Digital Archive of Brief Notes & Iran Review, 2022
Dozens of temple records from Ur III Umma attest to the Sumerian expression dumu kar-ra. Prev... more Dozens of temple records from Ur III Umma attest to the Sumerian expression dumu kar-ra. Previous literature interprets it as referring to children born out of wedlock, based on its connection to the term géme kar-kid/kìd (“prostitutes”). An examination of the records shows that dumu kar-ra never appears in the same context as prostitutes. Instead, it appeared among the votive gifts donated to gods by married women and professional men. The gender, age, or name of a dumu kar-ra is never specified in any case. The clues lead to the possibility that the dumu kar-ra could have been young foundlings that people picked up in the quay area and later brought to the temple for long-term care. The temple raised the foundlings with the sponsorship of the Umma government.
Of Rabid Dogs, Hunchbacked Oxen, and Infertile Goats in Ancient Babylonia: Studies Presented to Wu Yuhong on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, 2021
Scholars have recognized that six tablets from the Murašû archive (454-404 B.C.) contain referenc... more Scholars have recognized that six tablets from the Murašû archive (454-404 B.C.) contain references to the Tyrians and to a settlement named after them in the vicinity of Nippur. But only one tablet has seen a complete edition published so far. This article offers an edition of the six tablets based on collation and studies them as a group. It shows that these six texts provide a small but representative sample of the Murašû archive. They feature two major types of business conducted by the Murašû firm—field rentals and loans of dates—and involve the two leading members of the family as one principal party of the transactions. This article also discovers that the Tyrians who lived in Nippur in the late fifth century B.C. under Persian rule ranked as the lower- or middle-class in the local society. Their social and economic status thus presents a discontinuity to the noble or royal Tyrians deported to Babylon earlier at the time of King Nebuchadnezzar II.
The term KÙ.AN is attested in more than a dozen administrative records from Umma of the Ur III... more The term KÙ.AN is attested in more than a dozen administrative records from Umma of the Ur III period (c. 2112–2004 BC). An analysis of those records with respect to the context, the formula, and the people involved indicates that KÙ.AN may well refer to a treasury where treasures of a deity were kept in a temple. Such an analysis also sheds new light upon the function and organization of this kind of treasuries within the administrative framework of the Umma temples.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2019
In the 1999 season of excavation at Tel Qedesh, in northern Israel, a small, perfectly intact... more In the 1999 season of excavation at Tel Qedesh, in northern Israel, a small, perfectly intact stamped bulla dating to the Persian period was found. The bulla originally sealed a papyrus document. Thanks to its excellent preservation, it is possible to identify a series of key aspects of the object: the motif and type of seal used to stamp it, the way the bulla was created, and even the way in which the original document was folded and tied. These details allow us to identify the probable origin and date of the seal and contextualize its associated bulla within the site of Qedesh. This evidence, in conjunction with information from the late 5th century b.c.e. Murašû archive in Nippur, allows us to suggest that the seal’s user may have been a person with Tyrian ties—perhaps a member of the Tyrian diaspora—who acquired his seal in Nippur and traveled to Qedesh where he used it to seal a document.
Digital Archive of Brief Notes & Iran Review, 2022
Dozens of temple records from Ur III Umma attest to the Sumerian expression dumu kar-ra. Prev... more Dozens of temple records from Ur III Umma attest to the Sumerian expression dumu kar-ra. Previous literature interprets it as referring to children born out of wedlock, based on its connection to the term géme kar-kid/kìd (“prostitutes”). An examination of the records shows that dumu kar-ra never appears in the same context as prostitutes. Instead, it appeared among the votive gifts donated to gods by married women and professional men. The gender, age, or name of a dumu kar-ra is never specified in any case. The clues lead to the possibility that the dumu kar-ra could have been young foundlings that people picked up in the quay area and later brought to the temple for long-term care. The temple raised the foundlings with the sponsorship of the Umma government.
Of Rabid Dogs, Hunchbacked Oxen, and Infertile Goats in Ancient Babylonia: Studies Presented to Wu Yuhong on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, 2021
Scholars have recognized that six tablets from the Murašû archive (454-404 B.C.) contain referenc... more Scholars have recognized that six tablets from the Murašû archive (454-404 B.C.) contain references to the Tyrians and to a settlement named after them in the vicinity of Nippur. But only one tablet has seen a complete edition published so far. This article offers an edition of the six tablets based on collation and studies them as a group. It shows that these six texts provide a small but representative sample of the Murašû archive. They feature two major types of business conducted by the Murašû firm—field rentals and loans of dates—and involve the two leading members of the family as one principal party of the transactions. This article also discovers that the Tyrians who lived in Nippur in the late fifth century B.C. under Persian rule ranked as the lower- or middle-class in the local society. Their social and economic status thus presents a discontinuity to the noble or royal Tyrians deported to Babylon earlier at the time of King Nebuchadnezzar II.
The term KÙ.AN is attested in more than a dozen administrative records from Umma of the Ur III... more The term KÙ.AN is attested in more than a dozen administrative records from Umma of the Ur III period (c. 2112–2004 BC). An analysis of those records with respect to the context, the formula, and the people involved indicates that KÙ.AN may well refer to a treasury where treasures of a deity were kept in a temple. Such an analysis also sheds new light upon the function and organization of this kind of treasuries within the administrative framework of the Umma temples.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2019
In the 1999 season of excavation at Tel Qedesh, in northern Israel, a small, perfectly intact... more In the 1999 season of excavation at Tel Qedesh, in northern Israel, a small, perfectly intact stamped bulla dating to the Persian period was found. The bulla originally sealed a papyrus document. Thanks to its excellent preservation, it is possible to identify a series of key aspects of the object: the motif and type of seal used to stamp it, the way the bulla was created, and even the way in which the original document was folded and tied. These details allow us to identify the probable origin and date of the seal and contextualize its associated bulla within the site of Qedesh. This evidence, in conjunction with information from the late 5th century b.c.e. Murašû archive in Nippur, allows us to suggest that the seal’s user may have been a person with Tyrian ties—perhaps a member of the Tyrian diaspora—who acquired his seal in Nippur and traveled to Qedesh where he used it to seal a document.
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Papers by Xiaoli Ouyang
géme kar-kid/kìd (“prostitutes”). An examination of the records shows that dumu kar-ra never appears in the same context as prostitutes. Instead, it appeared among the votive gifts donated to gods by married women and professional men. The gender, age, or name of a dumu kar-ra is never specified in any case. The clues lead to the possibility that the dumu kar-ra could have been young foundlings that people picked up in the quay area and later brought to the temple for long-term care. The temple raised the foundlings with the sponsorship of the Umma government.
the way in which the original document was folded and tied. These details allow us to identify the probable origin and date of the seal and contextualize its associated bulla within the site of Qedesh. This evidence, in conjunction with information from the late 5th century b.c.e. Murašû archive in Nippur, allows us to suggest that the seal’s user may have been a person with Tyrian ties—perhaps a
member of the Tyrian diaspora—who acquired his seal in Nippur and traveled to Qedesh where he used it to seal a document.
Books by Xiaoli Ouyang
géme kar-kid/kìd (“prostitutes”). An examination of the records shows that dumu kar-ra never appears in the same context as prostitutes. Instead, it appeared among the votive gifts donated to gods by married women and professional men. The gender, age, or name of a dumu kar-ra is never specified in any case. The clues lead to the possibility that the dumu kar-ra could have been young foundlings that people picked up in the quay area and later brought to the temple for long-term care. The temple raised the foundlings with the sponsorship of the Umma government.
the way in which the original document was folded and tied. These details allow us to identify the probable origin and date of the seal and contextualize its associated bulla within the site of Qedesh. This evidence, in conjunction with information from the late 5th century b.c.e. Murašû archive in Nippur, allows us to suggest that the seal’s user may have been a person with Tyrian ties—perhaps a
member of the Tyrian diaspora—who acquired his seal in Nippur and traveled to Qedesh where he used it to seal a document.