Volume 103, Issue 2

Abstract: The present paper aims at investigating the role of court officials in the judicial system of Umma during the Ur III period. For this purpose, a prosopographical study of judges, commissioners, military men, merchants, and other members of the royal, provincial and local administrations has been made. In conclusion, a judicial system with the governor as the highest authority, but with a strong presence of the royal administration, and particularly of the military, is sketched.

Abstract: In this study we examine two previously unpublished Old Babylonian Sumerian literary letters from Nippur. We offer a general introduction to the corpus to which they belong, as well as a critical edition, translation, commentaryand photographs.

Abstract: The following presents an edition of a heretofore-unpublished OB omen collection concerning the padanum, or “Path.” As may be expected, this text, larger than most of the known padānum collections, enhances our understanding of the zone in Mesopotamian extispicy known by that name, typically the second according to the standardized inspection sequence. An examination of the text, however, reveals an interweaving of omens concerning other zones bearing the label of “Path.” This interweaving raises questions about the development of extispicy literature in this period and challenges conceptions concerning its standardization – from a new perspective.

Abstract: This article presents an edition of a new royal inscription of the Kassite king Kaåtiliaåu. The inscription is preserved on a clay tablet and deals with the digging of the Sumundar canal. In the following discussion we identify the king in the inscription as Kaåtiliaåu III, known from the Synchronistic King List. The genealogy of the king in the inscription is compared to that known from the Synchronistic King list and other sources. The article also deals with the location of the Sumundar canal and with the religious ceremonies which were connected to royal canal digging.

Abstract: The Nebuchadnezzar II prism EŞ 7834 (Istanbul Archaeological Museum) is an unusual royal inscription. It refers to the building works to enlarge the Old Palace at Babylon, and it is stylistically related to the Nebuchadnezzar building inscription preserved on cylinder C34. But EŞ 7834 also contains long lists of provincial and imperial officials, which can be used as a base to study the administrative structures of the Neo-Babylonian state.

Abstract: The published document, although it is undated and presents a corrupted copy of the original tablet (with one or two lines missing), is important because it can be safely dated to the ‘era of unrest’ (ca. 626–619 BC) and it gives insight into the prebendary system at the outset of the Neo-Babylonian empire.