P1: GCQ Aggregation-FM.xml CY308B/Fleming 0 521 82885 6 October 20, 2003 13:3 Democracy’s Ancient Ancestors Mari and Early Collective Governance DANIEL E. FLEMING New York University iii P1: GCQ Aggregation-FM.xml CY308B/Fleming 0 521 82885 6 October 20, 2003 13:3 published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011-4211, usa 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcon´ 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org C Daniel E. Fleming 2004 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2004 Printed in the United States of America Typeface itc New Baskerville 10/12 pt. System LATEX 2ε [tb] A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Fleming, Daniel E. Democracy’s ancient ancestors : Mari and early collective governance / Daniel E. Fleming. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-521-82885-6 (hardback) 1. Mari (Extinct city) – Politics and government. i. Title. ds99. m3f54 2004 939 .43 – dc22 2003058497 isbn 0 521 82885 6 hardback iv P1: GCQ Aggregation-FM.xml CY308B/Fleming 0 521 82885 6 October 20, 2003 13:3 Contents List of Maps and Tables page ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xvii List of Abbreviations xxi 1 Introduction 1 A. The Mari Texts 1 B. A Survey of Mari History 6 C. A Note on Prominent Terms 13 D. The Mari Archives and Political History 14 E. A Text-Based Study: Comments on Methodology 20 2 The Tribal World of Zimri-Lim 24 A. Tribally Organized Pastoralists and the Amorrites 26 B. The Primary Constituents of the Confederacies: Simalite gayum and Yaminite limum 43 C. The Local Leader of Tribe and Town: The sugagum¯ in Service to the Mari Kingdom 63 D. The Chief of Pasture: The merhumˆ 76 E. The “Hana” Tent-Dwellers ˘ 85 F. The Other˘ Confederacy: The Yaminites 92 3 The Archaic State and the matum¯ “Land” 104 A. Urbanism and Archaic States 106 B. The matum¯ : The Basic Unit of Regional Politics in the Early Second Millennium 116 C. Subdividing the Major matum¯ s: The hals.um District 133 D. Population Terminology Not Tied to Political˘ Entity 139 E. Zimri-Lim and the Land of the Tent-Dwellers (mat¯ Hana) 147 ˘ vii P1: GCQ Aggregation-FM.xml CY308B/Fleming 0 521 82885 6 October 20, 2003 13:3 viii Contents 4 The Collective and the Town 170 A. The Towns of the Mari Archives 172 B. Corporate Political Tradition 174 C. The Collective Face of Towns or Lands 180 D. Elders 190 E. Heads 200 F. Words for Assembly 203 G. Imar, Tuttul, and Urgiˇs: Old Towns with Strong Collective Traditions 211 H. Mari in Third-Millennium Mesopotamia 219 I. On Explaining Corporate Power 222 5 Conclusions 229 A. The Political World of the Mari Archives 229 B. Democracy’s Ancient Ancestors 235 Notes 243 Glossary of Ancient Terms 309 Glossary of Proper Names 315 Bibliography 325 Subject Index 345 Index of Mari Texts 351 P1: GCQ Aggregation-FM.xml CY308B/Fleming 0 521 82885 6 October 20, 2003 13:3 Maps and Tables maps 1 Ancient Syria and Mesopotamia page xxv 2 The Mari Region xxvi 3 The Habur River Basin xxvii ˘ tables 1 Towns with Individual sugagum¯ Leaders and No Known Tribal Affiliation 52 2 Letters Sent by Yaminites (List Not Complete) 59 3 matum¯ sDefined by Central Capital 122 4 matum¯ sDefined by Population 122 5 References to matum¯ Coalitions 125 6 References to the Collective Kings of matum¯ Coalitions 125 7 Activities, People, and Materials Organized by halsum 136 ˘ . 8 Towns Identified as Royal Possessions 173 9 Adjectival Forms of Geographical Names in Individual Identifications 182 10 Adjectival Forms of Geographical Names in Group Identifications 183 ix P1: GCQ 0521828856c01.xml CY308B/Fleming 0 521 82885 6 October 17, 2003 21:46 1 Introduction This book undertakes a study of ancient political life through the lens of one body of evidence: the cuneiform texts from Mari. By this approach, I am accepting the need to straddle two distinct demands that proceed from two different audiences. My focus on the archives, which are far from fully published, and which remain the subject of continuing reevaluation by specialists in the field, invites serious investigation of evidence the inter- pretation of which is by no means settled. This attention to Mari for its own sake requires that I present evidence and arguments with sufficient tech- nical detail to demonstrate the basis for my ideas to cuneiform specialists. My interest in the larger issues raised by this Mari material, however, has involved me in literature far beyond my own specialization, and I mean to make the book as accessible as possible to the scholars and students whose fields I have trespassed. The introductory material that follows is designed especially for those who know little about Mesopotamia or Mari and who may not be familiar with the conventions of Assyriological study of cuneiform texts. I begin by introducing the Mari archives and offering a historical overview of ancient Mari before addressing the specific issue of collective political forms. I close with observations about my methodological choices, particularly as they result in a text-oriented study. a. the mari texts Excavations at ancient Mari (Tell Hariri) began in 1933–4 under the lead- ership of Andr´e Parrot, with a French team. A huge palace was discovered in 1935, and large numbers of cuneiform tablets rapidly began to appear (Margueron 1997, 143). By the onset of World War II, the majority of known Mari archives had already been found, though Parrot took up work again af- ter the war and continued until 1974. In recent years, excavations have been led by Jean-Claude Margueron, and the site is still not considered closed. 1 P1: GCQ 0521828856c01.xml CY308B/Fleming 0 521 82885 6 October 17, 2003 21:46 2 Introduction Tells such as that of ancient Mari are regularly called “cities,” but this term demands careful qualification, inspired partly by what we know and partly by what we do not. The site of Tell Hariri is enclosed by a mound in the form of an arc that represents about one third of a circle, roughly three to four kilometers from the modern channel of the Euphrates, within the flood plain of the river.1 Almost all of the cuneiform tablets found at Mari come from the reigns of the kings who ruled there during the last half- century of its existence, conventionally dated to the early eighteenth century b.c.e. Much of what has been discovered within the existing site for that period served royal and ritual purposes: the main administrative palace and a subsidiary palace dominated by the royal harem, various temples, and large residences occupied by key Mari officials.2 Even after centuries of use, portions of the tell appear never to have been built up, and no proper residential quarters have yet come to light.3 Future excavations always yield new finds that embarrass those who argue from silence, but at this point, it seems that the “city” of Mari cannot be assumed to have housed a large population within its walls, beyond the significant number who depended directly on the king. 1. The Texts and Their Publication The cuneiform texts from Mari reflect this public and royal setting. The overwhelming majority represent the palace archives of Zimri-Lim, the last king of Mari, who inherited significant numbers of tablets from his prede- cessor, a rival from a completely separate dynasty and region. Most of the texts reflect practical use rather than scribal training, and so we have little classical Mesopotamian literature and few lexical collections or texts from specialized scribal ruminations on divination or incantations.4 Instead, we find two main types among the roughly 20,000 registered tablets and frag- ments: administrative documentation reflecting the daily affairs of various palace agencies and an unprecedented collection of letters. The detailed evidence for royal administration by itself would make the archives an im- portant discovery, but it is the royal correspondence that is unique among cuneiform finds. With over 3,000 letters included, the sheer number is re- markable, but it is their range of interest and origin that represents their particular historical value. We have exchanges between kings of Mari and other rulers or towns and thousands of reports from high palace officials, district governors, generals, tribal leaders in royal service, diplomats and envoys on royal missions outside the kingdom, and miscellaneous others. There are letters between officials and even some intercepted enemy mes- sages. Some missives are terse and purely informational, but many are more conversational, sometimes even verbose, to the modern reader’s pleasure. From the sum of them it is possible to glean knowledge of widely diverse as- pects of Mesopotamian society, with the advantage of historical coherence. P1: GCQ 0521828856c01.xml CY308B/Fleming 0 521 82885 6 October 17, 2003 21:46 The Mari Texts 3 The voices are distinct, but they speak out of a single brief period, in which their varied experiences were ultimately interlocked. Although most of the Mari tablets were discovered decades ago, their im- pact has been spread over the years of their gradual publication, so that new evidence continues to become available, as if from recent excavation.