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This contribution contains the first edition of a Sumerian myth about the grain goddess Ezinan/Ašnan and her seven children or her seventh child. Its other protagonists are the deities Enki with his vizier Isimud, the sky god An, and the moon god Nanna. The composition is exclusively preserved on several more or less fragmentary tablets from Abū Ṣalābīḫ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text here presented belong to the small collection acquired, in the recent years, by Süleymaniah museum, located in Kurdistan, Iraq, which includes an unpublished tablet dating from the third dynasty of Ur. The tablet has suffered significant damage. It is a Field Plan used in agriculture for a family in the Category of Land Tenure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Athar alrafedain is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Akkadian (but originally Sumerian) word timmu features prominently in the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal’s (668–631) account of his army’s sacking of the south-Egyptian city of Thebes. Two tall, heavy, and adorned timmu are said to have been seized from a temple gate in Thebes and transported to Assyria. The question is whether timmu in this context should be translated according to its basic meaning of “column” or if the translation “obelisk” (not mentioned in standard Akkadian dictionaries) is a viable alternative. This article argues that “obelisk” is a fully plausible translation, and discusses what the use of the word timmu for obelisk could tell about Assyrian perceptions of Egyptian culture.

This contribution discusses the Mesopotamian (ešemen2 =) keppû -game, often connected to the violent behaviour of the goddess Inanna / Ištar, and other (male) characters of Mesopotamian mythology, such as Enmerkar and Gilgamesh. Through a close review of all relevant attestations, we show that the (still) prevailing translation "skipping rope" as well as a recently proposed alternative "toy rope" are untenable and that the only acceptable meaning of the word is "whipping-top". This equivalence has been tentatively advanced in the past but the lack of a systematic lexical assessment has so far hindered general acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Tikrit University for Humanities is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article is an investigation of the role of the knowledge of dead languages, namely Latin and Sumerian, for scribal or scholarly identities. While at first glance there is no obvious reason why a “dead language” should be part of the curriculum of people who were about to become the foremost administrators of their time, knowledge of one or more dead languages seems to be a pillar of scholarly self-consciousness in many periods. The three groups under study are Mesopotamian scribes in general, especially those of the Old Babylonian schools; the galas/kalûs, professional lamentation singers that became scribes over the course of time; and Renaissance scholars, for whom a perfect grasp of Latin was of utmost importance. Those who did not meet the expectations of their colleagues were accused of speaking “Barber Sumerian” or “Kitchen Latin” and thereby excluded from the exclusive scholarly circles—or, as the Sumerian school texts put it, from becoming a true member of humanity.

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Sumerler, M.Ö. 5. binde Mezopotamya topraklarına gelerek M.Ö. 4. bine doğru bu bölgenin güneyine inmişlerdir. Kendi bildikleri ya da geliştirdikleri teknikler ile Basra Körfezi’ne yakın bataklıkları kurutarak tarımsal üretime uygun hâle getirmişlerdir. Bu sayede kendilerinden sonra kurulacak olan devletlere de bir takım kültürel aktarımlarda bulunmuşlardır. Son yıllarda yapılan bazı çalışmalarda, Tufan neticesinde toprağın tuzlaştığı, bunun tarımsal verimi düşürdüğü ve bu verimsizliğin Sumerlerin yıkılışında önemli bir rol oynadığı ifade edilmiştir. Bu çalışmada tuzlaşma teknik olarak açıklanarak, Sumerlerin tarih sahnesinden çekilmesinde etkili olan faktörler üzerinde durulacaktır. Bu faktörler arasında tuzlaşmanın, Sumerlerin yıkılışındaki rolünün hangi ölçüde olduğu tespit edilmeye çalışılacaktır. Toprağın tuzlanmasının Sumerler üzerindeki ekonomik, sosyal ve politik etkilerini daha iyi tespit edebilmek için, ağırlıklı olarak kendilerinden sonra bölgede hâkimiyeti sağlayan Akkadların durumundan bahsedilecektir.

Copyright of Journal of the Cukurova University Institute of Social Sciences is the property of Cukurova University Institute of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Athar alrafedain is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Sumerian culture flourished within the Tigris and Euphrates rivers floodplains and along their deltaic systems, which ca. 6000 yr were located ~250-260 km inland from the present Persian Gulf. Here, large floodplains and marshes were crossed by an intricate network of channels where several human settlements developed. In this paper, we describe in detail the paleoenvironmental context where the site of Abu Tbeirah (third millennium BC) developed, near the Sumerian capital of Ur. Our interdisciplinary approach, based on remote sensing and the geomorphological study of the area, as well as on sedimentological, paleontological, and paleobotanical analyses of trenches and boreholes deposits, reveals that the site developed along a sinuous channel in a floodplain and marshy environment, where several crevasse splays occurred. This channel was cut off following a flood event. The abandoned portion of the channel was exploited by residents and used as a small river harbor. Our research contributes to better define how the landscape of the site changed over the course of its history and how humans exploited water resources of the area during occupation of the site, a process that was pivotal for the development of the Sumerian culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reader will find in the following pages a new edition of Sulgi X, a text famous above all for its first part (ll. 1–73), describing the meeting of Innana and Sulgi. The goddess first speaks of her carnal union with the king and thereupon decrees a favourable fate for him. In the remainder of the hymn, Sulgi pays successive visits to Utu, Ninazu and Nanna. He then settles in the Egalmaḫ of Ninegala/Innana and ensures justice and prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of History Studies (13094688) is the property of History Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article presents the first edition of an Old-Babylonian acrographic vocabulary excavated in the city of Ur. Although fragmentary and poorly preserved, this text provides interesting new aspects for the understanding of the so-called „dialects" of Sumerian and of bilingual language teaching in general, and identifies lurû(m) „(man with a) thin/croaky voice" as a (person with a) speech defect described as „Emesal". In addition, it contains entries of business terminology known from the north Babylonian „Sippar Phrasebook", the Old Babylonian „Forerunner" of canonical Ura 1 and 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientia Paedagogica Experimentalis is the property of ICIWO and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hitherto, there has been no complete Polish translation of the oldest well-preserved Mesopotamian collection of laws, i.e., the laws of Ur-Namma (who reigned between 2110 and 2093 BC). The following article presents a translation from Sumerian into Polish of this collection of laws and it includes the recently published manuscripts of this collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article publishes an Old Babylonian syllabically written tablet of the Eršema su₈-ba-de₃ ta an- ak, "The shepherd, what has he done?" with duplicates from the first millennium BCE stemming from Nineveh. The composition laments the disappearance of Dumuzi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kare International Journal of Comparative Literature is the property of Kare Dergi: International Journal of Comparative Literature, History & Thought and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Adab Al-Kufa is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Espacios is the property of Talleres de Impresos Oma and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Surveying the references to the sea in Sumerian literature, this paper discusses the general idea that the sea is underrepresented in Mesopotamian cultures of the third millennium BCE. The common idea on Mesopotamian civilizations is that these were based on the rivers. However, recent research suggests the early Mesopotamian urban settlements of the third millennium BCE are on the ancient coast of the Persian Gulf and in the middle of lagoons or marshes. Coastal marsh cultures would not only have looked at the mainland, but also to the sea. Through a study of Sumerian literature and royal inscriptions, the historical relationship of the Mesopotamian cultures with the Persian Gulf is discussed. The image of the sea that emerges from literary sources reflects the changes that occurred in coastal region of southern Iraq during the third millennium BCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the literature of ancient Mesopotamia, especially in Sumerian texts of the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, the banquet seems to play an important role. There, alcoholic beverages, beer or wine, are drunken in abundance. In this particular community event, the place is characterized by sensory optima with positive gustatory, auditory, visual and tactile effects. All of the participants feel in their body a new physical and emotional state, a kind of plenitude, in which they abandon themselves. Sumerian love poetry frequently associates the state of being drunk to the one of being in love. But drinking too much may also lead to mythological dangerous situations for the balance of the divine powers.

Copyright of Magazine of Historical Studies & Archaeology is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines a remarkable variation in the new manuscript of En-metena 1 (RIME 1.9.5.1) kept in the Sulaymaniyah Museum in Iraq: a left-dislocated genitive construction is replaced by a simple genitive construction. Also, the manuscript shortens the text in a number of places. The paper reviews other known examples of text abridgements in royal inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC and suggests that the composers of these inscriptions used similar techniques to manipulate the texts according to their function and use as the scribes who wrote the Assyrian royal inscriptions of the 1st millennium. The new manuscript provides a rare opportunity to observe a scribe who adapts an already existing text using his linguistic competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the cultural implications of the sign N41 used in an apparently random constellation of words related to women, water and metals. The symbolic meaning of iron and its consistent relation with the sky in religious texts is explored to determine that the Egyptian cosmovision contemplated the sky as an iron container of water, pieces of which fell to the earth in the shape of meteors and were used to produce ritual objects. The indexicality of the N41 sign suggests that the relation between birth, afterlife, and iron existed even before the first attested long religious texts in Egypt. Finally, the lexical parallels between Egypt and Mesopotamia can be explained as a common reaction to the phenomena of falling iron meteorites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prayers and rituals of Ancient Mesopotamia (2nd - 1st millenium BC) highlight the conflictual relationship between man and the divine world. In his daily life, man has to be very careful and must observe their rules. Otherwise, he will suffer many troubles: mental and physical illness and/or social exclusion. It is of the utmost importance for him to identify his sin, so that he may accomplish the appropriate ritual. After presenting the Akkadian vocabulary used for « sin » in the literary texts, I will focus on the lists of mistakes that a man may have done, and that may explain his terrible situation. I will end with the case when a man is guilty, though he has no idea about the nature of his fault.

The following contribution focuses on Assyrian stone reliefs depicting winged figures holding a bucket and reaching a cone-shaped object toward a stylized tree. Ever since the discovery of the reliefs, the cone-shaped object was considered as either a conifer cone or a date palm male inflorescence used in the symbolic pollination of the stylized tree, derived from the date palm. Utilizing the visual material combined with textual evidence and based on the importance of the date palm as economic resource that gave rise to a plethora of meanings, religious, royal and popular, I shall argue that the scene refers to the artificial pollination of the tree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to study the verb valency of the Sumerian expression nir ĝal 2 . The attestations point to two different meanings that are related to different arguments. It is suggested that the basic meaning of nir ĝal 2 is „to give off an aura of authority; show authority“. The comitative argument indicates thanks to whom, the ablative argument by means of what someone shows authority. The meaning „to trust“ would result from a valency expansion, which can be traced to at least the beginning of the second millennium and could have been influenced by the construction of the Akkadian verb takālu „to trust“. The object of trust is expressed by means of the terminative (things) and dative (persons) arguments. The locative is mostly used as a peripheral argument expressing the place or situation in which someone shows authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al-Adab / Al-ādāb is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Third-millennium Mesopotamia has provided an impressive quantity of sources for the study of ancient slavery, among them a collection of standards (the so-called Laws of Ur-Namma). Despite the volume of documents, Mesopotamian slavery remains elusive in its general traits. This is partly due to the nature of the sources, but also to the approaches and interpretations of modern scholars. Slavery in ancient Mesopotamia has been the focus of several studies in the 1960s and 1970s that interpreted the sources using comparative approaches and Marxist analyses. Since then, the topic has seldom been revisited. In this article, I present the status quaestionis with an overview of the available sources and related studies, together with a sketch of the different types of bonded and forced labor in the Neo-Sumerian period (21st cent. BCE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World is the property of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)