Old Babylonian Cuneiform Texts from the Hamrin Basin: Tell Hadad by Ahmad Kamel

Muhamed
Review by: Wu Yuhong
Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1998), pp. 578-580
Published by: American Oriental Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/604807 .
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578 Journal of the American Oriental Society 118.4 (1998)

a pot. Seals 69, 84-86, and 89-93 bear the classic motif of the map of the Old Babylonian sites in the HamrinBasin that gives
Ur III-Old Babylonian periods: a king is led by his personal readersa better grasp of the Eshnunnaregion. Indices of proper
deity to a prestigious seated deity. names and of logograms, a table of the museum registrations
Seals 100-118, from Tell Halawa, are presented by G. Ya- that gives find spots for the tablets, and photographs of the
seen. The motifs are the same as those from Tell Suleimeh. tablets make this publication very attractive.
Seals 100-102 belong to the Early Dynastic period. Seals 103- In chapter one, information on nine Diyala Basin sites and
5 have motifs from the Akkadian period. Seals 106-15 bear the seven in the HamrinBasin are introducedseriatim, giving read-
familiar scene of the Ur III-Old Babylonian periods described ers a fuller comprehensionof excavations since 1930 and under-
above. Seals 116-18 are baked-clay seals with the crude dis- standing of regional history. In chapter two, apart from the
play of persons and plants. edition of twenty-four texts, there is discussion of the dates of
texts nos. 1, 3, 15, 16 and those for Hadad texts as yet unpub-
I offer the following improved readings of seal inscriptions:
lished (nos. 559, 561, 567, 569, 570). Copies of these dates are
No. 50: Ki?-Ma!?-ma!, [du]mu kas4?, Sar-ru-kinu (gi),
presented in pl. 37.
"....,the messenger of Sargon."
Texts 1-9 are purchase contracts of houses and fields. The
No. 69: Bal-du/tu, [dumu... ]-[h]a?/[. .]-su.
first group of the archive, texts 7-9, belongs to the reigns of
No. 84: [. .]-ta-ti, [. . .].
Naram-Sin and Dadusa. According to their seals, texts 7 and 8
No. 86: Su-hur-ra,i-du8 dlnanna,"Suharra,the door keeper
are dated to the reign of Dadusa, and, according to its oath, text
of Inanna."
9 to the reign of Naram-Sin. The buyer in the three contracts
No. 87 bears the dual inscriptions of a father and son: 1 (big).
is Yasub-El, son of Belhanum. Text 10, an adoption contract
A-bi-ki-in, dumu AN-en-har/te, guda dBa-ti-ri-tum;2 (small).
dated by the oath and seals to Ibal-pi-El II, is related to no. 8
Na-ra-am-i/-li-(u/ia), dumu (A)-bi-ki-in. The title of Abi-kin,
the guda priest of Batiritum,indicates that Tell Suleimeh is the belonging to the archive of Yasub-El. The first witness of no. 8
is Me-Apsum, son of Ezatum, the sassukkumland registrar(of
site of ancient Batir. In an Ur III tablet (M. Sigrist, Neo-Sume-
Me-Turan),who used the seal of his father (Ezatum), the ser-
rian Textsfrom the Royal Ontario Museum [CDL Press, 1995],
vant of Dadusa. In no. 10, Me-Apsum is the fifth witness listed
no. 25), Batiritumwas also worshipped in Z/Simudar, a city in
and he used his own seal with Ibal-pi-El's name. Text 2 is dated
the Diyala region.
to the reign of Silli-Sin according to the oath, and the buyer is
No. 89: Za/I?-la-la, dumu A-us/gis (or A+U?=kas)-ga.
Muhadum,the son of our Yasub-El. The father of Muhadum is
No. 90: i-li-[. . .], [dumu . . . -t]i.
the buyer in nos. 9, 7 and 8, dated to the reigns of Naram-Sin
No. 106: Si?-ri-na-at, dam Ku-nim.
and Dadusa. The buyer in text 4 is Ili-isnadi, son of Tabaya,and
No. 112: Si-da-na, dumu A-bi! (as(6)+ni)-e-ra-/ah.
one of his witnesses is a son of Sumu-rabi,latter being the wit-
Wu YUHONG ness of no. 2, dated to Silli-Sin, and a son of Yasub-El. Hence,
NORMAL
NORTHEAST UNIVERSITY, CHINA
CHANGCHUN, nos. 4 and 2 are related to the late archive of Yasub-El'sfamily.
Ili-isnadi, son of Tabaya and the buyer in no. 4, appears as the
first witness of text 14, a loan contract.
Texts 19 and 20, two grain loan contracts, mention that the
grain of Latabayais loaned (ki Sumu-rabiibassi) to Sumu-rabi,
son of Yasub-El, without interest. Muhadum, another son of
Old Babylonian Cuneiform Textsfrom the Hamrin Basin: Tell
MUHAMED. Edubba, vol. 1. Lon- Yasub-El, the servant of Adad, uses his seal to witness the two
Hadad. By AHMADKAMEL
contracts. In text 18, the barley of Latabaya is also loaned to
don: NABU, 1992. Pp. 69, photos, drawings. ?20 (paper).
Inib-Nunu, the servant of Samas, and two witnesses are Ibbi-
This very useful book will be welcomed by scholars who Sahhan and Imgur-Samas, two main persons in the Me-Turan
study the history of the kingdom of Eshnunna during the Old archives. The silver of Samas was loaned to the office of La-
Babylonian period, especially because only a small portion of tabaya, without interest, in the presence of Imgur-Samas(text
the large number of tablets excavated from the Diyala region 17). The loan contracts of Latabayaare related to the archive of
has so far been published. In it, A. K. Muhamed has copied Yasub-El family.
twenty-four Old Babylonian tablets now in the Iraqi Mu- Texts 21 and 22 are letters ordering Imgur-Samas to return
seum that were excavated from Tell Had(d)ad, the ancient five gur of barley with its interest to the house of Ibbi-Sahhan
Me-Tur(r)an.He has also transliteratedthe tablets and provided in the dimtum "tower" outpost (of Me-Turan);they belong to
them with content descriptions. In an appendix, L. G. Werr the archive of Ibbi-Sahhan.
draws and describes the seal impressions. There is a drawing of Texts 1 and 5, sharing the same scribe (Kididum), and 6 are
the plan of "house 2," where the tablets were excavated, and a all dated to the reign of Ibal-pi-El according to the year name

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 Reviews of Books 579

(no. 1) and seals. The buyer in texts 5 and 6 is Ibbi-Sahhan,son (TIM 3 127; UCP 10/1, 50, 7, 4) to the last years of Ibal-pi-El.
of Laqipum. The buyer in texts 1 and 3 is Eristi-Samas. The From this archive (see Greengus, OBTIV,6), we learn that Ilu-
year name of no. 3 is mu Ra-za-ma giStukul,which seemed to nasir had a partner named Nanna-arhusuntil Ibal-pi-El 9, but
belong to Silli-Sin. Ibbi-Sahhan,son of Laqipum,the servant of from then on, he made barley loans only by himself. Twelve
Sahhan, is the witness of nos. 1 and 3, indicating that they are tablets are dated by "mu e-dIstarba-dim" in this barley archive
related to the archive of Ibbi-Sahhan. Text 12 is a hubuttatum (see for example UCP 10/1, 14-15, 21, 28) and they all belong
interest-free loan and one of the borrowers is Ibbi-Sahhan. to IlIu-nasir and Nanna-arhus, so it suggests that this year-
Kuzzi, son of Nurri, a colonel (gal-kud) of Ibal-pi-El, is the first name should have been one of the first nine, possibly even the
witness of no. 5. He also acted as a witness of no. 2, dated to sixth one.
Silli-Sin, belonging to the archive of the Yasub-El family. Baqir's lists have given Ibal-pi-El's first eleven yearnames in
From the analysis above, we can conclude that most of our order, and here I offer an arrangementof the king's last three or
texts from Me-Turanbelong to the two archives: the larger one four yearnames (12th-15th/16th) as follows.
is that of the Yasub-El family, spanning four kings of Eshnunna Yearname 12: mu gud/gis-apin guskin a-na bit dTispaki-ru-
from the reign of Naram-Sinto that of Silli-Sin; the smaller one bu, "The year: the gold plough entered the temple of Tispak"
is that of Ibbi-Sahhan,from Ibal-pi-El II to Silli-Sin. (the full form is in Sumer 34: 132 no. 63), belongs to Ibal-pi-
Texts 11 and 13, a legal case and an interest-freebarley loan, El according to the seal in Maria de J. Ellis, "Old Babylonian
dated to the reign of Dadusa according to seals, belong to the Economic Texts and Letters from Tell Harmal,"JCS 24 (1971):
archive of Selibum, the administrative of the Samas temple. 69, no. 3. According to the barley archive of Ilsu-nasir, it may
Bullit-Tispak, son of Utu-hegal, servant of Enki, is the second have been the first of the 12th-16th Ibal-pi-El's yearnames
judge of no. 11 and the second witness of no. 13. The god- since IlIu-nasir at that time no longer has Nanna-arhusas part-
desses of the court in no. 11 are Sarratum,"the queen," and ner, the latter having left him from Ibal-pi-El 9. In Ishchali
Batiritum, "the lady of Batir," modern Tell Suleimeh on the (Neribtum or Bad-Rimus), the texts written in this year often
opposite bank of Me-Turan, according to the inscription of declare that the contracts were drawn "after the justice of Bad-
Ayabum found there (RIME 4, 17.1). The two tablets may well Rimus was established" (UCP 10/1 1, 16-18, 34, 55, 104).
have been brought from Batir to Me-Turanin ancient time. Yearname 13?: mu sahar zi-qu'-ra-atdSamas, "The year: the
Imgur-Sin deals with silver in text 16, and his son loans earth of the tower-temple of Samas."In UCP 10/1 no. 9 dated
silver in text 15, indicating that they were merchants who had with this yearname, the phrase "after the justice of Bad-Rimus
their own archive. The two tablets are dated to Silli-Sin accord- was established" is declared, so the year must have been after
ing to the yearnames. Neither text has any connection with the the year of "the gold plough" (yearname 12) since in that year
archive of the Yasub-El-Ibbi-Sahhan family. the royal justice decree was declared; otherwise it is the second
part of that yearname.
The Sixth and Twelfthto Fifteenth Yearnamesof Ibal-pi-El II Yearname 14?: mu 2 tukul guskin kh.babbar e-dIskur-rau
dNanna-se!ba-na-ku4,"The year: the two weapons of gold and
Yearname6: sanat bit Is8-tdrin-ne-ep-su/ba-dim. "The year: silver were sent into the temples of Adad and Nanna";the full
the temple of Istar was built," appears in text 1. According to form is in Hadad 569, the brief form occurs in our text 16
UCP 10/1, 25 and Sumer 5: 72, no. 32, this is one Ibal-pi-El's (Hadad 586) and Haddad 559. See also the three tablets from
yearname. Since the cuneiform sign for Inanna is very similar Tell Hatab (IM 92256, 92258, and one with Ibal-pi-El's name)
to that of Tispak, this yearname may be identified with Ibal-pi- mentioned in this book p. 28; TIM 5, no. 4 with the seal of a
El's sixth as given in the two lists published by Taha Baqir in servant of Ibal-pi-El.
"Date-formulae and Date-lists," Sumer 5 (1949): 83-84: mu 6 Yearname15?: mu Supur?-Samasi I-ba-al-pi-el ba-dab, "The
dTiipak(?),or mu e-sikil ki-ag dTiipak(?)-ra.Baqir has misread year: Ibal-pi-El took Supur-Samas"(Sumer 5, no. 35, IM 52976,
6-Es4-tar!of list 1 as e-sikil and misread dES4-tar-raof list 2 as 52980); "Supur-Samaswas [destroyed]" is also mentioned in
dTiipak-ra.He also misread dES4-tarand dInannaas dTispakin the year name of the Code of Eshnunna,AASOR 31, 22.
two other cases (Sumer5: 80 no. 26). Hence, the sixth yearname
of Ibal-pi-El II is about the temple of Istar/Inannaand not of The Year-Namesof Silli-Sin
Tispak. S. Greengus, Old Babylonian Tabletsfrom Ishchali and
Vicinity(OBTIV)(Leiden:NetherlandNear East Institute, 1979), 1. mu Sillil-dSin lugal, Greengus, OBTIVp. 34, no. 57, "The
27 n. 27), follows Baqir's reading. This notion is supportedby year: Silli-Sin became the king."
the yearnamesused in the barley archive of Ilsu-nasir, the chief 2? mu Si-li-dSin marat Am-mu-ra-bi (ihuzu), "The year:
merchantof Neribtum (Ischali). His hubuttatumbarley loan ar- Silli-Sin marriedthe daughterof Hammurabi,"Haddad567 and
chive was writtenfrom the last four years of the reign of Dadusa 570 in this book; also Haddad 82 (Sumer 43: 176: Sil-li-dSin

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580 Journal of the American Oriental Society 118.4 (1998)

lugal). Since Hammurabiof Babylon was the enemy of Silli- Zephyros was in office from 212-204 B.C. Nos. 390-92 relate
Sin, I think that this Hammurabimay have been the king of to declarationsof propertyand perhapsall date from 209 or 208
Kurda (or Yamhad), who probably supported Mari and Esh- B.C., when a census of property took place in Egypt. The first
nunna against Babylon. text is a declaration directed to Zephyros, the last, previously
3a? mu tiig-dEn-lil-bi-ta,"The year: from/with the garment described as P. Cair. 10295, a supplementary declaration di-
of Enlil,"text 15 (Hadad490) and Hadad561; Greengus,OBTIV, rected to Apollonios the epimeletes of the Arsinoite nome.
no. 78; also in a tablet from Tell es-Sib (part of Me-Turan)with Zephyros is the authorof no. 393, one of the few complete texts
the oath by Silli-Sin mentioned in this book p. 28 note. in this volume, in which he orders Dikaios, a police officer from
3b? mu Ra-za-ma gistukul(ba-slg), "The year: Razama was Moithymis in the Memphite nome, known from other texts, to
defeated," our text 3. send a bath attendant back to the Arsinoite nome (the editor
reads T6V ['Ou]puy?Xov PaXavaa in lines 2-3, an odd phrase,
Wu YUHONG but the papyrus clearly has T6v [r7a]p' ltDv P3akavea). No. 394,
NORMAL
NORTHEAST CHINA
CHANGCHUN,
UNIVERSITY, again a complete but badly abradedtext, is also directed to Di-
kaios and informs him about the damage done to his crops by
other people's sheep in 214 B.C.Pp. 59-64 contain a list of cases
of crops damaged by animals known from papyri. No. 395 is a
mere scrap about money matters.
Nos. 396-411 are papyri from the Roman period through
Funfundzwanziggriechische Papyri aus den Sammlungen von the end of antiquity.The first is anothercopy of an edict of the
Heidelberg, Wien und Kairo (PHeid. VII). Edited by emperor Hadrianof A.D. 136 about the payment of back taxes
AMPHILOCHIOS PAPATHOMAS. Ver6ffentlichungen aus der on land in installments (cf. Oliver, Greek Constitutions,no. 88).
HeidelbergerPapyrus-Sammlung,n.E, Heidelberger Akade- The copy is careless and breaks off halfway down. The opening
mie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. KI., vol. 8. Heidelberg: of the four copies is presented synoptically on pp. 84-85. The
UNIVERSITATSVERLAG C. WINTER, 1996. Pp. xv + 259, 24 back of the papyrus was reused for what appears to be a list of
plates. DM 138, OS 1021. names, which is not printed in full and not illustrated. No. 397
is an extract from a propertyregister of A.D. 158 about the land
In this volume A. Papathomaspublishes twenty-two miscel- of one Tiberius Claudius Cornelianusin the Hermopolite nome.
laneous papyri from Egypt, mostly from the Heidelberg collec- The papyruswas reused for anothertext on the back, no. 398, a
tion (five are from Vienna, one is from Cairo). The twenty-two badly damaged copy of a letter to four sitologoi from the strat-
papyri bear twenty-seven Greek documentary texts, of which egos of that nome of A.D. 176-79. No. 399 is a fairly completely
twenty-six are presented in full. Of these, twenty-five are num- preserved private document from Karanis and concerns the re-
bered 387-411 and continue the series of papyri from Hei- turn of a loan of oil in A.D. 149. The creditor, Marcus Sempro-
delberg known as P. Heid. I-VI. (For full details on these and nius Gemellus, gymnasiarch-to-be of Arsinoe, is known from
other publications of Greek papyri from Heidelberg, see http:// other texts. The debtor, one Herieus, is represented by one
scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist.html.) Harmachis(also spelled Harmacheus)with whom the document
The texts in this volume date from the third century B.C. to is in fact concerned. No. 400 is a private letter and belongs to
the seventh century A.D.,derive from all over Egypt, and cover a small archive of such letters from the late second century A.D.
a whole range of topics. The introductions and commentaries In it one Sempronius writes to his mother Saturnila.
contain a wealth of useful details, but they are not easily acces- Nos. 401 and 403 relate to Flavius Philagrios, prefect of
sible because there is no index of topics (pp. 239-50 are enti- Egypt in 334-37 and 338-40. The first is a petition from Oxy-
tled "Wort-und Sachindex,"but in fact only list Greek words). rhynchus from a debtor who has been duped by a creditor and
All those interested in Greek documentary texts will have to asks the prefect to instruct the defensor civitatis to enforce the
make do with the table of contents. The papyri may be briefly legal limit of twelve percent interest on loans. At the bottom
described here. only a few letters remain of the prefect's subscription. No. 403
Nos. 387-95 are all from the late third century B.c. Nos. is interpreted as the end of the speech of an advocate rather
387-89 are directed to the same person, Automedon, presum- than the end of a report of proceedings. The last three lines of
ably a sitologos in charge of a state granary in the Arsinoite the text report a judgment by Flavius Philagrios. No. 403 was
nome in 212 B.C. The first two texts contain orders to supply reused for a list of paymentsof vinegar for the military(no. 402;
certain quantities of, presumably, wheat. No. 389 forwards an why this comes before 403 is not clear). No. 404 is the un-
official letter. Two correspondentsof Automedon, Zephyros and finished but completely preserved opening of the settlement of
Nikanor, may be known from other texts, as oikonomos and a dispute between a gardener and his mother from Arsinoe of
epimeletes of the Arsinoite nome, respectively; in that case A.D. 629-30. No. 405 is a lease of land from the Hermopolite

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