Caption:
Cuneiform tablet: Old Babylonian balag to the mother goddess Aruru, Old Babylonian, ca. 19th–16th century B.C., Mesopotamia, Babylonian, Clay, 3 7/8 x 1 7/8 x 1 1/8 in. (10 x 4.9 x 2.7 cm), Clay-Tablets-Inscribed, Liturgical compositions were used in Mesopotamia to appease the gods. Sung or recited by lamentation priests in rituals, they were often composed in the Emesal dialect of the Sumerian language. By the time we know of these texts in writing, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken