ABSTRACT
In 1896 T.G. Pinches published a cuneiform tablet of a hitherto unknown type differing from all other cuneiform documents by its peculiar onomastic and dialect (CTII, pi. 21). Soon, tablets of the same type, acquired at the antiquities market in Kirkuk, began to appear in European museums. The 'Kirkuk tablets' aroused considerable scholarly interest but it was soon evident that a more regular acquisition of tablets through archaeological excavations was out of the question because of the modern occupation of the site.
