|
COLLECTION SUMMARY
Title: Cuneiform Tablet collection
Dates:
2350 BCE—2003
CE (bulk 2350-2000 BCE, 1987, 2002-2003 CE)
Creator:
Ancient
Sumerians, Edgar J. Banks, Crystal J. Gamradt
Physical
Description:
.21 linear feet—1
container, 5 Sumerian Cuneiform Tablets (approx. 1.5”x1.5”) and
1 Egyptian Tablet (approx. 4”x6”), 4 CD-ROMS
Collection number:
AR 3
Language:
Collection
material in English.
Repository:
South Dakota
State University Archives, Hilton M. Briggs Library, South Dakota State
University, Brookings, S.D.
Abstract:
Collection
is
composed of
five
Cuneiform Tablets, one Egyptian Tablet, and research and manuscript
material created by Crystal J. Gamradt.
ADMINISTRATIVE
INFORMATION
Provenance:
The
Sumerian Cuneiform Tablets were discovered in the Archives stacks in
1999. See the background information in this finding aid for more
information.
The
Egyptian Tablet was transferred to SDSU Archives by the SD State
Agricultural Heritage Museum in 2003.
The
research and manuscript material was donated to the Archives by Crystal
J. Gamradt, Staff Archivist, in 2002.
Access Restrictions:
This collection is open to research without restriction.
Copyright Status:
Copyright 2007 by South Dakota State University and SDSU Archives.
Please credit the SDSU Archives if you copy or reproduce material from
this finding aid.
It is the
responsibility of anyone reproducing material to determine the copyright
holders and obtain permission from them if necessary. Archives staff
will provide available copyright information on request. Please note
that most collections, especially those received before 1997, may not
have complete information on file. (Revised 15 SEP 2003)
Preferred Citation:
[Identification of item]. Cuneiform Tablet collection, AR 3, South Dakota State University Archives, South Dakota State
University, Brookings, S. D.
Processing Information:
This collection was processed by Crystal J. Gamradt on December 19,
2006.
SELECTED SEARCH TERMS
The following terms have been used to index the description
of this collection in the subject guide.
They are grouped by name of person or organization,
by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically
therein.
Names:
-
Banks, Edgar James
-
Gamradt, Crystal J.
Subjects:
BACKGROUND NOTE
The South Dakota State
University Archives & Hilton M. Briggs Library Special Collections
Department was established in Hilton M. Briggs Library on the campus of
South Dakota State University in the Fall of 1997. Prior to this, the
archives was unorganized and became a resting place for many forgotten
papers, photographs, publications, and artifacts.
When Elizabeth B. Scott, former
archivist of SDSU Archives & Special Collections, and Crystal Gamradt,
Staff Archivist, began sorting the numerous boxes, they discovered a
small old, dusty box marked radioactive materials. After some
discussion, they decided the box and its contents were most likely not
radioactive. When they opened the box they discovered five clay Sumerian
cuneiform tablets wrapped in tissue paper, complete with a translation.
This translation is typewritten on a brittle, yellowed sheet of paper
with the letterhead of Edgar J. Banks of Eustis, Florida. The
translation dates the tablets at 2350-2000 BCE. It also included the
signature of Edgar J. Banks. (The tablet have been tested by the SDSU
Environmental Safety Office and were found to not be radioactive.)
The only record of how these
tablets came to be in the archives at South Dakota State University was
a letter dated Feb. 19, 1987 sent to Leon Raney, former library
director, from Mark J. Halvorson, former Curator of Collections, SD
Agricultural Heritage Museum. The letter indicated that the translation
was found in the files of Ralph Johnston, first curator of the museum.
This letter also indicated that the cuneiform tablets belong to the
library.
Crystal J. Gamradt began to
research how these ancient antiquities came to reside at South Dakota
State University, if other institutions in the state have cuneiform
tablets in their possession, if these other institutions know how the
tablets got there, and how these institutions are caring for their
tablets. In her research, she discovered that Edgar J. Banks was a
dealer of artifacts. He was very active in the first few decades of the
twentieth century and was responsible for most of the small cuneiform
collections at universities, historical societies, seminaries, and
museums throughout the United States. It was determined that the tablets
came to South Dakota State College during the presidential term of
Willis E. Johnson (1919-1923). An index of sales transactions was
discovered with the Edgar J. Banks Papers at the Oriental Institute of
the University of Chicago. There was a recorded transaction of a price
quoted on the purchase Johnson made of $26.00. The translation found
with the tablets at SDSU Archives & Special Collections shows a total
price of $18.00, an $8.00 difference. A search was conducted of the
University’s financial records, but no documentation was found that
acknowledges either a purchase or a donation of cuneiform tablets. This
is a big assumption, but, since the purchase price is only eight dollars
in difference, and the fact that Johnson was president of South Dakota
State College at the time of his purchase, one can assume that Johnson
is the source for the five cuneiform tablets in SDSU Archives & Special
Collections.
SCOPE and CONTENTS NOTE
This collection consists of five
Sumerian Cuneiform Tablets, one Egyptian Tablet and research and
manuscript material.
The Sumerian Cuneiform Tablets
are approximately 1.5” x 1.5” in size. They are accompanied by a
translation by Edgar J. Banks.
Little is know about the
Egyptian Tablet, other than it is labeled as a prescription and was
donated to the SD State Agricultural Heritage Museum by Daphne Serles
and the tablet was originally owned by Dr. Earl Serles. The Museum
transferred the tablet to SDSU Archives in 2003.
The manuscript and research
material was created by Crystal J. Gamradt, Staff Archivist at SDSU
Archives & Special Collection during her search for the tablets origin
and how they came to reside at South Dakota State University. It
consists on correspondence, clippings, collected research, CD-ROMS,
Power Point Presentations about the tablets, and a manuscript for her
paper, “FORGOTTEN PAST—Solving a mystery of forgotten antiquities and
finding their significance to the present.”
ARRANGEMENT of the
RECORDS
Box 1.
-
Antiquities laws, 2002
-
Clippings, news releases, 2002
-
Correspondence, 2002-2003
-
Edgar James Banks, 2002
-
Ewa Wasilewski, 2002
-
Exhibit, 2002
-
History of writing, 2002
-
Leads, 2002
-
Library books, 2002
-
Manuscript—“Forgotten Past”
by Crystal J. Gamradt, 2002
-
Manuscript—Final draft, 2002
-
Manuscript—Outline, 2002
-
Maps, 2002
-
Mesopotamia/Sumerians, 2002
-
Middle School Presentation, 2002
-
Other Institutions
Collection, 2002
-
Photographs, 2002
-
Questionnaire, 2002
-
Questionnaire responses, 2002
-
Tablets, 2350-2000 BCE
-
Translation/library letter, 1987
-
ACLA—Cuneiform Digital
Library Initiative (Cale Johnson—Contact), 2002
Top
|
