Cuneiform Envelope Containing a Cuneiform Tablet

Mesopotamians communicated with each other through letters, as this sealed envelope demonstrates. Its pictorial register is followed by a text providing information about the owner of the seal and the subject of the letter.


The inscription on the envelope says: “Two fatted bullocks for the non-cumulative loan of four-year-old cows taken out by Ur-sugalama Akala, governor of Umma. Month of the festival of An; year when the priest of Eridu was invested.” The seal says: “O Bur-Sîn, [of the] mighty lands, A-kala, governor of Umma, is your servant.”