3D prints have been promised as a saviour of material truth, a path to universal primary source accessibility. By replicating a Babylonian tablet using several 3D print technologies, we show that 3D scanning and printing are as fraught as any other representational technology. The scans and prints alike feature technological infidelities, some of which can be readily mistaken for the real thing. 3D prints might still have their use if approached appropriately. The methods of traditional textual scholarship might be just the framework that we need.