The First Dynasty of the Sealand in History and Tradition by Odette Boivin A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations University of Toronto © Copyright by Odette Boivin 2016 The First Dynasty of the Sealand in History and Tradition Odette Boivin Doctor of Philosophy Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations University of Toronto 2016 Abstract In the latter half of the eighteenth century B.C.E. (in the Middle Chronology), the southernmost regions of Mesopotamia started rebelling against Babylonian royal power, merely one generation after Hammurapi of Babylon had unified the land in annexing the small kingdoms that had emerged at the beginning of the millennium. This rebellion eventually resulted in the formation of a poorly documented kingdom, the Sealand, which would last as an independent state for over two centuries, maintaining itself long after the Amorite dynasty of Babylon fell. Because of the dire lack of sources, this entire period has remained for us largely in the dark, historically and culturally. Late Old Babylonian royal inscriptions are few and the year names become less evocative of political events, early Kassite evidence is even scarcer, and until recently Sealand I sources were near to non-existent. Our incomplete understanding of pottery sequences and the apparent abandonment of several urban centres in southern Babylonia in that period have made and kept this dynasty very elusive. Until now it was known to us almost exclusively through its inclusion into later king lists and chronicles. The publication in 2009 of well over four hundred archival texts bearing date formulae of Sealand I rulers, soon to be followed by a few literary and ii divinatory texts, finally made it possible to start filling this hiatus. This dissertation proposes a history of the Sealand I kingdom, based on this new evidence and on a reevaluation of the previously known sources. The aspects examined are: the recording and transmission of knowledge on the Sealand I dynasty in Mesopotamian historiography; the political history, including a discussion of the geography and the relative chronology; the panthea and the palace- sponsored cult, which show how the Sealand I kings positioned their rule in a Larsean tradition, but with supra-regional ambitions; the economy — mainly the palatial administration and transformation of agricultural and animal resources, which also reveal a very specific model of institutional integration between the palace and temples. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation could not have been written without the kind support of my advisor Professor Paul-Alain Beaulieu. He offered his time and advice with indefatigable generosity and unsinkable good humour, and through the various stages of the project always made me feel that he trusted in my capability to master the object of my research. He taught me to read Akkadian and to write academic prose. I wish to acknowledge as well the advice offered by many others at the Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations, notably Profs. Clemens Reichel and Douglas Frayne. I would also like to extend my thanks to a number of people who kindly replied to my inquiries on unpublished material or others, in particular Manfred Krebernik, Antoine Cavigneaux, Seth Richardson, Stephanie Dalley, Cynthia Jean, Andrew George, Ann Goddeeris, Elyze Zomer, and Adbulamir al-H. al-Dafar. The Seminar für Kulturen und Sprachen des Vorderen Orients of the Universität Heidelberg should not be forgotten: they welcomed me in their library on a number of occasions amounting to a few months of very productive work on their premises, for which I am grateful. I need also to include my son Philippe in my thanks, who courageously and gracefully followed me in this academic undertaking, and accompanied me on expeditions to the university library numerous enough to make of him a specialist of the Dewey system. iv Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Review of previous scholarship 2 1.1.2 Dougherty's "The Sealand of Ancient Arabia" 4 1.1.3 Modern reassessments of sources pertaining to the Sealand 5 1.1.4 Archaeological evidence and other relevant contributions 7 1.2 The new textual evidence 9 1.2.1 Text recently published (or identified) 9 1.2.2 The palatial archive (of Kār-Šamaš?) 11 1.3 The scope and structure of the present work 17 2 The Sealand I in Babylonian historiography 18 2.1 The Sealand I dynasty in king lists 19 2.1.1 The names of the Sealand I dynasty and polity 20 2.1.1.1 The māt tâmti tradition 21 2.1.1.2 The (É)uruku(g) tradition 25 2.1.2 The names of the Sealand I rulers 30 2.1.2.1 Additional kings? 34 2.1.2.2 Akkadian names, Sumerian names 35 2.1.3 The king lists as historiographic documents: sources, purpose, and their treatment of the Sealand I dynasty 36 2.2 The Sealand I kingdom in chronicles 39 2.2.1 Chronicle ABC 20B 39 2.2.1.1 The structure of chronicle ABC 20B and its relation to ABC 20A 40 2.2.1.2 Possible sources and their use by the chronicler 42 2.2.1.3 Date of writing 46 2.2.1.4 Contingencies and intention in the writing of ABC 20B 47 2.2.1.5 Provenance of the sources used by the chroniclers 49 2.2.2 Other chronicle fragments 50 2.2.2.1 Another chronicle on southern Babylonia in the early and mid-second millennium 50 2.2.2.2 Fragments with uncertain or undetermined reference to the Sealand 51 3 Geographical and chronological considerations 54 3.1 Geographical evidence 54 3.1.1 Positive evidence of the Sealand I presence in Babylonia 54 3.1.2 Indirect evidence on the Sealand I geography 56 3.1.2.1 The lower Tigris 57 3.1.2.2 The lower Euphrates 60 3.2 The chronological conundrum 61 3.2.1 Problems with BKL A and synchronisms with Babylon I 63 3.2.1.1 The problem with the reign length of Pešgaldarameš 64 3.2.1.2 Synchronisms with Babylon I and more problems with BKL A 66 v 3.2.1.3 Another problem with BKL A and final remarks 68 3.2.2 Other (possible) synchronisms 69 3.2.2.1 At the time of the fall of Babylon 69 3.2.2.2 After the fall of Babylon 70 3.2.2.3 At the time of the fall of the Sealand I dynasty 74 4 A political history of the Sealand I kingdom 77 4.1 The southern Babylonian revolts: genesis of the Sealand I kingdom? 77 4.2 Ilī-ma-AN's northern ambitions: the struggle for middle Babylonia begins 82 4.2.1 Establishing a viable kingdom: the need for water 84 4.3 Abī-ešuḫ tries to contain the damage 86 4.3.1 The fortress, the dam, and the control of Nippur 87 4.4 Other allies, foes, and neighbours of the Sealand I kingdom 96 4.4.1 Elam 96 4.4.2 The Kassites 99 4.4.3 Ešnunna 103 4.5 A second wave of expansion under Damqi-ilišu? 104 4.5.1 Ammī-ditāna's campaign and the control of Udannu 104 4.5.2 Damqi-ilišu makes a name for himself 105 4.6 A fragile equilibrium 106 4.7 Gulkišar and the final strife against the first dynasty of Babylon 108 4.8 The redesign of the Babylonian political landscape 113 5 The Sealand I panthea and religious history 119 5.1 Scribal and religious milieux in the Sealand I kingdom 119 5.1.1 Tradition, innovation, and the influence of the palace thereon 119 5.1.2 Extracting the panthea from the documents 123 5.2 The state-sponsored cult 126 5.2.1 The cult of Ištar and her hypostases 127 5.2.2 The cult of Ninurta 132 5.2.3 The cult of Nazi 136 5.2.4 The cult of Šamaš 138 5.2.5 The cult of Sîn 143 5.2.6 The cult of Enlil and Ea 144 5.2.7 The cult of Marduk 146 5.2.8 The cult of the Holy Mound 147 5.2.9 The cult of the Sibitti 147 5.2.10 The cult of Lugal-irra 148 5.2.11 The cult of Manzât 149 5.2.12 The palace as a place of cult 150 5.2.13 Some events of the cultic calendar 151 5.2.13.1 The moon phase days 151 5.2.13.2 The festival of the braziers 153 5.3 Religious topoi in year names 153 5.4 Panthea and hierarchy in offering and god lists 162 vi 5.4.1 Offering lists 162 5.4.2 The god list CUSAS 9, 81 163 5.5 Panthea in the Sealand I kingdom 166 6 The Sealand I palatial economy 170 6.2.1 A functional inventory of sources 170 6.2 The procurement of resources 174 6.2.1 Agricultural and other vegetal resources 174 6.2.1.1 Cereals 175 6.2.1.2 Vegetables, spices, fruits, and pulses 182 6.2.1.3 Oil plant and aromatics 185 6.2.1.4 Reed 186 6.2.2 Animal resources 187 6.2.2.1 Ovine and caprine livestock and products 187 6.2.2.2 Bovine livestock and carcasses 189 6.2.3 Other resources 190 6.3 Storage and transformation 192 6.3.1 Storage of grain 192 6.3.2 Production of flour 192 6.3.2.1 The nupāru as workhouse for cereal-milling? 192 6.3.2.2 Types of flour milled at the nupāru 194 6.3.2.3 Production of ḫargalû-flour at the palace 196 6.3.2.4 Other types of flour 197 6.3.3.