- Collection
Teaching Collection of Ancient Near Eastern Studies
- Humanities and Social Sciences
Clay tablets with cuneiform texts (plaster castings). Photo: Thomas Hartmann, JGU
The Institute for Ancient Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz houses a collection of approximately 40 casts of clay tablets, seal impressions, and reliefs as part of its Near Eastern Studies Teaching Collection. These are artifacts from the early cultures of Mesopotamia (Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians), dating from around 3200 B. C. to the early centuries AD. They reflect all aspects of social life: Royal inscriptions, economic documents, scientific texts such as lexical lists and astronomical explanations, letters, and literature, including the world-famous Epic of Gilgamesh and the Cyrus Cylinder.
