Abstract Cuneiform texts dating to the Third Dynasty of Ur (ca. 2100 – 2000 BCE) contain unusually extensive and detailed data on the manufacture of bronze in ancient Babylonia. Mentions of the objects made of tin bronze (Sumerian zabar ) are comparatively rare. Such examples mainly concern high status items. By contrast, utilitarian objects such as hoes, sickles, and axes, thousands of which were routinely produced, are usually described in texts as being made of copper ( urudu ). This situation is seemingly contradicted by the archaeological evidence, which shows that, the during the late fourth and the third millennium BCE the type of bronze predominantly used in Southern Babylonia and Iran—especially for simple tools—was the arsenical one, with the tin bronze having been used quite rarely. As this contribution argues, the answer to this dilemma is provided by the fact that the manufacture of the allegedly “copper” objects involved the alloying of copper with a material called su gan . We conclude that su gan is to be identified as arsenic, and that, accordingly, the alloys so produced were arsenical bronzes.

Abstract According to the cuneiform archives of Ebla (Tall Mardīḫ, Syria, 24 th century BC), real estate, indicated by the term e₂ , is predominantly owned by men of high rank. Only a small portion of the records document real estate and land owned by women. Thus, the number of available texts is limited and the data on their properties scarce. Despite this disparity, women’s real estate and land holdings are recorded across administrative and chancery documents, including legal records of inheritance transfers. Based on this variety of texts, this study aims to provide an updated picture of women’s houses and land holdings in Ebla, supported by a metrological analysis of their agricultural properties. It also explores the legal issues entangled with their gender and marital status.

Abstract This article is dedicated to the Archaic (late 7th or early 6th c. BC) inscription on a spindle whorl coming from the Lydian-Mysian borderland, presenting a new interpretation of the text and arguing for its connection with the Mysian inhabitants of the region. After an introduction outlining the status quaestionis and addressing recent evidence concerning the ethnolinguistic identity of Mysians (§ 1), the paper presents a detailed analysis of the alphabet of the graffito (§ 2) and observations on its possible pragmatic and sociolinguistic context (§ 3), which are followed by three linguistic studies of the words identifiable in the text: the preposition per, likely a dialectal variant of the Phrygian por (§ 4), and two personal names, a masculine Dages (§ 5) and a feminine *Bastes (§ 6).

Abstract In Hurrian, genitive modifiers are morpho-syntactically treated as simply other attributes and are therefore subjected to agreement by copying the case marker of their head nouns (Suffixaufnahme). It is generally observed that, in the language of the Mittani Letter, when two hierarchically different genitive attributes are related to the same head noun a restriction of the Suffixaufnahme occurs, whereby the higher-ranking genitive, i.e., the one immediately dependent on the head noun, fails to copy the case of the head noun, and the lower-ranking genitive then copies only the case marker of the higher-ranking genitive. This article aims at proving the validity of this established rule by discussing relevant passages from the Mittani Letter.

Abstract This paper is a case study of how the material of copies and originals correlate for a concrete fragment of Hittite grammar – clitic reduplication, double use of the same clitic within the same enclitic chain. It is argued that whereas in part of the copies there is non-trivial interaction of the grammar of the pre-New Hittite original with the grammar of the New Hittite scribe, the data of the copies is relevant and it does represent a real linguistic usage. Thus, copies are reliable as linguistic evidence, unless explicitly shown to be otherwise.

Abstract The Kassite family letter PBS 1/2, 21 concerns a court procedure in which a female sender is involved. In this article I analyse the language and style of PBS 1/2, 21 with the help of “Speech Act Theory”, which shows that the female sender Rīšat-[...] had limited authority and justified her actions with elaborate quotations of men’s orders, thereby transferring responsibility for her actions to the men she quoted. Only four out of 331 Kassite letters from Nippur were sent by women. The other three Kassite letters from a female sender indicate that a woman named Inbi-ajjari held an influential position in the Nippurean administration and was involved in governance processes. Rīšat-[...]’s letter differs considerably from Inbi-ajjari’s letters. While Rīšat-[...]’s letter illuminates a woman’s societal role within a family, Inbi-ajjari’s bēlu letters illustrate the power of influential women outside their family structures.

Abstract The heading “vanity theme” has been attributed to various Sumerian and Akkadian literary compositions that would represent a form of wisdom critical of traditional values. The present article revises those compositions arguing that they do not propound a critical view of traditional wisdom but simply reflect on the finitude of human nature. Critical wisdom only surfaces in a limited number of compositions mostly attested in Middle Babylonian sources. The vanity theme is not only tied to critical views of traditional values but is a flexible literary motif that was adapted to different contexts and compositions.

Abstract The present article is focused on an analysis of the distribution of the Sumerograms man and lugal in Urartian inscriptions: since they are found in very specific situations, with only one of the two directly referring to the Urartian king, it is likely that they should be intended not as synonyms, but rather as concealing two slightly different meanings. After a brief introduction focused on the use of the two Sumerograms in Assyrian royal titularies, especially in the ones used as models by the Urartians, the paper will focus on the use of the Sumerograms in Urartian inscriptions, concluding with an analysis of an Urartian text on clay tablet, whose translation is still debated.

Abstract This study presents an edition of a letter written by an Old Assyrian ruler (waklum) concerning the murder of several Anatolian locals at the hands of Assyrian merchants. The issue of financial compensation is taken up by the king of Assur, who acts on behalf of the City Assembly in Assur in solving the issue between the unnamed state from which the victims came and the accused Assyrian merchants. A case can be made that this letter is considerably younger than most of the waklum-letters, though it cannot be ascribed to any ruler at present.