Problems in studying of Akkadian expression ubānum ištēt ‘one finger’

Abstract

The Akkadian expression ubānum ištēt ‘one finger’ is found in the Old Babylonian letters of the 18th century BCE, where it is used as an allegoric description of a close alliance between rulers. In the Assyriological literature, there are two possible explanations of the origin of this expression. According to the first one, the allegory of ‘one finger’ was based on a symbolic gesture performed by the kings while concluding a treaty. This gesture consisted of joining or locking thumbs or index fingers. The second explanation suggested that the expression ‘one finger’ referred to a phenomenon of syndactyly, i.e. an inborn defect of fusing of two or more fingers. The imagination of ancient Mesopotamians could turn such fused fingers into the symbol of alliance. W. L. Moran, whom these explanations belong to, considered the first one to be the clearest. Other scholars also accepted this explanation. Thus, in 2019 D. Charpin compared the Akkadian expression with a scene of concluding alliance between two Asian rulers of the 1st century AD, as described in the “Annals” of Tacitus. According to the Roman historian, the ceremony included binding the right thumbs of the two rulers. However, no direct proofs from written or iconographic sources from the 2nd millennium BCE were found, which support any of these explanations. The present article suggests considering as an iconographic proof of the first explanation the Ugarit stele, RS 7.116. This stele dates back to the 14th century BCE and likely preserves an iconographic source for concluding an alliance. The two rulers are standing in front of each other with a high table placed between them. On this table are sitting two tablets representing a treaty between the two parties. The rulers lean the elbows of one of their hands against the tablets and join (or are about to join) the fingers of those hands at the height of their heads. If this is so, and the Old Babylonian and Ugarit sources refer to the same gesture, the stele from Ugarit provides a sufficient ground for speculations about continuity of symbolic and legal practices in Syria and Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium BCE.