Introduction and General

Abstract

Introduction and General Andrew E. Steinmann, Atilla Bodor, Christopher T. Begg, Isaac Kalimi, and Thomas Hieke Andrew E. Steinmann Concordia University Atilla Bodor The Biblicum Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America Isaac Kalimi Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz Thomas Hieke Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz 2548. [The Northern Soldiers-Tomb (H11.1) at Asyut] Mohamed Abdelrahiem, The Northern Soldiers-Tomb (H11.1) at Asyut (The Asyut Project 13; Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2020). Pp. viii + 109. Paper €34. ISBN 978-3-447-11431-5. Since 2003, the Asyut Project's Egyptian-German team has been working on Gebel Asyut al-gharbi situated close to the modern city of Asyut on the west bank of the Nile in central Egypt. One of the areas investigated is a structure known as the Northern Soldiers-Tomb (H11.1) due to its painted decoration of marching warriors. The tomb has suffered severely from extensive quarrying activities in the past so that today only parts of the walls and the subterranean burial chambers are still preserved. The fieldwork conducted under the auspices of the Asyut Project at the tomb focused on cleaning the inner hall and the shafts, surveying the tomb's decorations and preparing facsimiles as well as plans of the component sections. A.'s short volume presents the results of these activities. In so doing, he provides a thorough description of the tomb's architecture and decoration, details its long research history, and introduces a selection of finds from the tomb that provide evidence of the long-term use of the Asyutian necropolis. Based on the data collected in his work, A. is able to date the tomb to the end of the 11th or the very beginning of the 12th Dynasty and identify its owner as a "nomarch" of Asyut whose name was Djefai-Hapi. A. likewise highlights the tomb's extensive re-use as a burial ground through the centuries: constructed originally during the late Dynasty 11, the tomb houses several shafts and small niches that contain (or once contained) remains of burial equipment from later periods, especially from the Middle Kingdom and Roman-Byzantine times. [Adapted from published abstract] A.'s volume comprises seven brief chapters: (1) Location of the Tomb; (2) Research History of the Tomb; (3) Architectural Features; (4) Representations and Inscriptions; (5) Finds; (6) Dating the Tomb and Identifying the Tomb Owner; and (7) Re-use of the Tomb. These chapters are illustrated with numerous drawings, photos, charts, and maps. The volume's end-matter consists of a bibliography, indexes, and a total of 55 colored plates depicting the tomb's current appearance and a sample of the finds made there.—C.T.B. Google Scholar 2549. [The Laws of Hammurabi] Pamela Barmash, The Laws of Hammurabi at the Confluence of Royal & Scribal Traditions (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2020). Pp. x + 319. $99. ISBN 978-0-19-752540-1. Since its discovery at the very beginning of the 20th century, the "Code of Hammurabi" has continued to be one of the best known ANE artifactual finds ever made. As B.'s monograph makes clear, however, already in ancient times, the Code had a significant impact on the Mesopotamian legal tradition: synthesizing and elaborating as it did earlier [End Page 940] legal materials, it became a model for subsequent law collections and a resource for the training of aspirant scribes that itself spawned a multi-century commentary literature whose influence made itself felt throughout the wider ANE. B.'s treatment of the Code's multifaceted tradition-history consists of an introduction followed by seven chapters and a conclusion. The chapters are titled, respectively: The Stela of the Laws of Hammurabi and the Representation of Political Power; Royal Legitimation through the Establishment of Justice; The Laws of Hammurabi as a Royal Inscription; Scribes and Statutes (with an Excursus: Scribes and Scribal Education); Adoption in the Laws of Hammurabi; The Legal Authority of the Laws of Hammurabi; and The Afterlife of the Laws of Hammurabi: The Continuation of Scribal Improvisation outside Mesopotamia and the Creation of Commentaries in Mesopotamia. The volume's end-matter features a bibliography and indexes of subjects and authors and of...