A technological study of Assyrian clay tablets from Nineveh, Tell Halaf and Nimrud: a pilot case study

Abstract

• Ancient Middle Eastern clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing have traditionally been studied more as textual documents than as archaeological objects per se. In contrast to previous analytical studies which, with few exceptions, focused on provenance and palaeo-environmental reconstruction, the current study aims to describe the tablet makers’ technological choices, to understand whether a specific series of steps or chaîne opératoire was followed to produce these important documents. Twenty cuneiform tablets found at the sites of Nineveh, Nimrud (Iraq) and Tell Halaf (Syria), and curated in the British Museum collection, were analysed by optical microscopy of minero-petrographic thin sections and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM–EDX). Six of these tablets were also analysed by X-ray computed tomography (CT), to investigate the potential for this non-invasive technique to address the technological questions and to select objects for invasive analyses. The results show that the tablets were made following similar steps to pottery making, either carefully levigating calcareous clays, or adding plant matter to make the clay less plastic. Petrographic and CT analyses are readily comparable and CT results permit a more targeted approach to invasive sampling.