The adventures of a fugitive slave in the Old Babylonian period

N.A.B.U. 2022 n° 3 (septembre) Obv. Rev. 1 5 10 1 cm Fig. 5 Drawing of YBC 6830 (YPM BC 020896) (For a photograph see https://collections.peabody.yale.edu/search/Record/YPM-BC-020896) Bibliography BODINE, W. R. (2014) How Mesopotamian scribes learned to write legal documents. A study of the Sumerian model contracts in the Babylonian Collection at Yale University. Lewiston/NY: The Edwin Mellen Press. GEORGE, A. R., and G. Spada (2019) Old Babylonian Texts in the Schøyen Collection. Part 2: School Letters, Model Contracts, and Related Texts. SPADA, G. (2011) “A Handbook from the Eduba’a: An Old Babylonian Collection of Model Contracts,” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 101: 204–245. — (2014) “Two Old Babylonian Model Contracts,” Cuneiform Digital Library Journal 2014:2. — (2018) Sumerian Model Contracts from the Old Babylonian Period in the Hilprecht Collection Jena, TMH NF 11, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz-Verlag. WAGENSONNER, K. (2022) “Another Sumerian model contract,” N.A.B.U. 2022/14. WILCKE, C. (1985) “The Law of Sale and the History of Babylon’s Neighbours,” Sumer 41: 74–77. Klaus WAGENSONNER <klaus.wagensonner@yale.edu> 89) The adventures of a fugitive slave in the Old Babylonian period* — CUSAS 43, 59 (= Spada 2019: 121–123) is a tablet of which about one-half of the original length is preserved. It contains three documents, each ending with a date but without any lists of witnesses.1) The second document recorded on the tablet is about a female slave named Ali-aḫī and her third escape attempt towards the land of Amurrum. The first two lines of this document are also recorded in a fragmentary text from Nippur, published by D. Owen in NATN 354, which he has dated to the Ur III period (cf. Owen 1982: 26, and Pl. 87). Now, a new version of this same event has been identified in EES 180 (= Wilson 2008: 272–273), a Type I tablet collecting five model contracts—the first of which was published in Spada 2021—that ends with a colophon: I d EN.ZU-na-wi-ir / [du]b-sar / sign traces, “Sîn-nawir, the scribe2) ...” (rev. ii 18–20). While dealing with the same episode and the same characters, the version recorded in EES 180 presents some significant differences compared to the version appearing in CUSAS 43, 59, and probably in NATN 354. Since the text in NATN 354 has only been partially preserved, it is not possible to state with certainty that it definitely corresponds to that recorded in CUSAS 43, 59. The transliterations and translations of these three texts, which are to be considered tentative, are provided below. It should be noted that the transliteration and interpretation of CUSAS 43, 59 §2, as given in Spada 2019: 122, has been partially modified on the basis of EES 180. – 198 – N.A.B.U. 2022 n° 3 (septembre) Text 1 Publication: EES 180 r. i. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 r. ii. 1 2 x+10 x+11 Museum nº: PARS 12/01, 152 1 ba-bala I a-li₂-a-ḫi mu - n i g e me ₂ l u g a l - i n i m- g i - n a mu e ₂ i-din-di-šum₂? / n a r i m- d e g ₓ - d e g ₓ - g a - a u₃ ba-zaḫₓ-a-še₃ ziz₂-da-bi-še₃ ⅓ ma - n a k u g - b a b b a r i - d i n -di-šum₂?-⸢ r a ⸣ some lines missing in-na-la₂-e mu l u g a l - b i i n - p a d ₃ CDLI: P273879 “One traded? (slave), named Ali-aḫī, the female slave of Lugal-inim-gina, because she had (illegally) picked up things in the house of Iddin-Išum, the singer, and then had fled away, [Lugalinim-gina, her owner?] has sworn on the king’s name that he will pay to IddinIšum one-third mina of silver as its compensation.” Textual notes 1. I consider that 1 b a - b a l a is in place of the expected 1 s a ĝ - mu n u s , “one woman”, which usually precedes female slave names in Old Babylonian model contracts, therefore indicating the status of Ali-aḫī. I have tentatively interpreted b a - b a l a here as a noun from a passive verbal form of the Sumerian b a l a , equated to the Akkadian šupêlu (cf. CAD Š₃ s.v. šupêlu, p. 321, mng. 1, “to exchange (property)”, including slaves). However, as far as I know, this use of the expression b a - b a l a is not attested elsewhere. If this interpretation makes sense, Lugal-inimgina would temporarily transfer his slave Ali-aḫī to the house of Iddin-Išum, the musician. 5. Molina (2021: 157–158) argues that the Sumerian verb d e g ₓ(RI) used with e₂, “house”, clearly means “to plunder, strip (a house)”, being equated to the Akkadian luqqutu, which has this same meaning (cf. CAD L, s.v. laqātu, mng. 4, p. 101). However, as Marten Stol suggested to me, the verb laqātu primarily refers to chickens picking up grain from the ground.3) By transposing this meaning of “gathering little by little” to the actions of a dishonest slave, we can interpret this verb as “illegally picking up this or that in a house”, which a slave can easily do. Accordingly, d e g ₓ(RI) is here equated to the Akkadian luqqutu, with the meaning “to pick up, gather, to collect” (CAD L, s.v. laqātu, mng. 3, p. 101). Therefore, Ali-aḫī, after being transferred to Iddin-Išum’s house, would have committed pilferage and then run away. 7–x+11. Since the responsibility for the misdeeds of the slave lies with her owner, Lugal-inim-gina must swear in the king’s name that he will pay Iddin-Išum twenty shekels of silver as compensation. For the latest discussion on the Sumerian term z i z ₂-d a , see Marchesi 2021: 151–152, with previous bibliography. Text 2 Publication: CUSAS 43, 59 obv. 9’ 10’ 11’ 12’ 13’ 14’ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Museum nº: MS 2295 CDLI: P251535 1 b a - b a l a a-li₂-a-ḫi mu - n i g e me ₂ [ l u ] g a l - i n i m- g i - n a mu k u r ma r - d u ₂ - š e ₃ a - r a ₂ 3 - k a m b a - ˹ z a ḫ ₓ - a ˺ [ u ₃ e ₂ i-d]in-di-šum n a r i n - d e g ₓ - d e g ₓ - g a - š e ₃ [ . . . ] - n i - š e ₃ i n - ⸢ d a b ₅ ? ⸣ ⅓ ma - n a k u g - b a b b a r l u g a l - i n i m- g i - n a [ i-din-di-šum-r a i n - n a - l a ₂ i t ] i n e - n e - ĝ a r u d 5 - k a m b a - z a l [ mu nu-ur₂-d] i š k u r l u g a l “One traded? (slave), named Ali-aḫī, the female slave of [Lu]gal-inim-gina, because she had fled to the land of Amurrum for the third time, [and] had (illegally) picked up things [in the house of Id]din-Išum, the musician, he captured? her as his? [...]. Lugal-inim-gina [paid Iddin-Išum] one-third mina of silver. [Month] V, day 5; [year: ‘Nūr]Adad (became) king.’” Textual notes 1. In Spada 2019: 122, the term preceding the slave’s name was read as b a - b u l u ĝ , and tentatively interpreted and translated as “a foster child”, from the Sumerian verb b u l u ĝ ₃, equated to the Akkadian tarbītu, “child placed for rearing”. However, based on the new reading of the first line in Text 1, I checked the photographs of this tablet again and realized that the sign is b a l a and not b u l u ĝ . 2–3. This is different from Text 1, as here the verbal actions are reversed. First the verb b a - z a ḫ ₓ-a appears, with additional information, i.e. the direction of escape towards the land of Amurrum; then the verb i n - d e g ₓ-d e g ₓg a . In this version, it seems that Ali-aḫī accidentally reached the musician’s house during her third escape attempt. Hence, she would not have been voluntarily transferred from her owner, as interpreted in text 1, on the basis of b a b a l a in the first line. That being so, it is not possible to offer a valid interpretation of b a - b a l a here. 4. As I noted in Spada 2019: 122, the reading i n - d a b ₅ is tentative since the sign looks more like LU than KU. At this time, I have no valid hypothesis to offer for the expression preceding this verb form. – 199 – N.A.B.U. 2022 n° 3 (septembre) Text 3 Publication: NATN 354 obv. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Museum nº: CBS 10171 CDLI: P121052 b a - b u r ₂ ! a-li₂-a-ḫi g e me ₂ l u g a l - i n i m- g i - n a mu k u r ma r - d u ₂ - š e ₃ a-ra₂ 3-kam ba-zaḫ₃-a-š[e₃] rest missing “(One) …, Ali-aḫī, the female slave of Lugalinim-gina, because she had fled to the land of Amurrum for the third time, (rest missing).” Textual notes: D. Owen considered this text as dated to the Ur III period, and described it as follows: “fragmentary text recording an incident of a servant girl who fled to the land of Martu for a third time. From Luinimgina archive(?)” (Owen 1982: 26). However, the fact that it is apparently not dated—the lower part of the reverse, where the date is normally expected, is blank—might suggest that it is a school text from the Old Babylonian period instead. 1. Here the sign is clearly BUR2, and the expression b a - b u r 2 is not preceded by DIŠ. Furthermore, the slave’s name is not followed by the expression mu - n i (Akkadian šumšu), which is a reference to the social status of the person, identifying him/her as a slave. I have no valid proposals for this verb form, assuming that the scribe really wanted to write BUR2 and not BALA. Sumerian b u r 2 could be equated here to the Akkadian pašāru, with the meaning of “to pay as compensation” (cf. Prang 1977: 229–230). Therefore it would not indicate the status of Ali-aḫī, but would refer to the payment of compensation, as explained in Text 1 l. 7. However, its initial position preceding the slave’s name does not seem to justify this interpretative hypothesis. For the same reasons, it seems to me that we can exclude its meaning of “to settle, resolve (a legal case)” (cf. CAD P s.v. pašāru, mng. 4 p. 239)—a sort of synonym of d i t i l l a —since b a - b u r 2 is not separate from the rest of the text, as is normally the case for the heading d i t i l - l a . Discussion It is evident that we are faced with three texts which seem to deal with the same event, even if the individual actions have a different order in at least two of the three texts. In fact, since only the first four lines of Text 3 have been preserved, we cannot be sure that it continues in the same way as Text 2: the alleged presence of the terminative -še₃ at the end of line 3, seems to indicate that the causal subordination, started on the previous line, contains only the verb zaḫ₃. An open issue concerns the interpretation of the verb form occurring at the beginning of the texts— which is ba-bala in Texts 1 and 2, and ba-bur₂ in Text 3. This variation is clearly explained by the extreme similarity of the signs BALA and BUR₂, which are easily confused, especially in the Old Babylonian period. However, since the interpretation of the ba-bala form offered in Text 1 does not seem to fit the unfolding of the story as told in Text 2—and perhaps also in Text 3—it is not currently possible to hypothesize that the scribe of Text 3 has mistakenly written BUR2 instead of BALA, also omitting the initial DIŠ. Equally, it is not possible to hypothesize that the opposite occurred—ba-bur₂ mistakenly written as babala, to which DIŠ has been added, in Texts 1 and 2—since at this time I have no valid proposal for the interpretation of ba-bur₂ in Text 3. Notes * I am grateful to Mark Cohen, Franco D’Agostino, Manuel Molina, and Marten Stol—to whom I have submitted some of my doubts on the interpretation of these texts—for providing me with helpful comments and suggestions. Needless to say, I bear full responsibility for any errors or omissions. Abbreviations follow CDLI’s list, available at https://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/abbreviations_for_assyriology (accessed July 25, 2022). 1. As written in Spada 2019: 121, it is not clear what the function of this tablet was. Since it seems to be written by an inexperienced hand, this would suggest a school context for this collection. 2. As de Boer (2017: 27, fn. 14) pointed out, a scribe named Sîn-nawir closes the list of witnesses in four tablets, all dated to Sumu-la-El 30–32. They are: YOS 14, 140 rev. 5 (Sumu-la-El 30/vii); BBVOT 1, 62 rev. 6 (Sumula-El 31/xi/-); BBVOT 1, 63 rev. 5 (Sumu-la-El 31/xi/-); YOS 14, 119 rev. 8 (Sumu-la-El 32/v/-). 3. Marten Stol (personal communication, July 2022) informed me that F. R. Kraus had learned this in class from B. Landsberger. Bibliography DE BOER, R. (2017) “Two Early Old Babylonian ‘Mananâ’ Archives Dated to the Last Years of Sumu-la-El”, RA 111, 25–64. MARCHESI, G. (2021) “A New Manuscript of Ana ittišu II from Nimrud”, in P. Notizia, A. Rositani, L. Verderame (eds.), dNisaba za₃-mi₂. Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Francesco Pomponio, dubsar 19, Münster, 147–154. – 200 – N.A.B.U. 2022 n° 3 (septembre) MOLINA, M. (2021) “Court Cases on Burglaries, Fugitives, Debts and Other Matters in Ur III Times”, in P. Notizia, A. Rositani, L. Verderame (eds.), dNisaba za₃-mi₂. Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Francesco Pomponio, dubsar 19, Münster, 155–174. OWEN, D. I. (1982) Neo-Sumerian Archival Texts Primarily from Nippur in the University Museum, the Oriental Institute and the Iraq Museum (NATN), Winona Lake. PRANG, E. (1977) “Das Archiv des Bitûa”, ZA 67, 217–234. SPADA, G. (2019) “Old Babylonian Model Contracts and Related Texts”, in A. R. George, G. Spada, Old BabylonianTexts in the Schøyen Collection, Part Two, School Letters, Model Contracts, and Related Texts, CUSAS 43, University Park, 97–199. —(2021) “The expression lugal-(l)a-ni-še₃-am₃, ‘it is (the loss/responsibility) of his owner alone’ in the Old Babylonian school texts”, NABU 2021/108. WILSON, M. (2008) Education in the Earliest Schools. Cuneiform Manuscripts in the Cotsen Collection, Los Angeles. Gabriella SPADA <gabriella.spada@uniroma1.it> Sapienza – Università di Roma (ITALY) 90) La Houe et l’Araire (Al-Apin). Un fragment perdu et retrouvé — Aux nombreuses tablettes et fragments de Nippur conservés au musée de Philadelphia qui permettent de reconstituer cette diatribe, il faut ajouter au moins la tablette N 1550 (P276678). Ce fragment est un join au texte Bn N 3991 + N 1560 (P276688) qui comme lui saute la ligne 54 (homoioarcton). La face est le haut de la colonne ii et le revers le bas de la colonne iii. C’est certainement celui qui était en possession de Civil et dont parle Mittermayer (2019) à la p. 285 de son édition. Col. ii (face ii) ii 2=51 gud udu dša[gan₂-na lu-a-bi] ⸢a₂⸣ mu-da-an-e₃-⸢e?⸣ « Je permets d’élever le bétail de Šakkan qu’on y fait paître » ii 3=52 giš ii 4=53 giš ii 5=54 ∅ ii 6=55 giš al ḫulu-[bi buru₃-da z]u₂ ḫulu-bi sir₂-ra « Houe mal percée, à la dent mal serrée » al im-m[a ∅ ki]ĝ₂-ĝa₂ la₂-a « Houe qui reste bloquée à travailler dans la glaise » al giš[u₃-šub-ba] im-ma u₄ zal-la lu₂-lu₇ nu-luḫ-ḫa « Houe toujours dans l’argile du moule à briques, que nul ne rince » ii 7=56 pu₂ ba-⸢al sur₃⸣ [ba-al l]u₂ en₃-dur-ru ba-al « (tu veux) creuser des puits, mais (tu) ne creuses que des trous, (on dirait) quelqu’un qui se gratte le nombril, » ii 8=57 ĝiš.[LAGAB(gur₄?) uku₂-ra-bi š]u nam-para₁₀-ga-ka nu-tum₂-ma « toi dont le misérable bout de bois ne sied pas à une main royale, » ii 9=58 [šu urdu lu₂-ka s]aĝ me-te-aš bi₂-ib-ĝal₂ « mais convient tout au plus à la main d’un esclave, » ii 10=59 [ze₄-e ĝa₂-ra in g]e₁₇ mu-e-tub₂ « C’est toi qui me lances une amère insulte! » ii 11=60 … Col. iii (revers i) 148 ni]ĝ₂? ⸢sa?- ḫa⸣ a[m₃-…] « Je fais pousser les pommiers, qui donnent des fruits. » 149 ]-gal-e-ne(-)[…] « Ces fruits sont le digne ornement de la maison des dieux » 150 [nu-giškiri₆-ke₄ dam du]mu-ni a₂ mu-d[a-an-e₃ (?)]-⸢en⸣ « et je permets au jardinier d’élever sa famille. » 151 i[d₂-da g]iškeše₂-da um-mi-ak ĝiri₃ s[i um-m]i-sa₂ « Je fais un barrage sur la rivière et trace le chemin, » 152 ki-⸢ba⸣ [an]-za-gara₃ gu₂-ba um-mi-du₃ « Je construis à côté une ferme fortifiée, » – 201 –