Early Tablets

The large tablet, made of copper, bears an Akkadian inscription by Atal-Shen, king of Urkesh and Nawar, towns in the Upper Habur river basin near the modern Turkish-Syrian border. The inscription recounts the king's construction of a temple to the god Nergal. The smaller tablets include individuals with Hurrian names, one from the town of Gasur (later Nuzi) listing rations, and the other from Ur documenting that a man with a Hurrian name received a government disbursement of 8 sheep.