Special Collections

3.1. Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet. 2041 BC.
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3.2. Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet. 2041 BC.
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The tablets' summary translation is as follows: 37 sheep and goats from 12 named Amorites from the town of BÀD and 7 sheep and goats from 3 named Sumerian officials delivered to Abbasaga who expended them for various unnamed purposes. The transaction took place on the 27th day of the month of Akiti in the 5th year of King Amar-Suen [2041 B.C.].

3.3. Babylonian Cuneiform Tablet. 1763 BC.

3.4. Woodcut from Comenius Orbis Pictus. 1701.

This leaf, from a book written by the Czech Bishop Johan Amos Comenius (1592-1670), was first published in a German-Latin version in Nuremburg in 1658. It was designed, through 150 illustrated chapters, to teach the student Latin with the help of short but memorable sentences in the child's own tongue. Considered by some scholars to be the first picture book for children, the Orbis brought into the home a complete world, combining subjects and modes of life from near and far. This obverse side of this plain woodcut, from a 1701 printing, symbolizes gallantry. The obverse side of the artifact provides advice on frugal eating and drinking.

3.5. Deed of Indenture. 1774.

This document is a deed of indenture dated November 7, 1774 between Johnathan Pugh and Andreas Millslagle. An Indenture was a legal contract between two parties, particularly for indentured labour or a term of apprenticeship but also for certain land transactions.

3.6. Land Grant. 1779.

This document appears to detail the sale of land from Thomas Fairfax to Henry Baker of Frederick County, Virginia.

3.7. "A Map of America between the Latitudes 40 and 70, and Longitudes 45 and 180 West: Exhibiting Mackenzie's Track from Montreal to Fort Chipewyan, & from thence to the North Sea in 1789, & to the West Pacific Ocean in 1793". October 15, 1801.
Please see the Washington State Historical Society Digital Collections for a digitized version of this artifact.