Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Address: Institut für Altorientalistik und Vorderasiatische Archäologie WWU Münster Rosenstr. 9 48143 Münster
In: Kristin Kleber (Hrsg.), Taxation in the Achaemenid Empire (Classica et Orientalia 26), Wiesbaden 2021, pp. 13-152. , 2021
Part I: overview of taxation in earlier periods of Mesopotamian history incl. some remarks on kid... more Part I: overview of taxation in earlier periods of Mesopotamian history incl. some remarks on kidinnutu, the text Advice to a Prince and tax exemptions. Part II: full treatment of the known aspects of taxation and administration in the Neo-Babylonian and early Achaemenid Period with an outlook to the later Achaemenid period.
Kristin Kleber (ed.), Taxation in the Achaemenid Empire. (Classica et Orientalia 26), Wiesbaden 2021, 2021
Since fiscal history studies were established in the 1990s, the field has increasingly become a n... more Since fiscal history studies were established in the 1990s, the field has increasingly become a new research subject in historical studies. Monson & Scheidel 2015 for the first time included ancient history in an approach spanning the entire premodern world. The current book is concerned with only one political entity from the ancient world, yet a very large one: the first Persian, or Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550-330 BC). This huge kingdom stretched over eight million square kilometers, from Libya to modern day Afghanistan, from Greece to the borders of India, containing half of the world's population at its time. The textual evidence available for the study of this empire and its taxation system is unevenly distributed over the empires' regions. The best-documented areas are Babylonia, followed by Iran and Egypt. There is some evidence from Asia Minor, the Levant, from Bactria, and some tributary items originating in Arachosia were found in Persepolis. The available texts have different aims, originate in different social contexts, were written on different materials and in different languages, namely in Akkadian, Aramaic, Demotic, Elamite, Greek and Old Persian. In view of these diverse sources, it is obvious that an overall view can only be achieved in an interdisciplinary manner. The aim of the conference on which the book is based was to bring together scholars who specialize in the relevant disciplines and textual sources, and discuss with them the evidence across the regions. Even though the overall picture remains patchy, it is important to take stock of what we have and where our gaps are. The volume forms a counterpart and addition to the likewise cross-regional approach on the Administration in the Achaemenid Empire, edited by Bruno Jacobs, Wouter F. M. Henkelman and Matthew Stolper in 2017 as CLeO 17. Administration is a prerequisite of taxation, and since taxation is the backbone of every state's finances, we can expect to find imperial patterns, either on top of local ones, or partially replacing local structures in the course of time. The Persian Empire harnessed pre-existing fiscal arrangements to mobilize local resources; the fiscal history of the individual regions cannot be separated from the time before the Persian conquest.
Download for an abstract, the table of contents and a few sample pages of a manuscript version of... more Download for an abstract, the table of contents and a few sample pages of a manuscript version of the book.
“Silver, Money and Credit” gathers a collection of contributions by leading specialists on the ro... more “Silver, Money and Credit” gathers a collection of contributions by leading specialists on the role of silver in Ancient Mesopotamia. The volume is a tribute to Robartus J. van der Spek, professor emeritus at the VU University Amsterdam.
The thematic core area is the documentation concerning silver in cuneiform sources from first millennium BC Babylonia, and how this vast body of primary sources can be employed in order to shed light on aspects of the economy. It thus coincides with the honouree’s main area of research. The volume is rounded off by comparative material mainly from other periods in Mesopotamian history, rendering justice to his broad range of interest. The scope of the volume thus extends from the first written records on the use of silver in Uruk to the Neo-Babylonian Empire’s apogee in the sixth century BC and further to insights to be gained from comparisons with early modern economies.
Archiv für Orientforschung 54 (2021), pp. 62-71. , 2021
Treatment of four texts on long-distance trade that represent four stages of the administrative p... more Treatment of four texts on long-distance trade that represent four stages of the administrative process in the administration of the Eanna temple. I analyze the outer characteristics of the texts (shape, preparation of the tablet for writing, the execution of the characters) together with the content in order to shed light on the order of processing in the Eanna bureaucracy.
M. van Ess (ed.), Uruk – Altorientalische Metropole und Kulturzentrum. 8. Internationales Kolloquium der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft, 25-26 April 2013 in Berlin. Berlin 2021, S. 229-247, 2021
Excavations of the DOG in Uruk have revealed a large part of the ground plan of Uruk and the Eann... more Excavations of the DOG in Uruk have revealed a large part of the ground plan of Uruk and the Eanna temple in the Late Babylonian period. Yet, it is still difficult to connect the archaeological evidence with the rich textual material. A detailed analysis of the cultic, administrative and production-related activities at the temple is therefore needed in order to get closer to a correct interpretation of the material remains. The first part of this article investigates Eanna’s storage facilities, their administration and the flow of goods in the temple. It shows that the bīt karê was the most important storehouse to which barley and dates for the offerings were rolled in. It was a stock and possibly production center in front of the city walls of Uruk. The bīt karê contained various types of silos called karmu and kalakku. A cuneiform document published here elucidates the structure of the storage facilities in the bīt karê and their minimum size. The article furthermore proposes an interpretation of the two silo types karmu and kalakku, suggesting that the difference may either lie in the ground plan (round or rectangular) or in the way the silo was filled (from the front or the top). The second part of this contribution investigates areas of the temple where production for the cult and the preparation of the cultic meal took place and re-evaluates the use of the so-called “Gartenhof” of Eanna and its spatial relation to the ziqqurrat court with the cellas.
The messenger staff Huṭ āru was a non-anthropomorphic deity in the Neo-Babylonian Eanna temple o... more The messenger staff Huṭ āru was a non-anthropomorphic deity in the Neo-Babylonian Eanna temple of Uruk that also had a practical function: it served as a symbol of authority of the goddess Ištar during the collection of taxes and dues. In this article I edit and discuss two hitherto unpublished texts that shed new light on this little known divine object. Furthermore, I suggest its identification with the "Doppellöwenkeule", a ceremonial mace with animal protomes that is represented alone or carried by Ištar on seals and terracotta plaques from the Old and Neo-Babylonian periods.
In: P. van Alfen and U. Wartenberg (eds.), White Gold: Studies in Early Electrum Coinage (American Numismatic Society). Jerusalem, pp. 17–34, 2020
Abstract: In their fascinating study of the gold refinery at Sardis, Ramage and Craddock attribu... more Abstract: In their fascinating study of the gold refinery at Sardis, Ramage and Craddock attributed the inception of the technique of parting, viz. the separation of gold from its silver content, to the Lydians. Yet, technical developments do not always originate in the place where modern archaeology noticed them first. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that parting by cementation has a much longer history. It was practiced in Mesopotamia and Egypt throughout the second and first millennia BC. Consequently, the hypothesis that coinage instigated the fabrication of pure gold cannot be upheld. I will furthermore suggest that in first millennium Babylonia a system of gold-silver rates was used to indicate fineness, and that goldsmiths and merchants, before they bought gold on the market, were able to determine its fineness to a satisfactory degree of precision by means of a touchstone.
In: R. Achenbach (ed.), Persische Reichspolitik und lokale Heiligümer. Beiträge einer Tagung des Exzellensclusters „Religion und Politik in Vormoderne und Moderne“, vom 24.-26. Februar 2016 in Münster. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp. 99-120., 2019
In: A. Garcia-Ventura (Hrsg.), What’s in a name? Terminology related to work force and job categories in the ancient Near East (AOAT 440)., 2018
The article gives an overview of terms for workers, servile dependents and juridical statuses in... more The article gives an overview of terms for workers, servile dependents and juridical statuses in Babylonia in the first millennium BC with a focus on the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods (ca. 620 – 330 BC).
In: K. Kleber, G. Neumann, S. Paulus (Hrsg.), Grenzüberschreitungen. Studien zur Kulturgeschichte des Alten Orients. Festschrift für Hans Neumann zum 65. Geburtstag am 9. Mai 2018 (Dubsar 5). Münster: Zaphon., 2018
In this article I suggest that cats of the species caracal (SA.A.SI "horned cat" or simply murash... more In this article I suggest that cats of the species caracal (SA.A.SI "horned cat" or simply murashû "(large) cat") were kept and used for bird hunts in ancient Babylonia. The English summary is attached.
n B. Jacobs, W.F. Henkelman, M.W. Stolper (eds.), Die Verwaltung im Achämenidenreich - Administration in the Achaemenid Empire. (Classica et Orientalia 17), Harrassowitz: Wiesbaden 2017, 2017
With the conquest of Babylonia, Cyrus won a land of longstanding traditions. In the time of trans... more With the conquest of Babylonia, Cyrus won a land of longstanding traditions. In the time of transition it was necessary to propagate the new rule within terms of Babylonian royal ideology and to accommodate the expectations of the elite. The transition period is characterized by a high degree of continuity in almost all administrative realms. The positive image of Cyrus, which almost all ancient sources hold in common, attests to the success of this balancing act during the first phase of the empire. From the reign of Darius onwards innovations become more noticeable. He strived to integrate Babylonia more organically into the empire, in particular by streamlining the tax system. After the insurrections in 484 BC the urban elite of northern Babylonian cities were disempowered. The reigns of Darius I and Xerxes were critical periods when change was accelerated. Gradually a network of external imperial control was placed over and between the inherited administrative nodes. Nevertheless Persian rule in Babylonia meant a gradual acquisition of administrative and fiscal control by the empire, not a radical displacement of inherited institutions
The paper provides an Arabic etymology for naltar, a "a quality of gold" (according to CAD N/1, 2... more The paper provides an Arabic etymology for naltar, a "a quality of gold" (according to CAD N/1, 203) and shows that naltar designated a high quality native gold (probably placer gold from paleo-rivers) imported from Arabia. The gold may be identical to the gold which Diodorus Siculus (II, 50) called "fireless". The article furthermore treats the method of testing gold by a touchstone in 6th century BC Babylonia (expressed by the verb pidanu in Akkadian).
K. Kleber, R. Pirngruber (eds.), Silver, Money and Credit. A Tribute to Robartus J. van der Spek on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday. (PIHANS 78), 2016, pp. 39-60., 2016
At least since the publication of Meissner's article "Warenpreise in Babylonien" it is known that... more At least since the publication of Meissner's article "Warenpreise in Babylonien" it is known that Babylonian prices in the later first millennium are approximately 30% (sometimes more) higher than they used to be in the early second millennium. The when and whys of this change are less clearly understood. Towards the end of the 2nd millennium prices apparently skyrocketed at the same time when Babylonia returned to a general silver standard after the gold interlude in the Kassite period. Different explanations were suggested: either repeated negative supply-shocks in a period of economic decline, or a sinking purchasing power of silver due to an increased availability of silver in Babylonia. This article revisits the the discussion of the Kassite gold and the Post-Kassite silver standards and offers a modified interpretation of the meager Post-Kassite textual data.
in: in: H. Barta, M. Lang, R. Rollinger (eds.), Prozessrecht und Eid: Recht und Rechtsfindung in antiken Kulturen (Philippika 86,1). Wiesbaden 2015, 119-152., 2015
The article elucidates the function of the assertory oath in the evidentiary procedure in trial d... more The article elucidates the function of the assertory oath in the evidentiary procedure in trial documents from the Neo-Babylonian and Early Achaemenid periods.
Introduction:
In einer Gesellschaft, die nicht am Eingreifen göttlicher Mächte zweifelte, war der Eid eines der stärksten Instrumente zur Disziplinierung des Einzelnen. Ob als politischer Eid oder als Eid vor Gericht – beim Schwören legte der Mensch seine soziale und physische Existenz in die Waagschale des Rechts. Den Unterlegenen und Schuldigen treibt der Eid in die Enge: Unterwerfung unter die weltliche Strafe oder die Auslieferung an die strafende Gottheit. Einen Ausweg aus dem Dilemma sollte es nicht geben. Vorformulierungen der Eide vor Gericht sollten ausschließen, dass ein Schuldiger die Verschlagenheit an den Tag legte, einen nur dem Wortlaute nach wahren Eid zu schwören. Versuche, bis ins Innerste vorzudringen belegen die Verbote, Lippeneide zu schwören. Der Eid als Mittel der Wahrheitsfindung im juristischen Prozess ist bereits in den frühesten Gerichtsprotokollen bezeugt, die wir kennen. Im ersten Jahrtausend v. Chr. hatte er seine Bedeutung noch lange nicht verloren. Er kam überall dort zum Einsatz, wo andernfalls kein Richterspruch möglich war. Doch der sich entwickelnde rationale Geist wird sichtbar: Galt der Eid in altbabylonischer Zeit noch „als das wichtigste Instrument der Wahrheitsfindung, als das vollkommenste Beweismittel“, wird der Reinigungseid eines Verdächtigen nun als das schlechteste Mittel angesehen, einen Fall abzuschließen. Ich werde im Folgenden versuchen, die Regeln für die Verwendung des Eides im Beweisverfahren des spätbabylonischen Gerichtsprozesses herauszuarbeiten. Das bedeutet eine juristisch-funktionale Perspektive auf den Eid. Jenseits der Regeln des Beweisverfahrens hat jedoch auch die soziale Wirklichkeit die Rahmenbedingungen des Schwörens maßgeblich beeinflusst.
In: Kristin Kleber (Hrsg.), Taxation in the Achaemenid Empire (Classica et Orientalia 26), Wiesbaden 2021, pp. 13-152. , 2021
Part I: overview of taxation in earlier periods of Mesopotamian history incl. some remarks on kid... more Part I: overview of taxation in earlier periods of Mesopotamian history incl. some remarks on kidinnutu, the text Advice to a Prince and tax exemptions. Part II: full treatment of the known aspects of taxation and administration in the Neo-Babylonian and early Achaemenid Period with an outlook to the later Achaemenid period.
Kristin Kleber (ed.), Taxation in the Achaemenid Empire. (Classica et Orientalia 26), Wiesbaden 2021, 2021
Since fiscal history studies were established in the 1990s, the field has increasingly become a n... more Since fiscal history studies were established in the 1990s, the field has increasingly become a new research subject in historical studies. Monson & Scheidel 2015 for the first time included ancient history in an approach spanning the entire premodern world. The current book is concerned with only one political entity from the ancient world, yet a very large one: the first Persian, or Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550-330 BC). This huge kingdom stretched over eight million square kilometers, from Libya to modern day Afghanistan, from Greece to the borders of India, containing half of the world's population at its time. The textual evidence available for the study of this empire and its taxation system is unevenly distributed over the empires' regions. The best-documented areas are Babylonia, followed by Iran and Egypt. There is some evidence from Asia Minor, the Levant, from Bactria, and some tributary items originating in Arachosia were found in Persepolis. The available texts have different aims, originate in different social contexts, were written on different materials and in different languages, namely in Akkadian, Aramaic, Demotic, Elamite, Greek and Old Persian. In view of these diverse sources, it is obvious that an overall view can only be achieved in an interdisciplinary manner. The aim of the conference on which the book is based was to bring together scholars who specialize in the relevant disciplines and textual sources, and discuss with them the evidence across the regions. Even though the overall picture remains patchy, it is important to take stock of what we have and where our gaps are. The volume forms a counterpart and addition to the likewise cross-regional approach on the Administration in the Achaemenid Empire, edited by Bruno Jacobs, Wouter F. M. Henkelman and Matthew Stolper in 2017 as CLeO 17. Administration is a prerequisite of taxation, and since taxation is the backbone of every state's finances, we can expect to find imperial patterns, either on top of local ones, or partially replacing local structures in the course of time. The Persian Empire harnessed pre-existing fiscal arrangements to mobilize local resources; the fiscal history of the individual regions cannot be separated from the time before the Persian conquest.
Download for an abstract, the table of contents and a few sample pages of a manuscript version of... more Download for an abstract, the table of contents and a few sample pages of a manuscript version of the book.
“Silver, Money and Credit” gathers a collection of contributions by leading specialists on the ro... more “Silver, Money and Credit” gathers a collection of contributions by leading specialists on the role of silver in Ancient Mesopotamia. The volume is a tribute to Robartus J. van der Spek, professor emeritus at the VU University Amsterdam.
The thematic core area is the documentation concerning silver in cuneiform sources from first millennium BC Babylonia, and how this vast body of primary sources can be employed in order to shed light on aspects of the economy. It thus coincides with the honouree’s main area of research. The volume is rounded off by comparative material mainly from other periods in Mesopotamian history, rendering justice to his broad range of interest. The scope of the volume thus extends from the first written records on the use of silver in Uruk to the Neo-Babylonian Empire’s apogee in the sixth century BC and further to insights to be gained from comparisons with early modern economies.
Archiv für Orientforschung 54 (2021), pp. 62-71. , 2021
Treatment of four texts on long-distance trade that represent four stages of the administrative p... more Treatment of four texts on long-distance trade that represent four stages of the administrative process in the administration of the Eanna temple. I analyze the outer characteristics of the texts (shape, preparation of the tablet for writing, the execution of the characters) together with the content in order to shed light on the order of processing in the Eanna bureaucracy.
M. van Ess (ed.), Uruk – Altorientalische Metropole und Kulturzentrum. 8. Internationales Kolloquium der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft, 25-26 April 2013 in Berlin. Berlin 2021, S. 229-247, 2021
Excavations of the DOG in Uruk have revealed a large part of the ground plan of Uruk and the Eann... more Excavations of the DOG in Uruk have revealed a large part of the ground plan of Uruk and the Eanna temple in the Late Babylonian period. Yet, it is still difficult to connect the archaeological evidence with the rich textual material. A detailed analysis of the cultic, administrative and production-related activities at the temple is therefore needed in order to get closer to a correct interpretation of the material remains. The first part of this article investigates Eanna’s storage facilities, their administration and the flow of goods in the temple. It shows that the bīt karê was the most important storehouse to which barley and dates for the offerings were rolled in. It was a stock and possibly production center in front of the city walls of Uruk. The bīt karê contained various types of silos called karmu and kalakku. A cuneiform document published here elucidates the structure of the storage facilities in the bīt karê and their minimum size. The article furthermore proposes an interpretation of the two silo types karmu and kalakku, suggesting that the difference may either lie in the ground plan (round or rectangular) or in the way the silo was filled (from the front or the top). The second part of this contribution investigates areas of the temple where production for the cult and the preparation of the cultic meal took place and re-evaluates the use of the so-called “Gartenhof” of Eanna and its spatial relation to the ziqqurrat court with the cellas.
The messenger staff Huṭ āru was a non-anthropomorphic deity in the Neo-Babylonian Eanna temple o... more The messenger staff Huṭ āru was a non-anthropomorphic deity in the Neo-Babylonian Eanna temple of Uruk that also had a practical function: it served as a symbol of authority of the goddess Ištar during the collection of taxes and dues. In this article I edit and discuss two hitherto unpublished texts that shed new light on this little known divine object. Furthermore, I suggest its identification with the "Doppellöwenkeule", a ceremonial mace with animal protomes that is represented alone or carried by Ištar on seals and terracotta plaques from the Old and Neo-Babylonian periods.
In: P. van Alfen and U. Wartenberg (eds.), White Gold: Studies in Early Electrum Coinage (American Numismatic Society). Jerusalem, pp. 17–34, 2020
Abstract: In their fascinating study of the gold refinery at Sardis, Ramage and Craddock attribu... more Abstract: In their fascinating study of the gold refinery at Sardis, Ramage and Craddock attributed the inception of the technique of parting, viz. the separation of gold from its silver content, to the Lydians. Yet, technical developments do not always originate in the place where modern archaeology noticed them first. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that parting by cementation has a much longer history. It was practiced in Mesopotamia and Egypt throughout the second and first millennia BC. Consequently, the hypothesis that coinage instigated the fabrication of pure gold cannot be upheld. I will furthermore suggest that in first millennium Babylonia a system of gold-silver rates was used to indicate fineness, and that goldsmiths and merchants, before they bought gold on the market, were able to determine its fineness to a satisfactory degree of precision by means of a touchstone.
In: R. Achenbach (ed.), Persische Reichspolitik und lokale Heiligümer. Beiträge einer Tagung des Exzellensclusters „Religion und Politik in Vormoderne und Moderne“, vom 24.-26. Februar 2016 in Münster. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp. 99-120., 2019
In: A. Garcia-Ventura (Hrsg.), What’s in a name? Terminology related to work force and job categories in the ancient Near East (AOAT 440)., 2018
The article gives an overview of terms for workers, servile dependents and juridical statuses in... more The article gives an overview of terms for workers, servile dependents and juridical statuses in Babylonia in the first millennium BC with a focus on the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods (ca. 620 – 330 BC).
In: K. Kleber, G. Neumann, S. Paulus (Hrsg.), Grenzüberschreitungen. Studien zur Kulturgeschichte des Alten Orients. Festschrift für Hans Neumann zum 65. Geburtstag am 9. Mai 2018 (Dubsar 5). Münster: Zaphon., 2018
In this article I suggest that cats of the species caracal (SA.A.SI "horned cat" or simply murash... more In this article I suggest that cats of the species caracal (SA.A.SI "horned cat" or simply murashû "(large) cat") were kept and used for bird hunts in ancient Babylonia. The English summary is attached.
n B. Jacobs, W.F. Henkelman, M.W. Stolper (eds.), Die Verwaltung im Achämenidenreich - Administration in the Achaemenid Empire. (Classica et Orientalia 17), Harrassowitz: Wiesbaden 2017, 2017
With the conquest of Babylonia, Cyrus won a land of longstanding traditions. In the time of trans... more With the conquest of Babylonia, Cyrus won a land of longstanding traditions. In the time of transition it was necessary to propagate the new rule within terms of Babylonian royal ideology and to accommodate the expectations of the elite. The transition period is characterized by a high degree of continuity in almost all administrative realms. The positive image of Cyrus, which almost all ancient sources hold in common, attests to the success of this balancing act during the first phase of the empire. From the reign of Darius onwards innovations become more noticeable. He strived to integrate Babylonia more organically into the empire, in particular by streamlining the tax system. After the insurrections in 484 BC the urban elite of northern Babylonian cities were disempowered. The reigns of Darius I and Xerxes were critical periods when change was accelerated. Gradually a network of external imperial control was placed over and between the inherited administrative nodes. Nevertheless Persian rule in Babylonia meant a gradual acquisition of administrative and fiscal control by the empire, not a radical displacement of inherited institutions
The paper provides an Arabic etymology for naltar, a "a quality of gold" (according to CAD N/1, 2... more The paper provides an Arabic etymology for naltar, a "a quality of gold" (according to CAD N/1, 203) and shows that naltar designated a high quality native gold (probably placer gold from paleo-rivers) imported from Arabia. The gold may be identical to the gold which Diodorus Siculus (II, 50) called "fireless". The article furthermore treats the method of testing gold by a touchstone in 6th century BC Babylonia (expressed by the verb pidanu in Akkadian).
K. Kleber, R. Pirngruber (eds.), Silver, Money and Credit. A Tribute to Robartus J. van der Spek on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday. (PIHANS 78), 2016, pp. 39-60., 2016
At least since the publication of Meissner's article "Warenpreise in Babylonien" it is known that... more At least since the publication of Meissner's article "Warenpreise in Babylonien" it is known that Babylonian prices in the later first millennium are approximately 30% (sometimes more) higher than they used to be in the early second millennium. The when and whys of this change are less clearly understood. Towards the end of the 2nd millennium prices apparently skyrocketed at the same time when Babylonia returned to a general silver standard after the gold interlude in the Kassite period. Different explanations were suggested: either repeated negative supply-shocks in a period of economic decline, or a sinking purchasing power of silver due to an increased availability of silver in Babylonia. This article revisits the the discussion of the Kassite gold and the Post-Kassite silver standards and offers a modified interpretation of the meager Post-Kassite textual data.
in: in: H. Barta, M. Lang, R. Rollinger (eds.), Prozessrecht und Eid: Recht und Rechtsfindung in antiken Kulturen (Philippika 86,1). Wiesbaden 2015, 119-152., 2015
The article elucidates the function of the assertory oath in the evidentiary procedure in trial d... more The article elucidates the function of the assertory oath in the evidentiary procedure in trial documents from the Neo-Babylonian and Early Achaemenid periods.
Introduction:
In einer Gesellschaft, die nicht am Eingreifen göttlicher Mächte zweifelte, war der Eid eines der stärksten Instrumente zur Disziplinierung des Einzelnen. Ob als politischer Eid oder als Eid vor Gericht – beim Schwören legte der Mensch seine soziale und physische Existenz in die Waagschale des Rechts. Den Unterlegenen und Schuldigen treibt der Eid in die Enge: Unterwerfung unter die weltliche Strafe oder die Auslieferung an die strafende Gottheit. Einen Ausweg aus dem Dilemma sollte es nicht geben. Vorformulierungen der Eide vor Gericht sollten ausschließen, dass ein Schuldiger die Verschlagenheit an den Tag legte, einen nur dem Wortlaute nach wahren Eid zu schwören. Versuche, bis ins Innerste vorzudringen belegen die Verbote, Lippeneide zu schwören. Der Eid als Mittel der Wahrheitsfindung im juristischen Prozess ist bereits in den frühesten Gerichtsprotokollen bezeugt, die wir kennen. Im ersten Jahrtausend v. Chr. hatte er seine Bedeutung noch lange nicht verloren. Er kam überall dort zum Einsatz, wo andernfalls kein Richterspruch möglich war. Doch der sich entwickelnde rationale Geist wird sichtbar: Galt der Eid in altbabylonischer Zeit noch „als das wichtigste Instrument der Wahrheitsfindung, als das vollkommenste Beweismittel“, wird der Reinigungseid eines Verdächtigen nun als das schlechteste Mittel angesehen, einen Fall abzuschließen. Ich werde im Folgenden versuchen, die Regeln für die Verwendung des Eides im Beweisverfahren des spätbabylonischen Gerichtsprozesses herauszuarbeiten. Das bedeutet eine juristisch-funktionale Perspektive auf den Eid. Jenseits der Regeln des Beweisverfahrens hat jedoch auch die soziale Wirklichkeit die Rahmenbedingungen des Schwörens maßgeblich beeinflusst.
Administrative documents and letters from the Eanna archive were arranged in a dossier that eluci... more Administrative documents and letters from the Eanna archive were arranged in a dossier that elucidates the economic and social impact of several harvest failures that occurred in Babylonia during the first years of Cambyses’ reign. The texts provide a vivid background to otherwise ‘dry’ economic data. They also shed light on the relationship of the temple with its dependents, and on tensions between administrators in dire straits.
Co-authored with C. van der Brugge. In: J. C. Moreno García (ed.), Dynamics of Production in the Ancient Near East 1300-500 BC. Oxford: Oxbow Books 2016, pp. 187-222., 2016
The wealthy city of Tyre and its extensive trading network fostered the imagination and envy of p... more The wealthy city of Tyre and its extensive trading network fostered the imagination and envy of people in antiquity, as much as it has spurred the interest of modern researchers. Many popular and scientific treatments of Phoenician history emphasize either the extensive commercial network in the Mediterranean, or the well-documented relationship between Tyre and the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Assyria’s regained strength is often depicted as a motor for colonization of the Mediterranean, either in a positive sense that the Phoenicians served Assyria in return for the commercial benefits of a pax Assyriaca, or in a negative sense, that systematic search for raw materials like silver was caused by Assyria’s needs from the ninth century onwards. In the following, we shall re-evaluate this claim and discuss the interrelatedness between the economic and political situation of a trade city in the changing historical circumstances from the Early to the Middle Iron Age. Tyre’s history in the Neo-Babylonian period is less known due to the scarcity of textual sources. The re-evaluation of a file of cuneiform texts mentioning Tyre, and the identification of new texts now help to reconstruct the otherwise enigmatic political events around the famous thirteen-year-siege of Tyre, thereby yielding new evidence on Neo-Babylonian policy in the west. While the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods are the main focus, we begin with a brief outline of Tyre’s situation in the Late Bronze Age, as it is important to realize that it was mainly continuity in Tyre’s disposition combined with technological change that triggered major developments in the Iron Age.
Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte 18 (2012), 221-237
This contribution directs attention to a hidden side of administration: aspects of the mentality ... more This contribution directs attention to a hidden side of administration: aspects of the mentality of Babylonian officials, their bureaucratic ethos, and their interaction with colleagues. This is a study of the pragmatics of the letters, that is, the use of language in a social context, here in particular the rhetorical strategies used by officials to persuade other officials to act in a certain way. The text corpus consists of letters from the Eanna archive which were written by identifiable royal and local dignitaries of the temple administration. Thus we can analyse their patterns of argumentation in the light of their hierarchical position and their administrative tasks.
In: H. Neumann, R. Dittmann, S. Paulus, G. Neumann, A. Schuster-Brandis (eds.), Krieg und Frieden in Alten Vorderasien. 52e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Münster, 17.-21.Juli 2006 (AOAT 401), Münster 2014, p. 431-446., May 2014
This is a study of the attestations of various types of weapons in Neo-Babylonian texts, includin... more This is a study of the attestations of various types of weapons in Neo-Babylonian texts, including prices and sporadic remarks on the manufacture of weapons.
The first proven case of perjury in a Babylonian trial record. The paper treats three interrelate... more The first proven case of perjury in a Babylonian trial record. The paper treats three interrelated legal documents, involving absconded workers, fraud, blackmail and perjury.
What happened to the legal system of formerly independent states when they became part of a large... more What happened to the legal system of formerly independent states when they became part of a larger empire? This was the question posed by a conference on "Competition and mutual influence of diverging legal systems in the Ancient Near East" held in Münster in March 2008.
This paper treats the attestations of the Persian loanword dātu in Babylonian texts and concludes that a dātu did not exclusively pertain to administrative orders or fiscal interests of the state. Dātus were real laws or edicts in the sense that they were binding for the society (Babylonia) as a whole. Known dātus often regulated the amount of indemnities and tariffs, both in the public sphere and in private litigation. They can therefore be interpreted as additions to and sophistications of the effective traditional Babylonian law which was generally respected by the Achaemenid kings. Occasionally the dātus encompassed new regulations, for example, a previously little attested 4-fold compensatory payment is mentioned several times. Furthermore, changing business practices, such as the increased use of cedable documents in the first millennium made new rules necessary. In detail dātus regulated: - Public and royal tariffs (military service, administrative costs) - Compensatory payments for slave labour (mandattu) - Compensatory payments for theft and other compensations - The treatment of cedeable documents.
The paper proposes that the sender of YOS 3, 196 (9 Cyr) is Zeria, the shatammu of Esangila who i... more The paper proposes that the sender of YOS 3, 196 (9 Cyr) is Zeria, the shatammu of Esangila who is mentioned in the 'Verse Account' together with Remut, the zazakku. The two high officials of the Neo-Babylonian Empire were still in office after 539 BC. Because it is unlikely that they were presented in a negative way while still in office, the paper proposes that the Verse Account was composed after the Babylonian insurrections at the beginning of the reign of Darius I.
The article discusses briefly Neo-Babylonian personnel rosters in general, and then edits PTS 227... more The article discusses briefly Neo-Babylonian personnel rosters in general, and then edits PTS 2274 (14 Nebuchadnezzar), an unusual text that records the inspection of entire families. This text probably belonged to a private archive of an official who had business connections with the Eanna temple of Uruk.
Vierzig Beiträge in deutscher, englischer und französischer Sprache sind dem Assyriologen Hans Ne... more Vierzig Beiträge in deutscher, englischer und französischer Sprache sind dem Assyriologen Hans Neumann (Universität Münster) gewidmet. Korrespondierend mit den breit gefächerten Forschungen des Jubilars bieten sie einen aktuellen Überblick über Themen der Assyriologie, der Vorderasiatischen Archäologie und der Kulturgeschichte des Alten Orients.
Vorwort / Tabula Gratulatoria / Schriftenverzeichnis von Hans Neumann
Reinhard Achenbach: Leges Sacrae. Sacred Law in Ancient Greek and Biblical Tradition
Alfonso Archi:Guests at the Court of Ebla
Nikita Artemov: Ideology and Propaganda. Some Reflections on Two Problematic Terms
Barbara Böck: Zur Weitergabe und Verbreitung altmesopotamischen medizinischen Wissens. Die Verwendung von Alaun und Schmirgel in diachronischer Perspektive
Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum – Nele Ziegler: Untersuchungen zur Toponymie Nordmesopotamiens im zweiten Jahrtausend v. Chr. 2. Von Göttern und Menschen
Dominique Charpin: Dons ou ventes de terres par les rois à l’époque paléo-babylonienne
Manfried Dietrich: h-bry šmym „die Himmelsbeschauer“ in Jes. 47,13b. Zum babylonischen b-r-y „sehen, (be)schauen, (kritisch) überprüfen, verifizieren“ im Alten Testament
Reinhard Dittmann: Notes on Pig-tailed Women in the Glyptic of the Third Millennium B.C.
Betina Faist: Der abgewiesene Bewerber. Zur Eheschließung in der altbabylonischen Zeit
Gertrud and Walter Farber: The Cuneiform Tablets at Northwestern University Library in Evanston, Illinois
Helmut Freydank – Doris Prechel: Lexikalisches aus der mittelassyrischen Tempelverwaltung
Jean-Jacques Glassner: L’abdication de Šulgi
Peter Heine: Kochen in Mesopotamien. Ein kulturgeschichtlicher Versuch
Ludger Hiepel: Hubert Grimme im Babel-Bibel-Streit
Jens Høyrup: Was Babylonian Mathematics Algorithmic?
Bruno Jacobs: Ein Totenopfer für ein Mitglied der persischen Elite in Phrygien am Hellespont. Zu einem achämenidenzeitlichen Relief aus Daskyleion
Kristin Kleber: Katzen als Jagdhelfer in Mesopotamien
Julia Krul: Some Observations on Late Urukean Theophoric Names
Carlos Langa-Morales: Kleine Texte aus einer großen Sammlung
Lutz Martin: Der Tell Halaf im Spiegel neuer Feldforschungen
Joachim Marzahn: Die Linsen und die Finger. Untersuchungen zur Handhaltung des Tafelschülers beim Schreiben
Stefan M. Maul: Wie man sich eines Störenfrieds diskret entledigt. Ratschläge aus dem Alten Orient
Christin Möllenbeck: Zur Dienstmiete im altbabylonischen Sippar
Joachim Oelsner: Gedanken zu den Archiven und Bibliotheken aus dem hellenistischen Uruk
Eckart Otto: Keilschriftrechtlicher Hintergrund von Rechtssätzen im Buch Deuteronomium
David I. Owen: A Neo-Sumerian Contract from Du-Enlila? and Related Texts
Guido Pfeifer: Theorie und Praxis einer zeitgenössischen Rechtsgeschichte des Alten Orients
Daniel T. Potts: The epithet ‘sister’s son’ in ancient Elam. Aspects of the avunculate in cross-cultural perspective
Ellen Rehm: In Stein gemeißelt – In Gips gegossen. Die Kopien des Kodex Ḫammurapi und der Gudea-Statue B in Münster und Leipzig
Johannes Renger: How many people per hectare? Überlegungen zur Demografie im alluvialen Babylonien
Robert Rollinger: Sargon about Rusa – a mocking voice embedded in an Assyrian inscription. Some considerations on Sg 8, 403–404
Reettakaisa Sofia Salo: Groß-Udum und Klein-Udum (KTU3 1.14 III 4f.; III 30f.; IV 47f.; VI 11f.)
Hanspeter Schaudig: Zum Tempel „A“ in Assur. Zeugnis eines Urbizids
Theun-Mathias Schmidt: Der römische Sarkophag eines jüdischen Bäckers im Berliner Bode-Museum?
Marvin Schreiber: Astrologische Wettervorhersagen und Kometenbeobachtungen
Klaas R. Veenhof: The Struggle for the House of Dalaš in Kanesh
Konrad Volk: Drei Urkunden der Ur III-Zeit aus dem Museum Alte Kulturen der Universität Tübingen
Claus Wilcke: ṣibtum und melqētum. Zu Bezeichnungen konsumptiver Kredite in den altbabylonischen Edikten
Gernot Wilhelm: Ein Testament aus Tell Fray
Jakob Wöhrle: „Als die Götter Mensch waren“. Zum Beginn des Atramḫasīs-Epos
Norman Yoffee – Gojko Barjamovic: Old Assyrian Trade and Economic History
This is the link to the website of the NWO-funded project "Paying for All the King's Horses and A... more This is the link to the website of the NWO-funded project "Paying for All the King's Horses and All the King's Men: A Fiscal History of the Achaemenid Empire".
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The thematic core area is the documentation concerning silver in cuneiform sources from first millennium BC Babylonia, and how this vast body of primary sources can be employed in order to shed light on aspects of the economy. It thus coincides with the honouree’s main area of research. The volume is rounded off by comparative material mainly from other periods in Mesopotamian history, rendering justice to his broad range of interest. The scope of the volume thus extends from the first written records on the use of silver in Uruk to the Neo-Babylonian Empire’s apogee in the sixth century BC and further to insights to be gained from comparisons with early modern economies.
The first part of this article investigates Eanna’s storage facilities, their administration and the flow of goods in the temple. It shows that the bīt karê was the most important storehouse to which barley and dates for the offerings were rolled in. It was a stock and possibly production center in front of the city walls of Uruk. The bīt karê contained various types of silos called karmu and kalakku. A cuneiform document published here elucidates the structure of the storage facilities in the bīt karê and their minimum size. The article furthermore proposes an interpretation of the two silo types karmu and kalakku, suggesting that the difference may either lie in the ground plan (round or rectangular) or in the way the silo was filled (from the front or the top).
The second part of this contribution investigates areas of the temple where production for the cult and the preparation of the cultic meal took place and re-evaluates the use of the so-called “Gartenhof” of Eanna and its spatial relation to the ziqqurrat court with the cellas.
This article revisits the the discussion of the Kassite gold and the Post-Kassite silver standards and offers a modified interpretation of the meager Post-Kassite textual data.
Introduction:
In einer Gesellschaft, die nicht am Eingreifen göttlicher Mächte zweifelte, war der Eid eines der stärksten Instrumente zur Disziplinierung des Einzelnen. Ob als politischer Eid oder als Eid vor Gericht – beim Schwören legte der Mensch seine soziale und physische Existenz in die Waagschale des Rechts. Den Unterlegenen und Schuldigen treibt der Eid in die Enge: Unterwerfung unter die weltliche Strafe oder die Auslieferung an die strafende Gottheit. Einen Ausweg aus dem Dilemma sollte es nicht geben. Vorformulierungen der Eide vor Gericht sollten ausschließen, dass ein Schuldiger die Verschlagenheit an den Tag legte, einen nur dem Wortlaute nach wahren Eid zu schwören. Versuche, bis ins Innerste vorzudringen belegen die Verbote, Lippeneide zu schwören. Der Eid als Mittel der Wahrheitsfindung im juristischen Prozess ist bereits in den frühesten Gerichtsprotokollen bezeugt, die wir kennen. Im ersten Jahrtausend v. Chr. hatte er seine Bedeutung noch lange nicht verloren. Er kam überall dort zum Einsatz, wo andernfalls kein Richterspruch möglich war. Doch der sich entwickelnde rationale Geist wird sichtbar: Galt der Eid in altbabylonischer Zeit noch „als das wichtigste Instrument der Wahrheitsfindung, als das vollkommenste Beweismittel“, wird der Reinigungseid eines Verdächtigen nun als das schlechteste Mittel angesehen, einen Fall abzuschließen. Ich werde im Folgenden versuchen, die Regeln für die Verwendung des Eides im Beweisverfahren des spätbabylonischen Gerichtsprozesses herauszuarbeiten. Das bedeutet eine juristisch-funktionale Perspektive auf den Eid. Jenseits der Regeln des Beweisverfahrens hat jedoch auch die soziale Wirklichkeit die Rahmenbedingungen des Schwörens maßgeblich beeinflusst.
The thematic core area is the documentation concerning silver in cuneiform sources from first millennium BC Babylonia, and how this vast body of primary sources can be employed in order to shed light on aspects of the economy. It thus coincides with the honouree’s main area of research. The volume is rounded off by comparative material mainly from other periods in Mesopotamian history, rendering justice to his broad range of interest. The scope of the volume thus extends from the first written records on the use of silver in Uruk to the Neo-Babylonian Empire’s apogee in the sixth century BC and further to insights to be gained from comparisons with early modern economies.
The first part of this article investigates Eanna’s storage facilities, their administration and the flow of goods in the temple. It shows that the bīt karê was the most important storehouse to which barley and dates for the offerings were rolled in. It was a stock and possibly production center in front of the city walls of Uruk. The bīt karê contained various types of silos called karmu and kalakku. A cuneiform document published here elucidates the structure of the storage facilities in the bīt karê and their minimum size. The article furthermore proposes an interpretation of the two silo types karmu and kalakku, suggesting that the difference may either lie in the ground plan (round or rectangular) or in the way the silo was filled (from the front or the top).
The second part of this contribution investigates areas of the temple where production for the cult and the preparation of the cultic meal took place and re-evaluates the use of the so-called “Gartenhof” of Eanna and its spatial relation to the ziqqurrat court with the cellas.
This article revisits the the discussion of the Kassite gold and the Post-Kassite silver standards and offers a modified interpretation of the meager Post-Kassite textual data.
Introduction:
In einer Gesellschaft, die nicht am Eingreifen göttlicher Mächte zweifelte, war der Eid eines der stärksten Instrumente zur Disziplinierung des Einzelnen. Ob als politischer Eid oder als Eid vor Gericht – beim Schwören legte der Mensch seine soziale und physische Existenz in die Waagschale des Rechts. Den Unterlegenen und Schuldigen treibt der Eid in die Enge: Unterwerfung unter die weltliche Strafe oder die Auslieferung an die strafende Gottheit. Einen Ausweg aus dem Dilemma sollte es nicht geben. Vorformulierungen der Eide vor Gericht sollten ausschließen, dass ein Schuldiger die Verschlagenheit an den Tag legte, einen nur dem Wortlaute nach wahren Eid zu schwören. Versuche, bis ins Innerste vorzudringen belegen die Verbote, Lippeneide zu schwören. Der Eid als Mittel der Wahrheitsfindung im juristischen Prozess ist bereits in den frühesten Gerichtsprotokollen bezeugt, die wir kennen. Im ersten Jahrtausend v. Chr. hatte er seine Bedeutung noch lange nicht verloren. Er kam überall dort zum Einsatz, wo andernfalls kein Richterspruch möglich war. Doch der sich entwickelnde rationale Geist wird sichtbar: Galt der Eid in altbabylonischer Zeit noch „als das wichtigste Instrument der Wahrheitsfindung, als das vollkommenste Beweismittel“, wird der Reinigungseid eines Verdächtigen nun als das schlechteste Mittel angesehen, einen Fall abzuschließen. Ich werde im Folgenden versuchen, die Regeln für die Verwendung des Eides im Beweisverfahren des spätbabylonischen Gerichtsprozesses herauszuarbeiten. Das bedeutet eine juristisch-funktionale Perspektive auf den Eid. Jenseits der Regeln des Beweisverfahrens hat jedoch auch die soziale Wirklichkeit die Rahmenbedingungen des Schwörens maßgeblich beeinflusst.
This paper treats the attestations of the Persian loanword dātu in Babylonian texts and concludes that a dātu did not exclusively pertain to administrative orders or fiscal interests of the state. Dātus were real laws or edicts in the sense that they were binding for the society (Babylonia) as a whole. Known dātus often regulated the amount of indemnities and tariffs, both in the public sphere and in private litigation. They can therefore be interpreted as additions to and sophistications of the effective traditional Babylonian law which was generally respected by the Achaemenid kings. Occasionally the dātus encompassed new regulations, for example, a previously little attested 4-fold compensatory payment is mentioned several times. Furthermore, changing business practices, such as the increased use of cedable documents in the first millennium made new rules necessary. In detail dātus regulated:
- Public and royal tariffs (military service, administrative costs)
- Compensatory payments for slave labour (mandattu)
- Compensatory payments for theft and other compensations
- The treatment of cedeable documents.
Vorwort / Tabula Gratulatoria / Schriftenverzeichnis von Hans Neumann
Reinhard Achenbach: Leges Sacrae. Sacred Law in Ancient Greek and Biblical Tradition
Alfonso Archi:Guests at the Court of Ebla
Nikita Artemov: Ideology and Propaganda. Some Reflections on Two Problematic Terms
Barbara Böck: Zur Weitergabe und Verbreitung altmesopotamischen medizinischen Wissens. Die Verwendung von Alaun und Schmirgel in diachronischer Perspektive
Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum – Nele Ziegler: Untersuchungen zur Toponymie Nordmesopotamiens im zweiten Jahrtausend v. Chr. 2. Von Göttern und Menschen
Dominique Charpin: Dons ou ventes de terres par les rois à l’époque paléo-babylonienne
Manfried Dietrich: h-bry šmym „die Himmelsbeschauer“ in Jes. 47,13b. Zum babylonischen b-r-y „sehen, (be)schauen, (kritisch) überprüfen, verifizieren“ im Alten Testament
Reinhard Dittmann: Notes on Pig-tailed Women in the Glyptic of the Third Millennium B.C.
Betina Faist: Der abgewiesene Bewerber. Zur Eheschließung in der altbabylonischen Zeit
Gertrud and Walter Farber: The Cuneiform Tablets at Northwestern University Library in Evanston, Illinois
Helmut Freydank – Doris Prechel: Lexikalisches aus der mittelassyrischen Tempelverwaltung
Jean-Jacques Glassner: L’abdication de Šulgi
Peter Heine: Kochen in Mesopotamien. Ein kulturgeschichtlicher Versuch
Ludger Hiepel: Hubert Grimme im Babel-Bibel-Streit
Jens Høyrup: Was Babylonian Mathematics Algorithmic?
Bruno Jacobs: Ein Totenopfer für ein Mitglied der persischen Elite in Phrygien am Hellespont. Zu einem achämenidenzeitlichen Relief aus Daskyleion
Kristin Kleber: Katzen als Jagdhelfer in Mesopotamien
Julia Krul: Some Observations on Late Urukean Theophoric Names
Carlos Langa-Morales: Kleine Texte aus einer großen Sammlung
Lutz Martin: Der Tell Halaf im Spiegel neuer Feldforschungen
Joachim Marzahn: Die Linsen und die Finger. Untersuchungen zur Handhaltung des Tafelschülers beim Schreiben
Stefan M. Maul: Wie man sich eines Störenfrieds diskret entledigt. Ratschläge aus dem Alten Orient
Christin Möllenbeck: Zur Dienstmiete im altbabylonischen Sippar
Joachim Oelsner: Gedanken zu den Archiven und Bibliotheken aus dem hellenistischen Uruk
Eckart Otto: Keilschriftrechtlicher Hintergrund von Rechtssätzen im Buch Deuteronomium
David I. Owen: A Neo-Sumerian Contract from Du-Enlila? and Related Texts
Guido Pfeifer: Theorie und Praxis einer zeitgenössischen Rechtsgeschichte des Alten Orients
Daniel T. Potts: The epithet ‘sister’s son’ in ancient Elam. Aspects of the avunculate in cross-cultural perspective
Ellen Rehm: In Stein gemeißelt – In Gips gegossen. Die Kopien des Kodex Ḫammurapi und der Gudea-Statue B in Münster und Leipzig
Johannes Renger: How many people per hectare? Überlegungen zur Demografie im alluvialen Babylonien
Robert Rollinger: Sargon about Rusa – a mocking voice embedded in an Assyrian inscription. Some considerations on Sg 8, 403–404
Reettakaisa Sofia Salo: Groß-Udum und Klein-Udum (KTU3 1.14 III 4f.; III 30f.; IV 47f.; VI 11f.)
Hanspeter Schaudig: Zum Tempel „A“ in Assur. Zeugnis eines Urbizids
Theun-Mathias Schmidt: Der römische Sarkophag eines jüdischen Bäckers im Berliner Bode-Museum?
Marvin Schreiber: Astrologische Wettervorhersagen und Kometenbeobachtungen
Klaas R. Veenhof: The Struggle for the House of Dalaš in Kanesh
Konrad Volk: Drei Urkunden der Ur III-Zeit aus dem Museum Alte Kulturen der Universität Tübingen
Claus Wilcke: ṣibtum und melqētum. Zu Bezeichnungen konsumptiver Kredite in den altbabylonischen Edikten
Gernot Wilhelm: Ein Testament aus Tell Fray
Jakob Wöhrle: „Als die Götter Mensch waren“. Zum Beginn des Atramḫasīs-Epos
Norman Yoffee – Gojko Barjamovic: Old Assyrian Trade and Economic History