Ancient Iraq

by Georges Roux

  18. Located near lake Urmiah by E. I. GORDON, Bi. Or., XVII (1960), p. 132, n. 63; near Kerman, in central Iran, by Y. MADJIZADEH, JNES, XXXV (1976), p. 107; around Shahr-i Sokhta, in eastern Iran, by J. F. HANSMAN, JNES, XXXVII (1978), pp. 331 – 6.

  19. On the Sumerian cycle of Gilgamesh, see HBS, pp. 174 – 81 and 190 – 99; ANET, pp. 45 – 52; Gilgamesh et sa Légende, Paris, 1960.

  20. In 1960 the Gilgamesh epic had been translated into twelve languages (Gilgamesh et sa Légende, pp. 24 – 7, and this figure is probably much higher now. Among the main English translations are those of A. HEIDEL, The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels, Chicago, 1949; E. A. SPEISER and A. K. GRAYSON in ANET, pp. 72 – 9 and 503 – 7 (from which we quote), and J. GARDNER, J. MAIER and R. HENSHAW, Gilgamesh, New York, 1984.

  21. Beside various Iraqi sites (notably Nineveh), fragments of tablets of the Gilgamesh epic have been found in Palestine (Megiddo) and Turkey (Sultan Tepe, Boghazköy). The Hittite and Hurrian translations were found at the latter site.

  Chapter 8

  1. Inscriptions found in 1973 at al-Hiba have shown that this site is ancient Lagash, whilst Telloh is Girsu. The two towns are 30 kilometres apart, but together with Shurgal (Nina) they were part of the same city-state named ‘Lagash’. V. E. CRAWFORD, ‘Lagash’, Iraq, XXVI (1974), pp. 29 – 35.

  2. Fifteen campaigns of excavations were carried out in Girsu (then called Lagash) between 1877 and 1910, and four campaigns between 1929 and 1933. For a review of the overall results, see A. PARROT, Tello, Paris, 1948.

  3. D. O. EDZARD, ‘Enmebaragesi von Kish’, ZA, 53 (1959), pp. 9 – 26.

  4. Abu Salabikh is 20 kilometres from Nippur. It has been excavated by the Americans from 1963 to 1965 and by the British since 1975. Preliminary reports in Iraq since 1976. Overall results of excavations by N. POSTGATE in J. CURTIS (ed.), Fifty Years of Mesopotamian Discovery, London, 1982, pp. 48 – 61. The ancient name of this town could be Kesh (not to be confused with Kish).

  5. The Italian excavations at Ebla began in 1964 and are still in progress. General books on archaeology and texts: P. MATTHIAE; Ebla, an Empire Rediscovered, New York, 1980; G. PETTINATO, The Archives of Ebla. An Empire Inscribed in Clay; Garden City, N.Y., 1981. The texts are published in two parallel series: Materiali Epigrafici di Ebla, Napoli, since 1979, and Archivi Reali di Ebla, Roma, since 1985. Numerous studies in the periodical Studi Eblaiti, Roma, since 1979 and many other publications.

  6. Preliminary reports of the first twenty-one campaigns of excavations at Mari (1933 – 9 and 1951 – 74) in Syria and AAAS. Four volumes of final reports have been published. The temples, sculptures and inscriptions of the Early Dynastic period can be found in Mission Archéologique de Mari, vol. I, Le Temple d'Ishtar, Paris, 1956; vol. III, Les Temples d'Ishtarat et de Ninni-zaza, Paris, 1967, vol. IV, Le Trésor d'Ur, Paris, 1968. For an overview, see: A. PARROT, Mari, Capitale Fabuleuse, Paris, 1974. The French excavations at Mari have been resumed and are going on.

  7. W. ANDRAE, Das wiedererstandene Assur, Leipzig, 1938, 2nd revised edition, Munich, 1977. For more detail, by the same author: Die archaischen Ischtar-Temple in Assur, Leipzig, 1922.

  8. British excavations from 1967 to 1973. Preliminary reports in Iraq, XXX (1968) to XXXV (1973). Overall results by J. E. READE in J. CURTIS (ed.), Fifty Years…, pp. 72 – 8.

  9. German excavations under A. MOORTGAT, since 1958. Prelimi-nary reports 1969 – 73 by A. MOORTGAT et al., Tell Chuera in Nordöst Syrien, Köln and Opladen, 1960 – 75.

  10. Eight volume of reports on the Chicago Oriental Institute excavations in the Diyala basin have been published between 1940 and 1967 in the series ‘Oriental Institute Publications’ (OIP). Six of them concern the third millennium B.C. For a short description see SETON LLOYD, The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, London, 1978, pp. 93

  11. O. TUNCA, L'Architecture Religieuse Protodynastique en Mésopotamie, 2 vol., Leuven, 1984. Also see. H. E. W. CRAWFORD, The Architecture of Iraq in the Third Millennium B.C., Copenhagen, 1977, pp. 22 – 6 and 80 – 82.

  12. Cf. A. PARROT, Sumer, 2nd edition, 1981, fig. 13 – 15, 127 – 30, 133, 134 (Tell Asmar); 131, 132 (Khafaje); 137–8 (Tell Khueira); 30, 148, 153, 154 (Mari); 139 – 41 (Nippur), 135 (Eridu), 136 (Telloh); 144 (al-Ubaid).

  13. A. PARROT, Sumer, 1981, p. 148.

  14. SETON LLOYD, The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, London, 1978, pp. 132 – 4; G. M. SCHWARTZ, ‘The Ninevite V period and current research’, Paléorient, 11, 1985, pp. 52 – 70; M. ROAF, R. KILICK, ‘A mysterious affair of style: the Ninevite V pottery of Northern Mesopotamia’, Iraq, XLIX (1987), pp. 199 – 230.

  15. SETON LLOYD, Op. cit., pp. 124 – 7; D. COLLON, First Impressions. Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East, London, 1987, pp. 20 – 31.

  16. Numerous studies have been devoted to this subject. Among these, see: A. FALKENSTEIN, ‘La cité-temple sumérienne’ in Cahiers d'Histoire Mondiale I, Paris, 1954, pp. 784 – 814; S. N. KRAMER, The Sumerians, Chicago, 1963, pp. 73 – 112; I. J. GELB, ‘The ancient Mesopotamian ration system’, JNES, XXIV (1965), pp. 230 – 43; C. C. LAMBERG-KARLOVISKY; ‘The economic world of Sumer’ in D. SCHMANDT-BESSERAT (ed.), The Legacy of Sumer, Malibu, Calif., 1976, pp. 59 – 68.

  17. I. M. DIAKONOFF, Sale of Land in Presargonic Sumer, Moscow, 1954.

  18. W. W. HALLO, Early Mesopotamian Royal Titles, New Haven, 1967; M. J. SEUX, Epithètes Royales Akkadiennes et Sumériennes, Paris, 1967.

  19. Kish: E. MACKAY, A Sumerian Palace and the ‘A' Cemetery at Kish, Chicago, 1929; P. R. S. MOOREY, Kish Excavations, Oxford, 1978, pp. 55 – 60; Mari: A. PARROT, Syria, XLII (1965) to XLIX (1972); Mari, Capitale Fabuleuse, Paris, 1974, pp. 73 – 88; Eridu: F. SAFAR, Sumer, VII (1950), pp. 31 – 3.

  20. C. L. WOOLLEY, Ur, the Royal Cemetery (UE II), London, 1934; Ur of the Chaldees (updated by P. R. S. MOOREY), London, 1982, pp. 51 – 103.

  21. C. J. GADD, ‘The spirit of living sacrifice in tombs’, Iraq, XXII (1960), pp. 51 – 8.

  22. ANET, p. 51 [cf. S. N. KRAMER, Iraq, XXII (1960), pp. 59 – 68].

  23. P. R. S. MOOREY, ‘What do we know about the people buried in the Royal Cemetery?’, Expedition, XX (1977 – 8), pp. 24 – 40; G. ROUX, ‘La grande énigme des tombes d'Ur’, L'Histoire, (Paris), LXXV (1985), pp. 56 – 66.

  24. M. LAMBERT, ‘Les réformes d'Urukagina’, RA, LI (1957), pp. 139 – 44, and Orientalia, XLIV (1975), pp. 22 – 51; S. N. KRAMER, The Sumerians, pp. 79 – 83; B. HRUSK, ‘Die Reformtexte Urukaginas‘, in Le Palais et la Royauté, pp. 151 – 61.

  25. The very important site of Ur (el-Mughayir, 15 kilometres south-west of Nasriyah) was excavated by a British-American team from 1922 to 1934. Final reports in Ur Excavations (UE), London, 10 volumes published. Texts in Ur Excavations Texts (UET), London/Philadelphia, 9 volumes published. For an overview see C. L. WOOLLEY Ur of the Chaldees, London, 1982.

  26. A. PARROT and G. DOSSIN, Le Trésor d'Ur, Paris, 1968. On the problems raised by this discovery, cf. M. E. L. MALLOWAN, Bi.Or., XXVI (1969), pp. 87 – 9; E. SOLLBERGER, RA, LXIII (1969), pp. 169 – 70, and G. DOSSIN, RA, LXIV (1970), pp. 163-8.

  27. As told by Entemena: ISA, pp. 63 ff.; RISA, pp. 57 ff., IRSA, pp. 71 ss. Latest study: J. S. COOPER, Reconstructing History from Ancient Inscriptions: the Lagash-Umma Border Conflict, Malibu, Calif., 1983.

  28. Akshak is probably to be located to the east of the Tigris, between the Diyala and the Lesser Zab.

  29. This text was initially published by G. PETTINATO, notably in Oriens Antiquus, XIX (1980), pp. 231 – 45, as a campaign of Eblaites against Mari. This was challenged on grammatical grounds by D. O. EDZARD in Studi Eblaiti, XIX (1980) and interpreted by him, followed by other scholars, as described here.

  30. A. ARCHI, ‘Les rapports politiques et économiques entre Ebla et Mari’ in MARI, IV, Paris, 1985, pp. 63–83.

  31. F. PINNOCK, ‘About the trade of early Syrian Ebla’, ibid., pp. 85 – 92.

  32. Excavated by the University of Chicago in 1903 – 4. E. J. BANKS, Bismaya,
or the Lost City of Adab, New York, 1912.

  33. ISA, pp. 90 ff.; RISA, pp. 89 ff.; S. N. KRAMER, The Sumerians, pp. 322 – 3.

  34. ISA, pp. 218 ff.; RISA, pp. 97 ff.; TH. JACOBSEN, ZA, 52 (1957), pp. 135 – 6; S. N. KRAMER, The Sumerians, pp. 323 – 4.

  Chapter 9

  1. Condensed information on the Semites in general can be found in: S. MOSCATI, The Semites in Ancient History, Cardiff, 1959.

  2. For criticism of the ‘Arabian theory’, cf. J. M. GRINZ, ‘On the original home of the Semites’, JNES, XXI (1962), pp. 186 – 203. But we cannot agree with the author's views that northern Mesopotamia and southern Armenia were the cradle of the Semites.

  3. On nomads in the ancient East, see: J. R. KUPPER, Les Nomades en Mésopotamie au Temps des Rois de Mari, Paris, 1957, and the penetrating studies of M. B. ROWTON in Orientalia, XLII (1973), pp. 247 – 58; JNES, XXXII (1973), pp. 201 – 15; JESHO, XVII (1974), pp. 1 – 30.

  4. S. N. KRAMER, Genava, VIII (1960), p. 277.

  5. A. GUILLAUME, Prophecy and Divination among the Hebrews and other Semites, London, 1939.

  6. R. D. BIGGS, ‘Semitic names in the Fara period’, Orientalia, XXXVI (1967), pp. 55 – 66.

  7. On this subject, see the articles by D. O. EDZARD and L. J. GELB in Aspects du Contact Suméro-Akkadien, Geneva, 1960, and F. R. KRAUS, Sumerer und Akkader, Amsterdam/London, 1970.

  8. ANET, p. 119; B. LEWIS, The Sargon Legend, Cambridge, Mass., 1980; J. S. COOPER and W. HEIMPEL, ‘The Sumerian Sargon Legend’, JAOS CIII (1983), pp. 67 – 92.

  9. We are referring to Sargon's inscriptions, many of which are second-millennium copies. See: IRSA, pp. 97 – 9; ANET, pp. 260-68 and H. E. HIRSCH, ‘Die Inschriften der Könige von Agade’, AfO, XX (1963), pp. 1 – 82.

  10. The various sites suggested are listed in RGTC, I, p. 9 and II, p. 6. The hypothesis that Agade was the present Mizyiad, 6 kilometres north-west of Kish (H. WEISS, JAOS, XVC (1975), pp. 442 – 51) has been disproved by Iraqi excavations of that mound.

  11. ‘Hymnal prayer of Enheduanna: the adoration of Inanna in Ur’, ANET, pp. 579 – 82 (transl. S. N. KRAMER).

  12. Unidentified city (RGTC, I, p. 76), probably in northern Syria and perhaps Irim of the Ebla texts.

  13. On the bronze head, see M. E. L. MALLOWAN in Iraq, III (1936), p. 104 ff. On the texts, see 1. J. GELB, Old Akkadian Writing and Grammar, Chicago, 1961, pp. 194 – 5.

  14. W. ALBRIGHT, The epic of the King of the Battle’, JSOR, VII (1923), pp. 1 ff.; E. F. WEIDNER, ‘Der Zug Sargons von Akkad nach Kleinasien’, Bo.Stu., VI (1922).

  15. J. NOUGAYROL, ‘Un chef d'oeuvre inédit de la littérature babylonienne', RA, XLV (1951), pp. 169 ff. On a late text purporting to describe the geography of Sargon's empire, see: A. K. GRAYSON, ‘The Empire of Sargon of Akkad’, AfO, XXV (1974 – 7), pp. 56 – 64.

  16. KING, Chronicles, I, pp. 27 – 156; ABC, pp. 152 – 4; ANET, p. 266.

  17. A. GOETZE, ‘Historical allusions in Old Babylonian omen texts’, JCS, I (1947), p. 256, No. 13. For a discussion of the weapons involved (stone tablets, heavy seals, other cylindrical objects?), cf. D. J. WISEMAN, ‘Murder in Mesopotamia’, Iraq, XXXVI (1974), p. 254.

  18. IRSA, p. 104.

  19. P. MATTHIAE, Ebla, in Impero Ritrovato, Torino, 1977, pp. 47, 182. It seems that the Early Dynastic palace of Mari was destroyed on the way.

  20. This huge tell was first excavated in 1937 – 8, then from 1976 onwards. For an overall view of the results, see: M. E. L. MALLOWAN in Twenty-five Years of Mesopotamian Discovery, London, 1956, pp. 24 – 38, and D. OATES in J. CURTIS (ed.), Fifty Years of Mesopotamian Discovery, London, 1982, pp. 62 – 71. Recent reports in Iraq. To the vast ‘Narâm-Sin Palace’ (in fact a fortified administrative building) must now be added several houses and a temple.

  21. Rock sculpture of Darband-i-Gawr in S. SMITH, History of Early Assyria, London, 1928, p. 97. Stele of Narâm-Sin: J. DE MORGAN, MDP (1900), pp. 144 ff.; v. SCHEIL, MDP, II (1900), pp. 53 ff.; A. PARROT, Sumer, pls. 212 – 13.

  22. So called because it was written on an apocryphal stele allegedly deposited in Kutha (Tell Ibrahim). Cf. O. GURNEY, Anatolian Studies, V (1955), pp. 93 – 113. In another inscription, Narâm-Sin admits defeat; his numerous troops were crushed and he could only defend Agade; but the text is incomplete. Cf. A. K. GRAYSON and E. SOLLBERGER, ‘L’insurrection générale contre Narâm-Suen’, RA, LXX (1976), pp. 103 – 28.

  23. MDP, IV, pl. XI; ISA, pp. 246 ff; RISA, p. 151.

  24. J. S. COOPER, The Curse of Agade, Baltimore/London, 1983.

  25. S. PIGGOTT, Prehistoric India, Harmondsworth, 1950; SIR MORTIMER WHEELER, The Indus Civilization, Cambridge, 1962; Civilizations of the Indus Valley and beyond, London, 1966; G. L. POSSEHL (ed.) Harappan Civilization, Warminster, 1982. Commercial relations with the Indus valley were already established during the Early Dynastic period (UE, II, pp. 397 ff.).

  26. A five-foot-high pyramidal block of diorite covered with an Akkadian inscription in sixty-nine columns and known as the ‘obelisk of Manishtusu’ refers to the purchase by the king of a large estate in central Mesopotamia. Translation by V. SCHEIL, MDP, II (1900), pp. 1 – 52. See also: H. HIRSCH, AfO, XX (1963), p. 14.

  Chapter 10

  1. On the Guti, see: c. J. GADD, CAH, I, 2, pp. 457 – 63 and W. W. HALLO, article ‘Gutium’ in RLA, 3 (1971), pp. 708 – 20.

  2. R. KUTSCHER, The Brockmon Tablets at the University of Haifa. Royal Inscriptions, Haifa, 1989, pp. 49 – 70.

  3. IRSA, p. 132; W. H. P. RÖMER, ‘Zur Siegensinschrift des Königs Utu-hegal von Unug (c. 216 – 2110 v.Chr.), Orientalia, LIV (1985), pp. 274 – 88.

  4. S. N. KRAMER, ‘The Ur-Nammu law-code: who was its author?’, Orientalia, LII (1983), pp. 453 – 56.

  5. The main studies concerning ziqqurats are: H. J. LENZEN, Die Entwicklung der Zikkurat, Leipzig, 1941; TH. BUSINK, De Babylonische Tempeltoren, Leiden, 1949; A. PARROT, Ziggurats et Tour de Babel, Paris, 1949; W. ROLLIG, ‘Der Turm zu Babel’ in A. ROSENBERG (ed.), Der babylonische Turm. Aufbruch ins Masslose, München, 1975.

  6. S. N. KRAMER and A. FALKENSTEIN, ‘Ur-Nammu law code‘, Orientalia, 23 (1954), pp. 40 – 51. E. SZLECHTER, ‘Le code d'Ur-Nammu’, RA, XLIX (1955), pp. 169 – 77. J. J. FINKELSTEIN, ‘The laws of Ur-Nammu’, JCS, XXII (1968 – 9), pp. 66 – 82.

  7. C. L. WOOLLEY, The Ziggurat and its Surroundings (UE, V), London, 1939; SIR LEONARD WOOLLEY and R. P. S. MOOREY, Ur of the Chaldees London, 1982, pp. 138 – 47.

  8. A. FALKENSTEIN, Die Inschriften Gudeas von Lagash, 1, Rome, 1966. Bibliography in W. RÖMER, ‘Zurn heutigen’ Stande der Gudeaforschung’, Bi.Or., XXVI (1969 pp. 159 – 71. The quotations given here are from: Cylinder A, translation M. LAMBERT and R. TOURNAY, RB, 55 (1948), pp. 403 – 23 (cf. A. L. OPPENHEIMin ANET, p. 268); Statue E, translation M. LAMBERT, RA, XLVI (1952), p. 81.

  9. A. PARROT, Tello, Paris, 1948, pp. 147 – 207; Sumer, pp. 220 – 32. Some doubt has been expressed as to the authenticity of some of these statues: F. JOHANSEN; Statues of Gudea Ancient and Modern, Copenhagen, 1978.

  10. S. N. KRAMER, ‘The death of Ur-Nammu and his descent to the Netherworld’, JCS, XXI (1967), pp. 104 – 22.

  11. W. W. HALLO, ‘Simurrum and the Hurrian frontier’, RHA, XXXVI (1978), pp. 71 – 82. Shashrum is Shimshara; Urbilum is modern Erbil; Harshi might be at or near modern Turz Kurmatli; Simurrum has not been identified but could be between Arbil and Kirkuk.

  12. A. FALKENSTEIN and W. VON SODEN, Sumerische und Akkadische Hymnen und Gebete, Stuttgart, 1953, pp. 114 – 19; J. KLEIN, The Royal Hymns of Shulgi, King of Ur, Philadelphia, 1981.

  13. SIR LEONARD WOOLLEY and R. P. S. MOOREY, Ur of the Chaldees, pp. 163 – 74.

  14. Ur-Nammu had married one of his sons with the daughter of Apil-kin, king of Mari (M. CIVIL, RA, LVI (1962), p. 213.

  15. T. B. JONES and J. W. SNYDER, Sumerian Economic Texts from the Third Ur Dynasty, Minneapolis, 1961, pp. 280 – 310; J. P. GREGOIRE, Archives Administratives Sumériennes, Paris, 1970, pp. 61 – 2 and 201
– 2.

  16. On this institution, cf. W. HALLO, ‘A Sumerian amphictyony’, JCS, XIV (1960), pp. 88 – 114.

  17. P. MICHALOWSKI, ‘Foreign tribute to Sumer during the Ur III period‘, ZA, LXVIII (1978), pp. 34 – 49.

  18. These texts have been and are still being published in a wide variety of periodicals. So far, there is no global study on the subject, but much information can be drawn from the books cited in note 15 above.

  19. E. SOLLBERGER; ‘L'opposition au pays de Sumer et d'Akkad’ in A. FINET (ed.), La Voix de l'Opposition en Mésopotamie, Bruxelles, 1973, pp. 29 – 30.

  20. H. LIMET, Le Travail du Métal au Pays de Sumer au Temps de la Troisième Dynastie d'Ur, Paris, 1960.