Volume 104, Issue 2

Abstract: A peculiarity of Eblaite spelling, unparalleled in the other Semitic languages, is the interchange between l and r . This phenomenon is examined based on the glosses of the so-called “Vocabolario di Ebla” (VE). It is argued that the interchange pertains to the graphic rather than the phonological level, and that, at least in manuscript B of VE, the interchange is subject to a precise phonological conditioning: /r/ is spelled r when occurring as a geminate or as the onset of a stressed syllable, and l elsewhere. This hypothesis, in turn, provides first insights into Eblaite word accent.

Abstract: The tablet published in this article stems from the Sealand dynasty that ruled southern Babylonia between the end of the first dynasty of Babylon and the Kassite period. The tablet contains an abbreviated version of the Balaĝ am-e bára-an-na-ra . The Sealand text enables an examination of the literary history of this Balaĝ from the Old Babylonian period to the first millennium BCE.

Abstract: Medicine in Kassite Babylonia has not been a popular topic of research due to the scarcity of sources, but over time a group of Middle Babylonian medical letters have drawn the attention of many scholars. These letters from Kassite Nippur discuss medical matters and provide a unique and illustrative insight into how medicine was practiced in daily life. In this article I will provide a new overview of the illnesses, symptoms, and treatments that are mentioned in the Kassite medical letters. I will first discuss and reassess which letters belong to this group or “corpus” based on recent collations, after which an edition of the previously unpublished letter N 969 will be provided. The edition is followed by an overview of the illnesses and symptoms in the Kassite medical letters based on the redefined corpus and supported by collations and new readings. I will finish with some new considerations of medical treatment as presented in the Kassite medical letters.

Abstract: In this article we present a transliteration and translation of Tablet W22340a, an astronomical Almanac from Uruk. Based on the astronomical predictions in the text we suggest that it must be dated to the year 326 in the Arsacid Era, equivalent to 79/80 AD. This makes W22340a the latest datable cuneiform text uncovered so far. This dating confirms that cuneiform writing and astronomical scholarship persisted in Mesopotamia during the Arsacid period far into the first century AD, not only in Babylon but in Uruk as well.

Abstract: The practice of god-napping is richly attested in Old Hittite historiography but disappears almost completely in later, Empire Period sources. It will be suggested that this silence is not coincidental, but rather reflects a deep change in Hittite policy towards Hurro-Syrian deities. Furthermore, it will be suggested that this new imperial policy was founded on the experience of the political and religious integration of Kizzuwatna by the founders of the New Hittite Empire. This new policy, which provides for the maintenance of local cults rather than for their spoliation, will prove to be more successful than the Old Hittite destructive mode of action.

Abstract: The article is devoted to an analysis of Early Dynastic Sumerian temple architecture and to comparison of southern and northern Babylonian temple plans. While temples in the Diyala region feature bent-axis cellae (with analogies in northern Mesopotamia), southern ones display different layouts. Although our knowledge remains restricted, it seems that there was no single tradition of cultic architecture encompassing all southern Mesopotamia.