A Year of Vengeance : Time, Narrative, and the Old Assyrian Trade

428 Pages·6.836 MB·English

by  Edward Stratford

Edward Stratford
A Year of Vengeance
Studies in Ancient
Near Eastern Records
General Editor:
Gonzalo Rubio
Editors:
Nicole Brisch, Petra Goedegebuure, Markus Hilgert,
Amélie Kuhrt, Peter Machinist, Piotr Michalowski,
Cécile Michel, Beate Pongratz-Leisten, D. T. Potts,
Kim Ryholt
Volume 17, 1
Edward Stratford
A Year of Vengeance
Volume 1: Time, Narrative, and the Old Assyrian Trade
ISBN 978-1-5015-1569-9
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-1-5015-0712-0
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-1-5015-0718-2
ISSN 2161-4415
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A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress.
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detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
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To Candice

Preface
Thisworkarisesfromatrajectoryfirstengagedin myPh.D.dissertationAgents,
Archives,andRisk:AMicronarrativeAccountofOldAssyrianTradethroughŠalim-
aḫum’s activities in 1890 B.C., submitted to the University of Chicago in 2010.
Most dissertations have done enough violence upon their required readers and
should, in their first form, go quietly into the night. The aforementioned was
noexception.While thecoreargumentwasuseful,manyerrorsrequiredcorrec-
tion,manydiscussionspruning,manypointselaboration.Moreover,Ifoundmy-
self unresolved in relation to a number of questions about the work’s role in
broader issues and particular questions about individual merchants within the
nascent narrative engaged in there. The present work is both a significant re-
imagination and expansion of the dissertation. Narrative and its relation to
time take a much more prominent role. The number of documents which can
be now collected in the year of activity, and the scope of activity interwoven,
have all increased dramatically here. As a consequence, it became necessary
to completely reorganize the work and re-orient its structure to reflect the
kinds of questions that motivated the move toward narrative.
Iruminatedontheseissuesforseveralyears,lengthenedinpartbyarange
of unexpected personal issues. But much of this prolonged rumination arose
fromamyriadofequallycomplicatedissuesspecifictotheworkandtheindivid-
ualcircumstancesofthesubjectsofthework.Onewaytoimaginethisbookisas
amicrohistory.Theironicclaimthatthismonographseekstodemonstrateisthat
tomakelargerstatementsontheOldAssyriantrade,wemust,inpart,drilldown
furtherintothemicro-scale.Onlybyreadingatamorepersonallevelareweable
to better understand the intricacies with which the Assyrians dealt when they
wrotetheirletters,debtnotes,contracts,orotherdocuments.Icametothecon-
clusionthatonlyinthiswaycanwearticulatetheAssyrians’statementsinrela-
tion to the material constraints of their trade and their negotiations with those
constraintsandtheircolleagues.Thisprocessofspiralingdownwardhermeneut-
ically,andthecorrespondingspiralupwardrequiredasignificantamountofre-
flection and re-examination of a range of issues.
Theworkwasalsodelayedbymyinvolvementinanumberofotherprojects,
someofwhichwereattimesintegraltotheprogressofthework,butmovedtoo
slow for the hoped-for concordant development.One of these projects, the Old
Assyrian Research Environment, is finally now developing into something that
will participate in the historical turn called for in this work. It will play a
more direct role in the second volume of this work. In this regard, I want to
thank David Schloen, Sandra Schloen, and Miller Prosser for their support
VIII Preface
and patience, and for providing the significant platform in the Online Cultural
and Historical Research Environment and developments particular to the
needs of the Old Assyrian Research Environment.
Inaworkthatspansmoretimethantheauthorwouldhaveliked,thereare
only more people to thank. During the time of my doctoral work on the topic,
Martha Roth was a constant support. Mogens Trolle Larsen provided, at first
withoutintentionbutthereafterwithgreatgenerosity,myopportunitytotransi-
tionintotheworldofOldAssyrianstudies.Hissupport andcriticism onearlier
stagesofthisworkhavebeeninvaluable.DuringtheyearIspentinCopenhagen,
I benefitted greatly from his tutelage and correction. During that same time
GojkoBarjamovicandThomasHertelalsoprovidedawelcomingandsupportive
introduction to the small field. Old Assyrian studies enormously benefits from
the presence of a supportive and cooperative relationship between a majority
of its participants. For a long time, this was formally organized around the
Old Assyrian Text Project.Within the structure of that project, I was privileged
tobewelcomedintothegroup.InadditiontoGojkoBarjamovic,ThomasHertel,
andMogensTrolleLarsen,JanGerritDercksen,KarlHecker,GuidoKryszat,Bert
Kouwenberg,AgneteWistiLassen,CécileMichel,CinziaPappi,andKlaasVeen-
hof have all been the best of colleagues. Regardless of arguments in this book
which critique small aspects of some, without the productive environment in
which Old Assyrian studies is carried on, my own work would be impossible.
ImustparticularlythankGonzaloRubioforhisshepherdingroletowardmy
manuscript. He played with equal skill the roles of coach, cheerleader, reader,
strategicadvisor,andcritic.Hehasbeenwonderfultoworkwithandalwaysdis-
playedtherightbalanceofpatienceandengagement.Theanonymousreviewers
of the manuscript offered a number of valuable insights which improved the
work.AgneteWistiLassenhelpedwiththefiguresofseals.Iamalsodeeplyin-
debtedtoKlaasVeenhofforreadingthemanuscriptandprovidingexcellentphi-
lologicalcriticism.Thoughweallsayitgoeswithoutsaying,Imuststillsayit:All
errors remain myown.
A number of colleagues graciously provided advance drafts or galleys of
their works during my writing. In particular, I thank Klaas Veenhof, Mogens
Trolle Larsen, Bert Kouwenberg for his grammar on Old Assyrian,Gojko Barja-
movic, and Teije de Jong.Their works are mentioned at the relevant points in
the book.
ColleaguesGrantMadsenandLeslieHadfieldalwayshadtimetolistentoa
new fold in the development of the narrative and provide useful feedback. A
long list of colleagues offered patient ears and profitable feedback at one
point or another. Ithank Michele Cammarosa,Jacob Dahl, Hakan Erol,Yağmur
Preface IX
Heffron, Jacob Lauinger, Orlene Mcilfatrick, Adam Miglio, Alessio Palmisano,
Seth Richardson, and Jonathan Tenney.
In addition, it is my pleasure to point out a range of individuals who have
welcomed me at collections, museums, and excavations during my work on
the book. First and foremost I am thankful to Fikri Kulakoğlu and the team at
Kültepe. I am alsogratefulto Jean-Luc Chappaz (Musée d’art etd’histoire,Gen-
eva),PaulCollins(AshmoleanMuseum),PavelČech(KarlsuniversitätPrag),Jes-
per Eidem and Carolien H. van Zoest (Boehl Collection, University of Leiden),
Grant Frame (University Museum),Tim Healing (Metropolitan Museum of Art),
UllaKastenandAgneteWistiLassen(YaleBabylonianCollection),ManfredKre-
bernik (Universität Jena), Burçak Öğretmen (British Institute at Ankara), Cinzia
Pappi (University of Innsbruck), Andreas Schachner (Boğazköy Excavations),
OlafSchneider(UniversitätsbibliotekderJustus-Liebeg-UniversitätGiessen),Jon-
athan Taylor (British Museum), and Şerife Yilmaz (Anadolu Medeniyetleri
Müzesi).
Finally, I could not have done any of this without the unfailing emotional
and writing support of my wife Candice.