The earliest documented evidence of collecting comes from excavations of the Persian tombs at Ur in what is now Iraq. A collection of eleven hundred seal impressions on lumps of clay found there date to the fifth century B.C.E.
–from Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee’s Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things
a certain acquaintance famous for his collections: I’d love to see an episode of Hoarders of Ur
me: “now, Ub, do you need all 1100 of these seal lumps? or could we agree to let some go?”
him: no, he needs all of them
me: “look, this one has mouse droppings on it.”
him: “what about this seal…it looks rain-damaged”
me: “Ub, you can’t clean clay. it’s CONTAMINATED.”
him: “Yes I can! That’s the num-shub of Enki! It’s worth a lot!”
me: “what about this one? you’ve never even taken it out of the straw!”
him: this makes me wish Mr. Show was still on
I meant “nam-shub of Enki” but this was just an IM window when I typed it. People, of course I know how to spell nam-shub of Enki!