prism

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Object Type
Museum number: 91032
Title: Object: The Taylor Prism; Object: The Sennacherib Prism; Series: Library of Ashurbanipal
Description: Hexagonal clay prism, foundation record lists campaigns of Sennacherib until the start of his final war against Babylon, and includes a description of the tribute received from Hezekiah, King of Judah in 701 BC; 82 + 83 + 82 + 80 + 85 + 75 lines of inscription.
Authority
Cultures/periods
Production date: 691BC
Production place: Made in: Iraq, North
Findspot: Found/Acquired: Nebi Yunus
Materials
Dimensions: Height: 38.10 centimetres; Width: 8.57 centimetres (faces); Width: 16.51 centimetres (max)
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: This object is often known as the Taylor Prism after a previous owner, Colonel R. Taylor. It has been on almost continuous display since entering the British Museum in 1855 and has been repeatedly illustrated; it features as No. 5 in a previously issued series of postcards captioned "Assyrian monuments bearing on Bible history in the British Museum". This object was moulded for casting by Mr Prescott between 2/2/65 and 6/5/65 (Objects to Lab, 6 May 1958-31 December 1970). Prior to that it was re-fired on 28th September 1964.
Bibliographic references: Layard A H 1853a / Discoveries in the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, with travels in Armenia, Kurdistan and the desert (p.345); Bezold 1896a / Catalogue of the cuneiform tablets in the Kouyunjik Collection of the British Museum; Guide 1922 / Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum (pp.225-27, pl. 47) (illustration shows column iv); Pallis S A 1956a / The Antiquity of Iraq: A Handbook of Assyriology (pp.32-33) (on provenance); Barnett 1977a / Illustrations of Old Testament History (p.57, fig.30); Margueron J-C 1965a / Mesopotamia (pl.62); Wiseman 1958 / Illustrations from Biblical archaeology (pl.54); Pritchard 1950a / Ancient Near Eastern Texts relating to the Old Testament (pp.287-88); Luckenbill 1927b / Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia (II, pp.115-28, cols 231-54); Budge 1920a / By Nile and Tigris. A narrative of journeys in Egypt and Mesopotamia on behalf of the British Museum between the years 1886 and 1913 (vol. II, p.25, n.4) (on acquisition)
Location: Not on display
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 2001 11 Jun-16 Sep, Leeds, Henri Moore Foundation, 'The Sculpted Word' 1995-1996 22 Nov-29 Feb, Germany, Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, 'Die Reise nach Jerusalem' 1993 29 Mar-14 Jun, Northern Ireland, Belfast, Ulster Museum, 'Reverend Edward Hincks D.D. 1792-1866' 1992-1993 21 Sep-29 Mar, Northern Ireland, Downpatrick, Down County Museum, 'Reverend Edward Hincks D.D. 1792-1866' 1990s BM, G55/Later Mesopotamia, case 11 BM, Babylonian Room, Table-case H BM, Room of Writing BM, Assyrian Room, centre case
Associated names: Named in inscription: Sennacherib; Named in inscription: Hezekiah; Associated with: Ashurbanipal
Acquisition name: Purchased from: Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson; Purchased from: Mrs Taylor (Mrs)
Previous owner
Acquisition date: 1855
Acquisition notes: Said to have been found at Nebi Yunus and purchased by Colonel R. Taylor in 1830. Purchased from Taylor's widow via Rawlinson in 1855.
Department: Middle East
BM/Big number: 91032
Registration number: 1855,1003.1
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: 12174
Conservation

Free entry

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