Letters to the King of Mari: A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes, and Commentary.

• Author: Fleming, Daniel E.
• Position: Letters to the King of Mari: A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes, and Commentary, Mesopotamian Civilizations, vol. 12 - Book Review

Letters to the King of Mari: A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes, and Commentary. By WOLFGANG HEIMPEL. Mesopotamian Civilizations, vol. 12. Winona Lake, Ind.: EISENBRAUNS, 2003. Pp. xvv + 657, maps. $69.50.

The archive of 3000-4000 letters found in the remains of ancient Mari has no counterpart in the ancient world for its combination of size and scope, whether the latter is measured by geography or by range of interest. Although the tablets were found in the 1930s, along with thousands of administrative documents and other odds and ends, their publication has spanned generations and still continues. The current generation has been particularly productive, and the flood of new publications and interpretation, along with the promise (or threat) of more to come, seem to have left Assyriologists with the sense that their energies could be spent better elsewhere. Shaped especially by the analysis of Jean-Marie Durand and Dominique Charpin, the work of the Paris-based Mari scholars has been skilled and insightful. Over the past twenty-five years, however, there has been too little independent research to complement and challenge the results of Durand and company. If the Mari archives are to have the larger impact that their editors have championed for so long, such fresh outside study is essential.

In light of this need, Wolfgang Heimpel's new Letters to the King of Mari is welcome by its very appearance. Heimpel is an established Sumerologist who has now turned his attention to Mari, attracted by the density of its historical documentation. The book he has produced is long and rich, one substantial step toward introducing novel perspectives into the discussion of the Mari archives. It has the feel of a project that grew by accretion, and the reader should expect neither a systematic introduction to Mari or to the reign of its last king, nor a body of translations organized around a central idea. To benefit most from the effort and intelligence of Heimpel's work, it is best to accept the flow of the author's preoccupations and follow where they lead. The volume will not make its mark by any major new conception of the Mari landscape, but rather as a detailed, thoughtful reference for study of Mari history and several hundred of its most interesting letters.

Given the dominance of recent Paris-based research, the first question for such a book is how successfully it manages to cut a new path through the jungle of published material. Does Heimpel find an independent voice, and does he offer a persuasive critique of prior ideas? Insofar as he is independent, how does the French research hold up to his scrutiny? Heimpel does indeed strike out on his own, and his interpretations are based on careful examination of the primary evidence. Where he disagrees with the Mari editors, the results are mixed, but the exchange is worth the effort. I am most struck, however, by the considerable common ground Heimpel shares with Durand and Charpin. The differences will no doubt be taken up in future French comment, but Heimpel accepts many key elements of the Paris team's interpretation. In particular, he affirms the breakthrough identification of Zimri-Lim as king of the Binu Sim'al tribal group (15), and he understands the word Hana to have a range of meaning similar to that proposed by...