Mnsopotamran Orucins
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MnsoPoTAMrANOrucINs THE BASIC POPULATION of the NEAR EAST By EPHRAIM A. SPEISER Assistant ProJessoroj St*i'tirs U ttirersity oJ Pennsyloania PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS LONDON HUMPHREY MILFORD: OXFORD UNI\DRSITY PRESS 1930 Copvnrcnr 1930 UNIVERSITY OF PENNS\'LVANIA PRBSS Printed.in the Uni,tedStates of America APR1 1 1s31 t|''ost't! tI* *O.n "r X PREFACE It will probably seemrash and prembtureto attempt at this time a sketchof Mesopotamianorigins, when scarcelya month passeswithout someimportant discoveryin one or the other of the ancientBible Lands. But it is preciselybecause of these discoveriesthat a fresh study of the material now extant may be found both advisableand useful' The Near East, past as well as present, holds today the interest of the scholar and the layman. The ever restlesstribes of the Orient compel almost universalattention; and the oldest centersof civiliza- tion have a peculiar fascinationfor even the casualobserver. The picture, however,is complexas a whole, and the details are all too often confusingand obscure. The present study has essayedthe task ofclarifying the contoursof that picture' If this aim has been at all achieved,the book may be held justified. The central thesisof this essayis, briefly, that nearly all of the hitherto unclassifiedcultures and peoplesof the ancient Near East can be organizedinto a single, genetically inter- related, group; the membersof that group formed the basic population of Hither Asia, producedits earliestcivilizations, utrd hun" continued to this day to furnish its ethnic back- ground. The approachto the subject-and this point will bear stres- sing-has beenthreefold: archaeology,historical records,and the internal evidenceof philology, have all beenbrought into the investigation. It wilI be evident that no exhaustivetreat- ment of any of these essentiallyindependent disciplines has been attempted in the following pages. To present the sum of facts,attested and alleged,gathered from three suchdiverse fields,would haverequired a work of encyclopedicproportions; lviil PREFACE it would have certainly exceededby far the competenceof the author. Moreover, in a work of this kind, where the main argument should be constantly kept in the foreground,one must bewarelest the details overshadowthe whole. On the other hand, a syntheticcoordination of resultsarrived. at inde- pendently in severalautonomous branches of research,could conceivablybe ventured with rather lessdiffidence. Such a study might evenprove of greaterimmediate value sincethe comparativemethod servesto broaden the scopeand topro_ vide a mutual checkfor the main results. fn courseof the discussionthe present author was con- strained to depart on a number of occasionsfrom current interpretations and to suggest solutions that appeared to derive from the available evidence more efiective support. The argumentrequired as a consequencecareful ancl complete documentation. This will accountfor the unusualprominence given to the footnotes,which have taken up one-third of the total space;they may help to justify the existenceof the book, though they will hardly enhanceits outward appearance. It is perhapsneedless to add that not all of the material as- sembled could be utilized without seriously distorting the relative importance of text and comments. However, it is doubtlesstrue that some studieshave been, unfortunately, overlooked which might have proved really relevant to the presenttheme; the wish to avoid such omissionsis more pious than simple and easyof fulfilment. Of the author's indebtednessto the many workers in the field of Oriental History and Philology the notes will bear the best and most eloquent testimony. The kind invitation of the AmericanPhilosophical Society, extended through Doctor Cyrus Adler, to preparea paper on Early Civilizations, fur- nished the incentive to present this study in writing. The encouragementand interest of professor GeorgeA. Barton have been to the writer of inestimablehelp, and a constant I vl]l .l PREFACE sourceof inspiration. ProfessorJames A. Montgomery had the goodness,and the patience,to read the manuscript and the entire proof; it is a foregoneconclusion that this book has benefited greatly by his generosity. The author has also enjoyed the assistanceof membersof his Seminarin Ancient Oriental History: Miss M. RogersWarren was good enough to go over the entire manuscript,while Mr. Allan A. MacRae and Mr. Z.Harris read portions of the proof. One acknowledgmenthas been left for the end. To the American Schoolsof Oriental Researchthe author owesmuch of what may be new and useful in this work. The personal knowledgeof most of the territories with which the present study deals,the acquaintancewith the topographicalintrica- cies of the Central Zagros, the survey and excavation of sites containing prehistoric painted pottery, and the extensive study of the Hurrian documents from the Kirkuk area, are all due to opportunitiesprovided directly or indirectly by the Schools, in conjunction with the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation,the DropsieCollege, and the Harvard Expedition under ProfessorEdward Chiera. For more than a quarter of a century the Schoolshave beenan important factor in the field of Oriental Research. Their work was carriedon under precarious financial circumstances. Now that the leanest years have been left behind, thanks to a generousgrant from the RockefellerFoundation, it is peculiarly fitting to look back upon that period and to commemorateits scientific accomplishments. To do so is indeeda rare privilege; if the presentcontribution be thought too slender to warrant this distinction, the presumption may be mitigated by the cir- cumstancethat the act is not untimely. Philadel,phia,JuIy 15th, 1930. tixl CONTtrNTS CHAPTER I THE BACKGROUND -{ncient boundaries greatly extended-Intimate contacts between earlv civilizations-Confusing ethnic conditions in the third millennium- A large group of peoples awaiting further identification-Kret- schmer's study of pre-Grecian place-names and the decipherment of Elamite by Heinrich Winkler-Non-Semitic languages preserved in the cuneiform script-The "Caucasian" hlpothesis alluring- Caucasian philology in an embryonic state-The valuable work of Adolf Dirr-Hasty conclusions of Caucasian scholars-The theories of N. Marr untenable-The need for a useful designation to replace '(Caucasian"-Circumspect application of the term "Japhethite" proposed-Premature conclusions of Trombetti-Philological and archaeological results to be coordinated-The distribution of First and Second Aeneolithic (Susa I and II)-Lines of investieation converge in Anatolia-Numerous preliminary studies essential- Scope of present work limited to Mesopotamia and immediate neighbors CHAPTER II ELA},{ AND SUMER IN THE EPIGRAPHICAI SOURCES The designations for Elam-The nature of the epigraphical material- Phonetic peculiarities-The subject suffixes-Elam in Sumero- Akkadian sources-Ceaseless wars with Sumer and Akkad-The fall of Sumer-The testimony of tradition-The king lists largely vindicated by recent finds-The Awan Dynasty of Elamite origin- Wars with Elam traced back to First Dynasty of Kish-Philological evidence-The "prediluvian" place-namespredominantly Elamite- Names ending in ah and ir-Awan and Awak identical-The pre- Sumerian population of Lower Mesopotamia-Names ending in a sibilant-The internal evidence of Sumerian dialects-Phonetic traces of apre-Sumerian substratum-Eme Ku and Eme Sol-Pho- netic correspondences-A probabie labiovelar in the northern dialect -Eme Sal' localized in Akkad-The origin of the name "Sumer"- Suggestive traces oI palatalization-Recapitulation 26 r 'l txr.l CONTENTS CHAPTER III THE EARLIEST CIVIIZATIONS OF THE NEAR EAST The oldest strata of Musyan-The First Style of Susa-Susian pottery- Other First Aeneolithic sites-The extraordinary expansion of First Aeneolithic-Southern and Nothern Mesopotamia-The First Style probably of sub-Caucasian origin-The remarkable agreement between archaeological and philological data-The problem of Jem- det Nasr-Second Styirlts characteristics and distribution- Significant western connections-Jemdet Nasr only superficially Sumerian-Original home of SecondAeneolithic-Ethnic representa- tives-The evidence from Tepe Gawra-Common ultimate origin of both styles-Proto-Elamites, Sumerians, and Semites-First Aeneolithic supplanted-Simultaneous appearance of the Second Style and of the Sumerians-Temporary political impasse-Su- merian contributions 59 CHAPTER IV THE LIILLU AND THE GUTI The peoples of the Central Zagros-The valley of Shehrizor-The Lullu in the third millennium-Late: history-Lullu and Elamite place- names related-The labial ending-The spread of the Lullu-The Dynasty of Gutium-Gutian personal names-The name "Lagash" -Phonetic peculiarities-Alleged relationship of Gutians and Indo- Europeans-The documentary basis for the theory reviewed- The myth of Gutian blondness-The application of the word namru-Gtftians in Assyria-References in Assyrian annals-The Guti and the Qurti-The Qurti and the Kurds-The antiquity of the Kurds-The sufix hi-The Kurds originally a Zagros-Japhe- thite people 87 CHAPTER V THE KASSITES AND THE HURRIANS Foreign rulers in the second millennium-The Kassites-The language of the Kassites-Ethnic affiliations-The Hurrians-The name "Subartu" a grographical term-The "Mitanni"-The Hurrians in the archives of Boghazkoi-Horites and Hurrians-The Hurrians in Palestine-Hanigalbat, Mitanni, Subartu, and Hurri-The philo- logical position of Hurrian-Relationship with the Elamites-The