Which tablets are which
The following timeline details the expeditions that have excavated library tablets at Nineveh, and the registration collections in which those finds were recorded.
- 1820: Rich collected several tablets. {K 1649 and 1666 (prisms), K 2047, K 4947, K 7979, 95-4-6,1, and 95-4-6,3 (scholarly texts), 95-4-6,4 (eponym list), 95-4-6,5 (contract).}
- 1846-1851: Layard excavates the Southwest Palace. {registered as K}
- 1847-49: Ross {registered as 48-7-20, 48-11-4}
- 1853-54: Rassam finds many tablets in the North Palace {registered as K}
- 1873, 1874, 1876: Following his dramatic discovery of the Flood Tablet, Smith is sent to find its missing portions. {registered as 73-7-22(1873), DT, Sm(1874)}
- 1878-82 Rassam resumes excavations {registered as 79-7-8, 80-7-19, 81-2-4, 81-7-27, some in 82-3-23 originally from 82-5-22, 82-5-22, 83-1-18, Rm, Rm.II}
- 1888,1889,1891: Budge makes brief visits, including siftng of old spoil heaps. {registered as Bu.89-4-26, Bu.91-5-9}
- 1904-05: Campbell Thompson begins excavations on Kuyunjik, working in the temples of Nabu and Ishtar, and at the northwest corner of the city wall. {registered as Ki.1904-10-9, Th.1905-4-9}
- 1927-32: Campbell Thompson, Hutchinson and Mallowan launch more scientific excavations. {registered as BM}
A comprehensive list of excavations at Nineveh is given by Reade (2000).
Dozens of tablets and fragments made their way to other collections around the world. In most cases, the histories of these objects is unknown. Many joins have been identified between these fragments and those excavated by the Museum at Nineveh.
Jonathan Taylor, 'Which tablets are which', Ashurbanipal Library Project, The Ashurbanipal Library Project, Department of the Middle East, The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG, 2022 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/asbp/archaeologyofthelibrary/whichtabletsarewhich/]