Description
By (author) MacGinnis John
Short /annotation
A detailed study of Cuneiform sources, including administrative texts and inscriptions spanning nearly two millennia, relating to the city of Erbil in Iraq, placed in their archaeological and historical contexts.
The city of Erbil, which now claims to be one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, lies on the rich alluvial plains at the foot of the piedmont of the Zagros mountains in a strategic position which made it a natural gateway between Iran and Mesopotamia. Within the context of ancient Mesopotamian civilisation there can be no doubt that it will have been one of the most important urban centres but archaeological research of the remains has been limited. Three recent archaeological assessments of the mound have sought to evaluate the significance of the remains within their historical context. This work is dedicated to the cuneiform sources of information.There are a number of references to Erbil in Eblaite and Sumerian administrative texts of Akkadian (2334 – 2193 BC) and Ur III (2120 – 2004 BC) date and hundreds of references in Akkadian texts from the 2nd and 1st millennia; only two of which may actually come from Erbil. There are a handful of references in unpublished Elamite texts from Persepolis. In Old Persian the city only appears in the corresponding version of the inscription at Behistun belonging to the Achaemenid period (539-330 BC). There are no references in Hittite, Hurrian, Urartian or Ugaritic sources. The sources include a wide variety of administrative texts, royal and other inscriptions, letters, votives and lexical texts.
Table of contents
ForewordPreface AbbreviationsIntroductionCuneiform writingChronologyOverview of the sourcesUruk Period (4000-3000 BC)Early Dynastic Period (3000-2334 BC)Akkadian Period (2334-2193 BC)Gutian Period (2193-2120 BC)Ur III (2120-2004 BC)Old Assyrian/Old Babylonian (2004-1595 BC) Middle Assyrian (1595-1000 BC) Neo-Assyrian (1000-612 BC)Neo-Babylonian Empire (612-539 BC) Achaemenid (539-330 BC)Hellenistic/Seleucid (330-126 BC)Parthian (126 BC- 224 AD)The name of ErbilHistorical AnalysisErbil in the Gutian PeriodErbil in the Ur III PeriodErbil in the early second millenniumErbil in the Middle Assyrian PeriodErbil in the Neo-Assyrian periodErbil in the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid Periods Summary: from Ebla to AlexanderIštar of ArbailEgašankalammaMilkiaConclusionThe SourcesThird Millennium SourcesEbla TextsGutian SourcesErridu-PizirUr III SourcesYear namesVotive InscriptionAdministrative Texts Early Second Millennium SourcesMiddle Assyrian SourcesHistorical sourcesVotive inscriptionAdministrative textsNeo-Assyrian SourcesHistorical TextsEpigraphs prepared for reliefsGrants/edictsVotive InscriptionAdministrative textsOracular Pronouncements and DivinationHymns and Ritual textsIštar of ArbailNeo-Babylonian and Achaemenid SourcesHistorical textsAdministrative textsAstronomical DiaryBibliography
Review quote
For the future of ancient Near Eastern studies, there needs to be more publications like this one with the potential to reach a wide range of reader well beyond the traditional scientific archaeological community.
Biographical note
John MacGinnis is an independent post-doctoral researcher at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He specialises in the study of Neo-Babylonian and Assyrian archaeology and written sources, particularly cuneiform.
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First detailed consideration of cuniform sources for the city of Erbil
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The main source of information on this exceptional site, mainly unexcavated due to the region”s geopolitics
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Examines the written sources in their historical and archaeological context
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