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Judeans in Babylonia a Study of Deportees in the Sixth and Fifth Centuries BCE

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Judeans in Babylonia a Study of Deportees in the Sixth and Fifth Centuries BCE Tero Alstola Judeans in Babylonia A Study of Deportees in the Sixth and Fifth Centuries BCE ACADEMIC DISSERTATION TO BE PUBLICLY DISCUSSED, BY DUE PERMISSION OF THE FACULTY OF THEOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI IN AUDITORIUM XII OF THE UNIVERSITY MAIN BUILDING, ON THE 17TH OF JANUARY, 2018 AT 12 O’CLOCK. This dissertation project has been financially supported by the ERC Starting Grant project ‘By the Rivers of Babylon: New Perspectives on Second Temple Judaism from Cuneiform Texts’ and by the Centre of Excellence in Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions, funded by the Academy of Finland. Cover illustration by Suvi Tuominen ISBN 978-951-51-3831-6 (paperback) ISBN 978-951-51-3832-3 (PDF) Unigrafia Oy Helsinki 2017 SUMMARY Judeans in Babylonia: A Study of Deportees in the Sixth and Fifth Centuries BCE The dissertation investigates Judean deportees in Babylonia in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. These people arrived in Babylonia from Judah in the early sixth century BCE, being but one of numerous ethnic groups deported and resettled by King Nebuchadnezzar II. Naming practices among many deportee groups have been thoroughly analysed, but there has been little interest in writing a socio-historical study of Judeans or other immigrants in Babylonia on the basis of cuneiform sources. The present dissertation fills this gap by conducting a case study of Judean deportees and placing its results in the wider context of Babylonian society. The results from the study of Judeans are evaluated by using a group of Neirabian deportees as a point of comparison. The sources of this study consist of 289 clay tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform. The texts are legal and administrative documents such as promissory notes, leases, receipts, and lists. The texts are rarely isolates and normally they can be connected to larger private and institutional archives. Analysis of the source texts as part of larger archives significantly contributes to our understanding of the socio-economic framework of these texts and the people attested in them. Babylonian sources rarely make the ethnic or geographic origin of people explicit, and naming practices are the most important method to identify immigrants in cuneiform texts. Yahwistic theophoric names – that is, names which refer to the god Yahweh – can be used to identify Judeans in Babylonia. The dissertation shows that most Judeans and other deportees were settled in rural communities according to their geographic origin and integrated into the land-for-service sector of Babylonian agriculture. The deportees were given plots of land to cultivate, and in exchange they were obliged to pay taxes and perform work and military service. Some Judeans were able to profit from the system by working as middlemen between the royal administration and their fellow landholders, while other Judeans worked as minor officials in local administration. Nevertheless, the majority of small farmers lived at a subsistence level. Not all deportees were settled in the countryside, as their labour was also needed in cities. Foreign craftsmen, merchants, and soldiers worked in royal service, and a number of deportees made their way to local and regional administrations in Babylonia. Members of foreign royalty were deported to Babylon, and the Judean king Jehoiachin and his retinue were held hostage there in order to prevent rebellions in the vassal state of Judah. A relatively small number of deportees were turned into slaves or temple dependants. The Babylonian practice of settling deportees in ethnically homogenous rural communities supported the survival of their culture in the countryside. Although the deportees were integrated into the Babylonian economy, there is less evidence of social and cultural integration. Adoption of local culture was faster among those deportees who lived in cities and were in regular contact with the native population. Very little can be said about Judean religious practices, however. The available sources hardly ever touch iv SUMMARY upon this issue, and naming practices only indicate that the worship of Yahweh probably continued in some form in the late fifth century BCE. TIIVISTELMÄ Juudalaiset Babyloniassa: Tutkimus pakkosiirtolaisista 500–400-luvuilla eaa. Väitöstutkimus tarkastelee maahanmuuttajien asemaa muinaisessa Lähi-idässä 500–400- luvuilla eaa. Babylonia, nykyisen Irakin eteläosa, oli tähän aikaan monikielinen ja - kulttuurinen yhteiskunta. Alueen väestön moninaisuus lisääntyi entisestään 600–500- lukujen taitteessa, jolloin Babylonian suurvalta siirsi suuria väkijoukkoja valtakunnan reunoilta sen ydinalueille. Väitöstutkimus tarjoaa uutta tietoa pakkosiirtolaisten arkielämästä ja osoittaa, että heidän kotoutumisensa vaihteli merkittävästi asuinpaikan, ammatin ja yhteiskunnallisen aseman mukaan. Pakkosiirtolaisten oloja tarkastellaan väitöskirjassa ensisijaisesti juudalaisia koskevan tapaustutkimuksen avulla. Babylonian kuningas Nebukadnessar II siirrätti nämä ihmiset Juudasta Babyloniaan kapinoinnin seurauksena. Pakkosiirrot olivat poliittinen ja uskonnollinen katastrofi Juudan kuningaskunnalle, ja ne vaikuttivat ratkaisevasti Vanhan testamentin muotoutumiseen ja juutalaisuuden syntyyn. Pakkosiirtoihin johtaneita tapahtumia ja niiden vaikutushistoriaa on tutkittu runsaasti, mutta juudalaisten elämästä Babyloniassa on tiedetty tähän saakka vähän. Väitöskirja täyttää tämän aukon, ja se on ensimmäinen laaja babylonialaisiin alkuperäislähteisiin perustuva tutkimus aiheesta. Tutkimuksen lähdeaineistona on 289 akkadinkielistä nuolenpäätaulua. Nämä tekstit ovat oikeudellisia ja hallinnollisia asiakirjoja kuten vuokrasopimuksia, velkakirjoja ja kuitteja. Yksittäinen teksti voidaan yleensä liittää osaksi laajempaa arkistoa, mikä auttaa ymmärtämään tekstin ja siinä esiintyvien henkilöiden taustaa. Juudalaiset voidaan tunnistaa teksteistä henkilönnimien perusteella. Tutkimus osoittaa, että pääosa juudalaisista asutettiin Babylonian maaseudulle, jossa viljelysmaata oli runsaasti mutta väestö vähäistä. Pakkosiirtolaiset sijoitettiin kyliin heidän etnisen alkuperänsä mukaan ja heille annettiin palsta kruunun maata viljeltäväksi. Vastineeksi maasta heidän tuli maksaa veroja ja suorittaa työ- ja sotapalvelusta. Jotkut juudalaiset onnistuivat hyötymään tästä järjestelystä ja toimimaan välikätenä maanviljelijöiden ja valtion virkamiesten välillä, kun taas toiset juudalaiset palvelivat valtiota pikkuvirkamiehinä. Pääosa maanviljelijöistä eli kuitenkin toimeentulonsa rajoilla. Kaikkia pakkosiirtolaisia ei asutettu maaseudulle, vaan heidän työpanostaan tarvittiin myös kaupungeissa. Ulkomaalaisia käsityöläisiä, kauppiaita, virkamiehiä ja sotilaita työskenteli valtion palveluksessa erityisesti pääkaupunki Babylonissa. Valloitettujen maiden kuninkaallisia tuotiin panttivangeiksi Babyloniin, mutta vain pienestä osasta pakkosiirtolaisia tehtiin orjia. Babylonian juudalaiset eivät olleet homogeeninen joukko. Juudalaisen kulttuurin jatkuvuutta maaseudulla tuki tapa asuttaa siirtolaiset yhteisöihin heidän alkuperänsä mukaan. Vaikka nämä ihmiset liitettiin osaksi babylonialaista talous- ja hallintojärjestelmää, on vähemmän merkkejä siitä, että he omaksuivat piirteitä vi TIIVISTELMÄ paikallisesta kulttuurista. Juudalaiset kotoutuivat ja omaksuivat babylonialaisen kulttuurin nopeammin kaupungeissa ja ollessaan säännöllisesti tekemisissä paikallisväestön kanssa. Erityisesti kauppiaat, liikemiehet ja virkamiehet kiinnittyivät osaksi babylonialaista yhteiskuntaa. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A large number of people have contributed to the realisation of this dissertation in Leiden and Helsinki. I would like to express my gratitude to them. First, I wish to thank my supervisors, Prof. Caroline Waerzeggers in Leiden and Prof. Martti Nissinen in Helsinki. They have trusted in me, provided me with excellent feedback, and supported me through the various stages of my project. This dissertation would not have been realised without them. I thank the examiners of my dissertation in Leiden and Helsinki for their careful work and feedback. In Leiden, I want to express my gratitude to the members of the ERC Starting Grant project ‘By the Rivers of Babylon’, Rieneke Sonnevelt, Bastian Still, Jason Silverman, Anne-Mareike Wetter, and Jonathan Stökl. My dissertation greatly benefitted from their expertise, and their kindness made my four years in Leiden enjoyable. I would also like to express my thanks to Akiko Tsujita, Maarja Seire, Cristina Barcina, and Johan Lundberg for the relaxed and encouraging conversations over lunch and to the LIAS PhD council for many happy moments. In Helsinki, numerous teachers and colleagues have contributed to my academic education and dissertation project during the last ten years. I would like to thank Kirsi Valkama for her inspiring teaching and Raija Mattila for guiding me through my studies in Assyriology. I wish to thank the whole research community working within the Centre of Excellence in Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions, especially Katri Antin, Tuukka Kauhanen, Katja Kujanpää, Sanna Saari, Saana Svärd, Tuula Tynjä, Joanna Töyräänvuori, and Hanna Vanonen. Many colleagues from abroad have provided me with help and support during my research project. I would like to thank Cornelia Wunsch, Laurie E. Pearce, Angelika Berlejung, Sonja Ammann, Reettakaisa Sofia Salo, and the members of the OTSEM and Neo-Babylonian networks for collaboration and feedback. I thank Dr. Albion M. Butters for revising the English language of this manuscript. All the remaining shortcomings are my own. Finally, I
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