... ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM CUNEIFORM TEXTS, VOL. II The Late Babylonian Tablets in the Royal Ontario Museum G. J.P. McEwan ~ ROM ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM CUNEIFORM TEXTS, VOL. II The Late Babylonian Tablets in the Royal Ontario Museum G .J.P. McEwan ~ ROM Royal Ontario Museum Toronto Foreword Copyright © The Royal Ontario Museum, 1982 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada, M5S 2C6 The cuneiform texts of the Royal Ontario Museum [ROMCT} number approxi ISBN 0-88854-282-8 mately 1,300, most of them acquired as two lots on the antiquities market. The Suggested citation: ROMCT first lot became part of the ROM's collection sometime before 1910, the second Printed and bound in Canada in 1925. The texts are representative of most periods in Mesopotamian history, and of many of the genres of cuneiform literature. Unfortunately, they have long sat uncatalogued and unpublished in the collections of the West Asian Department of the Museum. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data This volume represents the first step taken towards remedying this situation. Dr. G.J.P. McEwan has copied, collated, and presented an edition of all the Neo-Babylonian and Late Babylonian tablets in the collection. In doing this, he Royal Ontario Museum. has also prepared a catalogue of the entire collection, and therein lies the The late Babylonian tablets in the Royal Ontario explanation for the fact that this first volume is numbered Volume II, in what Museum we hope will be a series of such volumes. The second volume to be published, R0MCT 1, will be the catalogue of all the texts. Dr. McEwan is currently (Royal Ontario Museum cuneiform texts ; v. 2) preparing the manuscript, and we hope that it will follow in short order. Further Includes index. volumes on the Old Akkadian-Ur III and the Old Babylonian texts are also in ISBN 0-88854-282-8 preparation. I would like to thank Dr. McEwan for his initiative in undertaking this I. Assyro-Babylonian language - Texts Catalogs. project, and Dr. A.K. Grayson for encouraging him, while still a student in the 2. Babylonia - History Sources. 3. Law - Iraq Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Toronto, to begin work on Babylonia Sources. 4. Babylonia - Politics and this material. Finally, I must acknowledge the support of the Editorial Board of government Sources. 5. Royal Ontario Museum. the Royal Ontario Museum in undertaking this series of publications. I. McEwan, G. J.P. (Gilbert J.P.) 11. Title. III. Series. Louis D. Levine Curator in Charge PJ3874.R69 492'.1 C81-095112-6 West Asian Department V Contents Foreword V Preface IX List of Abbreviations xi Key to the Transcription xiii Concordance of Museum Numbers xvii Text Editions 1-4. Sales Contracts 3 5-6. Eanna Temple Records 8 7-8. Records of Oral Contracts 10 9. Land Lease 13 I 0. harranu Contract 16 11-29. Debt Records 17 30-31. Receipts 38 32. Suretyship Contract 40 33. Reclamation of Slave 41 34. Title Deed 42 35-38. Notarial and Judicial Documents 44 39-46. Administrative Documents 53 47-51. Letter Orders 59 52-54. Miscellaneous 64 55-57. Letters 65 Index of Personal Names 69 Index of Place Names 76 Index of Temple Names 76 Index of Aramaic Endorsements 76 Index of Titles and Designations 77 Plates 79 vii Preface The tablets published here comprise all the Late-Babylonian legal and ad ministrative documents and letters in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum. Though their number is not large, they offer a representative cross section of such documents from this period. Chronologically they fall within Chaldean and Persian eras-between the last quarter of the 7th and the end of the 5th centuries B.C.-and are relatively evenly distributed throughout the period. The bulk of the documents were composed in Babylonia proper, Nippur being the most frequently mentioned city, followed by Babylon, Isin, and Uruk. One tablet, however, comes (probably via Nippur) from Qadesh on the Orontes and provides us with interesting, albeit meagre, information abo'ut life in that city, which at the time was an important centre ofChaldean imperial administration. The content of the documents is no less important than their dates and provenience. Indeed, it is the chief criterion by which the importance of the tablets is judged, and by this criterion they have certainly not been found wanting. For the grammarian and the lexicographer they offer several points of interest, for instance the peculiar morphophonemics of the verbal forms in No. 8, to cite but one example. Furthermore, the present collection contains five letter-orders from the Persian period, which, in addition to being examples ofa rare genre, are interesting for the resemblances they bear to the documents from the Persepolis archives. Politically as well, there are points of interest. In addition to the mention of Qadesh, cited above, our knowledge of Chaldean provincial administration is increased by the mention in a document from Uruk (No. 36) ofa lieutenant-gqvernor of the province ofTupliash. New information is forthcoming for the Persian period also. For example, in No. 48, a text dated to the thirty-fifth year of Artaxerxes, we have the name of a hitherto unmen tioned satrap, Belshunu. And No. 36 provides us with an improved reading mitiprasu-for the Old Persian judicial title formerly read patiprasu, improving thereby our all too limited knowledge of the Old Persian language. The texts may now speak for themselves. There remains only the pleasant task of acknowledging the assistance provided me by various scholars and friends. First and foremost is the debt of gratitude I owe to Prof. A.K. Grayson of Toronto, who introduced me to the fascinating field of cuneiform studies and to whom this work is affectionately dedicated. In addition to reading the manuscript and making several valuable suggestions, Prof. Grayson was kind enough to provide me with collations of several passages, after I had moved from Toronto to Tiibingen and was consequently unable to check the texts myself. Prof. W. Rollig of Tiibingen has also placed me in his debt by reading the manuscript and suggesting a number of improvements. I have also had the benefit of the expertise of Prof. R.J. Williams of Toronto in discussing several ix West-Semitic personal names, and that of Prof. W. Hinz of Gottingen in discussing the Old Persian etymology of the word mitiprasu. Needless to say, any remaining defects must be attributed to the author alone. Furthermore I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. T.C. Young and Dr. L.D. Levine, curators of the West Asian Department of the Royal Ontario Museum, for permission to publish the tablets and for their helpful cooperation in all matters. Finally, I cannot allow to pass unmentioned the contributions of List ofA bbreviations my wife, Ruth, who in addition to helping with the copy-editing of the manu script has been a constant source of moral support, less tangible perhaps, but none the less valuable and appreciated. The abbreviations used in this monograph are those found in von Soden, Akkadisches Handwiirterbuch, Wiesbaden 1965, with the following additional G.J.P. McEwan abbreviations: Beitrage San Nicolo, M., Beitriige zur Rechtsgeschichte im Bereiche der keilschriftlichen Rechtsquellen. Oslo, 1931. Driver Driver, G.R., Aramaic Documents of the Fifth Century B.C. Oxford, 1965. Ephemeris Lidzbarski, M., Ephemeris fur semitische Epigraphik. Giessen, 1902-1915. HAP Brandenstein, W. & Mayrhofer, M., Handbuch des Altper sischen. Wiesbaden, 1964. Harding Harding, G., Index and Concordance of Pre-Islamic Arabian Names and Inscriptions. Toronto, 1971. Harris Harris, Z., A Grammar of the Phoenician Language. New Haven, 1936. Lanz Lanz, H., Die neubabylonischen harranu-Geschiiftsunterneh- men. Berlin, 1976. LB Late Babylonian MOP Mayrhofer, M., Onomastica Persepolitana. Vienna, 1973. NA Neo-Assyrian NB Neo-Babylonian Noth Noth, M., Die israelitischen Personennamen im Rahmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengebung. Stuttgart, 1928. NWAP Hinz, W., Neue Wege imAltpersischen. Wiesbaden, 1973. OP Old Persian PFT Hallock, R., Persepolis Fortification Tablets, OIP XCII. Chicago, 1969. Ranke Ranke, H., Die iigyptischen Personennamen. Gliickstadt, 1935- 1953. Ries Ries, G., Die neubabylonischen Bodenpachtformulare. Berlin, 1976. Rossler Rossler, 0., Untersuchungen uber die akkadische Fassung der Achiimenideninschriften. Diss. Berlin, 1938. RV Dandamayev, M., Ravstvo v Vavilonii. Moscow, 1974. X Xi Stark Stark, J., Personal Names in the Palmyrene Inscriptions. Oxford, 197 l. Stolper Stolper, M., Management and Politics in Later Achaemenid Babylonia: New Texts from the Murasu Archive. Diss. Ann Arbor. Key to the Transcription b For the sake of typographical simplicity the Akkadian phoneme will be represented in this manuscript by h. abu AD belu EN arahabu ITl.NE bitu E abullu KA.GAL arahaddaru ITl.SE dajjiinu DI.KU 5 ahu SES damaqu SlG5 ahu PAP dassu MAS.GAL arahajjaru ITI.GU4 archdu'uzu ITI.SU altu/asfotu DAM iilu URU amelu LU ekallu E.GAL amtu GEME denlil dEN.LIL ana DIS denlil dNINNU uz rtanu dLX enzu aplu A epesu DU araharahsamna ITI.APIN epinnu APIN ardu IR epsu DU.A arhu ITI eqlu A.SA arkat /arki EGIR eresu KAM asu E eresu APIN aforedu SAG.KAL eseru GIS askapu ASGAB e{eru SUR e{eru KAR babifiki TIN.TIRki babifiki Eki gamru TIL bab[liki KA.DINGIR.RA ki gisimmaru GISIMMAR babu KA gi{!u GID.DA au ba'iru SU.HA gugallu .GAL balii(u TIN banu DU haliiqu ZAH basu TUK himetu I.NUN .NA beltu GASAN hubullu UR5• RA idtt zu mahru IGI qam, GI sandabakku GU.EN.NA i/u DINGIR makkuru NIG.GA qaqqadu SAG.DU sangu SANGA imittu ZAG.LU man{i MA.NA qiitu SU sanu II imittu xv d,nar-biti dDUMU.E qatu TIL sapaku DUB immeru VDU.NITA dmarduk dAMAR.UTU qiasu BA sarru LUGAL ma AS "marduk "su qBtu NIG.BA sattu MU inu IGI martu DUMU.SAL qu SILA sipiitu sfG ipru SE.BA miiru DUMU sipru KIN isinki PA.SEki miirti A rabi1 GAL siqlu GIN i.yu ms matu KUR rasa TUK sizbu GA isparu US.BAR matu us resu SAG :suatu MU(.MES) dis tar dlNNIN muhhu UGU re'a SIPA sumu MU distar dSAR riiibu SU itinnu SITIM <1nabu dAG rittu KISIB arahtasritU itti Kl nadanu MU ruqqu SEN tesu sOH izuzzu GUB nadiinu SUM tillatu ILLAT nadu I arahsimanu ITI.SIG4 arah{ebetu ITI.AB kalbu UR.GI7 nadu IM.TUK dsin c1xxx {eh DA klinu GIN napharu PAP siparru ZABAR {ernu US4 kaspu KU.BABBAR napi.ttu 21 sipparki ZIMBIRki {uppu DUB ka~iiru KAO narkabtu gisGIGIR sisa ANSE.KUR.RA {upsarru DUB.SAR kasiidu SA.SA naru fD suluppu ZU.LUM.MA (tipsarru UMBISAG kibatu GIG.BA nasaru URU sutu gisBAN kiru KIRI6 dnerga/ dIGI.DU ~a/mu GE6 arahu/ulu ITI.KIN arahkislimu !TI.GAN dnergal ctU.GUR sehru TUR ummiinu ERIN kisiidu GU nesakku NU.ES ~eru EDIN ummu AMA kudurru NIG.DU nippurki EN.LfLki ,riditu NINDA.KASKAL flmu UD kunasu ziz.AM arahnisannu ITI.BAR ~ululu AN.DUL uniqu ZEH kunukku KISIB nunu KU6 sa-res SAG urukki UNUGk' kurummatu SUK nuru ZALAG arahfoba{u ITI.ZIZ uqatu SE.BAR kurunnu KAS.SAG <1nusku dENSADA sakanu GAR kussu gisGU.ZA saliimu GI ctzababa ctzA.BA4.BA4 dfomas dUTU zeru NUMUN IGI lahru Us pa.nu PI samassamnu SE.GIS.i zittu HA.LA samnu i.GIS lalu MAS.TUR <lpapsukkal dPAP.SUKKAL le'u DA pqu BABBAR libbu sA pihatu NAM libittu SIG pisannu PISAN 4 littu GU4.AB pI u-~a-J•a TUG.BABBAR xiv xv Concordance of Museum Numbers Pub. Dimensions No. Museum No. "D" No. Plate Place Date (mm) I 910x209.387 919 Illb Kish 4. Vlll.12 Nbn. 72 X 54 2 967.287.69 la Qadesh 24.Vl.41 Nbk. 60 X 38 3 910x209.344 876 Vb Bab. 29. VI. I EvM. 60 X 44 4 910x209.371 903 lib Bab. 25.XI.7 Cyr. 56 X 44 910x209.525 1058 XXVb 55 X 40 5 967.287.68 !Va Uruk 9.Xl.6 Cyr. 49 X 40 6 910x209.360b 892b VII Uruk 20.11.15 Nbn. 85 X 60 7 910x209.354 886 Va Nip. 7.Xl.19 Npl. 51 X 37 8 910x209.355 887 Via Nip. 14.Xll.5 Cyr. 62 X 50 910x209.356 888 Vlb 50 X 46 9 9l0x209.342 874 Vlllb sa r. 18.IX.2 Camb. 57 X 45 10 925.62. 188b 183b IXb -.-.-Nrgl. 55 X 43 II 910x209.529 1062 Xb Nip. 6.111.7 Nbn. 50 X 40 12 9l0x209.351 883 XVc Nip. 7.III.11 Nbn. 43 X 30 13 910x209.357 889 X!Xb Nip. Nbk. 55 X 45 14 965.262.2 IVb Sip. 6. Vlll.4 Carn b. 54 X 41 15 910x209.4l0 942 Xia Nip. 15.IX.18 Xer. 68 X 48 16 910x209.562 1095 XVlla Nip. 24.Xl.33 Art. 55 X 45 17 9l0x209.372 904 XIIIa Nip. -.X.-Art. 56 X 44 18 910x209.265 797 lb Nip. -.111.4 Nbn. 45 X 42 19 9l0x209.4l7 949 Xlb Bab. 30.Xlla.3 Cyr. 49 X 39 20 910x209.537 1070 Xa -.1.38 Art. 59 X 51 21 9l0x209.67 599 Vllla Bab. 4.VI.3 Nrgl. 44 X 38 22 9l0x209.352 884 Ila Bab. 18.Vl.9 Nbn. 50 X 39 23 9l0x209.348 880 XVla Isin 21.Vl.15Dar. 55 X 44 24 910x209.378 910 Xlla !sin 10. VII.19 Dar. 60 X 49 25 910x209.369 901 XVa s!sai n -.VI.-Dar. 56 X 46 26 910x209.528 1061 Xllb Re. 28.V.l4 Dar. 50 X 42 27 9l0x209.343 875 XVIlla Baqis. 13.Xll.6 Camb. 49 X 40 28 910x209.527 1060 Xlllb Nip. 24.X.4 Cyr. 50 X 42 29 9 IOx209.534 1067 IXa 22.Xlla.-Dar. 58 X 50 30 910x209.319 851 XXVc Bab. 4.IX.6 Cyr. 40 X 31 31 9l0x209.367 899 XVIIIb Bit a. 6.XIl.23 Dar. 56 X 44 32 910x209.370 902 X!Vb sa Am. 25.IV.I Camb. 54 X 42 33 9 IOx209 .362 894 XIXa 26.Vl.-Nbk. 55 X 43 34 9l0x209.364 896 XIVa Nip. 11.IX.23 Nbk. 59 X 48 35 925.62.220 216 XX,XXI Hus. I .IX. 10 Art. 85 X 80 36 910x209.58I 1116 XXII, XXIII Nip. -.-.5 Dar. 101 x 90 37 910x209.379 911 XXIV Bab. 15.-.-Nbk. 86 X 56 38 910x209.34I 873 XXVIIb 6. VI.5 - 67 X 48 39 965.262.4 XXVIIld 23.IV.28 Nbk. 35 X 20 40 910x209.353 885 XVIb 16.X.12 Nbk. 55 X 40 41 910x209.360a 892a XXVa Nip. 48 X 31 42 9l0x209.346 878 Illa 12.X.26 Nbk. 45 X 34 43 910x209.365 897 XXVlllb 26.11.27 Nbk. .. 32 X 20 44 910x209.358 890 XXVllk 24.-.-- 45 X 28 xvii 45 910x209.416 948 XXIXa 38 X 38 46 910x209. 178 710 XXVIa acc. yr. EvM. 68 X 50 47 910x209.373 905 XXXa, XXXIb Nip. 28.Xl.36 Art. 64 X 48 48 910x209 .420 952 XVIIb Nip. 18.X.35 Art. 50 X 37 49 910x209.493 1026 XXXb, XXXla Nip. 27.V.36 Art. 70 X 45 50 910x209.547 1080 XXVlla Nip. 20.IX.36 Art. 59 X 47 51 910x209.450 982 XXVIb Nip. 12.Xl.35 Art. 58 X 46 52 910x209.165 697 XVb 63 X 44 Text Editions 53 910x209.269 801 XXIXd 40 X 20 54 910x209.542 1075 XXXlc Nip. 6.1.-Art. 57 X 51 · 55 910x209.522 1055 XXIXb 40 X 36 56 910x209.359 891 XXVllla 62 X 30 57 910x209.366 898 XXIXc 40 X 26 \ VIII