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| old_babylonian_letters [2015/08/25 22:51] – [Sample Text] wagensonner | old_babylonian_letters [2015/09/14 10:00] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 |
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| The usual format is to start a letter with the preposition //ana// followed by the recipient of the message. This recipient might be an individual either referred to by his or her name or the occupation respectively the official title (e.g., //rabiānum//, "mayor"). Usually the second line contains an imperative //qibi-ma//, "speak". This is directed towards the messenger conveying the message and therefore //reading// its content. Last but not least the address is concluded by the addressee's name and/or title, which is introduced by the particle //umma//, "as follows". Of course a letter can be addressed as well as received by a group of individuals. They might be referred to by a collective term (e.g., //šībūt ālim//, "elders of the city") or individually. [[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P384863|OECT 3, 1]] belongs to the famous archive of Šamaš-hāzir, an high official in Larsa during the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon. The first three lines read as follows: | The usual format is to start a letter with the preposition //ana// followed by the recipient of the message. This recipient might be an individual either referred to by his or her name or the occupation respectively the official title (e.g., //rabiānum//, "mayor"). Usually the second line contains an imperative //qibi-ma//, "speak". This is directed towards the messenger conveying the message and therefore //reading// its content. Last but not least the address is concluded by the addressee's name and/or title, which is introduced by the particle //umma//, "as follows". Of course a letter can be addressed as well as received by a group of individuals. They might be referred to by a collective term (e.g., //šībūt ālim//, "elders of the city") or individually. [[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P384863|OECT 3, 1]] belongs to the famous archive of Šamaš-hāzir, an high official in Larsa during the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon. The first three lines read as follows: |
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| (1) a-na {d}utu-ha-zi-ir \\ | (1) //a-na// <sup>d</sup>utu-//ha-zi-ir// \\ |
| (2) qi2-bi2-ma \\ | (2) //qi//<sub>2</sub>-//bi//<sub>2</sub>-//ma// \\ |
| (3) um-ma ha-am-mu-ra-pi2-ma \\ | (3) //um-ma ha-am-mu-ra-pi//<sub>2</sub>-//ma// \\ |
| \\ | \\ |
| (1) To Šamaš-hāzir (2) speak, (3) as follows (says) Hammurabi. | (1) To Šamaš-hāzir (2) speak, (3) as follows (says) Hammurabi. |
| Blessings might be accompanied by information about the well-being of the letter's sender and the wish to receive news about the well-being of the recipient as well. | Blessings might be accompanied by information about the well-being of the letter's sender and the wish to receive news about the well-being of the recipient as well. |
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| At first glance the body of the letter is not as formulized. However, there are some typological features such as the introduction of topics or direct speeches, which follow certain customs. | At first glance the body of the letter is not as formulized. However, there are some typological features such as the introduction of topics or direct speeches, which follow certain customs. The most common way to introduce a topic is the preposition //aššum//, for instance in [[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P387344|TCL 17, 48]]: (4) //aš-šum// <sup>d</sup>//na-bi-um-šu-ul-li-ma-an-ni// (5) //s,u//<sub>2</sub>-//ha-ri-ia aš-pu-ra-ak-ki-im-ma//, "Regarding my boy Nabium-šullimanni I wrote to you." The letter writer may also refer to a past event by using some temporal adverb such as //amšali//, "yesterday," or //šaddaqdi//, "last year." |
| ====Sample Text==== | ====Sample Text==== |
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| //Address:// | //Address:// |
| (1) a-na da-mi-iq-{d}amar.utu | (1) //a-na da-mi-iq//-<sup>d</sup>amar.utu |
| (2) qi2-bi2-ma | (2) //qi//<sub>2</sub>-//bi//<sub>2</sub>-//ma// |
| (3) um-ma šu-mi-er-s,e-tim-ma | (3) //um-ma šu-mi-er-s,e-tim-ma// |
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| (1-3) To Damiq-Marduk speak, as follows Šum-ersetim. | (1-3) To Damiq-Marduk speak, as follows Šum-ersetim. |
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| //Blessing:// | //Blessing:// |
| (4) {d}utu u3 {d}amar.utu li-ba-al-li-t,u2-ka | (4) <sup>d</sup>utu u<sub>3</sub> <sup>d</sup>amar.utu li-ba-al-li-t,u<sub>2</sub>-ka |
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| (4) May Šamaš and Marduk keep you in good health. | (4) May Šamaš and Marduk keep you in good health. |
| //Body of the letter:// | //Body of the letter:// |
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| (5) ša {geš}ma2 santan | (5) ša <sup>geš</sup>ma2 santan |
| (6) ma2.DU.DU dumu ib-ni-{d}mar.tu | (6) ma<sub>2</sub>.DU.DU dumu ib-ni-<sup>d</sup>mar.tu |
| (7) be-el pi2-ha-tim u2-ul il-li-kam# | (7) be-el pi<sub>2</sub>-ha-tim u<sub>2</sub>-ul il-li-kam# |
| ====Overview of corpus==== | ====Overview of corpus==== |
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| The corpus of Old Babylonian letters is comparatively dense, but a majority of the letters originating from Babylonia is easily accessible through the series //Altbabylonische Briefe// (//AbB//) introduced by Fritz R. Kraus. This series limits itself to editions of letter corpora and does usually not group them by their archival nature. The //AbB// volumes contain approximately 2,700 individual letters in cuneiform collections in Europe, the United States and the Middle East. To this already sizeable corpus the rich text finds from Mari on the Middle Euphrates and other sites in Syria need to be added. | More than five thousand Old Babylonian letters have been recovered. A majority of the letters originating from Babylonia are easily accessible through the series //Altbabylonische Briefe// (//AbB//) introduced by Fritz R. Kraus. This series limits itself to editions of letter corpora and does usually not group them by their archival nature. The //AbB// volumes contain approximately 2,700 individual letters in cuneiform collections in Europe, the United States and the Middle East. |
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| | To this already sizeable corpus the rich text finds from Mari on the Middle Euphrates and other sites in Syria need to be added. |
| ====Internal links==== | ====Internal links==== |
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| ====External links==== | ====External links==== |
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| | Go [[http://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&requestFrom=Search&Period=Old+Babylonian&Genre=letter|here]] for Old Babylonian letters in the CDLI. |
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| | Go [[http://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&requestFrom=Search&Period=Early+Old+Babylonian&Genre=letter|here]] for Early Old Babylonian letters in the CDLI. |
