Bøger i Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records serien

This book focues on the Kaska people of the Black Sea region and their interactions with the Hittite Empire. A population group attested primarily in Hittite records from the Early Empire and Empire Periods (1450-1200 BCE), the Kaska are portrayed in Hittite sources (especially historiography) as a hostile, uncontrollable people who represented a permanent menace to the Hittite state. Modern works typically characterize the Kaska as a distinct ethnic group with a predominantly pastoralist, semi-nomadic way of life and tribal social organization. It has been suggested that they came to the central Black Sea region as invaders, instigating a perennial conflict on the empire's northern frontier.Based on a comprehensive study of the primary sources (i.e., Hittite texts and archaeological data from the Black Sea region), the present study undertakes a reevaluation of the Kaska and their role in Hittite history, questioning the prevalent view that the designation "Kaska" corresponded to an ethnic group under that name. It suggests instead that in Hittite sources the name "Kaska" denoted diverse groups of people who inhabited the northern frontier of Hittite territory, and whose definitive characteristic was that they withdrew from the state and were never subject to direct Hittite imperial control.perial control.

Das vorliegende Buch kreist um die Frage, was passiert, wenn man einen Text immer auch als Objekt denkt und begreift. Gleich einem Kaleidoskop wird das Thema durch vier Einzelstudien erschlossen. Bei der Diskussion der Gestaltung von Tontafeln wird auch deren Behandlung in der Fachliteratur berücksichtigt. Bildliche Darstellungen und akkadische Begriffe für Schriftzeugnisse und Griffel werden beschrieben und analysiert. Die Bibliothek Assurbanipals dient als Beispiel für den Zusammenhang von einem spezifischen Erscheinungsbild und dessen soziokulturellen Kontext. Zugleich wird auch die Rolle dieser Sammlung in Untersuchungen zu Bibliotheken und dem "stream of tradition" dargelegt. Nicht nur Keilschrift war im 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. in Gebrauch, sodass Mehrschriftigkeit Inhalt eines eigenen Kapitels ist. Es wird ein Überblick zur Schreibkultur des 1. Jahrtausends v. Chr. geboten, wobei auch forschungs- und fachgeschichtliche Ansätze und Diskurse verhandelt sowie neue Vorgehensweisen vorgeschlagen und Perspektiven eröffnet werden.

This book deals with the house of prisoners (bit asiri ) at the city of Uruk during the revolt against king Samsu-iluna of Babylon, Hammurabi¿s son. The political history of this brief period (ca. 1741¿1739 BC) is not widely known and until now there has been no comprehensive treatment of the bit asiri. This book includes autograph copies, transliterations, and translations of 42 unpublished cuneiform tablets from various collections, collations, and detailed tables and catalogues. The analysis comprises some 410 documents dated or attributable to king Rim-Anum, one of the insurgents who attained relative independence as the ruler of Uruk. The study of this corpus reveals details about diplomatic dealings between the central power and rebel rulers, about the functioning of the house of prisoners of war, and about the individuals who participated in different echelons of the local administration. This monograph investigates what kind of organization ¿the house of prisoners¿ was, how it worked, how it interacted with other institutions, the composition of its labor force, and state management of captive and enslaved individuals.