Abstract Kizzuwatna, roughly the area around the present-day Turkish city of Adana in the plains of Cilicia in Southeastern Turkey, is known to be the origin of several magical ritual texts that were found in the archives of the Hittite Capital, Ḫattuša, in Central Anatolia. These texts are characterized by varying amounts of Luwian and Hurrian elements and rites in them. This article, however, aims to foreground festival texts with connections to Kizzuwatna and adjacent regions, namely the “Festival for Teššub and Ḫebat of Lawazantiya (CTH 699)” and the “Cults for Teššub and Ḫebat of Aleppo (CTH 698)”. Both festivals reveal very little Luwian, but they do exhibit obvious Hurrian influences. This article offers first thoughts toward an interpretation of the lack of Luwian in these texts, along with other texts with an alleged origin in Southeastern Anatolia or Northern Syria.
{"title":"Hurrian and Luwian Elements in the Kizzuwatna Religious Texts","authors":"Susanne Görke","doi":"10.1515/aofo-2022-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2022-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Kizzuwatna, roughly the area around the present-day Turkish city of Adana in the plains of Cilicia in Southeastern Turkey, is known to be the origin of several magical ritual texts that were found in the archives of the Hittite Capital, Ḫattuša, in Central Anatolia. These texts are characterized by varying amounts of Luwian and Hurrian elements and rites in them. This article, however, aims to foreground festival texts with connections to Kizzuwatna and adjacent regions, namely the “Festival for Teššub and Ḫebat of Lawazantiya (CTH 699)” and the “Cults for Teššub and Ḫebat of Aleppo (CTH 698)”. Both festivals reveal very little Luwian, but they do exhibit obvious Hurrian influences. This article offers first thoughts toward an interpretation of the lack of Luwian in these texts, along with other texts with an alleged origin in Southeastern Anatolia or Northern Syria.","PeriodicalId":53535,"journal":{"name":"Altorientalische Forschungen","volume":"49 1","pages":"148 - 157"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44853599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This article collects information about the peculiar features occurring in the Ištanuwa/Lallubiya-texts which can be connected with their counterparts from the other cultic layers of the Hittite realm – namely the Hattian cults from the Hittite core land –, Mesopotamia, the Aegean, and classical sources, respectively. The sum of gathered data represents a better starting point for studying cultural commonalities, connections and transfers between these areas than the already presented isolated remarks, scattered in secondary literature. Especially the comparing features from the Ištanuwa/Lallubiya Luwian layer and the Hattian-Hittite layer will be treated here.
{"title":"The Cult of Ištanuwa (and Lallubiya) between Hattian and Aegean Cultures","authors":"S. Hutter-Braunsar","doi":"10.1515/aofo-2022-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2022-0012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article collects information about the peculiar features occurring in the Ištanuwa/Lallubiya-texts which can be connected with their counterparts from the other cultic layers of the Hittite realm – namely the Hattian cults from the Hittite core land –, Mesopotamia, the Aegean, and classical sources, respectively. The sum of gathered data represents a better starting point for studying cultural commonalities, connections and transfers between these areas than the already presented isolated remarks, scattered in secondary literature. Especially the comparing features from the Ištanuwa/Lallubiya Luwian layer and the Hattian-Hittite layer will be treated here.","PeriodicalId":53535,"journal":{"name":"Altorientalische Forschungen","volume":"49 1","pages":"158 - 168"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48257599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Luwian incantations embedded in Hittite ritual texts reflect local traditions and religious discourses of different parts of Anatolia and Northern Syria. Among the various types of Luwian incantations, this paper will focus on the contextual analysis of cuneiform Luwian curses related to the Kuwattalla and Puriyanni traditions. Curses will be studied as religious discourse, analysing how individual elements of the curse interplay with the general structure of the ritual text in which it is embedded. To do so, a comparative perspective will be applied. Hittite ritual texts coming from the same or adjacent areas and reflecting common religious traditions will be used to elucidate difficult passages. This study may contribute to improve our understanding of Luwian texts as well as to highlight local concepts related to witchcraft.
{"title":"Luwian Curses as Religious Discourse","authors":"Laura Puértolas Rubio","doi":"10.1515/aofo-2022-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2022-0010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Luwian incantations embedded in Hittite ritual texts reflect local traditions and religious discourses of different parts of Anatolia and Northern Syria. Among the various types of Luwian incantations, this paper will focus on the contextual analysis of cuneiform Luwian curses related to the Kuwattalla and Puriyanni traditions. Curses will be studied as religious discourse, analysing how individual elements of the curse interplay with the general structure of the ritual text in which it is embedded. To do so, a comparative perspective will be applied. Hittite ritual texts coming from the same or adjacent areas and reflecting common religious traditions will be used to elucidate difficult passages. This study may contribute to improve our understanding of Luwian texts as well as to highlight local concepts related to witchcraft.","PeriodicalId":53535,"journal":{"name":"Altorientalische Forschungen","volume":"49 1","pages":"138 - 147"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42979699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In 2002 a 5-sided prism with a handle inscribed with cuneiform was acquired by Adana Museum by means of confiscation, but it is thought to be from Osmaniye-Toprakkale in the Adana province of south-central Turkey. The prism has a grey slip and a handle-like portion on its top with a hole through it, whereby it could have been used as an amulet or at least somehow displayed. The text on the prism consists of the first 54 lines of a basic cuneiform exercise for students, known as “Syllable Alphabet A”. This prism school-tablet, which is written in Babylonian script, is probably to be dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, although a date later in the 2nd millennium cannot be excluded. The article presents the object and its text, considers its possible use-function, as well as raising the question of possible connections with Old Babylonian traders’ networks, such as evidenced at Tilmen Höyük on the other side of the Amanus mountains.
{"title":"A School Tablet in the Shape of a Five-Sided Prism in Adana Museum","authors":"Rukiye Akdoğan, Tülay Ünlü, M. Weeden","doi":"10.1515/aofo-2022-0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2022-0001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In 2002 a 5-sided prism with a handle inscribed with cuneiform was acquired by Adana Museum by means of confiscation, but it is thought to be from Osmaniye-Toprakkale in the Adana province of south-central Turkey. The prism has a grey slip and a handle-like portion on its top with a hole through it, whereby it could have been used as an amulet or at least somehow displayed. The text on the prism consists of the first 54 lines of a basic cuneiform exercise for students, known as “Syllable Alphabet A”. This prism school-tablet, which is written in Babylonian script, is probably to be dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, although a date later in the 2nd millennium cannot be excluded. The article presents the object and its text, considers its possible use-function, as well as raising the question of possible connections with Old Babylonian traders’ networks, such as evidenced at Tilmen Höyük on the other side of the Amanus mountains.","PeriodicalId":53535,"journal":{"name":"Altorientalische Forschungen","volume":"49 1","pages":"1 - 17"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47583050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Published here for the first time, the Neo-Babylonian tablet BM.35434 sheds new light on the transmission history of the Sumero-Akkadian balaĝ-prayer a-gal-gal buru₁₄ su-su || butuqtu muṭebbât ebūri “Flood that drowns the harvest” dedicated to Nergal, the god of pestilence and war. Due to its exceptional colophon, BM.35434 makes for an interesting case study in first-millennium scribal practices in the context of ritual lamenting and Emesal prayers: special points of interest are the use of older sign forms, the scribe and the family he comes from, the designation of the tablet as a copy of an “old large tablet” (dub.gal libir.ra), and the insertion of paratextual glosses that describe the state of preservation of the copied exemplar. An appendix contains copies and transliterations of hitherto unpublished fragments and joins that pertain to a-gal-gal buru₁₄ su-su.
{"title":"Eine neubabylonische Edition eines mittelbabylonischen Nergal-Balaĝs (BM.35434)","authors":"Adrian C. Heinrich","doi":"10.1515/aofo-2022-0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2022-0005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Published here for the first time, the Neo-Babylonian tablet BM.35434 sheds new light on the transmission history of the Sumero-Akkadian balaĝ-prayer a-gal-gal buru₁₄ su-su || butuqtu muṭebbât ebūri “Flood that drowns the harvest” dedicated to Nergal, the god of pestilence and war. Due to its exceptional colophon, BM.35434 makes for an interesting case study in first-millennium scribal practices in the context of ritual lamenting and Emesal prayers: special points of interest are the use of older sign forms, the scribe and the family he comes from, the designation of the tablet as a copy of an “old large tablet” (dub.gal libir.ra), and the insertion of paratextual glosses that describe the state of preservation of the copied exemplar. An appendix contains copies and transliterations of hitherto unpublished fragments and joins that pertain to a-gal-gal buru₁₄ su-su.","PeriodicalId":53535,"journal":{"name":"Altorientalische Forschungen","volume":"49 1","pages":"53 - 84"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45125808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The linguistic differences between Hieroglyphic and Cuneiform Luwian have long been known. However, it is unclear how these should be assessed: How exactly do the two varieties relate to each other? Are they different dialects, just different registers or even different sociolects? Based on the thesis developed recently, according to which the transformation of the Luwian hieroglyphs into a veritable writing system only took place in the context of the late Hittite empire, this article works out that Hieroglyphic Luwian probably is to be considered a functiolect.
{"title":"Das Verhältnis zwischen Hieroglyphen- und Keilschrift-Luwisch","authors":"F. Breyer","doi":"10.1515/aofo-2022-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2022-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The linguistic differences between Hieroglyphic and Cuneiform Luwian have long been known. However, it is unclear how these should be assessed: How exactly do the two varieties relate to each other? Are they different dialects, just different registers or even different sociolects? Based on the thesis developed recently, according to which the transformation of the Luwian hieroglyphs into a veritable writing system only took place in the context of the late Hittite empire, this article works out that Hieroglyphic Luwian probably is to be considered a functiolect.","PeriodicalId":53535,"journal":{"name":"Altorientalische Forschungen","volume":"49 1","pages":"18 - 31"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45853694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The modern representation of cuneiform literature as a creation depending on a religious discourse leads us to think that myths and rites have structured not only the institution of kingship, but also all Mesopotamian knowledge, as well as social life. If political ideology needed a religious support to explain the king’s authority and privileges, later textual traditions show that the same intellectuals working for the royal court and urban elites developed at the same time, beyond religion, an alternative conception of their own power as knowledge and control of history, through narration, and nature through “magic”, in order to change reality and the gods’ will.
{"title":"Religious Discourse in Ancient Mesopotamia","authors":"Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault","doi":"10.1515/aofo-2022-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2022-0013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The modern representation of cuneiform literature as a creation depending on a religious discourse leads us to think that myths and rites have structured not only the institution of kingship, but also all Mesopotamian knowledge, as well as social life. If political ideology needed a religious support to explain the king’s authority and privileges, later textual traditions show that the same intellectuals working for the royal court and urban elites developed at the same time, beyond religion, an alternative conception of their own power as knowledge and control of history, through narration, and nature through “magic”, in order to change reality and the gods’ will.","PeriodicalId":53535,"journal":{"name":"Altorientalische Forschungen","volume":"49 1","pages":"169 - 182"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47912580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Pahlavan, Setareh Ebrahimiabareghi, Mohammad Keikha, Yasaman Nasiripour
Abstract The Sīstān Plain in south-eastern Iran with its suitable living conditions and fertility was an important contact zone and home of human societies in many periods of history. Despite numerous archaeological activities in this region, the chronology and the history of occupation are still ambiguous. Hence it is necessary to conduct more systematic studies on the pre-Islamic sites. The present project uses field and analytical research methods to gain new insights; data has been collected from both new fieldwork and the evaluation of documented sites. The new field work included some soundings dug for determining the extent of Bībī Dōst, and a survey in the southern part of the Bībī Dōst area, in Qaleh (Ghalee) Tepe. All the information and data related to Qaleh Tepe, including previous studies, geographical literature, and pottery references have been collected. The ceramic indicates that Qaleh Tepe was occupied during the Parthian and Sasanid periods and that, after a long hiatus, the southern part of this site was used as a cemetery in the later Islamic era.
{"title":"The Survey of Qaleh (Ghalee) Tepe in Sīstān: Chronology and Analysis of Findings","authors":"M. Pahlavan, Setareh Ebrahimiabareghi, Mohammad Keikha, Yasaman Nasiripour","doi":"10.1515/aofo-2022-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2022-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Sīstān Plain in south-eastern Iran with its suitable living conditions and fertility was an important contact zone and home of human societies in many periods of history. Despite numerous archaeological activities in this region, the chronology and the history of occupation are still ambiguous. Hence it is necessary to conduct more systematic studies on the pre-Islamic sites. The present project uses field and analytical research methods to gain new insights; data has been collected from both new fieldwork and the evaluation of documented sites. The new field work included some soundings dug for determining the extent of Bībī Dōst, and a survey in the southern part of the Bībī Dōst area, in Qaleh (Ghalee) Tepe. All the information and data related to Qaleh Tepe, including previous studies, geographical literature, and pottery references have been collected. The ceramic indicates that Qaleh Tepe was occupied during the Parthian and Sasanid periods and that, after a long hiatus, the southern part of this site was used as a cemetery in the later Islamic era.","PeriodicalId":53535,"journal":{"name":"Altorientalische Forschungen","volume":"49 1","pages":"32 - 47"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46421840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract A systematic archaeological survey in the Southeast provinces of Konya has started to reveal the settlement pattern of the Bronze and Iron Ages in this region, which sheds light on the geo-environment, economy, road networks, interactions and cultures. This paper will specifically deal with the region of and around Meke Gölü and Karacadağ, located in Karapınar – Konya, and discuss the surveyed settlements and possible implications of the economy with salt trade as one of the main trade commodities. In this context the salt source of the saline lake Meke Gölü (Lake Meke), which is located south of Karacadağ, its significance and usage of salt will be explored. Finally, the equation of Meke Gölü with the liki (salt-lick) mentioned in the frontier description in the treaty between the Great Kings Kuruntija and Tutḫalija IV on the well-known Bronze Tablet discovered in Boğazköy – Ḫattuša, the capital of the Hittite Empire, will be suggested and debated.
{"title":"Eine bedeutende Salzquelle in Karapınar Konya – Meke Gölü (Meke Maar) und ein Gleichsetzungsvorschlag für liki „Salzlecke“ im Staatsvertrag des Kuruntija und Tutḫalija IV.","authors":"Çiğdem Maner","doi":"10.1515/aofo-2021-0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/aofo-2021-0018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A systematic archaeological survey in the Southeast provinces of Konya has started to reveal the settlement pattern of the Bronze and Iron Ages in this region, which sheds light on the geo-environment, economy, road networks, interactions and cultures. This paper will specifically deal with the region of and around Meke Gölü and Karacadağ, located in Karapınar – Konya, and discuss the surveyed settlements and possible implications of the economy with salt trade as one of the main trade commodities. In this context the salt source of the saline lake Meke Gölü (Lake Meke), which is located south of Karacadağ, its significance and usage of salt will be explored. Finally, the equation of Meke Gölü with the liki (salt-lick) mentioned in the frontier description in the treaty between the Great Kings Kuruntija and Tutḫalija IV on the well-known Bronze Tablet discovered in Boğazköy – Ḫattuša, the capital of the Hittite Empire, will be suggested and debated.","PeriodicalId":53535,"journal":{"name":"Altorientalische Forschungen","volume":"48 1","pages":"327 - 346"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44700866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}