Nuzi Texts Research Articles

JEN 1001: On the Last Days of Nuzi

Abstract Since 1927, the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago has kept a large collection of written objects excavated at Nuzi. While many complete tablets have been published over the years, many fragments still await study, and they are of prime interest for possible joins and for the reconstruction of fragmentary tablets. That is the case of this study, which offers the edition of a composite text. The joined fragments were initially catalogued as part of the same original tablet and later considered to belong to different texts; they finally turned out to belong together. The text adds new data to two extensively debated but not yet fully known topics: the organisation of the Arrapḫean army and the last period of existence of Nuzi. Almost a century after their recovery, the Chicago Nuzi texts keep yielding new information.

Nuzi Temple Texts


 
 
 Brigitte Lion and Diana Stein have, in The Tablets from the Temple Precinct at Nuzi, joined forces to edit the texts of the sixty-nine Nuzi texts found in temples (Lion) and to publish and edit their 282 seal impressions (Stein). This masterful collaboration excels in many areas, including in-depth prosopographical analysis and thorough integration of the local seal practice into the orbit of textual analysis. This volume sets a standard of text edition and analysis that dwarfs the achievements of the students of Nuzi from the first two-thirds of the twentieth century and even since. Nevertheless, the raison d’être of this heterogeneous group of texts in the context of their storage in temples remains enigmatic.
 
 

Blindness in Nuzi Texts

Summary Nine texts issued from the site of Nuzi (modern Yorġan Tepe, Iraq) attest the Akkadian term UB-BU-TU, referring to people, with different spellings and contexts. Various etymological interpretations of the term have been proposed, the most followed being upput.u, “blind (person)”. However, the debate is far from closed, and recent studies have questioned such view (1.). This paper aims at assessing the Nuzi evidence (2.–3.), supporting the traditional interpretation of the term as “blind (person)”, and setting the whole topic in the context of the employment of sightless people as workforce in the Ancient Near East (4.).

Three Nuzi Texts from the British Museum and a Middle Assyrian Letter from the Aftermath of the Conquest of the Kingdom of Arrapḫe

Three Nuzi Texts from the British Museum and a Middle Assyrian Letter from the Aftermath of the Conquest of the Kingdom of Arrapḫe

Nuzi Texts and Their Uses as Historical Evidence, Writings from the Ancient World, Number 18. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010. xxvi + 296 pp. Paper. $34.95. Maynard Paul Maidman.

<i>Nuzi Texts and Their Uses as Historical Evidence</i>, Writings from the Ancient World, Number 18. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010. xxvi + 296 pp. Paper. $34.95. Maynard Paul Maidman.

Nuzi Texts and their Uses as Historical Evidence. By MAYNARD PAUL MAIDMAN.

One purpose of this book, stated in the introduction, is to illustrate ‘the range of documents contained in the Nuzi corpus’ (p. 1). Maidman achieves this goal ably. The five chapters of the book include 96 texts that cover the topics of warfare, political corruption, land disputes, and ‘the decline and fall of a Nuzi family’, as well as the hard-to-define ilku. As with all volumes in the SBL Writings from the Ancient World series, each text is presented in transliteration and translation, and each is accompanied by commentary by the author. The volume begins with an introduction in which Maidman briefly and engagingly discusses historiography and addresses the issue of primary versus secondary sources. His conclusion is that ‘the primary text … occupies a privileged position’ (p. 3). The introduction then goes on to give a short history of the discovery of Nuzi and of the abundance of texts found therein (a ‘documentary treasure trove’, he calls it [p. 5]). The introduction continues with short previews of each of the chapters to follow, and then concludes with a brief section on Nuzi’s place in the broader ancient context. Two appendices follow the end of the introduction, one on the findspots of the texts included in the volume, the other listing the texts in the volume with seal impressions.

Nuzi Texts and Their Uses as Historical Evidence. SBLWAW 18

Book Review| January 01 2012 Nuzi Texts and Their Uses as Historical Evidence. SBLWAW 18 Nuzi Texts and Their Uses as Historical Evidence. SBLWAW 18Maidman, Maynard Paul Ralph K. Hawkins Ralph K. Hawkins Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Bulletin for Biblical Research (2012) 22 (3): 405–406. https://doi.org/10.2307/26424571 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter Permissions Search Site Citation Ralph K. Hawkins; Nuzi Texts and Their Uses as Historical Evidence. SBLWAW 18. Bulletin for Biblical Research 1 January 2012; 22 (3): 405–406. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/26424571 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All Scholarly Publishing CollectivePenn State University PressBulletin for Biblical Research Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright © 2012 by The Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.2012The Pennsylvania State University Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Love and Violence: Marriage as Metaphor for the Relationship between YHWH and Israel in the Prophetic Books (review)

Hebrew Studies 46 (2005) 407 Reviews Shared by the Tetrateuch and the DtrH” (pp. 101–102), a Bibliography (pp. 103–114), and an Index of References (pp. 115–127). The strengths of this study could have been enhanced by more discussion of the nature of the intertextuality Harvey describes. For example, when he says that “Dtr based the Manoah story of Judg. 13 on Genesis 18” (pp. 38– 39), would he describe this relationship as typology, allegory, or something else? Or, would he avoid such compartmentalization? Some may find his psychologizing of Dtr’s “Torah Consciousness” (Chapter 3) to require more controllable defining. Overall, however, Harvey is to be commended for the remarkable clarity with which he writes and explains complex intertextual relationships. It makes this work both accessible to a wide readership while a challenge to the status quo of scholarly opinion on the issues it addresses. The impression with which a reader is left is that the intertextuality he presents is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Harvey’s work opens the door for even more comprehensive treatment of this topic to illuminate our understanding of the history and unity of the Tetrateuch, its use in subsequent texts, and what that reveals about various biblical authors’ views of historiography. Daniel M. Gurtner Tyndale House Cambridge, England dgurtner@yahoo.com LOVE AND VIOLENCE: MARRIAGE AS METAPHOR FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YHWH AND ISRAEL IN THE PROPHETIC BOOKS. By Gerlinde Baumann. Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Pp. xii + 271. Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 2003. Paper, $39.95. This book sets out to explore and assess the marriage metaphor in the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. It is the most comprehensive, though not necessarily most original treatment of this topic, as it discusses texts from Hosea to the Twelve Prophets, rather than select texts. The book differs from previous scholarship in its attempt to consider this metaphor in the context of ancient Near Eastern law codes, and in its attempt to balance critical observations with historical considerations. The book is divided into three uneven parts related to research background, textual studies, and a brief summary. The first part of the book begins with an overview of previous scholarship on the marriage metaphor, and an overview on metaphor in literary criticism. Baumann appropriately mentions the earlier feminist studies of T. Drorah Hebrew Studies 46 (2005) 408 Reviews Setel, Phyllis Bird, Fokkelien van Dijk-Hemmes, Athalya Brenner, Renita Weems, and Yvonne Sherwood, who have already raised the issue of male violence as a behavioral norm in heterosexual marriage, and as a conduct attributed to God. While she accepts the basic insights made so far on this topic, Baumann argues correctly that most previous studies have not sufficiently considered the historical context of the ancient Near East. Baumann mentions the work of Max Black and Paul Ricoeur, whose theories of metaphors have done the most to break the automatic correlation between the representing image and the object represented in reality. This overview does not take account of postmodern theories of the metaphoric uses of discourse as such. Nevertheless, Baumann emphasizes that metaphorical language has a precognitive value that shapes emotional and moral responses. In chapter 3, Baumann offers an inventory of prophetic terms used to describe a wife’s unacceptable behavior in marriage, such as harlotry (ZNH) and adultery (N√F). She suggests, rather vaguely, that some of these terms have equivalences in ancient Near Eastern codes. Finally, in chapter 4, Baumann discusses the concept of berit or covenant, which is a legal concept applied metaphorically to describe the marital relationship between YHWH, the husband, and Israel, his wife. In chapter 5, Baumann traces the concept of a city as wife to ancient Near Eastern sources. She also notes parallels between prophetic references to the punishment of a disloyal wife to Babylonian and Nuzi texts regarding the punishments of wives seeking divorce. She cites the comparative work of Raymond Westbrook who found parallels between the stripping and expulsion scenarios in the Prophets and a text from Nippur describing the punishment meted out to an adulterous wife. Baumann cites work by Delbert Hillers to substantiate similar correlations between prophetic language and ancient...

Two Hundred Nuzi Texts from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Part I

Two Hundred Nuzi Texts from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Part I

Gods and Ancestors in Emar and Nuzi

(Extrait de Res.d'A.). Owing to the discoveries at Emar, it has become possible to take a comparative approach to the domestic cult documented in the Nuzi tablets. The Emar texts contain frequent allusions to household gods. The gods mentionned in Emar inheritance texts refer in fact to the ancestors. The costumary expression the gods and the dead is best taken as a hendiadys: the dead are called gods on account of their priviliged state. A study of the occurences of ilānu and etemmū in the Nuzi texts suggests that, here too, the two designations both refer to the deifeid family ancestors. (...).

Joins to Five Published Nuzi Texts

In 1941, E. R. Lacheman noted' that a fragment from the Harvard Nuzi collection joined the tablet that had already been published as JEN 662.2 Between 1985 and 1987, joined or noted joins to five other previouslypublished Nuzi texts from the Chicago collection.3 In this article am presenting new and improved texts of these five documents. Copies of the traces of signs read as x or provided with ? or I are given in the appendix; they are referred to in the commentary to the individual texts only when their reading is problematic or unexpected.

The Nuzi Texts of the British Museum

The Nuzi Texts of the British Museum

Jacob's Marriages and Ancient Near East Customs: A Reexamination

For many years now, it has become very common for Old Testament scholars to refer to the numerous parallels between the patriarchal customs reflected in the stories of Genesis and the Custom law of the cuneiform documents of the second millennium B.C. Particular attention has been given to the Nuzi texts and to custom law related to marriage. The present study is directed to a reexamination of the parallels to marriage customs as they have been applied to the story of Jacob's marriage to the daughters of Laban.

A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts

d'Alep, mais celui de jHalba du Hazi/$apon, conformement 'a une notice precedemment connue.5 Que Kumarbi soit le Dagan des Hourrites rouvre tout le dossier de ce dieu: alors klas'. e6pouse 'a la fois de Dagan et de Kumarbi, reprend un sens; alors Kumarbi dieu grain (cf. Dagan) explique le dieu 'a l'epi de Yazilikaya, entre un Tesub et le dieu Ea; alors Ba'al est fils de Dagan comme TeSub est celui de Kumarbi, d'apres la tradition mythologique. L'insertion de dieux cananeens dans le pantheon A, celle de dieux hourrites dans le. pantheon P, sont un signe eclatant de syncre'tisme theologique et de symbiose ethnique. Du coup, 1'Irsappa de 166 ? XII se revele comme une adaptation pure et simple du nom de ResefNergal (cf. P 26). 3) enfin la Quadrilingue Sa, qui, h la fin du verso, fournit plusieurs equations sumero-akkadohourro-cananeennes du plus haut interet. Par exemple, le fait que Simegi-ni le Soleil (A 13) soit identique 'a ama' =s (P 21) et aussi a dUTu et ?apsu (Quadrilingue) montre que les Hourrites-ou leurs theologiens-ne retiennent que le nom de la deesse syrienne; ils le traduisent dans leur langue sans genre grammatical, alors que le Simegi = Samas des Hourro-Anatoliens est assimile 'a un Soleil bien masculin, celui de Yazilikaya, de Malatya et d'ailleurs. L'equation Enlil = Kumarbi = hum de la Quadrilingue contredit celle de Kumarbi = Dagan, mais atteste une tradition differente, profondement marquee de babylonisme. Chacun de ces faits meritera un examen approfondi. On peut deja' faire observer, en guise de conclusion, que l'apparition fortuite de la tablette 166, de loin anterieure 'a celle de A et P, devait derouter les meilleurs exegetes du pantheon hourrite: exemple typique de ces malchances archeologiques qui, pour de longues annees, tracent des pistes trompeuses et suscitent des speculations mal fondees. Corpus No 71, 50; cf. Aistleitner, Wirterbuch Nr. 1031.

The Administration of Justice in Nuzi

* My thanks are due to the American Philosophical Society whose generous grant has enabled me to undertake these studies. I have further to thank Dr. E. R. Lacheman who was kind enough to send me his transcriptions and some of his translations of unpublished Nuzi texts in the collection of the Harvard Semitic Museum which have bearing upon the law of procedure. Thus I was able to make use of this very important material. A. COURT ORGANIZATION AND ROYAL JURISDICTION

A New Volume of Nuzi Texts

After an interval of five years caused by the untimely death of E. Chiera, the indefatigable excavator and editor of the Nuzi texts, the American Schools of Oriental Research have resumed the publication of the cuneiform tablets which he discovered at the foot of the mound of Yalghan Tepe -Nuzi. The new volume contains 114 texts (Nos. 560-673 of the tablets found in the so-called house of Tebiptilla). With a few exceptions, they belong to the same classes of administrative and juridical documents as Nos. 1-559. They furnish, however, so many new details that they deserve the full attention of all scholars who are interested in the history of the Mitannian state and its dependencies. In fact, one text proves once more the correctness of II. Lewy's thesis that the archive which contained all these tablets was kept by officers who represented the king of Mitanni in the town of Nuzi. We refer to No. 612, a record concerning 50(?) war chariots under the command of a captain of fifty (rab ahani); this tablet is sealed by Hjutipapu, i. e., the ~ikin maii, or governor, Hjutipapu, whom we know from Nos. 135 and 321 of the same collection of texts as one of the highest officers of the Mitannian empire. A comparison of the (unfortunately badly preserved) impressions on Nos. 612 and 135, both of which end with the words aban Hu-ti-pa-pu seal of Hutipapu, seems to support this conclusion, since both impressions exhibit parts of a tree and of a pair of wings 1 and may well have been made with the same seal. Among the first texts of the volume, there are a few documents (Nos. 560, 561, 562, 566, 567) which record several, in one case as many as fourteen, legal transactions of the same type on one tablet. These texts closely parallel No. 82, a previously published record of two adoptions of a very special type. No. 570, a brotherhood document, contains a new clause (iu-tu mi'i

The Early Scribes of Nuzi

Chiera and Speiser, the inaugurators of Nuzi studies, observed that the duration of the Nuzi period was one which marked the era of the rise and development of the famous landholding family so well known to Nuzi scholars. The progenitors of this family were Puiji-enni and his wife Winnirke; and its most famous member was the great capitalist Tehip-tilla. The family tree of this local economic dynasty may be reconstructed in the following manner from published Nuzi texts.2

Some Observations on Nuzu Akkadian

The Nuzu tablets, excavated by an American expedition, have consumed a good deal of the labor of American Assyriologists in recent years and will continue doing so for some time to come. After the publication of the material has far advanced, the grammar of the new dialect is in progress of reconstruction. The efforts made in this direction have so far been of a merely descriptive kind. It seems time now to apply also the linguistic line of approach to Nuzu Akkadian. Though the registration of the philological facts is the necessary basis for such work, it will in turn help to clarify difficulties which the descriptive grammar is unable to remove. The observations presented here have arisen from the study of Pfeiffer and Speiser's One Hundred New Selected Nuzi Texts; they will' therefore be documented by reference chiefly to that volume. They will deal with certain features of orthography, phonology, morphology and syntax in the order indicated.1

New Nuzi Texts and a New Method of Copying Cuneiform Tablets

New Nuzi Texts and a New Method of Copying Cuneiform Tablets

Notes to Recently Published Nuzi Texts

IT HAS justly been remarked that no site in Western Asia compares with ancient Nuzi in the wealth and variety of legal material preserved in private family archives.' The importance of the Nuzi records for the study of the legal practices, the social and economic conditions, and the cultural background of this out-of-the-way district in the East-Tigris area is self-evident and not unexpected. But local considerations barely begin to reflect the full significance of these documents. Composed in a ilurrian settlement, they shed brilliant light on the life of a group whose amazing record of migrations throughout the length and breadth of the Near East has contributed, within the last decade or so, a fascinating chapter to the history of the second millennium B. 0.2 Nuzi was thus an interested witness of the Amarna age; by reason of its eccentric location it was also, fortunately, a reasonably objective one. Its documents allow us to judge the impact of the civilizations of Babylon and of Ashur upon the heterogeneous traditions of the recently settled Hurrians.3 The original background of these newcomers is thereby brought into sharper relief. We note the everrecurring reminders of the westward orientation of the Hurrians, and the biblical parallels, whose number is constantly increasing, now find a ready historical explanation.4 Finally, an extremely valuable feature of the Nuzi documents is the wealth of their onomastic material. We have here a larger group of personal