London is home to many ancient and wondrous items, many of which are kept in museums and galleries. But, there are also ancient and historic objects simply dotted around London's many streets and thoroughfares.
The oldest of these objects would have to be the Needle of Thutmose III, which stands on Victoria Embankment. This obelisk dates from around 1450 BC.
Then there are the Roman remains, such as the amphitheatre, the old city walls and bastions, mosaic and the like. These were all created from 45 AD onwards.
However, this curious brown block, on display in St Vedast-alias-Foster Garden, is, I am sure, one of the oldest objects, as it dates from between 858 and 834 BC.
So, how did it end up in a church courtyard in London?
Cuneiform writing is one of the first forms of writing, originating about 3,000 BC, which predates Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Cuneiform means 'wedge-shaped', referring to the marks made by pressing a stylus into wet clay, before the tablet was dried in the sun. Initially it consisted of pictographs but evolved to represent sounds and words. Tablets like these were used for record-keeping, and even literature, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Cuneiform was deciphered in 1857, revealing a wealth of information about ancient Mesopotamian societies.
This particular cuneiform tablet bears the name Shalmaneser, who reigned Mesopotamia from 858 to 834 BC.
The tablet was discovered near a ziggurat, a pyramid-like structure used for religious purposes, by Sir Max Mallowan during one of his archaeological digs in Iraq, between 1950-65.
Sir Max Mallowan, second husband of Agatha Christie, gifted this tablet to the Rector of St Vedast-alias-Foster, Canon Charles Bernard Mortlock, as a sign of friendship between the two. Mortlock had previously accompanied Mallowan on an expedition to Assyria.
At the time of the gifting Canon Mortlock was overseeing the rebuilding of St Vedast, following the gutting of the church during The Blitz.
Well there you go.
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