Published since June 20, 1975

Altorientalische Forschungen

ISSN: 2196-6761

Edited by: Mirko Novák, Joost Hazenbos, Jana Matuszak, Claudia E. Suter

About this journal

The journal Altorientalischen Forschungen publishes original research on the history and culture of the Ancient Near East as well as exchanges with neighboring regions such as Central Asia, Egypt and the Aegean. Philological and archaeological (including art historical) investigations are equally welcomed. All contributions are peer-reviewed. The journal is published both in print and online.

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Volume 49 Issue 1

June 2022

Frontmatter

Publicly Available June 9, 2022

Frontmatter

Page range: I-IV

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June 9, 2022

A School Tablet in the Shape of a Five-Sided Prism in Adana Museum

Rukiye Akdoğan, Tülay Ünlü, Mark Weeden

Page range: 1-17

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 2 nd millennium BC, although a date later in the 2 nd 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.

June 9, 2022

Das Verhältnis zwischen Hieroglyphen- und Keilschrift-Luwisch

Überlegungen zu den Ursprüngen der anatolischen Hieroglyphenschrift

Francis Breyer

Page range: 18-31

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.

June 9, 2022

The Survey of Qaleh (Ghalee) Tepe in Sīstān: Chronology and Analysis of Findings

Mehdi Dahmardeh Pahlavan, Setareh Ebrahimiabareghi, Mohammad Keikha, Yasaman Nasiripour

Page range: 32-47

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.

June 9, 2022

Two Hurro-Urartian Lexical Parallels

Yervand Grekyan

Page range: 48-52

Abstract

Related words in the Hurrian and Urartian vocabularies are numerous due to the affinity of these two languages. To the list of common roots and terms we can now add two more examples: iradini “bird” and purulini “divination(?)”.

Open Access June 9, 2022

Eine neubabylonische Edition eines mittelbabylonischen Nergal-Balaĝs (BM.35434)

Nebst neuem Textmaterial zu a-gal-gal buru₁₄ su-su

Adrian C. Heinrich

Page range: 53-84

More Download PDF

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.

June 9, 2022

On the Identity of Hartapu

Textual, Historical and Archaeological Analysis of an Anatolian Iron Age Ruler

Michele Massa, James F. Osborne

Page range: 85-103

Abstract

The recent discovery of the Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription of TÜRKMEN-KARAHÖYÜK 1 in the Konya Plain (Turkey) has sparked a debate regarding its author, Great King Hartapu, the dates of his rule, and his role in the political geography of south-central Anatolia. Several authors now propose that two kings of the same name may have reigned at different times in the same region. This paper proposes a textual analysis of all the Hartapu inscriptions, together with an assessment of the archaeological and historical contexts in which they were found. In light of this, we argue that only one individual called Hartapu was responsible for the whole corpus and that he reigned during the Middle Iron Age, likely in the 8 th century BCE.

June 9, 2022

Hethitisch māri- ,Sichelschwert(?)‘ aus archäologischer, philologischer und etymologischer Sicht

Andreas Opfermann, David Sasseville, Riko Süssenguth

Page range: 104-122

Abstract

This paper addresses the Hittite word giš māri- , which designates a kind of weapon and is often translated as ‘ mari -spear’. A philological re-evaluation of the Hittite attestations rather calls for the meaning ‘scimitar (sickle-shaped sword),’ which has previously been suggested but was largely disregarded. At the same time, archaeological evidence for the presence of scimitars in the Hittite culture is adduced. Subsequently, the role of this type of weapon in the ancient Near East is reassessed. Finally, a new Indo-European etymology for the word māri- is offered, which brings additional support for the meaning ‘scimitar (sickle-shaped sword).’

Religious Discourse in the Ancient Near East Proceedings of the Conference “Religious Discourse in the Ancient Near East” held at Sorbonne University (Paris) on December 12–13, 2019

June 9, 2022

Introduction

Alice Mouton, Ilya Yakubovich

Page range: 125-127

Open Access June 9, 2022

Verbal Art in Luwian and Hittite Incantations

Elisabeth Rieken

Page range: 128-137

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Abstract

The present article wants to draw attention to the artful wordplay featured in the Cuneiform Luwian incantations known from Hittite Anatolia in the 2 nd millennium BCE. Special focus is placed on the combination of assonant, or even alliterating, verbs and their direct objects. In order to compose such a stylistic figure, it is often necessary to make compromises regarding the semantics, leading to combinations that are still understood, but less than ideal to convey the meaning they are intended for. Phonological requirements override meaning. The technique applied by the authors of the spells is to start from a central determining concept (e.g., some kind of evil), then to combine it with a second variable concept that is somehow compatible with the intended sense (e.g., any verb of destruction that has the appropriate phonological shape) and to fill the clause with any further elements required on syntactic grounds. Although there are parallels between the techniques of Luwian spell composition and those in use in Mesopotamia (expected degree of assonance, choice of paraphernalia on account of the phonological shape of their designations), the locus of the use of the relevant words is not the same. In Luwian spells, both words must co-occur in the very same clause uttered in front of the ritual client in order to unfold their effects.

June 9, 2022

Luwian Curses as Religious Discourse

Laura Puértolas Rubio

Page range: 138-147

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.

Open Access June 9, 2022

Hurrian and Luwian Elements in the Kizzuwatna Religious Texts

Susanne Görke

Page range: 148-157

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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.

June 9, 2022

The Cult of Ištanuwa (and Lallubiya) between Hattian and Aegean Cultures

Sylvia Hutter-Braunsar

Page range: 158-168

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.

June 9, 2022

Religious Discourse in Ancient Mesopotamia

An Overview, Reading Historical, Literary, and Ritual Texts

Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault

Page range: 169-182

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.

Cite Score	0.3
European Reference Index for the Humanities
SCImago Journal Rank	0.128
Source Normalized Impact per Paper	0.394

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Editorial

Editors:
Prof. Dr. Joost Hazenbos, Freie Universität Berlin
E-Mail: hazenbos@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Dr. Jana Matuszak, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
E-Mail: jana.matuszak@uni-tuebingen.de

Prof. Dr. Mirko Novák, Universität Bern
E-Mail: miroslav.novak@iaw.unibe.ch

Dr. Claudia E. Suter, Universitäten Bern und Basel
E-Mail: claudia.suter@iaw.unibe.ch

Editorial Office:
c/o Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Abteilung Vorderasiatische Archäologie,
Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Redaktionsassistenz: Sabine Ecklin lic. phil.

Please direct all submissions and inquiries to aof@degruyter.com.

(Deutsch)

Online ISSN: 2196-6761
Print ISSN: 0232-8461
Type: Journal
Languages: German, English, French
Publisher: De Gruyter (A)
First published: June 20, 1975
Publication Frequency: 2 Issues per Year

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Altorientalische Forschungen

Frontmatter

A School Tablet in the Shape of a Five-Sided Prism in Adana Museum

Abstract

Das Verhältnis zwischen Hieroglyphen- und Keilschrift-Luwisch

Überlegungen zu den Ursprüngen der anatolischen Hieroglyphenschrift

Abstract

The Survey of Qaleh (Ghalee) Tepe in Sīstān: Chronology and Analysis of Findings

Abstract

Two Hurro-Urartian Lexical Parallels

Abstract

Eine neubabylonische Edition eines mittelbabylonischen Nergal-Balaĝs (BM.35434)

Nebst neuem Textmaterial zu a-gal-gal buru₁₄ su-su

Abstract

On the Identity of Hartapu

Textual, Historical and Archaeological Analysis of an Anatolian Iron Age Ruler

Abstract

Hethitisch māri- ,Sichelschwert(?)‘ aus archäologischer, philologischer und etymologischer Sicht

Abstract

Introduction

Verbal Art in Luwian and Hittite Incantations

Abstract

Luwian Curses as Religious Discourse

Abstract

Hurrian and Luwian Elements in the Kizzuwatna Religious Texts

Abstract

The Cult of Ištanuwa (and Lallubiya) between Hattian and Aegean Cultures

Abstract

Religious Discourse in Ancient Mesopotamia

An Overview, Reading Historical, Literary, and Ritual Texts

Abstract