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Nuzi

Coordinates: 35°22′11.9″N 44°15′17.7″E / 35.369972°N 44.254917°E / 35.369972; 44.254917
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Nuzi
Yorghan Tepe
Nuzi is located in Iraq
Nuzi
Shown within Iraq
LocationKirkuk Governorate, Iraq
RegionMesopotamia
Coordinates35°22′11.9″N 44°15′17.7″E / 35.369972°N 44.254917°E / 35.369972; 44.254917
Typetell
Site notes
Excavation dates1925-1931
ArchaeologistsEdward Chiera, Robert Pfeiffer, Richard Starr

Nuzi (Hurrian Nuzi/Nuzu; Akkadian Gasur} at modern Yorghan Tepe (earlier Yorgan Tepa), Iraq was an ancient Mesopotamian city 12 kilometers southwest of the city of Arrapha (modern Kirkuk) and 70 kilometers southwest of Sātu Qala, located near the Tigris river. The site consists of one medium-sized multiperiod tell and two small single period mounds.[clarification needed]

History

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The site has about 15 occupational layers. The majority of excavation work at the site was on the Late Bronze Age levels with only some soundings to the older strata.[1]

Late Chalcolithic

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The earliest occupation date as far back as the late Uruk period.

Early Bronze

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Akkadian Period

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During the Akkadian Empire (c. 2334-2154 BC), the city was probably known as Gasur. There is some debate about whether the city name was Ga-surki or Ga-sagki.[2][3][4] It was a provincial seat of a governor known from a clay sealing reading: "Itbe-labba, govern[or] of Gasur".[5]

Sketch of the Nuzi map with French legends.

The most famous item found at this level is the Nuzi map, the oldest known map discovered. Although the majority of the tablet is preserved, it is unknown exactly what the Nuzi map shows. The Nuzi map is actually one of the so-called Gasur texts, and predates destruction by fire of the city at this end of the Early Bronze Age.[2] The cache of economic and business documents among which the map was found date to the Old Akkadian period (ca. 2360–2180 BC).[6] Gasur was a thriving commercial center, and the texts reveal a diverse business community with far-reaching commercial activities. It is possible that Ebla was a trading partner, and that the tablet, rather than a record of land-holdings, might indeed be a road map.[6] The tablet, which is approximately 6 × 6.5 cm., is inscribed only on the obverse. It shows the city of Maskan-dur-ebla in the lower left corner, as well as a canal/river and two mountain ranges.[6]

Ur III Period

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In the Ur III Period, the region came under the control of Ur III. Shulgi and Amar-Sin destroyed Urbilum (Erbil) further north.

Late Bronze

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Mitanni Period

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In the middle of the second millennium the Hurrians gained control of the town and renamed it Nuzi. The history of the site during the intervening period is unclear, though the presence of a few cuneiform tablets from Assyria indicates that trade with nearby Assur was taking place.

After the fall of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni Nuzi went into gradual decline. Note that while the Hurrian period is well known from full excavation of those strata, the earlier history is not as reliable because of less substantive digging.[7] The history of Nuzi is closely interrelated with that of the nearby towns of Eshnunna and Khafajah.

Nuzi, a provincial town in the 14th century BC

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The best-known period in the history of Yorghan Tepe is by far one of the city of Nuzi in the 15th-14th centuries BC. At this time the central complex contained two temples (to Šawuška/Ištar and Teššub) and a palace.[8] The tablets of this period indicate that Nuzi was a small provincial town of northern Mesopotamia at this time in an area populated mostly by Hurrians. Despite the presence of two temples most votive activity at Nuzi in this period is that of household religions with elements of ancestor worship where the eldest son inherits the family cult statue.[9] Usually the tablets of Yorghan Tepe, Kirkuk, and Tell al-Faḫḫar are grouped together under banner of Nuzi tablets.[10] Only 0.18% of tablets contained a date formula of any kind, generally local. They can, however be chronologically ordered by internal clues such as the names of officials and prosopographical data.[11][12]

Administration

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Nuzi was a provincial town of Arrapha. It was administered by a governor (šaknu) from the palace. The tripartite palace, situated in the center of the mound, had many rooms arranged around a central courtyard. The functions of some of those rooms have been identified: reception areas, apartments, offices, kitchens, stores. The walls were painted, as was seen in fragments unearthed in the ruins of the building.[13]

Archives that have been exhumed tell us about the royal family, as well as the organization of the internal administration of the palace and its dependencies, and the payments various workers received. Junior officers of the royal administration had such titles as sukkallu (often translated as "vizier", the second governor), "district manager" (halṣuhlu), and "mayor" (hazannu). Justice was rendered by these officers, but also by judges (dayānu) installed in the districts.

Free subjects of the state were liable to a conscription, the Ilku, which consisted of a requirement to perform various types of military and civilian services, such as working the land.

Archaeology

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Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium BC

While tablets from Yorghan Tepe began appearing back as far as 1896, the first serious archaeological efforts began in 1925 after Gertrude Bell noticed tablets appearing in the markets of Baghdad. The dig was mainly worked by Edward Chiera, Robert Pfeiffer, and Richard Starr under the auspices of the Iraq Museum and the Baghdad School of the American Schools of Oriental Research and later the Harvard University and Fogg Art Museum.[14][15][16][17][18] [19][20][21][22] Excavations continued through 1931 with the site showing 15 occupation levels. The hundreds of tablets and other finds recovered were published in a series of volumes[23][24] with ongoing publications.[25]

To date, around 5,000 tablets are known, mostly held at the Oriental Institute, the Harvard Semitic Museum and the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. Many are routine legal and business documents with about one quarter concerning the business transactions of a single family.[26] The vast majority of finds come from the Hurrian period during the second millennium BC with the remainder dating back to the town's founding during the Akkadian Empire. A discovered sealing read "Saustatar, son of Parsatatar, king of Mitani", being the first, Baratarna, and second, Shaushtatar, rulers of the Mitanni Empire.[27][28] An archive contemporary with the Hurrian archive at Nuzi has been excavated from the "Green Palace" at the site of Tell al-Fakhar, 35 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of Nuzi.[29]

The temple area had seven occupation levels, Temple G (Gasur), Temple F (Gasur/Nuzi transition), and Temples A-E (Nuzi). Temple A was contemporary with the Stratum II destruction level.[15] In the temple area a number of bronze objects were found, including a statue carved in the round, 9 sickles, 2 sun-discs, 2 crescents, 6 pins, 1 bell, 2 bracelets, and hundreds of small beads. One sickle was inscribed with "An. Ud. Za." and the sun-discs were 12 centimeters in diameter with "a circular depression(about 4 cm. across) surrounded by a circle of raised dots; around this center is a six-pointed star".[1]

Nuzi ware

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In 1948, archaeologist Max Mallowan called attention to the unusual pottery he found at Nuzi, associated with the Mitanni period. This became known as the Nuzi ware. Subsequently, this highly artistic pottery was identified all over in the Upper Mesopotamia.[30]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Pfeiffer, Robert H., "The Excavations at Nuzi: Preliminary Report of the Fourth Campaign", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 42, pp. 1–7, 1931
  2. ^ a b Meek, Theophile James, "Some Gleanings from the Last Excavations at Nuzi", The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 13, pp. 1–12, 1931
  3. ^ Foster, B.R., "Administration of State Land at Sargonic Gasur", OrAn 21, pp. 39-48, 1982
  4. ^ B. R. Foster, "Land and Produce at Sargonic Gasur", in (ed.) D. L Owen/M. Morri-son, SCCNH 2, pp. 89-107, 1987
  5. ^ Lewy, Julius, "Notes on Pre-Ḫurrian Texts from Nuzi", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 450–61, 1938
  6. ^ a b c Freedman, Nadezhda (1977). "The Nuzi Ebla". The Biblical Archaeologist. 40 (1): 32–33. doi:10.2307/3209575. ISSN 0006-0895. JSTOR 3209575. S2CID 186746259.
  7. ^ Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie 9. 9 (in German). Berlin: De Gruyter. 2001. ISBN 978-3-11-017296-6. OCLC 614578502.
  8. ^ [1]Simona Bracci, "Classification of Knowledge, an Archaeological Approach: The Case of Nuz", in Proceedings of the 51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Held at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, July 18–22, 2005 Robert D. Biggs, Jennie Myers, and Martha T. Roth, eds., Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 62, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, pp. 371-381, 2008 ISBN 978-1-885923-54-7
  9. ^ van der Toorn, Karel, "Gods and Ancestors in Emar and Nuzi", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie , vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 38-59, 1994
  10. ^ Scafa, Paola Negri, "Continuity and Discontinuity in a Nuzi Scribal Family", Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique International at Rome, 4-8 July 2011, edited by Alfonso Archi, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 345-354, 2015
  11. ^ [2]Paola Negri Scafa, "The Scribes of Nuzi: Date Formulae and Their Use in the Nuzi Corpus", in Proceedings of the 51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Held at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, July 18–22, 2005 Robert D. Biggs, Jennie Myers, and Martha T. Roth, eds., Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 62, Chicago: The Oriental Institute,, pp. 119-126, 2008 ISBN 978-1-885923-54-7
  12. ^ Scafa, P. Negri, "“Internal” and “External” Evidence for a Reconstruction of Nuzi Chronology", Time and History in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 56th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Barcelona, July 26th-30th, 2010, edited by Lluis Feliu, J. Llop, A. Millet Albà and Joaquin Sanmartín, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 253-264, 2013
  13. ^ Kertai, David, "Organising the Interaction Between People: a New Look at the Elite Houses of Nuzi", Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Würzburg 20–25 Jul, edited by Gernot Wilhelm, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 519-530, 2012
  14. ^ Lyon, David G. (1928-04-01). "The Joint Expedition of Harvard University and the Baghdad School at Yargon Tepa near Kirkuk". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 30 (30): 1–6. doi:10.2307/1354846. ISSN 0003-097X. JSTOR 1354846. S2CID 163178475.
  15. ^ a b [3] Richard F. S. Starr, "Nuzi: report on the excavation at Yorgan Tepa near Kirkuk, Iraq, conducted by Harvard university in conjunction with the American Schools of Oriental Research and the University museum of Philadelphia, 1927-1931", v. 1: text, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1939
  16. ^ Richard F. S. Starr, "Nuzi: Report on the Excavation at Yorgan Tepa near Kirkuk, Iraq, Conducted by Harvard University in Conjunction with the American Schools of Oriental Research and the University museum of Philadelphia 1927-1931, Volume 2: Plates and Plans", Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1937
  17. ^ [4] Edward Chiera, "Excavations at Nuzi: Vol. I. Texts of varied content, selected and copied", Harvard University Press, 1929
  18. ^ [5]Robert H. Pfeiffer, "Excavations at Nuzi: Volume II, The Archives of Shilwateshub Son of the King", Harvard University Press, 1932
  19. ^ [6]T.J. Meek, "Excavations at Nuzi III: Old Akkadian, Sumerian, and Cappadocian Texts from Nuzi", Harvard University Press, 1935
  20. ^ [7]Robert H. Pfeiffer and Ernest R. Lacheman, "Excavations at Nuzi: Volume IV Miscellaneous Texts From Nuzi Part I", Harvard University Press, 1942
  21. ^ E.R. Lacheman, "Excavations at Nuzi V: Miscellaneous Texts from Nuzi, Part 2: The Palace and Temple Archives", Harvard University Press, 1950
  22. ^ E.R. Lacheman, "Excavations at Nuzi VI: The Administrative Archives", Harvard University Press, 1955
  23. ^ [8]E.R. Lacheman, "Excavations at Nuzi VII: Economic and Social Documents", Harvard University Press, 1958
  24. ^ [9]Ernest R. Lacheman," Excavations at Nuzi Volume VIII: Family Law Documents", Harvard University Press, 1962
  25. ^ Maidman, M. P. (2003). Joint expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi VIII : the remaining major texts in the Oriental Institute of the U. of Chicago. David I. Owen, Gernot Wilhelm, Matḥaf al-ʻIrāqī., University of Chicago. Oriental Institute. Bethesda, MD: CDL Press. ISBN 1-883053-80-3. OCLC 51898595.
  26. ^ Maidman, Maynard Paul (1976). "The Teḫip-tilla Family of Nuzi: A Genealogical Reconstruction". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 28 (3): 127–155. doi:10.2307/1359758. ISSN 0022-0256. JSTOR 1359758. S2CID 163837436.
  27. ^ Maidman, M., "Appendix: Royal Inscriptions from Nuzi", Assyrian Rulers of the Third and Second Millenia BC (To 1115 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 331-336, 1987
  28. ^ Stein, Diana L., "A Reappraisal of the "Saustatar Letter" from Nuzi", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 36-60, 1989
  29. ^ al-Khalesi, Y.M. (1970). "Tell al-Fakhar. Report on the First Season's Excavations". Sumer. 26: 109–126. ISSN 0081-9271.
  30. ^ [10]Abdullah Bakr Othman, "The Distribution of the Nuzi ware in Northern Iraq and Syria", Polytechnic Journal, vol.8 no. 2, pp: 347-371, May 2018

Further reading

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  • [11]Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 1 : Inheritance Texts", 1927
  • [12]Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 2 : Declarations in court", 1930
  • [13]Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 3 : Exchange and security documents", 1931
  • Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 4 : Proceedings in court", 1934
  • Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 5 : Mixed Texts", 1934
  • Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 6 : Miscellaneous texts", 1939
  • G. R. Driver and J. Miles, "Ordeal by Oath at Nuzi, Iraq", vol. 7, pp. 132, 1940
  • [14] Ignace J. Gelb et al., "Nuzi Personal Names", Oriental Institute Publications 57, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1943
  • Ernest R. Lacheman and Maynard P. Maidman,Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 3 – Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi VII – Miscellaneous Texts, 1989, ISBN 978-0-931464-45-4
  • Ernest R. Lacheman et al., Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 4 – The Eastern Archives of Nuzi and Excavations at Nuzi 9/2, Eisenbrauns, 1993, ISBN 0-931464-64-1
  • Brigitte Lion and Diana L. Stein, Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 11 – The Pula-Hali Family Archives, CDL Press, 2001, ISBN 1-883053-56-0
  • Löhnert, Anne, "Aspects of Royal Authority and Local Competence: A Perspective from Nuzi", Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique International at Rome, 4-8 July 2011, edited by Alfonso Archi, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 335-344, 2015
  • Maidman, M. P., "Two Hundred Nuzi Texts from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Part I", SCCNH 6, Bethesda: CDL Press, 1994
  • Maynard P. Maidman, Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 6 – Two Hundred Nuzi Texts from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, CDL Press, 1994, ISBN 978-1-883053-05-5
  • Martha A. Morrison and David I. Owen, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 1 – In Honor of Ernest R. Lacheman on His Seventy-fifth Birthday, April 29, 1981", 1981, ISBN 978-0-931464-08-9
  • David I. Owen and Ernest R. Lacheman, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 5 – General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 9/3", Eisenbrauns, 1995, ISBN 0-931464-67-6
  • David I. Owen and Martha A. Morrison, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 2 – General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 9/1", 1987, ISBN 978-0-931464-37-9
  • David I. Owen and Gernot Wilhelm, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 7 – Edith Porada Memorial Volume", CDL Press, 1995, ISBN 1-883053-07-2
  • David I. Owen and Gernot Wilhelm, Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 8 – Richard F.S. Starr Memorial Volume, CDL Press, 1997, ISBN 1-883053-10-2
  • David I. Owen and Gernot Wilhelm, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 9 – General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi", CDL Press, 1998, ISBN 1-883053-26-9
  • David I. Owen and Gernot Wilhelm, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 10 – Nuzi at seventy-five", Bethesda, Md. : CDL Press, 1999, ISBN 9781883053505
  • J. Paradise, "A Daughter and Her Father's Property at Nuzi", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 32, pp. 189–207, 1980
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