsen. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. Pp. xi+169; illustrations, bibliography, index. $34.95. Change brought about by technological development is an integral part of the human condition, but there are times when change appears particularly rapid. Such is the case today when computers allow us to store, manage, and communicate information with vastly increased efficiency; such was also the case around 3100 b.c. when writing was developed, or invented, in the city of Uruk on the lower Euphrates. The 198 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE very first written documents include signs for quantities and thus provide a clue for what was always recognized as a driving factor in the development of writing: the need to record matters of economic administration. During theJemdet Nasr period (3100-2900), the script spread from Uruk to the rest of the alluvium of Euphrates and Tigris, and to the alluvium of Kerkha and Karun (Khuzistan), where it was strongly modified to suit local requirements. Writing in general and bookkeeping in particular in this period and these areas are the subjects of Archaic Bookkeeping. In several introductory chapters, H.J. Nissen provides the spatial and chronological frame; then R. K. Englund and P. Damerow treat various areas of bookkeeping: numerical notation, field administration, labor, and husbandry. The treatment is by interpreta­ tion of sample records from theJemdet Nasr period and comparison of parallel records from subsequent periods. Other chapters describe more general topics: scribes and writing, numerical notation, development of arithmetic, evidence for different levels of administrative hierarchy, and the development of bookkeeping in subsequent periods. Most of the discussed records from the Jemdet Nasr period come from the sale ofa private collection and have not been published before. Unlike the records of this period that were excavated in construction fill in Uruk as tablet fragments, the new records, which derive from an unknown site, are very well preserved. They are presented in photo­ graphs and copies that are produced by tracing the digitalized photo­ graphs, a new method of copying; also new are many photographs of records that...

The Lex Irnitana: a New Copy of the Flavian Municipal Law

In the spring of 1981, on a hill called Molino del Postero, in undulating territory 5 km south-west of El Saucejo and 3 km north-east of Algámitas, in the province of Seville, a group of men looking for ancient coins and armed with metal-detectors discovered six bronze tablets and some small fragments of other tablets, containing part of the municipal law of a hitherto unknown town, the Municipium Flavium Irnitanum. Although the name of the town was probably Irni, since ancient place-names in Spain ending with -i are very common, such as Astigi, Ucubi, Tucci, Iptuci etc, a name such as Irnium remains possible.

Texts and Fragments

Previous article No AccessTexts and FragmentsJ. A. BrinkmanJ. A. Brinkman Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Cuneiform Studies Volume 37, Number 2Autumn 1985 A journal of ASOR Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/1359870 Copyright 1985 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Iron poisoning: Complications of hypertonic phosphatelavage therapy

IRON POISONING remains one o f the most serious o f accidental pediatric ingestions. Treatment following accidental iron ingestion includes the induction of emesis with syrup of ipecac or apomorphine, which is sometimes combined with a chelating agent, such as de f e roxamine . Exchange transfusion, peritoneal dialysis, or hemodialysis are occasionally utilized. Many commonly consulted references recommend routine gastric lavage with onequarter to one-half strength disodium phosphate solution (Fleet enemas)?-' until tablet fragments are no longer recovered. This solution combines with the ingested iron to form a poorly soluble complex of ferrous and ferric phosphate. An alternative lavage solution is a 5% solution of sodium bicarbonate, which forms ferrous and ferric bicarbonate, also relatively insoluble. This is a report of a case o f severe electrolyte imbalance following gastric lavage with sodium phosphate enema solution, and is presented to alert clinicians to a potentially severe complication of currently recommended therapy for iron poisoning.

Texts and Fragments

Previous articleNext article No AccessTexts and FragmentsPaul E. ZimanskyPaul E. Zimansky Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Cuneiform Studies Volume 31, Number 1January 1979 A journal of ASOR Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/1359857 Copyright 1979 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

A LINEAR A TABLET FRAGMENT FROM PHYLAKOPI IN MELOS. (with a note on the inscription by WILLIAM C. BRICE)

A LINEAR A TABLET FRAGMENT FROM PHYLAKOPI IN MELOS. (with a note on the inscription by WILLIAM C. BRICE)

Tukulti-Ninurta I and the Assyrian King List

The Middle Assyrian tablet fragment BM 98496 (Th 1905–4–9, 2), published here by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum, was excavated by Campbell Thompson at Nineveh in 1905, and a correct description of it as a bilingual arranged in parallel columns was given by L. W. King in his Supplement to Bezold's Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets in the Kouyunjik Collection of the British Museum (1914). An excellent photograph of the best preserved side appeared on Pl. iii of this volume. Despite this initial publication the text remained unnoticed until R. Borger drew attention to its similarity to KAR 118 and 119, bilinguals of Tukulti-Ninurta I (HKL I (1967) 659). J. S. Cooper also voiced the same opinion in ZA 61 (1971), 2. The present writer's interest arose from studying a copy of the text by F. W. Geers in Chicago, since there were plain allusions to the Assyrian King List (henceforth AKL), and these are the earliest attestation of this historically and chronologically important document.

Tablets of betnesol and prednesol

Most of the tablets available for systemic corticosteroid therapy are made with insoluble steroid alcohols or acetates. This has two theoretical disadvantages, absorption may be uncertain and fragments of tablets may remain in contact with the gastric mucosa and lead to erosions. There is good evidence in children that absorption of the ordinary tablets of prednisolone is inconsistent1 but few studies have been made with other synthetic or modified steroids. The concept that part of a steroid tablet causes a gastric erosion is purely theoretical but dyspepsia is undoubtedly more troublesome with oral corticosteroid therapy than it is with parenteral therapy, corticotrophin injections or in naturally occurring Cushing's syndrome.

Fragments of Historical Texts from Nimrud

A Number of small fragments of tablets found in the Nabu Temple excavations at Nimrud (Kalḫu) bear parts of Neo-Assyrian historical texts. In a few instances these inscriptions join texts already published or supplement known texts, while some, though duplicating well-known records, are worthy of note as indicating building activity or the presence of the king at Kalḫu. Copies of these fragments, some made during the excavations, are presented here (Plates XXVI–XXVII). It will be remembered that the ‘vassal-treaties’ of Esarhaddon came from this same building.A fragment of a large tablet (ND.4369; Plate XXVI) is inscribed in the large square script characteristic of the Middle Assyrian hand and imitated and developed for the neo-Assyrian monumental writing. This tablet may have been a draft for the mason inscribing an account of the events in the accession and first years of Shalmaneser III (859/8 B.C.). The text is similar to that of the royal annals from Assur, the obverse describing the march from Aridi to Hubushkia (S.E. of L. Urmia) and the reverse the campaign in Amurru, where a statue of the king was set up on Mt. Lallar, and the attack on Aḫuni of Adini.

Separation of Tabletted Mixtures of Barbiturates, Aspirin, Phenacetin, Caffeine, Codeine, and Quinine by Ion-Exchange Paper Chromatography

The resolution of a mixture of tablet fragments containing amobarbital, acetylsalicylic acid, acetophenetidin (phenacetin), caffeine, codeine, and quinine into its constituent parts by application of chromatography on modified cellulose ionexchange papers is described. Horizontal circular and ascending cylindrical chromatography is employed. A complete qualitative analysis takes about 4 hours.

Graeco-Babyloniaca

Exactly sixty years ago, the great cuneiformist Th. G. Pinches, whose immense services to Assyriology are not always fully realized, published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology five fragments of tablets of an entirely new type: Sumerian and Akkadian texts written in the Greek alphabet. Commenting on some of these texts in the same issue of the Proceedings, A. H. Sayce added a sixth fragment. A further text, in two fragments, was published in 1928 by W. G. Schileico.The corpus of these most interesting texts can now be doubled by eight new fragments from the British Museum collections published here. Credit for this substantial addition must, however, be given to Pinches, for it is among the unpublished British Museum texts which he copied in the late nineties that I had the good fortune to find either copies of, or references to, the new fragments.In the following pages, I have attempted to give a catalogue of the extant texts arranged according to their subject-matter. They may be divided into two main groups—(A) Lexical, and (B) Literary texts, the word ‘literary’ being taken in its broadest sense. To these groups it has been thought preferable to add a third one, namely (C) Unclassified texts, rather than withhold those texts which I could not understand; it is thus hoped that other scholars might succeed where I have failed.

New Fragments of Linear B Tablets From Knossos

In the course of his work at Knossos Sir Arthur Evans set aside a number of tablets, which remained there after the main collection had been removed to the Museum in Iraklion for safe keeping. Some of the fragments retained by Evans were rediscovered in the Villa Ariadne soon after the Second World War by Dr. N. Boufidis of the National Museum in Athens; drawings of them were sent by him to Sir John Myres, who published the texts for the first time in Scripta Minoa ii, where they are distinguished by the prefix ‘M’.Other fragments of tablets which had remained at Knossos were discovered there by Dr. N. Platon in 1956, when he was working in the Stratigraphic Museum. One, published here as X 8101, has already been correctly transcribed in Scripta Minoa II and in The Knossos Tablets, in which publications it is numbered 04–94. A second fragment (S 8100), published here for the first time, belongs to the category of armour. The boxes in which the two tablets were found had ‘Little Palace’ labels on them, but unfortunately they are not a sure guide to the original provenience of the tablets themselves, which appear to have been stored without the exact knowledge of Evans. A third tablet (Og8102) was found about the same time in the neighbourhood of the pine-trees to the north-west of the Palace. All three pieces were brought to our attention by Dr. Platon, to whom we are most grateful for the suggestion that we should publish them. The photographs are the work of Mr. Androulakis of Iraklion, to whom we are indebted for his assistance.

Fragments of Assyrian Scholastic Literature

With this article are presented the inscriptions upon nine fragments of tablets belonging to the royal library of the Assyrian kings which was found at Nineveh, its remains being now in the British Museum (and the writer is indebted to the Trustees for permission to publish these specimens). He had already taken the liberty to quote from them in the course of his Inaugural Lecture at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and it is therefore appropriate to include them in a volume in honour of Professor Sir Ralph Turner, Director of the School, whose great services will be more fittingly celebrated by others, but the present writer gladly uses this opportunity to testify his gratitude for many acts of personal kindness, of which the Director's presence and publicly-expressed approval on the aforesaid occasion were not the least appreciated.

The Palace of Nestor Excavations at Pylos, 1952

IN the spring of 1939 a joint Greek and American archaeological expedition was organized to undertake researches in Western Messenia, Dr. K. Kourouniotis, Director of the National Museum in Athens, representing the Greek Archaeological Service, Professor Carl W. Blegen the University of Cincinnati. The first season's work was preliminary and exploratory. In a search for prehistoric settlements and tombs a large part of the region about and to the north of the Bay of Navarino was superficially investigated and a half dozen sites marked by the presence of Mycenaean potsherds were noted. A few trial trenches, which were dug on the largest and most imposing site at a place called Epano Englianos, at once exposed the walls of a palatial Mycenaean building which had obviously been destroyed in a catastrophic fire.* It appeared to be of considerable size, measuring some 60 to 70 m. on a side, and invited comparison with the contemporary structures at Mycenae and Tiryns. One small chamber, which was cleared in its entirety, proved to be an Archives Room; it yielded some six hundred clay tablets and fragments of tablets inscribed with writing in the script first discovered by Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos and named by him Minoan Linear B. The outbreak of the war in 1939 compelled a deferment of the systematic excavations which were planned to uncover the entire palace. Indeed it was only after thirteen years that it became possible to return to the site to carry the project into execution. Meanwhile Dr. Kourouniotis died in 1945 and Spyridon Marinatos, Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology in the University of Athens, was appointed to succeed him as representative of the Greek Archaeological Service. The work of the expedition in the field was divided into two sections. Professor Marinatos took charge of the investigation of an extensive Mycenaean cemetery of chamber tombs which was known to exist in the upper outskirts of the village formerly called Lygoudista, but some years ago renamed Chora; while the present writer assumed responsibility for excavating the palace at Englianos. The expedition established its headquarters at Chora, where it was comfortably lodged; and it benefited much from the hospitality and kindness of the inhabitants, who offered all facilities within their power. In presenting this preliminary account of progress in the excavation of the palace I wish to record my deep indebtedness to my colleagues whose help was invaluable to me: Professor George E. Mylonas of Washington University, St. Louis, Professor Eugene Vanderpool of the American School of Classical Studies at

The Royal Library at Nineveh 1

OUR readers who are in the position of being able to recall the “discovery” of Nineveh, which was announced between the years 1845 and 1854, will have no difficulty in remembering that the exhuming of colossal bulls and bas-reliefs from the site of the palace of the great kings of Nineveh was almost contemporaneous with the discovery of the means whereby the wedge-shaped characters, which were found cut upon them in long, symmetrical lines, could be read and understood. It was a coincidence of the most remarkable kind that the excavations at Nineveh yielded at that time such a large mass of new material for Rawlinson, Norris and Hincks to work upon, and it may be safely said that the correct information concerning Bible history which they succeeded in producing from it convinced the general public of the trustworthiness of Rawlinson's system of decipherment more effectually than his epoch-making translation of the inscription of Darius the Great, which was cut on the face of the now famous rock of Behistun, would ever have done. The bulls and colossal figures and bas-reliefs, which Sir Henry Layard drew out of their hiding places, appealed strongly to the popular imagination, which already at that time saw in them the prototypes of the mysterious figures that the prophets of the Hebrew god Yahwe saw in their visions, but for the scientific seeker after the knowledge of the long-lost cuneiform language they did little. It was soon recognised that the texts engraved upon them contained many duplicates, and also that they did little more than set forth, in stereotyped and vaunting phrases, the names and titles which the kings of the Second Assyrian Empire arrogated to themselves. But further examination of the smaller objects which were found in the ruins of the Assyrian palace at Nineveh resulted in the discovery of a large collection of “tiles,” as they were first called, made of baked clay, which were inscribed with texts written in cuneiform with minute characters, and this “find” is, for cuneiform decipherment, probably the greatest which has ever been made. An investigation of these minutely written texts showed that they consisted of lists of cuneiform signs arranged on a definite plan, of lists of words and phrases, and of connected narratives, which might well come under the general description of “literature”; in fact, the thousands of tablets and fragments of tablets which had been sent home, without the least idea of their value having entered into the heads of those who found them, turned out to be neither more nor less than the fundamental matter upon which the whole of the great superstructure of Assyriology has been built. We now know of a certainty that, at the close of the eighth century before Christ, Sargon, king of Assyria, possessed a few tablets, the contents of which concerned the business of his kingdom, and that he kept these in a chamber in his palace. It seems also that his two successors, Sennacherib (B.C. 705-B.C. 681) and Esarhaddon (B.C. 681-B.C. 668), added other tablets to Sargon's, and that we may also regard the united collections of these great kings as the nucleus of the Royal Library at Nineveh.