A Newly Discovered Tablet‐Making Facility in Nineveh: Insights From Scientific Analysis

This paper addresses the question of tablet technology in the Neo-Assyrian capital city of Nineveh. Recent excavations in the lower town of Nineveh by the Iraqi–Italian Archaeological Expedition uncovered an exceptional assemblage of more than 200 tablets from an elite residence that appears to have included a scriptorium. This study presents scientific analysis of five newly discovered tablets from this assemblage, and a clay lump from the same context, in the form of petrography and geochemical analysis. The results show that the tablets were made from highly calcareous clays, with a variety of clay processing techniques ranging from nonprocessed and little homogenised clays to highly levigated clays and organic-rich, possibly tempered clays. The composition of the clay lump matches that of one of the tablets discovered in the same context, suggesting that this tablet would have been made on site from the clay available in the facility. This study provides important insights for the interpretation of the context as a possible workshop for tablet-making outside of the well-known royal context and also highlights the diversity of tablet clays represented in this building.