TABLET COMMEMORATES THE RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE OF ISHTAR AND HAS NEVER BEFORE BEEN EXHIBITED IN A MUSEUM

Object Was Sold at Auction in 2008 and Is the Centerpiece of an Exhibition Opening April 13 Devoted to Historic Inscriptions from the Ancient Near East

An inscribed tablet from the Middle Assyrian period of Mesopotamia—recording and commemorating the restoration of the temple of the goddess Ishtar in the capital city of Assur—will go on view at The Morgan Library & Museum from April 13 through September 5, 2010.

The extremely rare object is on loan from a private collector and will be part of a special exhibition of inscribed ancient Near Eastern stone items. The tablet, made of gypsum alabaster and measuring 14 5/8 inches high by 10 5/8 inches wide, has never been shown in a museum and is considered of exceptional historical importance. The exhibition, entitled Written in Stone: Historic Inscriptions from the Ancient Near East, ca. 2500 B.C.–550 B.C., will be installed in the Gilbert Court.