The scale of the human crisis in Syria has expanded and now involves Europe. Damage to archaeological and heritage sites also continues at an alarming rate.
The presence of Egyptian material culture in the Levant has long intrigued scholars in the fields of Levantine archaeology and Egyptology alike as evidence of interconnections between the two regions in antiquity. My dissertation focuses on a distinct subset of this material, stone statuary…Read More
Cavalry was one of the dominant military forces in ancient times. Since its creation, it has played an important role in warfare, and has also had a profound influence on the formation and evolution of civilizations in Europe and Asia…Read More
The scale of the human crisis in Syria has expanded and now involves Europe. Damage to archaeological and heritage sites also continues at an alarming rate.
The presence of Egyptian material culture in the Levant has long intrigued scholars in the fields of Levantine archaeology and Egyptology alike as evidence of interconnections between the two regions in antiquity. My dissertation focuses on a distinct subset of this material, stone statuary…Read More
Cavalry was one of the dominant military forces in ancient times. Since its creation, it has played an important role in warfare, and has also had a profound influence on the formation and evolution of civilizations in Europe and Asia…Read More
The scale of the human crisis in Syria has expanded and now involves Europe. Damage to archaeological and heritage sites also continues at an alarming rate.
The presence of Egyptian material culture in the Levant has long intrigued scholars in the fields of Levantine archaeology and Egyptology alike as evidence of interconnections between the two regions in antiquity. My dissertation focuses on a distinct subset of this material, stone statuary…Read More
Cavalry was one of the dominant military forces in ancient times. Since its creation, it has played an important role in warfare, and has also had a profound influence on the formation and evolution of civilizations in Europe and Asia…Read More
STAY AT THE ALBRIGHT INSTITUTE’S RESIDENCE HOSTEL, SAVE 15%
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider margin_top=”5″ margin_bottom=”5″][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]If you’re traveling to Jerusalem, consider staying at the Albright Institute—one of ASOR’s affiliated research centers. A great option for academics, you’ll be in a supportive research-oriented environment with other scholars and professionals. The services and facilities will allow you to focus on your work and maximize your time. You may stay a few nights or for an entire semester. Family apartments and en suite rooms are available, in addition to traditional hostel rooms.
Book now through September 1, 2019, and you can receive a 15% discount on any stay between September 1 – December 31, 2019. (Discount may not to be combined with any other discounts). Click here for rates. Rate includes the following:
Half Board: a light self-service breakfast every day, and dinner Monday-Saturday (excluding apartments, which do not include meals)
All utilities and high-speed wireless internet
Coffee/tea/hot water station at all times.
Weekly cleaning and room refresh
24-hour access to the library
JSTOR access
Parking
Access to printing and copying
Access to laundry facilities
Email albrightinstitute@aiar.org or sarah.fairman@aiar.org for more information or to book! You may also follow the Albright Institute on Instagram and Facebook to stay on top of other promotions like this one: @albright.institute[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1567019605029{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) is the preeminent society for individuals interested in the archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean and the Biblical Lands. This blog is intended to facilitate ASOR’s mission “to initiate, encourage and support research into, and public understanding of, the cultures and history of the Near East from the earliest times.”[/vc_column_text][mk_divider thickness=”1″ margin_top=”10″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]
A Wonderful Season
By: Amanda Hopkins, 2012 Heritage Fellow
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”50369″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1565877186805{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]I received financial assistance as a Heritage Fellowship recipient which helped me to purchase my plane ticket. In addition to this practical benefit, I was able to share my experiences through the ASOR blog. Now, as I reflect upon my earlier posts (First, Second, Third, and Last) I have various markers that show me how understanding is a journey of perspective. For example, when we were originally given permission to excavate the cave we imagined that it could be a wine cellar. Now we realize that the depth and shape of the cave best lends itself to being a reservoir or cistern. Digging Tall al-Umayri Survey Site 84 also created several opportunities to better appreciate the daily life of people living in hinterland settlements during the late Iron Age.
These early dwellers’ tenacity and resilience were most keenly felt when we discovered plaster and chiseling on the walls and roof of the cave. This discovery was perhaps the most exhilarating moment of the dig. Especially, since we are following (perhaps) these markers of human ingenuity to the bottom of the cave. I want to see how these people reshaped this natural feature of the landscape so that it would conform to their desire to store water for the production of wine and or olive oil.
“Best practices of cistern production” come from the community’s long-term experience of living in the hinterland. The mixtures of various types of limestone that surround Site 84 include permeable types like the kind we have in our cave. If the marks of the chiseling and the layering of the plaster are any indication then it took an incredible amount of handiwork to prepare the cave’s surfaces and to create an impermeable lining.
Our 2012 dig season also contained moments of levity. Archeologists derive benefit mostly by digging with small picks and trowels. However, for removing years of top fill from windblown dirt, vegetation (of the thistle variety) and human remnants (aluminum soda cans), nothing is better than a good shovel and a pick. However, matching the right wooden handle with the right shovel or pick head can be quite tasking. The shovel and pick heads that are offered for sale in a store may or may not fit the handles that are similarly offered for sale by that same hardware store!!!
We found a similar situation as we covered the cave to protect it and interested bystanders from injury. Ordering the corrugated steel (in Arabic/English), building the wooden fixtures to hold the metal in place- and transporting all these materials…you make friends quickly with locals whose help is much appreciated!
I had a very meaningful experience excavating Hinterland Site 84. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to be a 2012 recipient of the Heritage Fellowship Award and to be a member of the Tall al- Umayri dig.
~~~
As you know, ASOR’s mission is to support archaeology in the Near East, and now we have an exciting opportunity for you to support students of archaeology directly! Every year ASOR gives out around 30 Platt and Heritage Fellowships to deserving students to defray the costs of excavating in the Near East. Thanks to last year’s March Fellowship Madness drive we gave out a total of 42 scholarships and we are trying to beat that number this year.
Our goal is to raise $10,000, and if we succeed, two generous donors will give funding for four additional fellowships, meaning a total of 14 additional students will get funding this year! Help us seize this opportunity to send more students into the field! Donate now![/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_divider thickness=”1″ margin_top=”10″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this blog or found by following any link on this blog. ASOR will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information. ASOR will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The opinions expressed by Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of ASOR or any employee thereof.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) is the preeminent society for individuals interested in the archaeology of the eastern Mediterranean and the Biblical Lands. This blog is intended to facilitate ASOR’s mission “to initiate, encourage and support research into, and public understanding of, the cultures and history of the Near East from the earliest times.”[/vc_column_text][mk_divider thickness=”1″ margin_top=”10″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]
Sustainability at Any Price is not Sustainable: Open Access and Archaeology
By: Eric Kansa, UC Berkeley and OpenContext.org
This blog post looks at the open access debate, and notes how sustainability is as much of an ideological and political question as it is a financial issue. It is intended to follow up on previous blog posts (first, second, third) that discuss how the Aaron Swartz prosecution and death highlighted tremendous injustices in the legal framework governing scholarly communications.
At this year’s Society for American Archaeology (SAA) conference in Honolulu, I took part in discussions about open access in various forums, including the Digital Data Interest Group and a forum sponsored by the SAA Committee on Ethics. Sarah Kansa, a member of the SAA Publications Committee has also been participating in open access debates. There’s very little to report just yet, except that the issue of open access is clearly on the agenda of archaeology’s professional societies. The Obama Administration’s (Feb 2013) move to require open access of federally funded research outputs has clearly raised the stakes and urgency of the open access issue. This policy move followed years of advocacy efforts, culminating with a petition signed by over 65,000 people.
In these debates, open access has little explicit opposition as an ideal. Rather, resistance to open access focuses on fears of financial “sustainability.” The leaders of professional societies tend to cling to the status quo because they do not see a way to underwrite the costs of open access publication.
So let’s look at the issue of sustainability more closely.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_divider thickness=”1″ margin_top=”10″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this blog or found by following any link on this blog. ASOR will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information. ASOR will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The opinions expressed by Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of ASOR or any employee thereof.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Is the Bible as old as Moses or as young as the Hellenistic period? A new book argues that looking closely at Biblical language and context suggests many ‘ages.’Read More[/vc_column_text][mk_divider thickness=”1″ margin_top=”10″][vc_column_text]
Ancient temples were mysterious places filled with statues and incense. But tablets from Marduk’s temple in Babylon show they were also filled with specialists and managers following detailed lists of instructions. Read More[/vc_column_text][mk_divider thickness=”1″ margin_top=”10″][vc_column_text]
All human societies experience smells, but ancient Egypt was one of the first to document that realm. What would ancient Egypt have smelled like?Read More[/vc_column_text][mk_divider thickness=”1″ margin_top=”10″][vc_column_text]
The Bible regards Solomon as the greatest and wisest of kings. But which Solomon are we talking about, that of Samuel-Kings or Chronicles? And which is closer to ‘history’?Read More[/vc_column_text][mk_divider thickness=”1″ margin_top=”10″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]Our members (i.e., you) are truly amazing. This year we received a extraordinary challenge pledge of $450,000 towards the purchase of the James F. Strange Center, but we had to “earn” this gift by completing two separate challenges:
First, we had to demonstrate that we were all behind ASOR’s many initiatives by securing 450 unique donors by June 30, 2019. When we received this challenge on February 1st, we had about 200 donors for the fiscal year, so we had to receive gifts from 250 new donors in just five months. A tall order; yet, our members came through (once again).
Second (and separate from the participation goal), we must raise $225,000 in new gifts and pledges for the building by December 31, 2019. To date, we have received gifts and pledges of $171,402 for this challenge—so we only need $53,598 more. Now that we’re completed the participation challenge (see below), we will focus on raising the last $53,500+ that we need to pay off the building debt and exceed our goal.
For now, we are thrilled to announce that we exceeded the participation portion of the challenge. As of July 2nd, we had 461 donors, and we are still waiting for the mail to arrive over the next week with gifts postmarked by June 30th. We set an all-time high for both dollars donated and for participation in Fiscal Year 2019, and we are so thankful for all of your support.[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_line_chart style=”modern” x_values=”FY2011; FY2012; FY2013; FY2014; FY2015; FY2016; FY2017; FY2018; FY2019″ values=”%5B%7B%22title%22%3A%22Number%20of%20Donors%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%22235%3B%20282%3B%20353%3B%20417%3B%20400%3B%20405%3B%20402%3B%20457%3B%20461%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22blue%22%7D%2C%7B%22title%22%3A%22Gifts%20and%20Private%20Grants%20(in%20%24000’s)%22%2C%22y_values%22%3A%22157%3B%20241%3B%20350%3B%20404%3B%20295%3B%20288%3B%20357%3B%20483%3B%201261%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22turquoise%22%7D%5D” title=”Donor Participation Since 2011″][mk_divider][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]
Why does high donor participation matter?
This large number of donors (more than 1 in 5 of our members) is something that distinguishes ASOR from all other learned societies. And it matters, as the high level of donor participation from our membership engages the attention of foundations and major donors outside ASOR and helps us attract gifts and support from them.
Your donations also enable ASOR to carry out our mission. Subscriptions and memberships only account for about a quarter of our annual budget, so we rely on grants and donations from our members and friends. Even modest gifts add up to create significant support for ASOR, Truly, every donor is important, and every gift is meaningful.
If you are one of the people who made a gift to ASOR in Fiscal Year 2019, thank you so much for your support. Indeed, because of the cost of relocating to our new home in Alexandria, VA, your support has never been more beneficial.
Please take this opportunity to check out everyone who contributed in FY2019 by clicking on our Honor Roll of Donors. We hope that you will also review the list of FY19 Honorific and Memorial Gifts. If we made an error in listing your name on the Honor Roll, we ask that you kindly e-mail us so that we can correct the mistake.
If you would like to get a head start on joining the list of donors to ASOR for Fiscal Year 2020 (ends June 30, 2020) and help us reach the second part of our challenge pledge, please click on the “Donate Now” button below!
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Pp. 3–9: “A Double Date Formula of the Old Akkadian King Manishtusu,” by Nashat Alkhafaji
This article provides a preliminary edition of an unprovenienced Old Akkadian tablet located in the Iraq Museum that must have originated in Umma or its environs. This account of equids is unique in that it is the first “mu-iti” type that carries a year name; this is also the first known such year name from the reign of Manishtusu, the third ruler of the Sargonic dynasty of the late third millennium BCE.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 11–34: “How to “Institutionalize” a Household in Ur III Ĝirsu/Lagaš: The Case of the House of Ur-DUN,” by Palmiro Notizia
Aside from the institutional households, a good number of “private” estates are known from Ur III sources. These private households were usually named after their owners (members of the royal entourage, the military or the local elite, merchants, cultic officials etc.), and controlled extensive resources, but were only rarely mentioned in the administrative documents from the provincial archives. One of the best-documented private estate is the one that belonged to a certain Ur-DUN. His estate was located in the Ĝirsu/Lagaš province and played an important role in the raising of slaughter animals and wool production. The aim of the present paper is to describe the economic activities of the Ur-DUN household according to the available sources and to highlight how this private household interacted with the provincial economy and the crown/military sector.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 35–52: “On the Location of Irisaĝrig Once Again,” by Maurizio Viano
The recovery of a few royal inscriptions at Tūlūl al-Baqarat (Iraq) by the archaeological mission of the University of Torino has made it possible to propose the identification of the site with ancient Keš. The present contribution reexamines the location of Irisaĝrig in light of its well-known textual connections with and physical proximity to Keš.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 53-76: “The Structure of Prices in the Ur III Economy: Cults and Prices at the Collapse of the Ur III State,” by Eric L. Cripps
The production of a barley surplus by the Ur III economy was vital for the operation of its commodity money system. The standardizing bi-monetary equivalence of a gur measure of barley and a shekel of silver stabilized commodity prices for the thirty-five years before the reign of Ibbi-Suen. In Ibbi-Suen’s early years, the collapse of the barley supply induced an excessive devaluation of the barley to silver ratio leading to a near hyperinflation in the prices of staple commodities and bovids required for cult and other purposes. This article analyzes the inflation in prices of animals and staples correlated with the precipitous fall in the barley to silver price ratio. Data is primarily from the Ur texts dated to the seventh year of Ibbi-Suen’s reign concerned with the purchase and delivery to state institutions of animals. Importantly, an analysis of these events demonstrated the central function of a barley surplus in the Ur III monetary system.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 77-83: “A Cylinder Seal with an Amorite Name from Tepe Musiyan, Deh Luran Plain,” by Mohsen Zeynivand
The archeology of the Deh Luran plain was documented by the work of Frank Hole and his associates in 1960s and 1970s. While these investigations were mostly dedicated to the study of the village periods, the presence of early state formations on the plain was also documented by their surface surveys. Tepe Farukhabad was an exception, but because it was only a small settlement in the third and second millennia BCE, the excavations there did not yield fruitful results for this period. Based on their systematic surface study of Tepe Musiyan, Wright and Neely argued that during the third and second millennia BCE, this settlement played a central role in this strategic plain due to its location on the route from Susa to Der (Badra in Iraq). Recently, our team again surveyed the Deh Luran Plain. Our visit to Musiyan provided us with a cylinder seal discovered by one of the locals. The inscription reveals the owner as a person with an Amorite name who may have been present in Musiyan sometime during the early centuries of the second millennium BCE, contemporary with the end of the Šimaški period, which in Mesopotamia extends from late in the Third Dynasty of Ur until the early Old Babylonian period.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 85-109: “Unfinished Business: The Relief on the Hammurabi Louvre Stele Revisited,” by Tallay Ornan
A reexamination of the relief on the Hammurabi’s “Law Code” stele reveals that the type of beard worn by Hammurabi and Šamaš does not conform to the Old Babylonian beard type. Moreover, the linear workmanship of the lower part of the king’s beard suggests that the relief was never finished. Considering the troubled history of the stele—made and erected in Babylonia in the late fifties of the eighteenth century BCE and carried away to Susa in the mid twelfth century—it is proposed that the resculpting of the Stele was undertaken by Šutruk-Naḫḫunte or his son Kutir-Naḫḫunte upon the Elamite capture of the monument with the goal of making it their own. An attempt to clarify the circumstances and motivation of this reworking is offered in the article.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 111-120: “An Uprising at Karkar: A New Historical-Literary Text,” by Elyze Zomer
This paper offers a new edition of the Middle Babylonian bilingual fragment VS 17, 43 (VAT 1514) together with the duplicate lines found on the obverse of the Kassite period exercise tablet CBS 7884. The text is of historical-literary content and depicts an otherwise unknown uprising at Karkar. A first edition of the text is offered together with a brief introduction regarding its problematic historical setting.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 121-132: “Fate Strikes Back: New Evidence for the Identification of the Hittite Fate Deities and Its Implications for Hieroglyphic Writing in Anatolia,” by Willemijn Waal
In 2014, I proposed that the GUL-šeš deities may have to be identified with the Kuwa(n)šeš deities, a suggestion that has met with severe criticisms. Since now new evidence has come to light that confirms the equation of these deities, it seems opportune to re-address this debate, which also has important consequences for the use of hieroglyphic writing in Anatolia. In this article, I will present the new evidence, counter the critiques that have been given, and address the wider implications.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 133-152: “War in Anatolia in the Post-Hittite Period: The Anatolian Hieroglyphic Inscription of Topada Revised,” by Lorenzo d’Alfonso
This article presents a new transcription and translation of the TOPADA inscription. According to the new interpretation, the inscription narrates the events of a four-year-long war between a western coalition led by an unnamed Phrygian king and a coalition of post-Hittite rulers from south-central Anatolia, led by Great King Wasusarma. The careful study of paleography, scribal practice, script development, and literary aspects yields a dating of the inscription to the late tenth or early ninth century BCE. In view of the growing archaeological evidence for the central Anatolian Dark Ages, the new interpretation of the inscription has far-reaching implications for the overarching historical picture of the early first millennium BCE in Western Asia. It also provides the earliest attestation for the kingdom of Phrygia, and the sole occurrence of the toponym Phrygia and derivatives outside of the western Greco-Roman sources.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 153-157: “Another Exemplar of Esarhaddon’s Uruk B Cylinder (NBC 2511),” by Shana Zaia
The Yale Babylonian Collection contains a partial cylinder, NBC 2511, that preserves a hitherto unknown example of Esarhaddon’s Uruk B inscription. While this exemplar does not deviate in translation from those already published in RINAP 4, there are some orthographic variations. This article presents an edition of NBC 2511 with some comments regarding its differences from the published exemplars and its parallels with other Esarhaddon Uruk cylinders.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 159-180: “Aššur and His Friends: A Statistical Analysis of Neo-Assyrian Texts,” by Tero Alstola, Shana Zaia, Aleksi Sahala, Heidi Jauhiainen, Saana Svärd, and Krister Lindén
Large digital datasets of cuneiform sources lend themselves to computational analysis that can complement and improve upon traditional philological work. The present article applies social network analysis to an electronic corpus of 1,532 texts to study the god Aššur and his position in divine networks in the Neo-Assyrian period. Our results show that the performance of social network analysis can be improved by using a small window size and calculating tie strengths with pointwise mutual information. This allows us to study the co-occurrences of gods in semantic contexts. From a network perspective, Aššur is not a very central god in our corpus despite his importance in Assyrian royal theology, but he rather joins the existing networks of gods without altering them.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 181–190: “An Early Maššartu-List from the Eanna Temple in Uruk,” by Reinhard Pirngruber
This article presents editions of two maššartu lists from the Eanna-temple in Uruk now housed in the Yale Babylonian Collection and in the Princeton Theological Seminary. Not only are NCBT 660 and PTS 2232 among the very few completely preserved examples of such lists, they also belong to the earliest known specimens of their genre, dating to the third (602/1 BCE) and first (604/3 BCE) year of Nebuchadnezzar II. These texts are valuable additions to the rather sparse dossier containing information on the Eanna cult during the formative phase of the Neo-Babylonian Empire; moreover, they are related to a text that concerns Nabonidus’s cultic reforms in the Eanna.
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
Pp. 191-207: “Critical Review,” by Pascal Attinger
ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this article. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.
[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text]ASOR Members with online access: navigate to the token link email sent to you before attempting to read this issue. Once you have activated your member token, click here to access the the entire issue, including book reviews, on The University of Chicago Press Journals’ website.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1567019974102{margin-right: 5px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”4″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496684008271{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
WELCOME TO THE ASOR BLOG
located in the Iraq Museum that must have originated in Umma or its environs. This account of equids is unique in that it is the first “mu-iti” type that carries a year name; this is also the first known such year name from the reign of Manishtusu, the third ruler of the Sargonic dynasty of the late third millennium BCE.
Aside from the institutional households, a good number of “private” estates are known from Ur III sources. These private households were usually named after their owners (members of the royal entourage, the military or the local elite, merchants, cultic officials etc.), and controlled extensive resources, but were only rarely mentioned in the administrative documents from the provincial archives. One of the best-documented private estate is the one that belonged to a certain Ur-DUN. His estate was located in the Ĝirsu/Lagaš province and played an important role in the raising of slaughter animals and wool production. The aim of the present paper is to describe the economic activities of the Ur-DUN household according to the available sources and to highlight how this private household interacted with the provincial economy and the crown/military sector.
archaeological mission of the University of Torino has made it possible to propose the identification of the site with ancient Keš. The present contribution reexamines the location of Irisaĝrig in light of its well-known textual connections with and physical proximity to Keš.
While these investigations were mostly dedicated to the study of the village periods, the presence of early state formations on the plain was also documented by their surface surveys. Tepe Farukhabad was an exception, but because it was only a small settlement in the third and second millennia BCE, the excavations there did not yield fruitful results for this period. Based on their systematic surface study of Tepe Musiyan, Wright and Neely argued that during the third and second millennia BCE, this settlement played a central role in this strategic plain due to its location on the route from Susa to Der (Badra in Iraq). Recently, our team again surveyed the Deh Luran Plain. Our visit to Musiyan provided us with a cylinder seal discovered by one of the locals. The inscription reveals the owner as a person with an Amorite name who may have been present in Musiyan sometime during the early centuries of the second millennium BCE, contemporary with the end of the Šimaški period, which in Mesopotamia extends from late in the Third Dynasty of Ur until the early Old Babylonian period.
and Šamaš does not conform to the Old Babylonian beard type. Moreover, the linear workmanship of the lower part of the king’s beard suggests that the relief was never finished. Considering the troubled history of the stele—made and erected in Babylonia in the late fifties of the eighteenth century BCE and carried away to Susa in the mid twelfth century—it is proposed that the resculpting of the Stele was undertaken by Šutruk-Naḫḫunte or his son Kutir-Naḫḫunte upon the Elamite capture of the monument with the goal of making it their own. An attempt to clarify the circumstances and motivation of this reworking is offered in the article.
together with the duplicate lines found on the obverse of the Kassite period exercise tablet CBS 7884. The text is of historical-literary content and depicts an otherwise unknown uprising at Karkar. A first edition of the text is offered together with a brief introduction regarding its problematic historical setting.
According to the new interpretation, the inscription narrates the events of a four-year-long war between a western coalition led by an unnamed Phrygian king and a coalition of post-Hittite rulers from south-central Anatolia, led by Great King Wasusarma. The careful study of paleography, scribal practice, script development, and literary aspects yields a dating of the inscription to the late tenth or early ninth century BCE. In view of the growing archaeological evidence for the central Anatolian Dark Ages, the new interpretation of the inscription has far-reaching implications for the overarching historical picture of the early first millennium BCE in Western Asia. It also provides the earliest attestation for the kingdom of Phrygia, and the sole occurrence of the toponym Phrygia and derivatives outside of the western Greco-Roman sources.
in the Yale Babylonian Collection and in the Princeton Theological Seminary. Not only are NCBT 660 and PTS 2232 among the very few completely preserved examples of such lists, they also belong to the earliest known specimens of their genre, dating to the third (602/1 BCE) and first (604/3 BCE) year of Nebuchadnezzar II. These texts are valuable additions to the rather sparse dossier containing information on the Eanna cult during the formative phase of the Neo-Babylonian Empire; moreover, they are related to a text that concerns Nabonidus’s cultic reforms in the Eanna.