2-604-917 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Cuneiform tablet recording barley rations, 1st Dynasty of Lagash, about 2350-2200 BC, from Tello (ancient Girsu), southern Iraq. This cuneiform tablet records in Sumerian the distribution of barley as rations to about two hundred workmen and their children by the Temple of Bau. The goddess Bau (or Baba) was the wife of Ningirsu, the supreme god of the city Lagash. The temple referred to here was at Girsu, a town within the city-state of Lagash. From the British Museum's collection, 23rd century BC.