“Where is Bazi? Where is Zizi?” The List of Early Rulers in theBalladfrom Emar and Ugarit, and the Mari Rulers in the Sumerian King List and Other Sources

Abstract

This paper argues that the peripheral recensions of theBallad of Early Rulersreflect Mesopotamian forerunners, and do not represent re-workings by the local scribes. The Ugarit recension is based on an Old Babylonian forerunner, and the Emar recension is based on a Middle Babylonian version that incorporated material from other scholarly sources. To support this contention, the Babylonian literary and scholarly background of the early rulers is discussed, and a reconstruction and analysis is offered of the Mari section of the Sumerian King List, in which two rulers of theBalladappear. The textual history of theBalladcontributes to the general debate regarding the origin, date of composition and transmission of Mesopotamian literature and its reception throughout scribal centers, not only in Ugarit and Emar, but also in Ḫattuša, Canaan and Egypt during the Late Bronze Age. A new copy of the Emar Ballad manuscript by Andrew George is offered at the end of this paper.