DOCSLIB.ORG

NUZI Carlo Zaccagnini 1. S L 1.1 the Archives of Nuzi

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
NUZI Carlo Zaccagnini 1. S L 1.1 the Archives of Nuzi MESOPOTAMIA NUZI Carlo Zaccagnini 1. S L 1.1 The Archives of Nuzi Some seven thousand tablets, from both official and illicit excava- tions at the sites of Yorghan Tepe (= ancient Nuzi), Kirkuk (= ancient Arraphe/àl ilàni ), and Tell el-Fahhar (= ancient Kurruhanni), in a small region east of the Tigris and south of the Lower Zab, provide the major documentary evidence for reconstructing the legal insti- tutions and practice of northern Mesopotamia. The ethnic, linguis- tic, and cultural features of the region were marked to a greater or lesser extent by the presence of the Hurrians. The period covered by the Nuzi and related archives extends over some five or six gen- erations during the third quarter of the second millennium (ca. 1450–1340), corresponding in archaeological terms to the central phase of the Late Bronze Age. Nuzi was a provincial town in the kingdom of Arraphe, but the site of its capital, the present mound of Kirkuk, has to date yielded only a few scattered documents. The site of Washshukanni, the cap- ital of Mittani, the Hurrian suzerain, has not yet been found. The Nuzi documentation1 is therefore of exceptional significance, insofar as it provides a unique basis for reconstructing the complex legal situation in a predominantly Hurrian cultural milieu.2 1 For the sake of simplicity, the term “Nuzi” is henceforward used with refer- ence to the entire set of documents retrieved at Yorghan Tepe, Kirkuk, and Tell el-Fahhar. 2 The peculiar features displayed by the Nuzi archives are only partially mir- rored in the more or less contemporary Syrian archives of Alalakh (Level IV), Ugarit, and Emar. 566 1.2 Typology of Documents 1.2.1 Documents from the Palace Archives 1.2.1.1 No codes or law collections have been recovered at Nuzi, nor would one expect to find that kind of document in provincial archives of the period. On the other hand, direct or indirect evi- dence of royal and/or palace edicts, orders, and proclamations is fairly abundant, if still largely obscure. 1.2.1.2 Aside from a number of royal orders issued in form of let- ters to palace officials or provincial governors, city mayors, and dis- trict governors,3 a few documents from the palace archives refer to a royal/palace “decree, edict, proclamation” (“ùdùtu, from the verb idû ” (“ùdû) “to let someone know, announce, proclaim”), a term at times replaced or coupled with †èmu “decision, communication, order” or qibìtu “order, command.” To judge from the scant evidence at hand, it seems that these “proclamations,” regardless of whether they had general legal effect or were limited ad hoc rulings, mainly con- cerned the protection and the occasional release of people who, for different reasons, were in a state of servitude. 1.2.2 Documents from Private Archives 1.2.2.1 In contrast with the meager evidence provided by the palace archives, the “ùdùtu proclamations/edicts are frequently mentioned in a vast number of private legal deeds of various kinds dating to the late period of Nuzi history. A standard clause at the end of the document states that “the (present) tablet was written after the “ùdùtu.” Scholars have long been tempted to compare the Nuzi “ùdùtu with the well-known early Mesopotamian debt remission decrees (Akk. mì“arum = Sum. NÍG.SI.SÁ), especially since two otherwise well- known terms—Akkadian anduràru (“remission, manumission”) and Hurrian kirenzi (“manumission”)—are occasionally attested.4 3 The sole evidence of a royal order sent to an Arraphean king by the Mittanian overlord is provided by the letter HSS 9 1, which bears the seal of “Sau“tatar, son of Parsatatar, King of Mittani.” 4 For a survey of the relationship between “ùdùtu, anduràru, and kirenzi, see most recently Lion, “L’anduràru . .,” esp. 319–26; Zaccagnini, “Debt . .,” with a sum- mary of previous literature..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download PDF Version of Article
    STUDIA ORIENTALIA PUBLISHED BY THE FINNISH ORIENTAL SOCIETY 106 OF GOD(S), TREES, KINGS, AND SCHOLARS Neo-Assyrian and Related Studies in Honour of Simo Parpola Edited by Mikko Luukko, Saana Svärd and Raija Mattila HELSINKI 2009 OF GOD(S), TREES, KINGS AND SCHOLARS clay or on a writing board and the other probably in Aramaic onleather in andtheotherprobably clay oronawritingboard ME FRONTISPIECE 118882. Assyrian officialandtwoscribes;oneiswritingincuneiformo . n COURTESY TRUSTEES OF T H E BRITIS H MUSEUM STUDIA ORIENTALIA PUBLISHED BY THE FINNISH ORIENTAL SOCIETY Vol. 106 OF GOD(S), TREES, KINGS, AND SCHOLARS Neo-Assyrian and Related Studies in Honour of Simo Parpola Edited by Mikko Luukko, Saana Svärd and Raija Mattila Helsinki 2009 Of God(s), Trees, Kings, and Scholars: Neo-Assyrian and Related Studies in Honour of Simo Parpola Studia Orientalia, Vol. 106. 2009. Copyright © 2009 by the Finnish Oriental Society, Societas Orientalis Fennica, c/o Institute for Asian and African Studies P.O.Box 59 (Unioninkatu 38 B) FIN-00014 University of Helsinki F i n l a n d Editorial Board Lotta Aunio (African Studies) Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (Arabic and Islamic Studies) Tapani Harviainen (Semitic Studies) Arvi Hurskainen (African Studies) Juha Janhunen (Altaic and East Asian Studies) Hannu Juusola (Semitic Studies) Klaus Karttunen (South Asian Studies) Kaj Öhrnberg (Librarian of the Society) Heikki Palva (Arabic Linguistics) Asko Parpola (South Asian Studies) Simo Parpola (Assyriology) Rein Raud (Japanese Studies) Saana Svärd (Secretary of the Society)
    [Show full text]
  • Early Uruk Expansion in Iraqi Kurdistan: New Data from Girdi Qala and Logardan Regis Vallet
    Early Uruk Expansion in Iraqi Kurdistan: New Data from Girdi Qala and Logardan Regis Vallet To cite this version: Regis Vallet. Early Uruk Expansion in Iraqi Kurdistan: New Data from Girdi Qala and Logardan. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 2018, Munich, Germany. hal-03088149 HAL Id: hal-03088149 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03088149 Submitted on 2 Jan 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 445 Early Uruk Expansion in Iraqi Kurdistan: New Data from Girdi Qala and Logardan Régis Vallet 1 Abstract Until very recently, the accepted idea was that the Uruk expansion began during the north- Mesopotamian LC3 period, with a first phase characterized by het presence of BRBs and other sporadic traces in local assemblages. Excavations at Girdi Qala and Logardan in Iraqi Kurdistan, west of the Qara Dagh range in ChamchamalDistrict (Sulaymaniyah Governorate) instead offer clear evidence for a massive and earlyUruk presence with mo- numental buildings, ramps, gates, residential and craft areasfrom the very beginning of the 4th millennium BC. Excavation on the sites of Girdi Qala and Logardan started in15.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origins of Social Justice in the Ancient Mesopotamian Religious Traditions Brian R
    Digital Commons @ George Fox University Faculty Publications - College of Christian Studies College of Christian Studies 4-2006 The Origins of Social Justice in the Ancient Mesopotamian Religious Traditions Brian R. Doak George Fox University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ccs Part of the Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Doak, Brian R., "The Origins of Social Justice in the Ancient Mesopotamian Religious Traditions" (2006). Faculty Publications - College of Christian Studies. Paper 185. http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ccs/185 This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Christian Studies at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications - College of Christian Studies by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “The Origins of Social Justice in the Ancient Mesopotamian Religious Traditions” Brian R. Doak Presented at the American Schools of Oriental Research Central States Meeting St. Louis, MO (April 2006) Note: This paper was solicited from me as an entry in an introductory multi-volume encyclopedia project on social justice in the world’s religious traditions. I presented it, polished it up for publication, and then the whole project fell apart for some reason that I never understood a few months after I submitted the piece. Since it will never see the light of day otherwise, I post it here for whomever might find it useful. (I) Introduction The existence of written law in the ancient Near East predates the earliest legal codes of other notable ancient civilizations, including those in China and India; thus, through the early Mesopotamians, we are given the first actual historical glimpse of law as idealized and, in some cases, practiced in human civilization.
    [Show full text]
  • Marten Stol WOMEN in the ANCIENT NEAR EAST
    Marten Stol WOMEN IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST Marten Stol Women in the Ancient Near East Marten Stol Women in the Ancient Near East Translated by Helen and Mervyn Richardson ISBN 978-1-61451-323-0 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-1-61451-263-9 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-1-5015-0021-3 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/3.0/ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. Original edition: Vrouwen van Babylon. Prinsessen, priesteressen, prostituees in de bakermat van de cultuur. Uitgeverij Kok, Utrecht (2012). Translated by Helen and Mervyn Richardson © 2016 Walter de Gruyter Inc., Boston/Berlin Cover Image: Marten Stol Typesetting: Dörlemann Satz GmbH & Co. KG, Lemförde Printing and binding: cpi books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Table of Contents Introduction 1 Map 5 1 Her outward appearance 7 1.1 Phases of life 7 1.2 The girl 10 1.3 The virgin 13 1.4 Women’s clothing 17 1.5 Cosmetics and beauty 47 1.6 The language of women 56 1.7 Women’s names 58 2 Marriage 60 2.1 Preparations 62 2.2 Age for marrying 66 2.3 Regulations 67 2.4 The betrothal 72 2.5 The wedding 93 2.6
    [Show full text]
  • FACTS and INTERPRETATION Writing As
    250 Visible Language XX 3 Summer 1986 TOKENS: FACTS AND INTERPRETATION Denise Schmandt-Besserat The University of Texas at Austin The first part of the article summarizes some of the major pieces of evidence con­ cerning the archaeological clay tokens and in particular the technique for their manufacture, their geographic distribution, chronology, and the context in which they are found. The second part is devoted to the interpretation of tokens as the first example of visible language and, in particular, as an antecedent of Sumerian writ­ ing. This paper deals with tokens recovered in archaeological sites of the ancient Middle East. 1 The first part summarizes the factual evidence available on the artifacts. The second part discusses what can be extrapolated from these facts for reconstructing what the tokens stood for and their significance. The interpretation focuses, in par­ ticular, on the way the objects were manufactured, their function as a counting device, the mode of reckoning they illustrate, and finally, the socio-political role they play in pre- and protoliterate com­ munities. In the conclusion it will be proposed that tokens led ulti­ mately to writing as a consequence of interrelated economic, social, and conceptual changes. I.THE FACTS The factual evidence on tokens includes their physical aspect, geo­ graphic distribution, number and findspots at given sites. Gathering this data involved visiting all possible collections of tokens in major museums of North America, Europe and the Middle East where they have been stored since excavation, counting the number of speci­ mens, making a sketch of their shape and eventual markings, measuring their size and making note of all particular features.
    [Show full text]
  • Working at Home in the Ancient Near East
    Working at Home in the Ancient Near East Edited by Juliette Mas and Palmiro Notizia Archaeopress Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology 7 Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way Summertown Oxford OX2 7LG www.archaeopress.com ISBN 978-1-78969-591-5 ISBN 978-1-78969-592-2 (e-Pdf) © the individual authors and Archaeopress 2020 Cover: Tell Beydar, Area B (courtesy of A. Pruß) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. Printed in England by Holywell Press, Oxford This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com Contents Working at Home in the Ancient Near East: New Insights and Avenues of Research ������������1 Juliette Mas and Palmiro Notizia Working at Nuzi ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9 Laura Battini The Organization of Labor at Tell Beydar ����������������������������������������������������������������������������19 Alexander Pruß Oikoi and the State� Households and Production Evidence in 3rd Millennium BC Upper Mesopotamia ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������33 Juliette Mas Reconstructing the Flow of Life and Work in Mesopotamian Houses: An Integrated Textual and Multisensory Approach �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������55
    [Show full text]
  • A STUDY of DIET in MESOPOTAMIA (C.3000
    A STUDY OF DIET IN MESOPOTAMIA (c.3000 - 600 BC) AND ASSOCIATED AGRICULTURAL TECHNIQUES AND METHODS OF FOOD PREPARATION by Elizabeth Rosemary Ellison Institute of Archaeology Thesis submitted to the University of London in the Faculty of Arts for the Degree of Doctor of.Philosophy May 1978 IBIBiN (LONDIN. UNIV. ABSTRACT This study has been undertaken in order to find out what were the main foodstuffs consumed by the people of Mesopotamia, whether they would have provided an adequate diet containing all the essential nutrients, and whether the foodstuffs could have been supplied locally. Agricultural techniques have been looked at to see how efficiently and in what quantities food crops were produced and the methods of food preparation have been examined in order to see in what form the food- stuffs were consumed. The modern climate and countryside are outlined and the evidence for the ancient climate and changes in the courses of the rivers are set against them. The sources of evidence used can be divided into three main categories. These are: direct evidence of food sources from excava- tions - that is, botanical and zoological remains indicating the existence of specific cereals, vegetables, meat-animals etc, at a given place and at a . given point of time; indirect evidence from excavations such as tools and artefacts which could have been used in the production and preparation of food, representations of plants, animals, food- preparation and consumption on cylinder seals, stone reliefs, pottery, inlay work, jewellery etc; and evidence from cuneiform tablets of the variety of foodstuffs known, and in many cases, of the amounts of foodstuffs eaten.
    [Show full text]
  • URUK POTT RY from the DOKAN AND. SHAHRAZUR DISTRICTS and the Distribution of Ninevite V Pottery As Revealed by Field Survey 'Work in Iraq
    /0 ~ - . URUK POTT RY FROM THE DOKAN AND. SHAHRAZUR DISTRICTS And The Distribution of Ninevite V Pottery As Revealed By Field Survey 'Work In Iraq 1.' Uccurrences in the Dokan Area which are situated on either side of the The fertile plain in the locality of riYer Zab and its lesser tributaTies. Now, Rani,-a in Sulaimaniva is called Dashi- following tbe completion of the Darn, the i-Bit;yuin. It bas an"'area of some 230 plain together with the majority of these squarekilometres and is almost triangu- tells is beneath the woaters of the huge lar in shape, its apex pointing south to- artificial lake, but before this lake carne . \\'ardsthe site of the Dokan Darn on into being the Iraqi Directorate ~eneral the Lesser Zab. The plain is dotted with oaf Antiqnities succeeded not only III con- more than fourty tells of varying sizesl ducting an extensiye sur,eyof the area, but also in carrying out a large number (1) Sayid Mohammad Ali Mustafa and of excanltions throughout the area, thus salnl,o'ino' much yaluable architectural the writer were in charge of an archaeologi- b 0 .. cal suryey on behalf of the Directorate and material eyidenceo General of Antiquities during september At the end of four extCllded seasons 1903. The result ,vas the mapping of some of work ,,-hid) began in the summer of fomty mounds together with a thorough 1056 and continued annuaHy until 1959 examination of their slll'face materials. I ",-\ .. {i.yelargc site;;; had been th;)l'oughJy ex- Among these materials pottery of the follow- cavated and ~eYeral others tested by ing phases was recognized: Hassuna, sJlOrt sOtlmlings." AlDollg' tbese sites Samacra, Halaf, Ubaid, Uruk, Ninevite V, \rhich\H'j'eexpIUlwl Qarashina, Bas- .\kkudiun, Hurriall, Assyrian and Islamic.
    [Show full text]
  • Bowdoin College Museum of Art Assyria to America October 24
    Bowdoin College Museum of Art Assyria to America October 24, 2019–December 13, 2020 Labels Assyria to America explores the palace complex of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BCE), who constructed a lavish and powerful new capital at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu). This urban center thrived for over two centuries before being destroyed by an alliance of Babylonians and Medes around 612 BCE. Its story continues to evolve today. Largely abandoned for over 2,000 years, the site of Nimrud was rediscovered by Sir Austen Henry Layard, an English explorer, diplomat, and archaeologist who excavated the site from 1845 to 1851. Layard and his successors sent numerous artifacts to the British Museum and other European collections while producing lavishly illustrated publications aimed at the general public. Growing fascination with Assyria coincided with an increased American presence in the region. Dr. Henri Byron Haskell (Bowdoin Medical School Class of 1855), a missionary in the Ottoman province of Mosul, recognized an opportunity and sent five impressive reliefs to the College. Since the nineteenth century, excavations and studies of ancient Assyria have continued. Today, despite serious damage inflicted on the site by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015, resolute efforts to better understand the Assyrians are leading to new ways of interpreting the past. 1 Bowdoin College Museum of Art I just returned from Mosul, Assyria where I have some very fine slabs from Nineveh [sic], which I shall be pleased to present to Bowdoin College my Medical School alma mater. Henri Byron Haskell to Professor Parker Cleaveland, July 3, 1857 Generous support for this exhibition comes from the Stevens L.
    [Show full text]
  • Nuzi and Tigunanum
    chapter 5 Nuzi and Tigunanum As a consequence of post-colonial theory, attention has increased for topics such as resistance, appropriation and ‘modes of contact’. Rather than seeing the development of writing methods as the direct outcome of new manage- ment structures, it should be seen as the continuous transformation of com- munication. That is why this chapter will begin by considering the regional centre of Nuzi – located in Arrapḫa (see Maps) and one of the most eastern vassals of the Mittani Empire. It was a Hurrian speaking entity, incorporated into the Mittani sphere of influence, near Aššur. Yet, the development of its writing and, as far as it is known, outward communication differed notably. Next, we will go back in time a few centuries, to the mysterious northern city of Tigunanum. Again, a probably Hurrian entity – with a script that no one has quite been able to classify as (Late) Old Babylonian. So where did the people of cities like Nuzi and Tigunanum come from, and who did they identify with? What is the significance of the Hurrian identity in their communication, and what do their scripts look like from a Mittanian point of view? 5.1 Introduction to Nuzi The available socio-economic information on Nuzi from its tablets makes the settlement an appropriate case-study for comparative palaeography. Where it is traditionally assumed that writing habits were imposed from above (by large Imperial powers), it is likewise possible they arose through other contacts (smaller neighbours, trade, immigration) (Van de Mieroop 1999: 37). The scribes at Nuzi had a unique style, featuring elements borrowed from other areas, and potentially carried across their own influence elsewhere.
    [Show full text]
  • In Situ Fall 2019
    In Situ Fall 2019 News and Events of the Harvard Standing Committee on Archaeology Ayn Sokhna camp on the Red Sea coast; see page 19 In this issue: Projects focusing on China, Egypt, Fenno-Scandinavia, Israel, Peru, Spain, Sudan, and USAFall 2019 1 In Situ Note from the Chair News and Events of the Harvard Standing Committee on Archaeology Fall Semester 2019 fter a publication hiatus in 2018–2019, this Anew issue of In Situ provides an informal news- Contents letter describing some of the diverse activities and achievements by archaeologists across the Harvard community and beyond. The following pages briefly Note from the Chair 2 summarize eleven different projects, some taking Archaeological heritage in Pre-Hispanic place right here on the Harvard campus, others as far Cajamarca; “El pasado importa” away as China. We are particularly happy to high- Solsire Cusicanqui 3 light graduate student work, and I encourage you to explore the wide range of technologies they are The Tao River Archaeology Project—2019 applying to their research questions. 6 SU Xin In addition, we list the many events related to the Modeling Royal Nubian Landscapes: Bringing the Standing Committee on Archaeology’s mission on “Drone Revolution” to Northern Sudan campus this past semester, even as we look ahead to Katherine Rose 7 a busy and no doubt productive spring 2020. For fundamental support, both logistical and Sámi Collections at the Smithsonian Institution moral, we thank the Dean of Social Sciences, Prof. 11 Matthew Magnani Lawrence Bobo, and the Dean of Humanities, Prof. Together at Last: Ankh-khonsu Regains his Robin Kelsey.
    [Show full text]
  • WHO MADE the FIRST GLASS? No Other Material Continually Exceeds Another Reconsideration of the Origins Itself As Silica Glass Does
    news & views increased. This suggests that the observed could also be an issue. All these points Ilia Valov is at the Research Centre Jülich, Electronic memory effect is a result of an interplay need to be considered and resolved to meet Materials (PGI-7), Wilhelm-Johnen- Straße, 52425 between redox reactions of the ligand and the the demands of the memory industry. In Jülich, Germany. Michael N. Kozicki is at the School of displacement of the counterions. considering where this new memristor Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona Despite the simplicity of the device technology might fit into emergent State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-5706, USA. formation demonstrated in this work, applications, perhaps the most obvious being e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] the technology proposed by Goswami neuromorphic computing, other aspects and colleagues still needs to meet the of device operation need to be examined, References 1. Chua, L. Semicond. Sci. Tech. 29, 104001 (2014). grand challenges of integration and including their analogue programmability. 2. Waser, R. & Aono, M. Nat. Mater. 6, 833–840 (2007). reliable operation in typical operating Yet the results reported in this study 3. Yang, J. J., Strukov, D. B. & Stewart, D. R. Nat. Nanotech. environments. Organic materials are prone are sufficiently compelling to drive further 8, 13–24 (2013). 4. Valov, I. & Lu, W. D. Nanoscale 8, 13828–13837 (2016). to mechanical damage and can be sensitive work. Organic materials are compatible 5. Lin, W.-P., Liu, S.-J., Gong, T., Zhao, Q. & Huang, W. Adv. Mater. to environmental conditions (moisture, with flexible circuits and can be more easily 26, 570–606 (2014).
    [Show full text]