99 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LVII N° 1/2, Januari-April 2000 100 Maïs Ie problème des fragments de Matthieu conservés au Les fouilles d'Abu Fanö, dont l'exposition «Kunst und Magdalen College d'Oxford (soit van Haelst, Cal. 336-1 et Kultur der Christen am Nil», publiée en 1996 par les éd. Rei- 336-2 avec les fragments de Barcelone) ne pouvait être éludé, chert a Wiesbaden, rendait compte sans illustrations, peuvent puisque Ie lendemain de Noël 1994 Ie tres sérieux Times être rapprochées de ces résultats archéologiques. avait répandu la sensationnelle nouvelle: Karsten Thiede, de Plusieurs auteurs ont joint a leur communication une Paderborn, date Ie papyrus des années 60 de notre ere. Ces Bibliographie spécifique et des moyens d'acces a cette masse fragments sont donc pour lui contemporains des Apötres, et de textes, d'apparence réserves aux specialistes. du Christ. L'ouvrage allemand qui étaie cette these parle de De nombreux Index généraux: sources, auteurs modernes, «Papyrus de Jésus», alors que la version italienne titre notabilia varia, terminent eet ouvrage dont l'utilité est mani- «Témoignage oculaire sur Ie Christ». feste, tant les études coptes sont en plein essor, et permettent, Le lecteur saura donc gré a Naldini de montrer, planches par Ie courage de ceux qui manient ces «kilogrammes de a l'appui, que les fragments d'Oxford sont en «majuscules textes», d'aspect souvent déroutant ou répétitif, une meilleure bibliques» dont Ie premier exemple date de 180, et que les compréhension de la théologie comme de l'histoire de rapprochements de Thiede avec les textes de Qumran et Ie l'Eglise. Que les Auteurs en soient remerciés! papyrus documentaire P. Oxy 246 (de + 66) ne sont pas fon- dés sur une similitude des écritures. Naldini rappelle qu'il a Dijon-Paris, décembre 1998 Patrice CAUDERLIER édité un fragment de Matthieu conservé a la Laurentienne, de la fin du III0 s. Le lecteur de bonne foi devra donc suivre ces conclusions ASSYRIOLOGIE motivées et sans appel, mais combien de lecteurs du Times auront retenu cette datation? La vérité souffre de la dispro- TUNCA, Ö, and Danielle DEHESELLE (eds.) — Tablettes portion entre Ie tirage de ce livre et celui du Times. et images aux pays de Sumer et d'Akkad: Mélanges La transition entre ces fragments du Nouveau Testament offerts a Monsieur H. Limet. (Association pour la Pro- et les textes «patristiques» est obtenue par P. Bodmer 5 («la motion de l'Histoire et de l'Archeologie Orientales, Nativité de Marie») et Naldini Ie date du V° voire du VI° s. mémoires n° 1). Université de Liège, Liège, 1996 (29.6 Quant au minuscule P. Oxy XV 1782, il y voit un «vademe- cm, xv, 226, pits, tab.). ISBN D-1996-0480-16. BF cum» du chrétien, plus qu'une amulette. Enfin il étudie la transmission de Méliton de Sardes, d'Origène et de plus de 1100,-. 120 «adespotes» des prières liturgiques et privées donnant Henri Limet is one of those scholars who have devoted un bon apercu de la foi populaire. Les Actes des Martyrs, les themselves to many different areas of study in the field of certificats de sacrifice aux dieux officiels, les amulettes, Assyriology, and the volume of mélanges presented to him lettres privées et papyrus figurés achèvent l'étude des «docu- aptly reflects Limet's wide ranging interests. mentaires»: chaque subdivision est éclairée d'un exemple 23 colleagues, friends and former students provide a représentatif pour Ie néophyte. diverse selection of topics in Assyriology, Near Eastern His- La dernière section due a Marguerite RASSART- tory and Semitics. Philological, historical, religious, social, DEBERGH fait Ie point sur les découvertes qui permettent and economie issues dominate this volume. Sources from depuis 1981 de mieux connaitre l'art copte primitif grace aux Mesopotamia proper, Mari, Ancient Iran, and Failaka are ana- monastères du «désert des Kellia» dans Ie Nord de l'Egypte lyzed and discussed. New texts and many new observations pres de Saqqara. L'appropriation par la nouvelle religion des and interpretations are offered throughout. The chronologi- plans architecturaux des édifices païens aussi bien que des cal scope ranges from the third to the first millennium B.c.E.1) symboles que véhiculent les images est tres nette: Ie passage After the Avant-propos (p. V) and a bibliography of dTsis allaitant a la Vierge a l'enfant est imperceptible; il s'ef- Limet's impressive scholarly output (pp. VII-XV), B. Alster, fectue d'abord par les icönes, pour lesquelles des niches sont in "He who Pays With Valid Money: On the status of Mer- aménagées, comme les bibliothèques dans les maisons pri- chants in early Mesopotamia" (pp. 1-6), discusses Sumerian vées, avant de prendre l'aspect des peintures murales. De proverbs from his monograph The Proverbs of Sumer, which nombreux renvois au Monde Copte, la revue de Limoges, at the time hè wrote his article was still forthcoming2) but has sont insérés dans l'évolution qui conduit aux reliquaires, en now been published as Proverbs of Ancient Sumer: The combinant peinture, mosaïque et toreutique. Les décorations World's Earliest Proverb Collections (Bethesda 1997).3) des parties basses de ces fresques, désormais accessibles, pri- M. Anbar deals with "L'origine tribale de Zimri-Lim, roi vilégient les personnages en pied et les cavaliers dans les de Mari" on pages 7-10; A. Cavigneaux publishes and dis- scènes des deux Testaments. On ne manquera pas d'évoquer cusses several texts in "Miettes de l'Edubba" on pages 11- Ie decor des tissus coptes tardifs (par ex. la collection du 26. Musée historique des tissus de Lyon, et les études d'Yvonne M.E. Cohen studies "The Gods of Suburban Umma" on Amir). pages 27-35. The first half of line 17 of the transliteration of L'auteur joint des photographies personnelles, montrant the text published in his contribution should be corrected to Ie réemploi d'édifices pharaoniques (Béni-Hassan), les KA su du8-a lugal-nesagre and the second half (ur-dsara2 decors végétaux des Kellia, les niches pour icönes. Elle montre que les techniques artistiques des décorations murales (qui ne sont pas a proprement parier justiciables du J ) Manuscripts containing the unpublished texts referred to in this review nom de «fresques») sont celles de l'époque antérieure; la were kindly put at the reviewer's disposal by B. Jagersma and M. Sigrist. couleur obtenue par des pigments mélanges au sable, est 2 ) See p. 2 n. 6. 3) Note that the proverbs discussed appear in this fmal publication with appliquée sur la dernière couche, la surf ace étant aplanie ou sometimes slightly different transliterations, translations or numberings. brossée a la spatule. These modifications are, however, all of minor significance. 101 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE 102 muhaldim-e genx(=GI)-né-dam) is actually a new line (18), losses accepted by the owner of the animals designated as see tfie photograph on p. 28 and parallel passages in other Ur such, see van Drie!' s article "Bones and the Mesopotamian III texts, e.g., KA su du8-a dug4-ga-genx-na, lugal-ezem ü lü- State? Animal Husbandry in an Urban Context",14) especially dutu, dumu Iugal-ka-ke4-ne (OrSP 47-49 502 13), KA su du8- cols. 555-557. Another important recent contribution on this a ur-dsara2, gudug anzu2mu§en-babbar2-ka (OrSP 6 p. 60 Wen- subject is Sallaberger 's discussion of the term ba-ugx gier 50 49), KA su du8-a dnin-mug-ga ur-gü-ka lugal-é-mah-e (=BAD.BAD).15) A fmite form bi-RI, to be translated "they ba-an-de6 (TLB 3 168 edge), udu KA su du8-a (SAT l 221 4), feil dead there", is surely not hiding behind the signs NE.RI, 5 amar ab KA su d[u8-a 0.2.0-ta] (AAS 186 iv 5), su+nigin2 as Hallo suggests,16) because from a grammatical point of 2.0.0 se amar ab KA <su> du8-a (AAS 186 vii 12), bisagx dub- view, one would expect another form, see, e.g., ansu-bé 3-am ba nfg-kas7 ak gud apin gub-ba se gis è-a KA su du8-a a-sag4 ba-RI.RI "these donkeys, numbering three, died" (OrSP 47- dab5-ba sag4 susin^ ï-gal (BM 29943), lü KA su du8-a (NATN 49 502 4), sag4-ba l gud 2 ansu-am i-in-RI.RI "among them 681 6), KA su du8-a nar-re-ne (UET 3 927 16), l ur-mes KA (=six animals) one ox and two donkeys died" (SET 161 9-1 1), su du8 (AAICAB 1,1 Ashm. 1911-221 5), ur-nigin3-gar KA su a-hu-ul-gal, ur-me-me-ka-bé, ib-RI.RI-ga "that maltreatment du8 (BM 105457 3), and Sargonic ones, e.g., ITT l 1425 4 l of "them (=seventy dead sheep) on the part of Ur-Memek had bisagx KA su du8-a (among other[?] professions). Up to the caused them to die" (M/ 209 i 5-7). Neither is this term a present, the meaning of the term KA su du8(-a) has not been unique occurrence, as Hallo asserts, since it is attested in sev- adequately established and it requires further study. eral texts belonging to a file of lentil-shaped "settled accounts" As far as the reading of A.KA.SILA3.KI is concerned,4) (nig-kas7 ak) once kept in the archive of the govemor of the the reviewer favours a-pi4-sal4ki.5) province of Lagas: 17) G. Colbow writes on "Die spataltbabylonische Ein- führungsszene: Zum Fortleben eines zentralen Bildmotivs der MVN 6 276 S 27nfg-kas7 ak, GAN mas-zid-da gü-ab- Ur III-Zeit" on pages 37-43. She primarily gleans her infor- baki mation on seals and sealing during the Ur III period from MVN 2 n S 33 [nig]-kas7 ak, GAN18) é-duru5 sag^ Haussperger's Die Einführungsszene.6) Several important kug-ge MVN 1 583 335 mg-kas7 ak GAN ur-sag-pa-è publications on this subject by C. Fischer,7) which have MVN 6 140 S 36 nig-kas7 ak, GAN é-duru5 Iü-dsara2 recently been published, however, show that not all of TCTI 1 850 S44 mg-kas7 ak, a-sag4 é-duru5 dinanna Haussperger's observations stand against closer scrutiny.8) TEL 250 S44 nig-kas7 ak, a-sag4 é-duru5 ur-ê'§gigir19) For Colbow's text D (BM 80962), see now R. Pientka, Die MVN 6 415 AS 1 nig-kas7 ak, a-sag4 gibil spataltbabylonische Zeit (Munster 1998) pp. 90 and 164. MVW 6 545 AS 1 mg-kas7 ak, a-sag4 ur-sag-pa-è A. Finet writes on "La lutte entre Gilgames et Enkidu" on A/W 6 544 SS 1 nig-kas7 ak, a-sag4 é-ansu, sag4 da-lugal pages 45-50; P. Fronzaroli, in "A propos de quelques mots MVN 17 1 Ss i nig-kas7 ak, a-sag4 i-sar-DUBxHI éblaïtes d'orfèvrerie" on pages 51-68, studies Eblaite words TL£ 3 89 SSl nfg-kas7 ak, a-sag4 dnin-é-gal for jewelry. TL£ 3 87 SS 6 nig-kas7 ak, a-sag4 nin-a-zid-da HLC 1,5 HLb 37 SS 8 nig-kas7 ak, a-sag4 du6-lugal-ü-a W.W. Hallo provides several "Notes on Neo-Sumerian MW 5 203 $S8 [nfg]-kas7 ak, [...] 5 LU/SfG ?1 Animal Husbandry" on pages 69-78. Although hè states an MVN 5 204 §S8 [...] additional 32 texts from the de Liagre Böhl Collection at Lei- 7CT7 1 743 SS 9 nig-kas7 ak. a-sag4 [d]u6-ès den will be included in a forthcoming edition of SLB9), in his TC77 1 802 SS 9 [nfjg-kas7 ak, a-sag4 é-duru5 ba-zïg contribution hè refers to 7 of them as texts included in TLB TCTI 2 4176 IS 3 nig-kas7 ak, a-sag4 DU-a-bé 3, apparently in a still to be published third fascicule of that 7T7Y 2 4178 IS 3 nfg-kas7 ak, sag4 hu-rimkl volume.10) D4S 274 date broken nïg-[kas7 ak], a-[sag4...] His distinction (p. 74) between animals that were slaugh- ren 1 771 date broken nig-kas7 ak, a-sag4 bad-[...] tered (ba-üs) and those that died of natural causes (RI.RI-ga11)) MVN 6 546 date broken cannot be maintained, since, as Steinkeller observes,12) at The term NE.RI is attested twelve times in these texts: Drehem, the term ba-üs means not only "slaughtered", but also MVN 2 78 ii 9 10 NE.RI AS.A3 ERIM "dead (of natural causes)".13) RI.RI-ga generally denotes MVN 5 203 iii 5 LU! NE.RI KU MVN 5 204 i 7 [x N]E.RI KU! 4) See p. 35 n. 46. MVN 6 216 il 10 NE.RI NU.KU 5) See JEOL 33 (1993-1994) p. 120, commentary to line 8. According MVN 6 415 9 0 NE.RI AS.AS to W. Sallaberger however, the text cited there may be used as evidence MVN 6 546 ii l' 4NE.RI[...] after collation only (pers. comm.). " 10' 10 NE.RI V [...] 6) See p. 37 n. 1. " iv l 7 NE.RI URU 7) "Siegelabrollungen im British Museum auf neusumerischen Tontafeln aus der Provinz Lagas", Untersuchungen zu den Tierkampfszenen" (ZA 82 " vi5 [x NjE.RI AS.AS URU (1992) pp. 60-91), "Gudea zwischen Tradition und Moderne" (BaM 21 MVN 17 l iii 6 NE.RI KU (1996), pp. 215-228), "Siegelabrollungen im British Museum auf Ur-III- TCTI l 850 i 8 LU NE.RI AS.AS KU zeitlichen Texten aus der Provinz Lagas, Untersuchungen zu den TLB 3 87 ii 10 NE.RI Verehrungsszenen" (BaM 28 (1997), pp. 97-183), "Woolley's Trial Pieces' — A Reconsideration" (AfO 44&45 (1997/1998) pp. 236-243). 8) See, e.g., Fischer, BaM 28 (1997) pp. 100-101. 14) BiOr 50 (1993) cols. 545-563. 9) P. 71. 15) AfO 40&41 (1993/1994) p. 53. 10) TLB 3 nos. 176, 177, 192, 194, 196, 198 and 207 are mentioned in 16) P. 75. notes 17-19 on p. 71, notes 61-62 on p. 75, and note 70 on p. 76. 17) Note that the earliest of these texts write asag (GAN), whereas the ") RI.RI is probably to be read regx-regx in this context. later ones write a-sag4, see the "minimal pair" MVN l 583 — MVN 6 545. 12) flSA8(1995)p.55. On these writings, see de Maaijer & Jagersma, AfO 44&45 (1997/1998) 13) This latter meaning is the one the reviewer prefers when texts list p. 283. human beings called ba-üS (e.g., dumu nin-kag-genx-na ba-üs-me, "(they 18) Sic, not sa as transliterated on p. 96 of WMAH (I). are) the children of the late Ninkaggena", TuT 162 ix 5). 19) This line sic, not as transliterated. 103 BIBLIOTHECA ORIËNTALIS LVII N° 1/2, Januari-April 2000 104 These attestations do not suggest we are dealing with a 35: ZA 12,266 line 10 (?) (all Lagas texts), Civil FI pp. 201- fmite form of the verb RI, "to fall dead", but rather with a 202 A 5832 iii 5; Rocznik MNW 26 7 line 3; SET 266 3; title or function. UCP 9/2/1 100 143 (all Umma texts). On p. 76, Hallo discusses the term HA.NE and prefers to On p. 127 ad ii 33 hè discusses the term dibira, for which read it ku 6 izi, although hè mentions Englund's proposal to see now H. Waetzoldt, NABU 1997/96. read it ku6 seg6. That this is more than "yet another reading", On p. 128 ad ii 43 hè discusses the term nu-kiri6. It may is suggested by TuT 127 iii 9, 11 ku6 NE-ga.20) perhaps be the case that NU.SAR is not a genitive compound, J.-R. Kupper surveys "Les différents moments de la as Sjöberg asserts, but KID is not used to write /ge/ in the journée, d'après les textes de Mari" on pages 79-85. texts from the Ur III archives hè cites and his conclusions B. Lafont, in "L'extraction du minerai de cuivre en Iran a therefore are unconvincing.25) la fin du IIP millénaire", on pages 87-93, publishes and dis- On pp. 128-129 ad iii 3 hè discusses the term sitim, for cusses a text recently republished in TCTI 2.21) On p. 88, hè which see now Neumann, CRAI 40 (1996) pp. 153-169. discusses the phrase uruda-bé ge-dirig-ba mu-ni-ba-al (Cyl. On pp. 130-131 ad iii 22 hè provides Ur Hl references to A xvi 17). We may add to his discussion Dercksen's astute lü-ür(-ra). Added to these may be AAS 119 6; AnOr l 289 23; suggestion22) to translate ge-dirig with "lump(s) of ore" and AUCT 3 326 2; BM 17979 seal line 3; BM 18400 19; BM BM 19783, an unpublished tablet from the archive of the gov- 20454 3; BM 20540 3 and seal line 3 [compare BaM 28 ernor of Lagas (line 7: 4 1/3 ma-na 6 gig4 uruda ge-dirig 2- (1997) p. 100 n. 13]; BM 23924 3 and seal line 3; BM 24257 sè). This term should not be confused with ge a dirig "reed seal line 3; BM 24284 seal line 3; BM 24812 seal line 3; BM floating on water", see de Maaijer & Jagersma, AfO 44&45 24991 i 2 iii 13; BM 25753; BM 25976; BM 28095 seal line (1997/1998) p. 280.23) 3; BM 28114 seal line 3; BM 82708 2; BM 105475 3; CBT J.-C1. Margueron establishes the dating of a group of build- 2 BM 15963; CBT 2 19309; CBT 2 BM 19451; CBT 2 BM ings in "Mari a Fépoque de shakkanakku" on pages 95-103; 22298; CHÉU 45 case, tablet and seal line 3; CST 32 4; DAS O. Rouault deals with "Terqa et l'époque des sakkanakku" 243 25; HSS 4 49 iv 3; Iraq 41,130 9; MTBM 235 5 and seal on pages 105-109. line 3; MTBM 239 seal line 3; MTBM 317 7; MVN 2 130 M. Sigrist publishes 4 early Ur III texts and discusses a set tablet and case line 4; MVN 2 369 17; MVN 5 182 case 5; of signs attested in them denoting fractions of the gur up until MVN 6 289 i 7; MVN 6 293 i 12; MVN 10 219 i 8; MVN 12 now known only from one other text, in "Deux signes sous- 71 6 and seal line 3; MVN 16 754 12; NATN 856 9; OrSP multiples de gur" on pages 111-116. One is immediately 47-49 392 11; OrSP 47-49 403 12; PDT l 384 7; RIM reminded of the "non-Standard" writing of fractions of gur E3/2.3.1.2001 (seal) line 4; SAT l 263 4; SAT l 369 12; SAT in MVN 5 291.24) l 454 6; STA 8 vi 8 xi 13'; TCL 5,7 AO 5673 iii 21; TCNU A.W. Sjöberg provides us with a thorough and welcome 468 iii 2; TCS l 71 6; TCS l 108 3; TCTI 2 2773 8; TCTI 2 edition of a long list of professions and occupations in "UET 3510 6; TCTI 2 3843 4 and seal line 3; TCTI 2 3971 case 4; VII, 73: An Exercise Tablet Enumerating Professions" on TCTI 2 4065 2; TCTI 2 4187 7; TCTI 2 4256 16 and seal line pages 117-139. On p. 123 in n. 2, hè cites Ur III texts record- 3; TIM 6 4 vii 16; UTAMI 4 2538 5; YOS 18 115 v 13, 17. ing the feeding of lions. To his sample, add the following To Sjöberg's references that suggest this word is a genitive texts from the Puzris-Dagan Central Depot archive: BAOM compound, add BM 105475 3-4: Iü-ür-ra-ke4, su ba-ti (Ur Hl). 2,34 86; BIN 3 454; Fs. J ones 68; MVN 3 258; MVN 8 135; In spite of the fact that, on p. 133 ad iii 29, Sjöberg voices Nakahara 44; OrSP 47-49 42; SACT l 175; TRU 379 (all several hesitations and even objections, GA-dub-ba may safely mu ur-mah-sè): Jean SA 56 (line 5 sa-dug4 ur-mah-sè); T AD be read pisan-dub-ba (or perhaps better bisagx-dub-ba). CAD's 44 = AAICAB 1,1 Ashm. 1910-754 (line 7 l mas-gal ur-mah- translation "The one (in charge) of the tablet basket" does not e igi lugal-sè fb-dab5); MVN 13 692 (line 13 ur-mah gu^- necessary reflect the structure of this word. Veenhof s idea that [...]). In Lagas texts we find sipad ur-mah (TCTI l 916 18; "the tablet basket itself was considered so characteristic of the TCTI l 922 28; TCTI l 927 18; TCTI f 1007 21; TCTI 2 function of the administrator who had to process and file its 2797 18 and sag4-gal lü ur-mah (TCTI 2 3879). An interest- contents, that it earned him his title",26) is a sound one, indeed, ing passage occurs in an Umnia text (UTAMI 3 2281 rev. ii and may be understood to imply that the man was called 57): ki nam-buru2-a-ka ur-mah-e üs-a. Rations for ur-mah are "tablet basket" himself, not "the one of the tablet basket". recorded in AAS 182 (archive uncertain). Note the PN ur-"mah For Iü-a-igi-du8, discussed on p. 134 ad iii 40, see de Maai- (e.g., MVN 13 805 17 and CST511). In Sjöberg's references', jer & Jagersma, AfO 44&45 (1997/1998), p. 281; for the dog- correct AUCT 3 381 to AUCT 2 381, and compare MVN 10 keepers discussed on p. 135 ad iii 44, see now Heimpel's 144 rev. v 23-24 l udu siskur2 ur-mah gün-a. important discussion inJAOS 118 (1998) pp. 395-396. On p. 126 ad ii 20 hè provides Ur III references to sipad To the discussion of the "flutist" on p. 137 ad iv 21 may sah. Added to these may be CBT 2 BM 16293; CT 2,19-20 be added the Ur III spellings lü-ge-di (LB 242927) iii 6) and BM 18344 iii 37 rev. viii 35; TCTI l 950 18; TCTI 2 2807 rlü-ge -ti-da (NATN 853 14). A. Spycket discusses "Le röle funeraire des ceintures a anneaux de coquille" on pages 141-147; H. Steible and F. 20) Englund's statement (BBVO 10 p. 218), that the "neusumerische Yildiz publish and discuss an Early Dynastie text28) dealing Auslaut /|/ laBt sich allerdings nur im mit dem Konjugationsprafix al- versc- henen Beleg TrDr. 81 sicher erkennen" is to be modified accordingly. 21 ) See de Maaijer, BiOr 56 (1999) col. 118. 22) BiOr49 (1992) cols. 796-797. 25) For a discussion of nu-kiri6 and variant spellings in Ur UI texts, see 23) These authors' hesitation to translate ge dirig with "raft" seems to Steinkeller, FAOS 17 pp. 168-169. be justified, see above. For attestations of ge a dirig, see Attinger, ZA 85 26 ) CRAI 30 (1986) p. 16. (1995) p. 135. Added here may be TCTI 2 3282 2 and DAS 327 = RTC 310 27) Manuscript of the reviewer. 2 ge zé-a a-dirig. 28) See now F. Pomponio, "Una Sammelurkunde de Fara" (NABU 24) With MAS and KINGUSILI, see Gomi, ZA 83 (1993) pp. 38-43. 1997/101). 105 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ASSYRIOLOGIE 106 with copper in "Kupfer an ein Herdenamt in Suruppak?" on another publication is forthcoming which contains the com- pages 149-159. positions related to the second aspect of the relationship M. Stepieri discusses "The Organisation of Animal Pas- between Dumuzi and Inanna, that involving separation and turing in the Light of Balanced Accounts, Inventories of death. Sheep and Goat Herdsmen from Umma" on pages 161-177. In making these love songs easily available, in new criti- A slightly revised version of this article has been published cal editions with clear and comprehensive notes, supple- in the author's Animal Husbandry in the Ancient Near East: mented by a valuable series of indices as well as hand-drawn A Prosopographic Study of Third-Millennium Umma copies and photographs of the tablets on which the songs (Bethesda 1996) on pages 40 (below) — 54 (above). Further were inscribed, this book performs a service not only to study is required where two contrasting29) key terms are con- Sumerology but also to other disciplines such as comparative cerned. It would seem that DU.DU and nam-en-na do not pri- religions and literary studies. While the tablets themselves marily signify "young animals" and "native sneep", respec- date to the first half of the second millennium, their contents tively, as Stepierï argues,30) but rather denote an animal's presumably reflect an earlier tradition, as is suggested by, for status or state, as suggested by several texts recording the example, their references to Su-Sin. From a religious per- transfer of animals to nam-en-na.31) spective the songs provide information on Sumerian deities, M. Stol clarifies several expressions in "The Reversibility the beliefs of those who worshipped them, and the ways in of Human Fate in Ludlul II" on pages 179-183. His inter- which those beliefs were expressed. From a literary perspec- pretation of têmu as 'decree', incidentally, was previously tive the songs provide opportunities for an analysis of both communicated to R. Jas.32) form and content. Encouragement for such an analysis from Ph. Talon provides "Un nouvel exemplaire d'un cöne de outside Sumerology may come from the well-known simi- Nür-Adad de Larsa" on pages 185-190; M. Tanret discusses larities between these songs and the Biblical "Song of "Noms sumériens ou noms accadiens" on pages 191-206; Solomon" which has influenced Western literature;2) in addi- M. Trokay writes on "Glyptique pseudo-kassite: glyptique tion, the songs' pastoral imagery is recurrent in Western kassite commune" on pages 207-213; D. Deheselle studies poetry, with Elizabethan writers, for example, personifying "La distribution aklu a Nippur a L'époque kassite" on pages themselves as shepherds and referring to huls and fields in 215-221 and Ö. Tunca offers "A propos de la genese des evocation of the female body. orthostates néo-assyriens" on pages 223-226. The contents In the book's introduction the author presents a prelimi- of this volume, fmally, are given on page [227]. nary discussion of the songs in religious and literary terms. This is a fitting tribute to a scholar who has contributed so In relation to religion hè concentrates on the so-called sacred much to Assyriology. marriage made famous more than 100 years ago by Frazer in The Golden Bough. For Frazer such marriages are seasonal Duivendrecht, The Netherlands R. DE MAAIJER rituals in which sexual union between deities, or their human August 1998 representatives, is regarded as causing agricultural fertility on the basis that like produces like. Sefati suggests similarly that mythological unions between deities, primarily Dumuzi and Inanna, "became the prototype of Sumerian kings' marriages with a priestess in a temple" (p. 30). However, aside from SEFATI, Yitschak — Love Songs in Sumerian Literature. the general doubts that have been expressed about Frazer's Bar-Ilan University Press, Ramat Gan, 1998. (25 cm, work,3) the Sumerian evidence fails to support Frazer's 445, XLIV Plates). ISBN 965-226-203-X. description fully. Sefati provides a useful discussion of this evidence, but there is little that such a marriage took place As the troubled voice of T. S. Eliot's Sweeney indicates seasonally, and less for Inanna's human incarnation as a — "That's all the facts when you come to brass tacks: priestess and consequently for a sexual union between that birth, and copulation, and death" — love and death are fre- priestess and a king identified with Dumuzi. In addition, agri- quent literary topics, and the case is no different in Sumer- cultural fertility appears to have been perceived more as a ian literature.1) This book is therefore to be welcomed for divine blessing and less as a consequence of like producing bringing together 27 examples of Sumerian love songs like. ranging in length from 10 lines to more than 100. Primar- A more fundamental problem in relation to this particular ily the songs feature references to the god Dumuzi and the book is that doubts remain about the validity of using these goddess manna; some refer in similar terms to an unspec- love songs, whose status as a Sumerian genre is itself uncer- ified pair of lovers while threevare between a deified king, tain, in order to flesh out the details of a ritual which is men- the late third millennium ruler Su-Sin, and a female admirer whose identity is again unspecified. It is to be hoped that 2) These similarities are mentioned by Sefati primarily in footnotes; for references see his Subject Index under Cant. For a more detailed discussion see, for example. Roland E. Murphy, The Song of Songs (Minneapolis, 29) See, e.g., TCNU 602. 1990), pp. 48-55: and for further cross-references between the Old Testa- 30) E.g., on p. 170. ment and three songs in this collection — Dumuzi-Inanna B, Dumuzi- 31 ) BIN 5 65 14-15; SAKF 36 7; SET 130 rev xi 478-479 (nam-en-na- Inanna H and Su-Sin B — see Yitschak Sefati, "Love Poems", in W. W. sè KA ba-ab-kés). Hallo and K. Lawson Younger Jr. (eds.), The Context of Scripture I (Lei- 32) See S AAS V (1996) p. 94, note to line 2. den, 1997), pp. 540-543. 3) For further discussion of Frazer's approach, and the reservations of 1 ) The quotation comes from Sweeney Agonistes. This review has ben- many subsequent anthropologists, see, for example, G. Cunningham, Reli- efïted from both the comments of my colleagues working on the Electronic gion and Magie: Approaches and Theories (Edinburgh, 1999), and S. J. Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature and the editions we are in the process Tambiah, Magie, Science. Religion and the Scope of Rationality (Cam- of publishing (http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/). bridge, 1990).'