DOCSLIB.ORG

A New Reading of the Colophon of Šimâ Milka (“Hear the Advice”) from the Maison Aux Tablettes

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A New Reading of the Colophon of Šimâ Milka (“Hear the Advice”) from the Maison Aux Tablettes 273 bIblIOThECA ORIENTAlIS lxxIV N° 3-4, mei-augustus 2017 274 AN AssyRIAN TEAcHER AT UgARIT? A NEW READINg OF THE COLOpHON OF Šimâ MILKA (“HEAR THE ADvIce”) FROm THE MAISON AUX TABLEttES Yoram COHEN Abstract This article presents a new reading of the colophon of the wisdom composition named Šimâ Milka found at Ugarit. It argues that the teacher of the student who copied the manu- script was called Aššur-rēši-išši and that he was probably an Assyrian present at the city, active in the archive of the Mai- son aux Tablettes. Discussion will also be given to the stu- dent’s name and title as well as to the identity of the deity behind the logogram DPAP.PAP. Since its publication by Nougayrol in 1968, the four-line colophon of the Šimâ Milka (“Hear the Advice”) manuscript recovered from the Maison aux tablettes (RS 22.439 = Ugaritica 5, no. 163) has caused problems of reading and resisted easy interpretation.1) I offer here my reading and interpretation of the colophon. I will argue that the teacher of the student who copied this composition in Ugarit was named Aššur-rēšī-išši, and that on the basis of his name, we can identify him as an Assyrian. The colophon which is found on the reverse of the tablet at the end of colum iv, reads as follows: 1 šu mŠip-ṭi A šid DUMU The hand of Šipṭu, scribe, son ARAD-LUGAL x?[…] of Abdi-Milki […] 2 GÁB-ZU-ZU šá mA+LIM+GÌR- student of Aššur-rēšī-i[šši] SAG-Í[L-(ši)] 3 ARAD DAG u DPAP.PAP servant of Nabû and DPAP.PAP 4 ARAD DAMAR-UTU u servant of Marduk and D Ṣar-pa-ni-tu4 Ṣarpānītu. 1) The manuscript of Šimâ Milka was found in Room 4 of the Maison aux tablettes archive; for the archive, see Roche 2013; Pedersén 1998, 79; van Soldt 1991, 182–192. For additional (minor) discussions about the Šimâ Milka colophon that are not mentioned here, see Clemens 2001, 930, n. 1457. For the Šimâ Milka wisdom composition, see Cohen 2013, no. 1, and Sallaberger 2010. The author wishes to thank Ran Zadok for his critical reading of this article and learned remarks. Research for this chapter was supported by an Israel Science Foundation Grant (no. 241/15; ‘The Produc- tion and Dissemination of Scholarly and School Textual Materials during the Late Bronze Age: An Integrated Research Project’; together with Prof. Yuval Goren, Ben Gurion University of the Negev). 275 AN ASSYRIAN TEAChER AT uGARIT? 276 Fig. 1 (RS 22.439 = Ugaritica 5, no. 163, rev. col. iv, colophon; after Nougayrol 1968, 437) The Student’s Name and Title Reading the alleged *UM correctly as šid, Arnaud (2007, m The usual order of the details supplied in the colophons of 178) suggested Šip-ṭi-a SANGA. However, the title SANGA never appears in Ugarit colophons. In addition, the rendering Ugarit is as follows. First comes the student’s name and his m professional standing—always a scribe. Even when desig- of the scribe’s name as Šip-ṭi-a with A taken as a hypoco- IA nated as GÁB-ZU-ZU, “pupil”, students in the Ugarit colo- ristic ending is difficult. We would expect the signs (for LÚ LÚ LÚ -ya; acc.) or PI (for -yu; nom., or -yi; gen.), if a hypocoristic phons are titled as DUB.SAR, A.BA, or UMBISAG (a unique 8 case).2) Then the teacher’s name is provided.3) Only then ending was intended. ) At the very least, we can amend the writing to mŠip-ṭi-<i>a ➝ *Šipṭīya and assume a hypocoristic appears the father’s name, followed by a list of the patron 9 gods of the scribal arts. In this colophon, however, for no form with the ending -ya (and in the wrong case). ) Assum- apparent reason, the filiation is fronted (l. 1) and appears ing a simple although unconventional writing of A after /i/ to represent -ya, can also be considered a possibility. after what appears to be the student’s professional designa- m tion. Only then appears the name of the teacher (l. 2).4) Van Soldt (1988, 316 and n. 33) read the name as Šip-ṭi In the Šimâ Milka colophon, it is not immediately obvious and suggested to understand the writing of A-UM as a form how to read the student’s name or his title and where comes of A+šID for ÚMBISAG (= šIDxA; Borger, MZL, no. 489), the break between the two. Nougayrol suggested to read the “scribe”. Van Soldt’s reading of the title may be considered UM šid sequence of the opening signs of the colophon as diš-ME-DI- as a possibility (especially when the sign is not but ), ÚMBISAG A-UM. He read the student’s name as either mŠip-ṭi-a-um or in spite of the fact that does not appear in the colo- mŠip-ṭi. The reading mŠip-ṭi-a-um has been accepted by phons from Ugarit. There is but one attestation in an Ugarit 5 colophon, however, of a sign from the same family of signs, Huehnergard (1989, 344: Šipṭia᾿um). ) However, the ending 10 -um is highly unconventional in names in Ugarit;6) and in UMBISAG (= šID; Borger, MZL, no. 485). ) In addition, the DIRI addition, the sign in question is not UM, but šid.7) Ugarit =(w)atru lexical list (MSL 15, 79, l. 11) brings us the following equation: [UM-B]I-SAG = šIDxA = ṭup-šar- rum.11) This demonstrates that the sign šidxA, i.e., ÚMBISAG 2) See van Soldt 1988. For the unique title LÚUMBISAG, MSL SS 1, 75, was known at Ugarit. source A, see below. 3) The Ugarit colophons were collected by van Soldt 1988, to which one can add a few more: RS 22.431 (unpublished; see Nougayrol 1968, 290, 15’), RS 22.227B+ (MSL 15, 67 [Tablet III]), RS 20.230 (MSL SS 1: (PRU 3, 117) and RS 18.2 (PRU 4, 201), all documents, incidentally, writ- 75 [A]), RS 34.166 (André-Salvini 1991, no. 52), RS 92.2008 (André- ten by Nu῾mu-Rašap; see van Soldt 1991, 30–31,­ for a discussion regarding Salvini 2001, 238; André-Salvini 2004, 152) and Hani 77/9 (Arnaud and the identification of this scribe with one by the same name whose sons were Kennedy 1979, 319–321). The Ugarit colophons, mostly unpublished, still active in the Maison aux tablettes. await a comprehensive treatment. 8) Gröndahl 1967, 49–56; van Soldt 2014; van Soldt 2012a. An extra 4) Hence, it is not that the title inserts itself between name and filiation, -a at the end of names (always Ca-a) represents either a long (ā) or con- but that the usual position of the filiation has been changed and fronted (cf. tracted vowel (â). van Soldt 1988, 316, n. 33). There are cases when the filiation comes 9) Compare RS 19.33 (PRU 6, no. 54), l. 8: IGI mŠi-ip-ṭí-yu(PI), follow- directly after the scribe’s name, but in these instances no other details are ing the copy (PRU 6, pl. xx); correct therefore Nougayrol’s transliteration provided; cf. RS 23.495 (Ugaritica 5, no. 121; van Soldt 1988, 317 [s]) and and subsequent incorrect citations found in, e.g., van Soldt 1991, 309, RS 3.318 (MSL 6, 4; van Soldt 1988, 318 [v]). Note that the order of the n. 115 and del Olmo Lete and Sanmartín 2015, 913. The form Šipṭīyu various components in the colophon can change. For example, in RS demonstrates that the name could have a hypocoristic form, here in the 22.346+ (MSL 10, 37; van Soldt 1988, 315 [h]), the patron gods appear nom. case. A similar form is attested in an alphabetic text, although it is before and not as customary after the filiation. possibly broken: ṯpṭy[…]; KTU3 4:140:2. 5) See also van Soldt 1991, 20 and 24. 10) Considering that in the edition (MSL SS 1, 75) a proper distinction 6) Gröndahl 1967, 305 and 332; 295 and 358 list only two dubious was made between the two signs; a copy is not available; see above nn. 2 names ending in -um. and 3. 7) See Huehnergard 1989, 368 (nos. 134 and 138) and 380 (no. 314). 11) The equation is found also in the Ugarit Middle Babylonian Gram- Note, however, that the sign DUB when writting LÚDUB.SAR can be written matical Texts; see MSL SS 1, 82, ll. 182–184: DUB-SAR = ṭup-šar-rum; as šID. E.g., RS 15.127(+?)15.131 (PRU 3, 132–133), RS 15.143+164 A-BA = MIN; [U]M-BI-SAGšIDxA = MIN. See also PRU 3, 211 and pl. x (RS 12.47). 277 bIblIOThECA ORIENTAlIS lxxIV N° 3-4, mei-augustus 2017 278 To conclude, because the writing A+šID for ÚMBISAG is not Akkadian readings or learned interpretations.16) In this Kas- attested, perhaps the most acceptable solution will be to con- site name-list, Column ii, 17 reads: mLÀL-ÚR-ALIM-MA = sider the following reading: mŠip-ṭi-<i>a <LÚ>ÚMBISAG, mDÙG-GA-ut-li-DEn-líl (Ṭāb-utli-Enlil; AHw, 1444a; CAD/U– “Šipṭī<y>a, <s>cribe”. W, 335). This name is attested also in Kassite economic Regardless of the exact reading of the student’s title, we documentation.17) Hence the equation between ALIM and can conclude, following either van Soldt or Arnaud, that the Enlil is not solely a learned Kassite construction.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Three Conquests of Canaan
    ÅA Wars in the Middle East are almost an every day part of Eero Junkkaala:of Three Canaan Conquests our lives, and undeniably the history of war in this area is very long indeed. This study examines three such wars, all of which were directed against the Land of Canaan. Two campaigns were conducted by Egyptian Pharaohs and one by the Israelites. The question considered being Eero Junkkaala whether or not these wars really took place. This study gives one methodological viewpoint to answer this ques- tion. The author studies the archaeology of all the geo- Three Conquests of Canaan graphical sites mentioned in the lists of Thutmosis III and A Comparative Study of Two Egyptian Military Campaigns and Shishak and compares them with the cities mentioned in Joshua 10-12 in the Light of Recent Archaeological Evidence the Conquest stories in the Book of Joshua. Altogether 116 sites were studied, and the com- parison between the texts and the archaeological results offered a possibility of establishing whether the cities mentioned, in the sources in question, were inhabited, and, furthermore, might have been destroyed during the time of the Pharaohs and the biblical settlement pe- riod. Despite the nature of the two written sources being so very different it was possible to make a comparative study. This study gives a fresh view on the fierce discus- sion concerning the emergence of the Israelites. It also challenges both Egyptological and biblical studies to use the written texts and the archaeological material togeth- er so that they are not so separated from each other, as is often the case.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Hittite Queenship: Women
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Hittite Queenship: Women and Power in Late Bronze Age Anatolia A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures by Michael Moore 2018 © Copyright by Michael Moore 2018 !i ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Hittite Queenship: Women and Power in Late Bronze Age Anatolia by Michael Moore Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor Elizabeth F. Carter, Chair Though scholars have long acknowledged the unusual prominence of royal women in the Late Bronze Age, few studies have examined the relationship between women and power. What were the sources of a royal woman’s power, and how did they differ from those of men? To what extent could a queen exercise control over members of the royal court? What techniques of resistance did royal women adopt to contest the will of the king, and to what extent were those tactics successful? This dissertation seeks to answer these questions. Turning first to the religious sphere, I demonstrate that festivals and religious ceremonies were arenas in which the king and queen displayed royal power and in which the social hierarchies of the Hittite court were created and reinforced. Turning next to conflicts within the royal household, one sees that royal women utilized a variety of tools to resist the will of the king. The power of the king should not be viewed as unidirectional; rather, any attempt of the king to exercise power over members of his family was frequently met with resistance in the form of violence or witchcraft.
    [Show full text]
  • The Hittite Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
    oi.uchicago.edu THE HITTITE DICTIONARY OF THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO i oi.uchicago.edu VOLUME Å Editorial Staff Theo van den Hout, Executive Editor Harry A. Hoffner†, Senior Editor Hans G. Güterbock†, Senior Editor Petra M. Goedegebuure, Senior Editor Richard H. Beal and Oğuz Soysal, Junior Editors Dennis R. M. Campbell, Billie Jean Collins, Alice Mouton, Ahmed Ünal, Assistants Gary M. Beckman, H. Craig Melchert, Gernot Wilhelm, Consultants ii oi.uchicago.edu THE HITTITE DICTIONARY OF THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Edited by Hans G. Güterbock†, Harry a. Hoffner†, tHeo P. J. van den Hout, and Petra M. GoedeGebuure Å Published by THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 2019 oi.uchicago.edu ISBN 978-1-61491-047-3 (Set 0-918986-26-5) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 79-53554 The Oriental Institute ©2019 by The University of Chicago • All Rights Reserved The preparation of this volume of the Chicago Hittite Dictionary was made possible in part by grants from the Program for Research Tools and Reference Works of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent Federal Agency, as well as gifts from the Salus Mundi Foundation, Tucson, AZ, Mr. Philip Elenko, New York, Mr. Howard Hallengren, Chicago, Drs. Audrius and Sigita Plioplys, Chicago, Dr. Walter and Mrs. Susan Güterbock, Anacortes, WA, and many other donors. Text was entered into Macintosh computers by the staff of the Hittite Dictionary and formatted by the staff of the Publications Office of the Oriental Institute. CuneiformOriental and HittiteDictionary by Ecological Linguistics.
    [Show full text]
  • Print This Article
    Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections The Amarna Letters from Tyre as a Source for Understanding Atenism and Imperial Administration 1 Luis Robert Siddall School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London and Macquarie University, Sydney A It has long been recognized that the corpus of letters om Tyre discovered in the Amarna letter archive contain a number of Egyptianisms. Scholars have also recognized the presence of some West Semitic traits in the corpus, which are typical of the letters om Syro-Palestine. However, the intellectual context of those linguistic/cultural traits of the letters has not been adequately investigated. is paper examines the Egyptianisms and West Semiticisms in the light of the contemporary religious movement in Egypt, Atenism, and the New Kingdom imperial administration. We conclude that the evidence om these letters indicates that more traditional aspects of Egyptian royal ideology might still have been current during the Amarna Period and propose that there was a pragmatic purpose for the Egyptianisms and West Semiticisms: Abi-milki, the governor of Tyre, was attempting to appeal to the Egyptian imperial administration. ne of the most fascinating eras of ancient Near Eastern spondence, which chiefly comprised requests or reports to the history is the Amarna Period (1352–1336 bce ), late royal court. Abi-milki was concerned with two main agendas: Oin the Eighteenth Dynasty of the Egyptian New the impending threat posed by Zimredda of Sidon and the des - Kingdom. e period is renowned for the large- scale religious perate need for resources (military, wood, and water). and artistic changes introduced by Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, ese letters have been the focus of previous scholarly inves - who would rename himself Akhenaten.
    [Show full text]