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Babylonian Inscriptions BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS IN THE COLLECTION OF JAMES B. NIES VOLUME I BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS IN THE COLLECTION OF JAMES B. NIES-VoL. I LETTERS AND CONTRACTS FROM ERECH WRITTEN IN THE NEO-BABYLONIAN PERIOD BY CLARENCE ELWOOD KEISER, PH.D. MEMBER OF THE YALE BABYLONIAN SEMINARY NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS MDCCCCXVIII CONTENTS. Page Introductory Rem arks ................................................. 7 Name Indices Masculine Names ................................................... 11 Feminine Names...................... ............. ........... 33 Names of Scribes..... 33 Names of Deities ................... ............................... 33 Names of Temples ................... ............................ 34 Names of Places .................................................... 35 N am es of Canals............... ........................... .. 36 N am es of Gates ................................... ............... 36 Catalogue .................................. ...................... 37 Autographed Texts .............................................. Plates I-LX (5) LETTERS AND CONTRACTS FROM ERECH WRITTEN IN THE NEO-BABYLONIAN PERIOD INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. The one hundred and seventy-seven texts here published belong to the private collection of the Rev. Dr. James B. Nies of Brooklyn, New York. The collection, consisting of cylinders, vases, seals, objects in copper and bronze, tablets, etc., con- tains texts of nearly all the important periods of Babylonian history, from the Archaic to the Seleucid era. By far the larger number belong to the time of the Ur Dynasty; while the First Dynasty, Neo-Babylonian, and Persian periods are well represented. In a general way the material consists of important historical and votive inscriptions, hymns and prayers, letters, contracts and various other legal documents, exercise tablets, temple administrative records, etc. The present texts consist of letters, Nos. 1-94; legal documents, Nos. 95, 97-130, 133; and temple administrative records, Nos. 96, 131, 132, 134-177. Their proven- ance is Erech, as is evident from the mention of this city, or otherwise from the contents. No. 126, however, is dated at Babylon; while Nos. 116, 123 are dated at the city Kar-dNana; No. 97 at the city Bit m Shabahi-ilu; and Nos. 98, 99, 102, 103, 115, 117, 125 at places in the district belonging to the dBelit of Erech. Most of the letters are unbaked, and many, as the autographed texts show, are egible only in part. On the other hand the contracts are, as a whole, well preserved. The texts belong to the Neo-Babylonian period (625-539 B. C.), and the first two reigns (539-522 B. C.) of the Persian. Thus in the legal and administrative texts are represented the reigns of Nabopolassar, Nebuchadrezzar, Evil-Merodach, Neriglissar, Nabonidus, and the two Persian kings Cyrus and Cambyses. Two belong to the period immediately before Nabopolassar's time: No. 134 is dated in the reign of the Assyrian king Gishshar-shum-ukin (668-648 B. C.), formerly read Shamash-shum-ukin; and No. 159 in the reign of his successor Kandalanu (648- 625 B. C.). The letters, as is commonly the case, are undated; but for paleographic reasons, as well as from the personal names mentioned, they must be assigned to this period. Nos. 3 and 17, however, can be placed more definitely as they mention the 15th and 14th years of Nabonidus respectively. No. 93 is addressed to "the king of countries," which no doubt refers to one of the Persian kings, as in the contracts these bear the title "king of Babylon, king of countries." The (7) 8 BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS IN THE COLLECTION OF J. B. NIES writer is Bel-nadin-aplu, a name occurring on texts dated in the reign of Cyrus, thus indicating this ruler as the probable addressee. With few exceptions the letters relate to matters of a purely administrative character; a number (see catalogue) being addressed to temple officials. For example, No. 13 is apparently a reply to a letter from the addressee. In No. 67 a request is made that wine be sent for the sacrifices to the sun-god Shamash; so in No. 77 that wool be given to the messenger sent by the writer. A number refer to transactions in money: No. 5 in which two individuals are asked to bring with them, when coming to Larsa, twenty mine of silver for the writer; No. 47 in which the writer specifies the disposition to be made of the fifteen shekels of silver that he sends; or No. 71 requesting the cancelling of a loan of five mine of silver, as it had been paid at a specified time. A few give information about the grain sent by an individual for a stated purpose (e. g. No. 7); or concerning grain in Barsipki (No. 59). In Nos 2, 26, etc., the writer asks his readers not to be negligent in their guarding of the temple Eanna. In Nos. 18, 34, 62, 93 reference is made to a common oriental custom, convenanting with salt. No. 93 is a report made to the king, presumably by one of his officials. So also No. 94 is a report made by a subordinate to temple officials concerning a certain field. In these last two is to be noted the absence of the salutation so common in the letters. The letters are of special interest to the student of history or civilization in so far as they add to our knowledge of the temple administration, refer to special phases of the daily life of the people, or mention such details, for example, as new personal names. The chief value, however, is to be found in the philological material that they offer Assyriologists. The character of the other texts, i. e. the contracts and the lists, is indicated in the catalogue. The primary object of this series being to present only the texts with indices to scholars, attention is simply called to a few facts of value which these texts offer. The relation, or rank, of the many temple officials is often a difficult matter to determine. In the letters the §atammu, bel-piqitti, and qipu are frequently men- tioned. Nos. 108 and 126 are important in this respect. In 108:14-15 the bel- piqitti is shown to be subordinate to the qipu, while in 126:9-10 he is subordinate to the satammu. In the published texts, and in a number belonging to the Yale Babylonian Collection (in course of preparation for publication by a member of the Yale Baby- lonian Seminary) reference is made to a class of temple servants called siraqu. The PART I. KEISER-LETTERS AND CONTRACTS FROM ERECH 9 interesting fact about these siraqu is the mark they bear, and with which perhaps they were branded. This mark was also made upon animals. Only two of our texts, Nos. 120 and 169, mention this group, but from 120:4 it seems evident that the mark upon them was a star; as here the phrase, in the other places written phonetically kak-kab-tu, is written ideographically, namely MUL, the ideogram for star. No. 167 is of interest as suggestive of the observance of a day something like the Hebrew Sabbath. See similar texts and discussion by Clay, Miscellaneous Inscrip- tions, Yale Oriental Series, Babylonian Texts, Vol. I, Nos. 46-51, and p. 75 ff. It is with much pleasure that I express to Dr. Nies my sincere thanks for the opportunity of copying his texts and for making possible their publication; also my grateful appreciation and deep obligation to my teacher, Professor Clay, the editor of this series, for his numerous critical and helpful suggestions. C. E. KEISER. New Haven, Conn. NAME INDICES. Personal Names. Abbreviations: b., brother; cf., confer; d., daughter; f., father; gf., grandfather; gs., grandson; h., husband; m., mother; pl., plural; s., son; w., wife; NBC, Nies Babylonian Collection. Determinatives: al, city; amel, homo; d, deus, dea; f, feminine; ki, place; m, masculine; mes, plural; ndr, canal. MASCULINE NAMES. A-bi-ri-ilu, f. Nabu-zer-ukin, 177:33. A -sa-a, Ahe- sa-, Ab-di-id, 13:1. 1. amtl[ ], 141:11. Abi-id, f..Silld, 43:20. 2. s. Nand-kardbi, 159:44. Abi-ul-idi, s. Bullutu, 171:8. 3. s. Zer-iddina, 159:9. amladdupu, gf. Bel-iddin. 4. f. Eanna-sum-ibni, 100:13. Ag-ga-a, f. ... , 25:44. AheMe-su, amlagaru, gf. Nabu-bani-aii. 1. s. Bal (?)..., 177:12. A-hu-dan-dIstar, (dInnina), 2. 175:17. 1. s. Hunsu, f. Gimillu, 99:16; 102:17; Ahu-l'umur, s. Nabu-ah-eres, 46:6; 108:17. 119:15. Alu-lu-mur, 2. f. Gimillu, 19:19. 1. f. Nabi-s'um-eres, 139:5. Ah-eresv(-es'), (ereg), 2. 23:14, 27; 175:44(?), 1. f. Bibea, 177:3. A-mat-ilu, f. Musallim, 127:9. 2. 175:61. A-mat-su-usur, in "Sa mA-mat-su-usur, 166:7. Af-hu-tu, Am-ma-nu, f. Nand-iddin, 125:5. 1. am"ldup-sar sa-tir u-il[-tim], s. NabS- dAmar-zer-iddin, amlrdb li-mi-ti, 24:5. usalla, 114:17. Amel-dEa, 2. 175:13. 1. gf. Musezib-Bel. Ah-iddin, s. Tarbarusu, 116:5. 2. gf. Musezib-Marduk. A -iddin-dMarduk, 3. gf. Nabu-belsunu. 1. s. Nabu-usaallim, 127:12, 19. 4. gf. Nabu-nddin-s.um. 2. 149:5. Amel-dMarduk, sar Babili", 136:11; 143:24. Ak-'-u-tu, gf. Nabu-belSunu. A ml-dNa-na-a, A FeP -e-a, 1. amsa-qu-u, 155:4. 1. f. Sum-uktn, 152:16. 2. s. Iddin-Nergal, 155:12. 2. 152:1. 3. s. Nabi-sgum-ibni, 157:16. (11) 12 BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS IN THE COLLECTION OF J. B. NIES 4. s. Nabu-zer-ibni, 142:18. 2. f. Nand-ah-iddin, 162:19. 5. f. Apd, 142:3. 3. in Bit mAr-rab, 119:11.
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