Time and History in the Ancient Near East

Transcription

1 Offprint From: Time and History in the Ancient Near East Proceedings of the 56th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Barcelona July 2010 edited by L. Feliu, J. Llop, A. Millet Albà, and J. Sanmartín Winona Lake, Indiana Eisenbrauns 2013

2 2013 by Eisenbrauns Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rencontre assyriologique internationale (56th : 2010 : Barcelona, Spain) Time and history in the ancient Near East : proceedings of the 56th Rencontre assyriologique internationale at Barcelona July 2010 / edited by L. Feliu, J. Llop, A. Millet Alba, and J. Sanmartín. pages cm Conference proceedings in English, French, and German. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Assyria Civilization Congresses. 2. Beginning Congresses. 3. Cosmology Congresses. I. Feliu, Lluís, 1965 editor. II. Title. DS71.R dc The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z

3 Contents 56th World Congress for Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology, Barcelona Address (July 26, 2010) Prof. Joaquín Sanmartín, Chairman Program xv Opening Lectures Time before Time: Primeval Narratives in Early Mesopotamian Literature.. 3 Gonzalo Rubio The Extent of Literacy in Syria and Palestine during the Second Millennium b.c.e Wilfred H. van Soldt Time and History in the Ancient Near East Time Pulled up in Ashurnasirpal s Reliefs Laura Battini Akkadian and Aramaic Terms for a Favorable Time (ḫidānu, adānu, and ʿiddān): Semitic Precursors of Greek kairos? Daniel Bodi Masters of Time: Old Babylonian Kings and Calendars Dominique Charpin and Nele Ziegler Notes on the Neo-Assyrian Siege-Shield and Chariot Fabrice De Backer Changing Space, Time, and Meaning: The Seal of Yaqaru from Ugarit A Reconversion? Silvana Di Paolo Time in Neo-Assyrian Letters Frederick Mario Fales The Historical Preamble of the Talmi-Šarruma Treaty (CTH 75) and Some Chronological Problems of the History of Halap Daria Gromova Magie et Histoire: les rituels en temps de guerre Cynthia Jean xi v

4 vi Contents Time and Again: Marduk s Travels Erika D. Johnson Time in Death and Afterlife: The Concept of Time and the Belief in Afterlife Dina Katz Concepts and Perception of Time in Mesopotamian Divination Ulla Susanne Koch Temps, mémoire et évolution des cultures aux époques archaïques: écriture du passé et listes lexicales Camille Lecompte Time in Ancient Israel: Hebrew ʿôlām, Past and Future Baruch A. Levine Lange Jahre und Lebenszeit bei den Hethitern Jürgen Lorenz The Heuristic Value of E. de Martino s Concept of Metahistory and Related Topics in Research into Mesopotamian Cultural History Alessandro Di Ludovico I Read the Inscriptions from before the Flood... Neo-Sumerian Influences in Ashurbanipal s Royal Self-Image Natalie Naomi May Mesopotamian Idea of Time through Modern Eyes (Disruption and Continuity) Àngel Menargues Rajadell Temporalité et spatialité dans les rites de passage de l Anatolie hittite Alice Mouton Reconsidering the Categories of Time in Ancient Iraq Susana B. Murphy Internal and External Evidence for a Reconstruction of Nuzi Chronology P. Negri Scafa The Other Face of the Moon: Some Hints on the Visual Representation of the Moon on Third-Millennium b.c.e. Mesopotamian Glyptic Sara Pizzimenti The Tuleilat al-ghassul Star Painting: A Hypothesis Regarding a Solar Calendar from the Fourth Millennium b.c Andrea Polcaro The Monster s Gaze: Vision as Mediator between Time and Space in the Art of Mesopotamia K. Sonik A Time to Rejoice: The Egalkura Rituals and the Mirth of Iyyar Henry Stadhouders Der Kalendar von Adab im 3. Jahrtausend M. Such-Gutiérrez

5 Contents vii Divine or Human Creation of Time? The Issue of Time as a Factor Determining the Relationship of Man to God Krzysztof Ulanowski Workshops Architecture and Archaeology Modern Architecture and Archaeology: The Case of the Hypothetical Reconstruction of the Neo-Assyrian Palace at Tell Massaïkh (Syria), Jordi Abadal, Pedro Azara, David Capellas, Albert Imperial, and Miguel Orellana Idea and Image: How What We Know Determines What We Want to Know Fernando Escribano Martín Architecture and Ancient Near East in Drawings, Buildings, and Virtual Reality: Issues in Imagining and Designing Ancient and Modern Space Maria Gabriella Micale Invented Space: Discovering Near Eastern Architecture through Imaginary Representations and Constructions Davide Nadali Fragments d arts mésopotamiens: aux origines des empires Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault Reception of Ancient Near Eastern Architecture in Europe and North America in the 20th Century Brigitte Pedde Assyrian Wall Paintings and Modern Reconstructions Paola Poli Early Akkadian and Its Semitic Context Form und Datierung früher semitischer Lehnwörter im Sumerischen J. Keetman Stativität und Perfektivität in den Ost- und Westsemitischen Sprachen Eulàlia Vernet i Pons Hurrian Language A Hurro-Akkadian Expression for Changing One s Testimony Attested in Nuzi Trial Records Jeanette C. Fincke Hurrian Personal Names in the Kingdom of Ḫatti Stefano de Martino Gedanken zu den Textstellen I:90 und III:30 in dem Mittanni-Brief J. Oliva

6 viii Contents Law in the Ancient Near East Historical Context and Social Theories: Its Influence on the Study of Mesopotamian Juridical Phenomena Eleonora Ravenna The Importance of Time in Old Babylonian Juridical Texts Cristina Simonetti Middle Assyrian Texts and Studies Sag mir quando, sag mir wann Stefan Jakob Contractual Formalism and Zukunftsbewältigung in Middle Assyrian Agricultural Accounting J. Cale Johnson The Eponym Bēr-nādin-apli and the Documents Referring to the Expeditions to the City of Tille in the Reign of Tukultī-Ninurta I ( b.c.e.) Jaume Llop Die tägliche Speisung des Assur (gināʾu) und deren politische Bedeutung Stefan M. Maul Imperial Culture: Some Reflections on Middle Assyrian Settlements Aline Tenu Varia Tugdamme and the Cimmerians: A Test of Piety in Assyrian Royal Inscriptions Selim F. Adalı The Changing Approaches to History in the Neo-Assyrian Palace Reliefs Mehmet-Ali Ataç Genres Meet: Assurbanipal s Prayer in the Inscription L 4 and the Bilingual Communal Lamentations Amitai Baruchi-Unna L incorruptible et l éphémère: le miel et la glace, composants sacrés des boissons royales Daniel Bonneterre Three Kings of the Orient in Archaic Ur Petr Charvát Ilum-išar et Apil-kīn: deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari Laurent Colonna d Istria and Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel A Few Thoughts about Late Chalcolithic Architecture and the Uruk Expansion in the Middle Euphrates Area Jesús Gil Fuensanta and Juan Manuel Gonzalez Salazar Further Considerations on the Ankara Silver Bowl Federico Giusfredi

7 Contents ix The Evolution of the Side Court House in Late MB Central and Southwestern Anatolia Fabrizio Giovannetti The Role of the Saĝĝa in Ur III Based on the Puzriš-Dagān Texts Jorge Hernández Life Extension: Secondary Burial and the Making and Unmaking of Self in EB IA Rick Hauser The Offering for the Ritual of King Seleucus III and His Offspring Yasuyuki Mitsuma Some New Light on Pre-Sargonic Umma Salvatore F. Monaco Settlement Patterns and Interactions in thewest Bank Highlands in the Iron Age I Period: A New Approach Alessio Palmisano Computational and Spatial Approaches to the Commercial Landscapes and Political Geography of the Old Assyrian Colony Period Alessio Palmisano Eunuchs in Hatti and Assyria: A Reassessment Ilan Peled Eridu Texts Giovanni Pettinato Les particularités d emploi des signes cunéiformes à différentes périodes de la langue hittite Olga Popova Recent Researches in the Erbil Region: 2010 Excavations in Kilik Mishik (Iraqi Kurdistan) Olivier Rouault Wer war Großkönig I(a)+ra/i-TONITRUS der KARAHÖYÜK-Inschrift? Zsolt Simon Identification of an Unfinished Statue Found in a Quarry at Karakiz, Yozgat, Turkey Dr. İlknur Taş, Ömer Yılmaz, and Özlem Sir Gavaz

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9 Offprint from: L. Feliu, J. Llop, A Millet Albà, and J. Sanmartín (ed.), Time and History in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 56th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Barcelona Copyright 2013 Eisenbrauns. All rights reserved. 56 e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Barcelone th World Congress for Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology, Barcelona 2010 Address (July 26, 2010) Prof. Joaquín Sanmartín Chairman Director of the IPOA, University of Barcelona Magnífic Senyor Rector, Professor Michalowski, Professor Civil, Professor Del Olmo; Ladies and gentlemen, Meine Damen und Herren, Mesdames et Messieurs: It is for us a privilege to have the Rector of the University of Barcelona chairing our first meeting. And it is with real great pleasure that I welcome you all to Barcelona on the occasion of the Rencontre. On my own behalf and on behalf of you all, I would like to thank most especially the Rector of the University of Barcelona, Prof. Ramírez, and his Rectoral Team for their help in organizing this Rencontre. Also the Dean of the Faculty of Philology, Prof. Sotelo, deserves our gratitude for advice and support. I wish to thank likewise the colleagues and students that have made possible the Rencontre: Cristina Bentué, Dr Lluís Feliu, Agnès Garcia, Rodrigo Hernáiz, Alexandra Lladó, Dr Jaume Llop, Erika Marsal, Prof. Dr Adelina Millet, Ivana Panzeca, Susana Soler, Dr Eulàlia Vernet, Dr Mariona Vernet, Constatino Vidal, Dr Jordi Vidal and many others, whose names I cannot list here. Special thanks are due to Dr Lluís Feliu, Dr Adelina Millet, and Dr Jaume Llop for the editing of these Proceedings. As you all know, these are schlechte Zeiten für Lyrik. Nevertheless, the University of Barcelona has spared no effort to make this meeting possible, and we are very grateful to you, Prof. Ramírez, Professor Sotelo, for all you have done for us. Gestiegene Einschreibungsgebühren wofür uns entschuldigen und die Hitze des Monats Juli wofür uns nicht entschuldigen können haben Sie, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, nicht abgehalten, Barcelona anläßlich der Rencontre zu besuchen. Ich freue mich sehr, dass Sie unsere Einladung in so großer Zahl angenommen haben. xi

10 xii Sanmartín: Address Ich freue mich ganz besonders, weil Sie mit Ihrer Anwesenheit und Ihrer Teilnahme an der Rencontre ein Zeugnis ablegen für die Lebendigkeit und Unerläßlichkeit des akademischen Humanismus. Ja, es sind wirklich schlechte Zeiten für Lyrik, und ganz besonders für diese Lyrik, die wie die unsere ihre Kraft aus der Tiefe der Geschichte schöpft. Es mag im Grunde sein, dass unsere tagtägliche Beschäftigung mit Tontafeln und Spaten uns eine ganze Portion poetisches Gemüt abverlangt. Poesie: Schon lange vor Aristoteles wußte man in Sumer und Akkad, in Babylon und Assur, in Syrien und Anatolien, dass Dichtung sowohl Tragödie als auch Komödie und vor allem Epos sein kann. Aber wir sind an einen Punkt angekommen, in dem Geschichte, Dichtung und Kunst politisch relevant und wirtschaftlich vertretbar werden müssen, um in der Akademie und außerhalb überleben zu können. Man verlangt von uns, endlich mal nützlich zu sein, unsere Tätigkeit sei nämlich reiner Luxus. Uns wird lediglich zugestanden einen billigen Luxus zu betreiben, weil wir praktisch für unsere Arbeit wenig mehr als Papier und Bleistift benötigen. Sind wir also Experten fürs Überflüssige? Sommes-nous des cultivateurs d une science glorieusement inutile? Je n oserais ni l affirmer ni le nier. Ceux qui nous critiquent ont raison en un point. C est vrai: Nous Assyriologues, Orientalistes, Historiens ne voulons pas changer le monde, nous n aspirons pas à construire un monde meilleur. Nous ne voulons rien changer; nous voulons seulement comprendre: Comprendre ce monde et son devenir, et, en faisant ainsi, nous rendre plus humains, c est-à-dire plus libres. Votre présence ici, aujourd hui, prouve que c est plutôt le concept même de science, plus précisément de science historique qui a besoin d être révisé. Il nous faut repenser la parenté entre la littérature et l historiographie, d une part, et entre l historiographie et la philosophie de l histoire, de l autre. Parce que la vraie reconstitution du passé ne relève pas seulement d une approche purement épistémologique de l histoire: Cette reconstitution rend nécessaire également une analyse ontologique de la condition historique. Time and History in the Ancient Near East c est le thème général de la Rencontre. Histoire et Temps sont des concepts très délicats à manier. Plusieurs matières comme l Archéologie, l Historiographie, la Chronologie, la Linguistique et les Sciences cognitives ont toutes beaucoup de choses à dire sur le Temps et sa digestion dans l Histoire. Chaque discipline fait cela d après sa perspective particulière, en reflétant une certaine dimension de notre condition historique personnelle. En conséquence, le programme de la Rencontre a prévu plusieurs sessions réservées aux ateliers spécifiques ou workshops : Middle Assyrian Texts and Studies, Hurrian Language, Architecture and Archaeology, Early Akkadian et Law in the Ancient Near East. Writing History, reading History, hearing History are to be seen not as individual acts, but as approaching an agreed interpretation within a particular social and cultural context. Certainly: We cannot do without either Philology or Archaeology. But: we cannot do without Anthropology and Sociology either. In the house of Assyriology there are many mansions. Assyriology is still a home for many children. Fortunately, some children have created their own families, which in turn have grown to powerful clans: examples are the International Congress for the Archaeology of

11 Sanmartín: Address xiii the Near East, the International Congress of Hittitology, and the Symposium on Ur Three that was held in Madrid last week. This is a sign of vitality, and that is good. The areas of knowledge behave like continents: they move and collide, to merge and split once more, changing their profiles over time. And, yes: Assyriology has become a big tree. But all its leafy and luxuriant branches have common roots. These roots are the women and men who saw the secret, who discovered what was hidden and brought back a tale of before the Deluge. The Instituto de Estudios del Próximo Oriente Antiguo of the University of Barcelona is very pleased to bring to your attention two men, who, like Gilgameš, laid our foundations saw the Deep and were wise in all matters, and set all their labours on tablets of stone Estas personas son el Profesor Miguel Civil Desveus y el Profesor Gregorio del Olmo Lete, a quienes queremos dedicar el Congreso. Porque si la Asiriología se ha convertido también en una ciencia hispana, ello se debe al ejemplo y esfuerzo de hombres como ellos. La presencia entre nosotros de una cincuentena de congresistas españoles e hispanoamericanos en su mayoría estudiantes jóvenes y el hecho mismo de celebrar esta Rencontre en Barcelona la primera Rencontre española es fruto de su laboriosa siembra y prueba del vigor de nuestra común vocación académica. Todos ellos han bebido del magisterio de Miguel Civil y de Gregorio del Olmo Lete. Quam ob rem et Prof. Dr. Michaeli Civil Desveus, Dr. h. c., et Prof. Dr. Gregorio del Olmo Lete, nostri Instituti quod de Oriente Proximo Antiquo dicitur conditori, hunc Congressum Internationalem de Assyriologia LVI et dare dono uolumus et dicare. Ladies and gentlemen: Thank you for your attention, and welcome to Barcelona. Meine Damen und Herren: Ich danke Ihnen für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit; Willkommen in Barcelona. Mesdames et Messieurs: Je vous remercie de votre attention; soyez bienvenus à Barcelone.

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13 Program 1 Monday, July 26, 2010 Paranimf 10:00 10:45 Welcoming Session Prof. Dídac Ramírez (Rector of the UB) Prof. Piotr Michalowski (President of the IAA) Prof. Joaquín Sanmartín (Organization of the RAI 2010)* 10:45 Opening Session Chair: Miquel Civil 10:45 11:15 Gonzalo Rubio: Time before Time: Primeval Narratives in Mesopotamian Literature* 11:15 11:45 Brigitte Groneberg: Creating Time in Narrative Discourse 11:45 12:15 Wilfred Van Soldt: The Extent of Literacy in Syria and Palestine during the Second Millennium b.c.* Gallery of the Paranimf 12:45 Art Exhibition Opening and refreshments Aula Magna Chair: Regine Pruzsinszky 16:00 16:30 Jana Mynarova: Those Were the Days : Time and History in the Amarna Letters 16:30 17:00 Hanadah Tarawneh: Recalling the past in the Amarna Letters 17:00 17:30 Fabrizio Giovannetti: The evolution of the Side Court House in Late MBA Central and Southwestern Anatolia* 17:30 18:00 Katrien De Graef: Historias difíciles, tiempos complicados! Chronological Implications of the Kûyâ Archive (Šimaškean Dynasty Early Sukkamahat, Susa) Aula Capella Chair: Jerrold Cooper 16:00 16:30 Salvatore Monaco: Some New Light on Pre-Sargonic Umma* 16:30 17:00 Marcos Such-Gutiérrez: Der Kalender von Adab im 3. Jahrtausend* 17:00 17:30 Magnus Widell: Time and History in the Ur III Period 17:30 18:00 Jorge Hernández: The Role of the sanga in Ur III Based on the Drehem Texts* 1. Asterisk: Lectures are published in this volume. xv

14 xvi Program Aula 0.1 Chair: Alfonso Archi Daria Gromova: The Historical Preamble of the Talmi-Sharruma Treaty (CTH 75) and Some Chronological Problems of the History of Halap* 16:30 17:00 Alice Mouton: Time and Space in the Hittite Rites of Passage* 17:00 17:30 Juergen Lorenz: Lange Jahre in hethitischen Texten* 17:30 18:00 Alessandro Di Ludovico: The Heuristic Value of Metahistory and Related Concepts as Theoretical Instruments in the Research on Mesopotamian Cultural History* Aula Magna Tuesday, July 27, 2010 Chair: Johannes C. de Moor 9:00 9:30 Mikko Luukko: The Language of Power: Neo-Assyrian Royal Letters under Scrutiny 9:30 10:00 Sergey Loesov: Time in Language: The Ways Akkadian Expresses the Present-Time Sense 10:00 10:30 Anson F. Rainey: Akkadian and the Hebrew Tenses 10:30 11:00 Jonathan Taylor: New fragments of Babylonian Yesteryear Chair: Peter Machinist 11:30 12:00 Tom Boiy: Late Babylonian Time Management: Counting Years or Facts and Fiction in the Babylon King List 12:00 12:30 Daniel Bodi: Akkadian and Aramaic Terms for a Favorable Time (ḫidannu and ʿiddān): Semitic Precursors of Greek kairos?* 12:30 13:00 Fabrice De Backer: Notes on the Neo-Assyrian Siege-Shield and Chariot* 13:00 13:30 Giovanni Pettinato: Eridu Texts* 16:00 16:30 Federico Giusfredi: Further Considerations on the Ankara Silver Bowl* 16:30 17:00 Baruch Levine: From the ʿolam of the Past to the ʿolam of the Future: Time in Ancient Israel* 17:00 17:30 Herbert Niehr: The Phoenician Inscription on the Sarcophagus of King Eshmunazor (KAI 14): Redaction History and Historical Implications 17:30 18:00 Pierre Bordreuil: Autour du 80e anniversaire du déchiffrement de l alphabet cunéiforme d Ougarit ( ) 18:00 18:30 Marta Rivaroli: Time out of Time: The Temporal Sequence of a Mesopotamian Festival Aula Capella Chair: Frederik M. Fales 8:50 18:30 Workshop: Middle Assyrian Texts and Studies 8:50 9:00 Jaume Llop: Presentation

15 Program xvii 9:00 9:30 Stefan M. Maul: Gemeinsam den Gott ernähren. Überlegungen zur politischen Bedeutung des Opfers vor Assur in mittelassyrischer Zeit* 9:30 10:00 Sören Minx: Außenansichten: Harran in mittelassyrischen Texten 10:00 10:30 Cinzia Pappi and Wilfred van Soldt: New Archaeological Research at Tell Satu Qala (Iraqi-Kurdistan) 10:30 11:00 Aline Tenu: Imperial Culture: Some Reflections on Middle Assyrian Settlements* Chair: Cinzia Pappi 11:30 12:00 Frederik M. Fales: The Rural Landscape of Middle Assyrian Dur-Katlimmu* 12:00 12:30 J. Cale Johnson (read by C.W: Hess): Comparative Agronomies: How do the Bookkeeping Practices of the Ur III and Middle Assyrian Agricultural Regimes Measure Up?* 12:30 13:00 John Nicholas Postgate: Measuring Grain (read by A. Stone) 13:00 13:30 Hervé Reculeau: Good Times, Bad Times: Environmental Issues of Middle Assyrian State Agriculture Chair: Stefan M. Maul 16:00 16:30 Yigal Bloch: Middle Assyrian Lunar Calendar and Chronology 16:30 17:00 Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum: Middle Assyrian Eponyms of the 13th and 12th Cent. and the Eponym-List from Ashur (read by E. Frahm) 17:00 17:30 Stefan Jakob: Sag mir quando, sag mir wann* 17:30 18:00 Jaume Llop: The Eponym Bēr-nādin-apli* 18:00 18:30 Daisuke Shibata: The Chronology and Genealogy of the Local Middle Assyrian Dynasty of Ṭābetu* Aula 0.1 Chair: Walter Farber 9:00 9:30 Joshua Jeffers: The Palace Reliefs of Sennacherib s Fifth Campaign 9:30 10:00 Mehmet-Ali Ataç: The Changing Approaches to History in the Neo-Assyrian Palace Reliefs* 10:00 10:30 Selim Ferruh Adali: Tugdamme and the Cimmerians: A Test of Piety in Assyrian Royal Inscriptions* 10:30 11:00 Dominique Charpin: ARCHIBAB, a new databank on-line Chair: Piotr Michalowski 11:30 12:00 Eckart Frahm: Contemporizing Tendencies in Text Commentaries from 7th Century Assur 12:00 12:30 Geert De Breucker: Berossos and Babylonian History 12:30 13:00 Kamran Vincent Zand: Observation on the UD.GAL. NUN-orthography 13:00 13:30 Laurent Colonna D istria: Les noms de mois durant l époque des šakkanakū de Mari*

16 xviii Program Chair: Karlheinz Kessler 16:00 16:30 Natalie Naomi May: I read the inscriptions from before the flood... Neo-Sumerian Influences in Ashurbanipal s Royal Self Image* 16:30 17:00 Violetta Cordani: One-year or Five-year War? A Reappraisal of Shuppiluliuma s First Syrian Campaign 17:00 17:30 Karen Sonik: The Monster s Gaze: Vision as Mediator between Time and Space in the Art of Mesopotamia* 17:30 18:00 Steven Lundström: Some Thoughts on Assyrian Stone Palaeography 18:00 18:30 Sara Tricoli: Ritual Time: The Ceremony of Nam-Tar in Mesopotamia and the Renewal of the Cosmic and Social Order Aula Magna Wednesday, July 28, 2010 Chair: Fumi Karahashi 9:00-9:30 Laura Battini: Time in Assurnasirpal s Reliefs* 9:30-10:00 Yi Chen: The Primeval Time of Origins in Sumerian and Babylonian Traditions 10:00 10:30 Elizabeth Stone: Mesopotamian Settlement Structure: The View from Space 10:30 11:00 Dominique Charpin and Nele Ziegler: Masters of Time: Old Babylonian Kings and Calendars* Chair: Claudia Suter 11:30 12:00 Joan Westenholz: The Once and Future King, The Paradigmatic Nature of History 12:00 12:30 Rick Hauser: Life Extension. Secondary Burial and the Making and Unmaking of Self in EB IA* 12:30 13:00 Marc Lebeau: Recent Discoveries at Tell Beydar (Syria) 13:00 13:30 Marc Lebeau and Walther Sallaberger: The ARCANE Project on the Chronology of the Third Millennium Chair: Karen Nemet-Nejat 16:00 16:30 Pawel Kociszewski: Time as Antivalue: Mesopotamian Historiosophy and Everyday Life 16:30 17:00 Eran Cohen: On the Nature of the Conditional Structures in the OB Law Collections 17:00 17:30 Paul Zimansky: Who Lived in an Urartian City? 17:30 18:00 Ilona Zsolnay: Unjustly Condemned: A Re-investigation of Sennacherib s Sacrilege Aula Capella Chair: Wilfred G. E. Watson 9:00-9:30 Marie-Françoise Besnier: The Series Shumma izbu: Between Stream of Tradition and Local Particularities 9:30-10:00 JoAnn Scurlock: Ancient Roots for the Sefirothic Tree?

17 Program xix 10:00 10:30 Matthew Rutz: A thread for Esagil-kin-apli: on the early history of the medical diagnostic handbook 10:30 11:00 Daniel Bonneterre: L incorruptible et l éphémère: le miel et la glace, composants sacrés des boissons royales* Chair: Manuel Molina 11:30 12:00 Eleanor Robson: The stream of tradition 50 years on 12:00 12:30 Ilan Peled: Eunuchs throughout the History of the Ancient Near East: A Reassessment* 12:30 13:00 Reinhard Pirngruber: History and divination. The ominous references in the Astronomical Diaries 13:00 13:30 Aaron Tugendhaft: Politics and Time in the Baal Cycle Chair: Robert Biggs 16:00 16:30 Petr Charvat: Three kings of the Orient (in Archaic Ur)* 16:30 17:00 Giuseppe Visicato: The weavers in Middle Sargonic Adab 17:00 17:30 Cristina Di Bennardis and Jorge Silva Castillo: La conduite des gouvernants et le sort des états mésopotamiens, à la lumière d un document des Archives Royales de Mari (ARM 1,3) 17:30 18:00 Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel and Laurent Colonna d Istria: Ilum-ishar et Apil-kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari-Tell Hariri* Aula 0.1 Chair: Guy Bunnens 9:00-9:30 Jesús Gil Fuensanta and Juan Manuel González Salazar: Some thoughts about the Late Chalcolithic Architecture and Uruk Expansion in the Middle Euphrates Area* 9:30-10:00 Javier Álvarez-Mon: Metal Wares and Pottery Assemblages of the Late Neo-Elamite Period 10:30 11:00 Sara Pizzimenti: The Other Face of the Moon. Some Hints on the Visual Representation of the Moon as Temporal Element in the III Millenium b.c. Mesopotamian Glyptic* 10:30 11:00 Olivier Rouault: Recent Researches in the Erbil region: 2010 excavations in Kilik Mishik (Iraqi Kurdistan)* Chair: Steve Tinney 11:30 12:00 Amitai Baruchi-Unna: Genres Meet: Assurbanipal s Prayer in the Inscription L4 and the Bilingual Communal Lamentations* 12:00 12:30 Heather D. Baker: The Real Meaning of ṭuppi 12:30 13:00 Cynthia Jean: Magie et Histoire: les rituels en temps de guerre* 13:00 13:30 Alessio Palmisano: Computational and Spatial Approaches to the Commercial Landscapes and Political Geography of the Old Assyrian Colony Period* Chair: David Owen 16:00 18:00 Workshop: Hurrian Language 16:00 16:30 Jeanette C. Fincke: The Value of the Nuzi-Texts for the Hurrian Dictionary* 16:30 17:00 Mauro Giorgieri: Die hurritische Grammatik heute: ein Überblick*

18 xx Program 17:00 17:30 Juan Oliva: Gedanken zu den Textstellen I:90 und III:30 in dem Mittani-Brief 17:30 18:00 Stefano de Martino: The Use of Hurrian Personal Names in the Kingdom of Hatti* Aula Magna Thursday, July 29, 2010 Chair: Konrad Volk 9:00 9:30 Caroline Waerzeggers: The Babylonian Chronicles Reconsidered 9:30 10:00 Bonnie Nilhamn: The Ring a Symbol for Eternity? (aka The Beaded Ring Part II ) 10:00 10:30 Anne Goddeeris: The History of a Family Estate: Five Generations Inheriting 10:30 11:00 Saana Svärd: Power in the Neo-Assyrian Empire Chair: Theo J. H. Krispijn 11:30 12:00 Camille Lecompte: Temps et évolution des cultures aux époques archaïques: le cas des listes lexicales* 12:00 12:30 Paola Negri Scafa: Internal and External Evidence for a Reconstruction of Nuzi Chronologies* 12:30 13:00 Frederick M. Fales: Time in Neo-Assyrian Letters* 13:00 13:30 Jacob Klein: In Those Distant Days : Time Unit Expressions in Mesopotamian Literature Aula Capella Chair: Marco Bonechi 9:00 13:00 Workshop: Early Akkadian and Its Semitic Context 9:00 9:30 Leonid Kogan: On Some Orthographic Oppositions in the Old Babylonian Copies of Sargonic Royal Inscriptions 9:30 10:00 Walter Sommerfeld: Continuity and Discontinuity in Early Akkadian 10:00 10:30 Ekaterina Markina: Economic Documents of the Sargonic Period as Linguistic Evidence 10:30 11:00 Jan Keetman: Zur Herkunft, Form und Datierung semitischer Lehnworte im Sumerischen* Chair: Walter Sommerfeld 11:30 12:00 Bert Kouwenberg: Presentative Particles in Older Akkadian 12:00 12:30 Marco Bonechi: The Suffix -an in the Semitic Lexicon of the Ebla Texts 12:30 13:00 Eulàlia Vernet Pons: Stativität und Perfektivität im Ost- und Westsemitischen Sprachen* Aula 0.1 Chair: Maria Gabriella Micale 9:00 13:00 Workshop: Architecture and Archaeology 9:00 9:30 Pedro Azara and Jordi Abadal et al.: Virtual Reconstruction of a Neo-Assyrian Palace at Tell Massaïkh*

19 Program xxi 9:30 10:00 Davide Nadali: The Invented Space: Building Near Eastern Architecture with Imagery Representations and Constructions* 10:00 10:30 Paola Poli: Assyrian Wall Paintings and Modern Reconstructions* 10:30 11:00 Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault: Fragments d arts mésopotamiens: aux origines des empires* Chair: Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault 11:30 12:00 Brigitte Pedde: Reception of Ancient Near Eastern Architecture in Europe and North America in the 20th Century* 12:00 12:30 Fernando Escribano: Idea and Image. How What We Know Determines What We Want to Know* 12:30 13:00 Maria Gabriella Micale: Architecture and Ancient Near East in Drawings, Buildings and Virtual Reality: Issues in Imagining and Designing Ancient and Modern Space* Aula Magna Friday, July 30, 2010 Chair: Antoine Cavigneaux 9:00 9:30 Mark Geller: Time for Babylonian Medicine 9:30 10:00 Krzysztof Ulanowski: Divine or Human Creation of Time? The Issue of Time as a Factor Determining the Role of Man to God* 10:00 10:30 Wilfred G. Lambert: Time as a Cosmological Principle in Sumerian and Babylonian Thought 10:30 11:00 Erika Johnson: Time and Again: Marduk s Travels* Chair: Dominique Charpin 11:30 12:00 Peter Dubovsky: Angry Gods Intervene into Human History 12:00 12:30 Dina Katz: Time in Death and Afterlife: The Concept of Time and the Belief in Afterlife* 12:30 13:00 Ulla Koch: Perception of Time in Babylonian Divination 13:00 13:30 Yasuyuki Mitsuma: A Ritual Offering of the Tribute from King Seleucus* Chair: Joaquín Sanmartín 16:00 16:30 Àngel Menargues Rajadell: The Mesopotamian Idea of Time through Modern Eyes (Disruption and Continuity)* 16:30 17:00 Silvana Di Paolo: Dislocation in Space, Time and Meaning? The Seal of Yaqarum from a Mesopotamian Perspective* 17:00 17:30 Kathleen McCaffrey: From Sumerian Vase to Assyrian Tree: The Evolution of the Sacred Marriage Rite 17:30 18:00 Artak Movsisyan: The Sumerian Aratta and the Biblical Ararat (From Prehistoric Times to the Historical Events of 1st Mill. b.c.) Aula Capella Chair: Eva Von Dassow 9:00 13:30 Workshop: Law in the Ancient Near East

20 xxii Program 9:00 9:30 Cornelia Wunsch: Legal Narrative in Neo-Babylonian Practice Texts 9:30 10:00 Martha Roth: Acts and Actors in the Laws of Hammurabi: The Bodily Injury Provisions 10:00 10:30 Rachel Magdalene: Legal Science Then and Now: Theory and Method in the Work of Raymond Westbrook 10:00 10:30 Eleonora Ravenna: Cultural Foundations of Law: Contributions of the Anthropological Theory to the Interpretation of the Old Babylonian Juridical Phenomena* Chair: Martha Roth 11:30 12:00 Eva Von Dassow: Labor and Liberty in the Late Bronze Age 12:00 12:30 Lena Fijalkowska: Private Ownership in Late Bronze Age Syria: The Case of Emar and Ekalte 12:30 13:00 Malgorzata Sandowicz: Time and Place. Circumstances of Swearing Assertory Oaths in Neo- and Late-Babylonian Periods 13:00 13:30 Cristina Simonetti: The Importance of Time in Old Babylonian Juridical Texts* 13:30 Round Table (Josué J. Justel; Daniele Federico Rosa) Chair: Martin Worthington 16:00 16:30 Ilknur Taş: Unfinished Sculpture from a Quarry Karakiz Yozgat* 16:30 17:00 Zsolt Simon: Wer war Grosskönig I(a)+ra/i-TONITRUS der KARAHÖYÜK-Inschrift?* 17:00 17:30 Anna Meskhi: Kartvelian and Sumerian Language Similarities: UGULO-UGULA 17:30 18:00 Andrea Polcaro: The Tuleilat al-ghassul Star Painting: an Hypothesis of a Solar Calendar in the IV Millenium b.c.* Aula 0.1 Chair: Karel van Lerberghe 9:00 9:30 Munther Abdul Malik: The Unpublished Cuneiform Texts from Namrud (Kalih) 9:30 10:00 Alexander Andrason: Old Babylonian Iparras: A Cognitively Based Explanation of Its Temporal, Aspectual and Modal Meaning 10:00 10:30 Natia Phiphia: Historical Memory about Migration of the Kaskians in the Western Georgia 10:00 10:30 Alessio Palmisano: Settlement Patterns and Interactions in the West Bank Highlands in the Iron Age I Period: A New Approach* Chair: Steven Garfinkle 11:30 12:00 Takayoshi Oshima: Do not let me return to clay! 12:00 12:30 Henry Stadhouders: A Time to Rejoice* 12:30 13:00 Susana B. Murphy: Reconsidering the Categories of Time in Ancient Iraq* 13:00 13:30 Olga Popova: Les particularités d emploi des signes cunéiformes à différentes périodes de la langue hittite* 13:30 14:00 Fayssal Abdallah: Yamhad Halab / Alepm une histoire du temps de Mari

21 The Offering for the Ritual of King Seleucus III and His Offspring Yasuyuki Mitsuma University of London 1. Introduction Ever since the publication of the Late-Babylonian chronicle BM = ABC 13b (now known as BCHP 12) in 1975, the offering recorded in this chronicle has been the most controversial topic in the study of the cuneiform historical texts from Seleucid Babylonia. This offering was conducted in the city of Babylon on Nisan 8, 224/223 b.c.e., at the beginning of the second full Babylonian year in the short reign of Seleucus III Ceraunus. 1 The offering was ordered and patronized by the king, and its purpose was designated by the unique phrase ana dulli ša Siluku šarri u mārēšu for the ritual of Seleucus the king and his sons/descendants/offspring. 2 Some scholars have regarded this offering as a celebration of the cult of Seleucus I Nicator, the founder of the Seleucid dynasty, and his descendants, 3 while others have identified Siluku šarru with Seleucus II Callinicus, the late father of the ruling king, and have regarded the offering as the equivalent of the offering for the wellbeing of the king, his relatives, and high officials of the empire, which was often conducted in Seleucid and Arsacid Babylonia. 4 Author s note: My thanks go to T. Boiy (Louvain, KU Leuven) for discussing the chronology of Seleucus III at the 56th RAI and sending his paper, which was in preparation, to D. Shibata (Tsukuba) and D. T. Tsumura (Tokyo) for commenting on my presentation for the RAI, and to S. Tsumura (Tokyo) for correcting my English manuscript. My thanks also go to the Japan Science Society (Sasakawa Grants for Science Fellows) for supporting my participation in the Rencontre, and to the Trustees of the British Museum for allowing me to study the tablet BM In this paper, a Babylonian year is indicated by two (partly) corresponding b.c.e. year numbers. -n is the text number of the astronomical diaries published in A. J. Sachs, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia (ed. H. Hunger; vols. 1 3; Vienna: VÖAW, ). Most abbreviations follow the list in RlA. The abbreviation not used in RlA is: BCHP = I. Finkel and R. J. van der Spek, Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period (scholarly ed.; J. Lendering, 2004) (accessed February 5, 2011). 1. He acceded to the throne in 226/225 b.c.e., and his first full year was 225/224 b.c.e. (see T. Boiy, The Reigns of the Seleucid Kings According to the Babylon King List, JNES 70 (2011) 1a 12b, esp. 3a 7b; cf. G. R. F. Assar, The Inception and Terminal Dates of the Reigns of Seleucus II, Seleucus III and Antiochus III, NABU [2007] n 45). 2. For the meaning of the word mārēšu, see māru in CAD M/1: 308a 16a. 3. G. J. P. McEwan, Priest and Temple in Hellenistic Babylonia (FAOS 4; Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1981) ; R. J. van der Spek, The Babylonian Temple during the Macedonian and Parthian Domination, BiOr. 42 (1985) cols , esp. cols S. M. Sherwin-White, Ritual for a Seleucid King at Babylon? Journal of Hellenic Studies 103 (1983) 156a 59b; R. J. van der Spek, The Astronomical Diaries as a Source for Achaemenid and Seleucid 739

22 740 Yasuyuki Mitsuma However, some features of the offering for the ritual support the identification of Seleucus the king and his sons with the reigning ruler Seleucus III and following Seleucids and indicate the inclusion of the offering in the traditional New Year Festival, 5 in which kingship was newly legitimized or annually renewed before Marduk, the patron deity of Babylon. These points will show Seleucus intention to reinforce his kingship in the city. 2. Record of the Offering First, let us look at the record of the offering, which extends from obv. 3 to rev. 10 of BCHP 12. Transliteration obv. 3 [M]U KAM m Si-lu-ku LUGAL ITU BAR ITU BI U 4-8-KAM 1-en DUMU E ki lú ŠÀ-TAM É-sag-gíl 4 [ḫi]-pi šá É-sag-gíl ina KA LUGAL lìb-bu-ú kuš ši-piš-tum šá LUGAL šá ina IGI-ma iš-šá-a 5 [K]I?? KÙ-BABBAR TA É LUGAL TA É rama-ni-šú 11 GU 4 ḫá ma-ru-tu 1-me UDU-NÍTA 6 [m]a-ru-tu 11 mušen UZ-TUR ma-ru-tu a-na NIDBA ina lìb-bi É -[s]ag-gíl 7 a-na d EN d GAŠAN-ia u DINGIR meš GAL meš ù a -[n]a dul- lu šá m Si-[lu]- ku LU[GAL] 8 u A meš -šú il-ta-kan ḪA-LA meš šá GU 4 [ meš ] u SISKUR meš MU-a- tim a-na rev. 9 lú GALA meš ù lú ŠÀ-TAM iq -bi a-na lú DI-KUD meš šá LUGAL u DUMU-DÙ- i 10 [a-na] muḫ-ḫi uru Si-lu- ki-ia -a-am ul-te-bil (vacat) Comments 4 The second sign of this line is PI. This leads us to restore the word [ḫi]-pi in this place. This word indicates that the original word in this place was in a break when the text of BM was copied from one or more materials. The original word is probably another title or an epithet of the šatammu, the chief-priest of Esagil, who is mentioned at the end of the last line (see also van der Spek and Finkel, Seleucus III Chronicle [BCHP 12]: Commentary ). 5 For the reading [K]I??, see ibid. É rama-ni-šú, his own estate, was the estate belonging to the main subject of the sentence, the chief-priest of Esagil. On this point, see ibid. 7 For the transliteration dul- lu, see R. J. van der Spek, review of Del Monte, Testi cronografici, Or. 69 (2000) , esp. 438; cf. van der Spek, The Astronomical Diaries, col. 101 n The verb šitkunu is often used with šuzzuzu for describing presentations of offerings in the chronicles and the astronomical diaries from the Seleucid History, BiOr. 50 (1993) cols , esp. cols ; G. F. Del Monte, Testi cronografici (Testi dalla Babilonia ellenistica 1; Pisa: Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali, 1997) 205; T. Boiy, Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylon (OLA 136; Louvain: Peeters, 2004) ; M. J. H. Linssen, The Cults of Uruk and Babylon: The Temple Ritual Texts as Evidence for Hellenistic Cult Practises (CunMon. 25; Leiden: Brill-Styx, 2004) ; R. J. van der Spek and I. Finkel, Seleucus III Chronicle (BCHP 12): Commentary, in BCHP, (accessed February 6, 2011). 5. The possibility of the inclusion in the New Year Festival has been discussed by some scholars (see ABC, 277b 78b; Sherwin-White, Ritual for a Seleucid King, col. 159a).

23 The Offering for the Ritual of King Seleucus III and His Offspring 741 and the Arsacid periods. In the pair, šuzzuzu indicates the arrangement of the animal offerings, and šitkunu, their presentation (see e.g., -178C rev ; BCHP 19 rev ). The sign SISKUR designates niqû, a word that can indicate various animal offerings. In this case, however, the present author believes it must refer to sheep, because SISKUR is often modified by the determinative for sheep or written together with the sign for sheep in the diaries from the Seleucid and the Arsacid periods (-187A rev. 5, 17 ; -137D rev. 23, 27). For niqû, see also Linssen, The Cults of Uruk and Babylon, The restoration [a-na] was proposed in R. J. van der Spek and I. Finkel, Seleucus III Chronicle (BCHP 12): Description, Text and Translation, in BCHP, (accessed February 6, 2011). Translation 3 Year 88 (according to the Seleucid Era, 224/223 b.c.e.), Seleucus (was) the king. Month Nisan. In this month, on the eighth day, one of the citizens of Babylon, the chief-priest of Esagil, 4 [-bro]ken- of Esagil, by order of the king, according to the document of the king, which he had sent in advance, 5 with(??) silver from the royal treasury, from his own (the chief-priest s) estate 8 presented (sing.) 11 fat oxen, 100 sheep, 6 which were fattened, (and) 11 fat ducks as offerings, within Esagil, 7 to Bēl (Marduk), Bēltiya (Ṣarpānītu), and the Great Gods, and for the ritual of Seleucus the king 8 and his sons/descendants/offspring. 9 He (the chief-priest) allotted portions of these oxen and sheep to 9 lamentation-priests and the chief-priest (himself and) 10 sent 8 (other portions) to judges of the king and free men 10 toward Seleucia. As shown in obv. line 3, the offering was conducted in the Year 88 according to the Seleucid Era. This year covered twelve standard lunar months plus one intercalary month, starting from the spring of 224 b.c.e. The name after the year number, Seleucus, designates the ruler of Babylon at that time, Seleucus III. The remainder of line 3 and the first part of line 4 show that the offering was conducted on the eighth day of the month Nisan by the chief-priest of Esagil temple, the residence of the god Marduk. The remaining part of line 4 shows that the king had ordered the offering in advance. The first half of line 5 shows that the chief-priest provided the animals presented in the offering, but that the payment for them was disbursed from the royal treasury. The latter half of this line and the first half of the next line show the number of the animals, 11 oxen, 100 sheep, and 11 ducks. This is about ten to twenty times as many as that in the other presentations in Babylon which were conducted or patronized by members of the Seleucid family or high officials of the Seleucid Empire. 6 In those cases, not more than eight animals were presented at one time. Several of those cases were presentations for the well-being of the king, and in the ordinary case of such an offering, not more than six animals were presented. 7 The latter part of line 6 shows that the offering was held in Esagil. Ac- 6. Cf. e.g., BCHP 5 obv ; -273B obv ; -144 rev See, e.g., -187A rev ; -178C rev ; -171B rev. 1 7.

24 742 Yasuyuki Mitsuma cording to the first half of line 7, the recipients of the offering were Marduk, his divine consort Ṣarpānītu, and the Great Gods. The latter half of line 8 and rev. lines 9 and 10 show a part of the animals was allotted to lamentation-priests and the chief-priest of Esagil himself in Babylon and another part was sent to judges of the king and free men in Seleucia on the Tigris, the Seleucid administrative center in Babylonia. The purpose of this offering is shown in the last part of line 7 and the first part of line 8 by the phrase for the ritual of Seleucus the king and his sons. This phrase shows that the offering was conducted for the actualization or completion of the ritual of (in other word, for) Seleucus the king and his sons. 3. Identification of Seleucus the King and His Sons To understand the purpose of the offering, it is necessary to firmly identify the referents of the phrase Siluku šarru u mārēšu, Seleucus the king and his sons in lines 7 8. The possible referents of Siluku šarru are the reigning ruler of Babylon at that time Seleucus III, his late father Seleucus II, or the founder of the Seleucid Dynasty, Seleucus I. Previous studies have identified the Siluku šarru as one of the two deceased rulers, but the present author prefers to identify him with the reigning ruler, Seleucus III, for the following reasons. First, if Siluku šarru designates a deceased ruler, there is no clear reference to the title of the reigning ruler Seleucus III in the phrase in question. In this case, he is not termed the king but is simply one of the sons of his father Seleucus II or one of the descendants of his great-great grandfather Seleucus I. However, the reigning ruler is usually referred to as PN the king in the descriptions of the offering for his bulṭu, well-being, conducted in Seleucid Babylonia. 8 A diary for 172/171 b.c.e. attests the phrase for the well-being of the kings, without their names. 9 They are the reigning ruler Antiochus IV and his young nephew and nominal co-regent Antiochus. 10 We must pay attention to the fact that even the nominal co-regent is one of the kings in this case. In comparison with these cases, it is strange if the ruler Seleucus III is merely referred to as one of the sons of a diseased king in the description of the offering made under his rule. Second, the designation Siluku šarru in BHCP 12 obv. 7 is the simple repetition of that in line 3 of the same chronicle. The Siluku šarru in line 3 is a part of the date formula, Year 88, Seleucus (was) the king, and designates the reigning ruler at that time, that is, Seleucus III. If a deceased Seleucus were mentioned in line 7, it is reasonable to think that his name would be distinguished from that of the living ruler, who had been mentioned just a few lines earlier in the same chronicle. There 8. YOS 1 52 (at Uruk, for the well-being of [?] the late king Antiochus II and the reigning ruler Seleucus II); S (at Cutha, for the well-being of Seleucus III; This text was published in L. T. Doty, A Cuneiform Tablet from Tell ʿUmar, Mesopotamia [ ] 91 98); -204C rev (Babylon, Antiochus III); ADFU 3, 6 7 (Uruk, Antiochus III); -187A rev (Babylon, Antiochus III); YBC (Uruk, Antiochus III and his co-regent Seleucus IV); -178C rev (Babylon, Seleucus IV); -160A obv. 2 3 (Babylon, Demetrius I) B rev. 1 7 (Babylon). 10. For the duration of their joint kingship and its sources, see Del Monte, Testi cronografici, 208 9, 239, 258. The nephew Antiochus is called his (Antiochus IV s) son in the cuneiform sources. For the nephew, see J. D. Grainger, A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer (Leiden: Brill, 1997) 37.

25 The Offering for the Ritual of King Seleucus III and His Offspring 743 is an example of such a distinction in another chronicle, BCHP This chronicle distinguishes between Seleucus II and III by the use of their patronymics. Seleucus II is referred to as son of Antiochus (rev. 7 ), and Seleucus III as son of Seleucus (rev. 8 ). 12 In short, the lack of such a distinction in BCHP 12 leads us to identify Seleucus the king in its line 7 with the reigning ruler referred to in its line 3, that is, Ceraunus. Third, Seleucus III s bachelorhood does not prevent the identification with the Siluku šarru mentioned with mārēšu, his sons in lines 7 8. Scholars have rejected the possibility of this identification, because Seleucus III had no sons as of Nisan 8, 224/223 b.c.e. 13 Certainly he did not have a son at that time, and never did, due to his premature death in 222 b.c.e., but the word mārēšu can be interpreted as referring to his desired and expected offspring. 4. Inclusion in the New Year Festival in Babylon According to the description in BCHP 12, the ritual of (for) Seleucus (III), the king, and his (expected) offspring was actualized or completed by the performance of the offering for the ritual on Nisan 8, 224/223 b.c.e. in Esagil temple. Some features of this offering indicate its inclusion in the traditional New Year Festival of Babylon, which functioned as a scene of legitimization or renewal of the kingship. First, various evidence from the first millennium b.c.e. shows that the New Year Festival was conducted yearly in Esagil at the beginning of the month of Nisan. 14 A diary from the Seleucid period, -204C, attests the celebration of the New Year Festival at Esagil on Nisan 8, 205/204 b.c.e., just 19 years since the offering for the ritual. On this day, the king Antiochus III himself conducted the ḫarû ritual at Kasikilla, the great gate of Esagil, and then entered the Day-One Temple (É-U 4-1-KÁM) and performed the offering for his own well-being (-204C rev ). The ḫarû ritual formed a part of the annual New Year Festival. 15 Second, the exceptional number of animals presented in the offering for the ritual (11 oxen, 100 sheep, and 11 ducks) indicates that they were not merely a day s supply of food to the divine recipients of the offering, Marduk, his consort, and the Great Gods, but the supply for the whole period of the New Year Festival, which was annually conducted from Nisan 1 to The number of the oxen and ducks can easily be explained as the supply for the 11 days of the festival. 11. R. J. van der Spek and I. Finkel, The Seleucid Accessions Chronicle (BCHP 10): Description, Text and Translation, in BCHP, html (accessed February 6, 2011). 12. R. J. van der Spek and I. Finkel, The Seleucid Accessions Chronicle (BCHP 10): General Commentary, in BCHP, (accessed February 6, 2011). 13. Sherwin-White, Ritual for a Seleucid King, 157a 57b; van der Spek and Finkel, Seleucus III Chronicle (BCHP 12): Commentary. 14. For the ritual, see A. Zgoll, Königslauf und Götterrat: Struktur und Deutung des babylonischen Neujahrsfestes, in Festtraditionen in Israel und im alten Orient (ed. E. Blum and R. Lux; Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2006) Zgoll, Königslauf und Götterrat, For the duration of the festival, see B. Pongratz-Leisten, Neujahr(sfest). B, RlA 9:294a 98a, esp. 295a 95b; Linssen, The Cults of Uruk and Babylon, 84 86; Zgoll, Königslauf und Götterrat,