Texts from the Late Old Babylonian Period.

• Author: Graef, Katrien
• Position: Book review

Texts from the Late Old Babylonian Period. By seth F. C. Richardson. The Journal of Cuneiform Studies Supplemental Series, vol. 2. Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research, 2010. Pp. ix + 221.

The present volume is no doubt a welcome addition to the corpus of published late old Babylonian (LOB) documents. However, the organization of the publication is unorthodox, in that it is neither a volume of copies with an index nor a volume of transliterations with comments. It is a bit of both and this takes some getting used to. In addition, the selection criteria are also unorthodox. As stated by the author, he has assembled LOB texts which are "unusual, unexpected, or exceptional" although some well-known text types "found their way in" (p. vii). He further explains that "the documents ... principally relate to historical topics and period archives." which are analyzed "in more detail than is customary for a work like this" (p. vii). Finally he states that most texts come from Sippar, and a few from Babylon. In other words, the reader can expect to find a number of diverse ideas and comments based on a number of diverse texts and theories. It is not the aim of the author to present a coherent and wide view of the LOB period; we are rather taken on a walk in the rich textual garden of the LOB period.

CATALOGUE, CONCORDANCE LIST, AND NOTES TO THE TEXTS

In the catalogue (pp. 1-5) 95 numbers are listed, numbered sequentially with the siglum TLOB (referring to the title of the publication). These texts come from six different collections: the British Museum (79), the Yale Babylonian Collection (6), the Smith College collection (3), and one each from Dartmouth, the Chicago History Museum, and the Oriental Institute of Chicago. Of each of these texts a copy is provided and a summary and comments are given in the "Notes to the Texts" (pp. 9-72). Numbers 3, 47, 62, 73, 89, and 93-95 are also transliterated.

Besides these, a number of texts are taken up in the volume as a kind of supplement added for diverse reasons: because they belong to a type represented among the aforementioned records (e.g., rental of the divine weapon), mention a person appearing in these texts, give more information on a relevant topic, etc. These texts are not copied but a transliteration of them is provided. They have TLOB numbers for which an index is added, e.g., TLOB 17a. They are not listed in the catalogue but do appear in the concordance list (pp. 7-8). Finally, 70 texts are cited in tabular form, in order to give an overview of some groups of documents; these are neither copied nor transliterated; they are included in the concordance, but not in the catalogue. In summary:

In table 5 (p. 61) BM 97493 is given without TLOB number; this same text is given as TLOB 90a on p. 66 where it is transliterated. In the same table. BM 97611 is to be dated As 18/8/12, not As 18/1/12, and BM 97495 As 16/12/30 instead of As 13/12/30. A few small errors should also be corrected in the catalogue: TLOB 22 (BM 80621) is to be dated Ad 2/2/8, not Ad 2/8/8, and TLOB 23 is day 3 (according to the copy) not 6 as stated in the catalogue.

All texts have been classified according to the categories given on p. 9. Each category forms a chapter. sometimes beginning with a few paragraphs of general introduction. Since there is no detailed table of contents (the main part of the book is called "Notes to the Texts"), we list here the chapters for easy reference. The numbers between brackets are the text numbers, to which the indexed numbers between them and the texts given in tables should be added: A. Land Inventories (1-8), pp. 9-12; B. Rations and Pay (9-15), pp. 12-15; C. Disbursals of Grain to Fortresses (16-20), pp. 15-18; D. Contracts (21-37), pp. 18-26; E. Inventories of Men and Materiel (38-54), pp. 26-37; F. Deliveries and Receipts (55-61), pp. 38-40: G. Taxes (62-68), pp. 40-46; H. Brewers (69-73), pp. 46-50; I. (Texts from the Archives of) Galdanu (the Sutean) (74-84), pp. 50-58; J. The Diviners' Archive (85-93), pp. 58-69; and K. Other (Two Miscellaneous Texts) (94-95), pp. 69-72. There is no system here other than a selective survey of the Old Babylonian textual landscape.

The Diviners' Archive includes texts featuring the diviners Rls-Marduk and Sin-nadin-sumi, the latter's daughter Amat-Samas, and their scribe STn-iqisam. In view of this diversity and the fact that there is no compelling reason to assume that these texts had ever been kept together as a single archive, it is probably better to refer to them as a "dossier." This dossier consists of sixty-one texts, spanning from As 7 to Sd 14. According to the author, indications can be found in these texts of the difficulties the Palace had in compelling its own agents to return capital entrusted to them. This would soon lead to a complete break between these agents and the Palace. Many of the texts record loans to be repaid in sheep for temple offerings. Most of the lenders only appear once. In his commentary on TLOB 87, the author remarks that "exchange rates for barley were set at each karum annually," which is a very interesting idea. He presents some texts to support this idea (n. 152) and this certainly is worth study-ing further.

COPIES

The copies often give rather stylized sign shapes and do not really render the LOB ductus. They are given on a scale of about 200%, which is unusual and unnecessary, taking up a lot of space and not adding to their readability. Half this size would have been quite sufficient.

INDEX OF PERSONAL NAMES

Patronyms are not indexed independently but listed under the son's name (with special exceptions). This is motivated by the author's wish to mention only "persons living and active in the period" (p. 73). This is efficient in saving space but hampers a full search of names. Furthermore, in the case of TLOB 5, which according to the author is a LOB rescript of a Samsu-iluna text, the names are given in the index, as if they belonged to the LOB. The index is presented in three columns. In the left, the continua spelling is given, with father's name and title when applicable...