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On Shifting Social and Urban Landscapes in Uruk under Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur II

A View from One Neighborhood
  • Małgorzata Sandowicz EMAIL logo , Cornelia Wunsch and Stefan Zawadzki
Published/Copyright: December 6, 2023
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Abstract

This paper discusses a small dossier of four documents concerning a house that stood in Neo-Babylonian Uruk. These documents, among which are two previously unpublished texts, offer a rare opportunity to follow the history of one property and one neighborhood over a period of more than half a century. Apart from supplying unique long-term data on property prices in Uruk, the dossier provides insight into various social and political changes that shaped Uruk’s urban landscape in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BC. In particular, it contributes to the evidence concerning a dramatic purge of Uruk elites that took place in the middle of Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur (Nebuchadnezzar) II’s reign.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Trustees of the British Museum for the permission to publish tablets under their care. Our thanks are due to Christopher Walker, who brought BM 117435 to our attention, and Heather D. Baker, who suggested many improvements to this paper. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mattias Adelhofer, who provided us with a copy of his forthcoming paper on the Atû family, and Betina Faist, who kindly collated AnOr. 8, 12.

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Copies

Fig. 3 
            BM 117435, 4.5×7.9 cm. Copy by Cornelia Wunsch.
Fig. 3

BM 117435, 4.5×7.9 cm. Copy by Cornelia Wunsch.

Fig. 4 
            BM 114531, 5.8×8.7 cm. Copy by Małgorzata Sandowicz.
Fig. 4

BM 114531, 5.8×8.7 cm. Copy by Małgorzata Sandowicz.

Published Online: 2023-12-06
Published in Print: 2023-11-24

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