Ricerc@Sapienza

The Italian Archaeological Expedition to Nigin of Sapienza University of Rome and University of Perugia started excavations at Tell Zurghul in 2015: a survey and three excavations seasons were carried out in the period between 2016 and 2017. This volume presents the results of the archaeological explorations with the analysis of the stratigraphic and architectural contexts of Area A, B and D as well as the study of the pottery from the contexts so far investigated and the survey in Area C in the western sector of the site.

In this article, I propose a holistic interpreta- tion of a well-defined corpus of third millennium BC in- scribed artefacts, focusing on the relationships between text (format and content), the artefact, and its original destination and deposition. I aim to underline the social dimension of inscribed objects and, in general, of writing in votive depositional contexts. As a case study, I have focused on the inscribed artefacts found in level VIIB of the Inanna Temple at Nippur.