Level VII Research Articles

The Chronology of Alalakh Level VII once again

In an article published in Anatolian Studies XXVI (1976), I have questioned the accepted chronology of level VII in Alalakh, suggesting that four rather than two kings reigned in Alalakh during the period covered by the level VII archive. In the meantime two important works, bearing directly on the subject, have been published by Dr. Dominique Collon. The first is an enlargement of her thesis on the Alalakh seal impressions, including a detailed discussion of the seal impressions as well as of the overall problem of the archive and its inner division into generations (SITA, pp. 143–161). This most welcome contribution to the subject at hand adds much to our understanding of the chronology of level VII, although some of her points might be interpreted in a different way, as I hope to show below.In her book Dr. Collon accepted the chronological system suggested by the CAH, according to which there were only two kings in Alalakh during the period of level VII. She again summarized her results in Anatolian Studies XXVII (1977), rejecting my suggested reconstruction of the chronology of the kings as well as of the generations in Alalakh.

Hormone action at the membrane level VII. Stimulation of dihydroalprenolol binding to beta-adrenergic receptors in isolated rat heart ventricle slices by triiodothyronine and thyroxine

Thyroxine (T 4) and triiodothyronine (T 3) increase the number of β-adrenergic receptors in heart ventricle slices. A short term effect reaches a maximum by 1.5–2 h and requires added amino acids for consistent results. The apparent K m for the l-T 3 effect is 15 pM. This effect, measured by an increase in stereo-specific binding of (−)-[ 3H]dihydroalprenolol is not inhibited by cycloheximide or puromycin and is produced more effectively by l-T 3 than d-T 3. However, cycloheximide nearly completely inhibits protein synthesis in the 2–3 h incubation time. T 3 also gives a small inhibition of protein synthesis during this time interval. The early effect of T 3 stimulation of dihydroalprenolol binding is considered to be a post-translational event whereby T 3 enhances the transport of existing β-adrenergic receptors from the cytosol into the membrane. A long term (15 h) stimulation of dihydroalprenolol binding to ventricle membranes is also produced by l-T 3. This effect is stereospecific, is inhibited by cycloheximide, and is believed to be a transcriptional-translational event leading to the synthesis of new β-adrenergic receptors by T 3.

A New Look at the Chronology of Alalakh Level VII: A Rejoinder

In a recent article Dr Nadav Na'aman suggested that two rulers called Yarimlim and two called Ammitakumma succeeded each other in alternation during the period of the Level VII archive at Alalakh. This reconstruction of the chronology fails, as do all previous reconstructions, to take into account the seal impressions on the tablet envelopes. These seal impressions have now been published and the chronology which they enabled me to reconstruct is substantially that established by Rowton and Kupper. A close study of Dr Na'aman's article has not led me to alter my views and I should like to make the following points.Dr Na'aman questions the generally accepted chronology for Alalakh on the grounds that YḪammurapi I (grandfather),AYarimlim (father) and AAmmitakumma (son) “reigned over a period of at least 125 years” and that “six kings reigned in Yamḫad concurrently with two Kings at Alalakh”. He accepts a date “circa the twenties of the 18th century B.C. (or slightly earlier)” for the beginning of the archive and therefore, presumably, for the beginning of the reign of AYarimlim.

A New Look at the Chronology of Alalakh Level VII

The Alalakh tablets were published by Wiseman in 1953, and in subsequent years the main chronological problems raised by them have been treated in numerous studies. Already in 1954, Landsberger, in a comprehensive paper on the chronology, determined that the Alalakh archive was later than the days ofBḪammurapi and the destruction of Mari, and suggested identifyingYḪammurapi (end of the period of the Mari archives) withYḪammurapi the father ofYAbbael, the first ruler of Yamḫad mentioned in the Alalakh tablets. Landsberger thus was able to form a chronological continuity between the rulers known from the Mari archives (includingBḪammurapi) and the rulers known from the Alalakh archives. This suggestion was generally accepted among scholars subsequently dealing with the Alalakh material.In the same paper, Landsberger set out a full reconstruction of the dynasties ruling in Yamḫad and in Alalakh in the period of the archive from level VII. This scheme has been modified slightly by Smith, Goetze, and Kupper, in the years following, demonstrating thatYIrkabtum, who appears in the year-names in several documents from the archive (AT 33, 38, 54, 58, 64 and 65) was the heir ofYNiqmiepuḫ, and contemporary withAAmmitaqum. Thus, it was determined that, in the period of the Alalakh archive, the following six kings ruled in succession at Ḫaleb:YAbbael,YYarimlim II,YNiqmiepuḫ,YIrkabtum,YḪammurapi II,YYarimlim III (the latter two are often listed in reverse order). The first four kings of this list are noted in father-son relationships, while the relationships of the two latter are unknown.