Volume 49, Issue 2

The article aims at establishing new, more reliable meanings and functions for a number of lexical and semi-grammatical elements of Eblaite (Syrian East Semitic). The so-called “chancery texts”, first published by Pelio Fronzaroli and Amalia Catagnoti as ARET 13, 16 and 18, are in the focus of the analysis. While feasible contextual interpretation is an absolute priority for the present authors, other (notably, comparative) methods are also used when applicable. As a result, a substantial progress in our understanding of these exceedingly difficult documents is expected to be achieved.

The reader will find in the following pages a new edition of Sulgi X, a text famous above all for its first part (ll. 1–73), describing the meeting of Innana and Sulgi. The goddess first speaks of her carnal union with the king and thereupon decrees a favourable fate for him. In the remainder of the hymn, Sulgi pays successive visits to Utu, Ninazu and Nanna. He then settles in the Egalmaḫ of Ninegala/Innana and ensures justice and prosperity.

Given the paucity of judicial records in the archives of Ḫatti, examination of administrative malfeasance and abuse of office by members of the Hittite bureaucracy entails consultation of other types of texts—particularly of instructions for office holders and of inventories of the furnishings of cultic institutions. I will present a typology of self-dealing among Hittite officials and consider the Hittite vocabulary for fraud or treachery as well as the problematics of recognizing corruption in an ancient society.

The tug₂ guz-za/ tug₂ guz.za is a cloth attested in different spellings from the 3 rd to 1 st millennia BCE that has received diverse translations. Evidence from Ur III textile production texts, reconstructions based on experimental data, and lexical lists now converge to suggest that the cloth was defined by its thick weft. Although the tug₂ guz-za/ tug₂ guz.za has traditionally been connected to the Zottenrock of Mesopotamian visual media via the adjective guz(-za) ‘bristly, wire-haired,’ no independent evidence of shagginess has been found for the textile. Instead, this contribution demonstrates that there is another guz-za meaning ‘bright red’ that was applied to textiles and wool in the lexical lists of the 2 nd millennium BCE, suggesting that the tug₂ guz-za/ tug₂ guz.za was conceived of as a red cloth at least in some periods.

This article examines the Middle Bronze Age archaeological evidence from surveys and excavations conducted in the in the area of the Lake Orūmīyeh basin in what is now north-western Iran. The sites were first analysed with regard to their more general classification, for example in relation to their geographical locations or according to the presence or absence of fortification structures. Another aspect discussed in the article concerns pottery traditions and their territorial distribution. The situation from this perspective is particularly interesting and complex due to the identification over the years of three different pottery traditions. The results of these analyses have led to new proposals concerning the Middle Bronze Age settlement pattern in this area.

This paper investigates the Lagash II cylinder fragment Nr. 1+6, whose physical join can be confirmed. A new edition of the joined fragment provides a more comprehensive understanding. Furthermore, the question is raised of whether this fragment might have belonged to the hypothesized Gudea Cylinder X. If this question could be answered in the affirmative, the fragment would point to the existence of a three-partite praise song (za₃-mim) addressing Ninĝirsu. However, also without such a connection the fragment allows for a more comprehensive understanding of Ninĝirsu’s adventures in the mountain lands.