The text explains that Ennum-Aššur directed his wife to retrieve silver from a fellow merchant named Laqēpum, who subsequently refused to yield the funds to her. Laqēpum insisted he would only settle the account with Ennum-Aššur in person and alternatively claimed to have already paid another party named Kudātum. To reveal the text without breaking the protective casing, researchers deployed a specialized mobile computed tomography scanner named ENCI. Developed by teams from the University of Hamburg and DESY, the machine gathered internal X-ray data directly at the museum.
Key points
Non-destructive mobile computed tomography allows researchers to read enclosed ancient do…: Non-destructive mobile computed tomography allows researchers to read enclosed ancient documents without breaking delicate clay envelopes.
The intact state of the clay casing indicates that the merchant likely never received or…: The intact state of the clay casing indicates that the merchant likely never received or read his wife's urgent financial complaint.
Excavated clay tablets reveal intricate historical details regarding domestic management,…: Excavated clay tablets reveal intricate historical details regarding domestic management, travel logistics, and credit disputes among ancient trading networks.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
The struggle to recover money someone owes you is familiar, even if the person on the other end of the transaction lived thousands of years ago. Imagine the disappointment of a woman instructed by her husband to retrieve silver he was owed, who, upon failure, penned her frustration in a letter addressed to him.
For Anna-anna, who lived nearly 4,000 years ago in ancient Anatolia, this was precisely what happened. She wrote to her husband, Ennum-Aššur, a merchant who travelled across cities for business in central Anatolia. The message, etched on a cuneiform tablet, was brought to light by researchers at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures at the University of Hamburg. But perhaps an even more intriguing detail is that the researchers managed to discover the contents of the letter without ever opening the clay envelope that had protected it for millennia.
In an
article on the technology used to access the letter, the CSMC reported that, while Ennum-Aššur was conducting business in central Anatolia, he had asked his wife to recover silver he was owed by…
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