Van Bibber Collection of Cuneiform Clay Tablets

Lena C. Van Bibber was a history department faculty member of the State Teachers College at Towson (now Towson University). The clay tablets were acquired by her sometime in 1939 from Edgar J. Banks, who was appointed as American consul in Baghdad, Iraq in 1898. Banks was an antiquities enthusiast who went on to purchase many clay tablets, which he sent to various universities, museums, and libraries throughout the United States.

The collection consists of three cuneiform clay tablets from the ancient sites of Drehem and Umma in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), dating to about 2400-2100 B.C.E. The cuneiform script on the tablets relates to administrative and economic transactions, including the receipt for the delivery of oxen, sheep, and goats to a temple; a sales receipt for the killing of an ox; and records of the temple transactions. Other materials include a letter from the seller, Edgar J. Banks, with a description of each tablet and details of the sale; a letter from faculty member, Lena C. Van Bibber; and an index card with a description of one of the clay tablets.