Education in early 2nd millennium BC Babylonia : the Sumerian epistolary miscellany

392 Pages·2011·3.115 MB·English

by  Alexandra Kleinerman

Education in Early
2nd Millennium BC Babylonia
Cuneiform Monographs
Editors
t. abusch – m.j. geller
s.m. maul – f.a.m. wiggermann
VOLUME 42
The titles published in this series are listed at www.brill.nl/cumo
Education in Early
2nd Millennium BC Babylonia
The Sumerian Epistolary Miscellany
by
Alexandra Kleinerman
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kleinerman, Alexandra.
Education in early 2nd millennium BC Babylonia : the Sumerian epistolary miscellany /
by Alexandra Kleinerman.
p. cm. — (Cuneiform monographs, ISSN 0929-0052 ; v. 42)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-21242-8 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Education—Iraq—Babylonia—
History—Sources. 2. Sumerian literature. I. Title.
LA41.K57 2011
370.9355—dc23
2011023483
ISSN 0929-0052
ISBN 978 90 04 21242 8
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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In memory of Raymond Westbrook

CONTENTS
Tables .......................................................................................... ix
Acknowledgments ....................................................................... xi
Abbreviations .............................................................................. xiii
Manuscripts ................................................................................. xix
Chapter One Introduction ...................................................... 1
Chapter Two Content ............................................................. 11
2.1 The Identification and Structure of SEpM ................... 13
2.1.1 Physical associations between SEpM
compositions ....................................................... 13
2.1.2 Thematic associations between SEpM
compositions ....................................................... 27
2.2 The Nature of SEpM Composition Groups ................. 29
2.2.1 The royal correspondence (SEpM 1–5) ............ 29
2.2.2 The Nippur correspondence and related
compositions (SEpM 6–22) ................................ 31
2.2.2.1 Daily-life letters ................................... 31
2.2.2.1.1 Agricultural letters
(SEpM 11–13) ................... 31
2.2.2.1.2 Letters about people away
from home (SEpM 15–17) 32
2.2.2.1.3 Letters about scribes
(SEpM 21–22) ................... 35
2.2.2.2 Letters of petition and prayer
(SEpM 6–8, 18–19) ............................. 35
2.2.2.3 Votive inscriptions ............................... 37
2.2.2.4 Miscellany ............................................ 40
2.3 Additional Nippur Letters (ANL) .................................. 42
2.4 Characters ...................................................................... 43
2.4.1 Ur-saga, Lugal-nesa@e, Lugal-šu
(SEpM 6–8, 18, 20) ............................................ 43
2.4.2 Witnesses (SEpM 14) .......................................... 45
2.4.3 Scholars (SEpM 18, 21–22; ANL 4, 9) ............. 46
viii contents
2.5 Shared Linguistic Features ............................................ 49
2.5.1 Greeting formula ................................................ 49
2.5.2 Exhortation ......................................................... 51
2.6 Discussion ....................................................................... 53
Chapter Three Compilation .................................................... 57
3.1 Literary Letters and Related Miscellany ....................... 60
3.1.1 Thematic groupings of SEpM compositions ..... 60
3.1.2 Relationships between juxtaposed thematic
groups ................................................................. 61
3.1.3 Compilations combining letter collections ......... 62
3.1.4 Compilations combining SEpM miscellany and
“wisdom” or model contracts ............................ 63
3.2 Wisdom Compilations ................................................... 64
3.3 Other: The Decad, Model Court Records and
Inana-Dumuzi Songs ..................................................... 66
3.4 Discussion ....................................................................... 69
Chapter Four Curriculum ....................................................... 75
4.1 Tablet Typology ............................................................. 81
4.2 Frequency of Individual Compositions ......................... 83
4.3 The Use of Poetic Language ......................................... 86
4.4 Shared Lines .................................................................. 89
4.5 Discussion ....................................................................... 91
Chapter Five Correspondence ................................................. 95
Chapter Six Editions ................................................................ 107
6.1 Introductory Remarks .................................................... 107
6.2 Colophons ...................................................................... 108
6.3 Akkadian Glosses and Translations ............................... 111
6.4 Editions ........................................................................... 113
Appendix Textual Matrices ..................................................... 203
Bibliography ................................................................................ 321
Index of Sumerian Words .......................................................... 345
Index of Referenced Texts ......................................................... 358
TABLES
Table 1. The Sumerian Epistolary Miscellany (SEpM) ........... 12
Table 2. SEpM compilations ..................................................... 13
Table 3. Provenance of SEpM and ANL manuscripts ............ 22
Table 4. Find spots of Nippur SEpM manuscripts from the
3rd campaign .......................................................................... 24
Table 5. Known find spots of Ur manuscripts ......................... 26
Table 6. ù-na(-a)-dug variants ................................................... 50
4
Table 7. Compilation tablets containing “wisdom”
compositions ............................................................................ 65
Table 8. Tablet typology of SEpM and the Decad ................. 81
Table 9. Tablet typology of SEpM, the Decad, EnlNam
and NofV ................................................................................ 83
Table 10. Frequency of individual SEpM compositions .......... 84