ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the practice of using textiles to wrap two interesting Mesopotamian objects, cuneiform tablets and foundation figurines. It shows how these objects transformed from figurines and clay tablets into artefacts that protect public buildings, such as temples or palaces. The chapter reflects on the relationship between content and container; the practice of wrapping and its symbolic meanings; and the perception of materials as perishable objects. It presents the materials within their geographical and chronological framework. It discusses some ideas about the relationship between contents and containers and about the possible meanings underpinning the act of wrapping foundation deposit objects with a perishable material such as a textile. It offers some reflections about the relationship between power, memories, and the wrapping of objects. The function of the textiles must be symbolic rather than protective because textiles are more delicate than metal figurines. In Mesopotamia burial constituted a pervasive and ritual idiom; people buried valuables, sacrifices, and their dead.