Skip to main content
Datec. 760 BCE
MediumGypsum
DimensionsOverall: 4 1/2 × 7 5/8 × 3/4 in. (11.4 × 19.4 × 1.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Henry Dwight Williams, HMA1869
Object number1868.6
On view
Description"A large and valuable donation has been quite recently made to the Miscellaneous Department of the Cabinets, by Henry Dwight Williams, Esq., Commissioner of the Imperial Customs at Nanking, China. Many of the articles in this collection will serve a good purpose in illustrating the religious rites, domestic habits, and practical arts of the Chinese and Japanese. Of still higher value are two slabs, with cuneiform inscriptions, from the palace of Sardanapalus, at Nimroud, which were sent to this country by Rev. W. Frederick Williams, a Missionary of the American Board, at Mardin, East Turkey, and a brother of the gentleman who presents them to Hamilton College." (SOURCE: Hamilton College Catalogue, 1868-69, p. 22)
"All the world is represented in the Cabinet of Hamilton College. All the centuries and all the civilizations have delegates there - or ought to have. Heretofore China has spoken through the brilliant birds, three hundred in number, presented many years ago, when the writer hereof was a Freshman, by Dr. Peter Parker. Now China speaks again, (tacita loquitur,) with a multitude of voices that proclaim the thoughtful generosity, the love for science and the fealty to early attachments of Henry Dwight Williams, a native of Utica, and connected by blood or friendly ties with many of the older families of Oneida County... [a description of many of the items in the gift, most of which are from China] ...A still higher value among scholars will attached to a couple of slabs, with cuneiform inscriptions, from the palace of Sardanapalus, at Nimroud, supposed to date about 760 B.C. These treasures were sent to this country by Rev. W. Frederick Williams, a missionary of the American Board, at Mardin, East Turkey, and a brother of the gentleman who presents them to Hamilton College." (SOURCE: Hamilton Literary Monthly, November 1868, p. 125-26)
Collections
Additional Details
Exhibition History
2011
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Learning to Look: Hamilton's Cabinets, Galleries and Museums Past, Present and Future," September 15 - December 16, 2011 (no cat.).
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Learning to Look: Hamilton's Cabinets, Galleries and Museums Past, Present and Future," September 15 - December 16, 2011 (no cat.).
Provenance
1868: Hamilton College (Knox Hall of Natural History), given by Henry Dwight Williams;
? - 1868: Henry Dwight Williams, by gift or inheritance;
c. 1852: Martha [likely Williams, either Henry Dwight's wife or his sister, both named Martha] by gift of William Frederick Williams;
Summer 1852: William Frederick Williams submits an application to the British consul-general at Baghdad, Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, for permission to send some of the reliefs excavated from Nimrud to America, presumably including this fragment.
? - 1868: Henry Dwight Williams, by gift or inheritance;
c. 1852: Martha [likely Williams, either Henry Dwight's wife or his sister, both named Martha] by gift of William Frederick Williams;
Summer 1852: William Frederick Williams submits an application to the British consul-general at Baghdad, Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, for permission to send some of the reliefs excavated from Nimrud to America, presumably including this fragment.
Markings
Label: partial paper label with "[...] of an inscription [...] / [...] a [short word beginning with K or B, crossed out] in the palac[e ...] / [... Sa]rdanapalus, this year [...] / [...] late about 760 B.C. [...] / For Martha" written in ink in 19th-century handwriting attached to verso.
Signature
Not signed.
Inscribed
Cuneiform inscription runs across fragment.
Date: c. 883-859 BCE
Medium: Gypsum with remnants of red pigment
Object number: 1868.5
William E. Williams
Date: 1981 (published 1985)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 1992.1.2
Homer Dodge Martin
Date: 1866-67
Medium: Oil on canvas
Object number: 2011.6
Lt. John Herbert Caddy
Date: 1845
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Object number: 1971.3