Proceedings of the Xlv Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale: Historiography in the Cuneiform World

Proceedings of the . XL Ve Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale PART I Harvard University HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE CU...

Author: Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Harvard University | I. Tzvi Abusch | Carol Noyes

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Proceedings of the . XL Ve Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale

PART I

Harvard University

HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE CUNEIFORM WORLD edited by

Tzvi Abusch, Paul-Alain Beaulieu, John Huehnergard, Peter Machinist, Piotr Steinkeller with the assistance of

Carol Noyes

eDL Press Bethesda, Maryland

psc ::l . II ~ LtG. ).bO\'"

V. I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Rencontre assyriologique internationale (45th: Harvard and Yale Universities) Proceedings of the XLV Rencontre assyriologique internationale / edited by Tzvi Abusch ... let al.l· p. cm. "Part I, Harvard University - part TI, Yale University." Contents: v.I. Historiography in the cuneiform world / edited by Tzvi Abusch ... let al.l with the assistance of Carol Noyes. - v. 2. Seals and seal impressions / edited by William W. Hallo and Irene J. Winter. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1883053-676 1. Middle East-History-To 622-Historiogr~phy-Congresses. 2. Middle East-History-To 622-Sources-Congresses. 3. Seals (Nurnismatics)-Middle East-Congresses. I. Abusch, Tzvi. TI. Noyes, Carol. TIL Hallo, William W. IV. Winter, Irene. V. Title. DS62.23 .R46 2001 935'.007'2-dc21

2001035011

.

Table of Contents

c..oP'11N A-r,)

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ix

THE KING-LISTS FROM EBLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Alfonso Archi HISTORY IN REVERSE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATION AND THE INVENTION OF ASSYRIA .......

15

Zainab Bahrani THE ABDUCTION OF I~TAR FROM THE EANNA TEMPLE THE CHANGING MEMORIES OF AN EVENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Paul-Alain Beaulieu A MODEL CONTRACT OF AN EXCHANGE/SALE TRANSACTION ......... 41

Walter R. Bodine LA YARD AND BOTTA ARCHAEOLOGY, IMPERIALISM, AND AESTHETICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cover design by Duy-Khuong Van. The drawing of the seal of Itbi-teMup (Nuzi, ca. 1400 B.C.E.) on the cover, title page, and after several essays is by D.L. Stein.

55

Frederick N. Bohrer MNEMOHISTORY IN SYRO-HITTITE ICONOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

65

Domin'ik Bonatz MISINFORMATION ON MESOPOTAMIAN EXACT SCIENCES .............. 79

David Brown ISBN 1883053-676

HEROIC DIMENSION AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE . IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Copyright 2001. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted in Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher, CDL Press, P.O. Box 34454, Bethesda, Md. 20827.

Anna Maria G. Capomacchia DEHISTORICIZING STRATEGIES IN THIRD-MILLENNIUM B.C.E. ROYAL INSCRIPTIONS AND RITuALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Andrew C. Cohen v

C-:·:-:·:-:':-:·:-:l

vi

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

THE IMAGE OF THE "OTHER" AND HrrrITE HISTORIOGRAPHY ......... 113

131

MAGAN AND MELutJl::JA A REAPPRAISAL THROUGH THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THALASSOCRATIC POWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

THE CONQUEST OF YADNANA ACCORDING TO THE INSCRIPTIONS OF SARGON

II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 357

Nadav Na'aman

163

WRITING ARCHAEOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Veysel Donbaz LE DEVIN HlSTORIEN EN MEsOPOTAMIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

365

Joan Oates

181

THE IMpORTANCE OF PLACE

Jean-Jacques Glassner

ESARHADDON'S STELAE AT TIL BARSIP AND SAM' AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. POLYMNIA AND CLIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

329

Daniele Michaux-Colombot

149

Stephanie Dalley SOME LATE BABYLONIAN TEXTS GLEANED FROM THE ASSUR COLLECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

313

Glenn Magid

Jerrold Cooper ASSYRIAN COURT NARRATIVES IN ARAMAIC AND EGYPTIAN HISTORICAL FICTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

vii

MICROMANAGEMENT IN THE E_Mt/DBA-D NOTES ON THE ORGANIZATION OF LABOR AT EARLY DYNASTIC LAGASH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yoram Cohen LITERATURE AND HISTORY THE HISTORICAL AND POLfTICAL REFERENTS OF SUMERIAN LITERARY TEXTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C-:·:-:·:-:·:-:·:-:l

195

373

Barbara Nevling Porter

William W. Hallo NOT OUT OF BABYLON? THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN STUDIES IN GERMANY AND ITS CURRENT SIGNIFICANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

READING THE SARGONIC 'HISTORICAL-LITERARY' TRADITION IS THERE A MIDDLE COURSE? (THOUGHTS ON THE GREAT REVOLT AGAINST NARAM-SIN) . .....•.......

211

391

Timothy Potts

Stefan R. Hauser THE G1SKAKKI ASSUR AND NEO-ASSYRIAN LOYALTY OATHS ..........

WHEN TABLETS TALK BUSINESS REFLECTIONS ON MESOPOTAMIAN ECONOMIC HISTORY AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO A GENERAL HISTORY OF MESOPOTAMIA ..........

239

Steven W. Holloway

409

Johannes Renger THE FORMULA "To BECOME A GOD" IN HITTITE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL TEXTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

267

TEXT AND SUBTEXT

Sylvia Hutter-Braunsar

PRECIOUS METALS AND POLITICS IN OLD AKKADIAN MESOPOTAMIA ...... .' I

THE GENEALOGY OF NANNA-SUEN AND ITS HISTORICAL BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

279

A HISTORIOGRAPHY OF DEMONS PRETERIT-THEMA, PARA-MYTH, AND HISTORIOLA IN THE MORPHOLOGY OF GENRES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

Jacob Klein MESOPOTAMIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE AMARNA LETTERS .......

Mario Liverani

303

.

417

Jennifer C. Ross

429

Seth L. Sanders

.,:X""~~:"":':-?J

Fig.l: ARETVII 150 (TM.75.G.2628)+new fragment, obverse.

T~1Cse texts appear to have been written by a single scribe, not noted for hiS style, who never worked for the Central Archive. The list, containing s.e~enty-two names, is composed of two parts. The first part begins with a hvmg ~erson, Bar-Damu, the last king of Ebla, son and successor of Irkab~amu. ) Listed next are the ten kings of the other list (ARET VII 150), also in mverted order, followed by fifteen personal names that, in turn, are followed by the toponym Ib-la (without the geographic determinative KI 0?v.IV,5), plus an ad~ition~l six ~lames. The second part of the text (begin~ ntn~ ';l.lh obv.IV 3) hsts tlmty-nme personal names, ordered according to the Intha! elem.ent: D~I-~(, DII-b~I-UU-, EI1-I1I1-, etc} which is apparently a mnemomc deVice, ThiS IS the only school text that does not come from the M.G. Biga and F. Pomponio, N.A.B.U. (1987): 106. 7

The second section of the text has been discussed by G. Pettinato, Or NS 44 (1975): 369-71. The whole text has been published by Al'chi ARES I pp 21214. ' ,.

3

4

THE KING-LISTS FROM EBLA

Central Archive. The reason it was included with some of the most mundane administrative texts cannot be explained. Possibly, we find here a test exercise, which was prepared by an apprentice scribe to impress the masters of Ebla's scribal school. The surviving examples of king-lists usually proceed from the earliestknown ruler to the most recent one.8 However, it is not surprising that a list of ancestors stemming from oral tradition should have a reverse chronological order. This is the order we ourselves follow, when we are unable to aid our memory with written information. The Assyrian King-List contains, in its second section, ten ancestors of Samsl-Addu listed in exactly the same manner, apparently because that genealogy had derived from a different tradition than that of the other two sections. 9 The Ugarit list of kings in the cultic text KTU 1.113 follows the same order. In chronological sources produced outside of scribal schools the subjective concept of time prevails. The past represents that portion of time that one has in front of him, before his eyes (igi, pana): pana "preceding," panatu "past." This concept is not an Akkadian (or, more generally, Semitic) Eigenbegrifflichkeit, for it is shared also by the Indo-Europeans. From I.E. per (Hittite peran, "in front"; Greek peran, "on the other side"), comes Latin prior, prImus, pristinus, Ahd.furi,furiro, "former, early." The future follows the individual and, in this way, lies behind him: Sumerian egir, Akkadian (w)arkltum, Latin posteritas. lO The twenty-six names of the second list constitute the dynasty of Ebla. Not only the first eleven (though the last chronologically), but also the other fifteen names are those of kings. This is proved by the fact that some of these persons (the ones who had left the greatest mark in memory) receive, on more than one occasion, various offerings. Several of these dead, deified kings (dingir PN) are invoked in the marriage ritual for the royal couple, together with the tutelary deities of the dynasty: Kura, the head of the Ebla pantheon, his consort Barama,lSbara, and (Nin.)tu, the inother-goddess. Two parallel versions of this ritual have been preserved, one for the wedding of Irkab-Damu and the other for that of his son,lSar-Damu (ARET XI 1 and 2 respectively). Right at the beginning of the ritual, before the wedding procession leaves the palace, a sheep is sacrificed to the sun-

goddess and to Ibbini-Lim (the 10th king; 1 [2)). At dawn on the fourth day, just before the procession reaches Irad, a sacrifice is made to Abur-Lim (the 16th king; 1 [37] / /2 [40)); at dawn on the following day, in the vicinity of Udubudu, sacrifices are offered to Amana (the 5th king; 1 [40] / /2 [43)). Near NEnas, the procession (which includes also the deities Kura and Barama) enters the mausoleum, E ma-tim/d(m (/bayt-i-mawt-im/),u There, during the various phases of the ritual and on different days, sacrifices are made and offerings presented to Ibbini-Lim, Sagisu, and ISrut-Damu (the 10th, 8th and 11th kings respectively; 1 [60] / /2 [63], 1 [86] / /2 [90], 1 [89] / /2 [93], 1 [92] / /2 [96)). At the conclusion of the ritual, and before leaving the mausoleum, sacrifices are once again made to Sagisu, Amana, and Igris-tJalab, Irkab-Damu's immediate predecessor (1 [97] / /2 [107] [108)),12 It was in NEnas, where a "house of the dead" (e ma-tim) is said to have been situated, that Sagisu, Ibbini-Lim, and ISrut-Damu must have been buried, since these three rulers were, according to other sources, more than once the object of worship at this particular location. However, this did not apply to Igris-tJalab, who is worshipped, at the end of the ritual, as the predecessor of Irkab-Damu. The same was true of Amana, the fifth king, who was associated with the small settlement Udubudu. This is confirmed by a list of sheep offerings dating to the last year of the archives, TM.75. G.I0147 rev. II 20-III 2: 2 udu dingir JEx(EN)-ma-nu in Cl-du-au-duki.13 Abur-GIM (= A-bur-li-im), the sixteenth king, was connected with Irad, a place that is otherwise unknown. We do not know whether the last ten kings were really buried in Darib, as is suggested b~ ARET VII 150 (section [3)): dingir-dingir-dingir en-en al6-tus in Da-rf-fb I, "the gods of the kings (Le., the deified kings) living in Darib.,,14 Darib is probably to be identified with Tti-ra-b of the geographic list of Thutmosis III, and with present-day Atareb, a village 30 km north of Ebla and 27 km NNW of Aleppo, from which came a nearly life-size stone

9 See B. Landsberger, /CS 8 (1954): 33ff. The list can now be consulted in M.T.

Larsen, The Old Assyrian City-State and its Colonies (Copenhagen: 1976), pp. 3440. 10

See Archi, N.A.B.U. (1998): 86.

5

11 P. Fronzaroli, ARET XI, p. 144. 12

13

8 For a survey of the king-lists of the Ancient Near East, see RIA 6, pp. 77-135.

(~;.:;.:.o-:.:~:.:~:J

The (former) kings, en-en, are mentioned in 1 (94), a fragmentary context. Also the god Kura receives an offering in Uduijudu, together with another deity whose name is not preserved (perhaps dingir EN-lila-nil again), according to another offering list, TM.75.G.2517 rev. IX 6ff.

14 The Hittites venerated the gods called Zawalli, a term that means "spirit of the deceased," dZawalli PN. It appears sometimes in place of akknnt- "dead, spirit (of a deceased person)," GIDIM. The Zawallis of the royal house were venerated in various towns where the court formerly resided, see Archi, AoF 6 (1979): 81-94.

6


e:-~:-·Y.':;>~·~~

7

One would expect the kings to be buried near the palace, in accordance with the Syrian and Mesopotamian traditions. No epigraphic or archaeological data, however, suggest such a possibility. In the years 1993-96, while deepening the excavations under the part of the royal palace extending towards the acropolis, the excavators uncovered, ca. 5.9 m below the floor of royal palace G, two large, communicating rooms, each roughly 5.2 x 4 m in size, and built of well-cut blocks of calcareous stone (subsequently

Fig. 2: Head from Atareb (limestone). head, probably belonging to a royal statue (Fig. 2).15 A more likely possibility is that they were interned in Ebla itself. Thus, we have records of unnamed deceased rulers ("kings," logographically en-en, corresponding to malikam, as in Ugaritic) who received food offerings in the palace on the occasion of the king's meaL16 It is only in a document concerned with the "regular offerings for the dead" (iti ma-wa-timlu sa-dull-ga) that some of those deified kings are mentioned by name: Ba(ga)-Damu, Enar-Damu, and lSar-Malik (the 19th, 20th, and 21st kings respectively): ARET IX 17 (20)-(22), (25). Interestingly, Samiu (dingir Sa-mi-ll, the third king of the great list!) even appears among the gods of the Ebla pantheon, in section (13). These ancient rulers of Ebla also received sacrifices of sheep in the palace, but only occasionally.17 15 See already Archi, ZA 76 (1986): 217. The head of the statue has been published by P. Matthiae, SE/J 2 (1980): 41-47. 16 See en-en in the Glossary of AI~ET IX, p. 384. In the kisplllll-ritual from Mari,

the former kings are called slIrrallll; see the texts quoted by A. Tsukimoto, Untersllchungell zlIr TotellpJlege (kispum) illlilitell Mesopotlllllien (NeukirchenVluyn, 1985), p. 57 nn. 224-26.

17 dingir SII-IIIi-Ii: TM.75.G.2397 obv. IX 5-6; 2403 obv. XII 22-23. dingir EII-ar-dllTM.75.G.1764obv. X 20-21; 2075 obv. VI 3-4; 2238 rev. 18-9;2397 obv. VIII 22-23. dingir [-slIr-IIIII-Uk: TM.75.G.2598 obv. XII 3-4; see also TM.75.G.1318 rev. II 6-7. 11111:

Fig. 3: The hypogeum of the royal palace.

8

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ALFONSO ARCHI

sacked to a great extent), and with a fine lime floor (Fig. 3).18 Incidentally, this kind of very hard stone is otherwise never used in buildings of the Early Bronze Age, nor is it employed later, during the Middle Bronze Age. Given its position and refined construction techniques, this building complex is most probably to be related to palace G. The two rooms were found completely empty. Since it is unlikely that not even a single fragment of funerary furnishings should have survived the later sacking (had such in fact been deposited), we can safely conclude that this hypogeum was built -but never actually used-by the last king, lSar-Damu, who also restored and enlarged the royal palace. What emerges from all this evidence is that the cult of ancestors was practiced throughout the original core of the Ebla state: it was thanks to the continued "presence" of ancient rulers that their descendants could claim the throne of Ebla for themselves. This is typical of an archaic society. Since some of the ancestors bore names identical with toponyms, these individuals may have originated in the places in question. KUL-ba-nu, the na~e of the first king, is the same as that of a well-known village: KUL-ba-an kl ; for Zi-a-lu, the name of the fourth king, see Zi-a-LUM ki, Zi-Ja-ar/ru12ki. The list names Ib-la without the geographic determinative (obv. IV 5), preceded (in chronological order) by Birs-b£-la-nu, which is al~o a geographic name, and La-da-u, a personal name derived from La_da k1 . It is fairlls common for Eblaite personal names to correspond to geographic names, 9 in agreement with both ancient and modern name-derivation principles. As regards these particular royal names, we may rightly ask ourselves if "the lack of the determinative indicates that these names were perceived as relating not to the towns as such but to their eponyms that were used to lengthen the royal pedigree beyond the earliest remembered name of an authentic king. ,,20 However, the fact that the cult of these ancient kings manifested itself in several localities does not mean that the urban tradition of the state was a recent development. Rather, the beginnings went back at least to the middle of the third millennium B.e.E. Deeper excavations in the northern quarter of palace G revealed an intermediate phase between EB III and EB IVA, whose buildings are partly associated with the foundations of the

18 P. Matthiae, CRAIB 1995, pp. 655-57. [See also, idem, AoF 24 (1997): 268-76). 19 See the list in ARES II, pp. 26--;29. For Birrba-Ia/r~-nllki, see ibid., p. 396 sub

NAM-NE-Ia/rn-nu ki . KUL-ba-an kl is read Bal'-ba-an k1 by M. Bonechi, RGTC 12/ 1, p. 73. 20 M.e. Astour, Eblaitica 3 (Winona Lake, Ind.: 1992), p. 22.


(~:.:~:.:~:.:~:.:~)

9

palace itself. Perhaps also related to these structures is a large silo, 5.4843, 3 m in diameter and preserved to a height of 1.5 m, which was dug into the EB ill levels. All these data suggest the presence of a palatial building prior to palace G.21 Moreover, the excavations on the southern slope of the acropolis have brought to light numerous rooms of EB ill date (building G2), divided by thick walls and used as storerooms. 22 Without any doubt, this structure formed part of a palatial administrative center. Archaeological data show, therefore, that from at least the middle of the third millennium, Ebla was the seat of a major urban settlement. Although the royal list of Ebla is particularly long, it is not, by any means, unique in this respect. Oral~ preserved tribal genealogies usually comprise five to seven generations, 3 and rarely if ever extend beyond ten to fourteen generations. RR Wilson has noted that in those societies having a developed lineage system, the lineage is expressed in genealogical terms so that the genealogy is a mnemonic of the lineage. The genealogy thus has the same form as the lineage it represents .... Genealogies that exceed twelve generations in depth are frequently linear rather than segmented genealogies. They trace only one line of descent between a living person and a person in the past. Therefore, they are not mnemonics of the lineage and do not serve to relate living members of the tribe to each other. The most common examples of this type of genealogy are the king lists that are presented

21 On the most ancient urban phases of Ebla, see S. Mazzoni, La Parola del Passato

46 (1991): 163-94. For the excavation data, see P. Matthiae, CRAIB 1993, pp. 618-25 and fig. 8. The terrace wall M.3905, which divides in half the northern section of the so-called Central Unit, where food was processed, was probably built over an earlier wall: M. 4472 (M. 3905 runs lengthwise in the middle of fig. 8, cited above). These structures below this part of the Central Unit of palace G might belong to a palatial structure, and are dated by Mazzoni, op. cit., p. 175, to EB IV AI. For the silo, see the photo in Matthiae, op. cit., p. 620 fig. 5; P. Matthiae et al., Ebla. Alia origini della civiltillirbanan (Milano: 1995), p. 99. The terrace wall of unbaked bricks adjacent to the hypogeum cuts an earlier floor that belongs to phase EB IIIIEB IV (AI); see the photo in op. cit., Matthiae et al., p. 101 (this floor is the lower one in the upper part of the photo). 22 P. Matthiae, CRAIB 1987, pp. 136-38. 23 In reference to the tribes of the Zambia/Zaire territory, I. Cunni son, "History

and Genealogies in a Conquest State," Americal1 Al1thropologist 59 (1957): 22, notes as follows: "These lineages have genealogies up to seven generations in depth."

(~:.:~:.:~:.:~:.:~J

10

ALFONSO ARCHI


in genealogical form, although any person who wishes to anchor in the past his claim to power, authority, or status may also preserve a long linear genealogy. Such specialized genealogies may stretch back as far as thirty or more generations and may exist even in tribes where genealogies normally do not exceed five generations in depth. 24

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11

humanity, from the East to the West, who have no one to care for them or to call their names, come, eat this, drink this, (and) bless Ammi-~aduqa, son of Ammi-ditana, king of Babylon.,,28 No such desire to claim the inheritance of other dynasties is found in the royal lists of Ebla. These sources reveal an exclusively local horizon. The first list (ARET vn 150) is plainly related to a ritual. In the second list, the memory of ancient kings is preserved only because these were venerated in cult (at least some of them, according to our documentation). This reminds us of Ugarit, where the tradition of preserving the names of ancient kings (there are sixteen names preserved in the fra~mentary list KTU 1.113) was motivated by purely cultic reasons as well. 2 The remembrance of ancestors has its roots in man's yearning for divine protection, and, of all tutelary deities, ancestors were always closest to him and his fami~. This deep need of the human psyche is documented from earliest times. 0 We know that at Ebla the throne passed from father to son during the last three generations. It is unknown, however, if this rule held also for the former kings or if, as in certain dynasties, the crown passed instead from an elder brother to a younger brother, and only later to a younger generation. lSar-Damu, the last king, ruled for at least thirty-five years; his father, Irkab-Damu, ruled for five to seven years. We have no information on Igrisljalab, the third before the last king. It would seem reasonable to attribute to each of the twenty-six rulers of Ebla an average rule of fifteen years, if one bears in mind that initially Eblaite society seems to have lacked wellconsolidated institutions. If we date the fall of Ebla to roughly 2350 B.C.E.,

Many, if not all, of the king-lists stemming from the ancient Near East had a political or propagandistic intent. The Sumerian King-List, a learned document used by several dynasties, "asserts," in the words ofW.G. Lambert, "the notion of the legitimacy of a city to hold kingship at the will of the gods for a certain period, not the legitimacy of a particular family.,,25 Political ambitions are also reflected in various types of sources concerned with the cult of ancestors. The kispum-ritual of Mari lists, following the offerings for Samas, those for Sargon and Naram-Sin, as well as those for the Haneans yaradu and the Haneans Numha, from whom the family of SamsI-Addu had stemmed. 26 In this way, the SamsI-Addu dynasty presented itself as having descended from the great kings of Akkad, a tradition that was later adopted in some way also by the Hurrians. 27 As the kispumritual of Ammi-~aduqa makes clear, the kings of Babylon thought themselves to be heirs of all the great dynasties of the past: "the ancestors of ljammurabi, the dynasty of the Amorites, the dynasty of the Haneans, the dynasty of Gutium, (any) dynasty that is not recorded on this tablet, and (any) soldier who fell while on his lord's service, princes, princesses, all 24 RR Wilson, Genealogy and History in tile Biblical World (YNER 7; New Haven: 1977), pp. 18-26 (quotations are from pp. 19 and 25-26). 25 W.G. Lambert, inLe Palais et la royaute, ed. P. Garelli (Paris: 1974), p. 434. For this interpretation of the list, see further P. Michalowski, "liistory as Charter: Some Observations on the Sumerian King List," lAOS 103 (1983): 237-48; Cl. Wilcke, "Diesumerische Konigsliste und erzahlte Vergangenheit," in Vergangenheit im milndlic11er ilberlieferung, eds. J. von Ungern-Sternberg and H. Reinau (Colloquium Rauricum 1; Stuttgart: 1988), pp. 114-40; idem, "Genealogical and Geographical Thought in the Sumerian King List," in Studies A. W. Sjoberg, ed. H. Behrens, D. Loding, and M.T. Roth (Philadelphia: 1989), pp. 537-71. 26 M. Birot, in Death in Mesopotamia, ed. B. Alster (Copenhagen: 1980), p. 142, I

28 This translation follows W.G. Lambert,lCS 22 (1968): 1-2. For the complete text, see J.J. Finkelstein, ICS 20 (1966): 95-118. For a connection between the dynasty of Babylon and the Haneans, see D. Charpin and J.M. Durand, RA 80 (1986): 166-70. 29 For RS 25.257 =Ugaritica V 5 =KTU 1.113, see especially K.A. Kitchen, UF 9 (1977): 131-42; D. Pardee, Les textes para-mythologiques de la 24ecampagne (1961) (Paris: 1988), pp. 165-78; for further bibliography, see G. del Olmo Lete, La religi6n cananea (Barcelona: 1992), pp. 121-23. 30

15-20.

27 KUB XXVII 38 = V. Haas and I. Wegner, Die Rituale der Beschworerinnen SALS U.G1 (ChS I, 5; Rome: 1988), pp. 385-90, a ritual in which the images of ancient kings are made of wool: "and they are called (ancient) kings" (Hurrian: §arre-na). The kings of Akkad are Sargon, Mani1\tusu, ~arkali1\arri, and Naram-Sin; they are mentioned together with the kings of Elam and Lullubu, and with Ari1\en of Urki1\.

l

I I

See, e.g., the early neolithic statues from Ain Ghazal Gordan), discussed by G. O. Rollefson, MDOG 116 (1984): 185-92, which may represent the ancestors of that community. On this topic, see G. Jonker, The Topography of Remembrance: The Dead, Tradition and Collective Memory in Mesopotamia (Leiden-New YorkKoin: 1995). For the protective powers of ancestors for the following generations, see recently K. van derToorn, Family Religion in Babylonia, Syria and Israel (Leiden: 1996), pp. 62-65.

12

(~;.:~:.:~:.:~:.:~:J

ALFONSO ARCHI

and assign a reign of fifteen years to each of the twenty-six kings, this takes us back to ca. 2750 B.C.E. Thus, the royal list of Ebla appears to preserve the tradition of a Syrian dynasty whose origins belonged to the time of Gilgamesh, the famous hero of Uruk. 31 ADDENDUM

Four tablets, which duplicate each other, contain, in syllabic script, the complete list of the kings of Ugarit found in the fragmentary KTU 1.113, which is in alphabetic script (see D. Arnaud, SMEA 41/2 [1999], pp. 15373). We know now that there were twenty-six kings, curiously the same number as in the major king-list from Ebla. The syllabic texts contain only the list of names, whereas in KTU 1.113 the names are embedded within a ritual. Each name is preceded by the dingir-sign (beginning with dingir IUga-ra-na), which corresponds to if in the alphabetic writing-therefore, the "god of PN," exactly as at Ebla, where dingir is written usually in the case preceding the PN. ARETVII 150 rev. 1-2 has (as mentioned above): dingirdingir-dingir enl-en l, which can be translated only as "the gods of the (former) kings." I still prefer to interpret this expression as "the deified spirit of the departed," instead of "the patron deity of PN," because I think that, in the Semitic world of that time, the tutelary action derived from the ancestors themselves and not from their tutelary gods (see above, note 31). 31


13

THE RULERS OF EBLA TM.74.G.120

ARETVII150

(dingir in the preceding case) Bn-ar-da-IIIII [lr]-kab-[d]a-mll [I]g-rf-[i]Hb]a-labx [A-d]lIb-da-IIIII [KII II ]-da-III II Har-ma-lik Ell-ilr-da-IIIII Ba-ga-da-II'" I-bf-da-mll A-gllr-li-illl A-bllr-li-illl Tal-da-li-im Ig-slI-lId Btt-rII12-lId-ba-labx 'r-si-dll Btt-rll12-lId-da-IIIII l-bf-IIi-li-illl [O]a-NE-II[lIf Sa[-gi]-s[lI] Oa[-x]-'x' Na-ma-1II1 EII-ma-Il/I Zi-a-III [Sa]-IIIi-il

In July 1998, during the RAI at Harvard University, I had an opportunity to

A~-sa-III1

read the article by W.T. Pitard, "The Meaning of EN at Ebla," in Crossing Boundaries and Linking Horizons. Studies in Honor of M.e. Astour (Bethesda, Md.: 1997), pp. 399-416. His statement that "there can be little doubt that they [i.e., the en-en of ARET VII 150] were living people" (p. 406) is untenable today, after twenty years of classification and dating of the documents, not to mention prosopograhic studies. He also claims that dingir PN, "the god of PN" (with dingir and PN appearing in two separate cases), cannot mean, all things considered, "the deified spirit of the departed," but "the patron deity of PN." For the latter interpretation, d. "the god of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob," as I suggested in FUCUS. A Semitic!Afrasian Gathering in Remembrance of A. Ehrman, ed. Y.L. Arbeitman (Amsterdam-Philadelphia: 1988), pp. 103-12, and where I also quoted passages mentioning dingir a-mu, "the god of the father (of the king)," and dingir en, "the god of the king" (which could in fact favor my former interpretation). We face the same dilemma in the case of il PN in the Ugaritic document KTU 1.113. Notice that, in TM.7S.G.570 = ARET IX 17, dingir is found in the same case as the PN: dSa-mi-il, [dBa-da-]mu, [dEn-]ilr-

KUL-ba-III1 Ib-Ia Oil-lilli-dar Birs-bf-la-1/1/ A-bll-gilr La-da-II S[II?]-'X'-[ ... ] Sa-klil/-e

[da-]mu, dI-§ar-IIIa-lik.

(~:.:~:.:~:.:~:.:~:J

Other Sources

(ARET IX: dingir in the preceding case)

(26) (25) lr-kab-da-mll (24) Ig-rf-i~-Iabx Ig-ri-i~-ba-Iabx (23) A-dllb-da-mll (22) Kiln-da-mll (21) Har-IIIa-lik d/-~ar-IIIa-lik (20) En-ilr-da-II'" [dEI1]-ilr-[da-]mll (19) Ba-da-IIIII [dBa-da ]-11111 (18) I-bf-da-IIIII (17) A-gllr-li-im (16) A-bllr-li-im A-bllr-GIM (15) (en-en; (14) dingir-dingir-dingir (13) en-en (12) aI6-tu§ (11) ill Oa-rf-fb ki ) B/ Btt-rII12-lId-da-IIIII (10) I-bf-I/i-li-im (9) (8) Sa-gi-i~/sll (7) (6) (5) }I.-ma-lla (4) (3) dSa-IIIi-11 (2) (1)

ARETXI2

ARET IX 17 (22)a ARET IX 17 (2I)b ARET IX 17 (20)

ARETXII

ARETXIl,2 ARETXIl,2 ARETXIl,2

ARET XI Ie ARET IX 17 (13)d

(a) dingir I-~ar-llta-lik is also attested in the offering list TM.75.G.2598 obv. XIV 3-4 and in TM.75.G.1318 rev. II 6-7.

(b) dingir EI/-ilr-da-II'" is also attested in the offering lists TM.75.G.1764 obv. X 20-21; 2075 obv. VI 3-4; 2238 rev. I 8-9, see OA 18 (1979): 136, 150, 169; 2397 obv. VIII 22-23. (c) dingil' EN-ilia-II II is also attested in the offering IistTM.75.G.10167 obv. II 21-III2; thecultic action takes place in U-dll-bll-d"ki, a place that is mentioned together with 'A-IIIa-IIa also in the ritual for the marriage of the royal couple, nos. 1 (40),2 (43). (d) dingir Sa-II/i-/I is also attested in the offering lists TM.75.G.2397 obv. IX 5-6; 2403 obv. XI 22-23.

/

History in Reverse: Archaeological III ustra tion and the Invention of Assyria Zainab Bahrani The State University of New York, Stony Brook

when the English adventurer and founder of Mesopotamian archaeology, Austen Henry Layard, revealed to British society and to the world the incredible remains of the Assyrian past, he did so by means of both word and image. In his best-selling publications extensive, colorful descriptions of his adventures and excavations were accompanied by numerous illustrations that added a great deal of appeal to the contemporary book-buying public. 1 While Layard's written descriptions have been analyzed historiographically as a source for the earliest days of archaeological interest in the area, the images he incorporated in the texts have rarely been considered in the same way. Often, archaeological illustrations from the nineteenth century appear in books published in our field today. We are well aware that such fantastic images have nothing to do with an historical reality of Assyria, but we continue to use them as amusing illustrations or reminders of the more romantic past of Assyriology without giving much thought to either the historical context of their creation or the relationship of that context to the diScipline of Mesopotamian archaeology. Nevertheless, as Frederick Bohrer has argued, it is IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY,

I

Most important among the works of Layard are Nineveh and Its Remains: With an Account of a Visit to the Chaldaean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or Devil Worshippers; and an Enquiry into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians (London: John Murray, 1849); The Monuments of Nineveh (London: John Murray, 1849-53); A Papillar Account of Discoveries at Nineveh (London: John Murray, 1852); Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon; with Travels in Armenia, Kllrdistan and the Desert: Being the Result of a Second Expedition Undertaken for the Trustees of the British Musellm (London: John Murray, 1853).

15

I ",I

iL

HISTORY IN REVERSE

16 clear that images have an important place in the construction of Mesopotamia. 2 Certainly such images were used as illustrations for the written accounts of early travels and exploration in what was conceived of as a mysterious, exotic world. In addition, archaeological illustrations were presented as scientific documents in surveys of world history and world architecture popular in the nineteenth century. And the same illustrations were also relied upon as a basis for reconstructing the Assyrian setting in visual displays, such as that of the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace, which took place in England during Layard's lifetime. All of these visual representations of Assyria, whether book illustration or theatrical reconstruction, were accessible to, and viewed by, a broad sector of the public, along with the displays of the actual antiquities themselves that were exhibited in Paris, London, or (at a later date) in Berlin? While the museum displays were no less a construction of a historical past, even if they do consist of actual antiquities, it is useful to consider the visual domain of pictorial illustration and the specific part it played in the imaginative construction of Mesopotamia. In this essay I will focus on the particular example of British visual representation because of the significant place of Layard's publications at the origins of Assyriology, and because of the contemporaneous British geopolitical interests in Mesopotamia that (as I have argued elsewhere) should not be discounted from considerations of the constructedness of a Mesopotamian past. 4 At the same time, however, it should be pointed out that the role of visual reconstruction is just as important in other European centers, where Neal' Eastern antiquities became an area of great interest in the nineteenth century, and these are cultural spheres that also require serious attention. In other words, this investigation is qualitative rather than quantitative. I will not attempt to document all existing types of representation but will instead focus the 2

3

F.N. Bohrer, "The Printed Orient: The Production of AH. Layard's Earliest Works" in A. Gunter, ed., Tile COIIstf'llctioll Of tile Allcient Near East (Culture and History 11; Copenhagen: Academic Press, (992), pp. 85-105. The discovery of the Assyrian past had an even greater impact on the modern European imagination than the discovery of Pompeii a centUl'Y earlier. See H.F. Mallgravc, introduction to Gottfried Semper, Tile Four Elel/lellts of Arcilitecture alld Otiler Writillgs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 20ff.

4

Z. Bahrani, "Conjuring Mesopotamia: Imaginative Geography and a World Past," in L. Meskell, ed., Arcilaeology ullder Fire (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 159-74, and in Arabic, "alSharq al Khariji: bilad ma bainal nahrain fi al zaman wa al makan," in al Hayat (August, 1998).

•.•

(¢-:.:~ ~:.:;;.~.-~J

17

Fig. 1: James Fergusson, Nilllrlld. (From AH. Layard, MOllllments of Nineveil, London: John Murray, 1849)

study particularly on an image that is very familiar to Near Eastern scholars, a painted reconstruction of Nimrud by James Fergusson (fig. 1). As archaeologists, we have often lamented reconstructions of archaeological sites in the vein of Knossos or more recently, the city of Babylon, nO.t only because these reconstructions do not depend on any verifiable eVidence, but because they compromise the actual ancient site by transforming the historical locus into a fictitious domain. And we should not leave aside, either, reconstructions of ancient monuments and architectural structures within the walls of museums, like the displays at the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin. Such reconstructions are fantasies that tellu~ mO.re about the period of reconstruction than about the ancient past. As hlstoncal documents then, such on-site reconstructions and museum di~plays are perhaps better documents of the twentieth century rather than Mmoan Crete or ancient Babylon. This "constructed ness" seems perfectly clem: on the l~vel of ~ctual architectural structures, but when considering architecturalillustratton we do not bring the same keen critical faculties to bear on the material. The widespread uncritical use of early illustrations, stil~ current in introductor~ textbooks, and by all of us in lectures and publications, means that as an Image of the reality of the Mesopotamian past,

18

c:oz.::~-:·"-:·3

Z A I NAB BAH RAN I

such illustrations can be every bit as misleading as the fantastic architectural rebuilding of sites. Like these on-site reconstructions, it is often the case that the illustration is by far a more accurate historical document of the moment of its creation, the late nineteenth- or twentieth-century Europe or the United States. For example, Irene Winter has already pointed out that the watercolor image of Nimrud, by James Fergusson, in fact looks uncannily similar to a British palatial structure on the river Thames. S I would like to return to this illustration here, because this particular image is still a favorite in Near Eastern studies, and also because Fergusson was the architectural historian who worked closely with Layard in reconstructing the ground plans and elevations of Mesopotamian buildings. In other words, Fergusson was not an Orientalist painter. On the contrary, his work was considered to be scientifically grounded in the reality of the archaeological material remains. Many scholarly books on Mesopotamia continue to use Fergusson's watercolor of Nimrud, even if it is usually in a whimsical fashion, knowing full well that the image is a complete fiction (fig. 2).6 But images such as Fergusson's can be instructive rather than simply amusing. By submitting this image to the same kind of historiographic analysis as we might a text, something of the atmosphere in which Assyrian architectural remains first came to be academically reconstructed is revealed. In what follows, I hope to demonstrate the link between prevalent concepts regarding the Orient in nineteenth-century European discourse and the early reconstructions of Mesopotamian archaeological finds. In a series of articles, Frederick Bohrer has argued that the nineteenth-century reception of Assyrian finds in England and France was part and parcel of a prevalent discourse of exoticism? Here I would like to expand upon Bohrer's discussion by considering another facet of this exoticism: the effects it had on the scientific archaeological knowledge of the historical past. My aim is to demonstrate that exoticism was not limited to a process of viewing or categorizing a contained and separate set of artifacts. Rather, we might better think of the encounter as reciprocal. That is to say, the lines

5 I. Winter, paper delivered to the RAI, Venice, 1997. 6

Sec, for example, M. Trolle Larsen, Tile Conl/llest of Assyrill: Excavations il/llIl Antique Lllnd (London: Routledge, 1996), pI. VI. Larsen is aware that this is a fantasy reconstruction, since he refers to it as "Nimrud as Fergusson imagined it," p. ix.

19

Fig. 2: Cover of Assyria 1995, Helsinki 1997. of causality moved in both directions between ancient finds and nineteenth-century West European society. Until now, what little interest there has been in the rela tionship between the discovery of the Assyrian past and nineteenth-century European cultures has focussed on the influence it had on such things as visual and decorative arts. s Indeed this focus on artistic influence was already in place during the 1840s, since the eal'liest discussions of Assyrian and Babylonian finds among British intellectuals and academicians were concerned with their correct position within the "Great Chain of Art" and the progress of world civilization from the Orient to

7 See most recently, F.N. Bohrer, "Inventing Assyria: Exoticism and Reception

in Nineteenth-Century England and France," Tile Art BlIl/elil/ LXXX Oune 1998): 336-56.

8

Ibidelll.

20

~x';'~·~~:-·:::l

DO MIN I K BON A T Z

FIG. 7: Carved block from Tell Halaf. (A. Moortgat, Tell Halaf 1Il, pI. 35) the river tJabur by boat. 18 In this process, the identification of the people with the surrounding land was very important. The landscape functioned as a IIIllemotop, a place to improve the collective memory. On sixty-two carved blocks at Tell Halaf an encyclopedia of more than twenty different animals is exposed,19 including lions and panthers, horses and donkeys, bulls and cattle, wild goats, gazelles, stags, bears, wild boars, hares, ducks, turkeys, ostriches and othet' birds, fishes, and a beaver, all which lived in the territory of BIt Bakbani, providing its population with food and invoking the picture of a rich and peaceful country. For example, the depiction of a duck being siaughtered 20 describes an everyday occurrence and not an

MNEMOHISTORY

@::X::;::~

75

exceptional heroic act, like the lion hunt. Likewise fishing can be recognized as a timeless picture of peacefulness. 21 All these are concrete locations of memory. But in order to be confirmed they were put together with abstract locations of history and mythology, in which gods, heroes, and ancestors acted as tutelary figures for the self-image of society. This may be considered the dynamic component in the iconography of Syro-Hittite mnemohistory, in which past items were reproduced and traditions were invented. Gods who had been worshipped for a long time were adopted in the Aramaic ~antheon, like the storm-god Tesup or, in West-Semitic language, Hadad. 2 Motifs referrin§ to legendary myths were reproduced, like the two heroes killing a demon? And their own dynastic tradition was invoked by the figuration of ancestors, like the sitting man smelling a flower, accompanied by two bull-men supporting a winged sun-disc, the symbol of 5amas and of the vertical axis between sky, earth, and underworld. 24 All together the reliefs from Tell Halaf create a visible language of phatic and static, dynamic and narrative components, the aim of which was to impress the collective remembrance on the community of Guzana. I have cited only the example of Tell Halaf but the same is true also of Karkamis, Sam'al and Karatepe, where similar locations of memory are embodied in the visual propaganda of the extensive wall decorations. The sculptures are accompanied by royal inscriptions in which we often find the following distinct and polemical phrase, as in the inscription of KiJamuwa from the porch of the building J in Zincirli: I am Kilamuwa, son of Hayya. GabbaI' became king over Ja'udi, but accomplished nothing, there was BMH, but he accomplished nothing, then there was my father Hayya, but he accomplished nothing, then there was my brother 5'1, but he accomplished nothing. But I, Kilamuwa, son of Hayxa, what I accomplished not even (their) predecessors accomplished. 25

21 Moortgat, Tell Nalaf 1Il, pI. 29. 22

Moortgat, Tell HalafIll, pI. 108, b.

23 Moortgat, Tell Nalaf lIl, pI. 102, a.

18 Moortgat, Tell Halaf W, pI. 43, a. 19 See plates in Moortgat, Tell HalaflIl. 20 Moortgat, Tl'!l Ha14 1II, pI. 40, a.

Moortgat, Tell Halt~l [[[, pI. 98. 25 After J.CL. Gibson, Text/lOok (~l Syrian Selllitic lnscriptiolls II: Aramaic lnHcriptiollS, illcluding lnscriptiolls ill tlie Dialect (if Z/,Iljirli (Oxford: 1975), p. 34.

24

76

(-0-;':-0-:.:-0-:.:-0-:.:-0-)

DOMINIK BON ATZ

The same is repeated in similar phrases of Katuwas at Karkamis, of Halparuntiyas from Gurgum, and of Kapara at Guzana. These kings also report that they found the cities and the land devastated and abandoned and they claim to have rebuilt the cities and cultivated the land. To a certain degree these statements may reflect the anarchistic situation in many parts of the Syro-Hittite territories after the fall of the Hittite Empire. But, taking into consideration that most of these inscriptions were written in the ninth century B.C.E., when the first step of re-urbanization and renewal of the political systems had been realized,26 it becomes clear that the negative historical discourse served mainly to create the basis for their own glorious past. 27 It should be stressed that this ideology of historical perception clearly replaced the older concept of the Hittite Empire period, when the ideal of historiography was described by the formula text: "nothing to take away, nothin~ to add," which is repeated in many state contracts of the Hittite kings. But in the period of the Luwian and Aramaean states the new idea was to accomplish what no one had done before. To achieve this principle, a collective amnesia had first to be established, a forgetting that allows the creation of a new historical reality in the interests of social cohesion. As it has been demonstrated by the example of Tell Halaf, this process was sophisticatedly embodied in the visible language of the relief programs. I would like to end this paper by quoting one last example from Tell Halaf that documents the dynamic interaction of retainment and rejection for the choice of social memory. During the so-called old building period at Tell Halaf two seated figures of female ancestors had been erected over their tombs in a surface chamber. But later they were embedded in the large brickwork-foundation for the temple-palace of King Kapara. 29 They were neither removed nor damaged, and thus to a certain degree they were treated with respect. But they ceased to function as visible images of the past because they had to make way for the invention of a new collective picture of the past that was directed by King Kapara's ideological point of view. 26 Mazzoni, "Aramaean and Luwian New Foundations," pp. 333-34. 27 In this context, it is illustrating to remember Kapara, who must have been conscious of the achievements of his predecessors when reusing their sculptures. But he negated this by engraving his inscription on their works. 28 H. Cancik, Myt"isc/Ie lind "istorisc/Ie WalIYlleit. Interpretation ZII Texte" der "ethitisc"el1, biblischel1l1l1d griec/lisc"el1 Historiogrnphie (Stuttgart: 1970), pp. 85-96. 29 R. Naumann, Tell Halafll, Die Bauwerke (Berlin: 1950), pp. 159-68, figs. 80; 81; pIs. 29, 1,2; 30, 1.

MNEMOHISTORY

(-0-;':-0-;':-0-;':-0-:':-0-)

77

It has been the aim of this paper to explain how the application and exclusion of historical displays worked to impress a collective memory on Syro-Hittite society. I think that Syro-Hittite iconography, from its very beginning in the twelfth century to its end in the eighth century B.C.E., carries out a mnemohistorical discourse in which both remembering and forgetting play essential parts. In addition to the written sources iconography can be used as a legible source to help us understand the meaning of history during this period.

Misinformation on Mesopotamian Exact Sciences David Brown Oxford University

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I have an announcement to make. For reasons too complicated to go into now the author of the story you are about to hear has been unable to attend the Rencontre and has asked me to deliver it to you instead. I was under strict instructions to turn the story into a proper Assyriologicallecture-a proper history paper-but I have been unable to do this. Thus, I give you Misinformation on the Mesopotamian Exact Sciences in its unadulterated form: In a scoffing tone the student read an extract from the extremely popular book Isaac Newton, The Last Sorcerer, by Michael White in which it was written (p. 66) that "the true origins of mathematics and astronomy are certainly ancient. The earliest form of mathematics is credited to the Babylonians of around 4000 B.C.E. who recorded star patterns and named constellations." The old professor leaned forward gesturing for the book and replied: "Aah, I know, dreadful, but did you hear what was said about cuneiform astronomy in the first of this year's1 Children's Chrishnas Lectures? That was broadcast on TV to hundreds of thousands of sensitive minds." After a moment he read out from the book (pp. 66-67): 'lilt was not until Greek times that mathematics and, to a lesser extent, astronomy were separated from religion and considered worthy of academic attention ... becoming subjects for pure analysis and reasoning.' Many still assume no serious science was done before the Greeks! 112 he said bitterly.

1997.

A.c. Crombie in Critical Problems in the History of Science (1959), p. 81. Quoted in F. Rochberg, "Introduction" to Isis 83 (1992), p. 552.

2 " .. .it was the Greeks who invented science ... ,"

79

80

EXACT SCIENCES

The student was a little surprised by the professor's tone, but after a small sip of his sherry while the professor pulled deeply at his pipe he added: "So why do we think people write such rubbish about the Mesopotamian exact sciences?" "Orientalism, dear boy, orientalism, the other, the exotic, the romantic, an outlet for our inner sexual fantasies,,,3 he answered with relish; and so it began. The professor talked and puffed away. The student listened, trying to look interested, desperate to repress an inexplicable urge to down his glass in one and then swig directly from the bottle standing on the floor between them. Occasionally a peal of bells could be heard from one of the nearby spires. The pipe smoke formed into a cloud in the middle of the oakpanelled room, as the student found it increasingly difficult to penetrate the professor's meaning. A few wall lamps illuminated small areas of the chamber in shafts of brilliance4 in which millions of particles, like facts, were suddenly highlighted and then obliterated from view. The professor argued that for a long time the West had viewed the orient as possessing a "'wisdom' that stands in opposition to the defining feature of 'modern' thought: rationality"s and that with this prejudice and a belief in the exotic nature of the East popularizers embellished their works. "You will find the Mesopotamian sections dismissed in a first chapter or in footnotes before the proper subject of study-the Greeks," he complained, and not content simply with lambasting popular science books, he poured scorn on the general histories written by professional historians of science. "Most generalists, at best, might read how the mathematics and the astronomy work, as deciphered for them by Neugebauer and Co., but few will have read about the social, political, philosophical, or scribal background to either. Even the best amongst them still write of Babylonian astronomy, say, in terms of modern or Greek categories, evaluating it on the basis of its effectiveness in predicting phenomena, say.6 An understanding of the discipline in its own

terms, its indebtedness to divination, or to the changing role of the diviners, is very rarely found." There was something about "in its own terms" that concerned the student. His mind wandered, but the professor continued: "All we find in these general histories is 'they were the first to achieve x or y,' as if the only parts of the discipline that mattered were those that we might use in modern times? Explanations are only ever in terms of intellectual interest or foreign influence. 8 They do not think of the exact sciences as being byproducts of history." He paused. The student, realizing he was expected to say something, mumbled "Why?" "Aaah, thematic histories" responded the professor instantly, the wheels of his discourse now well oiled. "As far as the ancient Greeks were concerned, the agenda of their historians was to emphasize the differences between Greeks and the peoples of the Near East, in part creating by opposition the idea of the Greek citizen. Xenophanes asked on exposure to the Persian threat 'who and whence are you when the Mede came?,9 The success or otherwise of the histories of Herodotus and Ctesias, say, was determined not by their accuracy but by the agendas lying behind them and how well they satisfied the Greek appetite for the exotic. lO And as we know, the only history that counts is the history that is remembered. ll By

3

4 S 6

Exemplified by Delacroix's 1826-27 painting Deatll of Sardanapulus, in which the Orient is portrayed as "lush, sensuous, indolent...," J.M. Lundquist, "Babylon in European Thought," in J. M. Sasson, ed., Civilizations oftile Ancient Near East (1995), p. 77. An allusion to A.L. Oppenheim's metaphor in Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization (University of Chicago Press, 1977), p. 11. J. Maier, "The Ancient Near East in Modern Thought," in J.M. Sasson, ed., op. cit., p. 107. E.g., J.D. North in Tile Fontana History of Astronomy and Cosmology (1994) refers to the astronomy as "naive" (p. 40), "contrary to the spirit of empirical science" (p. 46) and judges its effectiveness at prediction. He chronicles the various

C:-o:.:~:.:~:.:~:.:~:J

81

developments, but does not place the discipline in an historical context, except in so far as to mention (after van der Waerden) that some Zoroastrian beliefs may have had an influence. B.L. van der Waerden's 1974 book Science Awakening 2, Tile Birtll of Astronomy has been and continues to be the most influential of all publications on cuneiform astronomy so far as the secondary literature is concerned. 7 E.g., "The origins of rigorous, technical science were not Greek but Babylonian,

not Indo-European but Semitic ... ," N. Swerdlow The Babylonian Tlleory of tile Planets (1998), p. 182, though this comment was probably meant to be deliberately provocative to those who know little about cuneiform astronomy. G.E.R. Lloyd is critical of identifying origins of science in Demystifijing Mentalities (1990), pp. 15-16. 8 Van der Waerden, op. cit., stressed the influence of the Persians, Neugebauer that of intellectual interest (see references quoted in Swerdlow, op. cit., p. 181). 9 A. Kuhrt, "Ancient Mesopotamia in Classical Greek and Hellenistic Thought,"

in J.M. Sasson, ed., op. cit. See p. 57, where earlier references are also cited. 10

Ibid., pp. 58-61.

11 W.e. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman, Compulsory Preface (This Means You) to 1066

and All Tllat (1930): "History is not what you thought. It is what YO/l can remember. All other history defeats itself. This is the only Memorable History

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the first century B.C.E., Greeks who wrote about Mesopotamian astrology and astronomy were confusing Chaldaeans with both Magi (Persians) and Egyptians, and despite the long history of transmission of astronomical parameters and astrological lore from Mesopotamia to Greece, little that was truthful about the Mesopotamian exact sciences was written. Very few Greeks learned a foreign language, but even when the Babylonian Berossus wrote of Mesopotamian culture in Greek, his work was largely ignored and, worse still, his name was later associated with Greek fabrications about Mesopotamian astronomy.12 Combine this misinformation with the few loaded references in the Bible to Babylonian divination, and the predecipherment attitudes in Europe to the Mesopotamian exact sciences become clear. They were understood to represent something ancient, different and inferior-tied to a misguided religion, but also containing wisdom lost to the West. Some of these views can still be found in the popular histories of Mesopotamia. Yet it is not as if things suddenly improved with the decipherment of the cuneiform texts." The professor paused once more, trying to assess the correct avenue of approach. He was enjoying talking in this manner, but did not want to lecture. "Did you read H0Yrup's essay on the history of the history of cuneiform mathematics?,,13 he asked. "Yes-very entertaining-the 'Heroic Period' stuff." "Mrnm-borrowed from Oppenheim,,,14-now he was stuck. Nothing was said. The student had long since learned to avoid breaking such silences for fear of saying something stupid. He listened to the sounds of the professor sucking on his pipe, and tried to unravel that strange objection he had to history for its own sake. H0yrup's essay, by the way, proposes a tripartite division of the history of the study of Mesopotamian maths, explained only by the internal logic of the field itself and the personalities of its major figures. He identifies an "heroic period" (1930-40) of decipherment brought about by the specialization of Neugebauer's mathematics and Thureau-Dangin's philology, in which Babylonian mathematics were related to modern or pre-modern (Arabic) categories, and treated as evolving toward modern systems.

of England ... results of years of research in golf-clubs, gun-rooms, greenrooms etc."

12 Kuhrt,op. cit., p. 63. 13

J. H0Yrup, "Changing Trends in the Historiography of Mesopotamian Mathematics: An Insider's View," History of Science 34 (1966): 1-32.

14 Ancient Mesopotamia, p. 9.

Babylonian math was then immature modern algebra and was thought to be unchanging from Sumerian down to Seleucid times. Sources were read exclusively for their mathematical content; they were "something for Neugebauer." The second stage (1940-1975) H0Yrup calls the "triumph of translations," in which cuneiform mathematics was reduced still further to modern symbolic representation. Plimpton 322 (on Pythagorean triples), for example, was understood as a text of "deep mathematical significance in the theory of numbers," or as Neugebauer and Sachs themselves wrote, "a text of purely number theoretical character" and "an investigation into the fundamental laws of numbers themselves" (op. cit., pp. 12-13). The final, utopic (my italic) stage, dating from 1970 on, involves the gradual reintegration of mathematics into the general study of Mesopotamian culture. This stage is characterized by Marvin Powell's study of third-millennium mathematics, revealing an historical development and connecting the appearance of place-value notation with the needs of the Ur III bureaucracies. The question of the appearance of mathematics is approached in the works ofSchmandt-Besserat, Friberg, Englund, Damerow, and Nissen, who relate it to the emergence of writing and to cognitive categories. H0Yrup himself has concentrated on the broader issues of the social and institutional context of mathematical thought, how Ur III and OB maths reflect their eras, and so forth. "Any history of the history of Mesopotamian sciences must revolve around the intentions of Neugebauer, I suppose," said the student at last. "Mmm," replied the professor "but he is so hard to categorize. In 1945 he wrote that there was not 'any single approach to the history of science.",lS "No article there!" he thought to himself, and paused. "Perhaps we could propose a history of the study of cuneiform astronomy, somewhat after H0Yrup's model?" suggested the student hopefully. "With Strassmaier, Epping, and Kugler in the Heroic Age?" "Yes, yes-the Jesuits are expelled from Germany in the 'Kulturkampf,' which was a precursor to the Babel-Bible controversy, and this led them to a close study of the texts-so Father Strassmaier copies lots of texts, gives them to Father Epping, who, by 1881, finds the key to understanding the mathematical-astronomical texts (MATs). This work is then greatly expanded by Father Kugler16-heroic age influenced by Bible politics." "Then what?" 15 "The History of Ancient Astronomy: Problems and Methods," TNES 4: 2.

16 0. Neugebauer, A History ofAncient Mathematical Astronomy (1975), pp. 34~9 and idem, "Problems and Methods in Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy," Astronomical TOl/maln No.8 (1967 Oct) No. 1353, p. 964.

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"Errr, say a 'rational period.' Kugler counters the excesses of the panBabylonismus. Neugebauer demonstrates that there was in fact no evidence that the Babylonians had understood precession of the equinoxes. 17 Then perhaps a period of consolidation involving the establishment of text editions of the Hellenistic period mathematical astronomical texts (MATs) by Neugebauer and Sachs and im.erovements in their interpretation by van der Waerden, Huber, and Aaboe. 18 Their analyses use modern categories and little regard is made to the social context or to the development of astronomy from earlier periods. These texts are held in particularly high esteem, but are understood by very few Assyriologists. Finally we have the modern contextual approach. Development in the methods underlying the MATs is now known, what with the publication of some fourth- and fifthcenturyexamples.,,19 "Yes, yes," agreed the professor, not wishing to be outdone, "but most important has been the publication of the so-called Non-MATs, such as the Diaries by Sachs and Hunger,2o which has allowed Brack-Bernsen, Aaboe, and Swerdlow to propose mechanisms by which the parameters that underlie the MATs could have been gleaned from the observational materia1. 21 Also, recent studies have made clearer the connections between the Diaries, the almanacs, the Goal Year Texts (GYTs), the horoscopes,

zodiacal-astrology, and omen-based divination. 22 We now know that the units uS and tithis (or 1;30 of a month) were being used to indicate celestial distances and times as early as the seventh century.23 We also know that many of the periods underlying the GYTs and ultimately the MATs were known in the NA period. 24 The NA and NB Letters and Reports tell us that the science of predicting the time and location of celestial phenomena was in its infancy at that time-all of which evidence suggests that the period after the mid-eighth century witnessed the development of a predictive astronom~ whose purpose was to provide data on future ominous celestial scenarios. 5 The MATs of the late period are no longer understood as isolated examples of scientific endeavour on the part of a few sophisticated scribes, or the result of Persian or Greek influence. They are now believed to have emerged from the divinatory and scholarly background of the seventh or eighth centuries B.CE. This cuneiform astronomy did not evolve towards our kind of astronomy. It should not be judged by our criteria or reduced to our categories, but be understood in its own terms .... " etc. and etc. Finally the professor ran out of steam. He had banged on about Assyriology's right to "Eigenbegrifflichkeit," conceptual autonomy,26 many times in his career and had never wavered from that belief. Yet again silence descended upon the room. The professor refilled his pipe and the student leaned back to empty his glass.

17 Idelll, "The Alleged Babylonian Discovery of the Precession of the Equinoxes," AOS 70 (1950): 1-8. 18 Previously published texts and those unpublished examples gathered

22 In particular, F. Rochberg, "Elements of the Babylonian Contribution to Hellenistic Astrology," lAOS 108 (1988): 51-62; idem, "Babylonian Horoscopes and Their Sources," OrNS 58: 102-23; and the author's Ph.D. dissertation,

together largely by A. Sachs for LBAT (1955) were (re-)edited in Neugebauer ACT (1955). The subsequent major studies include A. Aaboe, "On Babylonian Planetary Theory," Centil I/rlIS 5 (1958): 209-77; P. Huber, "Zur Uiglichen Bewegung des Jupiter nach babylonischen Texten," ZA 52 (1957): 265-303; and B.L. van der Waerden, "Babylonische Planetrechnung," Vierteljllltrscrift d. Nllt. Ges. ZUrich 102 (1957): 39-60.

19 For references to the publication of these texts, see J. Britton, "Scientific Astronomy in Pre-Seleucid Babylon," in H.D. GaIter, ed., Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kllitl/rell Mesopotllllliells (1993), pp. 61-76. 20 H. Hunger and A. Sachs, Astronollliclil Dillries lind Reilited Texts frOIll Bllbylollill, 3 Vols. (1988,1989,1996).

21 A. Aaboe, "On Period Relations in Babylonian Astronomy," Celltlil/rlIS 10 (1964): 213-31 and L. Brack-Bernsen, "Observation and Theory in Babylonian Astronomy," Centlil/rllS 24 (1980): 14-35. References to her articles, most of which are in CenflillYUs, can now be found in her summary book ZI/r ElltstellUngder bllbylonischen MOlldtl,eorie (1998). See Swerdlow, op. cit., n. 8, above.

"Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology (747612 BC)," (Cambridge: 1996) now Mesopotllmilln Pilinetliry Astronomy-Astrology (Styx, 2000) Ch. 2.2.

23 See now the author's article, "The Cuneiform Conception of Celestial Space and Time," Clllllbridge Archlleoiogiclil 10 II rIllil 10:1 (2000). 24 The planetary sidereal periods 71, 60, 59, 8, IS, and 12 years appear in the cryptic text DT 72 + DT 78 + 81-6-25, 136, which contains a colophon of Assurbanipal. These periods pertain to Jupiter (71 and 12), Venus (8), Saturn (59), Mars (IS), Mercury (60). For details see the author's MPAA ChA.2.2, pp. 193-95 (op. cit., n. 2, above). 25 The weighing of the evidence for this assertion formed the basis of ChA of the author's Ph.D. dissertation and of MPAA ChA.2 (op. cit., n. 2, above). It cannot be repeated here.

26 A concept introduced into Assyriology by B. Landsberger in his inaugural address at Leipzig in 1926, reprinted in English as "The Conceptual Autonomy of the Babylonian World," MANE 1 (1964): 64-71.

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"Have some more," said the professor, but the student refrained from so doing. After a moment he suddenly asked, "Do you think we can really understand texts written in the past-divine their meanings?" The professor was slightly taken aback, and he framed his reply carefully. "All my life I have been committed to open and undistorted communication, believing that vigilant criticism of untruth offers the only route to an intellectually open and politically unrepressive society," he began. He described how he thought that truth measured itself as a form of consensus achieved in unlimited (and unforced) communications. He said that he imagined a dialogue in which the understanding of what is said occurs not because the interlocutors share the same experience, but because it is possible to grasp the point of what is being said despite any expressive idiosyncrasies. "There are meanings that transcend any particular interlocutor," he said. "Whosoever speaks a language both belongs to and assists the widening of a community grounded upon the openness and free consensus of communication. 27 Such a dialogue can occur between a modern scholar and an ancient text, even though our exposure to its language is of necessity limited. Without believing meaning to be essentially stable or unambiguous, I do maintain that some meaning can be communicated simply through my being a participant, however small in the community of the people I study by reading their texts. The meaning of their texts can be transmitted to us, and the society, culture and history reconstructed even if only in portraiture. 28 The more one is a member of their community through prolonged exposure to their texts and to the academic world that engages with them, the better, the more meaningful will be that communication." But while the student did not disagree, there was something theoretically static, almost complacent about the professor's position, which made 27

28

Up to this point the professor's words are essentially those of J. Habermas in The Theory ofCollllllrll1icative Action and tire Rationalisation of Science (1984) and his essay "The Hermeneutic Claim to Universality" (1980) in which the "ideal speech act" (dialogue) is first formulated. Habermas is one of the foremost defenders of modernity against the post-modernist critique, in particular by warning of the potential abuses to which relativism in "truth and knowledge" could be put by political tyrannies. In the following lines, it was the author's idea to extend Habermas's "ideal speech act" to the dialogue between historians and between historians and an ancient text, and thereby equate the professor's defense of "lower-case history" (see below) with the defense of liberal freedoms. As acknowledged by the subtitle to Oppenheim's Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization, a history that, unlike most, was fully aware that it was only one of many possible portraits of Mesopotamia (pp. 1-3).

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him uneasy. The history of the history of Mesopotamian exact sciences had virtually come to an end, as far as the professor was concerned. 29 "Ownsakism" was now dominant. Future studies would amount to little more than subtle refinements of the orthodoxy, with little or no impact on today. Was this to be the destiny of his Ph. D.? Ideological histories were dead. No more could one write a history of the exact sciences trying to prove, say, the inferiority or superiority of one people over another, or in order to demonstrate that science emerges as a function of human cognitive development. Histories with a capital H, were dead, sure, but was there not something very ideological about the ostensibly a-theoretical viewpoint of his professor? At last understanding his concerns about "history for its own sake" the student released that he would not be satisfied with picking through the residues of old "certaintist" modernisms ("objectivity," "disinterestedness," "the facts") in the face of the rhetorical formulations of post-modernity ("readings," "positionings"). History (even with a small h), this supposed partial-conversation with a dead community, was still a problematic expression of interests without any non-historicized access to the past. It was a foundationless, positioned evocation in a world of foundationless, positioned evocations. "The 'own-sakism' of the professor is in fact Liberal Bourgeois ideology writ large," he thought. "It purports to have no agenda in the present, but in not attempting to do anything about the present, it accepts the present, the liberal, bourgeois, market-capitalist present with the result that the past is neutralized by being studied for its own sake-so neutralized that two historians can hold mutually opposing and irresolvable views on a matter to which they devote their entire academic careers without this affecting their status in any way.,,30 It seemed an all too cozy situation. A question came to him:

Perhaps not quite in the sense that we find in 1066 and All That, p. 123, "America was thus clearly top nation, and History came to a.," but rather that in op. cit., Compulsory Preface (This Means You), "this History is therefore fina!." 30 The thoughts of the student in this and the previous paragraph are clearly those brought about by the condition of postrnodernity. For a convenient account of the impact of postrnodern thinking on the study of history, see The Post modern History Reader (1997), K. Jenkins, ed., in particular the editor's introduction, which is quoted freely above. Jenkins, (p. 5), identifies "History" (upper-case history) as"a way of looking at the past in terms which assigned to contingent events and situations an objective significance by identifying their place and function within a general schema of historical development usually construed as appropriately progressive (Marxist, Evolutionist etc.)" 29

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"Larsen writes in his article on the Babel-Bible controversr1 that Emperor Wilhelm advised Delitzsch to refrain from drawing 'purely religious conclusions' and not to broadcast his opinions in public lectures or popular books, and then Larsen comments 'the discipline of Assyriology as a whole has listened and taken the emperor's admonishments to heart.' Why is Assyriology not studied for the sake of the present?" But to the professor this sounded like a question posed by the funding bodies, and his reply was evasive.32 The student did not wish to study the past as a "Marxist," a "Structuralist," or any other "ist," but neither did he want his work to be so neutralized by liberal, academic orthodoxy that it was incapable of challenging some of the precepts of contemporary western society. He had a momen-

Many histories of science that see in the achievements of the past an inexorable development towards the science of today fall into this category, as do those histories that seek only to highlight those of the past's achievements that conform to the scientific aims of today, accurate prediction of phenomena, etc. The professor is critical of these "Histories." Jenkins identifies (p. 6) "(lowercase) history" as the "proper," "academic" study of the past "for its own sake," apparently the result of disinterested scholarship, impartial, objective, balanced, but in reality loaded with ideology. He argues that this ideology is precisely the "ostensible non-present-centredness" (p. 15) of lower-case history. By arguing, as practitioners of lower-case history do, "that the study of the past should not have anything to do with being present/future orientated" (p. 16), they are stating something that "is exactly as present and future oriented as the argument that it should be. Upper case historiography is generally quite explicit that it is using the past for, say, a trajectory into a different future." Jenkins continues with the assertion that the beneficiaries of the assumption that the past cannot and should not be used to change the present or the future are precisely those who have arrived at their preferred historical destination-those who have succeeded in the liberal, bourgeois, market capitalistic world. Thus, it is they who wish to neutralize the study of history and ensure that it is studied not for our various purposes but for its own. This is the student's position. The comment about the two historians holding antagonistic, but irresolvable views was inspired by the discussion on the opening day of the Rencontre of the value-historical or otherwise-of literary texts.

31 "The 'Babel/Bible' Controversy and Its Aftermath," op. cit., J. Sasson, ed., p. 102. 32 But herein lies the point of the story; for this is the author's call-to-arms concerning the survival of the subject-one of the present-centered purposes of this paper; another was to ensure that the delegates did not fall asleep after lunch.

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tary vision of the PhD. students' predicament-a 'write' of passage involving the annihilation of "isms" and the acquiring of certain rules concerning "objectivity," "honesty," "scrutiny" and "primary source study" coupled with a few years of relative poverty. From this predicament only some of his breed escaped, depending on how fully they swallowed liberal bourgeois ideology. The student wished to write a history of the Mesopotamian exact sciences that would make uncomfortable reading for the contemporary scientist, which fulfilled the criteria of liberal openness but did not assume them. In the months that followed he strove to write a history not for its own sake, but for the sake of today, while making clear this agenda. He did enough to pass and tried to place the circumstances of Mesopotamian astronomy into the mainstream of the history and philosophy of science debate. He treated its development as being the result of the "wills to power" of all the participating peoples and circumstances. He stressed how the great changes in predictive abilities had taken place in the non-liberal environments of the royal courts and temples, driven by the requirements of the divination industry. Liberal notions of scientific development for humanistic reasons of self-improvement were shown to be of little or no significance. He stressed how dependent on astrology the development of astronomy was. Both conclusions challenged prevailing conceptions of modernist progress. 33 Finally he managed to publicize his results widely and ultimately was taken up by a respectable academic institution. Despite his explicit skepticism of their liberal neutralization of history, he became comfortable, old and a professor himself. But then that was HIS story.34

33 The author's Assyriologicallife so far. The rest is mere fantasy. 34 Closing remarks: The aim of inventing another author of the paper, the student, was to make clear to the listeners how their reception of the talk depended a great deal on how well they knew the speaker. It would be apparent to some that, despite appearances, I did write the story and that the student is indeed me since my Ph.D. covered precisely the issues just noted. I hasten to add, however, that the professor is a fictitious character and that I am not yet old. The story form was chosen in order to emphasize, naively, the literary character of any history. The dialogue was designed to ape in miniature the master-slave dialectic, the student through dint of his lowly position being best able to see the whole and move towards a postmodern synthesis. In the delivery of this talk, three voices were used. Aside comments were in my voice, the professor's voice was Oxbridge posh and the student's newuniversity vernacular.

Heroic Dimension and Historical Perspective in the Ancient Near East Anna Maria G. Capomacchia University of Rome "La Sapienza" ~f..................

I . . . . . . . . ., . . . I . . , . . . , . . . .

,.'0'., ........,...,.....,..................,.....,...........,.................,................., ...

I ... I . . . . . .

,J";

to write history. But there is a great difference if the writer is a stranger to the reality he is describing, or if he speaks of events concerning his own human group. It is clear that historical events are not necessarily objective reality, and just because of that their description is a true mirror of the cultural reality. We must not imagine any intentional misrepresentation of events. We have to reflect that, as we study ancient civilizations, the concept of historiography is very different from ours. To reconstruct the historical perspective of a civilization we have to bear in mind several factors and many points of view, through which to analyze events. Particularly, we have to study thoroughly the cultural mechanisms through which every human group defines and establishes its own identity and history. Within this framework myth plays an important role. Through myth every civilization founds its own historical dimension, connecting it with the events of mythical time, which give it a permanent sacred guarantee. 1 All the elements connected, in myth, with historical events, and thus giving reality a certain order in its historical dimension, must be examined carefully; as carefully must be examined mythical geography, a cultural characterization of true geography. There is a "different" geographical dimension, in mythical time, that, just because of its being "different," reaches the aim of culturally defining the otherwise purely geographical reality.2 In the same way, also, historical reality is defined through the THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS

1 See A. Brelich, Introdllzione alia storia delle religioni (Rome: 1966), pp. 9-12. 2

Ibid., pp. 9-10.

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mythical dimension, where cultural characters, institutions, and historical events are sacrally established, as are the relationships, peaceful and not, with neighboring countries, which likewise receive in the myth a specific characterization. This mechanism of sacral establishment of the historical reality guarantees it permanently, through its sacral connection with the time of mythical origins. On the other hand, the same mechanism offers the opportunity to give sacral stability to each event or historical situation, by connecting it with the mythical dimension of its origins. So it has all the guarantees of stability on a sacred basis. Under this perspective, the protagonists of myths, thanks to their actions in the time of origins, give a specific order to the historical conditions that, through them, receive their establishment. Who are the protagonists? Of course, in a polytheistic civilization gods, first of all, guarantee permanent stability to reality, in historical time, thanks to their cults.3 But other figures, likewise essential in the mythical perspective, take a part more strictly connected with all the human situations and activities. In the very complex polytheistic structure of Greek religion there is a figure who takes a leading part in founding all aspects of the reality strictly connected with the human sphere: the hero. In Greek culture, the heroic dimension is the basis for shaping historical reality. The heroes, in fact, are connected with the establishment, on a sacral basis, of all the elements characterizing the human condition, as well as institutions, customs, rules of life, economic activities, the peculiar habitat of a certain civilization. 4 So, heroes take an essential part in defining geographical order, founding towns, introducing the elements that are important economically for a specific civilization, as well as establishing the institutions and social rules that characterize it. Heroes settle the factors defining the relationships with other human groups. They often found, at last, many cultural elements. s

3 A. Brelich, II Politeis11lo (Rome: 1958); id., "Der Polytheismus," Nllmen7 (1960): 123-36. 4 A. Brelich, Gli eroi greci. Un problemn storico-religioso (Rome: 1958); id., "La metodologia della Scuola di Roma," in B. Gentili - G. Paioni (a cura di), 1/mito greco. AUi del Convegno Internnzionnle di Urbino (7-12 mnggio 1973) (Rome: 1977), pp. 20-26. S On the various aspects of the heroic character, see A. Brelich, Gli eroi greci, pp. 79-185.

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The hero, with his various actions in the mythical dimension, and his specific cult,6 is generally considered a peculiar product of Greek religion. No doubt, in this religion there is the most well-defined form of this character. But we may ask ourselves if the heroic dimension, and its function in shaping historical perspective, is really an exclusive expression of Greek religion. Every civilization uses its own mechanisms to settle the sacred aspects that are the basis of its identity and stability. So, it is impossible and it would not be correct, of course, to ascribe to a certain civilization something that is a peculiar expression of another culture. But we must note that the sacral needs that drove the Greeks to elaborate the heroic typology can be similar to the needs of other civilizations. The solutions can be different, partially or as a whole. We can notice that, in the Near Eastern tradition, gods are the protagonists of the myths, of course; but they are not the only ones acting in mythical time. The function of myths is the foundation of reality. Thus every element of the mythical tale takes a specific part-it is clear-in shaping the historical perspective. Hence, we have to analyze many tales in which, in this tradition, several characters take a leading part together with gods, and cooperate to create the Near Eastern order. We have to notice, first of all, that, in the mythical tales, these figures have a generally well-defined qualification and function. Their mythical actions are strictly connected with the most important activities of humankind? These figures are generally connected with the temple or the royal palace, the centers of authority in the ancient Near East. But they are represented as fighters, hunters, fishermen, shepherds, farmers and, especially, as respectful guardians of the honors due to gods, kings, or pretenders to the throne. In the mythical dimension all the elements of historical reality are totally represented, and so sacrally established and guaranteed. Those figures strictly connected with human activities are characterized as protagonists of a mythical dimension because their behavior would never be possible, or will never be possible again, in historical time. The situations and behaviors characterizing them as excessive put them in the dimension of the impossible and unrepeatable. 6 Ibid., pp. 8-9.

7 On these problems, see P. Xella, "«Mito» e «storia» nella cultl.1ra mesopotamica: un problema di metodologia," in Problemi delmito nel Vicino Oriente nntico (AION Supp\. 7; Naples: 1976), pp. 5-46.

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Therefore it is impossible, and of no use, too, to connect the figures and events of the myth with specific historical personages or situations. The events of the mythical time cannot return, and all things represented in the myth in the historical time will be different or reversed with respect to the mythical dimension, but so established forever. So, in the historical dimension there are fishermen, but nobody will be a fisherman like the "wise" Adapa. B And hunters, however capable they are, will never be equal to the too skillful Aqhat, so good that he aroused the envy of gods. 9 And all the worshippers of a god who, in mythical time, cooperate in the foundation of the historical dimension and of the human conditions (as Ada~a does) or in the safety of humankind (as does the other "sage" Atrabasls)l will not live in historical time. But their excessive devotion to their god will found the proper relationship with the gods of the pantheon, through their cult. In the historical perspective all the gods of a pantheon must receive a regular cult from men, and this correct ritual relationship will give a sacral guarantee to the historical orderP Kingship in mythical time has a characterization very different from kingship in historical time, but it gives a sacral guarantee to the royal authority in historical time. The pretender to the throne will not have to submit himself, of course, to the same iter of initiation along which the young Lugalbanda ran, to overcome the trial of meeting the Anzu-bird, during the journey to the oriental land of Aratta-an interesting land in the mythical geography.12 No city, in historical time, will have a king like

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Ziusudra,B devoted to his god and confined, after the flood, in the liminal dimension of Dilmun, a peculiar land in the mythical geography of the ancient Near East. 14 And the city of Uruk will not see a king like Gilgamesh. In historical time his presence would give to the city the wellknown condition of instability so clearly described in the first tablet of the poem 15-a condition not to be hoped for. All these figures-and many others we could mention-with their companions in adventures and their generalll monstrous antagonists, crowd the chaotic world of the mythical time} thanks to their excessive actions and their extraordinary deeds, their feverish search for impossible goals. Yet they cooperate together with gods to found historical reality in its various forms. The "heroic dimension" is just what has a conclusive influence on the definition of the historical characters of the Near Eastern world. This dimension has an influence not on historical events, but on the way of representing, interpreting, and describing them, when people write their own history. The heroic dimension, which has established this reality, is also the constant point of reference for it.

Der Mytllenadler AnzlI in Litemtllr lind Vorstellllng des alten Mesopotamien (Budapest: 1975). On the aspects of the journey of Lugalbanda, see also AM.G. Capomacchia, "Lugalbanda sulla montagna Sabum," in V. Lanternari - M. Massenzio - D. Sabbatucci (a cura di), Religioni e Civiltil. Scritti in memoria di A.

Brelicll promossi dall'Istituto di Stlldi Storico-Religiosi dell'Universitil di Roma B On Adapa as a "fisherman" and a "sage," see P. Xella, "Adapa e il vento: un

tema mitico," in Problemi del mito nel Vicino Oriente antico, pp. 47-59; see also id., "L'«inganno» di Ea nelmitodiAdapa," OA 12(1973): 257-65. For the myth of Adapa, see Ph. Talon, "Le my the d' Adapa," SEL 7 (1990): 43-57. 9

P. Xella, "Una «rilettura» del poem a di Aqhat," in Problemi del III ito nel Vicino Oriente antico, pp. 61-91; on the myth of Aqhat, see also id., Gli antenati di Dio. Divinitil e miti della tmdizione di Canaan (Verona: 1982), pp. 183-227.

(Bari: 1982), pp. 87-98. 13 On Ziusudra as flood hero and king, see J.R. Davila, "The Flood Hero as King

and Priest," ]NES 54 (1995): 199-214. For the Sumerian flood myth, see M. Civil, "The Sumerian Flood Story," in W.G. Lambert - AR. Millard, Atm-basTs. Tile Babylonian Story of tile Flood (Oxford: 1964), pp. 140-45.

14 On Dilmun as real and mythical land, see B. Alster, "Dilmun, Bahrain, and the Alleged Paradise in Sumerian Myth and Literature," in D.T. Potts, ed., Dilmlln. New Studies in tile Arclweology and Early History of Bah min (Berlin: 1983), pp. 39-

10 On the "wise" hero of the flood, see P. Xella, "L'analisi strutturale e Ie mitologie del Vicino Oriente antico. Prospettive e limiti di un metodo," in Atti del 1° Convegno Italiano sui Vicino Oriente Antico (Rollla, 22-24 Aprile 1976) (Rome: 1978), pp. 59-65; see also AM.G. Capomacchia, "L"'eroe del diluvio» nella tradizione mesopotamica. Contributo ad uno studio storico di un personaggio mitico," SSR 1 (1977): 5-16.

15 See the first tablet of the Gilgamesh epic, II. 1-76. On the characterization of Gilgamesh at the beginning of the poem, see N. Vulpe, "Irony and the Unity of the Gilgamesll Epic," ]NES 53 (1994): 279ff.

11

16

On the cult of the gods in polytheistic religion, see A Brelich, II Politeislllo, pp.128ff.

12 See C. Wilcke, Das L/lgalbandaepos (Wiesbaden: 1969) and on Anzu, B. Hru1lka,

74; see also T. Howard-Carter, "Dilmun: At Sea or Not at Sea? A Review Article," ]CS 39 (1987): 54--117.

This aspect characterizes also the Greek hero, the great fighter against the mythical monstrous entities of the chaotic dimension of the origins; see A. Brelich, Gli eroi greci, pp. 90ff.

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It is not mere chance that in the description of the deeds of the oriental kings we can acknowledge all those "heroic motifs" and those characterizations of the land of the enemies, which have so many references in the descriptions of the mythical geography.17 The constant references to a heroic dimension, now over, show the necessity of confirming the sacral value of a certain cultural perspective. In these descriptions there are not the real historical events, or not only them. These descriptions show clearly how the ancients wished to represent themselves. It is as if they described the historical events, casting a glance at the heroic dimension, to found permanently a historical characterization, well defined culturally and guaranteed from the sacral point of view. In this perspective, what is the meaning of asking ourselves about the possible historical existence of certain protagonists of this mythical dimension? This is a question that, probably, was of no interest to the ancients. They had no doubt, of course, about the authenticity of a hero like Gilgamesh, as a protagonist of the myth, but they ascribed to this concept a value completely different from our historical idea. 18 The importance of the heroic dimension is that it can guarantee the development of historical events. In this perspective, the need felt by some kings (as the kings of Ur III) to find a relationship of descent and friendshij with some kinds of heroes, such as Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh, is clear. 1 They looked not only for an acknowledgment of their authority. They also wanted to establish the source of their power in the heroic dimension, connecting the prospect of their reign to the line of historical development, which had its origin in the mythical dimension. Connecting themselves to the heroic dimension, these kings state clearly what they want to be.

HEROIC DIMENSION

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So, a representation of a king such as in The Sargon Legend, following all the peculiar elements of the heroic tradition,2° places the king by right in historical perspective, which from that heroic dimension received its cultural elements.

17 On these problems, see M. Liverani, Prestige and Interest. International Relations in tile Near East ca. 1600-1100 B.c. (Padua: 1990), pp. 33-65. 18 On these problems, see P. Xella, ""Mito» e "storia» nella cultura mesopotamica," in Problemi del milo nel Vicino Oriente antico, pp. 27-34. On the characters of Gilgamesh in the myth and cult, see also A. Brelich, "Un mito "prometeico»," SMSR 29 (1958): 25-26. 19 SeeG.R. Castellino, TwoSulgi Hymns (Rome: 1972);J. Klein, Tllree Sulgi Hymlls. Sumerian Royal Hymns Glorifijing King Sulgi ofUr (Ramat-Gan: 1981); on these

20 See B. Lewis, Tile Sargoll Legend: A Study of tile Akkadiall Text and the Tale of tile Hero Wllo Was Exposed at Birtll (Cambridge, Mass.: 1980). For the legends of the

motifs, see G. Komor6czy, "Die Konigshymnen der III. Dynastie von Ur," AOASH 32 (1978): 33-66; M. Liverani, Antico Oriente. Storia societil economia

kings of Akkad, see J. Goodnick Westenholz, Legends of tile Killgs of Akkade: Tile Texts (Winona Lake, Ind.: 1997). On these motifs, see also M. Liverani, Antico Oriente, pp. 256-60.

(Bari: 1991), pp. 285-87.

Dehistoricizing Strategies in Third-Millennium B.C.E. Royal Inscriptions and Rituals * Andrew C. Cohen Bryn Mawr College 6.4.••••, ."'.-0-

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of the ancient Near East, as much recent scholarship and many of the contributions to this Rencontre have shown, contains written and visual representations that evoke the past. I would term such evocations of the past "historicizing strategies."l It is clear that the political potential of historicizing strategies stems from their ability to manipulate our perceptions of the past, for when we encounter representations that employ historicizing strategies, we judge whether the past as represented is logically consistent with the past as we have perceived it. A judgment for consistency between representation and perception disposes us to readily accept the political views that are conveyed in the representations. Historicizing strategies can thus account for-or even masksociopolitical change by providing an ideological basis for authority. The present article considers a complementary strategy, "dehistoricization," that also can provide an ideological basis for authority. Unlike historicizing strategies, dehistoricizing strategies remove the subject from past and present, and situate him or her outside of everyday perception, e.g., either in the divine realm, where the passage of time intersects with but flows independently of human experience, or in nature, where there are THE CULTURAL PRODUCTION

The present article expands on a topic I first discussed at the 96th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Society, Washington D.C., 1997 (Cohen 1997). Since then, the visual material was presented as a poster at the 45th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Cambridge, Mass., 1998. I This term, admittedly clumsy, avoids the problems of using the word "his-

tory."

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processes that repeat at fixed intervals. Representations employing such strategies do not necessarily require a judgment of consistency between representation and perception; often they simply ask for a leap of faith. Dehistoricizing strategies serve authority by denying that social change has occurred or could possibly ever occur (Eagleton 1991: 59). In the examples that follow, which relate to the institution of kingship in thirdmillennium B.C.E. Southern Mesopotamia, I seek to explicate the concept of dehistoricization and to suggest its importance for understanding the cultural production of the ancient Near East. The institution of kingship in Southern Mesopotamia had its beginnings in the Late Uruk to Jemdet Nasr periods. At that time, the city-states of Southern Mesopotamia were governed by temple institutions, the head of which, possibly called en, played both religious and political roles. By (or during) the Early Dynastic IlIa period, the secular duties of the ens were commandeered by individuals who called themselves ensi(k) (generally translated as "governor" or "city ru,ler") and lugal (lit. "great man"). It is likely that the first ensi(k)s and lugals gained power during the Early Dynastic I period, when they served as leaders in times of military conflict Gacobsen 1957, Steinkeller 1999). While their authority may have been temporary at first, presumably the most successful and charismatic ensi(k)s and lugals were able to maintain their authority between conflicts. However, in order to establish a permanent basis for rule, Le., in order to institutionalize the nam-Iugal, "office of kingship," I theorize that the early charismatic "great men" would have had to shift a certain amolmt of their authority from themselves as individuals to their office. It is axiomatic that when authority is vested too closely in the person of the ruler it is susceptible to challenge. To withstand such challenges, authority must be ideologically constructed as external to the person of the ruler. One avenue for externalizing authority is through representations that employ dehistoricizing strategies. In the representations associated with the institution of kingship in third-millennium B.C.E. Southern Mesopotamia, I have identified two linked dehistoricizing strategies; examples of both may be found in the Ur III period composition Sulgi F (c. 2100 B.C.E.). One dehistoricizing strategy situates the subject in the divine realm. This particular hymn of Sulgi attributes divine origins to the king when it states that the goddess Ninsun gave birth to him (Sulgi F 4-5,18-19,28-29).2 Since his birth took place in a

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realm to which most humans (other than ritual specialists) have only limited access, Sulgi is set apart from the rest of humanity. The first strategy of locating the subject in the divine realm justifies and rationalizes a second, linked strategy: the situating of the subject within nature. Lines 1-29 of Sulgi F form a unit, which relates that Ninsun bore Sulgi for three purposes: (a) to bring prosperity to the realm in the form of food and treasures; (b) to deliver each year's first and best produce to Enlil's Ekur temple in Nippur; and (c) to dispense judgments and make decisions. I see those purposes as forming a causal chain, with prosperity on earth establishing universal prosperity (Le., what benefits Enlil as the head of the pantheon probably benefits the rest of the gods as well), and with universal prosperity being a rationale for Sulgi's regulation of human affairs. This theme is amplified in the sections of the composition that immediately follow, lines 30-58, where the gods An and Utu are said to bless the earth and prepare it for humanity. The lines concerning An's actions are wlfortunately lost but we read that Utu causes water to fill the rivers, plants to grow in the steppes, and bulls and sheep to inllabit the mountains. The focus then shifts to Sulgi: U4 nam-lugaHe3 Hz-la-rna' gg-mes-zi-gin7 dalla mu-e3 a-i3-li mu-dull KI.EN.DU-ku3-ga pa-mul mu-su3-e pa-mul-mul-Ia-na dutu-u3 nam biz-in-rtar'-ar gi~-mes-zi-dam kurun3-ku3 mu-e-ili2 ~ul-gi sipa-zi ki-en-gi-ra-ke4 bez-gal2 na-su3-e On the day when he (Le., ~ulgi) was elevated to the office of kingship, He was resplendent like a noble mes-tree watered by fresh water. Over the pure watercourse he spread (his) shining branches, (And) over his shining branches Vtu decreed a fate for him: "Being a noble mes-tree he bears pure fruit. ~ulgi, the noble shepherd, he will truly spread abundance in Sumer!" (Sulgi F 59-64, after Klein3) The quotation describes Sulgi as a fruit bearing mes-tree that stands beneath the gods,4 who are represented by Vtu, and that stands above the 3 I am grateful to J. Klein for making a manuscript edition of 5111gi F available

to me prior to publication. 2 ~ulgi's father was the hero Lugalbanda, as is attested in 5111gi D and in the other references collected by Klein (Klein 1981).

4 The mes-tree has been identified as Celtis nllstralis by Powell (1987). In choosing the mes-tree for a metaphor, the poet may have been making a subtle play on

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water courses, representing the primary human modification of the physical world that enables settlement in Southern Mesopotamia. This complex imagery delineates a world-view in which An, Enlil, and Utu, then Sulgi, and then Sumer stand in a hierarchical relationship. An and Utu create for Sulgi the necessary conditions for earthly prosperity. Sulgi then transfers the best part of each year's abundance to Enlil and from him to the other gods. Accordingly, the spreading branches and the fruit of the mes-tree symbolize, respectively, Sulgi's far-reaching influence on nature and the results of his influence-beTgal2 "abundance." This conception is dehistoricizing in that it separates Sulgi from humanity and situates him in a pivotal role in the processes of nature. The political implications of the dehistoricizing strategies found in Sulgi F are weighty. The strategies elevate Sulgi to a superhuman level and give him a cosmic purpose. Hence, any challenge to Sulgi, whether internal or external, could be understood not just as threatening the person of the king, but as threatening the very order of the universe. Within this ideological framework, social change cannot occur, for it would invite disaster by interfering with that element of nature that links gods and humans. The same dehistoricizing strategies exemplified in Sulgi F are found in the ED IIIb period, a period closer in time to the initial formation of the institution of kingship. While no ED IIIb-period rulers claimed divinity outright, they did claim divine association in several ways. One way was to assert that they had had a supernatural birth and childhood. For example, the victory stele of Eanatum of Laga~ (c. 2400 B.C.E.) known as the "Stele of the Vultures" states that Eanatum was a-~a3-ga-~u-dull dnin-gir2-su2-kada "the semen placed in the womb by the god Ningirsu" (Eanatum 1 v 13) and that, when he was born, dinanna-ke4 da mu-ni-dib eTan-na dinannaib-gal-ka-ka a-tum2 mu mu-ni-sa4 dnin-bur-sag-ra dUlO-zi-da-na mu-ni-tu~ dnin-bur-sag-ke4 ubur-zi-da-ne2 m[u-na-Ia2] "The goddess Inanna accompanied him, named him 'The One Worthy in the Eanna of Inanna 'of the Ibgal', and set him on the special lap of the goddess Ninbursag. Ninbursag [offered him] her special breast" (Eanatum 1 vi 18-29, trans. after Cooper [Cooper 1986]). Another divine association was to profess rulership by divine right. Once again, the text included on the Stele of the Vu~tures declares that dnin-girTsu2-ke4 nam-gal-buITda [nam-Iug]al-[laga~kl muna-sum] "The god Ningirsu with great joy [gave him] the kin[gship of Laga~]" (Eanatum 1 v 13-17). Eanatum, like Sulgi, took on divine attributes by claiming both a supernatural birth and a divine mandate to rule. the use of mes-wood to make statues of gods, a practice attested to in both ancient Mesopotamian and Classical sources (Powell 1987).


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While the connection between rulers and the divine realm is overt in ED IIIb-period royal inscriptions like that of the Stele of the Vultures, a connection between rulers and nature is largely absent from that genre. However, within the city-state of Laga~, another kind of documentation does reveal a connection between rulers and nature. The texts in question form a subset of the e2-mi2/ eTdba-u2 archive; they record the ritual offerings made by the seated rulers of Laga~ to their dead predecessors. Administrative texts serve purposes very different from royal inscriptions, yet the two are complementary. That is because the administrative texts to be considered are the records of royal ritual practices. As such, they bear witness to the same ideological discourse as royal inscriptions. Numerous studies indicate that ritual practices give material form to ideology in a clear and powerful way (e.g., Bell 1992, DeMarrais 1996, Winter 1992). Bell writes, for example, that kneeling, a culturally specific gesture of obeisance, "does not merely communicate subordination to the kneeler. For all intents and purposes, kneeling produces a subordinated kneeler" (Bell 1992: 100). As Bell's example shows, ritual practices such as kneeling can configure the participants' consciousness of the social milieu in which they are engaged. Ritual practices are thus similar to written and visual representations in so far as they may provide a medium for inculcating ideology.S The ritual practices to be considered employ a strategy similar to the one found in Sulgi F, namely, connecting rulers with nature by making them instrumental to the agricultural cycle. The texts in question derive from the eT mi 2 "household of the woman (who is the wife of the ruler)" and list the wife's offerings in the course of five annual agricultural festivals, the approximate dates of which appear in figure 1.6 The festivals are the ezem-~e-ku2-dnan~e "Festival of the Barley Consumption of the goddess Nan~e," the ezem-munu4-ku2-~an~e "FestiS

Cf. Winter's conclusion that the visual representations of Mesopotamian ritual practices often employ compositional devices that render their subject distinct from "historical times"; i.e., certain compositional devices constitute dehistoricizing strategies (Winter 1996: 332).

6 This institution is called the e2-dba-u2 "household of the goddess Ba'u" during the reign of UruKAgina. The approximate dates for the festivals of Laga~ have been determined by a number of studies (M. Cohen 1993, Landsberger 1915, Maeda 1994, Rosengarten 1960). Such determinations are possible because festivals sometimes lent their names to the months in which they occurred, and certain classes of administrative documents were labelled with both a month name and a numeric month notation. By assembling the numeric month notations and correlating them with the month names, the sequence of months at Laga~ has been established for nearly every year covered by the

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ANDREW C. COHEN

val of the (Barley-)~alt Consumption of the goddess Nanse," the ezemdlugal-URUxKAR/ki) "Festival of the god Lugal-URUxKAR," the ezemdlugal-uru-bar-ra "Festival of the god Lugalurubara," and the ezem-dba- u 2 "Festival of the goddess Ba'u.,,7 Presumably, the ruler himself was also present at these ceremonies and made his own contribution. What sets these five festivals apart from other annual festivals is that offerings were given not just to deities, as one might expect, but also to dead rulers, their relatives, and other dead administrative officials. These recipients were physically represented by statues placed either in temple cellas or in specialized loci called ki-a-nag "water-drinking place" (Bauer 1969, BraunHolzinger 1977, Jonker 1995, Kobayashi 1984, Kobayashi 1985, Selz 1992, Winter 1992). The offerings included sheep, goats, lambs, flour, strong beer, dark beer, breads, roasted barley, and garlic. The veneration given the statues extended to providing them with garments and even, rarely, jewelry. A close look at the five annual festivals that included offerings to dead rulers shows that they constitute more than simply an "ancestor cult," as initially envisioned by Deimel (1920). During the reign of Lugalanda, the honorees included Lugalanda's immediate predecessor, Enentarzi, and a more remote predecessor, Ur-Nanse, neither of whom were related to each other or to Lugalanda. Moreover, other people received offerings including Gu-NI.DU, who was the father of Ur-Nanse, and DU.DU, who was the administrator of Ningirsu's temple under Enrnetena. Connecting these

archive. I follow the sequence outlined by Maeda (1994). It is not yet known precisely when in the course of the month given festivals occurred, but that degree of precision is not necessary for the purposes of this article. 7 See M. Cohen (1993) and Selz (1995) for comprehensive lists of texts pertaining to each festival. The most important ones are:

Month ezem-1\e-kurdnan1\e

Texts RTC 47 (1...3), a Nik 23 (L6?), DP 45 (U4), b HSS 3 41

(U4) ezem-munu4-ku2-dnan1\e ezem-dlugal-URUxKAR2(kl)

TSA 1 (Ll), DP 53 (1...3), VAS 14,34 (U1) MAH 15998 (1...3), Nik 25 (U1), V AT 4875 (U3)

ezem-dlugal-uru-bar-ra ezem- dba-u2

V AT 4875 (U3) RTC 46 (L2), RTC 58 (1...3), Nik. 28 (LS), V AS 14, 74 (Ul), DP 54 (U3)

a L(ugalanda) 3(rd b

year) U(ruKAgina) 4(th year)


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people is their relationship to the office of the ensi(k) and lugal. The recipients of the offerings were either holders, close relatives, or allies of the office of the ensi(k) and lugal. When Lugalanda was succeeded by UruKAgina, the wife of UruKAgina expanded the roster of those receiving offerings to include, possibly, her parents, her predecessor, i.e., the wife of Lugalanda, Lugalanda himself, and her husband UruKAgina's sister. Neither UruKAgina nor his wife were related to Lugalanda or his wife, yet they made offerings to them and they continued to honor the people that Lugalanda had honored. The mix of new and traditional recipients of offerings in UruKAgina's reign indicates that we are dealing with a cult that honors more than simply ancestors. Rather, these ritual offerings constitute a cult of the dead predecessors of those governing the city-state of Lagas. A close parallel to UruKAgina's continued worship of those predecessors honored by Lugalanda is to be found slightly later in the history of Lagas. The ruler Gudea (c. 2150) and other members of his dynasty were worshipped by later rulers, even after Lagas had been incorporated into the Ur III empire (Winter 1992). The continuation of the cult suggests that, for those who ruled Lagas, the cult of dead predecessors was an important part of maintaining authority. The purpose of this cult of dead predecessors may be seen to lie in the timing of the festivals of which it was a part: the ezem-se-ku2-dnanse, the ezem-munu4-kuz-dnanse, the ezem-dlugal-URUxKAR2(ki), the ezem-dlugaluru-bar-ra, and the ezem-dba-u2 all fall within a specific segment of the agricultural cycle (see Figure 1). The agricultural cycle of Southern Mesopotamia was centered on the cultivation of cereals, especially barley (Powell 1984). Cereal cultivation entails fixed activities, activities that are detailed in the Farmer's Instructions, a literary composition that dates to the Old Babylonian period (Civil 1994). In this text, the farmer is instructed to flood and leach a fallow field, then to plow and harrow it, and finally to seed and irrigate it. Water is to be applied four times while the plants are growing. When the plants mature, the grain is harvested, threshed, and winnowed. Virtually the same regimen was followed in the city-state of Lagas in the ED IIIb period, as analyses of the e2-mi2/ez-dha-u2 archive make clear (Yamamoto 1979, LaPlaca and Powell 1990). If we correlate the dates for the ezem-se-kuz-dnanse, the ezem-munu4-kuz-dnanse, the ezemdlugal-URUxKAR2(ki), the ezem-dlugal-uru-bar-ra, and the ezem-dha-u2 with the activities of the agricultural regimen, a pattern emerges: these festivals, rather than being evenly dispersed throughout the year, are clustered in the growing season. The ezem-munu4-ku2-dNanse and the ezem-se-kuz-dNanse bracket that season, with the malt festival being celebrated at about the time of sowing and the barley festival being celebrated


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at the time of harvest. When the grain was maturinij' there were three festivals in as manl months: ezem-dlugal-URUxKAR2(ki , ezem-dlugal-uru-barra, and ezem- ba-u2' The timing of these five annual agricultural festivals is intimately related to the ecology of Southern Mesopotamia. In the course of the growing season, there were many potential threats to the agricultural-hence the city-state's---economy. One was seasonal fluctuation in the flows of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In late fall and early winter, the looming threat to sprouting seeds was low water, a circumstance usually coupled with minimal early rainfall. Conversely, in spring when the rivers flooded, high water could simply wash away the growing plants (Adams 1981). Other less predictable threats to the plants were rainstorms, pests, diseases, and malicious humans. Besides those, there was an additional significant cause for concern. Just as the young grain was growing in the fields, grain from the previous season was rapidly dwindling in the storehouses. It should be plain, then, that the most critical time of year was the growing season. How should we explain the coincidence of lavish offerings to dead predecessors with the time of dwindling resources? Perhaps, as Maeda has proposed, these agricultural festivals of the growing season had a function similar to the siskur-rituals, which are attested to in later periods (Maeda 1979). The Farmer's Instructions says that siskur-rituals should be carried out four times in the agricultural year: at sowing and at harvest, and before and after threshing. I follow Maeda and Limet in seeing the siskur, at least those connected with agriculture, as rituals concerned with increasing the productive potential of the crops (Maeda 1979, Limet 1993). If the agricultural festivals of ED IIIb-period Laga~ were indeed functionally similar to the later siskur-rituals, then the inclusion of offerings to dead predecessors during the Laga~ festivals should imply that the dead predecessors were collectively capable of increasing the harvest, and hence capable of bringing about be2-gal2 "abundance." The offerings given to the dead predecessors, by attributing to the dead predecessors the ability to confer abundance in the world of the living, established the predecessors as beings beneficent to the processes of the natural world. The question remains whether the seated rulers-as opposed to their dead predecessors-were similarly associated with nature in this period. An affirmative answer is suggested by the observation that dead rulers played a role in the agricultural economy that was but an extension of the duties they had performed in life. The rulers of Laga§ were clearly important in organizir,lg and overseeing the agricultural economy as documented in the e2-mi2/ e2-dba-u2 archive and in royal inscriptions such as those commemorating the construction of a water channel (Enmetena 41)

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and a reservoir (Enmetena 35). Given the seated ruler's role in the agricultural economy, it would have been but a short conceptual leap from being responsible for the harvest to taking responsibility for the harvest, but this is a leap that the ED IIIb rulers do not appear to have made explicit to their followers. At the most, one may say that the cult of dead predecessors, with its symbolic interaction between the seated and dead rulers, would have joined the dead rulers-who were explicitly shown to influence the harvest by the timing of the festivals-with the seated rulers who mayor may not have already been considered responsible for bringing about abundance. Where participants and spectators witnessed such cult practices, they would surely have understood that the seated ruler, who interacted with the dead rulers and who would eventually take his or her place among them, was to be associated with nature. In summary, the association of the S ruler with nature is but indirect in the ED IIIb period. The ED 11Th-period association thus differs from the overt association found in the Vr III period and exemplified in Sulgi F. The political implications of the dehistoricizing strategies identified in ED IIIb representations are twofold. 9 First, in their claims of a supernatur~l birth, childhood, and divine right to rule, the ensi(k)s and lugals appropnated the ideology of the temple institutions. This ideology, as it has been reconstructed, was at once religious and political; it projected a hierarchical view of the universe with the gods at the top, the ens serving the gods, and then humanity, animals, and plants beneath the ens. By associating themselves with the divine realm, the ensi(k)s and lugals interposed themselves between the gods and the ens. Social change, here most likely in the form of a challenge by the ens, could be seen as a challenge to the gods and hence the entire institution of which the ens were a part. Thus, the association of individual rulers with the divine realm directly benefitted the nascent institution of kingship by shielding it from internal confrontations. Second, while it is not immediately clear whether the indirect association with nature gave the ED 11Th-period rulers the same pivotal function in the cosmos that kings had in the Vr III period (as exemplified in Sulgi F), we

8 An additional, but highly speculative for the ED period, association of the ruler with fertility and with the divine realm in general was made in the course of the sacred marriage ceremony (see, e.g., Steinkeller 1999 with references to earlier studies). 9 The work of Maurice Bloch on the sociopolitical changes in contemporary Madagascar has provided the theoretical framework for my understanding of the relationship between fertility, death rituals, and politics (Bloch 1982, Bloch 1987).


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can nonetheless attribute a political implication to the evidence that the ED lIIb-period rulers associated themselves with nature in the form of the agricultural cycle. The cult of dead predecessors sanctified the predecessors and made them collectively capable of influencing the harvest. Moreover, participation in the cult established a link between the dead predecessors and the seated rulers, showing the latter to be the direct inheritors of the authority and capabilities of the former. Interaction between the seated rulers and the dead predecessors symbolically joined the two through the medium of the office they held. This union made the seated rulers, perhaps to a lesser degree than their Vr III period counterparts, instrumental in maintaining the prosperity of their domains. A challenge to the ruler could be portrayed as a threat to the economic security of the city-state. Again, the office of kingship benefited by being shielded from confrontations. In sum, through the use of dehistoricizing strategies, the ED IIIb-period kings were moderately successful in externalizing their authority. As individuals, they were able, in a limited way, to perpetuate their authority beyond their lifetimes, i.e., to establish short-lived dynasties. More important, as a group, the ED 11Th-period kings were able to perpetuate the office of kingship as a social institution. As noted earlier, the formative phase for the institution of kingship lies between the ED I and the ED lIla periods. It should therefore come as no surprise that, in the ED 11Th period, the ideology of kingship was still closely bound with that of the temple institution. But it is interesting to note that even after the office of kingship had become institutionalized, its ideology continued to be elaborated in religious terms, even in the Akkadian and Vr III periods. This suggests that, although the palace became the preeminent social institution in the course of the third millennium, kings continually had to struggle for power with the representatives of the temples, just as they had in the ED period. The examples adumbrating the relationship between dehistoricizing strategies and the institution of kingship in third-millennium B.C.E. Southern Mesopotamia support the assertion that dehistoricizing strategies provide an ideological basis for authority. Dehistoricizing strategies thus function in much the same way as historicizing strategies, which have been the primary topic of discussion at this Rencontre. Examining one of these types of ideological strategy in relation to the other has the potential to deepen our understanding of both. This article has focused upon the dehistoricizing strategies of third-millennium royal ideology in the hopes that attention to those strategies will shed additional light on the historicizing strategies that occur in the cultural production of the same period.

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REFERENCES Adams, R.M. (1981) Heartland ofCities. Chicago. Bauer, J. (1969) "Zum Totenkult im altsumerischen Lagasch." Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenliindischen Gesellschaft Supplement 1(1): 107-14. Bell, C. (1992) Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. Oxford. Bloch, M. (1982) "Death, Women and Power." In Death and the Regeneration of Life, M. Bloch and J. Parry, eds. Cambridge. Pp. 1-44. (1987) "The Ritual of the Royal Bath in Madagascar: The Dissolution of Death, Birth and Fertility into Authority." In Rituals of Royalty: Power and Ceremonial in Traditional Societi~s, D. Cannadine an~ S. Price, eds. Cambridge. Pp. 271-97. Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outlmeofa TheonjofPractlce. Translated by R. Nice. Cambridge. Braun-Holzinger, E.A. (1977) FrUhdynastische Beterstatuetten. Abhandlungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 19. Berlin. Civil, M. (1994) The Farmer's Instructions: A Sumerian Agricultural Manual. Aula Orientalis. Supplementa 5. Barcelona. Cohen, A.C. (1997) Death Rituals and Social Change: A Case Study from Early Dynastic III Southern Mesopotamia. Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. (forthcoming) "Death Rituals and the Development of Kingship in Early Dynastic III Period Southern Mesopotamia." Ph.D. diss. Bryn Mawr College. Cohen, M.E. (1993) The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East. Bethesda, Md. Cooper, J.s. (1986) Presargonic Inscriptions. Sumerian and Akkadian Royal Inscriptions. New Haven. Deimel, A. (1920) "Die Listen liber den Ahnenkult aus der Zeit Lugalandas und Urukaginas." Orientalia 2:32-51. DeMarrais, E., L.J. Castillo and T. Earle (1996) "Ideology, Materialization, and Power Strategies." Current AnthropologJj 37(1):1531. Eagleton, T. (1991) IdeologJj: An Introduction. London. Jacobsen, T. (1957) "Early Political Development in Mesopotamia." Zeitschrift fUr Assyriologie lind vorderasiatische Arclliiologie 52:91-140. (1991) "The Term ensl." Aula Orientalis 9: 113-21. Jonker, G. (1995) The TopograpllY of Remembrance: The Dead, Tradition and Collective Memory in Mesopotamia. Studies in the History of Religions 58. Leiden. Klein, J. (1981) The Royal Hymns of SllIIlgi King of Ur. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 71, Pt. 7. Philadelphia. Kobayashi, T. (1984) "On the Meaning of the Offerings for the Statue of Entemena. Orient. Bulletin ofthe Societyfor Near Eastern Studies in Japan 20: 43-65. (1985) "The ki-a-nag of EnentarzL" Orient. Blllletin o! the Societyfor Near Eastern Stlldies in Japan 21: 10-30. Landsberger, B. (1915) Der kl/ltlsche Kalender der Babylonier und Assyrer. Leipziger semitische Studien 6. Leipzig. LaPlaca, P.J. and M.A. Powell (1990) "The Agricultural Cycle and the Calendar at PreSargonic Girsu." Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 5: 75-104. Limet, H. (1993) "Le sacrifice siskur." In Ritual and Sacrifice in tile Ancient Near East, J. Quaegebeur, ed. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta. vol. 55. Leuven. Pp. 243-56. Maeda, T. (1979) "On the Agricultural Festivals in Sumer." Acta Sumerologica 1: 19-34. (1994) "On the Calendar of Pre-Sargonic Lagash." Acta SlImerologica 15: 298-306. Michalowski, P. (1983) "History as Charter: Some Observations on the Sumerian King List." Journal of the American Oriental Society 103: 237-48. Powell, M.A. (1984) "Sumerian Cereal Crops." Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 1: 48-72. (1987) "The Tree Section of urs (=tJAR)-ra=Uubullu." Bulletin on SI/merian Agricl/ltl/re 3: 145-51. Rosengarten, Y. (1960) Le concept Sum~rien de consommation dans la vie ~conomiql/e et religiel/se. Paris.


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Selz, G.J. (1992) "Eine Kultstatue der Herrshergemahlin ~asa: Ein Beitrag zum Problem der Vergottlichung." Acta Sumerologica 14: 245-68. (1995) Untersuchungen zur Gotterwelt des altsumerischen Stadtstaates von Laga~. Occasional Publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund 13. Philadelphia. Steinkeller, P. (1999) "On Rulers, Priests and Sacred Marriage: Tracing the Evolution ofEarly Sumerian Kingship." In Priests and Officials in the Ancient Near East, K. Watanabe, ed. Heidelberg. Pp. 10336. Winter, I.J. (1992) '''Idols of the King': Royal Images as Recipients of Ritual Action in Ancient Mesopotamia." Journal of Ritual Studies 6(1): 13-42. (1996) "Fixed, Transcended and Recurrent Time in the Art of Ancient Mesopotamia." In Concepts of Time: Ancient and Modern, K. Vatsyayan, ed. New Delhi. Pp. 325-38. Yamamoto, S. (1979) "The Agricultural Year in Pre-Sargonic Girsu-Lagash." Acta Sumerologica 1: 85-98.

The Image of the" Other" and Hittite Historiography* Yoram Cohen Cambridge, Mass. / Tel Aviv

DEVELOPING A REFLEXIVE SENSE of collective consciousness is a necessary prerequisite for the writing of history. But there can be hardly any comprehension of a collective "we" consciousness without a regard for or definition of other cultural groups and settings. 1 Thus, groups or individuals are stationed as "they," as opposed to the collective "we," while a reflexive sense of geography comes to delineate a notion of space of "here" and "there." Cultural and natural envirorunents alike outside a given group come to be regarded as elements of counter-identity. These elements of counter-identity constitute a polar image of the self by which the self measures and gauges itself on an imaginary relative scale. This polar image, the image of the "other" projected against the ideal self or wished-for self, is essentially the backbone of historiography, which gives support to the myth of collective identity. In historical narrative, constructing the image of

Abbreviations are according to the Chicago Hittite Dictionary, Volume P, pp. vii-xxix, eds. H.A. Hoffner and H.G. Gilterbock (1997). The present article is based on my Masters thesis ("Taboos and Prohibitions in Hittite Society," Tel Aviv: 1997; forthcoming in the THeth series) written under the supervision of Hamar Singer. I am most grateful to Prof. Singer for his guidance and support. I also sincerely thank Profs. Harry Hoffner, John Huehnergard, Peter Machinist, Piotr Stein keller, and Calvert Watkins for their comments and suggestions. I have also benefited from the kind assistance of Prof. Harry Hoffner and Dr. Richard Heal of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, who have sent me valuable information from the files of the Chicago Hittite Dictionary Project. For discussion of "Otherness" or "Alterity" (alttfrite) in ancient history, see, e.g., Assmann 1992; Hartog 1988; Liverani 1990; Vernant 1998; and VidalNaquet 1981. Further studies are cited throughout this article.

113

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YORAM COHEN

the "other" involves a process of inversion or defarniliarization, which usually results in a negative depiction of the image of the "other.,,2 To illuminate this process in ancient historiography, we will focus on the construction and employment of the image of the "other" in Hittite historiography. Methodologically, this will be done by examining the Hittites' concept of "otherness," as defined by the Hittite expression natta ara, which means, "not correct," or "not right." An assessment of this expression will help us comprehend what the Hittites accepted as normal and what they rejected as "other." This will lead to the understanding of how the formulated image of the "other" came to be employed in Hittite historiography. Succinctly, our purpose is to examine the Hittite expression natta ara as a certain model against which one can define the criteria by which the image of the "other" was chosen and employed in Hittite historiography. As several studies have demonstrated, the Hittites viewed the peoples surrounding them without any racial prejudice or preconditioned apprehension. 3 Even the pestering tribal Kaska, who refused to come to terms with the Hittite presence in Northern Anatolia, were not demonized or depicted in a highly charged and negative way.4 Indeed, as is widely recognized, Hittite culture was highly receptive to the cultures of the surrounding peoples. However, the image of the "other" is not at all absent from Hittite historiography, but rather features in some of the major early historical texts. We will see, however, that it did not arise from experience and contact with the neighbors of the Hittites, but rather from different attitudes and practices. In the following sections, we will define what this image of the "other" consisted of and how it was constructed. In Hatti, the expression natta llra is used to define the borders of approved behavior in society. Although its attestations are few, it appears in a wide variety of genres, including diplomatic correspondence and treaties, rituals and cultic texts, oracles, instructions for the various offi-

HITTITE HISTORIOGRAPHY

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cials, and historiography. In these diverse texts it comes to prohibit over twenty different social actions. It touches upon matters of sexual behavior, cultic and religious observances, social injunctions, and ethical dilemmas. Almost every aspect of Hittite society is included within the restrictions imposed by the expression natta ara. The meaning of the expression natta ara is basically "not right," "not acceptable," "not permitted," as opposed to ara, which means "correct," "right," or "permitted."s Although the general sense of this expression is clear, it is hard to define its semantic field, because of its divergent uses. First, we turn to the Indo-European cognates that illuminate the deep meaning of Hittite ara. Vedic art, tirya, and Avestan airyo are terms denoting righteousness, devoutness, loyalty, and nobility. These are epitomized in the male deity Aryaman, who represents the standards of dignified living and marriage contracts. 6 The Hittite ara shares with its Indo-European cognates the concept of accepted conduct in the communal and social sense. In this regard, it is among the fundamental terms for the group in relation to its surrounding world. Eventually these cognates evolved to designate the collective self of whole peoples and territories (as" Aryan" and "Iran")? Second, we turn to the Hittite cognates. Communality and reciprocity embodied in the abstract ara might be expressed also by th~ Hittite idiom ara~ ari-meaning "one friend to the other." A friend, a LUIMUNUSara~, is cognate with the abstract llra and shares with it some semantic categories. 8 This substantive is used to denote reciprocity among friends or among colleagues of a religious order. Indeed it may be seen as the apex of social relations in the group. In a foundation ritual for a new palace, an unspecified Hittite king issues a personal request for friendship. He demands from the deified throne goddess tJalmasuit that their relationship shall be one of llra, characterized and substantivizied as ara~.9 S

2 Usually the image of the "other" will be negative, although it is not altogether impossible to find positive images of the "other" as well. When the process of inversion or defamiIiarizing is itself inverted, the resulting product will be a positive image of the "other," representative of "they," while "we" will turn into the tainted negative image. The classic example for this double inversion is Tacitus' Germnnin. 3 See studies by Klinger 1992; Singer 1981, 1994; von Schuler 1965: 1-18. 4 Notably von Schuler 1965, but see the interpretation offered in Liverani 1990: 37,161-62.

The primary meaning of the Hittite word lira has been understood since the initial days of Hittitology, beginning with Hrozny 1915: 28. See also Friedrich 1924:52; AU: 97; Forsch.: 147. The seminal study of this term is Laroche 1960. A comprehensive semantic and comparative study is Cohen 1997. 6 Benveniste 1962: 109; 1969: 367-73; Puhve11978: 336; HED/1: 120. 7 Gamkrelidze and Ivanov 1995: 657-58. 8

9

Laroche 1960; Benveniste 1962: 110; HED/1: 116-21. But see for a contrary opinion, Kammenhuber in HW2: 223-24 and Szemerenyi 1977: 140-45. KUB 29.1 i 34-36 (CTH 414=Goetze 1969: 357-58): nil G1SOAG-nn n-ra-nlll-mn-nn unl-zi-nU-UII[-III1J ll-UL-wn LUGAL-wn-n§ n-ra-n§-mi-i§ zi-ik ... "I called tJalma-

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YORAM COHEN

We also briefly note the existence of a deity named d Ara~.l0 In a foundation ritual for a new city, for example, dAra~ is situated alongside other deified abstract qualities, all positive, like "Wellbeing" (dKelti), "Divine 11 Justice" (bantantatar), "Opulence" (dHinkallu~), etc. These ~eified abstract nouns constitute the desired conditions of the land; that dAra~ was one of them, permits us to attribute to this deity the characteristics of lira. The wide semantic range of the expression can be understood by an examination of the contexts of its employment. We begin by examining the religious texts in which lira and natta lira define the basic operational concepts of the sacred and profane in the cult. In religious texts, the expression is used commonly to prohibit undesirable cultic actions. It may, for example, prohibit the eating of offerings that are reserved exclusively for the gods. 12 It may also exclude and demarcate undesired persons from participating in the cult. In a ritual for lStar, for example, different categories of participants are established with the use of the expression. )( k'an-zl. nu U)a-ra-a-a~)( LOa-rt. [ 7. [na]m-ma GA.KIN.AG da-a~MES 8. [~i-y]a-i-i~-ki-iz-zi lUI GA.KIN.AG EM-~U ~u-up-pa-e-e~ [LU SANG A??]

9. [az-]zi-kan-zi ~a-ak-nu-wa-an-te-e~-ma 10. [U- ]UL a-da-an-zi U-UL a-a-ra 13 They take the cheese and one colleague (ara~) [hu]rls (it) at the other colleague, and the consecrated [priests?] eat the cheese ~and) the 1 rennet, but the impure ones do not eat (it). This is not ilra.

The group participating in this ritual is the ~uppae~-the sacred ones, the appropriate cultic personnel who may carry out the ritual acts. In contrast

~uit, my friend: 'Are you not a friend of mine, the king?'" Cf. i 11-13. See the

~o the~ stands

a particular group of people who are forbidden to take part the n~al. Th~y are ~he sak~u~antes-the defiled. For them, partaking of the cultic meal IS forbIdden; It IS natta lira. In the broad sense, as we learn f~o~ another Hittite ritu~l, it is seen that the entire ritual process of propitiating the gods was carned out by meticulously observed ceremonies that had to be lira, that is, correct or appropriate. The participants declare: "Wh~tever ~e ~h.all per~orm for him-may [th]at be lira for him."lS "Doing the nght thing ill culhc performances creates beneficial reciprocal rela~ion~ between the god and its human worshipper. The natta lira expression ill this respect seeks to eliminate the potential disruption of the ritual procedures by prohibiting specific actions. At times, adjacent to the natta lira expression, in the same paragraph or text, occurs the term lira, creating the necessary contrast for comparison between the sacred and the profane similar to the LatinJas and neJas. 16 ' Having established the deep and semantic meaning of the term lira, we can turn to the employment of the natta lira expression in Hittite historiography and see how it defines the image of the "other." We will consider first one of the oldest preserved Hittite texts, The Tale oJZalpa. While its historical validity as a source may be disputed,17 there is no reason to deny the Hittites the right to reAard this semi-mythical story as part of their recollection of their own past. Therefore, it may be considered as one of the earliest attempts by the Hittites at historiography. The story can be briefly paraphrased. 19 The queen of Kani~ gives birth to thirty sons. Not content with her offspring, she places the thirty sons in caskets and sends them down the river. Having reached the sea, at the land of Zalpa, the sons are found and re?re~ by the gods. Time goes by and the queen of Kani~ gives birth again, this hme to thirty daughters. Presumably some more years pass and the sons begin their way back to Kang. Before they arrive to Kani~, however, the gods change their appearance, so that their mother will not recognize them. And then: ill

important discussion in Starke 1979: 74,80,83-85. 10 For attestations, see van Gessel 1998: 45. 11 KUB 17.20 ii (CTH 492=Bossert 1956: 202). See also Haas 1994: 257-58.

15

12 The most notable example is found in the "Prayer of the Prince Kantuzili" (KUB 30.10 obv. 13' = CTH 373): ~i-,i-ni-l/Ii-/IIa-mll hi-it ~1I-IIP-p( a-da-an-na naa/-/a a-ra na-at U-UL kll-II~-~a-an-ka e-dll-lln "I never ate what was sacred for my god but for me not ilra to eat." See Gi.iterbock 1974: 325 and Watkins 1994.

16 As, e.g., in KUB 5.1 obv. i 38-39, rev. iv 57-58 (CTH 561=THef" 4: 38-39,86-87); tJuqq. § 33 (iii 59-66) (CTH 42=SV 2: 128-29; DiplTexts: 28); IBoT 1.36 iii 37-48 (CTH 262=AS 24 §§ 37-39); KUB 13.7 (CTH 258=von Schuler 1959: 458-59).

13 KUB 45.49 rev. iv, 7-10 (dupl. 611/f)(CTH 790=StBot 15: 29). See Collins 1995: 88-89. 14 Translation follows Hoffner 1994: 225.

KUB 30.27 rev. 1-2: (1) [ku-it-w]a-aHi hi-it e-eHII-II-e-l1i (2) [l1u-wa-ra-a]/-~i aa-ra e-d-dll (CTH 451=HTR: 98).

17 Hoffner 1980: 290-91 and Singer 1981: 132. 18 Gi.iterbock 1983: 27-28.

19 Based on translation by Hoffner 1998: 81-82; Text edition in StBoT 17.

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17. ., .nu-uz-za DUMU.MUNUSMES-SA A-NA DUMU.NITAMES-SA pa-is 18. [va-an-te -e]z-zi-as DUMUMES ni-ku-us-mu-us na-at'-ta ga-'ni-es-sir

ap-p{-iz-zi-ya-sa-as-sa-an ne-e-ku-sum-mu-us da-as-ke-e-u-e-n[i n]u le-e sa-li-iktu-ma-ri 20. [na-at-ta] 'a_a_ra,20 nu 'kat-ti-is-'mi s[e-

19.

[0000- ]x-us-za

When she gave (in marriage) her daughters to her sons, the [old]er sons did not recognize their sisters. However, the youngest [objected]: "Should we take (in marriage) our own sisters? Do not approach (them)! [It is not] right." But (the brothers) sl[ept] with them.21 At this ciimactic point the text breaks off and we are left to speculate about the fate of the thirty brothers and their thirty sisters, until a betterpreserved tablet shows up. Although we cannot know whether the incestuous deed was committed or about to be performed, we can say that all participants of the story (except the youngest son) were in complete igno22 rance of it, thus not explicitly held responsible for their deed. As far as we can judge from the surviving text, the author did not seek to blame any particular ethnic or geographically located group. Furthermore, there is nothing, I believe, in this story to show that the author's intentions were directed, implicitly or explicitly, to condemn a surviving practice in Anatolia. 23 Rather, with the use of the natta ilra expression, one witnesses the recognition of a sexual prohibition that leads to group distinction. The intent here, therefore, is not to contrast sexual behavior pertinent to the city of Kanis (one of the first cities inhabited by the Hittitesy4 with that of

20 The ra-sign is just visible, the a-signs are almost completely obliterated. However, there is no reason to doubt Otten's reading, since this sign combination is highly distinctive: two a-signs preceding a ra-sign can therefore only be nra. 21 Hardly anything is visible of this last sign: ~[e. Otten's translation (StBoT 17: 7) for the very last surviving line ("Und mit ihnen schl[ief(en)") implies that the youngest brother ended his admonition and that the brothers had indeed committed the incestuous deed. Hoffner 1998: 82 interprets the final line somewhat differently and ends the story thus: "[It is surely not] right that [we should] sleep with them." 22 See '11191 of the Hittite Law Code, in which forbidden sexual pairing is considered an offense, presumably only if committed knowingly. 23 Cf. Bin-nun in THetIlS: 146. 24 Singer 1981: 129.


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anoth~r group,

since no other group is introduced to the story. Rather, it is to remmd the reader of a behavior that is considered desirable to the society of ~umans and gods. This is implied at the beginning of the story, in an oblIque wa~, when we are told that the sons were brought up and reared by the gods. It IS therefore no surprise that the terminology chosen to highlight the prohi.bi.ted act is ~he same one that demarcates the sacred from the profane, defmrng what IS appropriate for human behavior in worship of the gods, as was discussed above. P: few hundred ~e~rs later the same expression is again used to prohibit forbIdden .sex~al pa~rmg, brother-sister incest among others. It appears no less than fIve hmes m a treaty between ~uPEiluliuma I and his Anatolian ~assal: tJuqqan~ of the country of tJayasa. Since this was probably the fust hme that mter-dynastic marriages were conducted by Suppiluliuma,26 not ~nly ~ce~t prohi~itions were formulated, but also a complete set of m~tnmoru.al mstructlons were forwarded in order to regulate tJuqqana s behavlOr, as a result of the different sexual customs of the land of tJayasa. The entire rhetoric in the treaty thus strives to achieve a sense of sexual moderation and restraint befitting a newcomer into the Hittite system of vassalage and the Hittite royal family.27It is clear that it was not the ~im of t~e Hittite kin~ ~o impose his will or customs on an entire group; the ~structlons are specIfic to the ruler of the vassal kingdom of ljayasa. UnlIke t~e Zalpa tale, a sense of social and geographical consciousness is pre~ent ~ the treaty. This plays a part in juxtaposing the land of Hatti with the infenor country of ljayasa and its alleged sexual norms. 28 But concern over sexual norms was not the result of ethnic or racial attitudes. It is important to note that it is a socio-geographic unit, the land afHatti, and not

25 Text edition in SV 2: 103-63; Translation in DiplTexts: 22-30. 26 See Pintore 1978: 72. 27 Otten 197~. See. als.o Liver~ni 1990: 42-43. In future treaties of ~uppiluliuma such matrImonial mstruchons were less specific although still present, as in the Treaty of ~uppiluliuma with ~attiwaza of Mittanni, § 7 (DipITexts: 40). See also the Treaty of tJattu~ili with BeI1te~ina of Amurru, § 8 (DipITexts: 97). 28 This depends on our understanding of the phrase in tJuqq. § 29: 32 (Otten 1971: 163): ~II-Ille-in-za-an KUR-edalll-pll-II-pfkl/-it an-da-at za-alJ-lJa-an"Because your country is uncivilized, it is disrupted(?)." I owe this translation to Prof. Hoffner (personal communication), who compared the use of zalJlJ- in this text to its usage in KUB 13.4 iii 38 (see CHD/L-N: 441). See also Beckman's translation here (DiplTexts: 27). For dampnpi, see Collins 1990: 225, 1995: 87; and for a different opinion Klinger 1992: 191-94.

120

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the Hittites, as a distinct ethnic group, which is contrasted with the land of ljayasa. I suggest that the reason the Hittite royal house or the formulators of its ideology were worried about sexual misconduct or incestuous acts was their defiling and contaminating character. The person of the king by its very character was to be kept sacred and pure, and forbidden sexual 29 pairings were one of the possible contaminators of its sacredness. The use of the expression in The Tale of Zalpa was intended to highlight the foundations of social demarcation, of distinctiveness, with the possible implication that the decrees to establish social norms were given by the gods. In the treaty ofSuppiluliuma with ljuqqana, this expression is picked up again, evidence as it were of the force of this prohibition through the ages in shaping the collective notion of that which was allowed and that which was abhorred in the land of Hatti. In one of the major texts of Hittite historiography, The Proclamation of Telepinu, natta lira defines normative or ethical behavior in Hatti. This text, once thought to be a succession reform initiated by King Telepinu, is now considered to belong to a genre of apologetic and selflegitimizing texts, sharing general traits with the well-known Apology of Hattu~ili.30 Basically the function of this proclamation was to justify Tele31 pinu's present rule in Hatti. Commencing with days gone by, Telepinu recounts how the harmonious reign of ljattusili I, a time of peace and of successful military operations, fell into ruin as a result of murderous deeds.ljattusili's son, Mursili, was murdered, as were the subsequent kings of Hatti. The end of bloodshed and the revival of the illustrious past are all the achievements of the present king, Telepinu. Following this biased historical account, there comes the "reform" of succession in Hatti, which is only meant to legitimize Telepinu's own illegal grasp of power. In this respect, Telepinu in fact did not deviate from the norm of succession, and he did not intend to change it, but rather emphasized that he was entitled to rule. The rest of his "reform" portrays Telepinu as a just and wise monarch, the very opposite of former usurper kings, fulfilling the model role of the ancient Near Eastern king. 29 The Hittite Laws ('Il'll187,188) forbid anyone who committed an act of forbidden sexual pairing (lJurkel) to approach the royal person. The same injunction is found in a ritual confirming that the king's person be kept from lJurkel among other impurities. See Hoffner 1973: 84 and CHD/L-N: 327. 30 Hoffner 1975, 1980: 306-7, 332; Liverani 1977. 31 The interpretation of this text here is based on Hoffner 1975; Liverani 1977; and Beckman 1983: 21-22. For other views, see von Schuler 1959: 442-43; Cancik 1976: 64-65. A recent translation is van den Hout 1997: 194-98.


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Liverani (1977) has argued that the decrees and instructions in this text relate more to past and present events than to the prospective future. Indeed it can be demonstrated that all the decrees laid down in the proclamation have a parallel episode in the "historical" section of the edict; they are posited as counter-measures to the bloody past. Therefore, their function is not only legalistic but also comparative, serving to juxtapose Telepinu's just cond uct and rule with that of his predecessors. Such is the function of the decree (§ 32) in whichnatta lira appears. In that decree, Telepinu wishes to insure that any potential offender who is a member of the royal family will himself pay for the crime. His household or his sons shall come to no harm, contrary to what happened in the past when entire families were massacred. The safety of the offender's entire household, along with his property, is insured. The house, fields, vineyards, slaves and cattle are not to be confiscated. 59.

ki-nu-na ma-a-an DUMU.LUGAL ku-i~-ki wa-a~-ta-i nu SAG.DU-az-pat ~ar-ni-ik-[d]u

60. E-Sl1-ma-a~-~i

DUMU-SU-ya i-da-a-lu /e-e SA DUMUMES.LUGAL 61. iz-za-an GI~-ru l1-UL a-a-ra ... 32

Mg-ga-a~-te-ni

pf-ya-ni-ma

Now, if any prince commits a crime, he shall pay with his head. You (pI.) shall not intend to harm his household or his son. To give away (from) the chaff (to) the (entire) log33 of the princes is not right." The potential aggressors who might covet the property of the princes after their death are mentioned in the following lines. These were high ranking officials like those who in the past acted against the ruling king. They had supposedly designs in procuring for themselves the confiscated property that included entire towns, thus committing evil deeds. 34 This decree in fact parallels Telepinu's just and benevolent ways. In the past, he had indeed granted his former enemies households and made them into farmers, without inflicting any harm upon their bodies or estates. 35 He did what was t7ra, what was just and moral as befits a true 32 Tel.pr§32 (KB03.1 ii59-61 and KUB 11,6 ii5-12 [conflated] =THetlI11: 36-37). 33 That is, "to give anything"; lit: "chaff (and) wood." H.A. Hoffner (personal communication) offered me the translation of this Hittite merism. Cf. von Schuler 1983; HED /2: 323. 34 Tel.pr § 32 (KBo 3.1 ii 61-65=THefIl11: 36-38). 35 Tel.pr § 26 (KBo 3.1 ii 29-30=THetlI11: 30-31). See also CHD/L-N: 331,467.

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king. Contrariwise, former opponents and murderous claimants to the throne had no scruples about committing deeds that were not ara. They were unworthy because their acts were natta ara. This opposition between right and wrong, eventually justifying Telepinu's seizure of power, was achieved with the deployment of the expression natta ara.1t has articulated abstract moral qualities: the positive figure of Telepinu the just king36 as opposed to the negative images of former factions that aimed to destroy the core of the Hittite royal families. In The Proclamation ofTelepinu, justification of rule did not depend on the introduction of evil enemies (as the image of the "other") striking at the heart of the kingdom or threatening its stability from without. Internal forces, such as treacherous servants (§ 7) and top commanders (§§ 21-22), were chosen as images of the "other." As seen so far, ara was the concept that determined the standard of required conduct that was accepted and correct. In the Hittite international correspondence, the Hittite kings demanded that all parties who maintained a relationship with each other, regardless of their national or ethnic origin, behave according to the standard of llra. 37 This standard was at times determined by the gods, however, not by humans. Humans had to maintain that cult be ara; the role of the gods was to bestow lira. In the Hittite treaties it is apparently the Hittite gods of the oath who give ara to humans, and in doing so ensure a successful relationship. Any relation lacking lira is doomed to fail, as Suppiluliuma warns tJuqqana. Should tJuqqana align himself with an enemy,

by the gods, to be differentiated from the ius, the earthly customs and laws. 39 This detailed examination of the expression has shown that the image of the "other" in Hittite texts was fundamentally constructed from figures or forces internal to society that threatened the divinely ordained form of both human interrelations and human and divine relations. This concept of the "other" in Hatti, defined by the expression natta ara, will now serve as the backdrop against which we will briefly survey the employment of the image of the "other" in additional Old Hittite historiographic texts that do not include the studied expression. Our objective is to demonstrate that the image of the" other" found in these texts follows the outline of "otherness" as defined by the expression we have studied. As we stated above, natta ara will serve as a model against which we can assess the function and articulation of the image of the" other" in Hittite historiography. The texts to be surveyed are the "Edict" and "Testament" of tJattu~ili I, The Siege of Ur§u, The Palace Chronicles, and finally The Proclamation of Anitta. All are texts from the early formative period of the Old Hittite kingdom. In the "Testament" and "Edict" of tJattu~ili I, the image of the "other" was employed to form internal cohesion and allegiance around a newly appointed heir. Positive images of unity and fidelity, both conditions essential for the success of the Hittite monarchy, are concretized by means of similes: the collective unit (pankur) must be united like the wetna§ animal or the wolf. 40 Factionalism and deceit are concretized a negative image, that of a snake, to which one Hittite queen is likened. 4 Another figure of evil is the king's own daughter, who has been ostracized from her family, never to be called daughter by her own father. 42 This powerful act of expulsion from the family stands in opposition to the idea of the unity of the clan. Although, no doubt, the two Tawannanas were real historic figures, it is the manipulation of their characters that creates the sharp image of disruptive forces erupting from within and threatening the unity of the community. The image of the" other," like those studied above, is one of an insider who defies the group.

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ALMOST A HALF CENTURY AGO, at the second meeting of the Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale in 1951, Adam Falkenstein presented a brilliant paper on the chronology of Sumerian literature. 1 Despite the enormous increase in our understanding of the Sumerian texts known to Falkenstein at that time, and the revolutionary impact of the subsequent discovery of an entire corpus ofEarly Dynastic Sumerian literature, Falkenstein's conclusions hold true today, even if they must be corrected in some details. He approached the dating of the texts of the scribal curriculum known from the eighteenth century B.CE., that is, about the middle of the Old Babylonian period, from two directions? On the one hand, he looked for indications of a terminus post quem, the most telling being the presence in the OB Sumerian texts of Akkadian loanwords ending in -um, that is, belonging to the latest stratum of Akkadian loanwords in Sumerian, which first appears in Gudea and Ur 1lI texts. On the other hand, realizing that later linguistic features could creep into earlier texts in the redaction and transmission process, he compared the very few Early Dynastic literary texts then known (mainly a few incantations and the Barton Cylinder) with the later texts of the scribal curriculum and deduced that the latter could only have come into existence after a major transformation of Sumerian

Falkenstein 1951. 2 Of course, Falkenstein excluded from consideration texts whose date or, at least, terminlls post qllem, was obvious, like hymns to the Ur III and Isin kings, or lamentations over the destruction of Sumerian cities at the end of the Ur III period.

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LITERATURE AND HISTORY

literature, so great were the differences between the two corpora. Thus, Falkenstein concluded, the Sumerian literary texts studied in Old Babylonian schools were the product of a major redactional enterprise undertaken in the Vr III period, adding a literary dimension to the political and artistic components of the so-called Sumerian Renaissance, a term that has since been discreditedp perhaps "Vr III florescence" would be more apt. Falkenstein was careful to distinguish between the most recent redactions of Sumerian literary compositions as represented in the OB scribal curriculum, and the origin of those compositions. Some myths and hymns could go back to very early times, whereas other compositions betray a specific historical moment of origin. Thus, the epics of the early kings of Vruk must date from early in the Early Dynastic period when a wall went up around Uruk and the cities of the south would have come into conflict with the Semitic kingdom of Kish, as portrayed in Gilgameslt and Agga. 4 But in the form in which we have them, he thought the tales of the journeys of Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh to the mountains reflect the almost yearly campaigns of the Vr III kings to the northeast. At another Rencontre five years later, Falkenstein reported on the composition Ninmeshara,5 attributed to Enheduana, and correctly perceived that it was about a revolt against Sargonic rule. 6 In 1965 he published his study of the Curse of Akkade,7 which he characterized as a product of Vr III resentment against the eclipse of Sumer during Sargonic rule, because, as he recognized, the composition's tale of Naramsin's attack on Nippur and the subsequent cursing of Akkade and devastation of the land by the barbarian Guti cannot be harmonized with our knowledge of Naramsin's reign from historical inscriptions and archival texts, and thus must be the product of a later period. 8 In 1969, Van Dijk brought out a highly imaginative and insufficiently documented study that deployed both the Curse ofAkkade and the oeuvre of Enheduana to reconstruct a program of religious syncretism ina~urated by Sargon, which reached a disastrous climax under Naramsin. Basing

himself on the theories of Thorkild Jacobsen,lO Van Dijk imagined a Presargonic Sumerian assembly of independent city rulers that met at Nippur, the city of the god Enlil, chief of the Babylonian pantheon. This assembly, which was the earthly counterpart of the well-attested assembly of the gods led by An and Enlil, selected, under the tutelage of the Nippur priesthood, a king with limited powers. Sargon and his successors destroyed this arrangement by making the city rulers royal appointees, establishing a strong hereditary kingship, and marginalizing Nippur and Enlil in favor of the new capital Akkade and its goddess Ishtar. As part of a Sargonic program to syncretize the Sumerian and Semitic relipious systems, exemplified by Enheduana's collection of temple hymns,} the Sumerian goddess of love, Inana, was exalted and given the attributes of Ishtar, the Akkadian warrior goddess; in Van Dijk's words, the Inana hymns of Enheduana promoted the goddess from "prostitute" to "queen." These tendencies reached their climax under Naramsin, according to Van Dijk, basing himself on the following interpretation of the Curse of Akkade: Inana, meaning the priestess of Inana, abandons Akkade on orders of the Nippur clergy, orders that she obeys because she herself was from Sumer, and thus sympathetic to the old regime. The Nippur clergy was angry with Naramsin because he had replaced Enlil with Ishtar and diverted to Akkade offerings that rightly belonged to Nippur. When Naramsin retaliated by attacking Nippur, the clergy there allied itself with the Guti, who were joined by the cities of the south in the destruction of Akkade (that is, the gods who in the composition curse Akkade stand for their respective cities, and the curse and its realization are a metaphor for an attack and destruction). Van Dijk wrote as if the Curse of Akkade were a historical narrative in thin disguise; to recover what actually happened, one only has to replace the divine actors with their clerical representatives or cities. Much of Van Dijk's theory (without the benefit of clergy), together with Jacobsen's political reconstruction was taken over by Wilcke in a 1974 article, and applied in a systematic way to a broad range of Sumerian literature. A number of Inana myths, for example, were divided into proAkkade and anti-Akkade compositions, and Enki was made into a symbol of a pro-Akkadian faction in the Sumerian deep south. 12 These ideas were revised and expanded in a long 1993 essay, which, with Falkenstein, cor-

3 Becker 1985. 4 Katz 1993. 5 Now Zgo1l1997. 6 Falkenstein 1958. 7 Now Cooper1983a.

}O Jacobsen 1970: chaps. 8 (1957) and 9 (1943).

8 Falkenstein 1965.

11 Sjoberg and Bergmann 1969.

9 Van Dijk 1969; cf. Hallo and Van Dijk 1968.

12 Wilcke 1974a.

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rectly sees most Sumerian literary compositions as having reached their present form in Ur ill, but then seeks to understand.these compositions as being used by the Ur ill scribes as part of an ongoing argument against the political and religious goals of the Akkad period, or as an allegory of subsequent political developments. 13 The texts become romans aclef, in which each ~od stands for a city or region. For example, in Enki and the World Order, 4 Enki's scolding of a power-hungry Inana for causing chaos is interpreted as follows: the chaos wrought by Inana is Akkade's destruction of the Sumerian religious system (that is, Inana = Ishtar of Akkade), and Enki's scolding of her represents the restoration of the old order by Lagash under Gudea (because Enki is the father of Nanshe, and Nanshe has a high position in the Lagash pantheon). Inana and Enki,15 in which Inana famously manipulates Enki into giving her control over the norms of civilized life, is about Utuhegal's Uruk (Inana here is Inana of Uruk) and its successor Ur taking political power away from Gudea's Lagash, represented a1ain, by Enki of Eridu. But, according to Wilcke, in Lugale16 and Angim,l Lagash is represented by Ninurta, seen as a stand-in for his local manifestation at Lagash, Ningirsu. He understands both myths as attempts to insinuate Ningirsu=Ninurta into the Nippur pantheon in order to legitimate Gudea or one of his predecessors. However, since Ninurta is already portrayed as the savior of Nippur in the Presargonic Barton Cylinder, this can hardly be correct. The problems with these interpretations, however, are less problems of fact than problems of method. The only reason to imagine that Enki stands for Gudea's Lagash is that we know that Enki's city Eridu was never a political power, and if we want the myths of Enki to be political allegories, we have to assign Enki to a city that did exercise power. Again, assigning lnana in a particular composition variously to Akkade or Uruk is demanded only if we insist that a myth or hymn have a specific political interpretation. But why would we? The wheedling lnana of Inana and Enki, and the whining lnana of Enki and the World Order are one and the same character, not far removed from the cajoling Inana of Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven 18 and

13 Wilcke 1993. 14 Falkenstein 1964; Bottero and Kramer 1989. 15 Farber-Fliigge 1973. 16 Van Dijk 1983. 17 Cooper 1978. 18 Cavigneaux and Al-Rawi 1993.


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the impetuous lnana of Inana and Ebih. 19 Yet these last two, for Wilcke, are only Inana of Akkade, in Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven the victim of a successful liberation struggle of the Sumerians, embodied by Gilgamesh (but why is Inana of Akkade at home there in the Eana of Uruk?), and in Inana and Ebih she is the vehicle for a critique of Akkade's expansionist policy.20 A strong argument against these historicizing interpretations of Sumerian literature is that compositions exist that are explicitly about historical events, and do not hide real rulers and places in divine garb. If we have Sumerian literary texts that are explicitly about the rise and fall of Akkade or the fall of Ur, why should we assume that purely mythological texts are meant to be allegories of political events? If there is no reluctance in some texts of our corpus to name Sargon, Naramsin, Lugalzagesi, Urnammu, or Ibbisin, why should we assume that other texts disguise individual rulers or dynasties as lnana, Enki, or Gilgamesh? Since the cults

19 Attinger 1998.

20 The interpretation of lnana and Ebih has an interesting history. Falkenstein

•

1951: 15f. insisted that there was "nur ein fundamentales Ereignis, auf das das Lied passt: Die Beseitigung der gUHlischen Fremdherrschaft durch Utu*egal von Uruk .... Was dem Konig von Uruk gelungen ist, wird im Mythos der kriegerischen Gottin seiner Residenzstadt zugesprochen." But because lninsIIagllra, attributed to Enheduana, mentions Inana's conflict with Ebih, Hallo and Van Dijk 1968: 3 claimed lnana and Ebih for Enheduana's oeuvre, reinterpreting it as referring to a revolt of lands to the northeast against Naramsin, and thus, Inana is Inana of Akkade. This view was slightly modified by Wilcke 1974a: 56f.: lnmw and Ebih is the story of a successful Akkadian campaign to the northeast, and An's reluctance to help Inana, who attacks nonetheless, possibly represents a conflict between royal authority (Inana) and the will of the assembly (An). For Zgoll1997: 91f., An counsels Inana against undertaking the expedition because of the danger to Sumer posed by Akkadian foreign expeditions, which strengthened central rule and led to troop levies in Sumer. Again, An =Sumer and Inana =Akkade, but in Zgoll's interpretation of NinlileS/lara, it is this very An who is instrumental in securing Akkade's victory over Sumerian rebels! Yet is a historicizing interpretation necessary? Just because an Enheduana hymn mentions Inana's battle with Ebih does not compel us to assume that lnana and Ebih should be ascribed to Enheduana. Nowhere do the Sargonic kings mention the name Ebih, and conflicts with the mountainous regions to the northeast were a staple of Babylonian politics from earliest times. Surely the myth expresses this continuous reality rather than a specific campaign, whether of a Sargonic king, Utuhegal, or an Ur III monarch.

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of Babylonian gods are associated with particular cities, it is always possible to impose a political interpretation on any myth. But should we feel compelled to do so? The mythological texts present a fairly consistent image of the gods' relationship among themselves, based on function, kinship, and personality traits, and a good argument could be made that these relationships are in large part independent of the actual historical relationships of these gods' cities. Before offering alternative interpretations of two texts that have been prominent in the discussions cited above as well as in subsequent studies, I would like to question some of the basic assumptions of these studies, assumptions that seem to have won broad acceptance among Assyriologists: (1) The Assembly. There is no evidence that the concept of a divine assembly presided over by Enlil and An translates into a Presargonic assembly of city-state rulers meeting at Nippur. In his most detailed presentation of the evidence for a Sumerian assembly, Wilcke cites two references, both from royal hymns, to Urnammu as "ornament of the assembly" and Inana as speaking for Shulgi in the assembly, as well as a difficult line from the Royal Correspondence of Ur, but none of these has anything to do with Presargonic political structure; for this, Wilcke can only refer to the Nippur inscription of Lugalzagesi, which tells us simply that "all the rulers of Sumer and all the ensis of the foreign lands" recognized Lugalzagesi's sovereignty in Uruk. 21 (2) Early Dynastic kingship. The only basis for assuming that the king of Kish or any other ED king whose rule extended beyond his home "citystate" was only primus inter pares with limited powers is that we are told by later sources that ca. 2600 B.C.E. Mesalim, king of Kish, mediated a bOlmd-

ary dispute between Lagash and Umma. 22 We are never told that his powers were limited to mediation, nor would we assume just because Utuhegal and Urnammu, a half millennium later, claim to have readjusted boundaries within Babylonia, that their powers were necessarily limited, either. 23 (3) The exaltation of Inana. In the Early Dynastic period, Inana is "queen of heaven" and "queen of all the lands,,?4 she bestows sovereignty25 and is known as a warrior goddess. 26 In the major god list from Fara she is listed third, followin~ An and Enlil,27 and in a literary text from Ebla she is" queen of the land.,,2 Claims that Inana's exalted position is the result of theological innovations of the Akkade period are simply not true, nor would we expect the god of Uruk as well as of Kish to be less than a major deity in the Early Dynastic pantheon. Nor was Inana/Ishtar, city god of Akkade, promoted ahead of Enlil by Naramsin, as is often claimed. To be sure, Inana appears with greater frequency in his inscriptions than in those of other Akkadian kings, and is granted greater importance, but Enlil's sovereignty is never denied. 29 The dedications and building projects of Naramsin at Enlil's sanctuary in Nippur, the Ekur, are eloquent testimony to the continued centrality of Enlil in the Sargonic pantheon. 30 Of the two great Inana hymns of Enheduana, Sargon's daughter and high priestess of the moon-god at Ur lmtil well into the reign of Naramsin,

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22 Cooper 1983b: 22. 23 RIM E2.13.6.1-3 (Frayne 1993) and E3/2.1.1.21 and 28 (Frayne 1997). 24 Selz 1995: 147. 25

Cooper 1986: La 3.5, Uk 1.2.

26 See Di Vito 1993: 29 for the PN dinana-ur-sag at Lagash and Nippur. 27 Mander 1986: 40.

21 Wilcke 1974b: 228f. Selz 1992 also offers no evidence for an assembly at Nippur, despite the subheading "Enlilleitet die 'Ratsversammlung'; Nippur als Zentrum einer Amphiktyonie." See now Sallaberger 1997: 149 n. 8, who states that a claim that a certain Early Dynastic ruler's dedication in Nippur means that he was legitimized by Enlil "verkehrt m. E. Ursache und Wirkung." Further on, Sallaberger concludes as follows: "Trotz der zentralen Bedeutung des HauptheiIigtum Ekur bleibt die Rolle der Stadt in der aktuellen Politik sehr blass: weder lassen sich Entscheidlmgen der Stadt oder bestimmter Kollegien, etwa der Priesterschaft Enlils, zugunsten von Herrschern oder zu deren Nachteil nachweisen, noch wilsste ich von Quellen, die erschliessen lassen, dass allein der Besitz der Stadt Nippur dem jeweiligen Herrscher besondere Vorteile oder eine Legitimationsgrundlage verschafft hatte." (p. 164). I would agree.

28 Krebernik 1992: 88. It could be argued that this hymn is written in Semitic and represents a conception of Ishtar that was foreign to the Sumerian Inana, but the Sumerian epithet of Inana, nin kur-kur-ra, just cited, shows that Ishtar and Inana were very close or identical already in the Presargonic period.

29 See the evidence in Zgoll 1997: 43, and Franke 1995: 194f. Both authors' conclusions go beyond what their own evidence would support. That Naramsin would attribute his power to his city god Inana/lshtar-Anunitum alongside or even instead of Enlil in some inscriptions fits the pattern of the Early Dynastic king Lugalkiginedudu of Uruk, who attributed his sovereignty over both Uruk and Ur to Enlil in one inscription, and to his city god Inana in another (Cooper 1986: Uk 1.1-2).

30 For Enlil as Reicllsgott in the Sargonic period, see Sallaberger 1997: 162.

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one praises the goddess and supplicates her, successfully, to intercede with An on Enheduana's behalf.31 Were Inana exalted above An and Enlil, she would have been asked to act directly, not as an intercessor. The other Inana hymn, possibly a paean of gratitude for the successful intercession, seems to place Inana on a level with An and Enlil, reminding us of the order AnEnlil-Inana of the Fara god list, but at its end the hymn is careful to characterize all of Inana's powers as gifts of An and Enli1.32 The last of the three compositions explicitly attributed to Enheduana is the compilation of Sumerian temple hymns. 33 It begins with a hymn to Enki's temple at Eridu, probably in recognition of Eridu's hoary antiquity,34 followed by Enlil's temple at Nippur and other Nippur temples. Inana of Uruk is celebrated only in the sixteenth hymn, quite a demotion from her third place in the series of short temple "hymns" from Early Dynastic Abu Salabikh,35 and Inana of Akkade is number forty, third from last. The conclusion that must be drawn is clear: when pleading to the goddess of her home city for help, or thanking her for that help, Enheduana glorifies Inana, but when compiling her collection of hymns to the temples of Babylonia, Inana is not promoted in the least, and even seems to lose stature compared to the earlier Abu Salabikh collection. Enlil remains chief of the pantheon; there is no new Sargonic theology replacing him with Inana. (4) Resentment of Akkade in Ur III. Falkenstein had talked about a resentment of Akkade in the Ur III period in his discussion of the Curse of Akkade, and Wilcke, in 1974, had seen an anti-Akkadian bias as the inspiration for a number of Sumerian literary compositions (see above). In Wilcke's most recent discussion, he recognizes that up through the Great Rebellion against Naramsin, which was led by Uruk in the Sumerian south and Kish in the Semitic north, anti-Akkade sentiment was neither regional nor ethno-linguistic. However, he contends that eventually sentiment against the Sargonic kings resulted in a polarization that bound political identity with language, that is, Sumerians vs. Akkadians. But the only evidence he offers for this conclusion is that in late Sargonic texts from Umma, "Sumerian" measures are mentioned in contrast to "Akkadian"

measures, and in the Ur ill period there are sheep varieties known as "Sumerian" sheep.36It is far from obvious, however, that the recognition of regional differences in measures or livestock translates into ethno-linguistic polarization. As further support of an anti-Akkade bias in the Ur ill recensions of Sumerian literary compositions, Wilcke asserts that there is nothing in those compositions that can be seen as glorifring the Akkade dynasty, except, perhaps, the Sumerian Sargon Legend. 3 He ignores the first fifty lines of the Curse ofAkkade, which describe Sargonic rule before Naramsin's sin in quite favorable terms, and manages to exclude from consideration the oeuvre of Enheduana, a Sargonic priestess and the only named author to whom Sumerian literary texts are ascribed. He also dismisses as not relevant the scribal copies of Sargonic inscriptions that certainly glorify the Akkadian kings; Wilcke claims they were copied perhaps more for their quaintly archaic language and paleography than for their content. 38 But as Falkenstein has pointed out, the glorification of the king known from Ur III royal hymns is a direct continuation of the tradition of earlier Sargonic royal inscriptions.39 There is no way that the Sargonic kings could have been glorified in Sumerian literature like Urnammu or Shulgi were, because royal hymns didn't exist in Sargonic times. Nevertheless, the glory of the kings of Akkade found a firm place in the scribal curriculum through the preservation of their inscriptions. Although the kings of Ur III never mention the kings of Akkade in their inscriptions or hymns 40 they flatter them through imitation of their imperial administration and the form of their monarchy, in the divinization of the king, and in the continuation of the Akkadian program of inscribed monuments. 41 Offerings were made to statues of the Akkadian kings in Or III Nippur, and the cult of Inana/lshtar of Akkade was of some

31 Zgoll1997. 32 Sjoberg 1975. 33 Sjoberg and Bergman 1969.

34 And not, as Wilcke suggests, because Eridu was the center of a pro-Akkade southern faction, and was therefore rewarded by Enheduana with the placement of the Eridu temple before Enlil's temple (Wilcke 1974a: 64).

35 Biggs 1974: 45ff.

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36 Wilcke 1993: 30f. 37 Wilcke 1993: 67ff.; for the text, see Cooper and Heimpel1983.

38 Wilcke 1993: 68. 39 Falkenstein 1966: 175. 40 Early Mesopotamian kings almost never mention predecessors or previous dynasties; the inscriptions reporting the Lagash-Umma boundary dispute (Cooper 1983b) are an anomaly in this respect. The Ur III kings only mention the legendary early kings of Uruk, back beyond the "floating gap" (Wilcke 1988: 115f.; Vansina 1985: 23f., 68f.), more as protectors and inspiration than as real historical figures.

41 Becker 1985; Cooper 1993: 14ff.

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importance in Ur III.42 Furthermore, the very presence of Sargonic monuments at Nippur, Ur, and elsewhere in the Ur III period was testimony to the attention of the Akkade dynasty to the traditional gods and temples of the land. There is no reason to think that anti-Akkade feelings were strong or even present in Ur III times, nor are there grounds for believing that the Sumerian literary texts redacted in that period had "an important function" in an "argument against the thought and political-religious goals of the Akkad period.,,43 Having shown that (1) there is no evidence for an Early Dynastic assembly of Sumerian rulers who elected a king with limited powers, that is, that there was no established Sumerian system of kingship that the kings of Akkade violated and (2) those kings did not violate the Sumerian religious system by elevating Inana or Ishtar of Akkade above An and Enlil, so that there were no grounds for a lingering resentment of the kings of Akkade in the Ur III period, but rather there were many positive images of the Sargonic period current under the kings of Ur, it should be clear that using such purported resentment as a key to reading Sumerian literary texts can only lead to misunderstanding. In fact, I would go further and say that all of the proposed readings that claim to find recent political figures or entities in the mythological texts-whether Enki or Ninurta as Gudea, 44 Inana as Utu-hegal, or Gilgamesh as Sumer-are highly implausible. Turning first to a Sumerian composition that takes a specific historical event as its subject, the Curse ofAkkade, I would assert that most of the interpretations that have been offered have tried too hard to reconcile the historical events that we can reconstruct from primary sources with the version

42 Sallaberger 1993: I 100, 198. 43 Wilcke 1993: 58. 44 An exception is the interpretation of Enlil and Ninlil offered by J. Klein in this volume (also Wilcke 1993: 37). By casting Enlil as a very young man, and Ninlil as a young, barely nubile virgin, the composition seeks to establish that Nanna-Suen, patron deity of Ur, who is engendered when Enlil rapes NinIil, is without any doubt the couple's firstborn (as opposed, say, to Ninurta/ Ningirsu). By interpreting the composition as an Ur III work designed to ermance the position of the god of Ur, Klein's theory accounts for the existence of two tales of the courtship of EnIil and Ninlil (the other is more conventional and not concerned with their eventual offspring), as well as the transfer of the mythologem of "rape of a virgin goddess by a senior god" from Enki (d. Enki and Ninlwrsag), whom it seems to fit so well, to EnIil, regarding whom it has always seemed intrusive. But d. now the critique of Westenholz 1999: 77 n. 368.


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of Naramsin's reign and Akkade's fall related in the composition. Falkenstein recognized that the text was counterfactual, and so had to conjure up the Ur III resentment of Akkade to account for it. A. Westenholz, who published archival texts recording Naramsin's reconstruction of Enlil's temple Ekur in Nippur, thought Naramsin's destruction of that same temple in the Curse of Akkade reflected a misunderstanding of the initial demolition that had to be done before the reconstruction could begin,45 as if the experience of several millennia of mud brick construction had not made the reconstruction process obvious. Liverani sees the composition as a critique of Naramsin's restoration for being too Akkadian in its style, a critique emanating from traditionalist circles at the time of Ishme-Dagan's rebuilding of the Ekur. 46 But other objections aside, the Ur III manuscripts of the composition preclude dating it to the Isin period.47 Edzard 48 and Wilcke49 view the decision to revoke Akkade's sovereignty and Inana's subsequent abandonment of the city as punishment for Naramsin's hubris, including his self-divinization, but what is counted as a recitation of hubris is really just a description of a blessed and prosperous reign, and the composition nowhere mentions the divinization. More importantly, such interpretations ignore the pattern seen in the Sumerian King List as well as the city laments, in which sovereignty passes from a particular city because no dynasty was destined to rule forever; no blame is ever ascribed to the unlucky ruler who presided over the dynasty's demise. 50 Similarly, Yolk's assertion that Inana's abandonment of Akkade in the Curse of Akkade marks the religious-political and military failure of Naramsin and of Ishtar-Anunitum, enabling the eventual restoration of the traditional Inana order based on Uruk and Kish, and thus reflecting, from an Ur III perspective, the rebellion of Uruk and Kish against Naramsin, 45 Westenholz 1987: 28. 46 Liverani 1993: 58f. 47 Liverani 1993: 56 suggests that what seem to be Ur III manuscripts are really early Isin. According to R. Zettler, the Curse of Akknde manuscripts and other Sumerian literary texts were found in fill in the Inana temple at Nippur together with dated Ur III archival texts. There are no dated early Isin archival texts among the tablets found in the fill, and thus no reason to think that the literary texts are later than the paleographically similar Ur III archival texts with which they were found.

48 Edzard 1989. 49 Wilcke 1993: 34f. 50 Cooper 1983a: 2lf. and 29f.

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avoids the much simpler understanding of Inana's departure as one manifestation of a pattern, known from the city-laments, in which a city-god must abandon a city that has been deprived of sovereignty.51 But there is no denying that the Curse ofAkkade is about politics; it is just not about history. Naramsin's hubris was not in the successes of his reign or even in his divinization, but in his refusal to acquiesce in and his attempt to challenge the immutable judgment of the great gods, which culminated in his attack on Nippur, and resulted in the Guti invasions and the cursing of Akkade. The composition was written to show that although sovereignty may not be eternal, its loss need not be as devastating for the land and for the capital as it was in the case of Akkade. Ur, whose empire was modeled in so many ways on Akkade's, need not share Akkade's particularly grim . fate, so long as its rulers do not defy divine will.52 The second composition I will discuss is one that mentions no historical figures or invasions. [nana and Shukaletuda tells of the rape of the great goddess by a mortal, and the disastrous consequences that ensued for Sumer until Enki handed over the hiding malefactor to Inana for execution. The text begins similarly to [nana's Descent, with Inana leaving her sanctuaries in Uruk and Zabalam to head for the kur. Wilcke interprets this as Inana leaving Sumer for Akkade, and when she later is said to pass through Elam and Subartu, he interprets the text as referring to the campaigns of the Sargonic kings. Shukaletuda's rape of Inana represents, according to Wi1cke, the Sumerian revolts against Akkade, while the plagues Inana brings against Sumer are Akkade's numerous attempts to suppress the south. When, at the end, Inana promises to return to Uruk, the text is said to mean to evoke the advent of Utuhegal.53 In his otherwise fine edition of [nana and Shukaletuda, Volk takes over and elaborates Wi1cke's interpretation, understanding the text as an Ur III composition that combined earlier mythological elements to express-not overtly as in historical inscriptions-political ideas. 54 In this interpretation, even the smallest aspects of the story can be given a specific political reading. For example, the rape occurs when Inana, returning from the kur, stops to sleep under a tree; her resting under the tree, Volk suggests, is perhaps a metaphor for a moment of military weakness of a Sargonic ruler

51 Ibid.

52 See Cooper 1993: 16f. 53 Wilcke 1993: 56f. 54 Volk 1995: chap. 5.


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after an expedition in the mountain lands!55 The difficulty with the whole approach becomes clear when Volk tries to clarify what seems to him as a contradiction: the composition portrays Inana as the subject of a humiliating rape, but then concludes by praising her. He explains that this is explicable only "if the subject of the humiliation by Shukaletuda is the IshtarAnunitum who had settled in Akkade-Ulmash, but the subject of the praise in the concluding doxology is ... the Inana who has come home to UrukEana.,,56 Because Inana is clearly depicted leaving Uruk and Zabalam at the text's beginning, that is, she is Inana of Uruk and Zabalam, and there is no mention of Akkade anywhere, it is inconceivable to me that the composition could have anything whatsoever to do with Akkade on any level. And it won't do, as Volk does, to respond that to lodge such an objection is to "misapprehend the intent of the work, which in no way wants to be explicit.,,57 The composition is about many things, including, as Volk also recognizes, the movements of the planet Venus. Inana leaves her sanctuaries and returns to them because Venus disappears and reappears. I would add that her movement from south to north, from Elam to Subartu, probably represents her following the sun northward on the eastern horizon, as Venus would in her appearance as the morning star during the first half of the year. The samE! path is mentioned in [nana and Ebih, and that text, too, is probably about the phases of Venus, as is surely [nana's Descent. In all three texts, as Bendt Alster already recognized a quarter century ago, Inana-Venus leaves the homeland for the kur, but with quite different outcomes in each text. 58 Our task is to understand the astral context and content of these compositions, and how and why other mythological themes and etiologies are incorporated into them.

55 Volk 1995: 31. 56 Ibid. 37. 57 Ibid. 38. 58

Alster 1974: 30. Volk 1995: 21, understands only Inana's Descent as referring to the invisibility of Venus, because Inana descends to the kllr, whereas in Inana and SllIIkalefllda Inana goes up to the kllr, and so must be visible. I would insist that no matter how the problem of kllr as both mountain and netherworld is resolved (see Heimpel1996 for a step toward resolution; cf. also Bruschweiler 1987: part I and Chiodi 1994: III/III), when Inana is in the kllr, she is invisible, no matter how she got there. The various journeys of Inana to or from the kllr may well be related to the five distinct paths Venus traces as evening star and morning star in each eight-year Venus cycle (Grinspoon 1997: 10-16).

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The rape of Inana by a mortal and the mortal's punishment recall similar themes in other mythologies. Could the theme be used here to account for retrograde motion of the planet or, rather, could Inana's rest and ra~e refer to the morning stationary point when retrogression ceases? 9 Could Inana's victorious return from the kur in Inana and Ebih and her more problematic stay there in Inana's Descent reflect the short period of invisibility during inferior conjunction in contrast to the longer period of invisibility during superior conjunction?60 Are we not guilty of gross anthropocentrism if we insist on interpreting Inana's humiliation in the netherworld or her rape by Shukaletuda as subtle expressions of antiAkkade sentiment? Let me close with a final question. If the political interpretation of Sumerian literature is as wrong-headed as I claim, why has it been championed by outstanding Sumerologists such as Van Dijk, Wilcke, and Volk? I believe that the notion of a Sargonic theology promoting Inana-Ishtar of Akkade above Enlil, and the interpretation of the fortunes of gods in Sumerian literary texts as allegories for the fortunes of the gods' cities, is based on a subconscious analogy with Enuma Elish, a text that figured prominently, if anachronistically, in Jacobsen's original stud y of "Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesopotamia. ,,61 Because the exaltation of Marduk in that composition represents the triumph of BaJ:>ylon and the promotion of Marduk, the god of Babylon, to the head of the pantheon, replacing 59 Cf. Van der Waerden 1974: 51.

60 Heimpel 1982: 10, interprets Inana's Descent as referring to inferior conjunction, because Inana identifies herself there as "Inana toward the place of the sunrise." For Heimpel, this means she is on her way from being the evening star in the western sky to becoming the morning star in the eastern sky. But it could as easily mean that she was already the morning star, Inana who is in the direction of sunrise, or that she is Inana going to the place from which the sun rises, that is, Venus as morning star about to disappear before superior conjunction. In line 173 (Sladek 1974: 124) we are told that Ninshubur goes to get help for Inana after she has been in the netherworld for (1) 3 days, (2) seven months, or (3) seven years, seven months and seven days, depending on the manuscript variant followed. Although there is no indication how long it takes from the moment Ninshubur begins her mission to the moment when Inana is released, variants (2) and (3) would have Inana in the netherworld longer than the time Venus is invisible around either inferior or superior conjunction. Variant (1) corresponds to the shortest period of invisibility at inferior conjunction; variant (2) is a bit more than a month short of a period of visibility; variant (3) is five months short of a complete eight-year Venus cycle.

61 Jacobsen 1970: chap. 9 [1943].


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Enlil,62 so, too, the exaltation of Inana in Enheduana's hymns should represent the triumph of Akkade and the promotion of Akkade's god, InanaIshtar, above Enlil. The political interpretation of Sumerian literary texts as a reaction against this theological innovation then follows. However, Enuma Elish, at least a millennium younger than the Sumerian texts we have been discussing, is crystal clear about the promotion of Marduk and the role of Babylon, whereas the Sumerian texts are nowhere explicit about the alleged replacement of Enlil and Nippur with Inana-Ishtar and Akkade. I submit that the analogy with Enuma Elish is false, and that Sumerian literary texts, by and large, were not an arena for debating the hegemony of Akkade and its aftermath.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbreviations follow the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary and the Pennsylvania Sumerian

Dictionary. Alster, B. (1975) "On the Interpretation of the Sumerian Myth 'Inanna and EnkL"' ZA 64: 20-34. Attinger, P. (1998) "Inana et Ebib." ZA 88: 164-95. Becker, A. (1985) "Neusumerische Renaissance?" BaM 16: 229-316. Biggs, R. (1975) Inscriptions from Tell Abu $ali7blkll. OIP 99. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bottero, J. and S. Kramer (1989) Lorsqlle les diellx fa isaient ['!tom me. Myt!tologie I/II?sopotamienne. Paris: Gallimard. Bruschweiler, F. (1987) Inanna. La deesse triomplwnte et vaincue dans la cosmologie SlImer;enne. Cahiers du CEPOA 4. Leuven: Peeters. Cavigneaux, A. and F. AI-Rawi (1993) "Gilgame~ et Taureau de Ciel (~ul-me-kam)." RA 87: 97-129. Chiodi, S. (1994) Le concezioni dell'oltretomba presso i Sumeri. Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei LinceL Cl. di scienze morali '" Memorie IX/IV /5. Rome: Accad. Naz. dei Lincei. Cooper, J. (1978) The Return ofNinurta to Nippur. an-gim dfm-ma. AnOr 52. Rome: Biblical Institute Press. (1983a) The Curse ofAgade. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. (1983b) Reconstructing History from Ancient Inscriptions: The Lagash-llmma Border Conflict. SANE 2/1. Malibu, Calif.: Undena. (1986) Sumerian and Akkadian Royal Inscriptions. New Haven: The American Oriental Society. (1993) "Paradigm and Propaganda. The Dynasty of Akkade in the 21st Century." In Akkad. The First World Empire, ed. M. Liverani. Pp. 11-23. Padua: Sargon srI. Cooper, J. and W. Heimpel (1983) "The Sumerian Sargon Legend." lAOS 103: 67-82. Di Vito, R. (1993) Stlldies in Third Millennium Sumerian and Akkadian Personal Names. Studia Pohl SM 16. Rome: Biblical Institute Press. Edzard, D. (1989) "Das 'Wort im Ekur' oder die Peripetie in 'Fluch tiber Akkade. /II In Dumu-e2-dub-ba-a. Studies in HOllOI' of A. Sjoberg, ed. I-I. Behrens et al. OPSNKF 11. Pp. 99-105. Philadelphia: The Samuel

62

See most recently George 1997, Maul 1997, and Sallaberger 1997.

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Noah Kramer Fund. Falkenstein, A. (1951) "Zur Chronologie der surnerischen Literatur." CRRA 2: 13-30. (1958) "Enbedu'arma, die Tochter Sargons von Akkade. RA 52: 129-31. (1964) "Surnerische religiose Texte." ZA 56: 44-132. (1965) "Fluch liber Akkade." ZA 57: 43-124. (1966) Die Inschriften Gudeas von liIga~. AnOr 30. Rome: Biblical Institute Press. Farber-Fliigge, G. (1973) Der Mythos "Inanna lind Enki" unter besonderer Beracksichtigung der Listeder me. Studia Pohl10. Rome: Biblical Institute Press. Franke, S. (1995) Konigsinschriften lind Konigsideologie: Die Konige von Akkade zwischen Tradition lind Nellerllng. Miinster: Lit. Frayne, D. (1993) Sa rgon ic and Gutian Periods. RIM E2. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. (1997) Ur III Period. RIM E3/2. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. George, A. (1997) '''Bond of the Lands': Babylon, the Cosmic Capital." In Die orientalische Stadt, ed. G. Wilhelm. Pp. 125-45. Saarbrlicken: SDV. Grinspoon, D. (1997)Venus Revealed. A New Look Below the Clollds of Ollr Mysteriolls Twin Planet. Reading: Addison-Wesley. Heimpel, W. (1982) "A Catalog of Near Eastern Venus Deities." SMS 4/3: 11-22. (1996) "The Mountain Within." NABU (1996) No. 28. Jacobsen, T. (1970) Toward tile Image of Tammllz. Ed. W. Moran. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Katz, D. (1993) Gilgamesh and Akka. Library of Oriental Texts 1. Groningen: Styx. Krebernik, M. (1992) "Mesopotamian Myths at Ebla: ARET 5,6 and ARET 5,7." In Literatllre and Literary liIngllage at Ebla, ed. P. Fronzaroli. Pp. 63-149. Quaderni di Semitistica 18. Florence: Dipartmento di Linguistica. Liverani, M. (1993) "Model and Actualization. The Kings of Akkad in the Historical Tradition." In Akkad. The First World Empire, ed. M. Liverani. Pp. 41-67. Padua: Sargon srl. Mander, P. (1986) II Pantheon di Abll-~alilblkh. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale. Maul, S. (1997) "Die altorientalische Hauptstadt: Nabel und Abbild der Welt." In Die orientalische Stadt, ed. G. Wilhelm. Pp. 109-24. Saarbriicken: SDV. Sallaberger, W. (1997) "Nippur als religioses Zentrurn Mesopotamiens im historischen Wandel." In Die orientalische Stadt, ed. G. Wilhelm. Pp. 147-68. Saarbrlicken: SDV. Selz, G. (1992) "Enlil und Nippur nach prasargonischen QueUen." CRRA 35: 189-225. (1995) Untgersllc/lllngen zlir Gotterwelt des altsllmerischen Stadstaates von liIga~. OPSNKF 13. Philadelphia: The Samuel Noah Kramer Fund. Sjoberg, A. (1975) "in-nin M-gur4-ra. A Hymn to the Goddess Inarma by the en-Priestess Enbeduarma." ZA 65: 161-253. Sjoberg, A. and E. Bergmann (1969) Tile Collection of tile Slimerian Temple Hymns. TCS 3. Locust Valley: ]. ]. Augustin. Sladek, W. (1974) Inana's Descent to the Net/lerworld. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms. Van der Waerden, B. (1974) Science Awakening. II. Tile Birth of Astronomy. Leiden: Noordhoff International Van Dijk, J. (1969) "Les contacts ethniques dans la Mesopotamie et les syncretismes de la religion sumerienne." In Syncretism, ed. S. Hartman. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. (1983) Lligal U

lid me-Mm-bi nir-gal. Le recit epique et didactiqlle des Travaux de Ninllrta, dll Deilige et de la Nouvelle Creation. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill. Van Dijk,J. and W. Hallo (1968) TIle Exaltation of In anna. YNER 3. New Haven: Yale University Press. Vansina,]. (1985) Oral Tradition as History. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Volk, K. (1995) Inanna lind Sukaletllda. Zlir IIistoriscil-politiscilen Delltung eines slllllerisc/len Literatllnuerkes. SANTAG 3. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. Westenholz, A. (1987) Old Sumerian and Old Akkadian Texts in Philadelphia. Part Two. CNI Publications 3. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. (1999) "The Old Akkadian Period: History and Culture." In W.


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SaUaberger and A. Westenholz, Mesopotamien. Akkade-Zeit und Ur III-Zeit (OBO 160/3). Pp. 17-117. Wilcke, C. (1974a) "Politische OppOSition nach surnerischen QueUen: der Konflikt zwischen Konigtum und Ratsversammlung. Literaturwerke als politische Tendenzschriften." Pp. 37-65 in liI voix de ['oppostion en Mesopotamie, ed. A. Finet. Brussells: Instiut des Hautes Etudes de Belgique. (1974b) "Zurn Konigtum in der Ur III-Zeit." CRRA 19: 177-232. (1988) "Die Surnerische Konigsliste und erzahlte Vergangenheit." In Vergangenheit in milndlicher Ilberlieferung, ed. ]. von Ungern-Sternberg and H. Reinau. Pp. 113-40. Stuttgart: Teubner. (1993) "Politik im Spiegel der Literatur, Literatur als Mittel der Politik im alteren Babylonien." In Anflinge politischen Denkens in der Antike, ed. K. Raaflaub. Schriften des Historischen Kollegs. Kolloquien 24. Pp. 29-75. Munich: Oldenbourg. Zgoll, A. (1997) Der Rechtsfall der En-bedll-Ana im Lied nin-me-~ara. AOAT 246. Miinster: Ugarit-Verlag.

Assyrian Court Narratives in Aramaic and Egyptian: Historical Fiction* Stephanie Dalley University of Oxford

for many decades that Aramaic was used as a written language during the Late Assyrian empire. Not only do pictures from the time of Tiglath-pileser III onwards show scribes writing Aramaic on scrolls, but there are also Aramaic texts ranging from letters on ostraca and grain dockets on clay, to royal inscriptions and legal documents on stone, including treaties with imaginative curses. Legal terms, derived from specifically Assyrian practice, are found in Aramaic legal records of post-Assyrian date. Aramaic words have been recognized in Assyrian cuneiform texts of the eighth and seventh centuries. Despite all this interaction, high literature in Aramaic is usually supposed to have arisen no earlier than the Persian period. 1 Piece by piece, evidence is coming to light to show that high and semipopular literature, composed in Aramaic, arose long before the Assyrian empire came to an end c. 612 B.C.E. Drawing from a variety of sourcesSyrian, Akkadian, and Egyptian-new forms of composition came to life. Some of the patronage by which it was inspired came from the Assyrian viceroys of northeastern Syria, for they governed a largely Aramaic-speaking population. In the seventh century, when they took a leading role in organizing the invasion and administration of Egypt, they created an environment in which Syrian, Assyrian, and Egyptian elements were ASSYRIOLOGISTS HAVE KNOWN

• I dedicate this paper to the memory ofJonas Greenfield, whose lively discussion of such a topic is sorely missed. P.E. Dion, "Aramaean Tribes and Nations of First-Millennium Western Asia," in J. Sasson, ed., Civilizafionsojtlle Ancient Near East (New York: 1995), voL II, pp. 128194.

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blended. Therefore, the early evidence, from before the conquest of Egypt, comes from Syria, whereas the later evidence comes from Egypt. The historical setting for most of the Aramaic stories is the Late Assyrian court at Nineveh. At the same time, semi-popular stories arose in Egyptian, inspired by events in the Delta when Assyrians helped to rid the land of Nubian overlords, and when Egyptian princes enjoyed a close relationship with Late Assyrian kings. Elements in early Aramaic inscriptions show that written Aramaic was capable of imaginative literary phrases that were independent of equivalent formulation in cuneiform Akkadian. This spirit of literary independence can be seen easily from the two versions of the Fekheriye inscription, and by a general comparison of the Akkadian treaty of Mati-el with the Aramaic loyalty oaths of Mati-el. Inscriptions on the lions found at Tell Ahrnar and Arslan Tash were written in both alphabetic Aramaic and cuneiform Akkadian in the time of Shamshi-ilu, early in the eighth century.2 We now know from a variety of particular evidence that Shamshi-ilu belongs within a tradition of viceroys that dates back to the Middle Assyrian period.3 According to this tradition, the Assyrian king appointed his highest official, the sukkallu raba great vizier, ,,4 as liking of Hanigalbat" to act as ruler of regions in the western empire and to conduct and record his own military campaigns as a semi-independent ruler. In the case of Sin-abu-u~ur, the sukkal.mab of Sargon II, he was the 5 king's brother, who had his own palace at Khorsabad and played an acknowledged role in Sargon's eighth campaign.6 Cancik-Kirschbaum at II

2 I am grateful to David Hawkins for sharing information provided by H. Gaiter.

E.g., the stelae from Assur (st;e R. Borger, Einleitrll1g in die assyrisdren Konigsinsc/rriften I [Leiden: 1964], p. 21f.), and the Pazarcik stela (see A.K. Grayson, Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotalllia, Assyrian Periods 3, Assyrian Rlliers of the Early First MillenniulII II [Toronto: 1994], p. 247). This theme is explored in greater detail in "Shamshi-ilu, Language and Power in the Western Assyrian Empire," Essays on Syria in the Iron Age, G. Bunnens, ed. (ANESS 7; Louvain: 2000), pp. 79-88. 4 Iba~~i-i1u in the reign of Eriba-Adad I; Qibi-A~~udar IIIIIt Hanigalbat in the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I, I1i-hadda c. 1200, Eru-apla-u~ur ca. 1150. See Borger, Einieilllng I,

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this conference has shown that there were two branches of the royal family in the Middle Assyrian period; this explains why the Babylonian king Adad-suma-u~ur wrote to Ili-padda and Assur-nirari III as joint kings of Assyria, Ili-padda being the sukkal.gal and father of Ninurta-apil-ekur? This arrangement belongs to a more general pattern of imperial organization, first attested during the Ur III period. The Elamites had kings who were officially installed both at Anshan and at Susa, and from a very early period the regent in Sus a was the sukkal.mab great vizier, usually a close relative of the king who ruled in Anshan. A variety of evidence: from Syria, texts such as the Fekheriye stela and the stela of Bel-Harran-belu-u~ur; from the Hebrew Bible, references such as Isaiah 10:8 (" Are not Assyria's officers all kings?") and Amos 1:5 (liThe sceptered one of Beth Eden"); and from Assyrian cuneiform texts such as the coronation ritual in which the great sukkallu laid his scepter before the king, but continued to hold office, show that such men were viceroys appointed with the full support of the Assyrian king, holding office through changes of rule in Assyria. These top men wrote their own inscriptions, recording their campaigns and building works, because they were kings in their own right, though affiliated to Assyria. The example of Shamshi-ilu shows that some at least of their inscriptions were available also in Aramaic. Shamshi-ilu's inscriptions from Til Barsip and elsewhere show clearly that he wrote "royal inscriptions" of great merit that were not in the least provincial or second-rate in literary quality.8 In his official capacity as King-in-the-West, Shamshi-ilu marched to Damascus9 on behalf of Adadnirari III and Shalmaneser IV,lO where he received rich tribute. It was probablr he who took to wife the daughter of King Hadianu (BenHadad? 1) together with a significant dowry (nudunni~a ma'di). This was a dynastic alliance at a very high level. By that time the kings of Damascus II

II

3

21. 5 In ABL 568 = no. 34 in S. Parpola, The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part 1 (SSA I; Helsinki: 1987), the sllkkallll dallllll comes immediately after the crown prince and receives an amount like the queen, but less than the tllrlnnll who follows him. 6 Probably he is the recipient ofa letter to thesllkkallll about Urartu, ABL 1081

=no. 168

in G.B. Lanfranchi and S. Parpola, The Correspondence of Sargol1 II, Part II (SAA Helsinki: 1990).

v;

7 E. Cancik-Kirschbaum, "Historiographic Patterns in the Assyrian King List: The Case of Ninurta-apil-ekur." 8 Pace Grayson, op. cil. (1994), p. 240 n. 9, "it is hard to believe that this provincial text

has such a rare word ... " 9 Probably twice, in 796 and 773. 10 Grayson, op. cit., p. 240 and J.D. Hawkins, "The Syro-Hittite States," in Cambridge Ancient History III/I (1982), pp. 400-1. 11

Hawkins, CAH III/I, p. 405.

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were writing accounts of their royal exploits in Aramaic, in well-written, well-styled inscriptions on stone. This we now know from the new inscription found at Tell Dan.1 2 When Thureau-Dangin published the Akkadian inscription of Shamshiilu from Til Barsip, he recognized its high literary quality, manifested in similes, rare words, and mythological allusions. In describing how the Viceroy defeated his enemy "like Anzu," the text implies that Shamshi-ilu played a mythological role in gaining control over destinies by subduing cosmic chaos and primeval wickedness. This raises the possibility that such a man would participate in the local akitu-festival, taking the part of the hero-godP The text reads: At that time Argishti the Urartian, whose name is as terrifying as a thick fog, whose force is formidable, who had not extended his hand against any previous king, rebelled and collected people to the Gutians' .land. He directed the war-force; his whole army came to the mountam for the clash. On the order of my father, the great lord Assur, and highest of mothers of Esharra, leaderene of the gods Mullissu, I Shamshi-ilu the general, the great herald, steward of temples, commander-in-chief of the broad army, massed the officers at that mountain. With a great din he unsheathed 14 the massed weapons, which resounded fearfully, and he blew over like an evil wind. Then I (he) directed my (his) proud yoke-harnessed steeds against him like Anzu and achieved his defeat. He deserted his own army; and his scattered assembly, fearing further fight, went out like thieves. I took away his camp, his royal secrets; my hand achieved his ruin. Then I set up two great lions at the gate of KarShalmaneser, city of my dominion, to the right and left.

These extracts show that Shamshi-ilu wrote accounts of his heroism equal to those of the main Assyrian king. His Akkadian inscriptions may have had a larger number of Aramaic words and usages than royal inscriptions from the kings on the Tigris. Thus, some distinct Aramaisms have been detected in the Pazarcik inscription: tabumu varying with mi$ru "boundary," ana as nota accusativi. 15 Are we to suppose, then, that Aramaic literature in its highest forms simply aped the genres of Akkadian literature? Or were any new types invented or adopted from elsewhere by Aramaic writers? To try and answer these questions, we shall look at several different compositions. In particular we shall note connections with Egypt, where cuneiform does not seem to have been used and where Aramaic was called "Assyrian writing.,,16 We have known since 1962 that Al:tiqar was one name for the historical sage of Esarhaddon, and since 1911 that his story was told in Aramaic. 17 Discredited as a result of a court intrigue, Al:tiqar the sage fled to Egypt, wrote wise words while in exile, and was eventually restored to favor. Some features in the story, such as the title "seal-bearer" given to Al:tiqar, have been recognized as essentially Egyptian. 18 Recently it has emerged that the man named in the tale as Nebosumiskun can be equated with Nabu-sumi-Hjkun, a Bablslonian mentioned in a letter concerning the plot to murder Sennacherib. 9 More than this, it is probable that he was the same Babylonian Nabu-sumi-iskun son of Merodach-Baladan II, whose life was spared after the Battle of Halule in 691, and perhaps became the rein-holder, mukll appt2ti, of Sennacherib. 2o This would have put him in a good position, at the center of the court and its intrigues.

The Dohuk stela inscription of Shamshi-ilu is likewise rich in epic vocabulary and imagery, bestowing on him the heroic epithet "fearless hero" (etlu III lIdiru) and describing his exploits with the words "the turmoil thickened" (itkupat sabma~tul1lma) and "like a tornado (klma a~qullllimma) he attacked."

15 V. Donbaz, ARRIM 8 (1990): 5-24. 16 A. Lemaire, "Cheikh Fadl," in Stt/dia Aramaica, M.J. Geller et aI., eds., OSS Supplement 4; Oxford: 1995), p. 111. 17 For details, see E. Schurer, History of the lewish People IIII1 (Edinburgh: 1986), pp. 232-39. Ai}iqar is called an AblamCl in the Uruk text. This appellation does not fit the

12 A. Biran and J. Naveh, "An Aramaic Stela Fragment from Tell Dan," Israel Exploration IOllrnal43 (1993): 81-98; W.M. Schniedewind, "Tell Dan Stela," BASOR 302 (1996): 75-90, with subsequent fragments and bibliography. 13 I do not follow B. Pongratz-Leisten, "The Interplay of Military Strategy and Cultic Practice in Assyrian Politics," in Assyria 1995, S. Parpola and R.M. Whiting, cds. (Helsinki: 1997), p. 245, who says that the akltll-festival was not introduced into Assyria until after Sennacherib had sacked Babylon. Inter alia, she has neglected information from Mari texts.

14 Reading M-Iip-ma, and eliminate the drums!

current interpretation of that term as a troublesome and barbarian nomad, and it may be worth considering whether the word AblamCl is related to balman/balam/balab, Aleppo. The importance of Aleppo at this time is evident from the Sefire stele, which invokes Hadad of Aleppo mLB), and the new Luwian inscription from Til Barsip according to which Hamiyatas puts granaries under the protection of that god.

18 J.C. Greenfield, "Studies in Aramaic lexicography," lAOS 82 (1962): 292-93. 19 A. Salvesen, "The Legacy of Babylon and Nineveh in Aramaic Sources," in Tile Legacy of Mesopotamia, S. Dalley, ed. (Oxford: 1998), p. 147. 20 M. KUchler, FrU"jUdische Weisheitstraditionen (OBO 26; Freiburg and Gllttingen: 1979), p. 327.

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These identifications imply that the story of Al:tiqar was not a purely fictional romance concocted in later times, but rather a non-royal biography set in the specific milieu of the Late Assyrian court. Whether the factual events have been romanticized, we cannot tell, but the tale has developed out of a thoroughly Mesopotamian genre of wisdom literature, comparable with Ludlul bel nemeqi, in which a discredited courtier, Subsi-mesre-sakkan (floruit 1290 B.C.E.), is eventually restored to favour after much suffering. But, as we shall see below, it has been influenced by Egyptian material as well. Al:tiqar later came to be regarded as a Hebrew deportee, although the early story seems to have no Hebrew component. At some later stage the story was transferred to the Babylonian court of "Lycurgos/Lykeros" and 21 its hero renamed Aesop, who is often regarded as a Greek. An Ethiopic 22 version of the tale of Al:tiqar sets the action at the Achaemenid court. The Book of Tobit in the Apocrypha tells the story of an Israelite deportee, an uncle of Al:tiqar, at the court of successive Assyrian kings in Nineveh. 23 There is no involvement of Egypt, nor is there any anachronism that might point to a post-Assyrian date of composition, although interpolations in the last chapter (14:4) in the Septuagint include a reference to Jonah and the historical conquest of Nineveh. 24 An Aramaic fragment of the story from Qumran uses the Akkadian loanword niptllnayya', showing that a version of the story was current while Akkadian was still widely spoken or written and that the story ofTobit was written in Aramaic, probably before , 25 a Greek version was composed. Next we may look at the Aramaic inscription written on a tomb found in Upper Egypt, at Sheikh Fadl, near Behnasa (Oxyrhynchus), which Lemaire has recently studied. Fragmentary though it is, it records events during the lifetime of the tomb's occupant, whose name remains unknown. Those events took place during the reigns of Taharqa, Necho, and Psammetichus I, in other words, during the time when the Assyrians were masters of Egypt. Such an inscription implies that the deceased was not a

21

But his name looks like a form of Akkadian iasllplI, "jasper."

22 R. Schneider, "L'Histoire d' Al)iqar en ethiopien," Annales d'Etlliopie 11 (1978): 14152. I am very grateful to F.M. Fales, who gave me this information at the conference. 23 Evidence that both Estller and Tobit are tales that arose in Aramaic during the Late Assyrian period will be described in a forthcoming work by the present writer. 24 P. Machinist, "The Fall of Assyria in Comparative Ancient Perspective," in Assyria 1995, S. Parpola and R.M. Whiting, eds. (Helsinki: 1997), pp. 185-86. 25 J.A. Fitzmyer, "The Aramaic and Hebrew Fragments of Tobit from Qumran Cave 4," CBQ 57 (1995): 655ff.

ASSYRIAN COURT N ARRA TIVES

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native Egyptian, and that he served as a very high-ranking officer under Assurbanipal and, perhaps, also Esarhaddon. Lemaire has suggested that the composition dates before 660 B.C.E., basing his suggestion upon precise allusions to historical events, including the names Taharqa and Psammetichus. As with A/:ziqar, we have a personal biography in Aramaic from the Late Assyrian empire, and Egypt plays a part in the events. As far as we know, Assyrian and Babylonian officials did not write their own biographies as such in Akkadian. It was not a part of their tradition, except within the wisdom tradition represented by Ludlul, in which all explicit historical details are absent. Only gods and kings are found as the supposed authors of this genre. In Egypt, on the other hand, the autobiographies of high officials were an established part of the literary repertoire from the Old Kingdom onwards, and were usually inscribed in tombs. By the New Kingdom the autobiography of Wen-amun already contained dialogue and metaphorical phrases, and had become a literary work known beyond the confines of a tomb. The tale of Al:tiqar, therefore, is a mixture of Akkadian and Egyptian genres. What circumstances brought such high-ranking Assyrian officers who wrote in Aramaic to Egypt? The Aramaic inscriptions of Barrakib from Sam'al (modern Sincirli) date from the reign of Tiglath-pileser III. The longest one records the life of his father Panammu in a more elaborate and personal biographical form than any Assyrian cuneiform inscription of the eighth century, and shows some development from the accounts of his predecessors. It is no accident that these texts come from Sam'al. Only one eponym officeholder is known from Sam'al: Nabu-ab.lJ.e-eris in 681 under Esarhaddon; and Esarhaddon recorded the successes of his Egyptian campaign of 671, ten years later, on two enormous stelae there. This suggests that Sam'al contributed troops and officers for that campaign, some of whom may have stayed in Egypt for the rest of their lives, speaking and writing in Aramaic. At that time Sam'al had achieved a brief importance to the Assyrians, which suggests that it may have been a royal city for the current regent of Hanigalbat, the Assyrian viceroy. Probably the various Assyrian kings of Hanigalba t chose different cities for their royal residence: Shamshi-ilu at Til Barsip, but others elsewhere, just as various neo-Assyrian kings on the Tigris selected Nimrud, Khorsabad, and Nineveh at various times. A quite different line of transmission may be suggested from dynastic marriages. Although evidence is scant for the foreign wives of Assyrian princes, we know from ADD 324 that a daughter of Sennacherib married one Sheshonq, who is referred to in that legal text as "son-in-law of the king," batna §arri. He must have been a Delta prince, perhaps Susinqu of

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Busiris, rather than the earlier Pharaoh of that name. 26 The record is dated 692 B.C.E., and relates that an Egyptian scribe with the Assyrian name SilliAMur bought a house in Nineveh. Relevant to the pmsuit of Aramaic literatme in the Late Assyrian period is a work known only from a later copy, written in Egyptian demotic script modified alphabetically for the Aramaic language: The Tale of Assurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin, written on Papyrus Amherst 63, a copy that is dated to the fomth century B.c.E. 27 It tells of negotiations between the two royal brothers for the pmpose of forestalling the fated outcome in which Assurbanipal sacked Babylon after a long siege and caused his own brother to die ignominiously. Their sister Sheritrah (Sherua-eterat, known to have been Esarhaddon's eldest daughter) plays a key role in the negotiations, travelling between Nineveh and Babylon, and the dialogue is extensive. The characters are all correctly named, which implies that the story was first told soon after the events that it pmports to record; there are no hybrids of the "Sardanapalos" type, nor totally unidentifiable names. The 28 tenor of the tale is pro-Assyrian, and there is no Egyptian involvement. This tale probably lies at the root of the tradition concerning Sardanapalos, related in Greek by Ktesias, in which some of the events have been trans29 ferred from Babylon to Nineveh, ostensibly some fifty years later. The symbiosis of Egyptian and early Aramaic literatme is demonstrated in the group of texts written in demotic Egyptian, sometimes referred to as the Pedubastis cycle. These texts all have a historical background in the Assyrian invasion and occupation of Egypt. The Battle of [naros Against the Assyrians is not yet published, but The Contest for the Breastplate of [naros is an epic tale of Delta princes in which the name of Esarhaddon has been recognized. 30 This papyrus is now dated to the 22nd

26 H-U. Onasch, Die assyriscl/en Eroberungen Agyptens (Wiesbaden: 1994), p. 15. 27 S.P. Vleemingand J.W. Wesseiius,Studies in Papyrus AmIJerst 63, vol. I (Amsterdam: 1985). 28 Note that turtllnu, the Assyrian word for "general," not used subsequently by NeoBabylonians or Persians, occurs in the pagan hymn on Pap. Amherst 63. 29 J.D.A. Macginnis, "Ctesias and the Fall of Nineveh," Illinois Classical Studies XIII (1988): 37-42. For the identification of Belesys as Bel~unu, see M. Stolper, "Bel-~unu the Satrap," in Language, Literatllre and History, Studies Presented to Erica Reiner, F. Rochberg-Halton, ed. (New Haven: 1987), pp. 389-402. 30 F. Hoffmann, Der Ka1/lpJ1I1/I den Panzer des Inaros (Vienna: 1996). I am very grateful to Mark Smith for help with bibliography.


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year of Hadrian,31 but there are no definite signs of Greek influence upon the language, and the Homeric influence that was once claimed has proved illusory. The names of two Delta princes attested in Assmbanipal's prism inscriptions are recognized: Paklul/Pakrm of Pisopde and Pedubastis of Tanis, who play the main parts in the story. The Assyrians are represented as invaders of Egypt, but they are not the main focus of the tale. The enemy is Kush. 32 Eventually pro-Assyrian is The Tale of Egyptians and Amazons,33 in which the pharaoh marches to Nineveh, battles against its queen, Sarpot, his "sister," then falls in love with her and becomes her ally against an invasion of Indians. This is a different kettle of fish. The name Sarpot is not identifiable in Akkadian, but is the Egyptian word for "lotus," and has magical undertones. No pharaoh ever marched on Nineveh, no Indians ever invaded Assyria, and the Assyrians did not have all-woman armies. Sarpot the sorceress queen is like a goddess of love and war. However, one can explain some of the legendary elements from the standpoint of a later period, by attributing them to misunderstandings of Assyrian artistic conventions. When Ktesias described the palace decoration in "Babylon" with Semiramis shown in the act of spearing a lion,34 he evidently had at his disposal eyewitness accounts of the sculptures in the palaces at Nineveh and elsewhere, in which the beardless, so-called eW1Uchs were mistaken for women. 35 Konig suggested lon~ ago that "Indians" in Ktesias' account of Semiramis referred to Elamites, 6 and if we compare the Elamites shown on the Assyrian palace reliefs37 with Indians at Persepolis, we see that the Assyrian Elamites, who are often barefoot, wear a sweatband around short

31 F. Hoffmann, "Neue Fragmente zu den drei grossen Inaros-Petubaslis-Texten," Enchoria 22 (1995): 27-39. 32 A. Spalinger, "Psammelichus, King of Egypl," fARCE 13 (1976): 133-47. 33 F. Hoffmann, Aeg1jpter IlI1d Amazonen (Vienna: 1995). 34 As reported by Diodorus Siculus 11.8. 35 C. Schmidt-Collinet has recently done Ihe reverse: claimed Ihal the Assyrian queens shown on the sculptures are eunuchs, u'Ashurbanipal Banqueting with His Queen'? Wer throhnt bei Assurbanipal in der Weinlaube?" Mesopotamia 32 (1997): 289-308. She discounts a sculpture showing Naqia with her name inscribed in cuneiform.

36 F.W. Ktlnig, Die Persika des Ktesias von Knidos (AfO Beiheft 18; Graz: 1972), p. 38. 37 Sculptures conveniently collected in J.E. Reade, uElam and Ihe Elamites in Assyrian Sculpture," Arclraeologische Mitteilllngen ails Iran 9 (1976): 97-105.

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hair, and have a plain tunic with a plain belt, resemble not the Achaemenid Elamites, who by now are dressed in more-or-Iess Persian Achaemenid style, but the Indians as shown at Persepolis, who are barefoot, wear a sweatband around short hair, and have a plain tunic with a plain belt. Thus a man who was familiar with Persepolis would naturally have interpreted the Assyrian reliefs as showing Indians amid scenes of battle in which beardless "women" were the warriors. Other characteristics common to Elamites at Nineveh and Indians at Persepolis are: the headband is tied at the back, and there is usually a short beard. Another cause for confusion would have been the crenellated crown (a.k.a. mural or battlement crown) worn by Assyrian queens but by goddesses on Hittite, Seleucid, and later monuments and coins.38 A Luwian sculpture from Ispekcilr helps to show how the transition from mortal woman to goddess was made. The Ispekcilr stela, from near Malatya, dated to the eleventh century B.C.E., shows the ruler's grandmother standing on the city wall, presented as deified. Thus, in a western part of the Assyrian empire, at least, it was part of a long-standing tradition to equate a great queen with the divine Fortune of the city.39 The mural crown on Seleucid and later monuments is usually worn by the goddess as Fortune of the City. By that later time the crenellated crown, still visible on Assyrian palace walls, would have allowed the queen to be interpreted as a goddess and the vague knowledge that Psammetichus stayed in Assyria before he became pharaoh could have been transformed into a legendary campaign by a ruler. This story, or a version of it, would have been available to Ktesias as a source for his account of Semiramis and the Indians. There is another possibility of connecting Sarpot to later traditions concerning Assyrian history. "Sarpot" meaning "lotus" may be translated into Hebrew as ~o~ana, "Susannah/' if the recent challenge to a strict meaning "li~" and the suggestion that the word may (also?) mean "lotus" is accepted. 0 Sosane is the name of the beautiful daughter of Ninos in Diodorus Siculus' account of Assyrian history,41 whom Ninos offered to Onnes, the husband of Semiramis, whom he desired to seduce. It is possible that the name at some time was applied to Semiramis herself. A parallel for 38 B. Hrouda, "Zur Darstellung der Mauerkrone im Alten Orient," Istanbuler Mitteilungen 46 (J 996). 39 J.D. Hawkins, Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions (Berlin: 2000) 1/1, pp. 301-4 and 1/3, plate 144. 40 O. Keel, The Song of Songs (Minneapolis: 1994), pp. 79-80. 41 D. Siculus, 1I.6.9.


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such a change of person attached to a name is found in a retelling of the Al:tiqar story in the Decameron, where the wicked nephew Nadan has become the name of the virtuous Al:tiqar-character. 42 The Tale of Djoser and Imouthes 43 is likewise centered upon a visit of the Pharaoh to Nineveh and Arbela, and his eventual settling in Assyria-a story that may have had as its aim the invention of a precedent that made it acceptable for a later king, presumably Psammetichus I, to reside for a while among Assyrians. The stories that have a genuine knowledge of historical characters probably arose soon after the events that they describe, when Psammetichus I, having returned from a stay in Assyria and supported by the Assyrians, with his Assyrian name Nabu-~ezibanni, came to the throne. That Psammetichus remained a loyal vassal of Assyrian right to the bitter end is likely according to the interpretation of new evidence found by Mark Smith, a papyrus fragment that seems to show that Psammetichus died defending the Assyrians at Harran. 44 Almost certainly his chief wife would have been Assyrian, and his daughter "Nitocris" therefore half Assyrian, although she is only known by her Egyptian name, Neith-akerlj, of which Nitocris is a Greek corruption. 45 This Assyrian origin, and a conflation of Psammetichus I and II in later times, may help explain why there are two royal women of this name according to Herodotus. The oldest known use of Egyptian demotic dates to the reign of Psammetichus 1. 46 The demotic Aramaic compositions, using the language of Assyrian administration in Egypt, would have been promoted by Psammetichus I and his Assyrian backers to foster a sense of Egyptian nationhood, to isolate the Nubians as the hated foe, and to encourage a favorable view of the Assyrians as the liberators of Egypt. I would like to suggest that a pair of ivories found in a well at Nimrud commemorates the liberation by Assyria of Egypt from Kushite rule, for the symbolism of a

42 F.M. Fales, "Miqar e Boccaccio," in Aile soglie della c1assicitil if Mediterraneo tra tradizione e innovazione. Studi in onore di Sabatino Moscati (Pisa-Rome: 1996). I am grateful to P.M. Fales for bringing this to my attention together with the Ethiopic version of the A~iqar story. 43 J.W.B. Barns, "Egypt and the Greek Romance," in Akten des VIII International Kongresses filr Papyrologie (Vienna: 1955), pp. 33ff. 44 M. Smith, "Did Psammetichus I Die Abroad?," OLP 22 (1991): 101-9. 45 Herodotus I 185-87. 46 M. Depauw, A COlllpanion to Demotic Literature (Brussels: 1997).

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lioness, presumably representing Egyptian rule with Assyrian approval, delivering the coup de grace to a fallen Nubian, is not relevant to the ninth and eighth centuries. This would give a date to those ivories of between 671 and some time in the reign of Psammetichus I, before the Assyrian court transferred to Harran from Nineveh and Nimrud. The ivories would be part of an extensive artistic and literary campaign emanating from Egypt to show the Assyrians in the best possible light. In Assyria the lion (never the lioness) symbolized untamed violence that the king alone could subdue, as well as majes~. In Egypt both the lion and the lioness symbolized the sun and majesty.4 These ivories demonstrate the use of Egyptian iconography to show how the Egyptian power of majesty (supported by Assyria) defeated the power of Nubia. The interpretation is based on the view that ivories represent the official art of the area as "a valid symbol of particular royalty.,,48 In the past, ivory carving was supposed to have ended in the eighth century, but this poses difficulties for the recently discovered ivories at Til Barsip.49 The supposition rested on the assumption that prosperity declined in lands conquered by Assyria, but this cannot now be main-tained.so A date within the mid-seventh century would fit the archaeological context there better than an eighth-century date, and would make the newly discovered ivories perhaps contemporary with the stelae of Esar-haddon at Til Barsip and Sam'al that record his campaigns to Arabia and Egypt. In conclusion, it is becoming clear that high literature based on contemporary events emerged in Aramaic during the Late Assyrian empire period. Some impetus came from the Assyrian viceroys in the West who wrote one version of their official inscriptions in Aramaic. When Assyrian officers from the West resided in Egypt, they used Aramaic extensively, creating new works that used Egyptian elements to blend them into a nilotic landscape and to promote pro-Assyrian loyalty. The stories that do not name historical characters from Late Assyrian events contain extraordinary features that can he understood in part from the way post-Assyrian visitors to Sennacherih's palace at Nineveh, and other Assyrian cities that were not totally demolished in 612, interpreted the sculptured and painted

47 C. De Wit, Le rOle et Ie seils dll fioll dans l'£gypte al/cienne (Leiden: 1951). 48 G. Herrmann, "The Nimrud Ivories, 2. A Survey of Tradilions," in VOIl llruk 'Wel, TuttI/I. Festschrift E. Strom menger, B. Hrouda, ed. (1992), pp. 65-79. 49 G. Bunnens, "Carved Ivories from Til Barsip," AlA IaI (1997): 435-50. 50 Herrmann,op. cit., pp. 74-75.


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scenes there. After the end of the Assyrian empire legendary tales continued to develop, inspired not only by semi-historical writings in Aramaic, but also in part by the great sculptures of Sennacherib's palace, and in part by wallpaintings that could still be viewed in the western palaces of Assyrian viceroys.

Some Late Babylonian Texts Gleaned from the Assur Collection Veysel Donbaz Istanbul

THE ASSUR COLLECTION in Istanbul, besides its main category of Middle Assyrian tablets and a small but diverse group of Neo-Assyrian tablets, also includes a number of texts that seem not to have originated at Assur. These texts appear to have been arbitrarily assigned to the collection-at times even given an Assur excavation number-without reference to the documents' original contexts. We have already discussed several of these tablets, 1 most recently a late Babylonian tablet bearing an Assur excavation number that had been discovered within the Assur collection quite by accident. 2 Additional Babylonian texts have now been identified in the Assur collection and will be discussed below. To assess the period to which a document belongs, one may compare certain characteristics of the document with those criteria well established for any given epoch. While a tablet's excavation number can be essential to its classification,3 these numbers are often missing, either due to an over-

v. Donbaz, "Four Old Assyrian Tablets from the City of Assur," ICS 26 (1974): 81-87; Donbaz and J.A. Brinkman, "A Cylinder Fragment of Adad-aplaiddina," ICS 26 (1974): 157; Donbaz, "Another Old Assyrian Tablet from the City of Assur," FlorilegiulII Al1atolilltll (1979): 1O~; idem, "A Middle Babylonian Legal Document Raising Problems in Kassite Chronology," INES 41 (1982): 207-12; idem, "More Old Assyrian Tablets from Assur," Akkadica 42 (1985): 1-23. 2 A.1907/ Ass.18676, a small tablet written in Babylonian script and with Babylonian personal names, is treated in my recent article, "A Late-Babylonian Text from Assur," N.A.B.U. (1998): 1-9. 3 O. Pedersen, Katalog der beschriftetel1 Objects ails Assllr (ADOG 23, 1997);

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sight in the field, or to the tablet's subsequent deterioration. Even when present, however, an excavation number does not guarantee a tablet's correct classification, as is evidenced by some twenty-three documents that originated at Assur, bear an Assur excavation number, yet have been given Babylonian sigla. Nor can an excavation number be taken as proof of a tablet's provenance, as shown by a group of tablets that are clearly Babylonian, although they were assigned to the Assur collection and even, in some instances, given an Assur excavation number. While the assignment of the Assur tablets to the Babylonian collection can be attributed to their subject matter-they consist mainly of historical texts and Neo-Assyrian contracts -such an explanation inadequately accounts for the inclusion of the Babylonian tablets in the Assur collection. It is the aim of this study to present these (mostly) late Babylonian documents gleaned from the Assur collection. In a few cases, they bear Assur excavation numbers even though the script is Babylonian and the year dates are those of Babylonian kings. Although these texts warrant a fuller treatment than that which can be offered here, the present study nevertheless testifies to the diversity of the Assur collection.

LATE BABYLONIAN TEXTS FROM ASSUR

A.643 / Ass.31114 Obv.

5

10

A.643/ Ass.31114 The tablet measures 7.7 x 8 x 3 cm. The upper portion of the reverse is blank. Rev.

Obverse 2)

mdNa-bi-um[ -ku-du- ]ur-u-ri-~u-ur4 LUGAL dan-nu LUGAL [GAL-Iu LUGAL KA.DINGIRRA.KI

3) 4)

AM mdAG-A-URU DINGIRMES ba-nu-rl ana-hi E.GAL si-ka-ru-ti DUMU mdEN-j-~ir-M-KAM

5)

GD fD.UD.KIB.NUN.KI ZAG

1)

ina '/ib-bjl

u ~u-Ine-lu

6) ina ktHlp-ur u a-gu-tir UGU 7)

8)

KA.DINGIRRA.KI KASKAL 10 5/6 A.SA (g-ku ina E.GAL.KI ka-a-ri fD.UD.KIB.NUN.KI

si-i

Johannes Renger, "Ein Bericht tiber das Assur Project der Deutschen OrientGesellschaft und des Vorderasiatischen Museums zu Berlin" in S. Parpola and RM. Whiting, eds., Assyrin 1995 (Helsinki: 1997), pp. 261-79. 4 The name is written with the signs ri and II reversed (obv. 1; rev. 3').

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165

LATE BABYLONIAN TEXTS FROM ASSUR

166

9)

bu-u-ur ab-re-e bu-a [ x'-qar M ak-su-di 'X'[

10) 'x x 11) [

]'x'-su 5 KO~ (ammatu) ana 'X'[ tu-[

12) [ ]x.ME~

]'P'U.ME~

13)

(bottom of tablet not preserved) Reverse 1')

mdEN.KAT E.MA~ A

M mdEN-A-SU-i7 A-su <m>d~E~-SUM-nu

2') 3') 4')

ITI.NE UD.30.KAM MU.36 mdNa-bi-um-ku-du-ur-u-ri-~u-ur LUGAL KA.DINGIR.RAKI TRANS LATION

(1) Nebu[chadne]zzar (II), (2) the mighty king, the [gre]at king, king of Babylon, (3) son of Nabopolasar, created by the gods, I am. In the inner part (4) of the damned up palace,S son of Bel-i~irsu-ere~, (5-6) I established the on the bank of the Euphrates right and left with bitumen6 and fired bricks. Over (7) Babylon a road of 10 5/6 cubits I. .. (8) At the embankment of the Euphrates (9) I opened ditches (10) and ... I reached (11) its ... 5 ammatu for ... (12) .... (13) wells ... (rev. 1') Bel-ka~ir, the priest, son of NJu-ittannunu. (2') Month of Abu (V), day 30, year 36 (3') of Nebuchadnezzar (II), (4') king of Babylon.

S Si-ka-ru-ti calls for zikarmt/l/zikrat/l, which is defined as "manliness, heroism" (CAD Z, 116). In this context the meaning could be "inside the heroic palace." However, the personal name following this has no relation to it. Therefore, we have emended the word tosi!kiratu, a derivation of the verb sakllru/seki!m, with the meaning "damming up (of a watercourse)" (CAD S, 214). 6 VAB IV, 162, passim.

167

24000.7 The high number (Ass.31114) of our text, therefore, suggests that it was not given a number in the field, but rather at some later time and with seeming disregard for the text's content and appearance.8 While further examples of incorrectly classified tablets bearing suspiciously high excavation numbers will be discussed below, it must be noted that not every text in the Assur collection that can be identified as Babylonian has such a high excavation number. One text (Ass.17676) is numbered well within the expected range. It is, however, a Neo-Babylonian prism fragment mentioning a king of Egypt (PN broken) and his palace and citywalls. The Egyptian king mentioned in this text may be the one against whom Nebuchadnezzar IT is said to have marched? Apart from these two texts, which entered the Assur collection despite their likely origin in Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (604562 B.C.E.), we have come across six more Babylonian tablets in the Assur collection bearing successive museum numbers (A.2540-A.2545). Of these, one appears to be Middle Babylonian and five appear to be late Babylonian. As will be discussed below, it is likely that the late Babylonian tablets in this group are part of the Kasr archive from Babylon, an archive that has been thoroughly investigated by M.W. Stolper. lO 7

According to Pedersen, Archives and Libraries in the City of Assur, Part II (ALA IIi Uppsala: 1986), p. 153, the highest number is Ass.23128i in his Katalog, p. 242, the highest number is Ass.23131.

8 One of the highest numbers to be found in the Istanbul Assur collection is

Ass.53053/ A305, which is a Neo-Assyrian text. Such high numbers, those exceeding 24000, have been corrected by Pedersen, e.g., Ass.30676 emended to Ass.3067ai Ass.46045 emended to Ass.4604c (see ALA II, 153).

NOTES

This incomplete inscription leaves unclear the function of the persons mentioned (obv. 4; rev. 1') in connection with the building and repair activities of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II. According to the date, the text was written in 568 B.C.E., no doubt at Babylon and not at Assur. There is good reason to doubt an Assur provenance for this text given that in the field at Assur no object was assigned an excavation number higher than

(~:.:~:.:~:.:~:.:~)

9

A628/ Ass.17676 is a tiny fragment that does not deserve special treabnenti its importance lies in the fact that it is a Neo-Babylonian text that bears an Assur excavation number. Though very poorly preserved, it yields the following words: (1') ... (2') ... LUGALMi-~[irl (3') ... a-na E.GAL-oM BAD-oM ... (4') ... ri-igmll-l/m .. (5') ... x-na-a-oM a-pa-ti ... (6') a-na a-mar-ti .... Although the text is too fragmentary for translation, the toponym following LUGAL could very well be Mi~[irl, "Egypt," and E.GAL-.M perhaps indicates his royal residence. This interpretation is quite possible given the statement in one of Nebuchadnezzar II's inscriptions that he initiated a war against Egypt (V AB IV no. 48, lines 14ff.): .. .~atti 37-kam mdNaba-kudllrm-II~lIr ~ar Bflbilif>, est atteste en suqutri (D. Cohen et al., ibid.). 9 W. von Soden, GAG, §§ 101, 104; suppl. p. 21 **, § 100b; mais il s'agit du redoublement de la 3c consonne et non de la seconde; S. Moscati, ed., All Introdllction to the Comparative Gramlllar of tile Semitic wllgllages (Wiesbaden: 1969), pp. 166ss; B. Margalit, A Note on the Semitic Root drr, NABU 1990/4, nO 116. 10 D. Cohen, avec la coIl. de F. Bran et A. Lonnet, Dictiol1lwire des racines semi-

tiqlles, fasc. 4 (Louvain: 1993), pp. 239s, 339s, s.v. DWR et ORR. 11

Corriger dans ce sens J.-J. Glassner, Les temps de l'histoire en Mesopotamie, pp.175ss.

12 G. Bachelard, La dialectiqlle de la dllde (Paris: 1963), pp. 92ss; P. Bourdieu, Le sens pratiqlle (Editions de Minuit; Paris: 1980), pp. 333ss.

186

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JEAN-JACQUES GLASSNER

ou comme les points d'un cercle qu'on peut se donner en repliant la figure selon un axe vertical. TI n'est qu'un artefact theorique, un schema qui rassemble sous une forme resserree l'information accumuIee par la collection des donnees13 . Dans Ie terme daru, l'insistence est mise sur la duree. C'est bien ainsi qu'il convient d' entendre, par exemple, les indications chronologiques que contiennent les inscriptions royales assyriennes et babyloniennes. Avec elles, il importe de mettre Ie passe en perspective et, par la grande anciennete des exemples enonces, d'assurer une Iegitimite aux actes des souverains regnants. Partant, il n'est pas surprenant de voir Ie mot traduire l'idee d'eternite; ainsi, dans les inscriptions royales de toutes epoques, les multiples allusions aux regnes «eternels», dara, des rois. CeUe eternite dure ce que durent les dieux et leur oeuvre; Samsu-ilfma proclame que les dieux decreterent pour lui «un destin de vie eternelle comme (celle) des dieux Sin et Utu», balatam ~a klma Sfn u Sama~ darlum; «qu'ils gouvernent aussi longtemps que durent Ie ciel et la terre», adi ~ame ir~itim darani ~unu la muma:J:Jirute ~a kal matati, tel est Ie voeu formuIe pour la posterite du roi par un exorciste du palais dans une lettre d'epoque neo-assyrienne. Elle s'oppose a ce qui est perissable, a l'inanite, comme il ressort des propos tenus par Gilgame~, dans un passage d'une version paIeo-babylonienne de l'epopee: mannu ibrl ela ~a[ma] iluma itti Sama~ darf§ u~[bu] aWllatumma mana ama~a mimma ~a lteneppu~u §aruma, «mon ami, qui donc peut monter au ciel? Ce sont les dieux qui y logent pour toujours, avec Ie soleil. Quant a l'humanite, ses jours sont comptes: tout ce qU'elle fait et refait, c'est du vent!». Ce temps admet a son tour une representation selon un mouvement oscillatoire ·ou pendulaire, presentant des periodes alternees de prosperite ou de depression. II est dit, dans la Theodicee babylonienne, faisant appel ala notion de temps pour apporter une solution au delicat probleme de la recompense des merites personnels, qu'un malheur immerite ou un bonheur illegitime ne sont que transitoires; dans la fuite du temps, au plan de la vie individuelle, une alternance est admise entre des phases ascendantes et descendantes: «c'est la regIe depuis touj[ou]rs qu'(alternance de) richesse et pauvrete», ~u-um-mu ul-ttl u[l?-li?]-im? me~-r[u]-u u la-pa-nu. A la difference de notre conception classique de l'histoire OU Ie temps se presente comme un axe lineaire sur lequel viennent se ranger, chronologiquement, des faits dt1ment etiquetes, Ie temps historique, en Mesopot-

LE DEVIN HISTORIEN

J-J. Glassner, Cl1roniques mesopotamiennes (Paris: 1993), pp. 83ss; Les temps de I'histoire en Mesopotamie, pp. 173s.

187

amie, n'est donc pas homogene; il adopte volontiers un mouvement oscillatoire ou pendulaire. TI est une autre raison qui explique l'interet des devins pour l'histoire. Les Mesopotamiens croient au destin, nam.tar/~lmtu; mais ces termes ne designent nullement, a leurs yeux, l'ensemble des evenements d'une vie comme fixes d'une maniere irrevocable par une puissance superieure. TIs disent avant tout une 'part'; «assigner un destin», ~lmta ~amu, revient, premierement, a «allouer une part». En d'autres termes, il est admis que chaque homme, qu'il soit roi ou simple particulier, ne dispose pas d'un temps sans limite mais seulement d'une 'part' de temps, la mort etant Ie seul evenement de la vie individuelle auquel nul n'echappe: na-a[d]-nu-ma ab-bu-nu il-la-ku u-ru-uu mu-u-t[u] na-a-ri uu-bur ib-bi-ri qa-bu-u ul-tu ul-la, «il a ete donne anos peres de suivre Ie chemin de la mort; de tout temps illeur a ete ordonne de franchir Ie Fleuve Infernal». Or, les puissances invisibles n'ont pas pris soin d'en preciser Ie terme al'avance: i~-tak-nu mu-ta u ba-lata M mu-ti ul ud-du-u U4 .MES-§U, «ils disposent de la mort et de la vie, mais les jours de la mort, ils ne les revelent pas»! L'homme ne connait donc pas la date de sa mort14! Hormis ce terme fatal, l'homme dispose, durant sa vie entiere, d'une certaine liberte et les Mesopotamiens ont developpe, a leur fac;on, une theorie de l'action intentionnelle: la liberte requiert que ce qui, du fait d'un choix, deviendra impossible, ait ete prealablement possible avant que la decision ne soit prise; I'action de Nara.m-Sin d' Akkade en est un exemple eloquent. Dans la Mesopotamie du Ier millenaire, ceUe question prend un relief tout particulier. Le sentiment se fait jour d'une maniere toujours plus aigue qu'il existe une discordance entre les merites personnels des vivants et Ie traitement que les dieux leur font subir. Pour l'expliquer, il est fait appel a l'incapacite des hommes a comprendre les plan divins; la Theodicee pose la meme question en des termes plus extremes. Ailleurs, une autre reponse est esquissee, selon laquelle toute situation serait imputable a une puissance superieure et anonyme, comme une loi universelle qui, tout en ayant ete posee par les dieux createurs, echapperait aux dieux euxmemes; ainsi peut-on interpreter, parmi bien d'autres sources, une variante d'un passage de l'epopee de Gilgame~ selon laqueUe les dieux n'ont pas fixe les dates du deces de chaque mortel et ou l'on peut lire que 14

13

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Pour toutes references, voir J.-J. Glassner, compte-rendu de J,N. Lawson, The Concept of Fate in Ancient Mesopotamia of the First Millennium (Wiesbaden: 1994), WZKM 87 (1997): 289-92.

188 les jours de la mort «ne sont pas reveles», ul-te-du-u, Ie choix de la formule impersonnelle etant destine a montrer que c' est une loi naturelle et non les dieux qui, en ultime analyse, sont responsables de la mort. Mais la question centrale demeure cene de l'avenir non determine a l'avance et que l'on cherche a connaitre. Elle presuppose une tension du temps historique. Pour tenir sur l' avenir un discours dont la pretention ala veracite puisse paraitre justifiee ou du moins plausible, les Mesopotamiens mettent en oeuvre une technique supposee leur rendre l'avenir accessible, en faire un objet de connaissance. Cette methode prospective, c'est la divination. Or, les oeuvres des devins offrent les nomenclatures des menaces de changement ou de subversion qui pesent sur l'ordre d u monde; elles totalisent les innombrables raretes qui signa lent ces menaces afin de leur donner une signification et de mettre en garde contre elles. De la naissance ou de la mort d'un individu, de la genese ou de la chute d'un royaurne, c'est evidemment la seconde qui les preoccupe Ie plus. Et puisque les devins se livrent aux etudes historiques, il faut admettre qu'au sein de l'histoire et des conceptions de la causalite et du temps, les manifestations du monde de la nature et du cosmos tiennent egalement une place. L'astrologie en est un bel exemple: identifiee a une suite d'evenements situes sur terre, et en etroite relation avec Ie cosmos represente par Ie ciel etoile, l'histoire est dotee d'un temps compose de cycles qui correspondent a l'alternance de la generation et de la corruption et au retour des memes phenomenes meteorologiques et astronomiques. Partant, il ne suffit plus, pour l'interpreter correctement, de savoir si un evenement est anterieur ou posterieur aun autre, il s'agit aussi de reperer tous les indices permettant de Ie situer dans une phase d'expansion ou de recession ou, puisque tout depend de la conduite humaine et de l' attitude du roi al' egard des dieux, so us un bon ou un mauvais regne, ou encore, adefaut, de reperer un precedent historique. A ce stade de l'enquete, il se pose la question de la transmission des connaissances. Considerons la fin de l'Empire d'Ur dont Ie fil des evenements est relativement bien connu. La revolte d'gbi-Erra, un haut dignitaire de l'Empire qui gagne asa cause une partie des provinces et va jusqu'afonder une monarchie independante aIsin, est etablie par les pieces d'une correspondance royale de caractere litteraire. S'agissant, plus particulierement, de la ville d'Ur, des sources historiques incontestables indiquent qu' elle est conquise et occupee pendant plusieurs annees par une troupe elamite. La tradition historiographique mesopotamienne prend donc appui sur un fond de realite historique. Deux discours sont donc tenus, simultanement, sur l'evenement. Le

189 premier, celui des devins, est typique d'une demarche historienne; il privilegie la recherche des causes immediates, cherchant l' explication dans un soulevement ou dans une invasion etrangere a laquelle les noms de l'Elam et d' Ansan sont etroitement associes. Mais la mention d' Ansan dans les sources astrologiques dul er millenaire est-elle un emprunt ala 'Lamentation sur la destruction de Sumer et d'Ur' ou s'inspire-t-elle d'informations a caractere historique contenues dans des noms d'annees ou des inscriptions royales? On ne saurait Ie dire. Pour l'heure, to us ces textes ne sont conn us que par des documents d' epoque paleo-babylonienne, mais ils sont tous susceptibles d'avoir ete trans mis, au moyen de copies, tout au long des siecles, pendant plus d'un rnillenaire. Le second discours, que reflNent les ecrits lith~raires, est plus ideologique et privilegie Ie role de Simaski au detriment de celui d' Ansan. Avec lui, un modele historiographique se profile selon lequel seuls des etres non socialises et non humains, instruments de la justice divine pour punir un mauvais roi, peuvent mettre un terme aun Etat. En effet, si, pour les Mesopotamiens, les gens d' Ansan sont de ceux avec lesquels on etablit les relations que l'on entretient communement avec une societe humaine (sous l'Empire d'Ur, par deux fois, des princesses royales vont epouser des sou vera ins locaux), les Simaskeens, par contre, a l'image des Amorrites et des Guti, sont comptes au rang des etres non socialises qui vivent hors des espaces domestiques, ignorant les regles et les lois de la civilisation: une lettre-priere du roi de Larsa Sin-iddinam au dieu ~amas les presente comme gens qui ne designent pas de pretresses pour leurs dieux, vivent so us la tente et non dans des maisons, ignorent les lieux de culte, s'accouplent comme les animaux, ne presentent pas d' offrandes aux dieux, violent les interditsl5 . Pour les astrologues du 1er millenaire, cependant, Ie roi d'Ur, Ibbi-Sin, ne meurt pas mais est envoye en exil a Ansan, sur Ie plateau iranien. Cet epilogue n'offre peut-etre pas autre chose qu'un precedent, reel ou imagi-

15 W.W. Hallo, The Royal Correspondance of Larsa: II. The Appeal to Utu, dans G. van Oriel et al., eds., Zikir 511mim (Leyde: 1982), pp. 98-100: 21-28; texte collationne pal' P. Michalowski dans H. Weiss, ed., The Origins of Cities in DryFarming Syria and Mesopotamia in the Third Millennium (Guilford: 1986), p. 132. Pour la 'Lamentation sur Eridu' (M.W. Green, The Eridu Lament, ICS 30 (1978): 136, kirugll4: 10) les Sima!\keens et les Elamites sont les responsables de la destruction de la ville, un r61e qui revient aux Guti s'agissant de la ville d'Uruk, selon la 'Lamentation sur Uruk' (M.W. Green, The Uruk Lament, lAOS 104 (1984): 272: 4, 11,20 et passim).

191

190

naire, ala fin malheureuse de Nabonide auquel son vainqueur,le roi Cyrus, aurait offert la vie sauve en Ie nommant gouverneur de Carmaniel6 . L'etude de la chute de l'Empire d'Ur souleve donc, sans qu'il soit soluble, ce difficile probleme de l'emploi des sources et de la transmission du savoir. Le traitement d'un episode du regne de Naram-Sin d' Akkade par les historiens et les memorialistes anciens permet d'apporter un element de reponse plus positif a la question posee. Ce regne debute par une revolte generalisee des provinces dont plusieurs inscriptions originaies conservent Ie souvenir. Coalisees en trois ensembles dis tincts mais solidaires, avec trois rois aleur tete, elles affrontent Ie souverain qui sauve sa capita Ie, Akkade, avant de triompher a la suite d'une brillante campagne au cours de laquelle il remporte «neuf vic to ires en une seule annee». Quelques siecles plus tard, a I' epoque paleobabylonienne, des copies des inscriptions de Naram-Sin sont effectuees qui permettent que soit transmise la memo ire des evenements. Par leur entremise,les anciens ont conscience d' avoir acces a des evenements passes dont ils ne mettent pas en doute la realite. Les copies tiennent, parmi les sources, une place toute particuliere. La comparaison avec les originaux,lorsqu' elle est possible, met en evidence la remarquable fidelite des premieres qui reproduisent les secondes avec un grand souci du detail, Ie scribe respectant la paleographie, la grammaire et jusqu'a I' ordonnancement des lignes de I' original. II est donc manifeste que les copies peuvent etre utilisees comme des sources primaires. Une cop ie, cependant, n'est pas l'original; par definition, elle en est Ia reproduction; elle n' en a ni I' apparence, ni Ia fonction, et son rapport avec les evenements et les institutions est autre. Or, faute de disposer d'originaux, c'est par ces copies que nous sont rapportees les victoires remportees par Naram-Sin sur deux de ses adversa ires, Ipbur-Ki~i, acclame par ses troupes comme roi de Ki~, et AmarGirid, acclame comme roi d'Uruk (Ie nom du troisieme rebelle, Lugal-ane, roi d'Ur, n'est connu que par un fragment de tablette scolaire paleoakkadien). Face a Ipbur-Ki~i, qui commande a des troupes venant de Kg, Kutha, TiWA, Sippar, Kazallu, Apiak, Ere~, Borsippa, Kazallu, Kiritab et Dilbat, une premiere bataille est remportee, «entre les villes de TiWA et d'Urum, sur une terre vouee au dieu Sin», il1 ba-rf-ti AtJAKI it URxU.KI il1 SIG/ dEN.ZU; plus tard, une seconde victoire est remportee «a proximi~e de la ville de Ki~, pres de la porte de la deesse Nin-karak», alle-ti Ki~ikl KA dNin.kar. Parmi les prisonniers, sont mentionnes Puzur-NingaI, gouver16 Pour toutes references:

NABll1996/1, nO 34.

J.-J.

Glassner, Les dynasties d' Awan et de Sima1\ki,

neur de TiWA, IIum-dan, gouverneur de Borsippa, Dada, gouverneur d' Apiak, Puzur-Numu~da, gouverneur de KazalIu, Iddin-ilum, gouverneur de Kutha, IlI~-takal, gouverneur de Sippar, Salim-bell, gouverneur de Kiritab, QiSum, gouverneur d'Ere~, Ita-Dum, gouverneur de Dilbat; l'inscription de preciser, enfin, que les cadavres de 1.000 officiers et de 2.015 hommes captures sont jetes au fleuve, alors que 2525 hommes sont massacres dans Ki~17. S'inspirant a l'evidence de ces copies, des inscriptions fictives sont composees, toujours aI' epoque galeo-babylonienne. L'une d' elIes, dont un exemplaire a ete retrouve aMari 8, decrit la coalition que dirige Ipbur-Ki~i, laquelle est forte, desormais, des villes de Ki~, Kutha, TiWA, Urum, KazalIu, Kiritab, Apiak, Thrat, Dilbat, Uruk et Sippar; Ia liste s' est amplifiee, Uruk, avec son roi Amar-gin, rejoignant Ie camp d'Ipbur-Ki~i! En outre,les deux batailles evoquees par les inscriptions originales ou leurs copies, sont ramenees a une seule, qui se deroule toujours sur une terre vouee au dieu Sin, entre les villes de TiWA et Urum, mais elle appartient desormais au domaine de la deesse Nin-karak: «[entr]e TiWA et Urum, dans Ie champ Ugar-Sin, (dans] Ie dom~ine de l'Esabad,le temple de Nin-karak», [bi-ri-i~t Ti-WAki il Wu-ru-mu ki i-na ASA AGA[R-dEN.ZU [bi-ri-i-i]t E-sa-ba-ad E Nin-kar-ra-a[k]; les deux batailles, celIe d'Ugar-Sin et celle de la Porte de Nin-karak, ne font donc plus qU'une,laquelle se deroule desormais sur une terre sacree appartenant a un temple. En outre, ala liste des villes mesopotamiennes coalisees, la source ajoute celIe de souverains etrangers qui participent au conflit, ceux de Marba~i et de Lullubu. Une seconde inscription fictive, toujours d'epoque paleo-babylonienne, et dont un exemplaire est conserve au Musee de Geneve 19, decrit Ie lieu de la bataille dans les memes termes,le nom de Nin-karak etant cependant remplace par celui de son avatar Gula. Semblablement, la liste des souverains etrangers qui participent au conflit s'amplifie et se modifie: il 17 Pour toutes references: I.J. Gelb et B. Kienast, Die altakkadiscllen Konigsinscllriften des dritten lalIYtalisends v.Cllr. (Stuttgart: 1990), Nar~msin, passim; D.R. Frayne, Sargonic and Glltian Periods, Tile Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, 2 (Toronto, Buffalo, Londres: 1993), Narfim-Sin, passim. 18 J. Goodnick Westenholz, Legends of tile Kings of Akkade (Winona Lake: 1997), pp. 230ss; D. Charpin, La version mariote de I'«insurrection genera Ie contre Narfim-Sin», dans D. Charpin et J.-M. Durand, eds., Florilegillllllllarianll1l1 III,

Reclleil d'etl/des ilia lIIellloire de

Marie-Ther~se

Barrelet, Memoires de N.A.B.ll. 4

(Paris: 1997), pp. 9-18; S. Tinney, A New Look at Naram-Sin and the 'Great Rebellion',lCS 47 (1997): 1-14.

19 J. Goodnick Westenholz, ibid., pp. 238ss.

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s' agit Puttim-atal de Sirnurrum, Ingi de Nawar, RIs-Adad d' ApiSal, MigirDagan de Mari, tJupsum-kipi de Marbasi, Dubsusu de Mardaman et Manum de Magan, autant de royaumes de Syrie, d'Iran, du Zagros et jusqu' au lointain Oman; a leurs cotes,les gouverneurs des villes de Nippur et d'Umma sont desormais credites du titre royal; enfin, figure au nombre des coalises un certain Lugal.ana, roi d'Uruk, dont Ie nom rappelle etrangement cet autre Lugal.ane, roi d'Ur,le troisieme roi rebelle qui s'etait dresse contre Naram-Sin, aux cotes d'Ipbur-Kisi et d' Amar-girid. On decouvre donc qu'un travail reel de conservation de la memoire est effectue, des copies d'inscriptions royales sont realisees. Mais elles ne font l'objet d'aucune approche critique; en outre, elles se pre tent aux manipulations les plus diverses. II arrive meme, on en connait au moins un exemple, qu'un scribe ne copie pas, bout a bout, sur une tablette, plusieurs inscriptions a la suite l'une de l'autre, mais qu'il selectionne des extraits de chacune d'elles, fabriquant de la sorte, a partir de fragments conjoints de plusieurs inscriptions, une inscription desormais fictive et qui reunit dans un meme enchainement des episodes jusque-Ia independants les uns des autres 20 . Parallelement, un glissement se produit; tout en respectant Ie mot a mot des inscriptions originales, Ie ton change. On passe de la demarche historienne a la demarche commemorative; la bataille decisive se deroule sur une terre sacree, la superiorite de l'ennemi s'exagere considerablement jusqu'a couvrir la terre entiere et a se muer, de trois rois, en une multitude de souverains. Une ultime etape est encore franchie par tm autre texte ou Naram-Sin entre carrement dans Ie my the, continuant a guerroyer, toujours plus grand, rna is desormais aux cotes des dieux. Mais Ie travail de memo ire ne s'arrete pas la et Ie discours s'inverse. D'autres lettres presentent, en effet, Ie roi comme un sou vera in impie, irrespectueux des decisions des dieux. NaramSin combat a present Ie monde en tier, ses ennemis n'etant plus des etres humains rna is des hybrides envoyes par les dieux, et c' est lui qui connait la defaite 21 . La figure de Naram-Sin, apres avoir incarne une fonction royale grandie et se reconnaissant dans une soteriologie victorieuse de dimension oecumenique, devient alors l'image du mauvais roi qui provoque la perte de ses Etats. L'etude de l'evenement a cede la place a celIe de la royaute. 20 B.R. Foster, Naram-Sin in Martu and Magan, RIMA 8 (1990): 25-44; C. Wilcke, Amar-girids Revolte gegen Narllm-Su'en, ZA 87 (1997): 11-32.

21 Pour toutes references: J.-J. Glassner, La chllfe d'Akkade, revenemenf ef sa memoire (BBVO 6; Berlin: 1986), passim.

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L'evenement n'est donc pas fourni par Ie document, meme si celui-ci est ecrit en cuneiforme; il n'a rien d'une donnee en quelque sorte immediate, mais il resulte de I' effort, souvent delicat, d' elaboration. D'un mot, il est Ie fruit d'une selection et d'une construction. Pour qu'il soit promu comme digne de memoire, encore faut-il que l'historien etablisse un lien entre lui et l'un ou l'autre des problemes qu'il se pose et sur lesquels porte son enquete. Car les historiens et les devins mesopotamiens s'interessent a lui en tant que l'element d'une serie, en tant qu'il devoile une variation conjoncturelle; ils sont preoccupes aussi d'en trouver la cause, ce qui revient a Ie rapporter au jeu des forces qui agissent. A defaut de tout cela, Ie fait n'est 9,.u'une anecdote sans portee et sera neglige comme tel. Avec un autre recitLZ, celui de la mort d'Erra-imitti, une mort apparemment tout a fait naturelle qui laisse un substitut royal legitimement installe sur Ie trone, contrairement aux apparences, no us sommes eloignes du magasin des anecdotes pittoresques, divertissantes et denuees d'interet; tout au contra ire, no us avons a faire a un evenement parfaitement situe dans Ie temps et dans l'espace, et les details apparemment occasionnels qui Ie caracterisent ne font qu'aider a l'individualiser; qu'il s'agisse ou non d'un fait reel, il fonde la critique d'une institution et, en ce sens, il est tout a fait exemplaire: ne s'offre-t-il pas, en effet, aux yeux des Babyloniens, comme un contre exemple face a l'institution assyrienne du substitut royal? Ala maniere de Voltaire, l'historien mesopotamien est conscient de la difference essentielle qui separe II/anecdote' de la 'vraie histoire': l'une n'a qu'un interet limite et evanescent, l'autre est celIe des grands evenements «qui ont fixe la destinee des empires». Mais illui manque la vertu premiere de l'historien moderne, la critique des sources; cette lacune Ie conduit a confondre l'histoire comme construction du passe et l'histoire comme celebration de ce me me passe.

22 J.-J. Glassner, Histoire babylonienne et sa reflex ion dans les chroniques de l'epoque babylonienne recente, dans J. Renger, ed., Baby/on (CDOG 2; Berlin: 1999), pp. 157-66.

Polymnia and Clio William W. Hallo Yale Universityl

FOR ME PERSONALLY, this is an anniversary, even a jubilee of sorts. Fifty years ago, in 1948, I was a junior at Harvard University, wrestling with the question of choosing a major. Torn between history and literature, I went so far as to consult the good doctor at the University Health Clinic about my dilemma. He listened patiently for one or two minutes and then said with some exasperation: "Get out of here! I've got students with real problems waiting to see me!" And so I settled for history-Roman history in fact-but my problem persisted. I had not lost my interest in literature. As a doctoral student at the Oriental Institute in Chicago, I subtitled my 1955 dissertation: a philological and historical analysis. Apparently I was still serving two masters or, more precisely, two mistresses or, to be more politically correct, two muses. I identified them as Clio, the muse of history, and Polyhymnia or Polymnia, the muse of sacred poetry. Ten years later ~1965), I returned to Chicago to lecture on the topic "Polymnia or Clio." But by then I had resolved my personal quandary. With the riches of the Yale Babylonian Collection at my disposal, I decided to dedicate most of my efforts to those Sumerian literary texts that threw light on historical questions on the one hand, and to the reconstruction of Mesopotamian history with their help on the other. After all, I argued (or could have argued) the muses were sisters, all alike, virginal daughters of Zeus and Mnemosine (Memory). Two or more of them could well be the inspiration of a single devotee. And I could have comforted myself with the The substance of this paper was delivered to the XLVe Rencontre Assyriologique, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., July 5, 1998. 2 The same lecture was delivered to the Oriental Club of New Haven in April 1965; see Welles and Beckman 1988: 61.

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thought that the best historians of the Western tradition, from Thucydides and Livy to Gibbon and Churchill, wove literary evidence searnlessly into their magna opera, which in their own right rank as works of literature as well as of history. My Chicago paper never appeared in print, but some of its themes echoed in my presidential address to the American Oriental Society, published twenty-five years later. 3 At that time I was concerned, i.a., with the emerging debate on biblical historiography. At one extreme, the operative principle there seemed to be that the biblical data "can only be considered as untrustworthy when they can be falsified by contemporaneous evidence," to cite one particularly candid formulation. 4 This is a sort of "innocent until proven guilty" principle, against which the other extreme has set up the "guilty until proven innocent" principle, according to which nothing in the biblical record is to be considered historical until and unless confirmed by extra-biblical evidence. For a long time I have been referring to these positions as "maxima list" and "minimalist" respectively,S a terminology that now dominates the debate, for better or worse. 6 In my AOS paper, I still thought that Assyriology was happily free of such extreme positions, and held it up as a model of moderation to biblical historiography. But the sequel has proved me overly optimistic. While we have no maximalists in our ranks, none who would defend the cWleiform canon as revealed truth, we have our own minimalists, those who now hold that no later,literary source can be used for the reconstruction of Mesopotamian history unless verified by contemporaneous, non-literary evidence. At best, they say, it can throw light on the history and concerns of its own time of composition, whatever that time may be thought to be-and often enough deduced from its putative concerns in truly circular fashion. The champion of this new view is Mario Liverani, and he has set it forth with admirable clarity in Akkad: The First Empire? I have dealt with this book, and a number of others on the Sargonic Dynasty, in an article that has just appeared in a volume in honor of W.J.Ph. Romer. So I will not repeat 3 Hallo 1990. 4 Becking 1992: 52; previously idem 1985, esp. pp. 22-34. Becking was specifically referring to "The Dates in the Book of Kings," but was only stating with greater candor what others have implied or assumed in their work. Cf. in general Millard, Hoffmeier and Baker 1994. S

Hallo 1980: 5.

197 here what I have written there. 8 Suffice it to say that I find all parts of the view questionable: the notion that we can privilege contemporaneous royal monuments, although they are notoriously tendentious; that we can rely on archival records, although they may be hopelessly laconic; that we can reconstruct ancient history without benefit of the overall structure provided by native historiography; that we can dispense with the significant details incorporated in literary reminiscences; or that we can hope to date these canonical texts with sufficient certainty to use them as evidence for the concerns of their own times. The Sargonic Period remains a parade example, a test case par excellence, for the methodological issues involved in the debate over Mesopotamian historiography. The rise of Sargon so captured the imagination of later ages that it spawned much of the literature at the heart of that debate. The literary oeuvre of his daughter Enheduanna is still growing,9 as is her attestation on contemporaneous seals inscriptions lO and other monumentsP at present she even has her own website!12 The reign of NaramSin, her nephew, and more particularly his deification represent in some ways the "classical moment" of Mesopotamian history and is treated as such in another recent article of mine that need not be repeated here. 13 The fall of Akkad left such a deep impression on later generations that they not only composed lengthy disquisitions on it as represented by the "Curse of Agade" but, in the case of Shamshi-Ad ad 1,14 even enshrined the concept of the "end of Akkad" (§ulum Agade) as a chronological fixed point on a par with "before the flood" and "after the flood" (117m ababi, arki ababi).1 S Not wishing to repeat Jean-Jacques Glassner's monographic treatment}6 however, I would rather try to set the subject in a kind of compar-

8 Hallo 1998. 9 Westenholz 1989. 10 To the three seals inscribed by her retainers we may now add a fourth in the collection of Jonathan Rosen, which formed part of the exhibition at the Morgan Library in 1998. 11 On her famous disc, see lastly Winter 1987.

12 . Information courtesy Michelle Hart (Los Angeles).

13 See now Hallo 1999. 14 Grayson 1987: 53.

6 Cf., e.g., Shanks 1997, 1997a. See also Addendum.

IS See for these most recently Hallo 1991.

7 Liverani 1993.

16 Glassner 1986; cf. my comments in Hallo 1998.

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ative perspective, concentrating instead on the Ur ill dynasty as another example of the end of empire in order to draw a lesson for historiography based on the fall of the great empires of the ancient Near East in general. If one major problem of all ancient historiography is the scarcity of contemporaneous sources and the need (as I would say) or the temptation (as others might see it) to fill in the lacunae with evidence of later, in large part literary sources, then this problem is compounded where the fall of a dynasty is concerned, for that is rarely recorded by contemporaries, least of all by the scribes of the failing and falling dynasty. There are shining exceptions to this rule, and two of them may be recalled here in tribute to the scholars who have identified them. The first is the "Fall of Lagash," which is chronicled not only in the clay tablet that usually goes by this nameP but also-less dramatically and quite inadvertently-by the scribes of the last ruler of the "first dynasty of Lagash," Uru-inimgina. This was recognized by Maurice Lambert, who showed how the royal scribes worked down to the last days of the threatened city, patiently continuing in their set ways to catalogue the ever diminishing deliveries to and disbursements from the state storehouses. 18 As I put it only a little later, "The numerous archival records from Lagash dating to Urukagina and his immediate predecessors give us a vivid picture of the declining fortunes of the city in these difficult years, and we must marvel at the almost blind dedication with which the scribes continued to record the day-to-day minutiae of a contracting economy.,,19 The pattern was repeated, more or less, during the reign of Ibbi-Sin, as analyzed in the brief but classic study by Thorkild Jacobsen, and more recently by Tohru Gomi and Bertrand Lafont. 20 Again quoting my history, "In short order, dated texts ceased at the major archives .... Only those of Ur itself continued in abundance, faithfully dating by the king's formulas to the end of his long reign of twenty-four years. But Ur could not sustain its own population, let alone all those loyal to the king who now sought refuge behinds its walls, without the continued tribute of its provinces. As this was more and more withheld, commodity prices soared, sometimes to sixty times their normal level, and the capital was confronted by the twin crises of inflation and famine.,,2} In some ways the most telling evidence to this 17 18 19 20 21

See the latest translation by Cooper 1986: 78. Lambert 1966. Hallo and Simpson 1971: 53f.; 1998: 51. Jacobsen 1953, Gomi 1984, Lafont 1995. Hallo and Simpson 1971: 86; 1998: 81.

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effect is that of the bala: that venerable institution continued, but in name only, as the governors of now-defunct provinces retreated to the capital and continued to be credited with (ever more?) pitifully reduced contributions as "ensi's of the bala.,,22 What else do the contemporaneous sources tell us about the fall of Ur? If we look at the date-formulas of Ibbi-Sin, conveniently collected by Edmond Sollberger,23 we find most of them blithely oblivious of or indifferent to the impending catastrophe. They involve the usual references to accession (year 1), the selection and installation of high priests and priestesses (years 2, 4, 10, 11), the building of temples (18f.), the dedication of precious votives (12f., 16, 21), and dynastic marriages (5). Only rarely are there tell-tale references to battles against Amorites (17), to war on the Hurrian frontier (3) or on the Elamite front (9,14), or to the fortification of cities in the interior (6ff.). There are two obscure references to divine beneficences to the king (15, 20). We have to wait till the 22nd year-name of IbbiSin's 24-year reign before the royal scribes will admit to a hint of troubleand even then they put the best possible spin on matters. In Sollberger's translation, it was the year that ''lbbi-Sin, the king of Ur, (when) a flood decreed by the gods had blurred the boundaries of heaven and earth, caused Ur to weather out the storm.,,24 Flood and storm are well-attested metaphors for foreign invaders in Sumerian literature,25 but whether we are dealing with a metaphor here or with a natural catastrophe remains a question. For Miguel Civil, on the basis of a new text, translates "the year that Ibbi-Suen, king of Ur, secured Ur and URUxUD stricken by a hurricane, ordered by the gods, which shook the whole world.,,26 Suffice it to say that the next year name is back to normal, so to speak, if, according to Sollberger, it recorded the gift of a huge ape to the king! Ake Sjoberg, on the other hand, translates "the year when the heavy ape (from) the/its mountain struck Ibbisin, the King of Ur.,,27 Again, we may be dealing with a metaphor, for Ibbi-Sin's enemies are so designated also in his correspondence. 28 The difference here is not one of reading but of the interpretation 22 Hallo 1960: 96. For the last-known bala of the old sort (Ibbi-Sin 3/II/27), see Guichard 1996 (ref. courtesy T. Sharlach).

23 24 25 26 27 28

Sollberger 1976-80: 4-7; d. Sykes 1973; Frayne 1997: 361-66. Sollberger 1976-80: 7. Hallo 1990: 195-97. Civil 1987. Sjoberg 1993: 211, n. 2. See below, note 55.

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of the verbal chain: mu-na-e-ra-a could be regarded as a plural form (ere-a) of Du/clN, "to go, cause to go, bring" (so apparently Sollberger)}9 or as the dative with "to strike" (so Sjoberg). The last year-name is attested only in fragmentary form. Another contemporaneous source is represented by royal inscriptions. In the case of Ibbi-Sin these are even less revealing than his date formulas. The few discrete examples that have survived speak once of the fortification ofUr30 and in passing of victories on the eastern frontier (and then only in the context of a late copy),31 and for the rest only of the usual pious dedications. The best we can say about them is that their very paucity bespeaks the ill health of the kingdom-especially when set against the relatively large number of seal inscriptions dedicated to the king by his officials, which suggests a bloated bureaucracy.32 A similar conclusion is drawn, albeit from different evidence, for a later period by Norman Yoffee, who has made a special study of imperial decline: "as the political strength and territory of the First Dynasty of Babylon waned," he writes, "the number of titled officials in the service of the crown expanded and their offices became more highly articulated.,,33 The royal hymns are a later source. Though hardly likely to have been invented out of whole cloth in the scribal schools of the time of Hammurabi or Samsu-iluna, neither are they entirely free of some modernizing and other editorial tendencies as can be detected in some examples of the genre. 34 In the case of Ibbi-Sin, a respectable number of royal hymns have been recovered, thanks to the efforts of Sjoberg.35 But they have little to offer by way of historiographical data. Such data can better be extracted from the "Royal Correspondence of Ur." We still await its full edition by Piotr Michalowski, but can already

29 Krecher 1967, to which add Hallo 1978: 72, n.16; YBC 13286 (unpub!', dated Ibbi-Sin 3): U4 kaskal mar-tu-M i-ri-sa-a; Fish, CST 252: uku-u~ uris-rna u4 didlu-ru-gu-~e l-ri-~a mc\-a ba-na-a-gub; Michalowski, OA 16 (1977) 288f.; Lugalbanda I 127.

30 31 32 33

Frayne 1997: 368f. Frayne 1997: 370-73. So already Hallo 1962: 8, n. 58; Hallo and Simpson 1971: 86.

Yoffee 1977: 145; a similar formulation appears in Yoffee 1979: 12. Cf. also below, note 63. 34 Cf., e.g., "The Coronation of Ur-Nammu," for which see Hallo 1966.

35 Sjoberg 1970-71.

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read off much of it in his survey in RIA, as well as in Claus Wilcke's earlier studies.36 It is a precious clue to the gradual deterioration of the empire as exemplified among other things by: the progressive diminution of central power in its attempt to control the governors of outlying provinces; the preoccupation with the building of a defensive wall at the narrow waist of the valley where Tigris and Euphrates come closest together; the machinations of Ishbi-Irra, posing as defender of the kingdom against the threat of Elamites and Shimashkians from the East while at the same time preparing to start his own ("Isin") dynasty in the ruins of the empire; and so forth. The texts of this correspondence are all up to three hundred years later than the events they describe, but their historicity can be affirmed over and over by numerous details, such as personal names of minor actors in the drama that tally with those known from documents of actual Ur III date. Michalowski has illustrated that himself with the case of Kunshimatum, "the bride of Simanum.,,37 In a brief communication, he showed that "The utilization of a combination of monumental, archival and canonical sources casts new light on the affairs surrounding ... the betrothal of a daughter of the Neo-Sumerian ruler Su-Sin to the royal house of Simanum.,,38 He was able to recover the fact of the dynastic marriage from an Old Babylonian copy of the royal inscriptions of Shu-Sin, to correct the misunderstanding of the daughter'S name in the royal correspondence, and then to identify it in a number of archival Ur III texts. 39 His exercise provides a model for the judicious combination of contemporaneous and later evidence in the reconstruction of historical events. The same purpose has been pursued by myself and others, i.a., in connection with "The House of Ur-Meme,,40 and with the Royal Correspondence of Isin and, more particularly, of Larsa. 41 In fact, it can be argued that the royal correspondence of all three dynasties represents copies of actual letters originally deposited in the royal archives and selected by later generations of scribes for their bearing on matters of particular interest to them. In the case of the Royal Correspondence of Ur, that was evidently the role of the" Amorites," presumably their own ancestors, in the great events of history, including parti36 37 38 39 40 41

Michalowski 1976, 1984; Wilcke 1969, 1970. Michalowski 1975. Michalowski 1975: 716. To these we may now add Sigrist 1983: 480: 16. Hallo 1972; d. also Zettler 1984. See the references in Hallo 1983.

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cularly the unraveling of the powerful Ur ill empire.42 A novel thesis has even proposed to see the Amorites as mercenaries rather than nomads, based largely on the Royal Correspondence.43 Are we then to accept only those portions that have an actual overlap with contemporaneous evidence? Or can we not reasonably extend a measure of cautious confidence also to those portions of the correspondence that have not or not yet been so confirmed? When we turn to the actual end of the Ur ill empire, we find that our best sources are the lamentations composed under the early kings of Isin, especially Ishme-Dagan. Ishme-Dagan was an intriguing figure in the twentieth-century history of Mesopotamia. He commissioned more royal hymns than any other Mesopotamian ruler except Shulgi, as now conveniently documented by Marie-Christine Ludwig.44 In these hymns, he modelled himself on that Ur ill king to an extraordinary degree, as shown by Jacob Klein. 45 It is to this Ishme-Dagan that we can attribute the lamentations over the destruction of Nippur and Uruk, for his name appears in both of these compositions. And it is possible that the lament over Eridu also was commissioned by this king, though no royal name appears in its preserved portions. 46 The lamentation over the destruction of Sumer and Ur may be earlier. 47 But what all of these compositions, as well as the laments over Ur and Ekimar, have in common is that they were composed, not at the time of the destruction of the cities of the Ur ill empire, but considerably later, presumably on the occasion of their rebuilding, more particularly the rededication of their temples. Apparently the kings of Isin were at pains to absolve themselves of the potential sacrilege involved in the razing of the remains of the destroyed temples, which was an inevitable prerequisite to reconstructing them on their old sacred sites, and therefore made every effort to pin the blame for their destruction on those who had initiated it. That is why the pictures of these destructions are so graphic and their perpetrators so carefully identified. Once we recognize this barely hidden agenda of the genre, we can make allowance for its exaggerations and distortions, and extract a valid "historical kernel" from it, though both their 42 43 44 45 46 47

Hallo 1983: 12. Weeks 1985, esp. pp. 53f. Ludwig 1990. Cf. the review article by Romer 1993.

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48 status as a genre and the concept of the historical kernel have been chal49 lenged. _ (Even later than the lamentations are certain litanies in which Ibbi-Sin fi!5ure.s in long lists of deceased kings,50 and the semi-legendary versions of . his exile to Elam and death and burial there. 51 ) A key concept of the lamentations is again the bala-an office rotated among the members of a Sumero-Akkadian polity-not, as in the case of the provinces of the Ur ill empire, on a monthly basis,52 but rather on a long~term. basis among the independent cities, dynasties and kingdoms that inherIted the Ur III legacy. The concept is stated most memorably in the fourth stanza of the "Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur and Sumer" (11. 365-69). In Kramer's translation, it reads: "The verdict of the assembly cannot be turned back, / The word commanded by Enlil knows no overturning, / Ur was granted kingship, it was not granted an eternal reign (ba/a), / Since days of yore when the land was founded to (now) when people have multiplied, / Who has (ever) seen a reign of kingship that is everlasting!,,53 In other words, no city or dynasty rules forever. The same concept is implicit in a later source that is the best known of all-the Sumerian King List. Here we have ancient histOriography in its most schematic form. It insists that, in Sumer and Akkad, royal hegemony was always the prerogative of only one city or dynasty at a time and divinely fated to devolve in turn on different cities, dynasties, or kingdoms. Jerrold Cooper has noted that it shared this ideology with the lamentations, whereas royal inscriptions and royal hymns, both being products of the royal chanceries, promoted the opposite ideology, namely that kingship was divinely ordained to stay with the present ruler for length of days and with his dynasty forever. 54 This dichotomy is certainly to be preferred to a simple dichotomy between contemporary and later formulations. In fact, it i~ not for the modern historian of antiquity to prejudge the value of any given source or genre, but to subject each to scrutiny and to 48 49 50 51 52

Michalowski 1989: Sf. Liverani 1993: 51. Jacobsen 1970: 346, n. 50. Jacobsen 1970: 346, n. 50. Above, note 22.

Michalowski 1989: 6.

53 Kramernplld ANET(3rd ed. 1969) 617. Cf. also PSD B: 69f.: "who has ever seen a reign of kingship take the lead" (bala-nam-lugal-la sag-bi-M-e-a); Michalowski 1989: 59.

Michalowski 1989: 6.

54 Cooper 1990: 39f.

Klein 1985.

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make allowances for its particular agenda and prejudices. If we apply that rule of thumb to the fall of UrI we will soon enough realize that lamentations and the King List both overemphasize the extent of the break with the succeeding age that the disaster represented, and each for its own ideological reasons, as already suggested. Even the royal correspondence weighs in on this side of things with its unflattering characterization oflshbi-Irra as a non-Sumerian and an ape from the mountain. 55 And a proper reading of the Larsa King List leaves no room for the widespread misconception that he, or his first three successors, had to compete with Naplanum and his first three successors in the rule of the land. Other evidence, both contemporaneous and retrospective, suggests major aspects of continuity between the Third Dynasty of Ur and the First Dynasty of Isin in matters of economy, cult, literary convention, and even political organization. Suffice it to emphasize, in connection with the last factor, that Ishbi-Irra and Shu-ilishu, the first two so-called kings of Isin, actually ruled under the title "kin~ of Ur" or its poetic equivalent "king/ lord/ deity of his nation/ country." 6 It is only under Iddin-Dagan that an 57 inscriptional use of the title "king of Isin" is attested, and then only once. And his successor Ishme-Dagan, though using the new title more liberally, still allowed the older one to be em~loyed once on a fragmentary votive bowl, at least as generally restored. The same observation applies to the evidence of the "Isin" year names, conveniently assembled by Marcel Sigrist. They exhibit an almost studied avoidance of the royal title "king of Isin," indeed any royal title, even after the royal inscriptions have begun to use it. 59 The contemporary seal inscriptions are more creative in their use of a variety of royal titles and epithets. Here, "king of Ur" appears as late as Lipit-Ishtar60 and "king of Isin" not until Bur-Sin. 61 The fall of Ur was thus not as cataclysmic an event as the lamentations, for their own reasons, made it out to be, and certainly not a watershed event

55 Sjoberg 1993. Previously Franke and Wilhelm 1985: 26, n. 53. 56 lugal-ma-da-na, bl!ll/1l1ti~lI, dingir-kalam-ma-na; d. Hallo 1957: 16-20. 57 Haldar 1977, republished by Frayne 1990: 22. 58 Frayne 1990: 46. 59 The sole exception noted by Sigrist 1988: 14 is a text from the twelfth year of Ishbi-Irra that calls him "king of his land" (BIN 9: 52).

60 Frayne 1990: 6lf. 61 Frayne 1990: 72.

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on a par with the fall of Akkad earlier or the fall of Babylon at the end of its First Dynasty. But neither was the transition to Ishbi-Irra and his successors quite as smooth as their royal titles and epithets might suggest. For the full story of the fall of Ur, as of other kingdoms both before and after, we are inevitably dependent on the recollection of later ages, often enough on the hostile or self-serving point of view of those who toppled and/or succeeded the fallen dynasty. The fall of empires has been a focus of much recent discussion. Paul Kennedy even wrote a best-seller on the subject, though he took matters back only as far as Philip II of Spain.62 The lacuna has been partly filled by Norman Yoffee and George Cowgill's Collapse of Ancient States and Civilizations,63 with contributions on Mesopotamia by Robert Adams and Yoffee himself. 64 Harvey Weiss has taken up the issue of the collapse of Akkad from a North Mesopotamian perspective. As in the case of Ibbi-Sin's date formula, I choose to leave open the question whether human or natural agency can best ex~lain the archeological hiatus he has identified in the late third millennium. 5 More recently, an entire issue of RA was devoted to the end of archives as a symptom-and concomitant-of political collapse. 66 In conclusion: it is widely acknowledged that the ancient Mesopotamians had a vivid sense of their own long history, as shown among others by Krecher, Hru~ka, Wilcke, and Cooper.67 Many of their literary compositions had a historiographic character, although Cooper has pointedly abstained from "any attempt ... to discover which ancient texts may be 'historically accurate,' whatever that might mean," citing my own study of Sumerian historiography in that connection. 68 I have never actually used the phrase "historically accurate"-though in other connections I have referred to "the essential historicity" of certain (biblical) narratives-and been taken to task for it. 69 . So perhaps I can sum up my position thus: the function of the historian of antiquity, like that of the chronicler of more recent periods, is not to 62 Kennedy 1987. 63 Yoffee and Cowgill 1988.

64 Ibid., 20-48. 65 Weiss and Courty 1993. 66 Joannes 1995.

67 Krecher and MOller 1975, Hru~ka 1979, Wilcke 1988, Cooper 1990. 68 Cooper 1990: 39 citing Hallo 1983. 69 Hallo 1980: 16; Cooper and Goldstein 1992: 2lf.

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Franke, S. and Gemot Wilhelm (1985) "Eine mittelassyrische fiktive Urkunde ... ,"

prejudge the value of any given source or genre, but to subj~ct ~ach to scrutiny and, after allowing for its particular agenda ~d preJudI~es, to extract what value is left. It is time to restore the responsIble use of li.terary sources to their traditional and rightful place in the reconstruction of ancient Near Eastern history. That place is the history of the times about which they report, and emphatically not the history of their p.r~sumed time of composition. Those skeptics who accep~ the latter proposIhO~ cour! the danger of committing the very error of which they accuse the anCIent hist~ riographers and chronographers, namely .of ~jecting the concerns of theIr own time into the recital of past events. It IS lIttle short of presumptuous to suppose that we can escape that charge ourselves if we impute it to t~e ancient authors who, after all, were so much closer than us to the events m question. Epimenides the Cretan (sixth century) is said to have pronounced all Cretans liars, thereby casting doubt on his own prono~cement, for all that it is echoed in Paul's Epistle to Titus (1:12f.). This sophism has generated a substantial literature under the general heading of "the liar paradox" or "the Epimenides paradox.,,70 Let it no~ be said that w.e reject ~ll historiography that is not contemporaneous with the events It chrorucles, or confirmed by contemporaneous sources, lest we commit our own sophism and lest our own attempts to reconstruct ancient Near Eastern history' stand · d' thereby condemned even more than the sources we d IS am t0 use. 71

lahrbuch des Museums /iir Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg 4: 19-26. Frayne, Douglas R. (1990) Old Babylonian Period (2003-1595 BC) (The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia: Early Periods 4; Toronto: University of Toronto Press). (1997) Ur III Period (2112-2004 BC) (The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia: Early Periods 3/2; Toronto: University of Toronto Press). Glassner, J.-J. (1986) La chute d'Akkade: L'evenement et sa memo ire (Berlin: D. Reimer). Gomi, Tohru (1984) "On the Critical Economic Si tua tion at U r Early in the Reign of Ibbisin," ICS 36: 211-42. Grayson, A. Kirk (1987) Assyrian Rulers of the Third and Second Millennia (to 1115 BC) (The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia: Assyrian Periods 1; Toronto: University of Toronto Press). Guichard, M. (1996) "Le dernier BAL du gouverneur d'Umma," N.A.B.U. 1996/4: 113-15. No. 131. Gunter, Ann c., ed. (1990) Investigating Artistic Environment in the Ancient Near East (Washington: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution). Haldar, Alfred (1977) "A Votive Inscription from the Reign of IddinDagan," in Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Stockholm), Medellwvsmuseet 12: 3-6. Hallo, William W. (1957) Early Mesopotamian Royal Titles: A Philologic and Historical Analysis (American Oriental Series 43; New Haven: American Oriental Society). (1960) "A Sumerian Amphictyony," ICS 14: 88-114. (1962) "The Royal Inscriptions ofUr: A Bibliography," HUCA 33: 1-43. (1966) "The Coronation ofUr-Nammu," ICS 20: 133-41. (1972) "The House ofUr-Meme," INES 31: 87-95. (1978) "Simurrum and the Hurrian Frontier," RHA 36: 71-83. (1980) "Biblical History in Its Near Eastern Setting," in Scripture in Context: Essays on the Comparative Met"od, ed. Carl D. Evans et al. (Pittsburgh Theological Series XX; Pittsburgh: Pickwick) 1-26. (1983) "Sumerian Historiography," in History, Historiography and Interpretation: Studies in Biblical and Cuneiform Literature, ed. H. Tadmor and M. Weinfeld Gersualem: Magnes) 9-20. (1990) "The Limits of Skepticism," lAOS 110: 187-99. (1991) "Information from Before the Flood: Antediluvian Notes from Babylonia and Israel," Maarav 7: 173-81. (1998) "New Directions in Historiography (Mesopotamia and Israel)," in dubsar anta-men: Studien '" fur Willem H. Ph. Romer, ed. M. Dietrich and O. Loretz (AOAT 253; Miinster: Ugarit-Verlag) 109-28. (1999) "'They Requested Him as God of Their City': A Classical Moment in the Mesopotamian Experience," in Tile Classical Moment: Views from Seven Literatures, ed. G. Holst-Warhaft and D.R. McCann (Lanham etc.: Rowman and Littlefield) 22-35. Hallo, William W. and William K. Simpson (1971) The Ancient Near East: A History (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich); 2nd ed. 1998. HruAka, B. (1979) "Das VerhMltnis zur Vergangenheit im alten Mesopotamien," Arch(v OrienftfIn( 47: 4-14. Jacobsen, Thorkild (1953) "The Reign of Ibbi-Suen," ICS 7: 36-47, repro Jacobsen (1970) 173-86. (1970) Toward the Image of Tammuz and Other Essays on Mesopotamian History and Culture (Harvard Semitic Series 21; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press). Joann~s, Francis, ed. (1995) Les Pllenomenes de fin d'arc"ives en Mesopotamie (RA 89/1). Kennedy, Paul M. (1987) T"e Rise and Fall of t"e Great Powers: Economic C"ange and Military Conflict fro", 1500-2000 (New York: Random House). Klein, Jacob (1985) "~ulgi and gme-Dagan. Runners in the Service of the Gods," Beer Sheva 2: 7*-38*. Krecher, Joachim (1967) "Die pluralischen Verba fUr 'gehen' und 'stehen' im Sumerischen," WO 4: 1-11. Krecher, Joachim and H.P.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, Alan Ross (1970) "St. Paul's Epistle to Titus," in Martin 1970: 1-11. Becking, Bob (1985) De Ondergang van Samaria (Th.D. Thesis; Utrecht:. Meppel, Krips Repro). (1992) The Fall of Samaria: An Historica~ and A~c/weo~o~/cal ~tudy (Studies in the History of the Ancient Near East 2; Lelden: Bnll). Civil, Miguel (1987) "Ibbi-Suen Year 22," N.A.B.ll. 1987/2: 27f. No. 49. Cooper, Alan and Bernard R. Golds;ein (1993) "Exodus and Ma~~ot in History and Tradition," Ma~rav 8: 15-37. Cooper, Jerrold S. (1986) Presargonic Inscriptions (New Haven: Amencan Oriental Society). (1990) "Mesopotamian Historical Consciousness and the Production of Monumental Art in the Third Millennium B.C.," in Gunter 1990: 39-51.

70 Of the considerable literature on the subject, I content myself here with citing Anderson 1970 (reference courtesy Jeffrey Larson of the Yale University Library). 71 For a thoughtful review of some of the topics touched on here, see now Renger 1996.

l

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Miiller (1975) "Vergangenheitsinteresse in Mesopotamien und Israel," Saeculum 26: 13-44. Lafont, Bertrand (1995) "La chute des rois d'Ur et la fin des archives dans les grands centres administratifs de leur empire," RA 89: 3-13. Lambert, Maurice (1966) liLa Guerre entre Urukagina et Lugalzaggesi," RSO 41: 29-66. Liverani, Mario, ed. (1993) Akkad the First World Empire: Structure,ldeologtj, Traditions (History of the Ancient Near East / Studies 5; Padua: Sargon sri). Ludwig, Marie-Christine (1990) Untersuchungen zu den Hymnen des gme-Dagan von lsin (San tag 2; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz). Martin, Robert L., ed. (1970) The Paradox of the Liar (New Haven/ London: Yale University Press). Michalowski, Piotr (1975) "The Bride ofSirnanum," lAOS 95: 716-19. (1976) The Royal Correspondence ofUr (PhD. Thesis; Yale University). (1984) "Konigsbriefe," RIA 6: 51-59. (1989) The Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur (Mesopotamian Civilizations 1; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns). Millard, A.R., J.K. Hoffmeier and D.W. Baker, eds. (1994) Faith, Tradition, and History: Old Testament Historiography in Its Near Eastern Context (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns). Renger, Johannes (1986) "Vergangenes Geschehen in der Textiiberlieferung des alten Mesopotamien," in Vergangenheit und Lebenswelt, ed. H.-J. Gehrke and A. Moller (Tiibingen: GOOter Marr) 9-69. Romer, W.H.Ph. (1993) "Die Hymnen des gme-Dagan von Isin," OrNS 62: 90-98. Shanks, Hershel (1997) "The Biblical Minimalists: Expunging Ancient Israel's Past," Bible Review 13/3: 32-39,5052. (1997a) "Face to Face: Biblical Minimalists Meet Their Challengers," Biblical Arclweologtj Review 23/4: 26-42, 66. Sigrist, Marcel (1983) Textes Economiques NeoSumeriennes de I'Universite de Syracuse (Etudes Assyriologiques Memoire 29; Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations). (1988) lsin Year Names (Andrew University Assyriological Series 2). Sjoberg, Ake (1970-71) "Hymns to Meslamtaea, Lugalgirra and Nanna-Suen in Honour of King Ibblsuen (lbblsm) of Ur," Or. Suec. 19-20: 140-78. (1993) "The Ape from the Mountain who Became King ofIsin," in The Tablet and tI,e Scroll: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of William W. Hallo, ed. M.E. Cohen et al. (Bethesda, Md.: COL Press) 211-20. Sjoberg, Ake, ed. (1984) TIle Sumerian Dictionary Vol. 2:B (Philadelphia: The University Museum). Sollberger, Edmond (1976) "lbbi-Suen," RIA 5 (1976-80) 1-8. Sykes, Kevin L. The Year Names of the Urlll Period (MA thesis, University of Chicago (1973, MS). Weeks, Noel (1985) "The Old Babylonian Amorites: Nomads or Mercenaries?" OLP 16: 49-57. Weiss, Harvey and Marie-Agnes Courty (1993) "The Genesis and Collapse of the Akkadian Empire: The Accidental Refraction of Historical Law," in Liverani 1993: 131-55. Welles, C. Bradford and Gary Beckman (1988) The Oriental Cl ub of New Haven 1913-1988 (New Haven: mimeograph). Westenholz, Joan Goodnick (1989) "Enheduanna, EnPriestess, Hen of Nanna, Spouse of Nanna," in Behrens, Hermann et al., eds. (1989) Dumu-eTdtlb-ba-a. Studies in Honor of A. Sjoberg (Occasional Publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund, 11; Philadelphia) 539-56. Wilcke, Claus (1969) "Zur Geschichte der Amurriter in der Ur-I1I- Zeit," WO 5: 1-31. (1970) "Drei Phasen des Niedergangs des Reiches von Ur III," ZA 60: 54-69. (1982) "Archaologie und Geschichtsbewusstsein," Kolloquien zur allgemeillen lind vergleicllenden Arcl1iiologie 3: 31-52. (1988) "Die sumerische Konigsliste und erzahlte Vergangenheit," Colloqllillm Rauriclllll1: 113-40. Winter, Irene (1987) "Women in Public: The Disc of Enheduanna, the Beginning of the qffice of en-Priestess, and the Weight of Visual

POLYMNIA AND CLIO

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~vidence," RAl3~: 189-~01. ~of~ee, Norman (1977) The Economic Role of the Crown 111

the Old Babyloman Penod (Blbliotheca Mesopotamica 5; Malibu, Calif.: Undena).

~1979) "The I?ecline and Rise ~f Mesopotamian Civilization: An Ethnoarchaeolog-

Ical Perspective on the Evolution of Social Complexity," American Antiquity 44: 535. Y~f~e.e, ~orman and George L. Cowgill, eds. (1988) The Collapse ofAncient States and ClvlilzatlOns (Tucson: University of Arizona Press). Zettler, Richard (1984) "The Genealogy of the House of Ur-Me-me: a Second Look," AfO 31: 1-9.

POSTSCRIPT

?f the many relevant studies and remarks that have come to my attention the last three years, the following are particularly worth quoting here:

ill

Ther~ is one school which I would define as 'maximalist-optimist', ~onvillced that analysis can and must be pushed as far as possible ... ill such a way as to draw the greatest possible significance from the m~t~rial available .. There is, on the other hand, a 'minimalist-pessimIst school ... wluch holds that ... this use of evidence in a 'forceful' way, is not justified given the quality, quantity and distribution of the finds .... As for myself, I clearly belong to the 'minimalist-pessimist' school of thought and hold that the more material we have available the more we will realize how difficult it is to reach precise, unequiv~ ocal conclusions.

Mario Liverani in Archives Before Writing, Piera Ferioli et al., eds. (Turin: Scriptorium, 1994), pp. 414f.

Not Out of Babylon? The Development of Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Germany and Its Current Significance Stefan R. Hauser Freie Universitiit Berlin / Columbia University

1926 vs. 1931: What is the Status of Near Eastern Studies?1 "WHAT GIVES PERSIAN ARCHAEOLOGY a high significance, even compared to Babylon, is that Persia is the nodal point of the threads that connect the cultural evolution of Europe with the one of south and east Asia. Thus the archaeological research of Persia will open wide horizons and will give insights into questions that today require throughout a far higher interest than special studies in the classical countries and even in Egypt and Babylon." The passage quoted is part of a memorandum on the establishment of a German archaeological institute in Tehran, written in 1926 by Ernst Herzfeld. In this memorandum, the first in a series distributed to some of the

In the following I will concentrate on the development of Near Eastern Archaeology and the place of ancient Near Eastern history in Germany. For the development of Assyriology, see Renger 1979. It should be kept in mind that the incredible amount of sources on intellectual and social history on the relatively recent periods dealt with here shows a number of controversial or parallel developments. I have attempted to single out only the most important for our question. It is certainly not possible to do justice to all the different influences of relevance, especially in the Weimar Republic, and certain aspects, e.g., the fascination with Asiatic religions, travel abroad, and literature on the Orient, will not be dealt with. My sincere thanks go to Peter Machinist for his valuable advice on rendering the text and his improvements to its English.

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most influential policy-makers in the archaeological field,2 Herzfeld developed a complete plan for an institute, the publication of what later became the Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Iran, and proposed a number of excavations, including Persepolis and Pasargadae. Herzfeld's memorandum came at a time of consolidation in international affairs and in German foreign policy after World War I, following the treaty of Locarno in 1925 and the Treaty of Berlin between Russia and Germany. This consolidation and loosening of international tensions was at the core of what looks like an expansion for German Near Eastern archaeology, not foreseeable a short while before (d. Meyer 1923: 19). In 1926/27 the finds from Assur and Babylon, locked in Porto and Babylon, respectively, during World War I, finally arrived in Berlin (Andrae 1927a, 1927b). At the same time, the historian Eduard Meyer started to organize money for new excavations in Uruk and Seleucia/Ktesiphon. 3 Both were begun in

1928. In 1929 the president of the Deutsches Archaologisches Institut, Gerhard Rodenwaldt, inaugurated a station in Istanbul. And in celebration of the centennial of this institute in the same year, for the first time, after an interruption of fifteen years since the outbreak of World War I, Germany could house an international conference. Germany was back on the international scene, and the academic diScipline of Near Eastern archaeology seemed to blossom again. But this first impression is misleading. Only five years later, in 1931, Uruk-Warka was the only German excavation in the Near East. Only four German Near Eastern archaeologists were then employed in public institutions. Of those, Walter Andrae, as director of the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin, was the only one in Germany itself. Eckhard Unger served as Director of the museum in Istanbul. Julius Jordan had become successor to Gertrude Bell as head of the Iraqi Antiquity Department in Baghdad. Ernst Herzfeld, finally, was permanently on leave from the professorial chair for historical geography, which he had held in Berlin since 1918. He worked as adviser on cultural heritage to the government of Persia. Even though the publication of the excavations in Assur and Babylon was still nurtured by grants (awarded to Friedrich Wetzel and the new appointee, Heinz Lenzen) provided by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft and especially the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft (Unte

2 The copy I use had been in the possession of Friedrich Sarre, long-standing

friend of Herzfeld and director of the Islamic Museum in Berlin. The memorandum is stored in the Samarra-Archiv at the Museum fUr Islamische Kunst, SMPK Berlin. The translation is by the present author. I am very grateful to Jens Kroger, who brought this document to my attention and allowed me its use, and also for his kind and helpful suggestions. As of now the identities of the other addressees of this memorandum are not all certain. To judge from slightly later documents and references to meetings on the establishment of a German archaeological institute in Tehran, which are stored in the Herzfeld archives in the Freer Gallery, Washington, D.C. and at the Near Eastern department of the Metropolitan Museum New York, it seems likely that the memorandum was sent at least to the President of the Deutsches Archaologisches Institut (in the following: DAI), Gerhard Rodenwaldt, to the Prussian Minister for Culture, Carl Heinrich Becker, and to Friedrich Schmidt-Ott, the President of the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft. The latter two were also members of the board of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft (DOG). The Notgemeinschaft, founded in 1920 as a self-governing body to distribute state money within the sciences, is the forerunner of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, to which I would like to express my sincere thanks for supporting my participation in the 45e RAI with a grant. Special thanks go to Colleen Hennessy for her amiable help at the Freer Gallery archives, and to Oscar White Muscarella, who kindly introduced me to the Herzfeld archive at the Near Eastern Department of the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

institutions, I believe he should be seen as the central figure in German Near Eastern archaeology until his death in 1930 (see Hauser forthcoming). For Meyer in general, see Hoffmann 1990, and esp. Calder and Demandt 1990. For Meyer's role as head of the section for Classical and Oriental languages in the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft, see Unte 1990. Meyer's activities within the DOG are nicely depicted by Matthes 1996. His imprint on the politics of the Preussische Akademie del' Wissenschaften, where he was elected member as exponent for Oriental studies in 1903 (Kirsten 1985: 126), is still to be explored (but see Hauser forthcoming). 4

3 The role of Meyer (1855-1930) in Near Eastern archaeology is, in my view, still grossly underestimated. Judging from his personal influence and connections, as well as the many posts he held in different academic and related

L

Permission by Iraqi authorities and the money from the Notgemeinschaft and the DOG were granted for work in Ktesiphon and Seleucia-on-the-Tigl'is. Having arrived in Iraq, Reuther and his team quickly realized that Seleucia, contrary to the commonly held belief, was not found immediately west of the present course of the river Tigris, but further west, at Tell'Umar. Older localizations were based on Herzfeld, who was never able to cross the swamps to Tell'Umar (Meyer 1929: 8). There Waterman had, coincidentally, just started his search for Opis (Meyer 1929: 10). Thus the identification with Seleucia, first put forward by Bachmann, for different reasons, pleased neither the German nor the American team in the first instance. For the German excavations, see Reuther 1930; Kroger 1982; Hauser 1993.

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1990: 516,523, 526), Near Eastern archaeology and history were at a low ebb again. . . This contradictory impression is not easily explamed. The fate of Near Eastern archaeology in Germany is only to be understood as part of the general debate on national culture and cultural policy during the W~imar Republic. But any attempt to describe these phenomena has to start wIth an evaluation of the material and ideological background of the development of interest in the ancient Near East during the Wilhelmine Empire, a period characterized by enormous changes caused by large-scale industrialization and the search for a new role on the world market and in world politics for newly united Germany. Thus, the beginnings of German interest in Near Eastern archaeology at the end of the nineteenth century were no isolated event, but formed part of greater changes in the canon of knowledge and the standard code of German world-views.

The Rise of Near Eastern Archaeology and the Crisis of the Greek Ideal: Imperial Germany While the proclamation of the "Deutsches Reich" in 1871 can be seen as a logical step in economic development and Prussian i~perialism, t~e new role as major power in the middle of Europe had to be fIlled and the Ide~ of a German nation was still not very widespread. It was common behef, anyway, that Germany's new position a.s a continen~al power .was to last only if Germany was active also outSIde Europe m executmg worldpower policy ("Weltmachtpolitik") (d. Schollgen 1991: 170; Geiss 1991 passim). This was less a question of prestige, which played a role n~verthe less than of economic rationale (Wilhelm II 1922: 151; Pommerm 1991; Gei~s 1991). While national industries were increasingly competing on the world market, fixed shares of foreign markets were found in colonies. Being late on the scene of imperial powers,S Germany developed a strong interest in the weakened Ottoman Empire. There, a growing market for industrial products was expected, while at the same time the Ottoman Empire was rich in all kinds of raw materials. Some expe~ts eve~ saw chances to retrieve agricultural products from MesopotamIa (Schollgen 1984: 433), after a restructuring of the mode of production and in the wake of the new railway system, which was expected to open a new, fast trade

S It is often forgotten that not only France and Britain, but also Russia, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and the Netherlands were active as colonial powers. Grossly underestimated are usually the scale and success of imperialistic activities by Japan and the United States at the turn of the century.


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route to India via Basra. There was even a debate on sending German colonists to Mesopotamia and especially to the region between Aleppo and Homs (Richter 1997: 195-98). This idea, however,lost attraction early in the twentieth century, giving way to the more encompassing idea of strengthening German cultural influence in the Orient (SchOllgen 1981: 139). Strengthening such influence, in turn, became intermingled with a widespread and important general debate on culture, and the role the German nation should play in it. Education and other areas of cultural politics had remained in the hands of the different states (Becker 1919a: 2426). Kaiser Wilhelm II was only the most prominent of many who lamented the absence of national feelings, and wanted to see them spurred on by changes in school curricula (Wilhelm II 1922: 152). Meanwhile, intensified industrialization and the excessive building of new railways and canals should strengthen the economic development and help to unify the nation. But industrialization and technology needed engineers instead of classically learned philologists favored by the education in the Prussian elite school, the Humanistisches Gymnasium, which was established at the beginning of the nineteenth century by Wilhelm von Humboldt. In it the close relation between ancient Greece and Germany was still augmented, but increasingly the education based on Greek timeless values came under attack as irrelevant to the demands of the day. A reform of secondary schools was forced through with the help of Kaiser Wilhelm II (Wilhelm II 1922: 154) to elevate technical schools and lessen the amount of Greek and Latin in the Gymnasium. Whereas in the early nineteenth century, ancient Greece served as ideal, at the end of the century the romantic notion of the classical world diminished in the light of urbanization and industrialization with its division of labor, and in the face of national industries increasingly going international. Germany's industrial age needed a new ideology. Idealizing Greek timeless art seemed no longer suitable for the utilitarian age of world-wide operating industries promoting hard working engineers and traders. Against this tide it did not help the Classics that the Greeks were now honored as an enterprising seafaring nation with an ability to found colonies.6 Even though Classics still held sway in the intellectual life of the upper class, its hegemony was cracking. Three main reasons should be named. First: with modernization, the distance between ancient Greeks and modern Germans was increasingly felt. This met, second, with a rising interest in local history as witnessed in the growing number of societies for 6 See, e.g., Ernst Curtius' lecture, "Die Griechen als Meister der Colonisation" held in honor of the Kaiser's birthday on March 22, 1883; d. Borbein 1979: 140.

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Third, this elevation of the importance of material remains within Classics coincided with the excavation or acquisition of a wealth of objects from cultures unaccounted for in biblical or Greek and Latin texts. Thus, contrary to the traditional approach, where descriptions of culture and history were based on texts, in the later nineteenth century, artifacts were increasingly used to define and describe non-classical cultures, opening new inroads into the past. This was not only true for German prehistory as the archaeological leg of Heimatkunde, which boomed at the end of nineteenth century. It also was applied much more broadly, for in accord with the fascination for the exotic, German ethnological and archaeological expeditions at that time explored regions all over the world. In the same venue, the Berlin Museums created within a few years of each other at the turn of the century, departments for ancient Oriental, but also for Islamic, Byzantine, African and Oceanic, Indian and Far Eastern art. In these developments a new interest in and a different approach to world or universal history emerged, which was still based on classical education and ideals, but gave way increasingly to the admission of diverse other cultures. The foundation of all kinds of archaeological! ethnological museums at about the same time should caution us against singling out archaeological work in the Ottoman empire to the exclusion of other regions. Nevertheless, studies in the ancient Near East were especially promoted for several reasons. Nowhere else but in the Ottoman Empire, the modern home of the ancient Near East, did intense economic interest (for the financial interests of Germany in the Ottoman Empire, see Grunwald 1975) and the search for colonies meet with favorable terms that allowed the German excavators to take home half of the finds. At the same time, research there was fostered, as Anton Moortgat still asserted in 1971, by its importance in providing the background for the Bible, which together with the Greek intellectual world was regarded as the cornerstones for occidental culture. 8 In fact, around 1900 explanations concerning the Bible were of major interest as witnessed by the Babel-Bible controversy, in which even Kaiser Wilhelm II was

local history in the late nineteenth century. Both, the alienation from Greece and the rising local patriotism, fostered a new German nationalism independent from classical Greece. And third, in th~ years ~ound 1?,00, a stron? fascination with the exotic or just unknown m the Blldungsburgertum dIverted interests into (other) foreign cultures. All these developments had their counterparts in the German scholarly world from where developments radiated to the wider public. One probl~m for all scholarship was the exploding knowledge combined wi~h growing in-depth specialization, which ran parallel to the developments m the industrial sector. Prone to changes were traditional scholarly fields, especially the Classics, where again three importan~ changes can be o~ served: (1) a distanced, scientific approach to the anCIents; (2) the emanCIpation of archaeology from philology; and (3) the exploration of non-classical cultures. First, the critical and distanced approach of positivistic historicism dismantled the ideal of the ancient Greeks. Under the critical, pure scholarly view of scholars like Ulrich Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, which opened all spheres of human activity to historical study, the ancient Greeks were changed into men of flesh and blood with all kinds of human strains and burdens. They became historicized and alienated, which in turn led to more relativism in comparing Greek and (other) foreign cultures. Second, at the end of the nineteenth century, Classics witnessed the basic emancipation of archaeology. In response to the distanced philological approach and using technological developments in photography, at the end of nineteenth century, Classical archaeology was increasingly used, even in schools, to appeal to lay persons and students and to convey the classical ideal more easil y than by literature alone (Marchand 1996: 14547). Excavation methods became more scientific, excavations being conducted like experiments in the natural sciences (Borbein 1979: 138). increasingly, all kinds of finds and even natural settings were taken into account. Whereas before attention had focused on pieces of art, now meaning was ascribed to all kinds of objects. Furthermore, even in classical sites, such as Miletus or Olympia, archaeologists in large-scale excavations not only exposed decisively non-classical levels, but also attempted to reconstruct daily life beyond the level known from texts (Marchand 1996: 97).1 T~us archaeology became increasingly independent from philology, crossmg the limitations imposed by textual evidence for cultures. 7

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8

Marchand gives some nice examples of the new self-confidence of archaeologists and their lack of respect for philologists in the later nineteenth century (1996, p. 93 on Humann; p. 144 on Brunn).

"

The full qllote reads: "Die Klassisclle Arcl1iiologie bemuht sieh, zlIsammen mit der Klassisc/lell Pllilologie, der Wissenschaft von Sprache lind Literatur der Griechen und Romer, urn das materielle Erbe des einen Tragers unserer abendlandischen KlIltllr, lim das Ideal einer klassischen Geisteswelt namlich, deren Wesen in den beiden Begriffen 'edle Einfalt' lind 'stille GroBe' von J. J. WINCKELMANN fur aile Zeiten treffend gekennzeichnet wurde. Die Vordemsiafisclle Arcl1iiologie dagegen laBt vielmehr das andere Grllndelement abendlandischer KlIltur, den Geist des Alten lind Neuen Testaments mit

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heavily engaged (d. Lehmann 1994). But even without this special patronage, the constant flow of newly discovered cultures, each of them opening a window on the forgotten parts of universal history, roused great interest in the German, especially Prussian public (on Babylon see Lehmann 2000). At the same time, excavations, most of them carried out under the auspices of the DOG,9 also served nationalist ambitions in providing objects for a national museum comparable to the British Museum and the Louvre. Thus Near Eastern, especially Mesopotamian, studies, patronized as they were by Kaiser Wilhelm II,10 became the perfect field for non-classical, in the sense of open-minded, modern investment in culture, by the state as by private philanthropists. The wider German public took readily to Near Eastern studies attracted by the steady stream of new discoveries that directly touched their fascination for adventure and exotic foreign cultures as well as their interest in the origins of the Bible. "If the rise of Orientforschung and excavation in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia did not completely divert scholarly attention from the Mediterranean world, [oo.] it did indicate the extent to which the "tyranny of Greece" no longer held the German intelligentsia in its thrall" (Marchand 1996: 220). Nevertheless, difficulties were caused by the accumulation of new knowledge in the academia. Traditionally, the history of seinem gesamten religi6sen und allgemeinmenschlichen Erbe wieder aufleben" (Moortgat 1971: 7-8; all emphases in the original). 9 Excavations in Abu Hatab, Abusir, Amarna, Assur, Babylon, Boghazk6i, Borsippa, Fara, Jericho, Kar Tukulti-Ninurta, Megiddo, Uruk-Warka, as well as research in Hatra, Maltai, Bavian, and on Galilaeen synagogues were carried out by the DOG between 1901 and 1914. Unfortunately, structure, financing, and the role of the DOG are misconceived in the otherwise intriguing study by Marchand (1996). For the DOG was neither a subsidiary of the Berlin museums nor did their finds become automatically state property (Marchand 1996: 196). On the contrary, the DOG as "Verein," completely independent not only as juridical person, remained the owner of the excavated material, which according to an agreement, was handed over to and displayed in the Pruss ian museums in Berlin (d., e.g., Meyer 1923: 5). 10 It is well known today that Kaiser Wilhelm II, despite his Graecophile education and his own excavation in Korfu in 1914 (Wilhelm II 1922: 169-71), was very much concerned with Near Eastern archaeology. He was easily won as patron for the DOG in 1901 ("Mit Freuden nahm ich ... an," Wilhelm II 1922: 168). He sponsored the society's excavations with large sums and, according to his memoirs, never missed any of its public lectures (Wilhelm II 1922: 168). It is not well known, however, that in his later years in exile Wilhelm even wrote two books on the ancient Near East himself (Wilhelm 111936; 1938).


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the Near East was subsumed by the academic field of Ancient History, which had emancipated itself from philology in the nineteenth century, but which was still largely concerned with the cultures of Greece and Rome. But when the conventional picture of the ancient Orient, based on biblical and Greek textual sources, became more and more untenable, only a few scholars reacted. As early as 1908 the aforementioned Eduard Meyer noted critically tha t over the last thirty years most of his fellow scholars lacked the "intellectual elasticity" to come to grips with the changes in historical reconstruction necessitated by the discovery of Assyrian texts (Renger 1979: 155). But Meyer's own efforts to do justice to the Near East in his monumental Geschichte des Altertums, the relevant volumes of which were published between 1879 and 1902, clearly demonstrate the problemY Besides the usual Latin and Greek, he had learned Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Sanskrit, Egyptian, and Akkadian. In addition, he had also closely followed all relevant developments in Oriental archaeology. This enabled him to treat Near Eastern as comprehensively as Greek history. And contrary to the then (and even now prevailing) more common approaches, he did not simply subordinate Near Eastern history to Western civilization as an earlier stage in evolution. Nevertheless, Meyer emphasized that "Near Eastern history will never rouse the same interest as Greek history," since "in the foreground of historical interest lies the question about the historical formation of the present." This implies that interest centers on cultural creations that are still valid, "thus our interest in Greeks and Romans, medieval culture and the Renaissance" (Meyer 1907: 189-91). For most of his colleagues this meant they could stick to the traditional superior respectability and importance of Greek and Roman versus universal history, and texts versus archaeology. Assyriologists, on the other hand, were slow to advance their position as historians. Akkadian and Sumerian were still solely taught as languages and within the departments of oriental languages. Theil' practitioners, as Suzanne Marchand put it, "retreated from the difficulttask of developing new ideas [on history, S.H.] into the safer realm of nitpicking linguistic debate." Near Eastern archaeology, meanwhile, had not found its place in the academic world, yet.1 2 To sum up, before World War I Near Eastern archaeology and history became a major playground in Germany for popular entranced, scholarly scientific, and national bragging interest in world civilization, all this in the 11 For literature on Meyer, d. n. 3. 12 It should be noted, however, that the Prussian Academy of Science had

planned to add a Near Eastern archaeology section to its Oriental Commission. The plan was halted by the outbreak of World War I and never resumed.

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context of Germany's booming industrialization and economic expansion in an attempt to match other major imperialist countries. While Greek cultural hegemony as well as faith in Christian religion and especially the Old Testament cracked, interest in foreign cultures and religions flourished. The modern Near East was seen as an area for favorable economic prospects. The archaeology and history of this region found, thus, a niche in the new canon of knowledge, suited for expansionist politics in a global market.

Specialization and Exclusion: From Weimar to the Third Reich After four years of World War the situation was different. Germany's ambitions to playa leading role in the concert of imperial powers were destroyed. German scholars, who had stressed Germany's role as the "nation of culture," in view of the invasion into neutral Belgium and the bombardment of Leuven, were barred from international contact. 13 Depression and inflation made a resumption of work in the new countries created on the territory of the defeated Ottoman Empire highly improbable (Meyer 1923: 19). The members of the earlier German expeditions to Babylon, Assur, or Uruk still tried to publish their results from excavations as from their travels through the Ottoman Empire and India. But most of them, except for Herzfeld, Koldewey, who died in 1925, and Andrae, were forced either to leave the field to make a living or to rely on grants. Fortunately, all of the excavators in Mesopotamia were trained as architects. Jordan, for example, started to work in an architectural office and was only later reactivated along with Wetzel, Buddensieg, and Preusser (Andrae 1928: 24-26). Bachmann and Wachtsmuth even finished their Habilitation to become professors for Near Eastern cultures, before they followed the examples of Reuther and NOldecke and retreated into the safer realm of the history of architecture or cultural heritage management. While a number of people attempted qualification for the new academic discipline of Near Eastern archaeology, prospects were bad. Accordingly, in 1927, when Meyer was planning new excavations in Uruk and Ktesiphon and so looking for Near Eastern archaeologists, there was no new generation. For Meyer this presented a large problem, because he wanted scholars who understood the concept of context and the value of 13 Especially, the famous "Manifesto of the 93" titled (and sent):" An die Kulturwelt" proved to be lethal for further contact. In this manifesto, signed by many of the most renowned German scholars of all fields, among these E. Meyer, U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Th. Wiegand, and W. Dorpfeld, full identity


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pottery chronology,14 too often neglected by the architectural Koldewey school, as Meyer had repeatedly stressed for many years (Matthes 1996: 193-94). Therefore, Meyer proposed to give generous grants to rouse interest in younger students (Unte 1990: 523 n. 70). But the lack of a younger generation was only one proof of the diminished importance of the field within and outside the academic world. Within academia, the accumulation of material had led to enhanced specialization and an ever-widening gap between Near Eastern studies and history departments. This development had started before World War I, as Meyer, quoted above, complained already in 1908. But the trend was strengthened by the fact that the wealth of new information led to a new definition of core areas within established academic disciplines, often accompanied by a reduction of their scope. Increasing specialization replaced wider approaches in Altertumswissenschaften. Areas of interest outside the main avenues fell victim to the process as entire fields of research, e.g., late antiquity or Islamic art history, were chipped off, while academic positions for sometimes extremely stimulating proponents of these fields were not necessarily created (for examples see: Marchand 1994; Leppin 1998; Rebenich 1998). Institutes for Ancient History increasingly turned into seminars on Greek and Roman history again. At the peak of interest in

between German scholars and the German army was invoked; both groups, it was asserted, were to defend the European heritage against the hoards of Blacks and Asians that Britain had set upon it by its war with Germany. Wilamowitz is often thought to have been the author of the manifesto" An die Kulturwelt," but this is not correct: see vom Brocke 1985. In this context the tone of Wilamowitz's speech on the occasion of his investiture as Rektor (president) of the Friedrich-Wilhelms UniversiUit Berlin, on October 15, 1915, is surprisingly moderate and open. In it Wilamowitz (1915) encourages his audience and readers of the printed version repeatedly to learn more modern languages and to cultivate international contacts. 14 "Dringendstes Erfordernis sei eine sauber durchgefiihrte Schichtengrabung, bei der ein Einblick in die Abfolge der keramischen Stilverhaltnisse anzustreben [sei]" quoted after Unte 1990: 552. Meyer ended up convincing the most experienced excavator of Babylon and Samos, Oscar Reuther, who had become professor for the history of architecture, to direct the work in Ktesiphon. For Uruk Meyer grudgingly had to agree to Julius Jordan, whose work in the first campaign there in 1912/13 he had harshly criticized (Matthes 1996: 196-98). Meyer's animosity toward Jordan, who in his eyes had failed to excavate the important levels of the fourth millennium B.C., did not stop even on the occasion of his lecture for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the DOG (Meyer 1923: 11).

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the ancient Near East, we find three scholars offering courses on its history at Berlin University in 1906; these were, besides Eduard Meyer, Hugo Winckler and Carl Lehmann-Haupt lecturing on Near Eastern history. During the entire 1920s and 1930s, on the contrary, there was only one single attempt to revive this tradition in Berlin by Meyer's former student Hans Stier (Renger 1979: 183). Outside of Berlin the situation was also grim; an exception was Josef Vogt, who included in his personal curriculum as professor a lecture series (with slides), "Kulturgeschichte des alten Orients," in 1927 in Tiibingen and in 1931 in Wiirzburg (Konigs 1995: 3078). In addition, his use of slides was a rarity among historians. It might have been partly inspired by Mikhail Rostovtzeff's Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire, published in 1926 with its splendid use of illustrations. But Rostovtzeff was one among few historians attributing to archaeological remains the value of independent sources-"no less valuable and important, sometimes more important, than written sources" (Rostovtzeff 1922: viii).15 In Germany it was Ernst Herzfeld who in his work transcended the invisible borders between history and archaeology, but without any lasting impact on students in his institute for historical topography, which he barely visited during the years he spent in Iran. In general, archaeology and material culture for the most part remained apart from history-a development not the least caused by the narrow approaches of the practitioners as well as by a traditional view of the archaeologist's role. Archaeology served the historians and philologists mainly as a source of illustrations of texts and was largely restricted to art historical treatment in the newly emerging genre of richly illustrated books modeled on the example of the Propyliien Kunstgeschichte (Andrae 1925). The archaeologist remained either the excavator or the art historian. History, even more than today, was in the hands of those reading texts. And neither archaeologists nor Assyriologists managed to fill the gap, when historians left the ancient Orient to itself. Even more, outside the academic world, the time when new discoveries in the East could excite was over. Though Near Eastern studies-thanks to Meyer-was among the fields most intensely sponsored by the Notgemeinschaft der deutschen Wissenschaft (U nte 1990: 523; Matthes 1996: 21012), the painstakingly produced publications of the excavations in Babylon and Assur could not stir up the wider audience that had earlier followed the Babel-Bible controversy and the emergence of "new" old cultures. Besides, these cultures had become normal, established, and therefore less 15 Marchand (1994: 109) quotes Arnaldo Momigliano concerning the immense impression the lavish illustrations and detailed discussions of artifacts in Rostovtzeff's work of 1926 made on contemporary readers.


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thrilling. Excavations and philological research, to be sure, had proven that neither the biblical nor the helleno-centric world-views were self-evidently the superior form of truth. But what else could be learned from these Oriental cultures? Neither historians nor the wider public seems to have been enthusiastic about the East. What remained despite expanded knowledge and advances in many respects was, with some exceptions like Andrae's contribution for the Propyliien Kunstgeschichte,16 specialized scholarship on the ancient Near East without further consequences. Meyer's and Herzfeld's appeals for research on neglected periods and regions mentioned above (see Hauser forthcoming) fell victim to lack of interest in universalism. The ancient Near East was eliminated from the canon of knowledge again. In the 1920s the audience that had followed Near Eastern excavations eagerly early in the century was demoralized by the loss of World War I and economic hardships. It looked for relevance and meaning for life, something few could see in the ancient Near East. The many different strands in the intellectual life of the Weimar Republic demonstrate that it was not a single idea that could fill the vacuum of meaning for an audience frustrated by Germany's loss of status and resources in the World WarP Many despaired in the years of hyperinflation or felt uprooted by the new era, even if they had welcomed the new political situation after the war. As one reason for Germany's "failure" the educational system was repeatedly stressed. A school-reform and a reform of the university system were envisaged immediately after the war. The old system was criticized as too intellectual, too specialized, and too backward. New, more holistic approaches were held to be the answer to modernizing Germany. The Orientalist Carl H. Becker, who had entered the Prussian ministry of culture in 191618 and became minister in 1921, and again from February 1925 until January 1930, saw "a basic evil" in the "over-estimation of the pure intellect in our cultural activity, the exclusive predominance of ratio16 Schafer and Andrae's volume on Egypt and Mesopotamia shows the preeminence of interest in Egyptian art, since the latter, as written by Schafer, took up more than three quarters of the space and plates in the volume. The 1925 and 1934 editions sold 10,000 copies. Two thousand copies of the slightly enlarged and revised edition were printed in 1942. 17 It should be kept in mind that the 1920s was also the decade of the breakthrough of what we still call "the [classic] modernity" in art, architecture and design. Although we see despair, we witness the air of departure, modernization, a fascination with technology and the new mass media.

18 On Becker, see the biography by his friend Erich Wende 1959 and Wittwer 1987.

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Like Jaeger a growing number of Classicists and educated lay persons, partly influenced by Nietzsche, believed that classical ideals should have relevance and substance in real life (Henrichs 1995: 454-55). This fit a more general trend in the 1920s back to individual "Wertung," value judgments. The latter were not the last caused by the increasingly felt need to define priorities in response to and in order to cope with the exploding wealth of information assailing everybody via the new mass media. In response to conflicting and overwhelming impulses, value judgments and personal approaches gained in significance, not only in the wider public, but also in Altertul11swissenschaften. They became increasingly powerful in Classical archaeology, which also praised the individual artist. This trend was in accord with the stress on individuality and the appreciation of "Great Men" as emphasized, e.g., in the Stefan George Kreis. It served as "an escape from the bourgeois ideas of modern nineteenth-century society, i.e., progress, the new technology of the machine. Figures such as Carlyle, Nietzsche, and George recoiled in horror from these and sought refuge in the old ideas of heroes and hero worship" (Tritle 1995: 114). At the same time, as Borbein (1995: 244) points out, Classical archaeology during the 1920s, because of its wider and topical perspective, became a more eminent factor in German cultural life than ever before or later. With the re-invention of classical Greece as ideal and model for a new Humanism, the fascination for older cultures came full circle. And even though research on Near Eastern cultures was fostered by the Notgemeinschaft del' deutschen Wissenschaft and also by the DAI, it was not valued as before and its role diminished. How deeply rooted the preeminence of the ancient Greeks was can be illustrated by the example of the DAI's president of that time, Gerhard Rodenwaldt. Rodenwaldt not only was instrumental in defining and valuing Roman art as more than a copy of Greek originals. He also nourished research on the Orient. During his presidency the institute in Cairo became fully integrated into the DAI; in Istanbul he opened a new institute in 1928; he supported Herzfeld in Iran and attempted the foundation of a Baghdad branch for the DAI.21 Nevertheless, he stressed that classical Greece remains unrivaled in its supreme culture and lasting legacy. Rodenwaldt allowed without hesitation for the fact that this judgment was based on previous value judgments beyond purely scientific explanation. For him this judgment could solely be borne in subjective

nal thinking." Instead" ethical thought" should be nurtured (Becker 1919b: ix).19 In 1926 he again contrasted the principle of the "pure intellectual ideal of the university traditionally handed down, which produces specialists" and the new ideal that should produce the "new, real Humanism in educating, on the example of the antique Vollmensch (whole person), the new German Vollmenschen" (Becker 1926: 52-53). In his call for completeness in men, the reconciliation of spirit and body, art, religion and engineering in a holistic approach, now christened" real Humanism" by Becker (1926: 5455), he struck a popular chord. Nevertheless, for many this completeness was more easily found in the distant past than accomplished in the present, whose incompleteness was strongly felt. Intense concern for completeness, and even more for the loss of ideals, haunted the Classical philologist and student of WilamowitzMoellendorff, Werner Jaeger. In contrast to his teacher, whose historicism had promoted a purely academic, lifeless picture of the ancient world, Jaeger's "Third Humanism" attempted to bring the Greek ideals back to life as a model for contemporary culture and character. While today Classic is seen as a phenomenon of reception, indicating that a certain period is seen as climax and model only in retrospect (Borbein 1993: 281-82),20 Jaeger reinstated the Greek Classic as the paradigmatic ideal. He emphasized its continued efficacy (Landfester 1995: 21) and the deep, inner relationship "with the timeless values of humankind," i.e., the intellectual creations of classical times, which should again become normative Oaeger 1925: 1).

19 Becker 1919b: ix: "Das Grundilbel ist die tJbersclliifzllng des reill Intellektllellen in Wlserer Kuiturbetatigung, die ausschlieBliche Vorherrschaft der rationalistischen Denkweise, die zum Egoismus und Materialismus in krassester Form Whren muBte und geWhrt hat ... So liegt die I-Iauptaufgabe bei dem Neubau unserer El'ziehung in del' Pflege des eflliscllen Gednllkells. Er muB wurzeln in der Volksgemeinschaft, und von dort aus sollte der Begriff des allgemeinen Menschtums erwachsen." (Under linings in the original text). A contrasting view was defended by the more conservative Meyer (1918), who stressed the importance of classical education. 20 ">Klassik< bezeichnet vor allem ein Rezeptionsphanomen. Die mit dem Begriff verbundenen Vorstellungen von >NormI-Iohepunktbleibender Besitz< etc. entwickeln sich erst im ProzeB der Rezeption [... ] Die Definition [des Klassischen] kann sich aber auf jene allgemeinsten Charakteristika beschranken, die wohl allen Bestimmungen des Klassischen gemeinsam sind, und das waren auBer der erfolgreichen Rezeption: der normative Anspruch, die Vorbildfunktion und die Bezeichnung des I-Iohepunktes," Borbein 1993:

21 Later, as professor at the University of Berlin, Rodenwaldt urged his students to attend seminars on Near Eastern art with Moortgat following the latter's appointment as lecturer in 1941 (though without much success). I am grateful to Ursula Moortgat-Correns for this information.

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ideology, which for the archaeologist was given by the conviction of the power of the classical as expression of humanism (Rodenwaldt 1927: 163).22 This conviction was in accord with Jaeger's "Third Humanism." But while Rodenwaldt open-mindedly nurtured "non-classical" studies as well, Jaeger, who later became professor at Harvard,23 neglected the Orient and concentrated on the Greek ideal. For others, indeed, the Orient became once more the negative counterpart of the Western classical tradition, just as in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when the Western creation of "Orientalism" served to project internal Western differences in ideology on the Eastern "other" (Young 1990,:139), and thus helped to build up a new image of the West (Hauser 1999). Even in the first number of Jaeger's popular journal Die Antike, founded in 1925, Wilhelm Weber felt obliged to ask, whether the ever renewed fight between Europe and the Orient could be won by one of the parties (Weber 1925: 145). From there the avenue to a largely racist and anti-Semitic ancient history was open.24 The Classic was reinstated as norm and its heritage was used as synonym for the "West," contrasted to the non-classic, barbarian "East." Thus, in 1935 the historian Helmut Berve summarized: "Universal history has to step back, it has to be the background, the foil for valuecentered National history." "The science of the ancient Near East is, as long as it is dealing with alien, and therefore not comprehensible races, condeIlUled to a status of resignation. Therefore it fails when confronted with the new demand for values and loses its right to exist" (Berve 1935: 229-


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30).25 In the very same year Herzfeld was expelled from Berlin University as Jewish and never returned to Germany. In accord with Berve's dictum the style and the aim of the remaining work on the ancient Near East changed. In 1935, Joseph Vogt's aforementioned lecture series, the content of which we are not informed about, changed (at least) its title into "Die Anfange der Weltgeschichte, die Reiche des alten Orients und die Indogermanen.,,26 The pressure put on everybody interested in the Orient is reflected in the title of a lecture series obviously designed to promote Oriental studies, "Die deutsche Orientforschung, ihre Gegenwartsbedeutung und ihre Gegenwartsaufgaben," which took place in Berlin University in the winter 1934/35, organized jointly by the Deutsche Orient-Verein and all other Oriental societies of Berlin. Eckhard Unger, appointed the first full professor for Near Eastern archaeology in Germany in 1935,27 now tried to show the values of Near Eastern archaeology by stressing presumed Indogermanic traits in the Orient and establishing the Sumerians as Aryans because of their presumed use of swastikas (Unger 1935; 1936).28 Friedrich Wachsmuth (1938) came up with 25 Translation by the present author. Later Berve became Kriegsbeauftragter del'

deutschen Altertumswissenschaft. Having been banned after the war, he was allowed to resume his teaching in the winter 1949/50 and became chairman and representative of the Kommission fill' Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik of the Deutsches Archaologisches Institut between 1960 and 1967; on Berve see Christ 1990: 125-87.

26 Summer semester 1935 in Wi.lrzburg (Konigs 1995: 309). Vogt was a member 22 The original text (Rodenwaldt 1927: 163) reads: "Die Entscheidung kann

23 On Jaeger, see Calder 1990: 211-26, and Calder 1992. Calder (1990: 217-18)

of the SA in 1933 and became a member of the NSDAP in 1937; the delay may have been caused by the fact that the party was closed to new membership between 1933 and May 1937 (Konigs 1995: 18). Between 1926, when he started teaching in Ti.lbingen, and 1944, when he was appointed professor in Freiburg, Vogt repeatedly took on new posts. In winter 1938/39 in Breslau and in summer 1941 in Ti.lbingen he offered the course again, this time called "Die Reiche des alten Orient und die Indogermanen." In addition, in 1941 he offered a seminar on "Das erste Auftreten del' Indogermanen in Vorderasien" (Konigs 1995: 310-11).

states that Jaeger was entirely apolitical and left Germany because his wife was Jewish, despite a very positive response by the Nazis to his ideas.

27 According to Weidner 1968/69 the appointment was made that early. Renger (1979: 187) gives 1938 as the date for the full professorship.

24 Leading older ancient historians, such as E. Meyer or U. von Wilamowitz-

28 More articles by Unger on the same topics can be found in the footnotes of the

daher nul' subjektiv aus del' Weltanschauung kommen, die sich in del' Person des Forschers nicht von del' Wissenschaft trennen laBt. Fi.lr den Archaologen ist die Stellungnahme gegeben durch die Oberzeugung von del' Macht des Klassischen als Ausdruck des Humanismus." Borbein (1995: 230) points out that in 1916 Rodenwaldt believed that an objective measure for the valuation could be found (d. Borbein 1995: 213-17). Borbein also demonstrates the influence of Wolfflin and the debate on the Classic in Classical archaeology.

Moellendorff, had been "deutsclmational" and anti-democratic (see Nat 1995). Of the younger generation, even in the early years of the Third Reich, W. Weber (Berlin), F. Schachermeyr Gena), E. Ziebarth (Hamburg), H. Berve (Leipzig), and A. v. Premerstein (Marburg) were among those who were active supporters of National Socialism (d. Losemann 1977 and Maier 1981; Nat 1986).

articles cited. It is difficult to determine how many seminars Unger offered. According to Ursula Moortgat-Correns, for whose information I am very grateful, Unger's seminars were not well attended. The only student who finished his Ph.D. with Unger, as far as I know, was Mohammed el-Amin in 1943.

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an ethnic explanation for different building forms. And Julius Jordan, who had remained in Iraq until 1939 (Lenzen 1974), felt obliged after his return to Germany to devote the last paragraph of a summary article on Hatra to the statement that her ruins mirror a spirit "artverwandt" (kindred) to "ours," i.e., the German, because they are the expression of Hellenic and Iranian, thus Aryan "Kulturwillen" (cultural volition) Gordan 1942: 24). Walter Andrae, on the contrary, managed to refrain from gross allusions to the current political situation or the "Zeitgeist.,,29 His Das wiedererstandene Assur, published in 1938, is the best example of a masterly attempt to draw interest from the public to Near Eastern studies without sacrificing scholarly work on the altars of oversimplification, any political claims of the regime, or neighboring disciplines like anti-Semitism or pan-Germanism. But this is already a different story. What is important is that in Germany during the period of late imperialism before World War I, Near Eastern studies coincided with economic and cultural interests in foreign countries, allowing Oriental archaeology and history to penetrate the general canon of knowledge. But in the 1920s, the paradoxical situation occurred that Near Eastern archaeology became in fact a separate academic discipline, though still unacknowledged as such professionally, and yet at the same time it suffered a loss in the attention and the significance it had before World War I. In addition, Near Eastern history was now left to specialists, who roused only very limited interest in the broader public. Neither modernization nor the mood of introspection that characterized Weimar Germany after World War I prepared the grOlmd for a wider acceptance of the fields. On the contrary, in the wliversity as well as in the canon of historical knowledge, the ancient Near East lost its connection to the academic discipline of ancient history. The widely acclaimed accentuation of the Greek heritage, combined with pronounced value judgments, led to a new devaluation of the East and its exclusion from canonical wisdom.

studies, caused by increased specialization and the development of independent scholarly discourses, not only on cultures, but even on methods and theories (d. Hauser 1999b). For example, as questionable as it is, it does not surprise that even in a (very stimulating) conference on" Altertumswissenschaft in den 20er Jahren" (Flashar 1995) Classicists remained among themselves. Thus, in the very moment when the wlity of disciplines is stressed by the unusual use of the singular "Altertumswissenschaft" instead of the plural form, integral parts of what belonged to "Altertumswissenschaft," as long as the singular was in use, are excluded. That the gap has widened has also to do with the internal development of Near Eastern studies, which worked out a clear conception about its own core areas. So, when Moortgat took over the chair of "Vorderasiatische Altertumsktmde" in Berlin in 1948, the field was largely defined in correspondence with the use of cuneiform. 3o Several areas and periods that had earlier been covered by German work in the Near East were split off, accordingly. This is especially important for the later periods of ancient Near Eastern history, contemporary to the Greeks and Romans. These had been by and large excluded from the curricula of ancient history along with the more ancient East. With the new, more limited definition of Near Eastern archaeology research in these periods came to a distinct halt. Another result of the ouster of Near Eastern history and archaeology from ancient history's curriculum can still be seen in modern history books. Two aspects should be mentioned: space reserved for the ancient Orient and the picture presented. German history books for secondary schools usually include two pages, or sometimes four heavily illustrated pages on the ancient Near East featuring the development of writing, the Zikkurat of Ur, and the Codex Hammurapi. On the contrary, four to six pages are devoted to the Graeco-Persian wars alone. Furthermore, while the texts on the Near East are often absurd in their statements, the descriptions of the Graeco-Persian wars uniformly stress the stereotypes of freedom-loving Greeks fighting against oriental despotism (Hauser 1999: 330-31).31 That

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On Writing History: (D) Evaluating the Other The fate of Near Eastern history and archaeology during the 1920s and 1930s is of interest not only in itself, not simply l'art pour ['art. It is also of immediate relevance for today's practice on several levels. One level is the still existing and even consolidated gap between Classics and Near Eastern

29 Cf. his obvious difficulties in defining "race" along the "correct" ideological lines and his insistence on a linear development of Mesopotamian art despite etlmic/racial changes (Andrae 1925: 130; 1942: 136-37).

30 It is fitting that when Moortgat's famous study on Mesopotamian art appeared in 1967, it was named: Die Kllnsf des Alten Mesopofnmien: Die Klnssisclle [sic!) Kllnsf Vordernsiens, attributing a certain value to this art.

31 The schoolbook texts are clearly based on Bengtson's Griee/lise/Ie Gese/lie/lfe von den Anftingen bis in die romise/le Kniserzeit (Bengtson 1977), first published in 1950, but still a reference work for ancient historians. Fortunately, the schoolbooks do not repeat Bengtson's explanation, as to why the Aryan Greeks were superior to the Aryan Persians. Bengtson praises the Persians (mostly paraphrasing Herodotus) for their loyalty, their advocating of justice and truth,

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Thus this cornerstone of Western culture was originally black.33 On another level of argumentation, the primacy of Egyptian (and to a lesser degree Phoenician) culture over adapting Greeks is forcefully put forward by Martin Bernal in his widely discussed Black Athena (vol.L: 1987; vol. II. 1991; for critiques d. Lefkowitz and Rogers 1996 with further literature). This is not the place to discuss the problems the debate has generated by connecting human capacities, techniques, or knowledge with races (see Hauser 1999: 318).34 But it should be pointed out that these works revive a racist approach, being based on the idea that knowledge belongs to races, and is a kind of ethnic possession one could even sue for after several thousand years. In this approach the authors fall back to the worst political approaches in writing history during the 1930s in Germany. But as with the rise of Near Eastern archaeology in the context of imperial interests of the German Reich and the diminished importance of the discipline in the Weimar republic, the aforementioned approaches are easily understood as politically situated, as ways to foster self-esteem in the age of post-colonialism. This would have been easily recognized by German historians around 1930, who were well aware of the limitations to objectivity in writing history, as already indicated by Rodenwaldt's above-mentioned reasoning on the absolute value of classical Greece. In more general terms this is formulated by Carl Heinrich Becker, whose term as Prussian minister for culture had ended at the beginning of 1930. He used the newly won time for an essay on the crisis of "Bildung," in which he describes the pace and scale of (scientific) progress, meditates about the problem of objectivity and subjectivity, and decries the loss of standards against which subjective values could be judged. Becker argues that the then current speed of progress on all levels cannot be coped with in a salutary fashion, because "materielle Entwicklung und weltanschauliches Gegengewicht [haben] jedes Verhaltnis zueinander verloren" (Becker 1930: 8). That is, because the general conditions become unintelligibly complex, while even the pure existence of Weltanschauung, contrary to older times, has in general become problematic (Becker 1930: 9). But as there are no truths any longer, there is no objectivity any more. In the very moment when we leave the sphere of purely factual data in trying to sort them, or even ask for their meaning, we enter

this simplistic negative image could prevail can partly be ascribed to the missing interest in these later periods by Near Eastern scholars and the public lack of appreciation of Near Eastern studies. An issue of more general impact is the resemblance of current and Weimarian debates on truth in history and the devaluation of others, which I described above. As might have been noticed, the title of the present article alludes to the book Not Out of Africa! by Mary Lefkowitz (1996). There, Lefkowitz engages in a confrontation with African and AfricanAmerican authors on their claims that Greek culture was ultimately stolen from Egypt, which, being part of Africa, was the home of black culture.32 unconditional devotion to the ruling family and their pride in their Aryan kind, but "das enge Zusammenleben mit den alten Kulturnationen des Vorderen Orients, vor allem mit den Babyloniern, ... [war] nicht spurlos an den Persern vortibergegangen. Religion und Sitte, Denken und Fiihlen hatten sich unter vorderasiatischem EinfluB binnen eines halben Jahrhunderts entscheidend gewandelt" (Bengtson 1977: 180). In asserting that the Persians had lived too long in contact with other Near Eastern nations, especially Babylonians, Bengtson implies degeneration on the side of the Persians and evokes the picture of the [Semitic] whore Babylon. This is only a slight revision of 5chachermeyr's view (1944: 171), who ascribed the victory of the Greeks to the fact that the likewise Aryan Persians had not remained pureblooded: "So war es ein Sieg des reineren nordischen BIutes tiber das bereits sHirker durch~ setzte." On the depiction of the Graeco-Persian wars in German history writing, see: Wiesehofer 1992; Hauser 1999: 330-31; on ideology and prejudices in writing histories of the ancient Near East in general, see van de Mieroop 1997; Hauser 1999. Hauser (in press) shows in a number of examples how traditional prejudices influencing the use of different sources that favor written against archaeological and Western against Eastern material still distort archaeological and historical interpretations.

32 Most noticeable are the works of Diop (1975; 1991). For an overview on Afrocentrist historical works until 1987, see Drake 1987. The debate about AfroAsiatic roots is nearly a purely American one; thus its importance in scope and influence in the United States has to be stressed. A completely different view of world history has developed parallel to the traditional one. The latter is criticized as mirroring exclusively the white, imperialist (male) view of the world, thus devaluating differently colored people and depriving them of their history. While definitely not all of these allegations can easily be negated, for large parts the debate has degenerated by its constant recourse on a vulgar form of deconstructivist theory. In this vulgar form every argument or evidence can be pushed aside as being constructed and of value only in its specifically constructed environment. This prevents any further fruitful discourse.

33 Still it is surprising in this debate that classical Greek culture, whether stolen or not, is seen as the unchallenged peak of civilization by all participants.

34 For important reviews of the entire Black Atllena discussion, see Berlinerblau 1999 and Schmitz 1999. -~

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the realm of subjectivity (Becker 1930: 17-18). Even if there is logic in happenings, this logic will never be identical to the logic of the persons who act or take account of them. Thus, for Becker, as there is no o~ectivity, the historian is bound to himself and his time (Becker 1930: 19). And like a warning, Becker describes the phenomenon that "the conception of history slowly moves from the area of reality to the area of values; historical pragmatism turns into ethical and aesthetical" (Becker 1930: 19). The credo of postprocessual archaeology, "Archaeology is a rhetorical practice, historically situated, part of contemporary society and inherently political" (Shanks and Tilley 1987: 66-67) was already acknowledged by Becker and his contemporaries. This could have led to relativism, instead it helped to re-establish the classical ideal. As described in the preceding paragraphs, in the 1920s and 1930s political interest as well as the need for cornerstones for a new ideology and anchor points in the overpowering amount of new material on old cultures led to specialization, fragmentation, the definition of priorities and ultimately to the devaluation of others under the banner of Western heritage inherited from classical times. Today, the approach to Classics is entirely different. 36 Most classicists would underscore what Stephen Dyson wrote in 1993: "Classical archaeology (and Classics in general) is no longer a discipline that can claim a special position because of its concern with the origins and basic truths of Western civilization" (Dyson 1993: 205). This approach sets a new agenda for coming to grips with universal history and opens the door to a renewed effort to leave the trenches of the different disciplines (d. Hauser in press). 35 Except for the phrasing, the text sounds very familiar in the 1990s. While today it is often seen as modern, recent reasoning based on the work of Foucault and Barthes during the 1960s and 1970s (Shanks and Tilley 1987: 66-71) and on the emancipation of readers as well as people, the debate on the limitation and personal time-and context-bounded ness of writing history was fully developed among German historians around 1930. This might be seen as a rather typical example of lost knowledge. In his reasoning Becker is by no means an exception; compare, e.g., Wilckens 1930: 22 or the debate between Kantarowicz and Brackmann in the Historische Zeitschrijt 140, 1929: 534-49 and 141, 1930: 457-78, stirred up by Kantarowicz's Kaiser Friedrie/I der Zweite published in 1927. On the influence of Stefan George on Kantarowicz, see Tritle 1995: 117-21. 36 See, e.g., the contributions in Morris 1994 and Small 1995. For (differing) current German scholars' views on Classics in general and Classical archaeology in particular, see Schwinge 1995; Borbein et al. 2000 and the forthcoming proceedings of the conference "Posthumanistische Klassische Archaologie," ed. Altekamp et al. (in which see Hauser in press).


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It also undermines the effort of those Afro-centrists who claim Africa as the source of the revered achievements of classical Greece, and so preserve, even if in reverse, the old Western ideal, instead of pointing out the growing evidence for indigenous achievements in Africa itself. But in a world interconnected as never before and at the same time increasingly becoming uniform in bio-diversity as in human culture, it seems important to emphasize the multitude of possible answers to the world, all right in their way. The value of diversity in cultures and people should be stressed. This is where Near Eastern studies could and should enter the stage, since as historians we are specialists in translating other cultural experiences. As such we describe the interconnectedness of cultures and could stress the importance of a multitude of human approaches to the world. As in the 1920s and 1930s in Germany, scholars, who work on the ancient Near East are asked to enter the debate on writing history.

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APPARENTLY THE FIRST contextually accurate translation of the logogram GIS.TUKUL as "weapon" was that of W.H. Fox Talbot, who correctly rendered the word in the inscription of Tiglath-pileser I in his contribution to the 1857 contest designed to convince a skeptical world that Assyriology was not a hoax. 1 Rawlinson and Oppert inaccurately if colorfully translated the word as "servants,,,2 and apparently no one took Talbot's interpretation seriously, as demonstrated by confusion over the meaning of the term for the next fifteen years. 3 In 1879 Edouard de Chossat correctly interpreted both the Akkadian term and its logogram in his glossary.4 GIS.TUKUL and

Henry C. Rawlinson et al., Inscription of Tiglatll Pi/eser I., King of Assyria, B.c. 1150 (London: J. W. Parker and Son, 1857) 54 section 34 =RIMA 1 A.O.87.1 vi 58. In 1863 Oppert and Menant failed to translate correctly the "weapon of A1I1Iur"

in the Khorsablld description of the sack of {jarbllri Jules Oppert and J. Menant, Grande Inscription du Palais de K//Orsabad (Paris: Imprimerie Imperiale, 1863) line 63. 2 Rawlinson et al., Inscription ofTiglatll Pi/eser 1. Hincks was a little closer with "arrows." 3 The first nineteenth-century Akkadian dictionary, Edwin Norris, Assyrian

Dictionary: Intended to Furtller tile Study of tile Cuneiform Inscriptions of Assyria and Babylonia (London: Williams and Norgate, 1870) 2: 552 S.v. KK fails to include the lexeme. George Smith, Assyrian Discoveries: An Account of Explorations and Discoveries on tile Site of Nineveh, During 1873 and 1874 (New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1875) translated the relevant passage in BM 18934 as "soldiers of Assur." 4 Edouard de Chossat, Repertoire Assyrien (traduction et lecture) (Lyon: Alf. Louis

239

241

240 Akkadian kakku would give little trouble to subsequent translators.s Interpretation was another matter. Although Henry Rawlinson could not translate the expression, his striking tendency to read into the MA and NA royal narratives instances of heresy, its punishment and examples of forcible proselytization prepared the ground for the scholarly construction of Assr.rian religious imperialism along the lines of European Church history6 or European conceptions of Islamic religious intolerance in the la te Ottoman Empire. Henry's brother and intellectual confidante, the Church of England Canon George Rawlinson, would loyally disseminate these views in his oft-reprinted syntheses of ancient history, The Five (or Seven) Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World. 7 Following the lead of George Rawlinson, A.T.E. Olmstead vigorously argued that the imperial cult of Assur was routinely and uncompromisingly forced upon the victims of Assyrian military aggression. The empire was a theocracy organized under a deified ruler: each newly minted province was given images of the Great King and Assur to worship, as demonstrated by the imposition of the kakki A~~ur.8

In the last fifty years, most of the scholarship regarding the NA "symbol of Assur" (kakki A~~ur) has elaborated on Unger's observations in his 1965 study Die Symbole des Gottes Assur, chiefly, that Assyrian military standards and the "symbol of Assur" attested in the royal annals were identical, and

Perrin et Marinet, 1879), p. 81 accurately translates kaku-kakku (IZ-KU) as "arme, instrument, soldat, bouclier, defense." S See, e.g., W. Muss-Arnoldt, A Concise Dictionary of the Assyrian ulI1gllage (Berlin: Reuther & Reichard, 1905) 1: 377. 6 On this issue see the insightful remarks in R. J. van del' Spek, "Assyriology and History: A Comparative Study of War and Empire in Assyria, Athens, and Rome," in Mark E. Cohen, Daniel C. Snell, and David B. Weisberg, eds., TIle Tablet and the Scroll: Near Eastern Stlldies in Honor of William W. Hallo (Bethesda, Md.: COL Press, 1993), pp. 263-64. 7 George Rawlinson, The Five Great Monarcllies of ti,e Ancient Eastern World; or,

the History, Geography, and Antiqllities ofChaldaea, Assyria, Babylonia, Media, and Persia, Collected and Illustrated from Ancient and Modem Sources, 3 vols. (London: John Murray, 1862-67); 1871 (revised ed.), 1873, 1879, 1881. Incorporated into the TIle Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, 1876, 1884, 1885, 1890. 8 AT.E. Olmstead, Western Asia in the Days of Sargon of Assyria, 722-705 B.C. (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1908), p. 171; idem, History of Palestine and Syria (New York and London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1931), p. 452.

that the NA "symbol of Assur" had its origins in the OA and OB cultic and juridical traditions. 9 To canvass the evidence: the establishment of the kakki A~~ur occurs seven times in published Assyrian royal inscriptions, all instances limited to a fifty-year span (745-696).10 In six of the seven examples the introduc-

Belleten 29 (1965): 423-83. See Mordechai [Morton] Cogan, Imperialism and Religion: Assyria, Judah and Israel in ti,e Eigllth and Seventh Centuries B.C.E. (SBLMS 19; Missoula, Mt.: Society of Biblical Literature and Scholars Press, 1974), pp. 53-55; Hermann SpieckermmID, Jllda 1m tel' Assllr in del' Sargonidenzeit (FRLANT 129; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982), pp. 322-23. Cogan's major points-that Assyrian military standards and the "weapon of AMur" attested in the annals of Tiglath-pileser III, Sargon II, and Sennacherib were identical, and that the NA "weapon of AMur" had its origins in the OA and OB cultic and juridical traditions-were both made by Unger in his flawed but encyclopedic study. In their comprehensive essays on NA battle standards, Karlheinz Deller, "Gotterstreitwagen und Gotterstandarten: Gotter auf dem Feldzug und ihr Kult im Feldlage. Einleitung," Bagh. Mitt. 23 (1992): 291-98, Beate PongratzLeisten, "Mesopotamische Standarten in literarischen Zeugnissen," Bagh. Mitt. 23 (1992): 299-340, and Erika Bleibtreu, "Standarten auf neuassyrischen Reliefs und Bronzetreibarbeiten," Bagh. Mitt. 23 (1992): 347-56, pis. 50-66 do not explicitly associate these objects with the kakki A~~lIr of the royal inscriptions.

9 Eckhard Unger, "Die Symbole des Gottes Assur,"

10 To the best of my knowledge, no one treating this political phenomenon has ever seriously entertained the possibility that the imposition of the kakki A~~lIr was inaugurated by Tiglath-pileser III and abruptly discontinued early in the reign of Sennacherib. That is to say, the uniform tendency of Assyriologists when confronted by an enigmatic religio-political symbol spanning three reigns is to read into it an act of policy that is more routine than the surviving textual attestation suggests. My analysis is no different. However, in an essay delivered at a conference devoted to the theme of historiography, it would be cavalier to pass over this theoretical presupposition in silence. Aside from the metaphoric usage of the GIS.TUKUL A~~ur in his royal inscriptions to connote successful battle, e.g., GIS.TUKUL.MES A~~lIr bi!liya ina Iibbi~lInli IItarrifji dabdll~lIIlll a~klln, RIMA 3 A0.102.2 ii 72-73 (BM 118884), Shalmaneser III varies the tropic expression GIS.TUKUL.MES-ia ina tIImti/Idiqlat /Pllrattllllllil with GIS.TUKUL(.MES) A~~lIr: RIMA 3 A0.102.2 ii 59, GIS.TUKUL. MESA~~lIrezzate, versus "weapons" RIMA 3 A0.102.5 ii 4 (BM 124667+ 128156, 124665,124666, action taken at the Nai'ri Sea ca. 856), once using the singular GIS.TUKUL A~~lIr as the object of purification in the head waters of the Tigris, RIMA 3 AO.1D2.14 28-29 (BM 118885). Noteworthy is the expression in RIMA 3 A0.102.2 ii 96-97, ina emnqi! fjlrllte ~a A~~lIr bi!ll iddina ina kakki! dannate ~a

STEVEN W. HOLLOW A Y

243

tion of this object or institution follows the violent inauguration of a provincial city. Five of the seven examples are from the inscriptions of Tiglathpileser ill. In his first Babylonian campaign, this king boasts of having erected the "symbol of AMur" in Humut, renamed Kar-AMur,11 and, judging from the traces of the lacunae, another city that he renamed DurmTukulti-apal-Esarra,12 As two synoptic passages exist for the former action and the emplacement of this object does not appear in them, it is evident that the victorious conquest of the city per se was deemed more newsworthy than this action of unknown political nature. In 739 Tiglathpileser ill established the "s~mbol of AMur" in a conquered city in the region ofUlluba and tJabbu,l territories on the northern Assyrian frontier.

Two years later Tiglath-pileser ill erected a mulmullu parzilli zaqtu, a pointed iron arrow inscribed with the "might of AMur" in a provincial center named Bit-IStar located in the central Zagros. 14 The terminology used here is unique in the annalistic literature, and we should entertain the

242

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urigallu alik paniya i~ruka itti~unu amdabbi:., "with the pre-eminent forces that AMur, my lord, has given (me and) the strong weapons that the (divine) standard that goes before me has granted (me) I fought with them," in which there is a balanced parallelism between emaqa and kakka, on the one hand, and the god AMur and the URI.GAL, on the other.

11 Hayim Tadmor, The Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III, King of Assyria: Critical Edition, with Introdllctions, Translations, and Commentary Uerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994) Annal Unit 91-3 (BM 18934 and Layard, MS A, foll. 113-14). Tadmor, Tigl., Summary Inscription 16-7 speaks of the settling of deportees and installation of a Mt-ri!~i-official, but does not refer to the "symbol of A1j1jur"; Summary Inscription 7 obv. 10-11 omits both the Mt-ri!M-official and the "symbol of A1j1jur." The newly founded Assyrian provincial capital, complete with royal palace, was settled with Aramaean tribes in the course of Tiglath-pileser Ill's first Babylonian campaign in 745; Brinkman PKB 230,276. A letter written from Knr-AMur in the time ofSargon II describes Assyrian troop movements and stockpiling of rations for a coming battle, SAA 5 no. 250 (CT 53 47+ABL 1290 = K 1424+K 4282). 12 Tadmor, Tigl., Annal Unit 10 1-5 (BM 18934 and Layard, MS A, fol. 114). Emil

Porrer, Die Provinzeinteillmg des assyrischen Reiches (Leipzig: J.e. Hinrichs, 1921), p. 88 places Dar- mTukultI-apal-E1jarra in northern Babylonia; A.T.E. Olmstead, History of Assyria (New York and London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1923), p. 177; Brinkman, PKB 230 is justifiably skeptical of earlier hypotheses concerning this city's location. 13 Tadmor, Tigl., Summary Inscription 7 obv. 43-44 (K 3751). Additional information on the Ulluba expedition without, however, mention of the "symbol of AMur" in the preserved text occurs in the Mila Mergi relief; Tadmor, Tigl., Mila Mergi Rock Relief, 16-22, 33-45; IN. Postgate, "The Inscription of Tiglath-pileser III at Mila Mergi," SlImer 29 (1973): 47-59. The Mila Mergi inscription, created during the seventh pain (739) following the conquest of Ulluba, due to its damaged condition, cannot corroborate whether the scribes

of Tiglath-plleser III were here inconsistent in their citations of the "symbol of AMur." The border region of Ulluba saw numerous conflicts in the eighth century and appears as a conquered territory in the inscriptions of the Urartian king Menua; Mirjo Salvini, "Some Historic-Geographical Problems Concerning Assyria and Urartu," in Mario Liverani, ed., Neo-Assyrian Geography (Quaderni di Geografia Storica 5; Rome: Universita di Roma "La Sapienza," 1995), p. 51. On the history and geography of the region, see Porrer, Provinzeinteilung, p. 89; Olmstead, Histon) of Assyria, pp. 118, 188-89; R.D. Barnett,"Urartu," in CAH3/1324-25 (map 13); Na'll Hannoon, "Studies in the Historical Geography of Northern Iraq during the Middle and Neo-Assyrian Periods" (Ph.D. diss., University of Toronto, 1986), pp. 245-47; A.K. Grayson, "Assyria: Tiglath-Pileser III to Sargon II (744-705 B.C)," in CAH 3/275; IN. Postgate, "Assyria: The Home Provinces," in Neo-Assyrian Geography 7. 14 mill-mill-rill' [AN.BAR zaq-tu

nU-II~ /i-ta-at a~+~ur EN-ia] ina mub-bi a~-Iur,

Tadmor Tigl., Annal Unit 14* 8b-9a (BM 124961, Layard, MS A, foIl. 111 + 6667); Tadmor Tigl., Summary Inscription 7 obv. 34-36 (K 3751). Olmstead, History of Assyria, p. 178, incorrectly interprets BIt-Hi tar as a temple of mar located in Babianu; the inclusion of BIt-mar in three groups of Zagros toponyms in the annals of Tiglath-pileser III clearly indicates that it was indeed a city. On the history and geography of this region, see Porrer, Provinzeinteilllng, pp. 91-92, Louis D. Levine, Geograpllical Stlldies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros (Toronto and London: Royal Ontario Museum and the British Institute of Persian Studies, 1974), pp. 117-19. The reading in Tadmor Tigl., Annal Unit 14* 8 of AN.BAR =parzillll is preferable to CAD and AHw DINGIR.MAS =Ninurta. The syntax of Tadmor Tigl., Summary Inscription 7 obv. 34-36 suggests that the "symbol of AMur" was erected in newly created provincial centers throughout the territory formerly held by Media. Tadmor Tigl., Summary Inscription 7 obv. 37-38 supplements the annal text, erroneously or not, with the information that a "royal image" (~a-Iam LUGAL-ti-ia) was erected in the cities of Bit-mar and Sibur, and in the neighboring lands of Tikrakki, Ariarmi, "Rooster-Land" (KUR-DAR.LUGAL.MES.MU$EN), and Silbazi. A Khorsabad palace relief of a besieged Median town, probably Tikrakki/Sikris, depicts an Assyrian stele seemingly built into the walls of the city itself; Paul-Emile Botta and Eugene Plandin, Monl/ment de Ninive decol/vert et decrit (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1849-50), p. I, pl. 64 =Pauline Albenda, The Palace ofSargon King of

Assyria: Monllmental Wall Reliefs at Dllr-Slwrrukin,jrom Original Drawings Made at tIre Time of tJreir Original Discovery in 1843-1844 by Botta and Flandin (trans. Annie Caubet; "Synthese," 22; Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1986), pl. 120, Room 2, slab 17 (lower half); SAA 4, fig. 22.

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possibility that, here at least, a physical object in the form of a weapon was involved. 1S In 735 he erected the "symbol of Assur" in conquered cities north of Subria,16 cities annexed to the Assyrian province of Nai'ri/ Amedi. A plausible restoration indicates that this same king erected the ["symbol of As]sur" in southern Philistia or Arab territory on or near the border of Egypt in an area under the "wardenship" of Idibi'ilu, 17 which was never at IS Numerous examples of inscribed Bronze Age metal arrow-heads, lance

points, axes, daggers, and swords have been published from Western Asia. For examples see Benjamin Sass, The Genesis of tile Alphabet and Its Development in the Second Millennium B.C. (AAT 13; Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1988), pp. 72-88 (arrowheads with Proto-Canaanite/Phoenician inscriptions); P. Calmeyer, Datierbare Bronzen aus Luristan und Kirmanslwl, (Untersuchungen zur Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archaologie 5; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1969); ide"" "Luristan Bronzen" in RIA 7: 174b-79a; O.W. Muscarella and E. Williams-Forte, "Surkh Dum at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Mini-Report," Journal of Field Arc/weologJj 8 (1981): 327-59 (various bronze weapons with cuneiform inscriptions). The provenance of the inscribed "Luristan bronzes" is unknown. Some may have been created in Babylonia and later smuggled into Iran; some may be ancient copies that reproduce Ule royal inscriptions of earlier kings. The relevant issue here is that these objects represent a venerable and popular convention worthy of a master-craftsman's industry. For the texts, see RIMB 2 B.2.3-6.1.2005 (Ninurta-nadin-sumi through Nabfi-mukin-apli). All of these inscriptions deal with human owners; for an example of an OA inscription on a votive sword dedicated to a god, see Hans G. Gilterbock, "A Votive Sword with Old Assyrian Inscription," in Hans G. Gilterbock and Thorkild Jacobsen, eds., Stlldies in Honor of Benno Landsberger on his Seventy-Fifth Birthday, April 21, 1965 (AS 16; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965), pp. 197-98, pis. 13-15.

16 Tadmor, Tigl., Annal Unit 5 1-4 (BM 118908); the synoptic sections Summary Inscription 9 obv. 17'-19' (ND 4301+ND 4305+ND 5422), Annal Unit 20 4'-8' (Layard MS A), and Summary Inscription 1 34-36 (BM 118936) make no mention of the "symbol of AMur." Tadmor dates this campaign to Tiglathpileser Ill's eleventh pain (735); see his remarks in Supplementary Study E, 269-71. On the geography of this region, see Karlheinz Kessler, Untersucll-

ungen zur historischen Topographie Nord",esopota",iens nacll keilschriftlicllen Qllellen des 1. Jahrtallsends v. Chr. (Beihefte zum Tlibinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, Reihe B 26; Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichert, 1980), pp. 163-68, and idem, "Sub ria, Urarh.t and A~~ur: Topographical Questions around the Tigris Sources," in Neo-Assyrian Geograpl,y, pp. 59-62, who situates the action in the Murad-Su valley near the northern border of Subria.

17 Tadmor Tigl., Summary Inscription 434'-35' (Smith, Notebook 5, foil. 62v-63r, 63v-64r = Tadmor Tigl., pI. 51). Luckenbill's restoration, ARAB I 293,

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any time a provincial region. During his sixth pala in Media, Sargon IT rebuilt city temples and returned gods of tJarbar; the "symbol of Assur" was erected18 and, in one variant, appointed to be the god of tJarbar and other Median cities. 19 tJarbar was a rebellious client city, which suffered

acknowledged by Tadmor, [kakki ~a DINGIR.a~+]~ur ina /ib-bi a~-kun of Summary Inscription 4 35', is plausible. If it is correct, then iliis is the only passage in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III that situates the erection of the "symbol of A~~ur" outside a formal provincial territory. On the administrative and political role played by the Arabs in the reign of Tiglath-pileser III, see Israel Eph'al, The Ancient Arabs (Leiden: E J. Brill/Jerusalem: Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1982), pp. 93-100. Whether this action can be associated with the erect~on of a royal stele in the city of the "Brook of Egypt," Tadmor, Tigl., Summary Inscription 8 18', is far from clear. On the locations proposed for the "Brook of Egypt," see Nadav Na'aman, "The Brook of Egypt and Assyrian Policy on the Border of Egypt," Tel Aviv 6 (1979): 68-90; Anson F. Rainey, "Toponymic Problems (cont): The Brook of Egypt," Tel Aviv 9 (1982): 131-32; Manfred Gorg, "Egypt, Brook of," inABD 2: 321; Paul K. Hooker, "The Location of the Brook of Egypt," in M. Patrick Graham, William P. Brown, and Jeffrey K. Kuan, eds., History and Interpretation: Essays in Honour of John H. Hayes OSOTSup 173; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), pp. 203-14. "It should be noted that the area of souiliern Philistia was not annexed by Assyria and that neverilieless Assyria operated there intensively regardless of its legal status," Nadav Na'aman, "Province System and Settlement Pattern in Southern Syria and Palestine in the Neo-Assyrian Period," in Neo-Assyrian Geograplly, p. 112.

18 GIS.TUKUL DINGIR.aHllr EN-ia' a-na DINGIR-ti-M-III1 (M-k[ul1], Andreas Fuchs, Die 1I1scllriftel1 Sargons II. nils Kllorsnbnd (Gottingen: Cuvillier Verlag, 1994) Ann 99 (Room II:9,8), versus GIS.TUKUL DINGIR'[nHllr EN-in] 'i'-[~e-pi~-11In qe-re]b~II, ibid. (Room V:17,7/8). Of the seven examples of the imposition of the knkki AMllr, Khorsabad Room II: 9,8 alone adds the specification iliat this object will "be their god." I question whether we are justified in extrapolating an imperial policy that mandated a provincial cult of A~~ur on the basis of an isolated prepositional clause.

19 Fuchs, Inscllriften Snrgons II Ann 96-100 (Rooms II:9,5-9; V:17,3-10; XIV:I0,1215); E.KUR.MES-sII' e-pll-II[~] DINGIR.MES-M n-l1n (M-ri-M-11I1 ,i-ti-ir M AN.SAR DINGIR.30 DINGIR.UTU DINGIR.lM DINGIR.iHnr [x x x], "his temples I (re)built (and) I returned his gods to their places; regarding A~~ur, Sin, Sama~, Adad, [x x x]," Louis D. Levine, Two Neo-Assyrinn Steins fro", Iran (Royal Ontario Museum Art and Archaeology Occasional Paper 23; Ontario: Royal Ontario Museum, 1972), p. 40: ii 44. Nadav Na'aman and Ran Zadok, "Sargon II's Deportations to Israel and Philistia," JCS 40 (1988): 39 mistakenly ascribe this passage to the annexation of Kgesim. Unhappily, the referent to the "his" in I~tar


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transformation into the provincial capital Kar-~arrukIn; a royal stele was erected in the city. In 696 the forces of the absentee Sennacherib erected the "symbol of AMur" in the city of Illubru of tlilakku,20 another rebellious

client city. The offending leader was flayed and people deported; a royal stele was erected. 21 Sargon II's account of the conquest of Median Kisesim and its conversion into the provincial capital Kar-Nergal showcases the scribal latitude

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"his temples and gods" is lost; in the inscriptions of Sargon, the collective gods of a city or region normally have a possessive plural bound morpheme. The annals relate that the bel ali of l::Jarbar, Kibaba, was driven out by the inhabitants, who sought the protection of nearby Ellipi; after putting down the rebellion, Sargon claims to have installed his ~ut re~i-official there as governor (LV.EN.NAM) (Fuchs, Inschriften Sargons II Ann, p. 98 [Rooms 11:9,7; XIV: 10,14; V:17,~]). Grayson, "Assyria: Tiglath-Pileser III," p. 94 apparently follows this text in his reconstruction of the events at l::Jarbar. The display inscription contradicts this by declaring that Kibaba was captured and, together with the inhabitants of the land, "counted as spoil"; Fuchs, Inschriften Sargons II Prunk 61 (Rooms X:6,1; IV:D4,9-1O; VII:4,20). The Levine text stresses the loyalty of the inhabitants; if Kibaba was mentioned, the name is lost in a lacuna. Which inscription (if any) is telling the truth? The Levine inscription, a stele found in Iran, which was perhaps erected within a matter of weeks after the capture of l::Jarbar, emphasizes the solicitude of the Great King for the Assyrian loyalists who suffered for their allegiance; all of the texts agree that Sargon installed an official of his at the renamed city-Kibaba is not heard from again. Perhaps, despite the singular pronoun, the gods of the Assyrian loyalists were restored to l::Jarbar. Cogan observes that the gods could have been removed by either Sargon himself or the rebellious citizens; Imperialism and Religion, p. 38 n. 101. Among other benefits, restoration of the city temples would have been instrumental in the administration of Assyrian loyalty oaths, in which the local gods served as witnesses and guarantors of good conduct. For an overview of the lengthy NA political investment in l::Jarbllr, see Louis D. Levine, "l::Jarbar," in RIA 4: 120b-21a. For the geographical location of the province, see the discussions in Levine, Geographical Studies, pp. 116-17; Julian E. Reade, "Kassites and Assyrians in Iran," Iran 16 (1978): 137-43; and idem, "Iran in the Neo-Assyrian Period," in Neo-Assyrian Geograp"y, pp. 31-42. Diakonoff believes that l::Jarbllr and its neighboring townships were the "cities of the Medes" where the Israelites were deported after the fall of Samaria; I.M. Diakonoff, "'10 ".I): The Cities of the Medes," in Mordechai Cogan and Israel Eph'al, eds., A/I, Assyria ... Studies in Assyrian

Assyrian control of l::Jilakku was intermittent and weak throughout its history of contact; J.D. Hawkins, "tJilakku," in RIA 4:403a. Sennacherib's annals here describe procedures commonly followed when creating a province from a restive client polity; the reality was probably a nominal measure of Assyrian authority at best. See Paolo Desideri and Anna Margherita Jasink, Cilicia dall'etil di KizZl/watna alia conquista macedone (Universitil degli Studi di Torino, Fondo di Studi Parini-Chirio 1; Turin: Cas a Editrice Le Lettere, 1990), pp. 12627. Berossus' account of Sennacherib's Cilician campaign (apud Polyhistor, extant only in the Armenian version of Eusebius' Chronicle), conjecturally based on cuneiform sources, relates that Sennacherib, with heavy losses, regained the territory after a Greek invasion; he then erects "als Denkmal des Sieges liess er sein auf der sUitte errichtetes Bildnis zuruck, und befahl in chaldaeischer Schrift seine Tapferkeit und Heldentat einzugraben zum Gedachtnis fUr die kiinftigen Zeiten"; and that he rebuilt Tarsus in the likeness of Babylon. Abydenos' version adds, improbably, that he sank a Grecian fleet and "built an Athenian temple and erected bronze statues, upon which he engraved his own deeds." Translations of the Armenian texts in Felix Jacoby, Die Fragmel1te der Griec"isc"en Historiker (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1958), III C, no. 685 (Abydenos) F 5; no. 680 (Berossos) F 7. On the history of the transmission of the text and persistent textual problems that scholars mining the Chronicle of Eusebills have been forced to come to terms with, see the excellent discussions in Alden A. Mosshammer, T"e Chronicle of Eusebius and Greek Chronographic Tradition (Cranbury, New Jersey and London: Associated University Presses, 1979), pp. 37-83, and William Adler, Time Immemorial: Archaic History and Its

SOllrces ill C"ristian Chronograp"y fro", Jlllius Africanus to George SYl1cellus (Dumbarton Oaks Studies 26; Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1989), pp. 72-73. See the judicious treatment of the Berossian account in Peyton R. Helm, '"Greeks' in the Neo-Assyrian Levant and' Assyria' in early Greek Writers" (Ph.D. diss., University ofPelU1sylvania, 1980), pp. 191-95, 319-26. Helm bravely suggests that the erection of an Athenian temple was an attempt by Berossus to make the establishment of an Assyrian provincial cult more "palatable" to a Greek audience (321). In view of the improbable statement that Sennacherib rebuilt Tarsus in the likeness of Babylon, we are at liberty to question whether Berossus was privy to autonomous historical records of Assyrian temple-building in Cilicia.

History and Ancient Near Eastern Historiograp/lY Presented to Hayi", Tadmor (Scripta Hierosolymitana 33; Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1991), p. 18. 20 OIP 2 (1924) 62: iv 89 = CT 2615 (1909-3-13,1 = BM 103000); duplicate text in Alexander Heidel, "The Octagonal Sennacherib Prism in the Iraq Museum," Sumer 9 (1953): 148-50 v 24-28 (1M 56578). See the remarks on this text in Eckart Frahm, Einleitllng ill die Sal1/lerib-Inschrijten (AfO Beiheft 26; Vienna: Instituts fur Orientalistik der UniversWlt Wien, 1997), pp. 87-89 (T 12). The title of Kirua was not lJazal1llll, as in Luckenbill, but LV.EN URU, bell/Ii (line 62).

21

An alabaster stele was erected: ",alJar~1I II/ziz. The referent of the pronominal suffix is unclear-the "symbol of A1i1iur"? the city of Illubru? Text in Heidel, "Octagonal Sennacherib Prism," 150 v. 28.

(0-:':0-:.:0-:.:0-:.:0-)

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STEVEN W. HOLLOWAY

possible and our interpretative dilemma, when dealing with this action. A synoptic treatment of this passage is instructive: A: B:

C: D: A:

22

Nineveh Prism (K 1669)23 Najafehabad Stele 24 Khorsabad Palace, Room rr 25 Khorsabad Palace, Room Xrv26 [x x x DINGIR]EN.ZU DINGIR~a-nllg DINGIRIM DINGIR.[x x ll-~e-p]i~ ma i-na lib-bi rll'-~[ar-l11e x]27

22 Nineveh Prism (K 1669), Winckler sar. pI. 45; Manfred Weippert, "Edom: Studien und Materialien zur Geschichte der Edomiter auf Grund schriftlicher und archaologischer Quellen" (Habilitationsschrift, Eberhard-Karls-Universitat zu Tiibingen, 1971), p. 88, III B; Andreas Fuchs, Die Annalen des lahres 711 v. Chr. (SAAS 8; Helsinki: Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 1998), p. 25: 6')

URU.kar DINGIRMAS.MAS MU-M [x xl

7') [x DINGIRIEN.ZU DINGIR~il-lIl1g DINGIRIM DINGlR.[x xl 8') [/i-~e-lpi~-l1Ia i-na IIb-bi r'He'[-~ib X xl 9') [~a-Ialll LUGAIL-ti-ia i-na IIb-bi Ii-[~ar-me xl

Restorations after Fuchs. Regarding the same events, the Sargon stele from Iran relates that [x x xl DINGIRiHar EN.MES-ia a-ii-kilt pa-ni-ia Ii [x x xl ina qerbi-~u li-~ar-me, "[x x xl gtar, my lords who go before me [x x xl in its midst I set up"; Levine, Two Neo-Assyrian stelas from Iran, p. 38 ii 39. The damaged annal texts diverge significantly: DINGIRMES a-ii-kilt mab-ri-ia i-na qer-bi-M li-~e ~i[bl-mal, "the gods who go before me I placed in its midst," and indicate that a royal stele was also erected in the city; Fuchs, Insc1rriftell sargolls II Ann 9495 (Room 11:9, 3-4), as opposed to GIS.TUKUL DINGIRMES a-li-kll[t mab)-ri-[ia) r/i'-~e-pm-ma qe-[reb-M li)-~ar-mi, "the symbol of the gods who go before me I had made and set it up in its midst," Fuchs, Inschriftell sargons II Ann 94a (Room XIV:lO,lO; Room V:17,1-2 is too fragmentary to help here). On the geography of Ki~esim, see Forrer, Provinzeinteiltmg, pp. 91-92; Levine, Geographical Studies, p. 110. Reade's attempt to locate Ki~esim at or near modern Najafehllbad, the site of a Sargon II stele that concludes with the 716 campaign to Media, and to equate Ki~esim with tJundur, mentioned in the "Letter to AMur" as a city in the Urartian district of ArmarialI on the basis of a broken reading in the Najafehllbad stele, is highly speculative; Julian E. Reade, "Iran in the Neo-Assyrian Period," in Neo-Assyrian Geography, p. 39. 23 Fuchs, Annalen des lahres, p. 25. 24 Levine, Two Neo-Assyrian stelas frOIll Iran, pp. 38 ii 39. 25 Fuchs, Inschriften sargons II Ann 94-95 (Room 11:9,3-4). 26 Fuchs, Inschriften sargons II Ann 94a (Room XIV:10,1O). 27 Fuchs, Annalen des la/Ires, p. 25 plausibly restores the leading break as [ab-bi

249 B:

[x xx] DINGIR.iHar EN.ME-ia a-ii-kilt pa-n i-ia lH~e-pi~-ma] ina qer-bi-~u u-~ar-11le

C: [no break] DINGIRMES a-li-kut mab-ri-ia i-na qer-bi-~u u-~e-Mb-ma! D: GIS.TUKUL DINGIR.MES a-li-ku[t mab]-ri-[ia] rll'-~e-pi~-ma qe-[reb-~u u]~ar-11li

A: B: C: D:

"Sin, Sama~, Adad x x [I caused to ma]ke and erec[ted] in its midst." "x x x gtar, my lords who go before me [I caused to make and] set up in its midst." "the gods who go before me 1 established in its midst." "the symbol of the gods who go before me 1caused to make and set up in its midst."

Thus, you must take your pick: in Ki1jesim Sargon II established one or the other subset of the Assyrian state pantheon, the bald totality of the gods who go before him, or the kakke of the gods. On the basis of the equivalency between i1i1ni and kakki i1i1ni in the contemporary relief inscriptions from the palace of Sargon at Dur-SarrukIn, we may suppose that textual references to the "symbol of AMur" and the other gods were, in some cases, either formulae for representational $alma or, as seems more likely, synonymous expressions for the divine standards that accompanied the Assyrians into battle. To summarize the data: the geography of the imposition of the "symbol of A1j1jur" in most cases marked the extreme limits of effective Assyrian political control: Babylonia and Urartu or bordering regions, Median territories, CHicia, and southern PhHistia. "Reminders" of god and king were incorporated into many of these cities with a mailed fist: two were renamed after Assyrian deities; two were renamed after their conquerors?8 in two Median cities Assyrian gods were explicitly installed; and royal steles or other images of the king were set up in Media and CHicia. In six of the seven instances of this "imposition," foreign population groups were resettled in the city or provincial environs. 29 From a purely rhetorical perspective, all GIS.TUKUL.MES ~a DINGIR.a-~lIr DINGIR). 28 On the ideological significance of the NA custom of renaming conquered cities using KlIr- or DOr- forms, see Beate Pongratz-Leisten, "Toponyme als Ausdruck assyrischen Herrschaftsanspruchs," in Beate Pongratz-Leisten, Hartmut Kiihne, and Paolo Xella, eds., Ana ~adf Labnllni In allik: 8eitriige Zll a/t-

orientalischell lind lIIittelmeerischen Kulturen. Festsc1rrift fllr Wolfgang Rollig (AOAT 247; Kevelaer: Verlag Butzon & Bercker/ Nellkirchen-VIlIyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1997), pp. 325-43. 29 The exception being Tiglath-pileser III's action in the southern Levant, for which see n. 17 above.

250

(~:.:~:.:~:.:~:.:~)

251


of these proceedings are embedded in narratives of (re)conquest and reprisal, thus casting the dramaturgy of the "symbol of Assur" as another act in the inimitable Assyrian theater of cruelty. From an historical perspective, it is necessary to ask whether the "symbol of Assur" became a functional member of the client state or provincial pantheon, routinely rec.eiv.ing offerin~S and other div~e ri.tes w~th in the city temples of the provrnctal centers. If the answer IS affumative, neither the action nor the object is stipulated by name in the hundreds of surviving letters from provincial governors, scholars, and military officials that constitute the state archives of the Assyrian capital cities. The minutiae into which the authors of this correspondence were capable of plunging is legendary. Aside from reports on rituals performed in the temples of tJardin, Babylonia, and the Assyrian heartland, and religious events that were perceived as directly impacting Assyrian Realpolitik, such as royal visitation of the Urartian state temple in Mu~a~ir, the day-to-day functioning of temples outside of the ancient cult cities of Mesopotamia appears to have been of no concern to the Great Kings and their magnates. It behooves us to weigh this argument from silence with care. Capture and deportation of foreign divine images was celebrated in inscription and palace relief, and 31 the movements of these political hostages do appear in the state archives. If the Great Kings did indeed commission outposts of the state pantheon in provincial capitals, it is decidedly curious that the Assyrian governors and other officials in authority ignored their ritual calendars, never commented on the "care and feeding" of these Assyrian gods, and never expressed apprehension that these valuable imperial symbols located in volatile border regions might themselves fall into hostile hands and thus advertise Assyrian political weakness. Most of the cities that played host to the "symbol of Assur" cannot be located with any precision, and rarely occur in later inscriptions or documents. Median tJarb~r is an exception. Levine locates tJarb~r along the Great KhorasID Road bordering the Qara Su river, contiguous with Ellipi to 30 An inference made by Cogan, II/Iperialism and Religion, pp. 54-55, and others. 31 Sama!H\umu-lMir "reminds" Assurbanipal that Sennacherib deported six god-images of Akkad to the central Zagros city IsslHe/tu, where they are stored in a temple in the province of the rab Mqe; ABL 659+474 obv. 6-rev. 8 (81-2-4,67 + Bu 89-4-26,17); transliteration and translation of restored text in Karlheinz Deller, "Die Briefe des Adad-~umu-u:;;ur," in W. Rollig, ed., LiMn

mitburti: Festschrift Wolfram Freiherr von Soden zum 19. Vl.1968 gewidl/let von Schiilem und Mitarbeitem (AOAT 1; Kevelaer: Butzon & Bercker / NeukirchenVIuyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1969), p. 60; SAA 13, no. 190.

the south and Parsua to the north or northwest. 32 Scenes of the capture of ~s~s~, tJarbar,. and other cities in Sargon'~ campaign to the ZaN0s area rn his SIxth paW figure among the palace rehefs of Diir-Sarrukin. Disturbances by the Medes and the Cirnmerians in the region of tJarbar in the seventh century prompted a kaleidoscope of diplomatic efforts and repeated military interventions, indicative of the strategic importance of the area. 34 ABL 126 (K 609), 127 (K 616), 128 (K 650), 129 (K 5458), 556 (K 683), and, judging by ductus, orthography and content, 1008 (K 4271),1046 (Sm 343),1454 (K4688) and 645+1471 (Rm 2,464+K 15074) were written to Sargon by Mannu-kI-Ninu~, the governor of Kar-Sarrukm who replaced the ineffective or traitorous Kibaba; Mannu-kI-Ninua was presumably the sat-resi-official spoken of in the royal inscriptions. 35 tJarbar clearly serves 32 Levine, Geographical Studies, pp. 116-17. 33 Botta and Flandin, Monument I, pIs. 51-77 (Room II); Julian E. Reade, "Sargon's Campaigns of 720, 716, and 715 B.C.: Evidence from the Sculptures," INES 35 (1976): 102-4. 34 See the detailed study by Giovanni B. Lanfranchi, I Cimmeri: emergenza delle elites militari iraniclle nel Vicil10 Oriente (VIll-VII sec. a.c.) (History of the Ancient Near East/Studies 2 bis; Padova: Sargon sri, 1990), pp. 84-108. Esarhaddon anxiously commissioned oracles to Sama~ seeking confirmation whether military and tribute campaigns to the provincial environs of tJarbar would prove successful; SAA 4, nos. 51 (K 11505+83-1-18,551+Sm 1158), 65 (K 11498 +81-2-4,190+81-2-4,290),66 (K 11517+Bu 91-5-9,170), 77 (83-1-18,697), 78 (BM 98988 [Ki 1904-1O-9,17]+BM 99040 [Ki 1904-10-9,69]), all of which Lanfranchi tentatively dates to 670. The "T" manuscript of the so-called VassalTreaties of Esarhaddon, written in Iyyar 672, was concluded with Hatarna, the city ruler of Sikri§, a city known to be part of the province of tJarbar. Parpola observes that all the rulers who are named in these texts governed territories in Mannean or Media that were no more closely bound to Assyria than clientstatus. "In sum, it can be stated that at least four, and possibly as many as seven, of the eight 'city-rulers' figuring in these treaties had become Assyrian vassals within a period of three years before the treaties were concluded. This being so, it seems quite possible that these texts really were meant to function as 'vassal-treaties', instruments relegating the oath-taking rulers to a status of permanent vassalage"; SAA 2, p. xxxi. 35 Presumably due to geographical considerations, these letters were omitted from SAA 5. Only ABL 645+1471 has appeared in a critical edition since Harper's work; see Frederick Mario Fales, Cel1to lettere l1eo-assire: traslilferaziol1e e traduzione, commel1to e l1ote, I: 1111. 1-45 (Quaderni del Semina rio di Iranistica, Uralo-Altaistica e Caucasologia dell'Universitil degli Studi di Venezia 17; Venice: n.p., 1983), pp. 104-7,140-42, who, however, attributes the

252

(:'::'::'::':J


as the command center for mounting Assyrian offensives into Media (ABL 556) as well as the gathering of espionage reports (ABL 129, 1046, 1454) and tribute (ABL 1046); repeated descriptions of crop conditions are indicative of Sargon's determination to hold this remote outpost by making it selfsufficient in the production of grain and straw necessary for the maintenance of garrison troops (ABL 126, 128). Mannu-kI-Ninua informed the king of the administration of loyalty oaths (ade) to "dissonant elements" including the Kulumanu, and the subsequent pacification of their cities (ABL 129, 1008).36 In ABL 126 obv. 10-12, probably written immediately after Sargon II's sack of rebellious ljarbar in 716, Mannu-ki-Ninua describes the demolition work he will undo and the repairs he will effect on the "strong house" (bit dannu) in Kar-Sarrukin, followed by the promise that "we shall plant seeds." Was this structure one of the city temples that Sargon claims to have rebuilt in the Najafehabad stele?37 To decipher the cryptic narration of the provincialization of ljarbar in Sargon's annalistic texts, I wish to refocus the discussion around the political expedient of administering loyalty oaths to subject populations, and the linkage between the phrase "ON, the gods who go before me" and Assyrian battle standards. From other sources we know that the administration of Assyrian ade-oaths required the physical presence of Assyrian divine images and, ideally, those of the subordinate party as well. The "symbol of Assur" authorship to the sllkkallll NabG-beII-ka"in. Simo Parpola, "Assyrian Royal Inscriptions and Neo-Assyrian Letters," in Frederick Mario Fales, ed., Assyrian Royal Inscriptions: New Horizons ill Literary, Ideological, and Historical Analysis (Orientis Antiqui Collectio 17; Rome: Istituto per l'Oriente, 1981), pp. 117-42,137 on the basis of subject matter plausibly attributes ABL 645+ 1471, 1008, 1046 and 1454 to Mannu-kI-Ninua. He also believes the following correspondence was addressed from tJarbar /Kar-SarrukIn: ABL 168 (K 63b), 169 (K 997),170 (K 1013),171 (K 1047), 172 (K 1052), 712 (Sm 1223),713 (Rm59), 810 (K 1961), (1044 [Sm 11711, 1191 (Rm 970),1312 (K 5083), 1453 (K 4294). CT 53 892 (79-7-8,272), NL 142?I, NL 63 Parpola attributes to NabG-beII-ka"in. 36 On the salient lines in ABL 129 and 1008, see the collations in Kazuko Watanabe, Die ade-Vereidigung anliifl/ic!l del' TIlronfolgeregelung Asarllnddolls (Bagh. Mitt. Beiheft 3; Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1987), p. IS, and those of Karlheinz Deller cited in CAD 15 s.v. Saln/llll 90. 37 In the corresponding passage of K 1669, a $alam ~arratiya inscribed with the heroic deeds of AMur is erected in a temple (E DING IR [x x x]) for all time. Fuchs cannot read the damaged signs following E but suggests restoring the god name as" AMur"; Annalen des Jallres 26, 11.17-21. This is a bold restoration, for there is no other evidence for the existence of a temple dedicated to AMur outside the Assyrian heartland during the NA period.

giSKAKKI ASSUR

(XXXXJ

253

and other Assyrian divine images installed in ljarbar enabled the legitimation of Assyrian claims to fealty through the orderly administration of loyalty oaths to restive elements of the ljarbar province and its environs. If the Najafehabad stele reflects historical events, the city temples restored and the divine images returned to ljarbar were probably those of the local ruling elites. As participants in the ade-ceremonies and co-guarantors with their Assyrian counterparts of the vassals' fidelity, the deities worshipped in the city temples were an additional means of ensuring "fear of god and king" by reminding the local inhabitants that their own gods were committed to fostering Assyrian hegemony. In the eyes of the Assyrians, breaches of imperial fidelity would bring down upon the malefactors' heads the wrath of the gods, Assyrian and local, in the guise of the grisly punishments elaborated in the treaty curse clauses. To complement their royal ~atrons, gods of the city temples mentioned in the third-millennium Ebla 8 texts and in Early Dynastic texts and glyptics39 possessed a variety of weapons, and such divine weapons are described in many genres of texts throughout Western Asia during the second and first millennia. In addition to their residence in temples as components of the cult and habiliments of the gods, divine weapons enjoyed a long history of usage in promissory oaths. OA texts from Killtepe speak of a patrum ~a A~~ur (sword of Assur),40 a kakki ~a A~~ur (weapon of

38 Hartmut Waetzoldt, "Zur Bewaffmmg des Heeres von Ebla," Oriens Antiqtllls 29 (1990): 5-6 (spears and lances), 8,11 (GIR-Mar-tll, "Martu-swords"), 21-22, esp. n. 122 (maces). On the lexica of the weapons associated with the various Mesopotamian pantheons, see E. Salonen Waffen, pp. 63-66, and 155-57 (knkkll); ]. Krecher, "Gottersymbole B. nach sumerischen und akkadischen Texten," in RIA 3: 497b-98a. References to divine weapons in the cults and mythology of the Hittites and Ugarit, in light of the OA and OB texts described below, bespeak a religious valorization of warfare common across Bronze Age Western Asia; see the texts cited in Wilfred Watson and Nicolas Wyatt, "De nouveau sur les armes ceremonielles," N.A.B.U. (1997/29): 27-28. 39 Tawfiq Sulayman, Die Entstelltll1g und Entwicklung del' Gotterwaffen im alten Mesopotamien lind illre Bedeutung (Beirut/Bonn: Henri Abdelnour /Rudolf Habelt, 1968) covers maces, axes, swords, lances, spears, nets, bows and arrows, boomerangs, and hammers from the Chalcolithic through the OB periods. 40 In addition to the citations in Hirsch, Untersuc!ul11gen, pp. 64-67, see L. Matou~, "Der AMur-Tempel nach altassyrischen Urkunden aus Kultepe," in M.S.H.G. Heerma van Voss, Ph.H.]. Howink ten Cate, and N.A. van Uchelen, eds., Travels in tile World of tile Old Testament: Studies Presented to Professor M. A.


255

Assur)41 and asugariae sa Assur (a sugariau-tool or symbol of Assur).42 In the presence of the patrum sa Assur oaths were administered, legal testimony given and documents drawn up and sealed. 43 The patrum sa Assur, kakki sa Assur and sugariae sa Assur were all involved in deciding the outcome of ordeals. In addition to the patrum sa Assur used for administering oaths in OA texts, a sugariae sa Assur was apparently used in the same fashion; the latter functioned as a household utensil of some kind, thus suggesting that the class of sacred objects utilized in oaths was more inclusive than that of "weapon.,,44 OB texts reveal that a variety of sacred objects normally resident in temples, especially the kakki sa ON, witnessed oaths and various legal proceedings, and even in certain cases could be rented for the purpose of establishing ownership or otherwise settling disputes through a "jour-

ney" to the contested property or object. 45 tJammurabi ordered that property disputes be settled through sending the "weapon of the god," presumably that of Marduk, to Larsa, where in the presence of the weapons oaths would be taken. 46 Second millennium usage of surinnum, "divine emblem, standard," parallels that of the patrum/kakki/sappum (sa) ON in terms of juridical oaths, notably with respect to the phrase surinnam nasabum. 47 SU.NlR/ surinnu is

254

(9:.:9:.:9:.:9:':9)

Beek on tile Occasion ofhis 65th Birthday (Studia Semitica Neerlandica 16; Assen: Van Gorcurn & Co., 1974), pp. 181-82; Veysel Donbaz, "Some Remarkable Contracts of 1-B Period Kuitepe Tablets," in Machteld J. Mellink, et al., eds., Anatolia and the Ancient Near East: Stlldies in Honor of Tal/sin Ozgil( (Ankara: Turk Tarih Kurumu Baslmevl, 1989), pp. 76, 92: rev. 31-32 (Kt n/k 32); Cecile Michel and Paul Garelli, "Heurts avec une principaute anatolienne," WZKM 86 (1996): 278: 20-21 (Kt 93/k, 145). Veysel Donbaz, "Some Remarkable Contracts of 1-B Period Kultepe Tablets II," in Machteld J. Mellink, Edith Porada, and Tahsin 6zgu~, eds., Aspects ofArt and Iconography: Anatolia and Its Neighbors. Stlldies in Honor of Nilllet Ozg(l( (Ankara: Turk Tarih Kurumu Baslmevl, 1993), pp. 139-40 (Kt89/k 371 obv. 4, Kt 89/k 370 obv. 1-2) supply examples of a PN sa GfR, presumably the patrllm sa Assur. Hirsch, UnterslIc1l1mgen, p. 14 cites a text (Bab 6, p. 191 no. 7:7-11) that describes the theft from the A1I1Iur temple of a golden sun disk from the breast of A1I1Iur and the sword of A1I1Iur (salllsam sa burllsim sa irti d AMur II patralll sa dAMur), defending the "reality" of a physical sword qua sword, rather than an "emblem." That there was a multiplicity of the juridically indispensable "swords of A1I1Iur" may be seen in a text that describes the adornment of one in Apum; Khaled Nashef, Rekonstmktion der Reiserollten zlIr Zeit der a/tassyrischen Handelsniederlassllngen (Beihefte zum Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, Reihe B 83; Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichert, 1987), pp. 47-48 (TC 3,163: 27-28). 41 TC 3, 93:5-6; Hirsch, Unfersllc1l11ngen, pp. 15,67. 42 Hirsch, Untersuchllngen, p. 66; Matou1l, Assllr-Telllpel, pp. 181-82. Walter Mayer, "Das 1Iugarrifi'um-Emblem des AMur," UF 9 (1977): 364-65 concludes that the object was a sickle-sword by not dealing with the contrary evidence amassed by CAD 17/3 *sugariIlIl197. 43 Hirsch, Untersuchllngen, pp. 64-69; Menzel, Telllpel, p. 38. 44

CAD 17/3 *sugarillu197.

45 Rivkah Harris, "The Journey of the Divine Weapon," in Hans G. Guterbock and Thorkild Jacobsen, eds., In Honor of Benno Landsberger on his Seventy-Fifth Birthday, April 21, 1965, pp. 217-24. See also Karin Reiter, "kikkillll/kilkillll, 'Raum zur Aufbewahrung des Eidleistungssymbols (SUNIR =sllrinnlll1l) des Sama1l'," N.A.B.U. (1989/107): 79-80. For examples of OB GIS.TUKUL (sa) DN not treated by Harris or earlier studies, see Karel van Lerberghe, "L'arrachement de I'embh~mesllrinnllm," in Kraus AV 254 n. 14; van Lerberghe OB Texts no. 1 (CBS 24 obv. I), no. 6 (CBS 80 obv. 1), no. 62 (CBS 1356 obv. 1); Johanna Spaey, "Emblems in Rituals in the Old Babylonian Period," in J. Quaegebeur, ed., Ritual and Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East (OLA 55; Leuven: Peeters, 1993), pp. 411-20 (CBS 24, 80, 1356; Di [Tell ed-Der] 2122, CBS 1513). Amalia Catagnoti, "Le royaurne de Tuba et ses cuites," in Jean-Marie Durand, ed., FlorilegiuIII marianlllll: Reclleil d'etudes en I'honnellr de Michel Fleury (Memoires de N.A.B.U. 1; Paris: SEPOA, 1992), pp. 25-27 lists three Mari texts that make reference to sacrifices performed for the "lance" (sapplllll) of E1Itar of Tuba and possibly one other deity (M. 15077, M. 15109, A. 3140 = ARMT 25,697); CAD 15 sappll B 166-67. A. 1858 describes the arrival of the weapons (GIS.TUKUL. tJA) of Addu of tJalab at the temple of Dagan of Terqa; text in Jean-Marie Durand, "Le mythologeme du combat entre Ie Dieu de I'orage et Ie Mer en Mesopotamie," M.A.R.I. 7 (1993): 53. 46 Text cited in Harris, "Journey," 219. An OB tablet from Nibria (located in northern Mesopotamia) describes the judicial custom of "swearing by the sword of AMur," an interesting religious survival that outlived the demise of the Assyrian trading colonies in Cappadocia; Akio Tsukimoto, "From Lulla to Ebla: An Old Babylonian document Concerning a Shipment of Horses," in Beate Pongratz-Leisten, Hartmut KUhne, and Paolo Xella, eds., Ana sadf Labnllni In allik: Beitriige zu altorientalischen und mittelllleerischen Kllituren. Festsc1lrift f(lr Wolfgang Rollig (AOAT 247; Kevelaer: Verlag Butzon & Bercker / Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1997), p. 408 obv. 12-13 (Hirayama Collection). 47 Van Lerberghe, "L'arrachement de I'embleme sllrinnlllll," 253-56; CAD 17/3 sllril1ll1/ 344-46, usage 1 a-d. On the logogram SU.NIR, see Ake W. Sjoberg, "Zu einigen Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen im Sumerischen," in Dietz Otto Edzard, ed., Heidelberger Studien ZIIIII Alten Orient: Adam Falkenstein ZIIIII 17 Septelllber 1966 (Heidelberger Studien zum Alten Orient 1; Wiesbaden: Otto


257

equated with GI~.TUKUL/kakku in several lexical texts,48 and the terms frequently appear jointly and as a para tactic compound in OB texts. 49 Texts from the archives of Zimri-Lim describe materials for the ritual involvement or adornment of divine weapons belonging to named deities;50 GI~. TUKUL/kakku and ~U.NIR/surinnu were used interchangeably in this context. The lexical equivalence between kakku and surinnu continued into the NA period, although there are clear examples of kakke used as divine weapons in the AMur cult. 51

Regarding the iconography of the "symbol of AMur," Cogan's visual example of a "weapon of AMur," a military standard from a palace relief, with its menacing archer-god standing atop adorsed bulls, fits the iconography of other Assyrian deities as well or better than that of the derivative Assur. 52 Three groupings of paired chariot-mounted standards in the

256

(-:.:-:.:_:.:_;':'0-)

Harrassowitz, 1967), pp. 201-31 and Pongratz-Leisten, "Mesopotamische Standarten," 302-6. More specialized vocabulary for divine emblems existed, for instance, the ~am~atll(III), sun disk, and i~karu(m), lunar crescent. 48 tJb VIla 6-11, MSL VI, pp. 84-85; tJb VIla 40, MSL VI, p. 87; Emar VI 4, no. 545 317; malku = ~arm III: LTBA II 1 X 69; SpTU III 12030; An-ta-gi:U 0 164, MSL XVII, p. 206; Aa V /3 =28: 51, MSL XIV, 423; citations in Sjoberg, "Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen," 205-7 n. 9; CAD 17 /3 ~urillllu 344-45; PongratzLeisten, "Mesopotamische Standarten," 309-12. 49 Citations in Salonen, Waffel1, p. 155. 50 ARMT 23, 213: 1-10 describes quantities of ~il1lll1tllm (leather?) for the GIS. TUKUL belonging to the Dagans of Terqa, $ubatim, and Urab. ARMT 22,247: 7-8 records gold for the GIS.TUKUL belonging to Dagan of Urab, and ARMT 22,246: 7-9 describes a ~lIrilll1U of the same deity. ARMT 22,238: 5 mentions a gold-plated stone GIS.TUKUL of ~ama~. ARMT 18, 54: 14-15 and its variant 69: 14-15 date an action by the performance of the pIt pI-ceremony for a SU.NIR/ ~1I-ri-l1i and footstool of ~ama~. ARMT 23, 446 55' and 57' record the pTt P'ceremony for the GIS.TUKUL of $ubatim and Urab, respectively, while ARMT 23, 213: 5-6, 8-9 describe copper for these objects, again, probably the same emblems or representations of Dagan. 51 As Cogan correctly observed, there exist NA cultic texts that describe rites involving a divine weapon in the AMur temple; Erich Ebeling, "Kultische Text aus Assur," Or 21 (1952): 139 rev. 24, a divinized weapon that, together with other gods, accompanies AMur to the temple of Dagan (Ass Ph 4123a; collation in Menzel, Tempel, T 43), cited in Cogan, Imperialism, p. 54. Other examples include Frankena T1ikultu 7 vi 14,8 ix 29, a divinized knkkll in the company of a divine bow (filplll1l1) (K 252), 9 ii 15, a variant or related text: dkakki A~~ur (K 9925); Menzel, Tempel, T 147 i 10, D1NGIR.GIS.TUKUL and a D1NGIR.ka-la-pll (Gotteraddressbuch, a description of the "inhabitants" of the AMur temple); Beate Pongratz-Leisten, lila ~lIlmi 1mb: Die kulttopogrnpllische I1l1d ideologische Progrnmmntik der akTtIl-Prozessioll ill Babylonien lind Assyriell im I. lallrfausend v. CI,r. (Bagh. Forsch. 16; Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern,

1994), p. 207: 32, Sennacherib's description of the aWu-house at Assur: "the conquering divine weapon is placed on the chariot of A~~ur" (K 1356), and see

the remarks in Frahm, Einleitung in die SaI111erib-Inscllrijten, p. 224 (Fralun's T 184). Nevertheless, other texts cited by Cogan himself and CAD under lemmn kakku indicate that the "weapon of DN," etymology aside, in context might denote nothing more definite than a symbol or emblem: CAD 8 knkkll 50-57. W.G. Lambert, in his review of Cogan's book, OLZ 74 (1979): 128-29, pointed out this shortcoming in Cogan's analysis, though he concurs that the kakki ~n A~~ur was indeed a weapon. It is worth noting that Kakku functioned as a theophoric element in several NA PNs: mdKakku-aplu-w;lUr (TUKUL-A-PAP) CTN 3, 99 iv 13 (NO 1002, 1M 64210); mdKakku-ere~ (TUKUL-APIN-e~, TUKULere~) CTN 3, 102 iii 25', 28' (NO 10019, 1M 64222), 103 rev. i 16 (NO 10001); mdKakku-~arru-w;lUr (TUKUL-MAN-PAP) CTN 3 99 ii 11; 108 iii 24 (NO 9910+9911[ +]9915); and the hypocoristica fKakkOa[x x] (kn-ku-ri-a) CTN 3 52 4 (NO 7021 =1M 74496), and mKakki (kn-ki-i) CTN 3 99 iv 19. K. Deller believes that the theophore dKU should be read as "Kakku" and not as "Marduk"; CTN 3, p. 272 n. 43. For parallels, OB names such as Warad-d~urirulUm are attested; CAD 17 /3 ~uri/1/1u 347. Pongratz-Leisten, "Mesopotamische Standarten," 334 reads the theophore in mduRl.GAL-IGI.LA (CTN 3 99 iv 8) as "Urigallu" and not "Nergal," apparently because Nergal appears in other places in this corpus as dU.GUR or dMAS.MAS. 52 Iconography of AMur: the establishment of a one-to-one correspondence between deities and divine symbols on NA steles is a time-honored endeavor in Assyriology. Major stumbling blocks have been the identity of the god or gods behind the symbol of the winged disk (with or without anthropomorphic additions), and the symbol or symbols which stand for the chief deity, AMur. Historically, several deities have had multiple symbols, e.g., the ~a~~arrd/ll), ~am~u(m), and pll~tu(m) of~ama~, further complicating matters. See the discussions of theories regarding the identity of the god(s) in the winged disk in E. Douglas Van Buren, Symbols of tile Gods ill Mesopotamian Art (AnOr 23; Rome: Pontificium 1nstitutum Biblicum, 1945), pp. 94-104; Ruth MayerOpificius, "Die gefliigelte Sonne. Himmels- und Regendal'stellungen im alten Vorderasien," UF 16 (1984): 189-236; Stephanie Dalley, "The God $almu and the Winged Disk," Irnq 48 (1986): 85-101. Unger, "Symbole des Gottes Assur," 463-71 had already rejected the equation of winged solar disk =AMur for that of ~ama~. Reade provides cogent reasoning for the notion that, on NA royal steles, the winged disk symbolized the god ~ama~ while the horned crown symbolized AMur, Julian E. Reade, "Shikaft-i Gulgul: Its Date and Symbolism," Irnl1icn Anfiqlln 12 (1977): 38; Ursula Seidl, "GOttersymbole und -attribute, I. Mesopotamien," in RIA 3: 485b-86a concurs.

258


259

Northwest Palace reliefs of Nimrud should probably be identified with Adad and Nergal. Each pair depicts (a) a striding archer god atop a rampant bull (Adad), and (b) a lance- or sword-like blade centered over the standard pole itself, mounted atop adorsed bulls, with two or four streams of water radiating from the base (Nergal).53 Although there was a "weapon

of tJaldi" in the Urarpan state cult that figures in the royal inscriptions as a recipient of sacrifice, Calmeyer demonstrated that there are no convincing representations of this object in Urarpan art. 54

c~;.:~;.:~:·:~:·:~)

On the Maltai relief ofSennacherib, the god AMur leads a procession of the state gods; he is bearded like all male deities, stands atop the snake-dragon borrowed from the conventions of Marduk's iconography, and wears the tiara with two pendant tassels symbolizing kingship. In fact, there is nothing to distinguish the image from that ofSennacherib save for the latter's submissive posture and the horned crown of the former; illustrations in WVDOG 52 (1927): pis. 26-31. Little need be added to the discussion of the derivative iconography of AMur in Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols ofAncient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992), p. 38. On the iconography of Assyrian military standards mounted in chariots, see the exhaustive illustrations and comments in Bleibtreu, "Standarten," 347-56, pis. 50-66. Cogan, Imperialislll, p. 63 (= Bleibtreu, "Standarten," pI. 63b, a Flandin drawing from Khorsabad) reproduces the most detailed surviving representation of a military standard and adduces it as an example of the "weapon of AMur." Black and Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols, p. 169, on the contrary, find the complex iconography of this object in keeping with Adad, the storm-god, whereas Dalley and Postgate supply evidence that the iconography of adorsed bulls could be associated with the god Nergal, and suggest that this standard was meant to represent Nergal; CTN 3, p. 41. Reference in the NA royal inscriptions to Adad and Nergal as the gods who proceed the king into battle, together with the writing of Nergal as dURi.GAL, are important considerations in the discussion of battlestandard iconography; for the texts, see Pongratz-Leisten, "Mesopotamische Standarten," 330-37.

53 Bleibtreu, "Standarten," pis. 51-53, BM WA 124553, 124550, 124542, (Peter Calmeyer, "Zur Genese altiranischer Motive II: Der leere Wagen," AMI 7 [1974]: 49-77, pI. 13:2-3, and Austen Henry Layard, Tile Monulllents of Nine veil. From Drawings Made on tile Spot [vol. 1; London: John Murray, 1849] pis. 22,27); Ursula Seidl, "Zur zweiten Feldzugstandarte Assurna~irpals II," N.A.B.U. (1993/77): 61. In addition to the arguments for associating the iconography of the adorsed bulls with Nergal noted in CTN 3, there exists a votive sword (GfR) with an OA dedicatory inscription to the "bi!11I1II ~a tll/Malilll," almost certainly the Nergal of tJubMlum who received a bronze votive sword (nntll$arum) in the Mari texts; Gilterbock, "Votive Sword," 197-98, pis. 13-15; Dominique Charpin, "L'epee offerte au dieu Nergal de Hub~alum," N.A.B. U. (1987/76): 41 (ARMT 26/1,194: 24-31 [A. 4260]). The votive object itself, said to have been found near Diyarbekir, measures over a meter in length, but is

missing its blade tip. Gilterbock concludes that the sword was too thin to have functioned as an actual weapon, observing that a deep hole in the hilt probably enabled it to be mounted upright on a dowel. The archaic inscription would then have read correctly, running from the top (blade tip) down to the hilt; ibid. 197. Nergal represented as an upright blade in the NA standards could thus be an ancient iconographic convention, particularly apt since U.GUR = nall1$arll in one lexical list (Sb II 208 = MSL III, 143,208). In this connection a sword-like object depicted in relief on a socle of Tukulti-Ninurta I, receiving adoration from the king, has been interpreted as a sacred weapon comparable to the "weapon of AMur"; WVDOG 58 (1935): 57-76 (Ass 19869); the socle, dedicated to the god Nusku, was recovered from the mar temple at Assur. Ursula Seidl, Die babylol1ischen Kudurrtt-RelieJs: Symbole mesopotalllisc/Ier Gottlleiten (OBO 87; Fribourg: Universitatsverlag Freiburg Schweiz/ Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1989), p. 122 convincingly explains the symbol as a stylus and tablet befitting Nabfi.

54 It is not surprising that the Urartian state cult, massively indebted to Assyria for royal and religious iconography, should also have a "weapon" (BE-LI.MES) of tJaldi, the patron god of the state, to which sacrifices were made; Friedrich Wilhelm Konig, Handbllch der chaldiscllen Inscllriften (AfO Beiheft 8; Osnabrilck: Biblio-Verlag,1967), no. 8 III,no.l0 II 7, X41 (I~puini and Menua). 2114 BE-LI.MES modified by "lance" (gul1llu~iniei), in no. 103 III occur as offerings in a list including livestock, weapons, and other goods; see also Margarete Reimschneider, "Die urartaischen Gottheiten," Or 32 (1963): 155-56; Margarete Reimschneider, "U rartaische Bauten in den Konigschriften," Or 34 (1965): 325-28. In his "Letter to A~~ur" describing the sack of Mu~a~ir, Sargon II exults over his seizure of the large golden sword (GfR,nam$artt) that tJaldi wore at his side; reportedly it weighed 26V, minas; TCL 3 377. Pace Reimschneider, there is as yet no clearly reCOgnizable image or iconography of tJaldi in the reliefs of Adilcevaz, Mehr Kaplsl, or numerous bronzes published to date; see Charles Burney, "The God Haldi and the Urartian State," in Machteld J. Mellink, Edith Porada, and Tahsin Czgil~, eds., Aspects of Art and Iconography: Anatolia and Its Neighbors. Stl/dies in Honor of Nimet (jzgil~ (Ankara: Turk Tarih Kurumu BaslmevI, 1993), pp. 107-10 and Ralf-Bernhard Wartke, Urartll, das Reic/I alii Ararat (Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt 59; Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern, 1993), pp. 123-46. In addition, the objects identified as "lances" by Reimschneider in Urartian religious art and Assyrian representations of the temple of Mu~a~ir are better described as variations on the theme of the sacred tree; see Peter Calmeyer, "Zu den Eisen-Lanzenspitzen und der 'Lanze des tJaldi'," in Wolfram Kleiss, ed., Bastam I: Ausgrabllngen in den llrartiiisc/len

260

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While the current stage of research cannot enable us to recover the iconography of the "symbol of Assur" with confidence, if indeed the "symbol of Assur" of the royal annal texts corresponded to a single cultic object, more can be asserted about its function. The Balawat Gates of Shalmaneser ill and palace reliefs from the reigns of Assur-na~ir-apli II, Sargon II, and Sennacherib indicate that standards, mounted on chariots, accompanied the Assyrian army on campaigns and received divine rites within the camp.55 A trope in the royal inscriptions, "DNs, the gods who go before me (in battle)" probably had concrete expression in the tasseled standards mounted on chariots that rode into battle with the king and his troops: "With the support of Assur my great lord, and the divine standard (durigallu) that goes before me, and with the fierce weapons (kakki! ezzate) that the god Assur (my) lord gave me I assembled (my) weapons ... with the supreme might of the divine standard (durigaUu) that goes before me I fought with them.,,56 As noted earlier, royal Assyrian correspondence

Anlagen 1972-1975 (Teheraner Forsch. 4; Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1979), pp. 183-93; idem, "Some Remarks on Iconography," in Rivka Merhav, ed., Urartu: A Metalworking Center in tile First Millennillm B.CE. (Israel Museum Catalogue 324; Jerusalem: Israel Museum, 1991), p. 315. Hence, Urartian iconography cmmot assist us in determining the appearance of the "symbol of AMur." 55 See the perceptive and nuanced discussion in Deller, "GOtterstreitwagen und Gotterstandarten," 291-98. Deller justifiably observes that the portable battle standards receive the same cultic attention and regard as their stationary counterparts housed in the Assyrian city-temples. With regard to the sacrifices and other divine rites paid to the weapons/symbols of the gods in the guise of NA battle standards, numerous history-of-religion parallels offer themselves. For example, several ancient Indo-European traditions celebrated a cult of a divine sword, notably the Scythians, who performed human sacrifice before a naked iron sword identified with" Ares" (Herodotus 4.62) and the Alano/Sarmatian practice of thrusting swords in the ground and worshiping them as "Mars" (Ammianus Marcellinus). The Scythian sword, an ancient cult object, was said to have been the god's image or representation (CiYUAIlU); c. Scott Littleton, "From Swords in the Earth to the Sword in the Stone: A Possible Reflection of an Alano-Sarmatian Rite of Passage in the Arthurian Tradition," in Edgar C. Polome, ed., Homage to Georges Dllmhil Oournal of Indo-European Studies Monograph 3; Washington, D.C.: Journal of Indo-European Studies, 1982), pp. 53-67; Bruce Lincoln, Deat/I, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology alld Practice (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1991), pp. 201-8. 56 AMur-na$ir-apli II; RIMA 2, AO.lOLl ii 25-28. In addition to numerous references to the gods who go before him, Sargon II speaks of "Nergal and

gi~KAKKI A~~UR

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never uses the expression "kakki A~~ur," but infrequent reference is made to the movements of the" gods of the king" in foreign contexts associated with the administration of oaths (ad€): [They are bringing] these go[ ds of the king from] Sarragitu [and carrying (them) into our] jurisdiction .... We will tak[e] the loy[alty oath as soon as the]y co[me] to Nippur. (However) the gods of the king have not yet been car[ried] into our territory and jurisdiction. 57 The ancient practice of assembling the gods of the two ruling parties enga~ing in a treaty ceremony is well attested in the archives of ZimriLim; whether this involved statues in the round or more portable divine symbols cannot be determined from the expressions used. In at least one case, the terms used are reminiscent of the formula employed by the NA kin§s for describing the erection of the symbol of Assur: DINGIR M[E~ ~la ISme- Da-gan it-ti Za-zi-ia [x xl a-na ni-i~ DINGIR-lim za-ka-ri-im wa-a~-bu, "the gods of ISme-Dagan were installed with Zaziya [x xl for the oath of the gods

Adad, whose standards (urigalli!) go before me"; TCL 3 4. ~am~I-Adad V boasted of capturing the divine standard (dllrigal/i) of the Babylonian king Baba-aba-iddina "which goes before him" (illik pilngll); RIMA 3 AO.103.2.17'. In Assyrian texts this trope dates back to the inscriptions of A~~ur-dan II, RIMA 2 AO.98.1.48, and AMur-bel-kala, RIMA 2 AO.89.2 9'; AO.89.5 3'(?), though the expression SU.NIR illik malJri is attested in OB sources; Cii1;Kizilyay-Kraus, Nippur, 174 rev. 1. 57 ABL 699+617 rev. 7'-15' (81-2-4,468+K 1167) (writer: Bel-iqi~a, AMur-bel~akin, LUmu-x x). Restoration and translation by Steven W. Cole, Nippllr in Late Assyrian Times c. 755-612 Be (SAAS 4; Helsinki: Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 1996), p. 77, n. 55. It is a reasonable surmise that the "gods of the king" mentioned here were pole-mounted standards suitable for travel over difficult terrain and fashioned in the recognizable iconography of the gods they symbolized. 58 Dominique Charpin, "Une alliance contre l'Elam et Ie rituel de Iipit napiMim," in Fran~ois Vallat, ed., Contriblltion ill'Ilistoire de /'Iran: melanges offerts iI Jean Perrot (Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1990), pp. 115-16, n. 30; idem, "Un traite entre Zimri-Lim de Mari et Ibal-pi-EI II d'Bnunna," in Dominique Charpin and Francis Joannes, eds., Marc/wnds, diplomates et emperellrs: etlldes la civilisation mesopotamienlle offerts iI Palll Garelli (Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1991), pp. 163-64 and see the overview in Paul Hoskisson, "The Ngum 'Oath' in Mari," in Gordon D. Young, ed., Mari in Retrospect: Fifty Years of Mari and Mari Stlldies (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1992), pp. 203-10. ARMT 13, 147 describes the dispatch of the gods for the lipit lIapiMim-ritual; other Mari texts speak of their presence at the ni~ ill.


263

ceremony.,,59 In the context of transporting divine images for an oath ceremony, Habdu-Malik uses the expression ilum ~a beliya [Zimri-Lim] ina paniya illik.60 Exceptionally, in a letter from ISbi-Dagan to Zimri-Lim, the writer describes the presence of his [Zimri-Lim's] gods, the great weapons/ symbols (GI~.TUKUL.~ rabatim), and his servants at a lipit napi~tim (oath) ceremony.61 Although the Aramaic loan-word ade first appears in Akkadian sources of the eighth century, the institution of creating written treaties guaranteeing the loyalty of subordinate polities appears to have been common practice during the NA era. 62 Foreign gods were invoked in preserved NA

treaties concluded with peoples throughout the ancient Near East, whether of client or provincial status. 63 It is evident that symbols or images of both Assyrian and foreign gods were physically present during the ceremonies. In the course of the eighth campaign of Sargon II, the loyal client king

(0-:.:0-:.:0-:.:0-:':0-)

262

Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1987), pp. 353-64; Dietz Otto Edzard, "Der Vertrag von Ebla rni t A-bar-QA," in Pelio Fronzaroli, ed., Litern t ure and Liternry Language at Ebla (Quaderni di Sernitistica 18; Florence: Dipartimento di Linguistica, Universita di Firenze, 1992), pp. 187-217 (TM 75.G.2420). On the history of treaty and oath conventions in Western Asia and the terminology involved, see the studies in Moshe Weinfeld, "The Loyalty Oath in the Ancient Near East," UF 8 (1976): 379-414; Dennis J. McCarthy, Treaty and Covenant. A Study in the Ancient Oriental DOCllments and in the Old Testament (2nd ed.; AnBi 21a; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1978); Hayim Tadmor, "Treaty and Oath in the Ancient Near East: A Historian's Approach," in Gene M. Tucker and Douglas A Knight, eds., Humanizing America's Iconic Book: Society of Biblical Liternture Centennial Addresses 1980 (Society of Biblical Literature: Biblical Scholarship in North America 6; Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1982), pp. 12752; Paul KaUuveettil, Declarntion and Covenant: A Comprellensive Review of Covenant Formulae from the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East (AnBi 88; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1982); Brinkman, "Political Covenants, Treaties, and Loyalty Oaths," 81-112; Moshe Weinfeld, "The Common Heritage of Covenantal Traditions in the Ancient World," in I trnttati nelmondo antico, pp. 175-91; Pierre Arniet," Alliance des hommes, Alliance des dieux dans l'iconographie orientale," in Hermann Gasche and Barthel Hrouda, eds., Col/ectanea

59 ARMT 26/2, 526: 8-9 (A 333+A 2388), in a letter describing a treaty between the Turukkean king Zaziya and gme-Dagan of EkaUatum. If the restoration proposed in ARMT 26/1,32: 26-27 is sound, the verb used for "instaUing" the gods is ~akilIHl. 60 ARMT 26/2, 389: 27-29 (A 2125). The gods are those of Atamrum en

route to

Kurda.

61 A 3354+ cited in Charpin, "Un traite entre Zimri-Lim," 163 n. 60. 62 AK. Grayson," Akkadian Treaties of the Seventh Century B.C.," ICS 39 (1987): 128-29; Simo Parpola, "Neo-Assyrian Treaties from the Royal Archives of Nineveh," ICS 39 (1987): 180-83; SAA 2 xv-xxv; Mario Liverani, "Terminologia e ideologia del patto neUe iscrizioni reali assire," in Luciano Canfora, Mario Liverani, and Carlo Zaccagnini, eds., I trnttati nel mondo antico. Forma, ideologia,fl/nziolle (Saggi di storia antica 2; Rome: "L'Erma" di Bretschneider, 1990), pp. 113-47. The tradition of the Babylonian ade-agreement may be slightly older than its Assyrian counterpart; John A Brinkman, "Political Covenants, Treaties, and Loyalty Oaths in Babylonia and between Assyria and Babylonia," in I trnttati nel mondo antico, p. 99. Parpola's caveats regarding the semantic breadth of Assyrian ade, extending weU beyond "loyalty oath," are weU taken. The frequency with which the violation of oaths occurs in Assyrian annals and epistolary documents attests to the routine nature of the institution as a political expedient; for examples, see Bustenay Oded, War, Peace and Empire: Justifications for War in Assyrian Royal Inscriptions (Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichert, 1992), pp. 83-94; Liverani, "Terminologia e ideologia del patto," 124-47. The NA diplomatic procedure of concluding binding agreements or treaties with foreign partners was a legacy of the MA and earlier states. In the eleventh century, Tiglath-pileser I released the captured king and army of Nai'ri in the presence of ~ama1§, after causing them to swear an oath by the great gods (mll1l1U i1l1niya rnbnti); RIMA 2 AO.87.1 v 12-16. Cuneiform treaties are attested as early as third-millennium Ebla; see W.G. Lambert, "The Treaty of Ebla," in Luigi Cagni, ed., Ebla 1975-1985: dieci allni di studi Iinguistici efilologici (Istituto Universitario Orientale, Series Minor 27; Naples:

Orientale: Ilistoire, arts de /'espace et indllstrie de la terre; etudes offerts en 110m mage iI Agn~s Spycket (Civilisations de Proche-Orient, Serie I: archeologie et environnement 3; NeucMtel and Paris: Recherches et Publications, 1991), pp. 1-6; Jean-Georges Heintz, "Alliance humaine-aUiance divine: documents d'epoque babylonienne ancienne & Bible hebrai"que-une esquisse," BN 86 (1997): 66-76. Jean-Marie Durand, "Precurseurs Syriens aux protocoles neoAssyriens - considerations sur la vie politique aux Bords-de-I'Euphrate," in Dominique Charpin and Francis Joannes, eds., Marc/wnds, diplomates et empereurs: etl/des la civilisation mesopotall/ielllle offerts iI Paul Carelli (Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1991), pp. 16-56 instructively compares the administration of oaths in the Zimri-Lim archives with NA practices.

63 SAA 2 nos. 1 obv. 16-rev. 16 (Babylonian deities); 2 vi 6-24 (Assyrian and West Semitic deities), 3 obv. 7'-11', rev. 2'-5' (Assyrian deities), 4 rev. 16'-27' (Assyrian deities), 5 iv 1'-19' (Assyrian and West Semitic deities), 6 13-40 (astral gods, Assyro-Babylonian pantheon, "aU the gods of one's land and district"), 8 25-27 (Assyrian and astral deities), 9 obv. 1'-2', rev. 5'-25' (AssyroBabylonian pantheon), 10 obv. 2'-3', rev. 8'-10' (Assyrian and Qedarite deities), 11 obv. 6 (astral deities?) rev. 1'-14' (Assyrian deities). On the cultic implications of the ade-treaty, see Watanabe, Die ade-Vereidigl/ng, p. 26 .

1

j

~:·'.I'

1 .

.

(..x ..:·:..:·:..:·:..) STEVEN W. HOLLOW A Y

265

Ullusunu and his people were feted at a banquet where, in a setting reminiscent of a loyalty oath ceremony, "in the ~esence of Assur and the gods of their country thV blessed my kingship." "Temples of the king,,65 and "gods of the king,,6 appear in correspondence addressed to Assurbanipal from Nippur, a key Assyrian bastion of loyalty during the Sama~ ~um-ukIn rebellion and in the following decades. Assyrian divine images at one point were used during a loyalty oath ceremony: "in Nippur as well as in Uruk in the midst of (the images of) your gods I took the loyalty oath to the king, my lord.,,67 ABL 699+617 reveals that these images traveled from Sarragltu to Nippur expressly for that rurpose. The" gods of the king" are distinguished from those of Nippur. 6 ABL 202 rev. 10-13 adds the valuable information that soldiers, their sons and wives "together with their gods" should take loyalty oaths to Assurbanipal, probably in Nippur and Uruk; these are presumably images of non-Assyrian divinities. Assurbanipal informs the loyal governor of Uruk that he is dispatching his eunuch, "third man" official, and Akkullanu, the well-known astrologer and erib-bUi priest of A~~ur, with the king's treaty tablet (fu~pi ade) to be 6 subscribed to by the governor himself and his countrymen. In conclusion, it is suggested that the kakki A~~ur functioned as a shorthand convention in the royal inscriptions of the second half of the eighth century for military standards of the Assyrian state pantheon used in the administration of loyalty oaths. In the annalistic accounts of the expedition to Media in his sixth paW, Sargon II's scribes utilize expressions that link the kakke ililni with battle standards, and in one variant use identical terms for the establishment of the kakki A~~ur at ljarbar. (Contemporary correspondence from the Assyrian governor of ljarbar mentions the conclusion of ade-agreements with various Median polities.) Such a convention could have developed out of the venerable association of Assur with a ceremonial

weapon normally housed in the Assur temple, and the numerous annalistic metaphors created to describe the warlike puissance of the emperor as one in whose hands were placed "his (Assur's) fierce weapons (kakkesu ezziite~ that in their progress from rising to setting sun crush the insubmissive," 0 or who is himself the weapon of the wrathful gods waging irresistible warfare against the enemies of the state: "you (the king of Subria) stirred up the fierce weapons of Assur from their rest.,,71 Provincial governors like Mannu-kI-Ninua of ljarbar IKar-SarrukIn were responsible for supplying gint1-offerings for the cult of Assur in the Assyrian heartland, and were actively involved in the administration of ade-oaths to their subjects. Based on the limited number of references to the "symbol of Assur" in the royal inscriptions, the absolute dearth of epistolary allusions to this "cult," and zero evidence for the existence of Assur temples outside the Neo-Assyrian heartland, I am inclined to believe that these images were used in the administration of oaths to peoples of both client and provincial status-and little else. The limited evidence does make clear, in any event, that these sacred objects were not intended to replace native gods or cults. If this interpretation is substantially correct, then the short-lived narrative trope of the emplacement of the symbol of Assur-the administration of ade-oaths-represents an activity performed many dozens if not many hundreds of times by Assyrian provincial rulers seeking diplomatic means to guarantee loyalty and a cessation of hostilities. Yet again, the Assyrian annals tease us with the mirage of historical self-disclosure that proves woefully thin on the information required to reconstruct Assyrian political policy. A review of 140 years of scholarship regarding the kakki A~~ur and related religio-political measures suggests that we remain locked in the same world view shared by Henry Rawlinson, insofar as the language of this institution-even in translation-continues to raise in our minds a beguiling host of Church-and-State expectations that bear greater resemblance to the world of the European past than the NA present. 72

264

64 TCL 3 63-64.

65 ABL 1074 obv. (Rrn 60). 66 ABL 699+617 rev. 4'-13' (81-2-4,468+K 1167). 67 inn NIBRU kl II inn UNUG ki inn libbi ifllnikn rev. 4-7 (K 83).

II

nde ~n ~n,.ri bi!liyn n$$nbnt; ABL 202

68 ABL 797 obv. 14-15 (K 672). 69 ABL539 rev. 12b-16 (K 17) (writer: Assurbanipal). Akkullanu's career is known from over thirty letters and astrological reports dealing primarily with astrological matters, the Assyrian temple cultus, and the substitute-king ritual; see LAS nos. 298,300-4,306-9,311-16. Comparable OB terminology, in context, includes fllpplllll $eumlll, fllpplllll rnbr1m, fllppi ng ifilll/i1l, fllppi lipit nnpiMilll.

70 Sargon II; TCL 3126. 71 Borger Asarh. §68 Cbr. II 104 i 32. 72 If, for

instance, Mannu-kI-Ninua's administration of nde-oaths in the environs of tJarbar constituted the historical gist of the imposition of the knkki A~SIl", then we are obliged to deconstruct the annalistic rhetoric as a routine piece of border diplomacy. Obligatory worship of the warlike captain of the conqueror's pantheon by trembling deportees and "pacified" locals makes for a gripping image, is fully consonant with the other sadistic narrative images

266

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The Formula "to Become a God" in Hittite Historiographical Texts Sylvia Hutter-Braunsar Graz

SOME PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT YEARS concerning the possible deification of Hittite kings show a revival of the discussion about this theme.} About forty years ago Oliver Gurney stated that the Hittite king could not be a god during his lifetime because he became a god when he died. 2 Especially rock carvings and seals showing the Hittite kings with the horned crown were taken as portraits of deceased kings.3 But the seal impression on the tablet RS 17.159 (CTH 107)4 showing Tudbaliya IV with the horned crown proves that at least this king was depicted with this divine emblem during his lifetime, because the tablet contains Tudbaliya's regulation on the divorce of Ammgtamru of Ugarit. Whether this is a special case concerning only Tudbaliya IV or not we have to leave undecided here. s The formula "to become a god" is well known from the Hittite Funerary Ritual (ex. 1):6 ma-a-an URUtJa-at-tu-~i ~al-li-i~ wa-aHa-a-i~ ki-~a-ri na-a~-~u-za LUGAL-u~ na-a~-ma MUNUS.LUGAL-a~ DINGIRLlM_i~ ki-~a-ri

If in tJattu~a a great calamity happens, (namely) either the king or the queen becomes a god. surrounding the creation or re-establishment of these six provincial centers, and resonates deeply with the medieval Christian and modern colonial intellectual baggage that most of us carry into the library or study. But if the imposition of the kakki AM"r was fundamentally a jejune diplomatic procedure rather than an innovative psychological terror tactic, then it is little wonder that the royal scribes found for it a menacing turn of phrase suited to conceal rather than reveal the actual intent of the measure, while at the same time further inflating the portrait of the victorious king meting out condign vengeance upon the insubmissive.

Compare, for example, Haas 1994: 189f. + n. 40. 2 Gurney 1958: 119f.

3 For literature, see van den Hout 1995b: esp. 546f. 4 For the text, see Nougayrol1956: 126f.; for a picture, Schaeffer 1956: 19.

S Van den Hout 1995b: esp. 571-73. 6 For the passages in question, see the Appendix.

267

268

C:~:':~:':~:':~:':~J

"TO BECOME A GOD"

SYLVIA HUTTER-BRAUNSAR

Besides this occurrence in a religious text, we find the formula in historiographical texts (such as annals) and historiographical passages (such as the so-called historical preambles of the treaties). This formula is the only reference in Hittite texts to the belief that dead Hittite kings turned into gods. We find texts concerning dead kings (and other members of the royal family) that are testimonies to the king's ancestor cult: the so-called king-lists (CTH 660, 661), where the offerings for deceased members of the royal dynasty are listed? In them the names are written with the "Personendeterminativ" (the cuneiform sign preceding a male personal name), not with the "Gottesdeterminativ" (the cuneiform sign preceding a god's name). Such "lists" are parts of festivals, where offerings to statues of deceased persons are mentioned besides those to gods and deified objects; see for example the passage of the sixteenth day of the AN.TA{j.SUM-festival (ex. 12):

(~:':~:':~:':~:':~J

269

riographic passages and texts shows that they all belong to the time of the Hittite Empire: we find it in texts of Mursili IT (ex. 4-6), ljattusili ill (ex. 79), and Tudbaliya IV (ex. 10-11). There seem to be two exceptions: The Annals of Tudbaliya (CTH 142, ex. 3) are Middle Hittite, and Telipinu's Proclamation (CTH 19, ex. 2) is said to go back even further. But only one fragment of CTH 142 is actually Middle Hittite, as Erich Neu has pointed out, and it is not the one with our formula.1° The events told in the decree of Telipinu relate to the Old Hittite Period, but the preserved texts date from the Empire period. 11 It is the same with the Hittite Funerary Ritualsthe concept may be Middle Hittite,12 but we have no text or fragment written before the New Empire that contains DINGIRLIM ki§-.13 On the other hand, we do not find the formula in texts dating from the Old Hittite Kingdom where we would e~ect it, particularly in ljattusili I's so-called Political Testament (CTH 6).1 This means that there are no testimonies to this formula older than the Empire period-or, in other words, the expression seems to be an innovation. In opposition to this the offering-lists for kings (and other members of the royal family) mention names of kings from the Old Kingdom, and end with Muwatalli. 15 So one could assume that there was a change in the belief concerning the afterlife or the cult for the dead. But offerings to statues of deceased kings are well attested also in the Empire Period (compare the passage in the AN.TA.{j.SUM-festival, ex. 12). So we cannot take the formula DINGIRLIM ki§- as an indication of a change of religious belief concerning the afterlife (at least the king's afterlife) during the New Empire. At the end of this chronological excursus we know no more than before. Let us turn to the context of the formula in historiographical texts. In most of its occurrences the formula is connected with the reference to the successor's accession to the throne. Literally we can find this combination in the examples 4.1, 4.3, 4.4 (Annals of Mursili II), 5 (Kupanta DKurunta-

U A-NA ALAM mt/A-AT-TU-SI-DINGIRLIM l-SU ~i-pa-an-ti And once he makes a libation to the statue of .{jattu~ili. Even in the preserved parts of the Hittite Funerary Rituals the dead king-his ZI (soul) or his ALAM (image, statue)-is never called "god" or "deified," but simply akkanta§ ("dead"). As H. Otten has pointed out, there is also no expression comparable to Latin divus in genealogies of Hittite kings a t the beginnings of their decrees, treaties, or annals. 8 This led Volkert Haas to conclude that the dead king was not deified but that the soul of the king and the god Siu fused together? How can we bring these conflicting facts into line? The king became a god during the process of dying, but obviously he was not considered a god after death. If the Hittites believed that their dying king became a god, why did they not call him "god"? What god of their "thousand gods" were they thinking of? Why did they not mention the god's name (or the goddess's name in the case of a queen or princess)? Perhaps we must seek the answer in chronological considerations. A preliminary look at the occurrences of the formula DINGIRLIM ki§- in his to-

10

Neu 1986: 183f. (5.1), 187. 11 Hoffmann 1984: 4. 12 Van den Hout, 1994: 57; Melchert 1991: 185; Haas 1994: 219. 13 Van den Hout 1994: 57 n. 82. 14 Sommer and Fa lkenstein 1938. In this text .{jattu§ili is speaking abou this dea th and may be giving orders for his funeral; for the discussion of the passage in question, see de Kuyper 1987; de Martino 1989; Melchert 1991: 184f.; and Haas 1994: 217. 15 Haas 1994: 247. But notice that, for example, CTH 661.1 is broken just after

Otten 1951. 8 Otten 1989: 22. 9 Haas 1994: 243 argues that DINGIR is the logogram for ~ildll)-("god"), which he identifies with the Indo-European sun-god in the Anitta-Text (CTH 1). One can neither prove nor disprove this thesis. Beckman 1995: 531f. thinks that the royal ancestor cult was so extensive because the dead king was much more dangerous to all the land of Hatti than a "normal" dead man to his family. 7

Muwatalli's name. , i

SYL VIA HUTTER-BRA UNSAR

271

Treaty), 7 (Apology of tJattu1Hli ill), 8 (Indictment against Arma-Tarbunta), 11.1,11.2 (Treaty with Sausgamuwa of Amurru). Did kings like Mursill il, tJattusill ill, and Tudbaliya IV want to legitimate themselves by emphasizing their descent from a deified predecessor?16 But what use could this bring to the successor, since the deification took place only after dying? So no Hittite king could claim to be a god's descendant (again we can ask: which god's descendant?). This seems to be a dead end, too. And if we draw our attention to the Telipinu Proclamation (ex. 4), it seems odd that just tJantili and Arnmuna, both murderers and "Unglticksherrscher," became gods, and the others-among them successful kings like Labarna, tJattusill I, and Mursill I-did not, although, on the other hand, the text does not use the phrase "he died (akta)" for them. For a better understanding let us draw our attention to the context of the formula in the Funerary Ritual (ex. 1). There we read: "If in tJattusa a great calamity happens, (namely) either the king or the queen becomes a god." The meaning of wa~tai- has been discussed repeatedlyP Literally it means "sin, sacrilege or crime, offense," but it has been interpreted as "defect/lack" or "disaster," too. But no matter how we finally translate it, in all cases it has a negative connotation. This connection of ~alli~ wa~tai~ and DINGIRLlM ki~- may help us arrive at a better understanding of the passages mentioned in the historical texts: only if we bear in mind this negative component will we obtain the key to its meaning in historiographical sections. The euphemism DINGIRLlM kg-and I want to interpret it in this way because of the lack of other evidence for the king's deification after dying-evokes the connection with ~alli~ waMai~, which is an expression for the chaos that has been caused by the emperor's death. By saying "When my father/brother died and I ascended the throne ... " the successor introduces himself as the very one who brings this cosmic disorder to its end. This explanation is especially fittina in example 2 (Telipinu-Proclamation), in which the occurrence of DINGIR 1M ki~- is hard to understand otherwise. Here "becoming a god" of the reigning king is like a starting signal for bloodshed. Also the examples 3 (Annals of a Tudbaliya), 4.2, and 4.3 (Annals of Mursili II) fit this interpretation. In these texts it is said explicitly that the subdued countries tried to get rid of Hittite rule in the precarious situation during a change of emperor, and the author describes how the king was able to master this dangerous situation. In text 10 (Bronze Tablet) Tudbaliya says that Kurunta did not take advantage of the situation when tJattusili died.

Let us conclude. We actually do not know exactly what happened to the Hittite king when "becoming a god." He surell did not become a deity like the sun-deity or the storm-god; but DINGIRLl ki~- made a distinction between certain members of the royal family and ordinary men. P. Neve thinks that the deification, which is expressed for example also through the representation of the Hittite kings in the Empire period, is influenced by Egyptian thought;18 but as far as the formula treated here is concerned, we must bear in mind that from the Middle Egyptian Period onwards every dead Egyptian could become the God Osiris, if the relevant rituals were carried out correctly.19 However, it is not necessary to look for influences as far as Egypt. In texts from Nuzi and Emar we find iliini combined with ancestor cult and inheritance. 20 From these texts one could get the impression that every dead man was worshipped as a god, which is clearly not intended in Hittite texts. In my opinion we can find better correspondences with Ugaritic texts,21 especially KTU 1.161,22 which probably is a coronation ritual for King Arnmurapi of Ugarit. During this ritual the deified ancestors are invoked to give their blessing to the new king (and the city). This connection between ancestor cult and inheritance of the throne, or good luck for the new king-and also the whole land-we can find, for example, in a passage of the Hittite Funerary Ritual (CTH 450, KUB 30,19 rev. iv 1-6: Otten 1958: 44f.), where the dead king is invoked to bless his children, so that his kingdom would last for generations and he could be worshipped in his temple. It can also be found in the Treaty between Tudbaliya IV and Kurunta (CTH 106.A.1 §1O; Otten 1988: 14), where we hear that Kurunta was not allowed to go to his father's mausoleum, because he could have tried to legitimate himself to ascend the throne through his carrying out the ancestor cult for his father, King Muwattalli. The formula DINGIRLlM ki~- was a euphemism for "to die" (akk-) and was-with its negative component-adapted for historiographic texts to remind the reader-or, better, listener-of the ~alli~ waMai~ that is caused

270

c:~:.:~:.:~:.:~:.:~)

16 Gesche 1978 tries to explain the divination of Roman emperors this way. 17 Van den Hout 1994: 56f. + n. 80 with literature.

18 Neve 1993: 6. 19 Assmann 1986: esp. 663-67. 20 Van der Toorn 1994; Pitard 1996: 126-29 argues that the expression ililni il efellllll11 /IIITta in the Emar texts is not hendiadys, but wants to distinguish between gods and ancestors. Nevertheless the texts show that these dead men were worshipped together with and in the same manner as gods. 21 Compare, for example, Hallo 1992: 384; Aboud 1994 passim. 22 For the text, see Aboud 1994: 157-60 and Levine, de Tarragon, and Robertson 1997: 357f.

(9:':9:.:9:.:9:':9)

272

SYLVIA HUTTER-BRA UNSAR

by an emperor's death, so he could better appreciate the king's results in over-coming this chaotic situation.

APPENDIX (1) KUB 30,16 + KUB 39,1 i 1f (CTH 450: Otten 1958: 18; Gurney 1977: 59): ma-a-an uRutJa-at-tu-~i ~al-li-g wa-a~-ta-a-g kHa-ri na-a~-~u-za LUGAL-u~ na-a~-ma MUNUS.LUGAL-a~ DlNGIRLlM_g ki-~a-ri

If in tJattu~a a great calamity happens, (namely) either the king or the queen becomes a god. (2) Telipinu Proclamation (CTH 19) §18 obv. i 63-65 (Hoffmann 1984: 24f.; van den Hout 1997a: 195): ma-a-an mtJa-an-ti-i-li-i~-~a LllSU.GI ki-~a-at na-a~ DINGIRLlM_g ki-ik-kig-~u-u-wa-an da-a-i~ nu-kan mZi-dan-ta-a~ mPi-~e-ni-in DUMU mHa-an-tii-li QA-DU DUMUMES_SU ku-en-ta ba-an-te-iz-zi-uHa ARADM~-SU kuen-ta And when tJantili grew old and began to become a god, Zidanta killed pgeni, tJantili's son together with his sons; and his chief servants he killed. §21 obv. ii 4-7 (Hoffmann 1984: 26f.; van den Hout 1997a: 196): ma-a-an mAm-mu-na-a~-~a DlNGIRLlM_i~ ki-~a-at mZu-ru-u-u~-~a GAL UJ MES ME-SE-OI du-ud-du-mi-li a-pi-e-da-a~-pat UD.KAMI:JI.A-a~ ba-a~ ~a-an-na-a~-~a-a~ DUMU-SU mTa-bur-wa-i-li-in LlJ GISSUKURGUSKIN pii-e-it nu-za-kan mTi-it-ti-ya-a~ ba-a~-~a-tar QA-DU DUMUMES_SU ku-en-ta When Arnrnuna, too, became a god, Zuru, the Chief of the Royal Bodyguards, in those days secretly sent, of his own offspring, his son Taburwaili, a Man of the Gold Spear, and he killed Tittiya's family together with his sons. (3) Annals of a Tudbaliya (CTH 142.1 = KUB 23, 27 i 1-3: Carruba 1977: 156f.): UMMA Tabarna mTuthaliya LUGAL.GAL man ABUYA DINGIRLTM_i~ kgat Ogaz TUR-a~ e~un nu LUGAL KUR URU Arzauwa

Thus (speaks) Tabarna Tudbaliya, Great King: When my father became a god I was small, and the King of Arzawa ... (began to wage war).

"TO BECOME A GOD"

(9:.:9:.:9:.:9;':9)

273

(4) Annals of Mur~ili II (CTH 61) (4.1) KBo 3, 4 i 4f (G6tze 1933: 14f.): nu-za A-BU-YA ku-wa-pi DINGIRLlM_g DU-at mAr-nu-an-da-a~-ma-za-kan SES- YA A-NA GlSGU.ZA A-BI-SU e-~a-at And as soon as my father became a god my brother Arnuwanda sat upon his father's throne. (4.2) KBo 3, 4 i 8 (G6tze 1933: 16f.; Bryce 1998: 208): ma-ab-ba-an-ma-za mAr-nu-an-da-a~ SES-YA DlNGIRLlM_g ki-~a-at When my brother Arnuwanda became a god (the enemy lands who had not yet made war, those enemy lands also made war). (4.3) KBo 3, 4 i 10-13 (G6tze 1933: 16-20; Bryce 1998: 208): A-BU-SU-wa-a~-~i ku-g LUGAL KUR tJat-ti e-eHa nu-wa-ra-a~ URSAG-g LUGAL-u~ e-eHa nu-wa-za KURKURMES Ll1KUR tar-ab-ba-an bar-ta nu-wa-ra-a~-za DlNGIRLlM_g DU-at DUMU-SU-ma-wa-a~-~i-za-kan ku-i~ A-NA GlSGU.ZA A-BI-SU e-~a-at nu-wa a-pa-a-a~-~a ka-ru-u Ll1GURUS-an-za e-eHa nu-wa-ra-an ir-ma-li-at-ta-at nu-wa-za a-pa-a-a~-~a DlNGIRLlM_g ki-~a-at ki-nu-un-ma-wa-za-kan ku-gA-NA GlSGU.ZAA-BI-SU e-~a-at nu-wa-ra-a~

TUR-Ia-a~

nu-wa KURtJat-ti ZAGI:JI.A KURtJa-at-ti-ya-wa ll-UL TI-nu-zi His father, who was king of the land of Hatti and a Hero-King, held sway over the enemy lands. And he became a god. But his son who sat upon his father's throne and was previously a great warrior fell iII, and he also became a god. Yet he who has recently sat upon his father's throne is a child. He wiII not preserve the land of Hatti and the territory of the Hatti lands. (4.4) KBo 4, 4 iv 65f. (G6tze 1933: 142f.): A-BU-YA-ma-za DlNGIRLlM_i~ ki-~a-at / GIM-an-ma-za-kan am-mu-uk A-NA Gl~GU.ZA A-BI-YA e-e~-ba-at

But my father became a god. / And when I sat down on my father's throne ... (I took care of Masbuiluwa).

274

(X:'::'::':

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