Description
Book SynopsisThis volume collects the proceedings of a three-day conference held in Madrid in July 2010, and it highlights the vitality of the study of late-third-millennium B.C. Mesopotamia. Workshops devoted to the Ur III period have been a feature of the Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale roughly every other year, beginning in London in 2003. In 2009, Steve Garfinkle and Manuel Molina asked the community of Neo-Sumerian scholars to convene the following year in Madrid before the Rencontre in Barcelona. The meeting had more than 50 participants and included 8 topical sessions and 27 papers. The 21 contributions included in this volume cover a broad range of topics: new texts, new interpretations, and new understandings of the language, culture, and history of the Ur III period (2112–2004 B.C.).
The present and future of Neo-Sumerian studies are important not only for the field of Assyriology but also for wider inquiries into the ancient world. The extant archives offer insight into some of the earliest cities and one of the earliest kingdoms in the historical record. The era of the Third Dynasty of Ur is also probably the best-attested century in antiquity. This imposes a responsibility on the small community of scholars who work on the Neo-Sumerian materials to make this it accessible to a broad, interdisciplinary audience in the humanities and related fields. This volume is a solid step in this direction.
Table of ContentsAbbreviations
Foreword
Part 1: Language and Sources
Ur III as a Linguistic Watershed MIGUEL CIVIL
Sumerian Adjectival Passives in *im-. The Old Babylonian Evidence and Some Possible Third Millennium Precursors J. CALE JOHNSON
Hypotactic and Paratactic Complementation in Sumerian ditilla Texts FUMI KARAHASHI
On the Location of Iri-Sagrig MANUEL MOLINA
The Archive of Iri-Sagrig / Al-Šarraki DAVID I. OWEN
Part 2: Administration and Ideology
Some Considerations on the Management of an Administrative Structure in Ur III Mesopotamia: the Case of mar-sa SERGIO ALIVERNINI
The Tenure of Provincial Governors: Some Observations LANCE ALLRED
Symbols and Bureaucratic Performances in the Ur III Administrative Sphere. An Interpretation Through Data Mining ALESSANDRO DI LUDOVICO
The Third Dynasty of Ur and the Limits of State Power STEVEN GARFINKLE
Networks of Authority and Power in Ur III Times PIOTR MICHALOWSKI
Prince Etel-pu-Dagan, Son of Šulgi PALMIRO NOTIZIA
The Ur III Administration: Workers, Messengers, and Sons FRANCO POMPONIO
Šulgi Meets Stalin: Comparative Propaganda as a Tool of Mining the Šulgi Hymns for Historical Data LUDEK VACÍN
Part 3: Economy and Society
The control on Copper and Bronze Manufacts in Umma During the Ur III Period FRANCO D’AGOSTINO AND FRANCESCA GORELLO
Le Système Après-Récolte dans l’Hydro-Agriculture Mésopotamienne à la Fin du IIIe Millénaire avant notre Ère JEAN-PIERRE GRÉGOIRE
The Barbers of Iri-Sagrig ALEXANDRA KLEINERMAN
Absence from Work in Ur III Umma: Reasons and Terminology NATALIA KOSLOVA
The Manufacture of a Statue of Nanaja: Mesopotamian Jewellery-Making Techniques at the End of the Third Millennium B.C. PAOLA PAOLETTI
Corvée Labor in Ur III Times PIOTR STEINKELLER
Ikalla, Scribe of (Wool) Textiles and Linen LORENZO VERDERAME AND GABRIELLA SPADA
The Regular Offerings of Lambs and Kids for Deities and the é-uz-ga at Puzriš-Dagan During the Reign of Šulgi: A Study of the mu-túm and zi-ga/ba-zi Texts from the Animal Center YUHONG WU
Indices
Subject Index
Personal Names
Divine Names
Toponyms
Sumerian Words
Texts Quoted
Program of the Conference
