Corruption and Violence in Early Dynastic Mari (As Seen from Ebla): A New Attempt at ARET 13, 15.

• Author: Arkhipov, I.

The Ebla tablet TM.75.G.2268 was published by Pelio Fronzaroli in 2003 as ARET 13, 15 (with handcopy by Amalia Catagnoti), among other "testi di cancelleria." (1) In his new edition, Walther Sallaberger (2008) made significant progress in the interpretation of the text (as described below). Finally, Piotr Steinkeller (2021: 190-92) published a new translation of 11. obv. V 11-VII 11. (2) We believe, however, that there is still room for a better understanding of the document.

The text is concerned with Ebla's relations with Mari, its principal rival in eastern Syria. According to our interpretation, the document describes seven distinct episodes, (3) which have in common that Eblaites suffer from crimes or abuses on the part of the Mariotes, while the authorities of Mari either fail to act or even abet the offense. Accordingly, we have divided the edition into seven sections, A to G.

The text dates to the period of Yibbi-zikir, the last vizier of Early Dynastic Ebla. In line with the historical reconstruction proposed by Alfonso Archi and Maria Giovanna Biga (2003) and elaborated by Archi in the following years, (4) Mari and Ebla enjoyed peaceful relations during the first thirteen years of Yibbi-zikir's service, but in the fourteenth year of Yibbi-zikir, Ebla began preparing for a war that culminated in Ebla's expedition against Mari the next year. According to Sallaberger (2008: 95, 108), our document was written briefly before this campaign, as a list of past offenses that served as a casus belli. It is possible as well that the text was composed shortly after the war as an instrument of leverage in peace negotiations. (5) To be sure, the episodes described might have happened months or even years before the document was drawn up. The tablet was canceled by cross-out marks on both sides, showing that it had served the purpose for which it was intended. (6)

EDITION

For each episode, we first provide a summary. In line with common practice in Ebla studies, the text is divided into paragraphs corresponding to syntagms, as we reconstruct them. For Sumerograms, we mostly follow the established conventions of Eblaite studies rather than those of cutting-edge Sumerology.

Heading: [section]1 obv. I1 DUB 2 u-su-ri 3 ma-r[[i.sup.ki]]

Tablet about precedents concerning Mari.

Episode A: Since this section is only partially preserved, its exact meaning is difficult to pin down. The general character of the document suggests that it has to do with extortions that Eblaite merchants suffered at the hands of Mariotes during their commercial journeys.

[section]2

4 DAM.G[AR] 5 ib-la[ki] 6 mi-n[u] 7 ma-r[i.sup.ki] g si-in 9 ib-l[a.sup.ki]10 DU.DU 11 U.MA 12 si-in 13 KI[S.sup.ki]

14 DU.DU 15 'mp-nu 16 ma-rfo II j wa 2 SU BA4.TI... c. 10 lines broken

(When) an Eblaite merchant went from Mari to Ebla, or went to Kis from Mari,... took...

[section]3

12 [wa] 13 E u DAM.GAR ,5 ib-ld" ,6 al6 I7 IGIkl i8 1 NINDA.GUR4 ,9 I.NA.SUM

And (when) an Eblaite merchant left via ?Ayn, he gave (them) one loaf.

[section]4

HI, wa 2 E 3 al6 4sar-ra-bu s LU KURkl 6 al6 7 ma-na-i 8 NA.SEn NA.SEn-SU 9 NINDA.GUR4 [NINDA.GUR4] ,0 I.NA.SUM 11 10 NA.SE11SU ,2 10 NINDA.GUR4 [NINDA.GUR4] ,3 I.NA.SUM 14 sar-ra-bu

But (when) he left via Sarrab of the steppe, he gave loaves according to the number of his men: (for) ten men of his he gave ten loaves (in/to) Sarrab.

Episode B: An Eblaite merchant by the name of Puzri sent his representative to Mari with a shipment of oil. Upon his arrival, the representative asked a Mariote to guard the oil, but the latter took possession of two jars. Puzri complained to a Mariote official, but the latter took no action.

[section]5

15 PUZUR4-ri 16 DAM.GAR 17 1 AD.GI4 18 HI.MU.DU IV 1 si-in 2 ma-riki

Puzri, a merchant, sent a representative to Mari.

[section]6

3 wa 4 MU.TI 5 GU.ZI GU.ZI 6 LGIS 7 si-in 8 ZA!.SU , KIBgunu.NUN.A 10 wa 11 A.AM.AM 12 A 13 ZAX(LAK 384) GA U

And he brought some jars with oil to the bank of the Euphrates. And the A.AM-personnel... water.

[section]7

14 wa 15 GISGAL 16 1 LU 17 EN.NUN.AK 18 i.GlS 19 wa 20 SU.BA4.TI 21 2 GU.ZI I.GIS V 1 a- 'd-wa 2 30 SILA i.GlS

And he appointed a man to guard the oil, but he (the guardian) took two jars of oil (for himself), which amounted to thirty liters of oil.

[section]8

3wa4DU11.GA 5 PUZUR4-ri 6 si-in 7ar-rum swa9 is-[da]-bu 10ar-rum

Puzri told Arrum, but Arrum kept silent.

Episode C: An Eblaite merchant by the name of Pilsa-il sent his representative to Mari with a shipment of oil. When the representative moored on the Euphrates at night, a thief came from Mari on a boat and tried to steal the oil, but was seized by the guard. Other Mariotes came to the thief's rescue and beat the guard. A Mariote official was involved in the affair.

[section]9

11 bil-za-i 12 1 AD.GI4 13 HI.MU.DU 14 wa 15 ir-gu-zu 16 1 AD.GI417 al6 zA.Su ,8 KIBgunu.NUN.A

Pilsa-il sent a representative (to Mari) and the representative moored (the boat) on the bank

of the Euphrates.

[section]10

19 wa 20 HI.MU.DU VI , NU.ZUH 2 ma-rfi 3 MA.GURg 4 in GI6.AN

Then a Mariote thief brought a boat at night.

[section]11

5 NU.ZUH 6 i.GlS 7was MG.Dt 9 I.GlS

He stole (some) oil and spilled (some) oil.

[section]12

l0 wa n SU.DUg-S(7 ,2 EN.NUN.AK 13 i.GIS 14 NU.ZUH 15 wa 16 A.DAH 17 ma-riki w in 16 GI6.AN 20

wa VII , SU.RA 2 EN.NUN.AK 3 I.GIS

And the guardian of the oil seized him, the thief, but Mariotes came to the rescue at night

and beat the guardian of the oil.

[section]13

4 wa 5DU11.GA 6 bil-za-i 7 si-in 8 GAES8 ga9 wa10 DUU.GA 11 GAE88ga,2 su-BAD ,3 IRn ,4LUGAL And Pilsa-il told a tradesman, and the tradesman said: "(It was) su-Ba?al, a servant of the king (of Mari)."

Episode D: An Eblaite merchant by the name of Yisirum was selling wool at a market in Mari. The market overseer confiscated the wool with the claim that Yisirum was not using the "king's weight." Yisirum had to redeem the seized wool.

[section]14

15 i-si-lum 16 DAM.GAR n SIK1 18 NiG.SA10 19 in 20 SA 2i [URUki] Yisirum, a merchant, was selling wool in the city (of Mari).

[section]15

VIII 1 wa 2 en-ar-SU 3 as-ba-i 4 UGULA LAM7:KI 5 wa 6 SU.DU8 7 SIKI

And Yasba-il, the market overseer, assailed him and took away the wool.

[section]16

8 wa 9 AL6.GAL 10 SIKI n 10 U4 ,2 in E 13 as-ba-i

And the wool had remained in Yasba-il's house for ten days.

[section]17

14 wa 15 I.NA.SUM 16 i-si-lum 17 2 BABBAR:KU

And YiSirum gave two shekels of silver...

[section]18

rev. I1 [...] 2 AL.BU15 3 SIKI 4 mi-ne-is a 5 al6 6NA4 7 LUGAL 8 la das-gul

... snatched the wool: "Why did you not weigh with the king's weights?"

Episode E: When an Eblaite by the name of Mina-il stayed in a house in Mari, his two donkeys were stolen. The king of Man was informed but answered in a mocking manner.

[section]19

9 2 IGI.NITA 10 mi-na-i 11 in E 12 NU.ZUH

Two donkeys of Mina-il were stolen in a house.

[section]20

13wa 14DU11.GA 15 si-in 16 LUGAL

And he told the king.

[section]21

17 wa 18 DU11.GA II 1, LUGAL 2 SA.DU11.GA-na-mi 3 EN 4 ib-lcfi 5 /M-SA.DUH.GA 6ap72 IGI.NITA

8 wa 9 2 BAR.AN 10 in E ,, t.GUB ,2 wa 13 ZAH 14 2 IGI.NITA 15 ap 16 2 BAR.AN ,7 I.GUB

And the king said: "The lord of Ebla should take care of his own concerns! Moreover, there were two donkeys and two mules in the house, and (only) the two donkeys went missing, but the two mules are still there!"

Episode F: Mina-il was buying textiles at a market in Mari. On the complaint that Mina-il was using his own scales instead of the "king's weight," the son of the market overseer took away his scales. Then the marker overseer himself, in collusion with the seller, made Mina-il pay a higher price by means of the "king's weight."

[section]22

18 mi-na-i ,9 BABBAR:KU III, wa-zi-in 2 NIG.SA10 TUG.TUG

Mina-il was weighing out silver as payment for textiles.

[section]23

3 I.TI-wa 4 PES-lum 5 DUMU.NITA 6 UGULA LAM7:KJ 7 wa g TAR.TAR 9 <>-SU

Hamassirum, the son of the market overseer, came and broke up his box.

[section]24

10 wa 11 if-ra-tum-SU 12 SU.BA4.TI 13 mi-ne-is a u al6 15 NA4 16 LUGAL 17 la das-gul IV 1 DAM.GAR 2 ib-ldki 3 TUG.TUG 4 NIG.SA10 s ds-ti 6 ma-riki 7was u9-za-an 9 BABBAR:KU 10 ib-laki

11 ah 12 ir-ra-ti-SU

And he took his scales (saying): "Why did you not weigh with the king's weights? An Eblaite merchant is buying textiles from a Mariote, and the Eblaite is weighing silver on his own scales!"

[section]25

I3 I.TI-ma 14 UGULA LAM7:KI 15 mi-ne-is 16 al6 17 ir-ra-ti-ga 18 du-za-an 19 la in-ne V 1 al6 2 NA4 3 LUGAL 4 zi-in

(Then) the market overseer (himself) came (saying): "Why are you weighing on your own scales? No way! Weigh with the king's weight!"

[section]26

5 wa 6 a-tir5-ma 7 BABBAR:KU g ds-ti 9 ib-laki l0 wa u u9-za-an u al6 NA4 ,3 LUGAL u wa is u9-ga-bad 16 BABBAR:KU

And he grabbed the silver from the Eblaite, would weigh with the king's weight and make people pay more silver.

[section]27

17 wa 18 SU.BA4.TI ,9 BABBAR:KU 20 ds-ti n BAD TUG.TUG

Then he received silver from the owner of the textiles.

Episode G: An Eblaite official by the name of Man-hayyu came to Tuttul to visit the temple of Dagan. A son of the king of Mari was visiting the temple at the same time. After Manhayyu made his sacrifice and went out of the temple, the Mariotes beat and robbed him. Man-hayyu complained to a high official of Tuttul and asked him to inform the vizier of Ebla, but the official hit him and mockingly advised him to complain to the king of Ebla himself.

[section]28

22 ma-an- 'd-u 23 SA.ZAX(LAK 384)ki 24 si-in 25 du-du-luki VI , DU.DU 2 NIDBA 3 in U4

4 DUMU.NITA 5 LUGAL 6 NIDBA 7 E dBAD du-du-luki

Man-hayyu, of the Palace (of Ebla), went to Tuttul to make a sacrifice at the moment when a son of the king (of Mari) was making sacrifice in the temple of the Lord of Tuttul.

[section]29

g wa 9 MU.DU 10 NIG.SIKIL-SU 11 wa ,2 AL6.TUS ,3 in u GA1" 15 DINGIR 16 a-ti-ma 17 KA 18 DINGIR 19 GAL.TAKAx

And he brought his purification gift, and stayed in the god's hall until the god's door opened. [section]30

20 wa 2, GAL.TAKAx-ma...