Review of D. Shehata, Annotierte Bibliographie zum altbabylonischen Atrahasīs-Mythos Inūma ilū awīlum, 2003.

159 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LX N° 1-2, januari-april 2003 the bad or the tension between the powers of good and light and the powers of evil and darkness (Annus, Parpola), and even the soteriological idea and the theme of a temple located at the navel of the earth discussed by M. Weinfeld, etc. It seems to me that to falsify the universal basis of these and other perceptions and to trace in the pertinent correspondences pertaining to these themes historical convergences is hardy work indeed. However, even if not all the observed correspondences can be construed as reflecting convergence through borrowing and thus the direct legacy of the great Sumerian-Babylonian civilization, their very existence is important in helping one penetrate the conceptual world of the ANE and the cultures it harbored. In that sense, the participants in this volume have done an excellent service by enriching us with some very interesting sources and materials, some unbeknown (at least to me) and unreachable to the common assyriologist, and by exposing to the benefit of the reader the intriguing correspondences between the 'external' and at times quite late sources and the internal Mesopotamian evidence. The study of these correspondences carries its clear scientific value, regardless of whether we construe them as reflecting convergence through borrowing or just universal human phenomena. References Malul, M., 1990, The Comparative Method in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Legal Studies, Kevelaer: Butzon & Bercker; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 227). —, 2002, Knowledge, Control and Sex. Studies in Biblical Thought, Culture, and Worldview, Tel Aviv-Jaffa: Archaeological Center Publication. Naroll, R., 1973, "Gallon's Problem", in: R. Naroll & R. Cohen (eds.), A Handbook of Method in Cultural Anthropology, New York & London, pp. 974-989. Silberstein, L.J. & Cohn, R. L. (eds.), 1994, The Other in Jewish Thought and History. Constructions of Jewish Culture and Identity, New York & London. Turner, V.W., 1986, The Anthropology of Performance, New York. University of Haifa, November 2002 * Meir MALUL # * SHEHATA, D. — Annotierte Bibliographic zum altbabylonischen Atrahasls-Mythos Inuma ilu awilum. (Gottinger Arbeitshefte zur Altorientalischen Literatur Heft 3). Seminar f. Keilschriftforschung, Gottingen, 2001. (24 cm, X, 201). ISBN 3-936297-00-2 The Babylonian composition inuma ilu awilum, known as Atra-hasis, or The Babylonian Story of the Flood, is perhaps the best preserved Akkadian myth from the Old-Babylonian period. The unsurpassed 1969 edition of the text by W.G. Lambert and A.R. Millard paved the way to this oeuvre not only for philologists and scholars in the Assyriological field, but also made it accessible for students of ancient society, history of religion and comparative literature. With its close textual contacts to Tablet XI of the epic of Gilgames and its echoes in the Biblical account of the Flood, Atra-hasis holds particular interest in the realm of Ancient Near Eastern studies, and the amount of scholarly literature citing and 160 analyzing this composition is very large. The book reviewed here is an important effort to pull together this bibliographical wealth, to list it according to the pertinent lines, and to present the different scholarly views regarding specific passages of the myth. After a short introduction (pp. 1-3), Shehata presents a detailed overview of the myth's contents (pp. 4-22). References to discussions of specific developments in the plot are given in footnotes. The main section of the book (pp. 23-165) is the annotated bibliography to each line of the myth. The structure of this section is simple and clear: the variants found in the relevant manuscripts are listed for each line, a reconstruction of the line follows, and the different proposed translations to the line are compared. Occasionally, a detailed discussion of the various opinions is appended. A bibliographical list of all references — more than 250 items — comes next (pp. 166-186), followed by a list of the known manuscripts of Atra-hasis (including Hittite and Sumerian versions), arranged by periods (pp. 192-198). The author wisely decided to follow the sigla of the different tablets in Lambert/Millard's edition. The volume ends with an index of authors cited (pp. 199-201). Inclusive as it may be, some studies touching directly on Atra-hasis were overlooked by the author. The following list of bibliographical items — in English, German or French only — can be added to Shehata's bibliography. (Items generously shared with the reviewer by Prof. M. Stol are marked M.S.) R. Albertz, "Das Motiv fiir die Sintflut im AtrahasisEpos", A. Lange et al. (eds.), Mythos im Alten Testament und seiner Umwelt: Festschrift fur Hans-Peter Mutter zum 65. Geburtstag (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentische Wissenschaft 278), Berlin, 1999, 3-17. (M. S.). B.F. Batto, "The Covenant of Peace: A Neglected Ancient Near Eastern Motif", Catholic Biblical Quarterly 49 (1987), 187-211. D. Bodi, The Book ofEzekiel and the Poem ofErra (OBO 104), Freiburg, 1991, 131-144 ("b. Huburu and rigmu in the AtrahasTs Epic"). (M.S.) E. Carter, "The Babylonian Story of the Flood: An Archaeological Interpretation", in L. Levine and T.C. Young, Jr. (eds.), Mountains and Lowlands; Essays in the Archaeology of Greater Mesopotamia (BibMes. 7), Malibu, 1977, 9-16. A. Cavigneaux, "Les mots qui lient ou comment 1'humanite ete sauvee", Studi Micenei ed Egeo-anatolici 31 (1993), 97-101. (On the Sumerian Story of the Flood.) M. Dietrich, "Die Totung einer Gottheit in der EriduBabylon-Mythologie", in: D.R. Daniels et al. (eds.), Ernten, was man sat: Festschrift fur Klaus Koch zu seinem 65. Geburtstag, Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1991, 49-73, esp. 61-66, ("3.2. Die Totung des Gottes Awtlu im Atrahasis-Mythos"). (M.S. See also B. Alster's article below). V.V. Emelianov, "The Calendar Date of the Flood in Cuneiform Texts", NABU 1999/43. T. Frymer-Kensky, "The Atrahasis Epic and its significance for our understanding of Genesis 1-9", The Biblical Archaeologist 40/4 (1977)447-154. (M.S.) A.R. George, "Notes on Two Extremes of Weather", RA 79 (1985), 69-71 (ad III iii: 13-14.) W. Heimpel, "Enki overseas", NABU 1996/49 (ad II iv:20.) 161 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE H. Hirsch, "Uber das Lachen der Gotter", G. van Driel et al. (eds.), Zikir Sumim: Assyriological Studies Presented to F.R. Kraus on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, Leiden, 1982, 110-120. M. Hutter, "Gesellscahftliche und religiose Aspekte im Atramhasis Mythos: Theologie im Dialog", Gesellschaftsrelevanz und Wissenschaftlichkeit der Theologie, Graz, 1985, 219ff. I.M. Kikawada, "The Double Creation of Mankind in Enki and Ninmah, Atrahasis 11-351, and Genesis 1-2", in: R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura (eds.), / Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood. Ancient Near Eastern, Literary, and Linguistic Approaches to Genesis 1-11, Winona Lake, 1994, 169-174. A.D. Kilmer, "More Word Play in Akkadian Poetic Texts", in: S.B. Noegel (ed.), Puns and Pundits: Word Play in The Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Literature, Bethesda, 2000, 89-101, esp. 97-99, ("III. Atrahasis Epic»). (M.S.) J. Klein, OLZ 89 (1994), 275 (ad VS 24, 95 — to II iii: 16; M.S.) J. Knoblauch, "Eine etymologische Fabel im Sintflutbericht bei Berossos", Glota 63 (1985), Iff. W.G. Lambert, "The Creation of Man in Sumero-Babylonian Myth (resume)", CRRAI 11, Leiden, 1964, 101-102. W.G. Lambert, "The Scribe of Atra-hasis Again", RA 77 (1983), 95 (ad III viii:27). W.G. Lambert, "The Flood in Sumerian, Babylonian and Biblical Sources", SMS Bull 5 (1983), 27-40. S.M. Maul, "Wer baute die babylonische Arche? Bin neues Fragment der mesopotamischen Sintfluterzahlung aus Assur", MDOG 131 (1999), 155-162 (ad III ii:9 ff.). A.R. Millard, "A New Babylonian "Genesis" Story", in: R.S. Hess and D.T. Tsumura (eds.), / Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood. Ancient Near Eastern, Literary, and Linguistic Approaches to Genesis 1-11, Winona Lake, 1994, 114-128. H.-P. Muller, "Das Motiv fur die Sintflut. Die hermeneutische Funktion des Mythos und seiner Analyse", Zeitschrift fur Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 97 (1985), 295316. B.S. Noegel, "Another Janus Parallelism in the Atrahasis Epic", ASJ 17 (1995), 342-344 (ad III viii:9-17). J. Prosecky, "Ana nqi la babil sipri ana situlti e tallik", fiulmu 4 (1993), 248-257. M.P. Streck, Die Bildersprache der akkadischen Epik (AOAT 264), Miinster, 1999. (passim). C.B.F. Walker, "Nur-Ajja, the Copyist of Atrahasis", RA 76 (1982), 95-96. (ad III viii:27). M. Weinfeld, '"Partition, Partition; Wall, Wall, Listen' — 'Leaking' the Divine Secret to Someone Behind the Curtain", AfO 44/45 (1997/1998), 222-225. The following studies appeared after the publication of the Annotierte Bibliographic (see Shehata's remark on p. 3): B. Alster, "ilu awtlum: we-e i-la, 'Gods: Men' versus 'Man: God'", in T. Abusch (ed.), Riches Hidden in Secret Places. Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Memory of Th. Jacobsen, Winona Lake, 2002, 35-40 (ad I i:l-2). C. Wilcke, "Weltuntergang als Anfang. Theologische, anthropologische, politisch-historische und asthetische Ebenen der Interpretation der Sintflutgeschichte im babylonischen Atram-hasis-Epos", in A. Jones (ed.), Weltende: Beitrdge zur Kultur- und Religionswissenschaft, Wiesbaden, 1999, 63-112. (correct the date of publication in p. 3). 162 All in all, Shehata's book compiles an extensive bibliography on of Atra-hasis and presents clearly the different scholarly opinions on key passages of the myth. It is well organized and easy to use. Students and scholars of Assyriology and neighboring fields will find much utility and value in Shehata's work, which facilitates the study of one of the core texts of Ancient Near Eastern literature. The Hebrew University Jerusalem, November 2002 * Nathan WASSERMAN # * RUSSELL, John Malcolm — The Writing on the Wall. Studies in the Architectural Context of Late Assyrian Palace Inscriptions. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, 1999. (25 cm, XII, 348). ISBN 0-931464-95-1. $ 52.50. Bilder und Texte sind Medien, die, obwohl sie sich wechselweise erhellen konnen, einer je spezifischen, eigenen Gesetzen gehorchenden »Grammatik« folgen. Treten sie zusammen auf, sieht sich ein Betrachter — bzw. Leser — mit Botschaften konfrontiert, deren Interpretation ihn auf besondere Weise herausfordert. Jedem der beiden Medien, Bildern wie Texten, eignet ein semantischer Mehrwert gegeniiber dem jeweils anderen, was Spannungen erzeugt und die koharente Deutung von Bild-Text-Konglomeraten erschwert. Die Hochkulturen des Altertums bieten solche Konglomerate in reicher Fiille. Naturlich ist es vor allem das alte Agypten, das mit seinen gewaltigen, von Bildern und Texen uberwucherten Tempelwanden zu vergleichenden Studien der beiden Medien einladt — wobei der ikonische Charakter der agyptischen Monumentalschrift die Komplexitat des Befundes noch verstarkt. Aber auch in Mesopotamien, und hier vor allem in den Stadten des neuassyrischen Reiches, findet sich Anschauungsmaterial fur die Frage nach dem Verhaltnis von Bilderwelten und Texten. Die enormen Reichtumer, die den assyrischen Herrschern seit der ersten Halfte des neunten Jahrhunderts in Gestalt von Beute und Tribut aus den von ihnen eroberten Territorien zuflossen, versetzten sie in^die Lage, in ihren Residenzstadten Kalhu (Nimrud), Dur-Sarrukln (Khorsabad) und Ninive gewaltige Konigsburgen zu errichten und diese auf hochst ambitionierte Weise auszuschmucken. Unter Riickgriff auf eigene Traditionen, aber auch auf solche, die sie in den von ihnen bezwungenen Landern im Siiden, Norden und Westen ihres Landes vorfanden, schufen sie sich Herrschaftssitze, in denen Bilder und Texte in oftmals verwirrender Fulle und in mannigfachen, von Palast zu Palast unterschiedlichen Kombinationen auftreten. Welche Entwicklung die sichtbar angebrachten Inschriften in den assyrischen Konigsresidenzen des imperialen Zeitalters nahmen und wie sie in das Dekorationsprogramm der einzelnen Palaste eingepaBt waren, dies ist das Thema des jiingsten Buches von John Malcolm Russell. Der Autor hat sich bereits mit fruheren Arbeiten1) als Experte fur die assyrische Palastarchitektur ausgewiesen. Mit dem nunmehr vorgelegten Band. ') »Bulls for the Palace and Order in the Empire: The Sculptural Program of Sennacherib's Court VI at Nineveh«, Art Bulletin 69 (1987), 520539; Sennacherib's »Palace without Rival« at Nineveh (1991); From Nineveh to New York (1997); The Final Sack of Nineveh (1998).