The Nuzi Tablet Archive at the Semitic Museum, Harvard
University consists of more than 6000 cuneiform tablets excavated
at Nuzi in modern day Iraq. The tablets were originally unearthed
in a 1927-1931 expedition. The archive is considered remarkable party
because ancient Nuzi was not. It was an ordinary town. Unlike tablets discovered
at more princely sites, the Nuzi archive gives us insight into the life of
ordinary people. Contrary to popular perception, cuneiform tablets
were usually not fired. Rather the tablets were, for the most part,
simply left to dry in the sun. Consequently, once unearthed, their
exposure to the atmosphere causes them to decay. The solution is to
do what the ancient scribes did not, fire the tablets in order to preserve
them indefinitely. The Dash Foundation undertook to sponsor this effort
which ultimately preserved the entire collection, and an additional 3000
cuneiform tablets as well.
J. Armstrong "
Glen Dash Funds New Tablet Conservation
Project," Semitic Museum News, May 1999