Exemplars of Kingship. Art, Tradition, and the Legacy of the Akkadians

275 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE 276

ASSYRIOLOGIE

EPPIHIMER, M. — Exemplars of Kingship. Art, Tradition, and the Legacy of the Akkadians. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2019. (23,5 cm, XIV, 312). ISBN 978-0- 19-090301-5. £ 64.00. The Akkadian rulers, and the Akkadian period in general, established a model of kingship for later Mesopotamian 277 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXVII N° 3-4, mei-augustus 2020 278 times—what Melissa Eppihimer in her recent volume calls each chapter with her assessment of the extent of the Akka- an exemplar. Beginning almost as soon as the end of the dian visual legacy. The primary means by which Eppihimer short-lived Akkadian dynastic rule (ca. 2334-2154 BCE), evaluates the Akkadian legacy is through close analysis of stories and memories about these charismatic kings, most the formal and visual features of the artworks, and she excels notably the dynastic founder Sargon and his grandson in this approach. She draws specifically upon the methodo- Naram-Sin, circulated in the literary and elite spheres of both logical contribution of the early 20th century scholar Aby southern and northern Mesopotamia. The textual memory of Warburg (pp. 30-35), and in particular, his interest in the the Akkadians is well known and extensively studied. Eppi- “continuities and transformations” of the visual tradition himer, however, turns her attention to the realm of the visual (p. 30). Warburg’s method relies heavily on visual and for- and material, considering if and how images of the Akkadian mal comparisons among works of art through which a chron- kings continued to have afterlives in subsequent periods of ological sequence of influence and borrowing can be mapped. Mesopotamia. Her book examines three genres of Akkadian Eppihimer finds inspiration in Warburg’s concept of the image-making—steles, free-standing statues, and cylinder afterlife (Nachleben) of artistic images, which Warburg seals—tracing echoes, resonances, and allusions over the attributed to a psychological force embedded in specific vis- course of more than 1500 years. ual formulas. Using Warburg’s approach, Eppihimer tries to A short introductory chapter (chapter 1) presents the basic determine the amount of Akkadian legacy through formal premise of the study, namely an investigation into the visual comparisons, as well as the degree of intentional referencing responses to the Akkadian rulers and their statecraft, and behind the formal connections. As she states, “Visual formu- outlines the course of the five subsequent chapters (chap- las are not iconographic motifs with fixed meanings, but ters 2-6). Chapter 2, “Exemplars of Kingship and the Art of transiconographic forms that bring an emotional charge to Memory,” reviews what we know about the Akkadian period the subject matter” (p. 35). Perhaps unsurprisingly, she sees and how we know it. Eppihimer introduces the concept of diminished intentional referencing inhering in the Akkadian cultural memory as a specific subset of social memory, draw- “echoes” over time. ing on the seminal work by Jan Assmann, noting that much Chapter 3 looks at the best-known Akkadian works—ste- of what we know today about the Akkadian kings derives les—and in particular the victory stele of Naram-Sin, exca- from “cultural memory texts” belonging to the elite sphere vated by the French at Susa at the end of the 19th century and (p. 13). With respect to the world of material images, she now housed in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. Eppihimer argues notes the scholarship on the Akkadian word ṣalmu (typically that there has been an over-emphasis on the Naram-Sin stele translated as “image”), which has demonstrated the capacity in modern scholarship, which has in turn led to a neglect of for material images to “make something present,” thus other Akkadian-period steles that have survived. She rightly allowing them to participate in “cultural memory practices,” notes that any later image-making needs to be considered in here looking to the work of Ruth Van Dyke and Susan light of the full spectrum of Akkadian artworks. She then Alcock (pp. 14-15). Eppihimer, however, makes clear that analyzes several of these later works, employing her Warbur- unlike the literary tradition, in which stories about Akkadian gian method, including rock reliefs in the Zagros mountains rulers were created after the end of their dynasty, there are that date to the centuries immediately following the end of no “posthumous” images of Akkadian kings. That is, there the Akkadian state; two Middle Bronze Age steles, one are no identifiable images created in later periods that explic- attributed to Shamshi-Adad found at the end of the 19th cen- itly depict a known Akkadian king. Instead, she looks to tury in the area of Mardin, the other belonging to Dadusha “visual references to the Akkadian past in less direct and of Eshnunna found accidentally in the area of Tell Asmar more allusive forms” (p. 16). In order to access these refer- (ancient Eshnunna) in 1983; and last, the Bisitun relief of ences, Eppihimer formulates an approach derived from the Darius I from the end of the 6th century BCE located in the concept of interpictoriality, in which a visual allusion to Zagros mountains. Her conclusions are two-fold: on the one a known image is deliberately inserted into a different image hand, she sees a strong impact of Akkadian victory imagery (pp. 21, 195). Such an approach, as Eppihimer herself notes, in general on later reliefs and steles, although, it diminishes relies on a consideration of both the producer’s and the audi- in its explicit references over time; on the other hand, she ence’s visual literacy (what she calls “intervisuality” after cautions that we need to nuance our interpretations of the Michael Camille), a particularly tricky element to discern for Naram-Sin stele and the degree of its specific influence, reaf- the ancient world. She proposes that this can be attempted firming its exceptional status within the history of art, but through a “combination of visual and contextual clues” determining that it did not necessarily lead to direct influence (p. 22). over the designs of later monuments. Each of the following three chapters are devoted to one Chapter 4 turns to three-dimensional sculpture and grap- genre of art object—steles, statues, and cylinder seals—and ples with our modern problems in dating and attributing each follows a similar organization. After introducing the Akkadian-appearing statues. Eppihimer argues that our ina- specific object type, Eppihimer provides a historiographic bility to date several statues indicates the strength of the deconstruction of earlier scholarship in order to highlight visual legacy of the Akkadian predecessors, a legacy which biases in interpretation. She then analyzes a series of later has been generally overlooked due to the out-sized emphasis artworks to discern the degree and type of visual connections accorded to the Naram-Sin stele. She identifies two types with Akkadian examples. These case studies span the extent of post-Akkadian statues: those that show characteristics of of Mesopotamian art production from the period immediately Akkadian statues but are clearly post-Akkadian in date, such following the Akkadian period (traditionally referred to as as those of Gudea; and statues that appear Akkadian but are the Neo-Sumerian period, but now more commonly referred not so easily dated. The problem is complicated by the fact to as the Post-Akkadian and Ur III periods) down to the first that no Akkadian period kingly statues have been found in millennium BCE in Assyria and Babylonia. She concludes situ in Akkadian-period archaeological levels, and all that do 279 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE 280 survive are fragmentary. Some have inscriptions, interest- Eppihimer’s book offers a close reading of royal imagery ingly mostly belonging to Manishtushu, but many do not. from the Akkadian period forward and should be of interest Those rulers closest in time to the Akkadian period, in par- to scholars of all periods of Mesopotamian history. The ticular Gudea, exhibit several forms that Eppihimer sees as organization flows logically, and Eppihimer is clear and dependent on Akkadian predecessors, even as they diverge explicit in her argumentation. Her reliance on close visual in significant ways that permit their clear dating to a post- analysis along the lines of a connoisseurial approach in order Akkadian period. Eppihimer then traces one particular fea- both to attribute works to specific periods (Akkadian or oth- ture of Akkadian statues, garment fringes, considering sculp- erwise) and to trace the Akkadian legacy can, however, open ture from Mari and Eshnunna. As in the case of the steles some of her conclusions to debate. For example, given how and rock reliefs, Eppihimer concludes that the statues pro- small and variable the surviving corpus of Akkadian steles duced closest in time to the Akkadian period present the and statues is, it is not entirely clear to this reviewer that one strongest connections, for example, seeing the early post- can distinguish between the many possibilities that Eppi- Akkadian statues of Ishtup-ilum, Iddin-ilum, and Puzur- himer outlines with respect to the fragmentary life-sized Eshtar from Mari as “deliberate recuperations” of Akkadian statue from Susa depicting a standing figure above a pedestal forms (p. 121). of defeated enemies (usually identified as Manishtushu; Eppihimer turns to the small-scale arts of cylinder seals in p. 129). Here, the age-old conundrum of stylistic analysis the fifth chapter, investigating the motif of what she calls the rears its head: Eppihimer accurately enumerates the ways in curly-haired hero (Lahmu). The figure, depicted on a large which the statue “deviates from the canonical form of Man- number of Akkadian seals, is shown nude except for a belt ishtushu’s statues”; however, it is not evident whether this and sports a distinctive hairstyle with three curls on either deviation represents a later (mis)understanding of an Akka- side of the face. He most often appears in contest scenes in dian canonical form, a regional variant of the Akkadian which he grapples with an upright standing animal or animal- period, or even simply an accepted Akkadian-period variant human hybrid, typically a bull, water buffalo, or bull-man that remains less well known to us today because of acci- (Akkadian: kusarikku). While the chapter focuses primarily dents of preservation. Indeed, in discussing the possibility on the visual legacy of the Lahmu motif, Eppihimer also that this statue may have represented a later Elamite ruler, explores the broader legacy of Akkadian seals during the Puzur-Inshushinak, Eppihimer notes that “Puzur-Inshushinak Middle Assyrian period, a time during which glyptic produc- could have easily represented himself in a variety of ways” tion assumes several of the forms and styles characteristic of (p. 131). Identifying stylistic convergences and divergences the Akkadian period, such as the depiction of landscape, may be relatively straightforward, but explaining them is sinuous (“bent”) tree trunks, and the open composition of often a much more difficult exercise. On the whole, Eppi- contest scenes. These “echoes,” Eppihimer concludes, do himer is judicious in her stylistic interpretations; although, not indicate direct influence from Akkadian glyptic, but at least for this reviewer, differences of opinions did occa- rather operate as general aspects of Assyrian kingship medi- sionally arise. ated through earlier Assyrian and Babylonian models. She Another complication for Eppihimer’s mode of argumen- decides ultimately that the Middle Assyrian kings did not tation resides in the need to establish primacy of occurrence have “a desire to imitate the Akkadians,” nor was there any in order to support claims for later influence. As with stylis- direct familiarity with Akkadian art as inspiration (p. 167). tic analysis, chronological precedence depends on a critical As an argument, this is a fine line to walk, and one wonders mass of evidence, which may be lacking for the Akkadian whether it has to be an either/or situation. The discussion of and other ancient Mesopotamian periods. For example, the curly-haired hero comes to similar conclusions in her ­Eppihimer suggests that basket-bearing figures from Gudea’s analysis of the colossal relief sculptures depicting two vari- reign owe their inspiration to Akkadian statues (p. 110). ants from Sargon II’s palace at Khorsabad. The long history Aside from the lack of certainty that these foundation figu- of Akkadian forms throughout Assyrian history makes it rines depict Gudea himself, their inspiration may be more questionable to Eppihimer that the Khorsabad heroes “owe complex, combining features from the Akkadian period with anything directly to Akkadian visual prototypes” (p. 173). those from the preceding Early Dynastic period. Similarly, in In the end, Eppihimer does not see Akkadian glyptic exert- tracing the iconography of the curly-haired hero figure, ing the same degree of impact on later visual arts as was ­Eppihimer provides only scant mention of the copious depic- the case for the large-scale sculpture, and she suggests that tions of such a figure, especially on glyptic, from the Early their abundance and accessibility allowed them to escape Dyanstic period (e.g. on p. 145 and p. 197). Throughout, monopolization. Eppihimer’s task of tracing specific strands of the Akkadian Eppihimer concludes the book with a final chapter (Chap- legacy is complicated by the need to distinguish between ter 6) summarizing her results. She returns to the concepts of features that can be attributed to generally shared aspects of interpictoriality and intervisuality to determine how memo- Mesopotamian kingship (what she calls intervisuality) and ries of Akkadian kingship and access to Akkadian royal those with connections specifically to Akkadian kingship images contributed to the design and reception of new (interpictoriality). The book might have developed more images. Overall, she finds that images produced closer to the fully a consideration of how Akkadian royal imagery itself time of the Akkadian period have the strongest connections, built upon, adapted, and reshaped earlier (pre-Akkadian) although even without specific visual models, later images Mesopotamian tropes. could contain allusions of Akkadian kingship through inter- These issues aside, Exemplars of Kingship is itself an mediaries. The Lahmu or curly-haired hero figure, however, exemplar of how to conduct broad-ranging art historical she views as less tied to Akkadian kingship. Eppihimer then scholarship on ancient Mesopotamian art. The sweep of cov- acknowledges other Mesopotamian rulers, such as Gilgamesh erage is particularly impressive given the meticulous atten- and the Ur III kings, as further potential royal exemplars. tion to the factual evidence; every work examined is pro- 281 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXVII N° 3-4, mei-augustus 2020 282 vided with its excavation, collection, and scholarly history. discusses the exchange of gifts and dynastic marriages to Eppihimer then situates her careful visual analyses in rich forge ties between two royal houses. Especially the part on theoretical approaches of cultural memory studies that pro- marital policies is interesting, this topic has not been studied vide a contextual framework within which these ancient art- recently and it serves as a good introduction, dealing with works assume new relevance. dowries, bride prices, and the status of the newly married spouses. The Johns Hopkins University Marian H. Feldman Chapter 7 is the last and perhaps the most interesting chap- April 2020 ter because it is a diachronic study of Old Babylonian, Hit- tite, and Neo-Assyrian treaty texts on the one hand and the alliances found in the Bible on the other hand, especially * those between Yhwh and his people in Exodus 19-24 and * * Deuteronomy 5-10. In his conclusions Charpin underscores that there was CHARPIN, D. — « Tu es de mon sang ». Les alliances dans indeed a development, albeit not linear, in the practices of le Proche-Orient ancien. Société d’édition Les Belles forming an alliance, especially between the Old Babylonian Lettres / Collège de France, Paris, 2019. (21 cm, 337). period (2000-1600 BCE) and the first millennium BCE. The ISBN 978-2-251-44890-9. € 21,–. central part of forming an alliance, or a vassal treaty for that This is the second book that has been published as the matter, was however always a solemn oath by the gods. result of Dominique Charpin’s yearly series of public lec- In conclusion, for those new to the material Tu es de mon tures at the Collège de France. These lectures are intended sang will serve as a good introduction to alliances and trea- for lay audiences but at the same time provide in-depth ties in the Ancient Near East. For those already acquainted, investigations of carefully selected topics. The book reflects it provides numerous big and small insights stemming from this approach, being both accessible to non-specialists but Charpin’s erudition and unique approach to the material. also providing enough interesting material for specialists like Assyriologists and Ancient Historians. Leiden University Rients de Boer The first book resulting from Charpin’s lectures, La Vie February 2020 méconnue des temples mésopotamiens (“The Unknown Life of the Mesopotamian Temples”) dealt with non-religious * functions of temples, such as the temple of the sun god that * * doubled as a tribunal. In Tu es de mon sang (“You Are of My Blood”), Charpin delves into Ancient Near Eastern dip- DEL OLMO LETE, G. — The private archives of Ugarit. lomatic relations and alliances. The book is not limited to A functional analysis. (Barcino Monographica Orienta- the Old Babylonian period (Charpin’s period of preference) lia, 11). Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat de Geografia but covers the history of Mesopotamia between ca. 2300 and i Història, Barcelona, 2018. (24 cm, 177). ISBN 978-84- 600 BCE. 9168-194-6. € 22,–. The book starts with a chapter surveying the history of the discovery of relevant texts. The second chapter deals with Based on the fact that “Tell Ras Shamra-Ugarit is unique rituals, gestures, and speech surrounding the conclusion of because of the presence of several so-called archives, in con- alliances. This is important because certain aspects, such as trast to other archaeological sites in the Near East which the ritual slaughter of a young donkey in 18th century Meso- have preserved sets of tablets, but in general only one archive potamia, informs us about underlying beliefs. A major dis- for each site” (p. 27), the author sets himself the objective of tinction is made between alliances sworn personally or from studying “the role and function of each archive in the politi- a distance. cal setting of Ugaritian society”, specifying that “We do not Alliances and treaties were first made with oral vows. intend to carry out a genre-critical or typological discussion However, they were also put down in writing, chapters 3 of the texts themselves, but to analyse the reasons why they and 4 cover this aspect. Topics discussed are the formal pro- have found their place in a particular archival context, unveil- cedures for establishing a written treaty and the “diplomat- ing consequently the role or function that such an archive ics” of the alliance tablets (i.e. sealing, material, and stor- accomplished in Ugaritian society” (p. 9). The archives age). Chapter 4 focusses on the internal structure of the studied are as follows: The archive of the Great Priest (rb treaty and alliance texts known to us. Especially the clauses khnm, Ảttēnu / Ḫurāṣānu) (pp. 13-25), (bn) ảgpṯr / (Binu) are discussed extensively. The range of clauses include Agapṯarri’s House (pp. 27-54), the archive “Maison aux political ones (such as having the same friends and ene- Tablettes Littéraires” - “Ville Sud” (pp. 55-59), Urtēnu’s mies), political loyalty, keeping secrets, etc. Military clauses archive (pp. 61-63), the archive of Rapānu (pp. 65-76), the revolve around defensive pacts and military aid in case of Ugaritic archives of the “Maison du Lettré” and “Maison de rebellion. Juridical clauses deal with extradition and render- Rašapˀabu” (pp. 77-86), the archive of the so-called “Palais ing impartial justice. Finally, commercial clauses regulate Sud” (pp. 87-92), the archive between the Central Palace and trade and the conduct of merchants between the involved the South Palace (PC/PS) (pp. 93-98), scattered archives alliance partners. and text collections (pp. 99-109), and the set of texts in the Chapter 5 describes the role of the gods as guarantors. “Maison aux Jarres” (pp. 111-112). The author also notes They ensured the good conduct of the alliance partners that “Although the great Palace Archives remain outside our through (often colorful) penalty clauses. In addition, an alli- interest for the time being, we cannot avoid mentioning them ance partner could also be made to swear his own, family’s, as a basic reference point in this topic” (p. 10), so he adds or country’s destruction in case of infringement. Chapter 6 two chapters on the archives of the “Palais Royal” (pp. 113- 283 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE 284

116), and the Ras Ibn Hani archive (pp. 117-112). Each stored” (p. 82). As for the nature of the archive, this house chapter provides the plan(s) of the archive studied. was “a training school. Its chief scribe was responsible for Each chapter lists all the texts found in each archive, the copying and keeping of the archival records of his mas- including texts that are still unpublished; also the archaeo- ter’s affairs of any kind, functioning in this regard as the logical context is very much taken into account. “The pur- actual secretary of the Rašapˀabu’s house and interests” pose of bringing together all these fragmentary texts is to (pp. 83-84). The concentration of the “Maison de Rašapˀabu”/ convey a visual impression of the importance of this archive “Maison du Lettré” and the “archive of Rapānu” in the or library” (p. 48) and in fact, with this information on hand, same urban quarter “makes of it a sort of civil service quar- even someone who is familiar with these archives will not ter” (p. 77). ceased to be amazed at finding (or rediscovering) the wealth One of the author’s key ideas is that the private archives of texts in many of them. So, for example, the first chapter were also schools for scribes. This is what he says, for exam- makes it possible to visualize clearly that a single archive, ple, in the case of the archive of Rašapˀabu: “From this tex- the one called the “Archive of the Great Priest”, produced, tual contents record the image of a ‘notary’ register emerges, among other writings, a whole series of primary religious which not only keeps records of economic private transac- and literary mythological texts (Baal Cycle, Mytheme of tions, susceptible of circumstantial verification, but also has ‘Baal’s Hunting’, Mytheme of Anat, Mytheme of the ỉlm the necessary scribal infrastructure to carry out such written nˁmm), of epic texts (Kirta Epic, Danil-Aqhat Epic, Rpủm records. His owner / titular was ākil kāri [i.e. ‘supervisor of Myth), ritual texts (God lists, Offering lists, Complex lists), the harbour’], as we know according to textual testimony, but an expiation ritual and a prayer, Hurrian texts (often defined he must be credited also to be he himself a scribe, because as “incantations”), letters and administrative texts, lexical only a scribe, namely, someone who knew how to read and texts, Akkadian consonantal texts, as well as hippiatric texts. write, could keep control of the documentation preserved in From an analysis of the composition of the archive and of his house and under his responsibility”, adding that “This the functions peculiar to a rb khnm, “High Priest”, the author qualification could be made extensive to the rest of owners / concludes that this house belonged to “a high civil servant holders of the Ugaritic private archives.” (p. 85; cf. also of the theocratic state, which at the same time was the offi- p. 84: “We may so conclude that any Ugaritic archive was cial archive for the mythico-ritual texts as well as the work- in fact an edubba”, as well as pp. 62 and 75). shop where copies were made and young scribes were trained Instead, in the case of the archives in the royal palace of so effectively” (pp. 23-24). Ugarit, “Faced with the almost complete absence of literary Quite close to the archive of the High Priest was what is and religious texts as well as the modest number of scribal called “Agapṯarri’s House”. The author studies the latter, exercises and lexical material … it must be concluded that together with the one called “Maison du prêtre-magicien” this archive was not a scribal workshop. Its main function and the archive known as “Lamashtu”, because “The three was that of ‘notary office’ in which the royal acts were kept archaeological spaces in question form an interconnected as well as the documentation dealing with the economic area seen from inside, which means that it was owned and interests of the Palace” (p. 114). As for the building called used as a housing unit” (p. 31). He concludes that this house the “Palais Sud”, it seems to have functioned as “a sort of had three main functions, from which “a realistic portrait of mere storehouse or reserve of archival material, probably of (Binu) Agapṯarri” (p. 54) would emerge: “First it is a refer- the Central Palace archive, not specially requested and oper- ence library of classical Akkadian texts of magic perfor- ative” (p. 90). mances … which may have functioned as prototypes and Three appendixes complete the work. The first (pp. 123- guides for forming their own Ugaritic models” (p. 53); sec- 128) is an “Archaeological Register of the Ras Shamra Mis- ondly, it was intended for the “instruction of young people sion”. The second (pp. 129-133) provides a list of “The entering this profession in a true religious attitude towards unpublished syllabic texts from the house of Rapānu”. the patron gods that they must sincerely profess” (p. 54), and The last appendix (pp. 135-164) republishes an article by the in third place “the technical training … of the young magi- author, which originally appeared in Aula Orientalis 33–2 cian as a literate scribe” (p. 54). Together, these two archives (2015), 221-241, with the title “The Marzeaḥ and the Ugaritic – of the High Priest and of Agapṯarri – close to each other Magic Ritual System. A Close Reading of KTU 1.114*”; and also near the sacral temple area, must have formed “a the reason for including it in this volume is “to enhance the sort of cultic-magic residential space” (p. 77) within the city. extraordinary importance that Ugaritians bestowed upon The “Maison aux Tablettes Littéraires” must have been the keeping in their archives … of this kind of records as “a scribal workshop intended mainly for the ‘middle class’ a sort of guarantee of the social and religious institutions of requirements of Ugaritian society” (p. 58), “a school and the town” (p. 135). a notary’s office” (p. 59). The “archive of Rapānu” shows An index of the texts mentioned and discussed would have that this person was not “just a learned and highly confiden- been very useful for consultation of this work. tial scribe, but a high civil servant, possibly the highest pub- Here we can add some short bibliographical notes: lic official at the time” (p. 75). The archives usually called – Maison de Rašapˀabu”: see also the detailed study by “Maison du Lettré” and “Maison de Rašapˀabu” are dis- V. Matoïan, “La maison dite ‘de Rashapabou’: inventaire cussed together because analysis of the texts from the first des objets découverts lors de la fouille de l’édifice et essai “makes clear that there was not such a particular archive” d’interprétation”, in V. Matoïan and M. Al-Maqdissi (p. 79), so that “we can even figure out that that room ‘Mai- (eds.), Études ougaritiques III, Ras Samra-Ougarit XXI, son du Lettré’ was the ‘classroom’ and scriptorium where the Leuven 2013, pp. 157-202. documents were copied and the apprentices’ training took – Urtēnu’s Archive: in note 2 on p. 61 and note 5 on p. 10 place, while the so-called ‘Maison de Rašapˀabu’ was the add S. Lackenbacher and F. Malbran-Labat, Lettres en space where the already written down documents were akkadien de la “Maison d’Urtēnu”. Fouilles de 1994, 285 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXVII N° 3-4, mei-augustus 2020 286

Ras Shamra-Ougarit XXIII, Leuven 2016 (a work our appreciation for having produced a work that will be so included in the final bibliography of the book). To the useful for future studies on the topic. second note add also P. Bordreuil (ed.), Une bibliothèque au sud de la ville, Ras Shamra-Ougarit VII, Paris 1991 CSIC-ILC Madrid Juan-Pablo Vita (also included in the final bibliography). May 2020 – “Maison aux Jarres”: the author states that “this set of texts is not important enough to warrant a functional inter- * pretation” (p. 111); however, the function of this archive * * has been studied in detail by J.-Á. Zamora, “Uso docu- mental y funcionamiento administrativo en Ugarit: la BLOCH, Y. — Alphabet Scribes in the Land of Cuneiform. ‘Casa de las grandes vasijas’”, 7 (2004), pp. 203- ISIMU Sēpiru Professionals in Mesopotamia in the Neo-­ 221. Babylonian and Achaemenid Periods. (Gorgias Studies – : for the most recent archaeological “South Palace” in the Ancient Near East, 11). Gorgias Press LLC, Pis- aspects of this building see V. Matoïan and M. Al- cataway, 2018. (23 cm, XV, 487). ISBN 978-1-4632- Maqdissi, in V. Matoïan ., “Rapport préliminaire sur et al 0635-2. $ 99.00. les activités de la Mission archéologique syro-française de Ras Shamra – Ougarit en 2009 et 2010 (69e et 70e cam- Yigal Bloch offre à la communauté scientifique une étude pagnes)”, Syria 90 (2013), pp. 448-451. ample et importante des « scribes sur peau » à travers son – The Ras Ibn Hani Archive: after this book appeared, the livre Alphabet Scribes in the Land of Cuneiform. Sepīru1) texts from Ras Ibn Hani were published in P. Bordreuil, Professionals in Mesopotamia in the Neo-Babylonian and D. Pardee, and C. Roche-Hawley, Ras Ibn Hani II. Les Achaemenid Periods. L’ouvrage se compose de cinq cha- textes en écriture cunéiforme de l’âge du Bronze récent pitres précédés d’une introduction et suivis d’une conclusion (fouilles 1977 à 2002), Beirut 2019. For the identification générale. Chaque chapitre est lui-même conclu par un résumé of a direct link between this archive and the archives of très utile permettant de suivre sans aucune difficulté le che- the royal palace of Ugarit see D. Pardee, “Deux tablettes minement de la pensée de l’auteur. De l’ensemble ressort une ougaritiques de la main d’un même scribe, trouvées sur impression justifiée de clarté, de bonne organisation de deux sites distincts : RS 19.039 et RIH 98/02”, Semitica l’étude et de finesse de la réflexion. et Classica 1 (2008), pp. 9-38. – Royal Palace Archive: on the archives found in the royal Sources et supports périssables palace of Ugarit see also S. Lackenbacher, “Les archives La question des sources permettant de documenter l’acti- palatiales d’Ugarit”, Ktema 26 (2001), pp. 79-86, ead., vité des sepīru est bien évidemment régulièrement abordée. “Quelques remarques à propos des archives du palais Ces spécialistes de l’écrit utilisaient des supports souples et royal d’Ougarit”, in V. Matoïan (ed.), Le mobilier du périssables, c’est-à-dire le papyrus ou le parchemin pour palais royal d’Ougarit, Lyon 2008, pp. 281-290, as well noter des écritures alphabétiques. Le paradoxe est donc que as A.-S. Dalix and J.-Y. Monchambert, “Du fragment aux les sepīru ne sont pas documentés par les textes qu’ils pro- archives. Le cas de la pièce 68 des ‘archives sud’ du duisaient mais par ceux des ṭupšarru, des scribes spécialistes palais royal d’Ougarit”, in B. Geyer, V. Matoïan and du cunéiforme notant l’akkadien et le sumérien (dans une M. Al-Maqdissi (eds.), De l’île d’Aphrodite au paradis moindre mesure) sur argile. Y. Bloch fait cependant un point perdu, itinéraire d’un gentilhomme lyonnais. En Hom- utile sur ces documents non conservés dont on trouve des mage à Yves Calvet, Ras Shamra-Ougarit XXII, Leuven mentions dans les textes cunéiformes (p. 47-68), ce qui 2015, pp. 127-137. On the correspondence found in the conduit à faire deux remarques concernant les supports palace, the author notes that “a comparative study of this d’écriture utilisés pas les sepīru. set of correspondence with that of the sākinūma’s (Urtēnu Tout d’abord, l’usage du terme « parchemin » est certes and Rapānu…) archives imposes itself. Was possibly the bien répandu et nous l’avons nous-même souvent employé. Royal Palace Archive the last destination of this sort of Cependant, la rigueur aurait imposé de le laisser de côté dans texts while their retention in the officers’ archives was le cadre du présent livre car, historiquement, on ne peut only temporal, during the officer’s duty period?” (p. 114); considérer que la peau fut parcheminée avant le iie siècle this problem has been considered in S. Lackenbacher, “La av. J.-C. tout au moins si l’on suit Pline l’Ancien. Par pru- correspondance internationale dans les archives d’Ugarit”, dence, et dans la mesure où la question du support n’est pas Revue d’assyriologie 89 (1995), pp. 67-76. abordée dans ses aspects techniques, peut-être serait-il bon On the general function of the archives of Ugarit see also de simplement parler de « leather » et en français de F. Rougemont and J.-P. Vita, “Palais et archives: organisa- « peau ». tion administrative des palais dans le monde mycénien et Par ailleurs, l’auteur considère sans doute à juste titre, que, à Ougarit”, in F. Rougemont (ed.), Palais sans archives, dans la très grande majorité des cas, c’est bien la peau qui archives sans palais. Palais, archives et territoires en Orient était utilisée par le sepīru. Il a à ce sujet une discussion inté- et en Égée, Topoi Suppl. 16, Lyon 2020 (in press). Similarly, ressante p. 50 sur la question du papyrus et propose que la on the scribes of Ugarit, R. Hawley, D. Pardee and C. Roche- mention du kušnayāri ša Ḫašdaya du texte 6 (p. 48-49) soit Hawley, “The Scribal Culture of Ugarit”, Journal of Ancient à comprendre non pas comme la mention d’un papyrus Near Eastern History 2 (2015), pp. 229-267. (niāru) mais d’un document sur peau, comme le laisserait The work presents points that could certainly be discussed or given a different nuance, but above all it is an indispensa- 1) Nous utilisons dans ces lignes la normalisation traditionnelle du ble vade mecum for anyone wishing to work on this aspect terme sous sa forme sepīru au lieu de celle de sēpiru choisie par l’auteur. of the culture and history of Ugarit. The author deserves all Son choix est clairement expliqué en note 38, p. 17. 287 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE 288 entendre le déterminatif kuš « peau ». La remarque phénomène se retrouve à l’époque hellénistique, en particu- d’Y. Bloch est logique mais le déterminatif en question pour- lier avec les sepīru du Bīt Rēš dont aucun ne faisait partie rait aussi être mécaniquement appliqué à tout support souple des grandes familles du sanctuaire mais qui n’en consti- de même que le déterminatif giš, « bois », précédant l’idéo- tuaient pas moins un rouage majeur. gramme gištukul ne préjuge pas des matériaux constituant Ce rouage était essentiel à l’époque hellénistique car il les armes. faisait le lien entre l’intérieur du temple et l’autorité royale. Ce lien s’exprimait de différentes façons mais essentielle- Méthode de travail ment tout d’abord par le contrôle des biens et des richesses La méthode employée, pour citer Y. Bloch, « is philologi- du sanctuaire. Ce phénomène est bien mis en évidence par cal. The discussion is based on the content of everyday docu- Y. Bloch dès l’empire néo-babylonienne puis achéménide, ments » (p. 28). L’auteur est, en effet, à la fois rigoureux et à travers l’exemple du contrôle de l’Ebabbar par le qīpu (le systématique dans son approche : chaque point abordé prend représentant du roi) et ses sepīru (p. 114 sq.) ou encore par appui sur les sources qu’il cite et commente systématique- le regard tatillon posé par l’administration royale sur les ment. Si l’on prend par exemple le cas des sepīru présents revenus des prébendes à Babylone et Borsippa (avec le titre dans les temples, on trouve un point sur l’état des sources et de sepīru des prébendes, p. 104-105). L’autre nécessité de des recherches (cf. le cas de l’Ebabbar p. 108 sq.) puis les faire le lien avec l’extérieur reposait sur l’obligation de pro- mentions de sepīru qui sont ensuite présentées dans les textes duire des documents visiblement écrits en araméen. Cette eux-mêmes. Certaines tablettes sont données en traduction production de textes était peut-être au départ la raison d’être seule, lorsqu’elles ont déjà été publiées, d’autres, les inédites, des sepīru mais elle impliquait qu’ils avaient la compétence en traduction, puis à la fin du livre en translitération et copie nécessaire et suffisante pour émettre des documents rece- (p. 413-444). Y. Bloch met ainsi à la disposition du lecteur vables en droit et donc, devant une cour de justice. l’ensemble des données sur lesquelles il travaille et l’on ne Ce point mériterait d’être développé car il permettrait de peut qu’apprécier le sérieux d’une telle démarche. donner une autre interprétation que celle d’Y. Bloch à l’inter- Son approche n’est cependant pas uniquement philolo- vention des sepīru rapportée dans un certain nombre de gique, loin s’en faut, puisqu’au-delà de la traduction et du documents et à leur absence dans d’autres. Par exemple, commentaire savant des textes, il en tire des conclusions his- p. 56, l’auteur remarque que les membres de l’assemblée toriques nombreuses et variées. Ces dernières sont parfois d’Uruk (texte 8) n’ont pas fait appel à un sepīru pour lire une orientées par le principal centre d’intérêt de l’auteur qui est lettre en araméen envoyée par le fameux Gimillu. Son expli- que le sepīru, spécialiste de l’alphabet et des langues ouest cation : un scribe capable de lire l’araméen était toujours sémitiques, doit être replacé dans un contexte ethnolinguis- à disposition à l’époque achéménide (p. 56-57). Ce n’aurait tique (cf. à ce sujet les chapitre 1 et 5) laissant parfois de côté pas été le cas avant la conquête perse. Auparavant, sous sa fonction essentielle et première d’officier et d’enregistreur Nabonide, les cours de justice n’auraient ainsi pas compté de des actes juridiques dans un contexte d’évolution des pra- sepīru. Cela expliquerait l’appel explicite à un tel profession- tiques écrites des États comme des grands organismes. nel dans le texte 1 (p. 31 sq.). Ce célèbre document évoque Mais cette remarque ne fait que mettre en valeur l’axe le recours à un sepīru pour identifier les marquages des principal des recherches d’Y. Bloch qui ne se contente cepen- oblats et des esclaves (l’auteur présente les autres textes dant pas de ce seul point de vue ethnolinguistique. Le sepīru mentionnant la « marque des sepīru » p. 37 sq.). Le texte est en effet régulièrement présenté comme un personnage précise que le sepīru confirma la lecture de tatouages, officiel et l’auteur arrive d’ailleurs aux mêmes conclusions « à Nanaya » et « à Ištar d’Uruk », permettant de donner que M. Jursa, à savoir qu’il constituait ou formait un rouage un statut de dépendant à la personne les portant. Il ne nous capital de l’administration royale achéménide (p. 221) dans semble cependant pas qu’il ait été convoqué par les juges de la supervision de la gestion des ressources des grands sanc- Nabonide (p. 32) du fait de l’incapacité de ces derniers à lire tuaires. Le chapitre 3 met aussi en avant la place détermi- les inscriptions, mais parce qu’il fallait un officier à même nante du sepīru dans l’administration royale elle-même. Cet de confirmer, ou non, la valeur juridique de celles-ci. Cet état de fait bien démontré ne se retrouve cependant pas tou- acte légal aurait donc été enregistré pour valider la décision jours dans les réflexions plus générales de l’auteur. finale de la cour. Dans ces conditions, s’il n’est pas fait men- tion de sepīru, dans le texte 8 (p. 56), pour la lecture d’une Le sepīru, un officier aux compétences juridiques étendues lettre en araméen, ce n’est sans doute pas parce qu’il aurait Ainsi, avant d’être un titre se référant à une origine lin- été automatiquement présent parmi les membres de l’assem- guistique et culturelle, le mot sepīru désigne, dans la docu- blée d’Uruk, mais parce que la lecture d’une lettre en ara- mentation cunéiforme, une fonction administrative et juri- méen ne leur aurait tout simplement posé aucun problème. dique mettant le porteur en capacité de donner des instructions Y. Bloch remarque d’ailleurs p. 44 que les scribes babylo- et de valider des actes écrits. Cependant, le chapitre 5 montre niens (à comprendre comme étant des ṭupšarru) auraient été que l’étude des noms des sepīru révèle parfois une onomas- capables de lire au moins quelques lettres alphabétiques. Or, tique ouest sémitique et, dans tous les cas, une origine sociale il est très probable qu’ils pouvaient faire bien davantage. ne permettant pas de rattacher les « Alphabet Scribes » aux L’auteur en introduction (p. 4-5) et en conclusion (p. 399) notabilités urbaines de Babylonie. C’est un point important insiste sur le fait que l’akkadien est demeuré « the dominant qui, selon nous, aurait pu être mis davantage en avant mais language of Mesopotamia » durant la période que couvre son qui n’est pas pour autant oublié (cf. p. 410). Le sepīru ne livre et même après. Or, tout au long de l’ouvrage, il semble pas en effet avoir fait partie de l’élite urbaine baby- démontre sans doute possible le poids de l’araméen tant dans lonienne que l’on pourrait nommer, sans doute de manière l’administration de l’empire perse (au niveau étatique mais impropre, « akkadienne », c’est-à-dire celle qui avait recours aussi dans les temples, p. 101 sq.) que dans celle de l’empire régulièrement à l’akkadien au moins dans ses écrits. Un tel néo-babylonien (p. 223-242) avec une forte continuité entre 289 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXVII N° 3-4, mei-augustus 2020 290 les deux périodes. La continuité entre les pratiques babylo- beaucoup travaillé, est un exercice d’écriture présentant, sur niennes et perses trouve d’ailleurs un autre point de contact, ses deux premières colonnes, 22 signes cunéiformes utilisés dans le Fars cette fois, à travers les références aux scribes pour rendre un alphabet ouest sémitique (remarquons que la babyloniens se trouvant dans les archives des fortifications lecture de la tablette est rendue difficile car sa mise en page de Persépolis mais qui ne sont pas traitées ici (cf. la publica- n’est pas respectée). Bien qu’il n’y ait ici aucune référence tion de Hallock 1969, dès l’introduction p. 4 et l’édition en à un sepīru, comme le note l’auteur, ce dernier utilise ce ligne des tablettes sur achemenet.com). document à juste titre pour montrer que l’on pouvait connaître Il semble en conséquence qu’une réflexion plus poussée à la fois l’écriture cunéiforme et les écritures alphabétiques. sur la lingua franca de la Babylonie n’aurait pas été super- Quelle que soit la portée de cette tablette, qui n’appartient flue. Les notables babyloniens écrivant ou apparaissant dans d’ailleurs peut-être pas à la période traitée ici (cf. n 162, les textes cunéiformes n’ont pas de raison d’avoir méconnu p. 90), son exploitation atteint son objectif : un spécialiste l’araméen. La formule d’A. Westenholz (2007, p. 293), pour des alphabets pouvait connaître le cunéiforme. Dans ces l’époque hellénistique, permet de remettre en perspective les conditions, il est surprenant que Y. Bloch n’accorde pas la relations entre les langues pour cette époque tardive : même capacité, en sens inverse, aux ṭupšarru. Une question « Adapting Geller’s felicitous expression (Geller 1997, tout aussi pertinente aurait ainsi pu être « Pourquoi y avait-il p. 45), we may describe a member of the temple staff (kiništu) des sepīru dans un monde où l’araméen écrit et parlé était around 250 B. C. as a trilingual individual who spoke Akka- bien compris ? ». Comme nous l’avons vu, la réponse nous dian (and even Sumerian) to his gods and his colleagues, semble reposer sur l’existence d’un statut juridique du sepīru Aramaic to his neighbors, and Greek to his tax collector. He le mettant en position de valider des actes en araméen, la had actually grown up speaking both Akkadian and Ara- langue majoritairement écrite par l’administration royale et maic; and Greek was to him what English is to us today ». donc, en conséquence, probablement aussi par celle des Il s’agit certes d’une formule portant sur l’époque hellénis- temples et des personnes privées. tique mais qui montre tout l’intérêt de penser l’usage des Au-delà de la place du sepīru dans l’administration, on en langues d’un point de vue fonctionnel. Dans l’empire néo- arrive à leur importance dans les procès. Le sepīru, dans le babylonien comme, à plus forte raison, dans celui des Aché- texte 1 apparaît, selon nous, à la fois comme un expert et ménides, une part importante de l’administration royale était comme un officier « assermenté ». Dans le texte 57 (p. 193- rédigée en araméen sur peau ou papyrus et l’on peut en 200), un sepīru, Bau-ēreš, est mentionné comme faisant par- conséquence difficilement adhérer, après avoir lu ce livre, tie d’une cour avec un ṭupšarru et un juge du roi. On peut à ce qu’écrit l’auteur en introduction p. 4-5, à savoir que le contester le fait que le sepīru ait lui-même porté le titre de cunéiforme « remained the main writing system of Mesopo- juge puisque la tablette ne le dit pas explicitement. En tamia (…) down to the conquest of Babylon by Alexander the revanche, sa partie finale (p. 196) cite les autorités validant Great and further on, until the beginning of the Common l’acte : le juge lui-même (ou l’un des juges), le scribe sur Era ». Nuancer cette affirmation en se posant la question des argile rédigeant probablement la tablette faisant foi du juge- langues effectivement parlées et dans quel contexte n’aurait ment et le scribe sur peau lui-même rédacteur de l’original pas été inutile. Il y a en effet une différence entre la langue double sur support périssable. La mention explicite de plu- vivante principalement employée par une population et une sieurs sepīru à un procès est aussi attestée à l’époque hellé- langue en usage dans certaines sphères (celle des sanctuaires nistique dans le texte OECT IX, 42 (McEwan 1984). Ces ou des notabilités urbaines par exemple). Il en va de même derniers semblent avoir été en charge de produire la graphê pour l’écriture, d’autant plus concernant les tablettes cunéi- (l. 5 de la face), l’acte en grec enregistrant les résultats de formes qui sont massivement surreprésentées dans les écrits l’affaire en justice. de l’époque du simple fait de leur conservation possible dans Une réflexion sur la validité juridique des documents pro- les sols mésopotamiens. duits d’une part par les sepīru et, d’autre part, par les ṭupšarru Or, pour reprendre les exemples précédents, dans un cas, aurait été utile. La question qui se pose, en lisant ce livre, est texte 1, un expert (le sepīru) valide la recevabilité d’un docu- de savoir pourquoi, en fin de compte, l’akkadien cunéiforme ment comme le ferait un notaire ; dans l’autre, texte 8, on se continua d’être utilisé aussi massivement à un moment où les contente de lire une lettre en araméen, pièce non officielle. écrits des sepīru paraissaient si importants en droit. Les Les membres de l’assemblée peuvent le faire eux-mêmes, textes de ces derniers, en effet, étaient sans doute plus faci- qu’ils soient ou non sepīru. Cela conduit, nous semble-t-il, lement exploitables pour les membres des cours de justice à postuler que les notables urbains étaient capables de com- dont la formation en écriture cunéiforme et langue akka- prendre, lire et très probablement parler l’araméen au dienne, surtout sous les Achéménides, ne nous semble pas vie siècle, et que le recours à un sepīru dans les procès, par aller de soi pour tous. La question du rapport entre les écrits exemple, ne reposait pas sur la nécessité d’avoir un interprète mais aussi de la réalité archéologique des découvertes est mais plutôt un officier fondé à valider l’authenticité d’un abordée par petites touches (cf. par exemple p. 367 à propos document écrit en alphabet. des archives privées) mais un sous-chapitre traitant en une fois de ces questions aurait été bienvenu. La place de l’akkadien parfois difficile à cerner Y. Bloch se demande si les sepīru pouvaient aussi lire le Origine et sociologie du sepīru cunéiforme, certains d’entre eux tout au moins. C’est l’objet Le sepīru, rouage essentiel de l’administration, et officier du premier chapitre « Sēpiru: specialists in cuneiform too? » aux capacités juridiques importantes pourrait être envisagé et l’auteur y pose la question importante de l’étendue des comme un notable de premier plan. Y. Bloch fait un point savoirs des sepīru et de la porosité avec l’art du ṭupšarru. sérieux sur l’origine culturelle voire ethnique des sepīru La réponse est apportée en partie par l’analyse du texte 15 (chapitre 5), pour autant qu’une langue écrite ou une ono- (BM 25 636, p. 90-95). Ce document compliqué, et déjà mastique puisse être le révélateur fiable d’une ethnie. Or, 291 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE 292 lorsque l’on regarde cette onomastique non pas du point de able, this point is often reinforced by holding up for contrast vue de l’origine culturelle ou ethnique mais sociale, on peut those earlier “oriental” cultures as having been governed by aussi tirer quelques enseignements sur la structure adminis- mysticism and superstition. This is an easy simplification, trative royale et sur celle des temples. Les sepīru, nous and it is one which still circulates through Western Civiliza- l’avons dit, ne semblent pas avoir été issus des notabilités tion textbooks, undergraduate lectures, and popular culture. urbaines akkadophones (ou écrivant l’akkadien). On peut se As the queen of Mesopotamian sciences, divination has demander si l’explication derrière ce phénomène est bien been ripe for dismissal as superstition, and the restricted cir- à rechercher dans l’origine culturelle des sepīru ou s’il ne cles of priests and scholars who were its practitioners as s’agissait pas pour le pouvoir royal néo-babylonien puis charlatans. Glassner sees the beginnings of this attitude in achéménide de profiter de la domination de l’araméen sur Darius I’s inscription at Behistun and the echo of that account l’akkadien pour mettre en place une administration leur étant found in Herodotus: the magi Gaumata masquerading as entièrement dévouée. Ces nouveaux « fonctionnaires » Cambyses’ brother Bardiya epitomized the deceitful priest in n’étaient ainsi plus formés par les élites urbaines comme les his attempt to usurp the throne. Glassner’s Le devin historien ṭupšarru et ne partageaient donc pas avec elles les mêmes en Mésopotamie dispels this notion, arguing that the work of intérêts. L’auteur l’a vu, bien évidemment (cf. chapitre 5 et the diviner represented a systematic field of inquiry that p. 410), mais n’a pas eu le temps d’aller très avant. sought epistemological truth. The assembly, study, and elab- Ces quelques remarques montrent tout l’intérêt de ce beau orations of omens in lists created a coherent system of livre et des réflexions qu’il fait naître. L’auteur ne pouvait knowledge that incorporated the past, present, and future. In aborder toutes les questions et celles qu’il a choisi de traiter doing so, Glassner shares perspectives set forth recently by l’ont été avec sérieux et talent. Il s’agit sans aucun doute Marc Van de Meiroop.1) But whereas Van de Meiroop’s d’un livre de référence qui sera indispensable à quiconque work touches upon lexicography, divination, law, and epis- travaille sur les sepīru, la place des différentes langues et temology and is intended for a non-specialist readership, écritures mais encore sur l’administration néo-babylonienne Glassner’s volume represents a more in-depth study intended et achéménide et leurs évolutions et, plus largement sur les for an Assyriological audience focused exclusively on how rouages administratifs des grands empires postérieurs à la the work of diviners shaped them as historians. chute de Ninive. L’importance des questions culturelles abor- Le Devin historien en Mésopotamie is divided into three dées tout au long de ces pages constitue enfin un autre niveau sections: “La fabrique des signes,” “La fabrique du sens,” de lecture d’Alphabet Scribes in the Land of Cuneiform et and “La fabrique de l’histoire,” bracketed at the start by an pour tout cela nous ne pouvons qu’une fois de plus remercier introduction and diachronic overview of Mesopotamian div- Y. Bloch. ination and by a general conclusion at the end. Fourteen pages of topical indices are appended to the book. While the work is comprehensively footnoted, no bibliography is Bibliographie included, which is regrettable given the scope of the volume. The introduction lays out the parameters of the study, sum- Geller M. J. 1997, « The Last Wedge », ZA 87, p. 43–95. Hallock R. T., 1969, Persepolis Fortification Tablets, OIP XCII. marizing the pedigree, social status, and scholarly specializa- McEwan G. J. P., 1984, « A Greek Legal Instruments in Hellenistic tion that distinguished the ummânū who performed divina- Uruk », AoF 11, pp. 237–241. tion as well as Mesopotamian beliefs about how the gods Westenholz A. 2007, « The Graeco-Babyloniaca Once Again », ZA made known their will through signs and the process of 97, p. 262–313. semanticization diviners employed to interpret them. The knowledge they possessed was a tool for social control, but Université Paris 1 Philippe Clancier that power was moderated by the social cohesion between Panthéon-Sorbonne diviners and the respect for norms embodied in the tradition. 10 décembre 2019 Glassner concludes the introduction with his justification for considering diviners to be historians. They were initiated into political questions and responded to these matters by allud- * ing to historical precedent, thus conjoining the past with their * * present. Because the past was knowable in a way that the future was not, diviners held that time was cyclical going GLASSNER, J.J. — Le devin historien en Mésopotamie. back to the archaic past when patterns were first established. (Ancient Magic and Divination, 16). Brill Academic As a result, the Mesopotamians conceived of destinies as Publishers, Leiden-Boston, 2019. (24 cm, XXVI, 606). fixed, but the diviner could perceive the divinely ordained ISBN 978-90-04-39006-5. € 200,–. future with the understanding that the divine will could be Part of my remit as a professor of history at the under- altered. The potential for the diviner to intervene gave him graduate level is to teach Western Civilization, a course that an opportunity to create an explanatory narrative out of the had its origins in 1919 at Columbia University and flourished randomness of human events. at American institutions through much of the 20th century, Glassner distinguishes three phases in his diachronic treat- often with the unofficial sobriquet of “Plato to NATO” ment of divination: an initial phase culminating at the end of attached to highlight the course’s relevance to a Cold War the 19th century BCE, a phase of elaboration that occurred in sense of American Western identity. As the reference to the Old Babylonian period during the first half of the second Plato implies, classical Athens was held up as the birthplace millennium, and a period of canonization that began at the of the West, the cultures of the Near East and Egypt being simply Hegelian precursors. While the contributions of the 1) Philosophy before the Greeks: The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient ancient Greeks to Western intellectual traditions are undeni- Babylonia, Princeton University Press: Princeton and Oxford, 2016. 293 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXVII N° 3-4, mei-augustus 2020 294 end of the second millennium and carried on into the first. law codes utilized multiple specific instances to reveal legal Glassner avoids the question of divination’s origins in Meso- principals through deixis, so too the omen lists initiated the potamia as unsolvable and instead considers the intellectual diviner into the mental processes that allowed him to discern outlook revealed in the early evidence while acknowledging the divine will from celestial and terrestrial signs. The efforts that divinatory knowledge was largely oral in its early phases. to edit and standardize the lists at the end of the second mil- The introduction of an historical dimension to omens was as lennium furthered this desire to comprehend meaning. much a product of past phenomena as it was of a retrospec- The second section, “La fabrique du sens,” encompasses tive linkage of the present to the past. After the 19th century, chapters five to nine. In it, Glassner describes how diviners the adoption of Sumero-Akkadian traditions by Amorite rul- constructed meaning through the composition and compila- ers in the Old Babylonian period introduced a cultural tion of omen lists. Glassner stresses that even if divination hybridity that stimulated scholarly creativity at Babylon that was not factually true, its practitioners were intent on creat- inspired innovations in divination. Sumerian/Akkadian ing a logically consistent system that could be expanded diglossia extended beyond simple translation and inspired within the parameters that had been laid out even to include a more complex, metalinguistic use of the cuneiform script signs that were impossible (e.g., a sacrificial animal lacking to carry multiple phonetic, semantic, and grammatical values a heart or the sun appearing at night). Analogy was central simultaneously. Signifier and signified could exist in a reper- to their hermeneutic approach, and the natural world was tory of possibilities. This inspired diviners to innovate and open to interpretation. The system that diviners imposed to elaborate on the epistemological possibilities of their disci- carry out this interpretation began at the granular level with pline. This was a gradual process, and the encyclopedic each individual omen and extended to the comprehensive knowledge that was created, while written, was primarily with the creation of omen lists. committed to memory. It was not until the end of the second Glassner begins with a discussion of the logical juxtaposi- millennium that these traditions underwent a process of tion between protasis and the apodosis in a single omen from canonization, or at least standardization, supplemented by the phrasing found on visceral models in the 19th century to a body of commentary. The resulting omen lists made exten- the standardized forms used in first-millennium lists. He then sive use of logograms and signs with variant phonetic values. considers how diviners organized related omens in opposi- The first section, “La fabrique des signes,” consists of tion to one another to draw out deeper meaning. Diviners chapters two to four. In these chapters, Glassner explores accomplished this with simple dyadic pairings of omens how the cuneiform writing system, with its origins in Sumer- (a good versus bad outcome), but they also introduced ian and adaptation to Akkadian, shaped the Babylonian con- more elaborated groupings of multiple omens in which a more ceptualization of divine signs and how their images were complex logical progression was pursued. This practice read. Glassner lays out an explanation of how the viscera and extended to hexads of omens in which two triads (a good, the many marks and features it could contain was perceived bad, and intermediate outcome) were interposed. Omen lists, by diviners, reminding the reader that in the Enūma eliš, then, became more than an inventory of singular omens, but Marduk had created the cosmos from the body of Tiamat. rather a compendium of logical procedures that created Just as the gods could draw signs on the microcosmic liver a pointillistic representation of the truths that the gods com- of a sheep, so too they could leave their mark among the municated through signs into human reality. Because the constellations or elsewhere in the macrocosmic body that focus was on the needs of the monarch, the authors of omen diviners conceptualized as the physical world. lists were effectively telling a story of royalty through the The semiotic challenge was in identifying the signs and accumulated apodoses that incorporated victory and defeat, interpreting their underlying reality. Glassner historicizes this stability and rebellions, all of which were themes found in interpretive process beginning in the 21st century with Nisa- the historical chronicles. Some of these apodoses specifically ba’s perceived role in the Gudea cylinders as the goddess alluded to historical or legendary figures and events while who read Ningirsu’s plans as they had been drawn in the many others were so general as to be anonymous. Glassner stars and concluding with the process of canonization of stresses, however, that these lists were not homogenous, but omen lists attributed to Esagil-kīn-apli at the end of the sec- instead reflected local logics and sensibilities. ond millennium. Especially instructive of the Babylonian In the third and final section, “La fabrique de l’histoire,” conceptualization of image and reality is Glassner’s discus- Glassner turns from the logic and structures that underpinned sion of Hammurabi’s stele on which the image of the king omens and divination as a prognostic system meant to predict receiving the laws from Šamaš was combined with the words the future to his thesis posed at the end of section two that of the king that could be read, thus evoking the presence of the authors of the omen lists were mindful of the past and the king. Glassner stresses that, unlike writing, the support thinking historically in their work. Chapters ten to fifteen, on which a sign appeared as an image, its location, or its which make up section three, can be approached as a stand- appearance could change the meaning of the sign. alone work with its foundation in the previous two sections. The authority of the image was accompanied by the per- This section examines the role of the Mesopotamian diviner formativity of cuneiform writing, which meant that what was as an historian and is therefore the portion of the book that seen and read, observed and reported, was intertwined in most deserves the title Le Devin historien en Mésopotamie. a multiplicity of potential meanings. This meant that the The core of “La fabrique de l’histoire” is chapter eleven, world was reshaped according to the semiotics of cuneiform a corpus of 385 historical omens with transliteration, transla- writing. “Even if the sign was the revelator, the meaning was tion, bibliography, and commentary. Glassner foregrounds not inherent, it was invested and interpreted by social actors, this core in chapter ten by exploring the perception of history who analyzed it” (85). Glassner concludes this section by as it was maintained among the diviners, exorcists, and drawing comparisons to Babylonian legal tradition. Just as ­lamentation-priests who comprised the scholarly elite. He 295 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE 296 stresses that their professions initiated them into practices stresses that while oral memory continued to play a role in that privileged the compilation and maintenance of various divination, the emphasis placed on writing and editing grew, lists that organized knowledge into taxonomies and narra- as did the interest in collecting and copying historical inscrip- tives. As early as the creation of the Sumerian King List in tions. These labors shaped the state of the field as it was the 21st century BCE, they applied these approaches to their known in the Sargonid courts of the Neo-Assyrian empire, treatment of the past. Their activities in the temples brought particularly within the library of Ashurbanipal. The scholars them into contact with dedicatory inscriptions set up by past who made up the king’s circle of advisors drew upon a depth kings and related texts, and as a result, they were passionate of historical knowledge in their divination to address current collectors and copiers of historical documents. In Babylonia, situations and were themselves engaged in editorial activi- they compiled lists of year names and king lists that created ties. The reading of omens was a heuristic process that drew chronological frameworks stretching back to the antediluvian upon analogies with the present in order to transform the past past. In Assyria, they maintained lists of eponyms and even- into an idealized present. The libraries from the latter half of tually introduced the composition of royal annals that the first millennium reveal the growing prominence of math- recorded the king’s exploits and which were edited and ematic astronomy in astrology and interest in local history revised over the course of his reign. Likewise, chronicles accompanied by a desire to distinguish between good and were a production of this historical awareness. Glassner iden- bad rulers. This cyclical interpretation in which political tifies the 7th century as transformational to the creation of events mirrored the planetary cycles receives greater consid- chronicles. While these chronicles considered both the recent eration in chapter fourteen. and more distant past and covered a multiplicity of events, In chapters thirteen and fourteen, Glassner examines how what stands out for Glassner is their unified interest in tem- diviners treated historical events and figures respectively. ples and royal institutions, especially how these were affected There was a desire to identify edifying events in the past. by the retributive will of Marduk who rewarded pious kings The example that Glassner holds up is the capture of Apišal and punished the wicked. Consequently, the agenda that by Narām-Sîn and its presence in omens and other textual scholars advanced in the chronicles emphasized the fate of traditions until the Neo-Babylonian period. The treatment of Babylon and the Esagil temple. the words within the omen, particularly the name of the city The treatment of time was not limited to chronicles and Apišal, were manipulated using techniques Glassner exam- king lists but was also present in divination. The astronomi- ined in the first two sections and applied flexibly. The omen cal diaries from the first millennium implied a link between became decontextualized from the actual historical event, but historical events and astronomical phenomena. This perspec- the event was held up as a precedent that could be reworked tive was expressed in the mantic historiography of the small and reapplied in ways that made the past intelligible. Simi- corpus of “post-eventum” prophecies like “The Marduk larly, diviners worked with a limited group of notable leg- Prophecy” that incorporated the language of astrological endary and historical kings to comment on the monarchy. divination to comment on current circumstances by present- The Babylonian “Advice to a Prince” composition known ing the past as a predicted future. The influence between from Nippur and Nineveh expresses scholars’ desire that divinatory treatises and chronographic texts went both ways monarchs heed their expertise, and the selective allusions to because Mesopotamian scholars did not impose a discipli- kings in historical omens who were deemed to be successful nary divide on these bodies of knowledge. This begs the or as failures was intended to be instructive. Glassner pro- question of the historicity of the omens as records of past vides a comprehensive treatment of the kings who appear in events. Glassner does not entirely dismiss their utility in this omens with references back to chapter eleven. There was regard, but encourages us to see them not through a Rankean some flexibility in how these kings were portrayed, and lens that reveals “wie es eigentlich gewesen,” but instead as Glassner provides an excellent discussion of the different revelatory of the useable or instrumentalized past that Meso- symbolic meanings assigned to kings including their identi- potamian scholars needed to bring meaning to their present. fications with different animals and even associations Glassner historicizes the place of historical omens in col- between kings. These were all used to explore the negative lections and libraries from the 19th century until the Seleucid and positive fates related to the different kings, perspectives era in chapter twelve, an exercise that refers back to the vol- that were intended to appeal to the living monarch in order ume’s introduction. The liver models from the 19th century to perpetuate the political and social order but also contem- excavated in the palace at Mari demonstrate the political plated in concert in order to explore and comprehend the ebb concerns of the local monarchy and the historical conscious- and flow of history. The reliance on and affiliation with the ness that addressed those concerns. Most of the omen lists monarchy was only altered during and after the reign of and divinatory texts that survive from Babylon’s first dynasty Nabonidus when the close advisory ties linking Babylonian date from the reign of Samsu-ilnua and half of these contain scholars to the king dissolved. Glassner provides an excellent historical omens. Glassner highlights the pedagogical ele- postscript covering the continuation of Babylonian scholar- ment in these lists that emphasized that the historical omens ship into the first centuries of the common era including the were judgements already rendered by the gods, therefore continuation of divination but also the shift that led these legitimizing the knowledge that the lists contained. scholars to be viewed as charlatans who should be excluded The Old Babylonian tradition endured following the fall from political power. of Babylon though texts took on a more noetic quality and The strength of Le Devin historien en Mésopotamie is its the bulk of the evidence comes from regions peripheral to ability to immerse the reader in the mentalities of Mesopota- Babylonia. Scholars and texts travelled. This expansion of mian scholars as they engaged over the centuries in the dom- knowledge coincided with the editorial project dated to the inant scientific pursuit of their era. Setting aside the obvious 12th century and attributed to Esagil-kīn-apli. Glassner reality that the markings on a sheep’s liver have no connec- 297 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXVII N° 3-4, mei-augustus 2020 298 tion to the fortunes of the king, Glassner does guide the BAM 338, and recently re-edited by B. Böck, Muššu᾿u, pp. reader through the deductive reasoning and hermeneutic pro- 147–67. Now Jakob has identified a fragment belonging to cesses to reveal what was a rich system of inquiry and one the same tablet (VAT 10333), and he presents a new copy of that allowed it practitioners to contemplate the meaning and these two fragments (pp. 202–207) together with an edition significance of the past in a form of historiography. of the portions preserved on them (pp. 77–83). Another example is VAT 9955+10840 (= KAL 9, no. 37: copy p. 209; Peoria, IL J.P. Nielsen edition 84–87), incantations against the Sagallu-illness 1 April 2020 (=Muššu᾿u VIII). VAT 9955 was published previously as KAR 77 and BAM 128. Jakob also identifies new joins to recently published texts, e.g. no. 2, a royal prayer to Ištar * (VAT 11147+11726: VAT 111726 = Meinhold,­ AOAT 367, * * Tf. 7); no. 68, a loyalty oath, (VAT 10948+11204+12313: VAT 10948 = Frahm, KAL 3, no. 66). All of these findings JAKOB, S. — Ritualbeschreibungen und Gebete III. Keil- contribute to the advance of Assyriology and the knowledge schrifttexte aus Assur literarischen Inhalts 9. (Wissen- of ancient textual traditions. schaftliche Veröffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient- Some criticisms are also in order. Apparently following Gesellschaft, 154). Verlag Otto Harrassowitz, Wies­baden, the policy of other books in the KAL series, this volume 2018. (34,5 cm XI, 242). ISBN 978-3-447-11090-7. offers only limited information on duplicates and secondary ISSN 0342-4464. € 54,–. literature, thus hampering its usefulness to researchers The volume under discussion here represents a further beyond a small circle of specialists already deeply familiar result of the Heidelberg Assur Project (directed by Stefan with the material. A case in point is furnished by no. 12 Maul) and is the third volume with the same title, Ritual­ (VAT 14301), which preserves the last seven lines of a Šuila- beschreibungen und Gebete. Previous volumes in the series prayer to Marduk (KAR 59//BMS 9 etc.; Marduk 2 of are S. Maul and R. Strauß, Ritualbeschreibungen und W. Mayer, UFBG p. 395). The prayer has been edited mul- Gebete I (KAL 4), 2011 and W. Meinhold, Ritualbeschrei- tiple times, but Jakob’s volume lists no previous editions bungen und Gebete II (KAL 7), 2017. (for which, see, e.g. K. Greenwood in A. Lenzi (ed.), Read- In the Einleitung, Jakob presents a compendious back- ing Akkadian Prayers, pp. 313–24; T. Oshima, Babylonian ground for the texts edited in the present KAL volume, i.e. Prayers to Marduk, pp. 328–36). Although Mayer’s Mar- KAL 9. Following the introduction is a catalog of 71 cunei- duk 2 is preserved on 16 texts—including this VAT 14301— form inscriptions of various sizes and conditions (pp. 5–15), Jakob lists only 5 exemplars among its duplicates, probably text editions (pp. 17–129), indices (pp. 131–53), bibliogra- because these manuscripts alone preserve the lines known phy (pp. 155–58), and hand copies and photographs of the from VAT 14301. It would have been useful if he had given tablets (pp. 161–242). The volume includes many Middle all the duplicates of Marduk 2 known to him, or at least and early Neo-Assyrian texts (51 in total), thus constituting alerted the reader to the existence of the other duplicates of a welcome addition to existing corpora of late second mil- this Šuila-prayer to Marduk. Moreover, Jakob—probably lennium and early first millennium texts. because he follows Mayer—does not mention that there Unlike many publications of cuneiform texts, the catalogs were actually two Šulia-prayers to Marduk that shared the of the KAL series also include the find spot and measure- same ending: namely Šiptu: gašru šūpû etel Eridu and ments of each object, if applicable, in addition to the more Šiptu: gašru šūpû ilitti Eridu. Although these texts are very common information such as a museum registration number similar and frequently understood as minor variants of each and a short description of contents. This extra grounding in other (see, e.g., Mayer, UFBG, p. 395), they are listed as the texts’ material and spatial realities—often given little two independent prayers in an ancient catalog of prayers to notice by philologists—is highly valuable, particularly when Marduk and Šamaš (K 2832+6680: see Oshima, Babylo- one wishes to understand the archaeological context and pos- nian Prayers, p. 111). In fact, we know from its contents sible Sitz im Leben of the ancient inscriptions. Each text is that the latter was specifically recited on the occasion of carefully edited with transliteration, translation, and philo- a lunar eclipse for the sake of monarchs and that it differs logical notes. from the former by inserting the name of the supplicant and As one notices in the hand copies and photographs of the the report on the lunar eclipse. In Jakob’s list of duplicates, cuneiform texts, many are very fragmentary and their condi- UM 2, Nr. 108 (= UM 1701 = PBS I/2, no. 108) preserves tion of preservation is far from perfect. The surfaces of many the name of Šamaš-šuma-ukīn, the king of Babylon and texts are damaged, which resulted in numerous utterly illeg- brother of the Assyrian king Assurbanipal. It belongs to the ible signs and lacunae. Jakob’s painstaking efforts to recover latter, whereas the others are duplicates of Šiptu: gašru even a small trace of a sign have resulted not only in reliable šūpû etel Eridu (see Oshima, Babylonian Prayers, copies but also in the successful identification of many frag- pp. 328ff). Incidentally, K 6792 [King, BMS pl. 69, no. 55] ments in this corpus. For example, the author includes also preserves a portion of Šiptu: gašru šūpû ilitti Eridu a small tablet fragment, VAT 10313, which represents a new with the name of Assurbanipal. The distinctions would have exemplar of the Prayer to Marduk no. 2 (KAL 4, no. 11). He been worth noting, rather than lying buried in a list of suggests that it might belong to the same tablet as VAT museum numbers. Jakob suggests that VAT 14301 might 11152 (+) 11170 (p. 39). Jakob also made new joins to previ- belong to the same tablet as VAT 9823 = KAR 25 with ously published texts. For example, VAT 10333+10392 a gap of 8 lines (p. 40). This is impossible, since they are (= KAL 9, no. 36), incantations against illnesses and demons clearly written in different hands and, more importantly, its (= Muššu᾿u IV). VAT 10392 was published as KAR 233 and direct join (VAT 9737 = KAR 23) already preserves the 299 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE 300 lines in question (for the join, see, e.g. ­Hunger, AOAT 2, JACOBS, B., W.F.M. HENKELMAN and M.W. STOLPER no. 235; Oshima, Babylonian Prayers to Marduk, pls (Hg.) — Die Verwaltung im Achämenidenreich. Impe- XXXIV–XXXVI). riale Muster und Strukturen / Administration in the Like other volumes in the series, KAL 9 includes copies Achaemenid Empire. Tracing the Imperial Signature. of tablets previously known only from text editions or trans- (Classica et Orientalia, 17). Verlag Otto Harrassowitz, literations. An example of such a text is KAL 9, no. 10 Wiesbaden, 2017. (24,5 cm, LIX, 888). ISBN 978-3- (= VAT 9671). E. Ebeling published his edition in ArOr 17/I 447-10793-8. ISSN 2190-3638. € 127,–. (1949), pp. 174; 183–85, but no copy had been published This substantial volume derives from a conference held in until now. As rightly observed by Jakob, VAT 9671 contains Basel in 2013, and it continues the series’ invaluable contri- multiple prayers to various deities: Ningirsu? (obv. 4´–15´), butions to the study of the Achaemenid Empire. The book Enlil (obv. 18´–23´ and rev. 1–10a), and Marduk (rev. comprises twenty articles, organized into five parts. Three 11–24). These prayers also refer to the consorts of the essays are in German, two in French, and the remainder in addressees: Nintinuga (obv. 15´) as the wife of Ningirsu, English. As with preceding volumes, the studies are detailed Ninlil (obv. 18´) as the spouse of Enlil, and dZe[r-ba-ni-tum] and require close study; space allows only a rudimentary (rev. 15) and Papnunaki, a Sumerian name of Zarpanītu (rev. overview. 23), the consort of Marduk. In this text, Marduk is also called The book opens with an introduction, in parallel German mār Ea, “the son of Ea,” Tutu, and Šazu (rev. 11, 14, and and English versions. The editors see the volume as continu- 15 respectively). Jakob suggests that Nabû might be another ing Persika 12 (xi),1) and they provide the customary over- addressee of the final prayer (p. 6). A careful examination of view of the essays included. The first part also includes an the third prayer reveals that it is closely related to a prayer essay by Matthew Stolper presenting a succinct and useful to Marduk preserved on K 3351 (= copies: King, STC 1, history of the Oriental Institute’s relationship with the Perse- p. 205; Craig, ABRT I, p. 43; editions: Ebeling, AGH, polis finds. pp. 94–95; Oshima, Babylonian Prayers, pp. 305–10). It is The first major section, “Local Bureaucracies and Impe- not an exact duplicate, but each line of the latter prayer to rial Structures from Cyrus to Alexander” contains five Marduk consists of the second half of each line known from essays. The first, by Bruno Jacobs, is “Kontinuität oder kon- KAL 9, no. 10 (VAT 9671), rev. 11ff. I.e. VAT 9671 rev. 11b tinuierlicher Wandel in der achämenidischen Reichsverwal- = K 3351, obv. 1; VAT 9671 rev. 12b = K 3351, obv. 2; VAT tung?” (3–44). Jacobs returns to the question of the satrapal 9671 rev. 13b = K 3351, obv. 3 and so forth. One may define structure of the empire, arguing that the differences in the the latter (K 3351) as a short version of the former (VAT dahyu-lists in the royal inscriptions are basically due to con- 9671). E. Ebeling, who edited VAT 9671 and K 3351, did not quest, and that the similarities attested in the Alexandrine note their textual dependency. In fact, the parallels between writers show a basic continuity through time. In Jacobs’ VAT 9671 and K 3351 are so close as to allow us to restore view, the dahyu-list in DB represents a complete list of “tax- lacunae of each other. For example, now we know with con- able provinces” (p. 20). The essay concludes with an appen- fidence that the lacunae before mut-tal-lum in K 3351, obv. dix of his dating of royal inscriptions and six tables compar- 1 should be restored a[bgal dingirmeš], “the s[age of the ing land names. gods],” instead of t[i-iz-qa-ru], “erhabener,” of Ebeling, The next contribution, “Imperial Signature and Imperial AGH, p. 94; or the second half of rev. 17 in KAL 9, no. 10 Paradigm” (45–256) by Wouter Henkelman, advances the should be read murub u [mè ina šu abga]l [d]ingirmeš 4 compelling thesis that imperial officials were conscious of da[mar.utu], “the battle and [warfare in the hand of the sag] a deliberate imperial system, one which was purposely and e of the [g]ods, Marduk,” based on K 3351 obv. 7. Moreo- systematically applied to “less developed” areas of the ver, the second half of KAL 9, no. 10, rev. 15 should read empire (81). He does this through applying insights from the dZe[r-ba-ni-tum gašan? ga]ltú ḫi-rat dš[à.zu], “Za[rpanītu, Persepolis archive to Parsa, Khuzestan, the Iranian plateau, the gre]at [lady], the consort of Š[azu],” based on K 3351 Arachosia, and India. Among the many matters featured are obv. 5. One must, incidentally, note that, although he reads camels, road inspections, and the famous mortar and pestles. dMu-[ …, Jakob accurately copied DINGIR and KUL (= zer). Eight new text editions are appended to the essay, as well as Needless to say, these minor criticisms and the present information on Achaemenid Gandhāra. author’s reservations regarding the series format are not Pierfancesco Callieri follows with “Evidence of the intended to devalue the significance of the author’s work. On Administration in the Archaeological Heritage of the Achae- the contrary, we should welcome Jakob’s efforts to bring menid Period in Iran” (257–294). Callieri largely discusses these new materials to light in the Keilschrifttexte aus Assur buildings that relate to storage, doing so through functional literarischen Inhalts series. attribution of buildings, finds such as bullae, and textual hints (257). He covers a wide array of data, including the Altorientalisches Institut, T. M. Oshima relatively recent rescue project (275–282). Fakultät für Geschichte, Evidence from later Classical authors is next analyzed by Kunst und Orientwissenschaften, Sabine Müller, “Hinweise auf die achaimenidische Reichs- Universität Leipzig verwaltung bei Curtius, Trogus-Justin, Diodor und Plutarch” April 2020 (295–320). She notes that all of these authors used a lost

* * * 1) Briant, Pierre, Wouter Henkelman, and Matthew W. Stolper. 2008. L’archive des Fortifications de Persépolis: État des Questions et Perspec- tives de Recherches. Persika 12. Paris: Éditions de Boccard. 301 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXVII N° 3-4, mei-augustus 2020 302 source (Kleitarchos) and that none of them were specifically the system. He concludes the evidence shows the Persians interested in Achaemenid structures. A couple foci are still coopting Egyptian structures and utilizing local law. apparent within them, especially the road network and royal “Sealing Practices in Achaemenid Times” (517–580) by riches (in baggage trains, booty, and palaces). She follows Mark Garrison analyses the “administrative mode” of seal Jacobs in seeing Alexander’s administration as revealing pre- usage. Three styles can be distinguished, which he calls vious Persian practices, and to some extent the Seleucids’ as “Court Style,” “Court-Centric,” and “Achaemenid imperial well. Modeled Style” respectively. Through a survey of the A look at another classical source is provided by Kai attested sealings and seals, he argues that the first style was ­Ruffing in “Arrian und die Verwaltung des Achaimeniden- restricted to a particular class of administrators, while the Reichs” (321–336). He enumerates several difficulties with second was used by local officials. He emphasizes the use of using Latin sources and provides several different satrapal heirloom seals, as well as a relatively consistent protocol for lists that appear within Arrian’s work. Ultimately, he sees the seal use. The last style was seemingly favored by other material as “personal” rather than “administrative” (330). classes of imperial official. The second section, “Bureaucratic Practice and Protocol Rika Gyselen also tackles seals in “L’administration sas- in the Achaemenid Realm” offers seven essays. Jan ­Tavernier, sanide et l’usage des sceaux” (581–612). She primarily deals “The Use of Languages on the Various Levels of Adminis- with the difficulties encountered in the study of Sassanian tration in the Achaemenid Empire” (337–412), proposes administrative usage of seals, since relevant publications a three-tiered model of language usage. In his view the top have neglected relevant issues such as size and the reverse level was likely monolingual in Old Persian, the middle of bullae. She takes a particular look at an archive from a class of Aramaic utilizing interpreters, and the bottom the Tabaristan, where several different protocol are discernable. local languages. He sees these three tiers evinced in attested Nevertheless, an understanding of their administrative use formulas in Aramaic, Demotic, and Elamite (355). He dis- lags behind that of Achaemenid usage. cusses this model through the various extant dossier. The The penultimate section deals with Actors and Hierar- contribution concludes with an appendix on the status of chies. The first paper, “Serving the Satrap,” by Christopher Aramaic and tables of personal names in the article. Tuplin (613–676) seeks to find satraps and their inferiors Margaretha Folmer turns to the attested official Aramaic (614). He subdivides the Greek and Aramaic evidence into letters in “Bactria and Egypt” (413–454). In her analysis, the explicitly titled individuals and people otherwise described Arsames and Akhvamazda letters are letter orders, despite with official functions. After a number of methodological some formal differences between them. She catalogues issues for both, he begins a list of attested titles. For the titles a number of formal characteristics in the corpora. Among the he addresses similarities and differences across time and broader conclusions that she draws are the predominance of place as well as evidence for hierarchy. After a mostly Persian names without the exclusion of locals, the knowledge agnostic conclusion he provides appendices of officials, of Aramaic by high officials, and the lack of use of patro- Hananiah/’Anani, and TAD 6.2 and ADAB C4. nyms for officials. The essay concludes with a summary of Damien Agut-Labordère, “Administrating Egypt under the the differences between the corpora and ten tables of Ara- First Persian Period” (677–698), turns to 23 Demotic docu- maic formulae. ments from the Kharga Oasis. He offers a description of all In “The Empire as visible in the Aramaic Documents from 23 documents. In his analysis, one can see little Persian Persepolis” (455–468), Annalisa Azzoni overviews the cur- administration at the “lower levels of society.” Demotic rent state of research on the stated corpus. She notes that appears to have been used primarily for petitions from the their interpretation is difficult, since they are rather terse. She bottom up to the Persians, by temples, for documenting explores an attempt to use shared content for interpretation, priestly taxation, and for the management of priests, finances, using mentions of the king or Parnakka. She discusses and local police. He thus sees certain key aspects of admin- 11 texts, with photos appended at the end of the essay. istration in demotic (689). A table of ostraca from Ayn André Lemaire follows with “The Idumean Ostraca as Manawir is appended to the essay. Evidence of Local Imperial Administration” (469–488). In The next essay is Kristin Kleber’s “Administration in his interpretation, the roughly 2000 attested ostraca are pro- Babylon” (699–714). After an overview of the “imperial visional scribal notes of taxes in kind (475). He discusses level” in Babylonia, she tackles a number of issues on the a number of different tax types, including capitation taxes, provincial level: the satrap/governor, the administration of land taxes, and poll-taxes. He believes the several lists of cities, rural areas, and temples, and the changes visible from fields could be cadastral lists, similar to those proposed Cyrus through Xerxes. She concludes with a brief overview for Mesopotamia. They also plausibly evince corvée work of the scarcer data after Xerxes. during non-agricultural periods of the year (478). Thus in “Babylonia as a Source of Imperial Revenue from Cyrus his interpretation, these documents are the first level chits to Xerxes,” by Michael Jursa and Martina Schmidl (715– that were used to compile more formal records and then 740) follows. Their discussion moves from military conscrip- ­discarded. tion, to royal domains, direct taxation (temples, land grants, Alexander Schütze, “Local Administration in Persian urban households), indirect taxation (real estate, slave sales, Period Egypt According to Aramaic and Demotic Sources” tolls), and finally, an assessment of their impact on Babylo- (489–516) compares the two language corpora for Egypt, nia. In this latter section, they largely attempt to assess noting that scholars focusing on the two have typically come whether an increased tax burden and/or an economic crisis to differing conclusions. He discusses the offices of frata- was a contributing factor in the revolts against Xerxes. raka, governor of the southern district, and the judges and Matthew Stolper concludes the section with “Investigating scribes of the province. He also discusses the so-called law Irregularities at Persepolis” (741–826). The essay focuses on compilation, official orders, and the multilingual nature of nine tablets he sees as dealing with administrative aberra- 303 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — IRAN 304 tions such as missing persons and lost documentation. He deduces from these tablets that interim reports were sent with memoranda, that officers had to explain a lack of documenta- tion, that investigations went back as far as seven years, and that investigations could be conducted by outside administra- tive centers. He also thinks the language used implies corpo- rate responsibility. Preliminary editions of the texts, transla- tions, comments, and plates close the contribution. The volume finishes with a summary by Pierre Briant, “De Samarkand à Sardes via Persépolis dans les traces des Grands Rois et d’Alexandre” (827–856). He provides a brief history of scholarship on the issue of the remains of Achae- menid administration, then turns to an overview of the evi- dence discussed in this volume, by region and type. He con- cludes with his conviction that the classical sources (including those concerning Alexander) cannot be under- stood without reference to these sources, particularly those from Persepolis. Indices of personal names and toponyms/ “ethnika” round out the volume. The above summaries do no justice to the wealth of details and depth of analysis to be found in this volume. While many of the topics discussed here will already be familiar to scholars of the empire, the presentation of a number of new sources as well as the systematic re-evaluation attempted substantially increases our understanding of the empire. All future studies dealing at all with the empire will have to take the time to digest the information this book provides. No longer can questions of imperial impact be considered solely on a local basis.

University of Helsinki Jason M. Silverman 16 April 2020