Mari

Mari
Author(s): Abraham Malamat

Source: The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Feb., 1971), pp. 1-22
Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
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2
THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST
(Vol. XXXIV,
The Biblical
Archaeologist
is
published quarterly (February, May, September, December)
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the American Schools of Oriental Research. Its purpose
is to meet the need for a
readable,
non-technical, yet thoroughly
reliable account of
archaeological
discoveries as
they
relate to the
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Editor: Edward F. Campbell, Jr.,
with the assistance of
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Editorial Board: W. F.
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Copyright by
American Schools of Oriental
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1971
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
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N. H.
Contents
Mari, by
Abraham Malamat
............................................
...
.2...
.......2
The
"Ghassulian"
Temple
in
Ein Gedi
and the
Origin
of the
Hoard from Nahal
Mishmar, by
David Ussishkin
............................
..........
23
N elson G lueck: In M em oriam
................................................................................
39
Mari
ABRAHAM MALAMAT
Hebrew
University,
Jerusalem
(This
article is a
slightly modified
version
of
the study "Mari" submitted by the author to the
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA (scheduled
to
appear
in late 1971 or
early 1972);
it is
printed
here by
the kind permission of
Kater
Publishing House, Jerusalem,
Israel. The illustrations are svecifically
selected
for RA
readers. The
article fully updates the early article of
G.
E.
Mendenhall in our
1948 volume. Assyriologists
will know that the letter h in all Akkadian words should be understood
as the
hard letter usually represented
with a hook beneath
it.)
Mari
was one of the
principal
centers of
Mesopotamia
during
the third
and
early
second millennia B.C. The
archaeological
and
epigraphical
dis-
coveries there are of
prime
significance
for the
history
of
Mesopotamia
and
upper
Syria,
and for biblical
research,
especially
on Hebrew
origins
and the
formative
stages
of Israelite
history.
Mari (sometimes
Ma'eri in the cunei-
form
sources)
was located at Tell
Hariri,
at
present
about a mile and one-
half west of the
Euphrates
near Abu
Kemal,
some fifteen miles north of the
modern
Syria-Iraq
border. It was in an
optimal position
for contacts with the
west,
and its location on the river
artery, yet immediately adjacent
to the
desert,
was
continually
decisive in the
shaping
of its fortune and character.
The
BIBLICAL
ARCHAEOLOGIST
4
Published
by
THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH
126 Inman
Street,
Cambridge,
Mass.
Vol.
XXXIV
February,
1971 No.
1
cr
-;t
d
~'S~"~
r?
r
IE?L ~I
.~Yb~
r~
?? ~L
I
i
I ~
~:
~c
-,?
":r?i~
_ii
Fig.
1. Statue of
Ur-Nina (Ur-Nanshe), the
"great singer"
at the court of
king
Iblul-Il of
Mari
(mid-3rd mill.
B.C.).
From Mission
archeologique
de
Mari,
III: Les
temples d'Ishtarat et
de Ninni-Zaza
(1967),
PI.
XLVIa.
1971, 1)
THE
BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST
3
Excavations and Discoveries
The French excavations at
Mari,
instituted in 1933 under the direction
of Andre
Parrot,
have continued
(with
a break
during
and after World War
II)
into their
nineteenith
season in 1970.
The
archaeological
evidence indicates that
Mari
was founded at the
end of the 4th millennium B.C.
(Jemdet
Nasr
period)
and reached a cul-
tural-artistic
peak
during
the first half of the 3rd millennium.
Dating
to this
period
("Early Dynastic
II-III,"
or
"pre-Sargonic")
are a
ziggurat
and several
*HATTUSHA
*tANESH
S(CHAGAR BAZAR)
SHUSHARRA
CACHE45
j
- INIVEH -' ~CARCHE 'SH'
HARRAN
KARANA,
NN
(Teuat-Rimah)
N1N
RREH
EKALLATU
M
1/ ARRAPtHA
-rALEPPO
ALALAHO
ft
ASSHUR
L
NUZI
ALALA EMAR TUTTU
Cyprus UGARIT
t
,TERA
*SAGARATIM
TERQA
ATNA
TAMER
MARI
v,
45 JADMER
*ESHNUNNA
eve~o ~3` DE~R
BYBLOS TUTTULDER
Z SIPPAR SUSA,
S *DAMASCUS
BABYLON
LAISH NIPPUR
HAZOR
.ISIN
LAGASH
4
URUKLARS
0
AMo
00
A. M.
Fig.
2.
Map
of the Near East in the Mari period, prepared by
the author.
sanctuaries: the
temples
of
Dagan
(where
the earliest list of the
Mari
pan-
theon was
discovered), Shamash,
Ninhursag
and
Ishtar, together
with the
pair
of
temples
of Ishtarat and Ninni-Zaza. In the three
last-named,
there
came to
light many
inscribed statues of local
kings (such
as
Lamgi-Mari,
Iku-Shamagan
and
Iblul-I1),
lesser
royalty
and courtiers
(Fig.
1). Although
Sumerian culture
predominated,
the character of the cultic
installations,
the
appearance
of bearded
figures
in
art,
and
especially
the occurrence of
parti-
cular divine and
private
names are all
clearly
indicative of a basic Semitic
element from earliest
times;
Semites ruled
Mari
centuries before the rise of
Akkad.
4
(Vol. XXXIV,
Since
1964,
the excavations have revealed two
superimposed palaces
from
pre-Sargonic
times,
most
impressive
in
themselves, including
a
royal
chapel
with an earthen altar
(cf.
Exod.
20:24);
its sacred tradition was
pre-
served even in the Old
Babylonian palace
built there some 700
years
later
(see below).
Within the
palace complex
a
jar
came to
light containing
a
"treasure"
including
a
lapis
lazuli bead with a votive
inscription
mentioning
Mesannepada,
founder of the First
Dynasty
of Ur. This indicates a close
contact between Mari and Ur at an
early date,
as do other
fnds
from Mari
such as shell
inlays essentially
identical with those of the "Ur standard"
(war
panel).
The
pre-Sargonic palace
was
destroyed
either
by
Eannatum
of
Lagash
(mid-25th
century B.C.)
or
by Lugalzaggesi
of Uruk
(mid-24th
century).
r ??? cc;
II r?rr-?j
r
L?`
Y
?,
r.
h?
- , t.?
;~~5~,6
-r
r
i?- C )L' ,~.+~ r
??a
r ??
r??
~ZL~?-aIr
.n .?.141~'-1 5 ~,??LL~lr-. L-~
~LIC~L~S~LI~t- ?~BJ
~31YY~r-1I?t~k?r~
-? ?r
~ri~ '- ?,. ii . ?r
~IE~fj)i .e (_i
4'1 " ?~ . I
r
r?b~~? ~
rh r r .('
?'~ C h
Fig.
3.
Lapis
lazuli bead with votive
inscription
of
Mesannepada, king
of
Ur,
found in the
pre-
Sargonic palace (first
half of 3rd mill. B.C.).
From Mission
archdologique
de Mari.
IV:
Le 'trisor' d'Ur
(1968), P1. XXII.
After
Sargon's conquest
in the second half of the 24th
century, Mari
became a vassal
city
within the
empire
of
Akkad; among
the
epigraphic
evidence from this
period
are the names of two
daughters
of
Naram-Sin,
king
of Akkad. In the final two centuries of the 3rd
millennium, Mari
was a sort of loose
dependency
of
3rd-Dynasty
Ur, flourishing
anew under
local
governors
who bore the title Jakkanakku
(eight
are known
by
name).
Indeed,
a ruler of
Mari
is known to have
given
his
daughter
in
marriage
to a son of
Ur-Nammu, king
of Ur.
The
pre-eminence
of
Mari throughout
the 3rd millennium is well re-
flected in
epigraphic
sources: in the Sumerian
King
List,
it
appears
as the
seat of the tenth
post-diluvian dynasty;
in the
inscriptions
of
Eannatum
1971, 1)
5
mention is made of the
penetration
and
repulse
of forces from
Mari
as
far
south as
Lagash;
and
Mari
also
appears
in the
inscriptions of Sargon
and
of
Naram-Sin
of Akkad. At the close of the 3rd
millennium, Ishbi-Irra,
"a
man of
Mari,"
founded the Isin
dynasty
and facilitated the
collapse
of
the
empire
of
3rd-Dynasty
Ur. After an obscure
period
of two
centuries
(from
which several economic texts and 32 inscribed liver models
are
known), Mari
reached its final
period
of
glory,
in the 18th
century
under
West
Semitic
rule. Then
Hammurapi, king
of
Babylon, quashed Mari, and
it never
regained
its former
position.
In the 13th
century,
Tukulti-Ninurta I
conquered
the
meager
settle-
ment there and stationed a
garrison
in the
city
for a short time. To round
out the
archaeological
picture,
the
uppermost layer
on the site dates to the
Seleucid-Roman
period.
In the second half of the 2nd
millennium, Mari
was still
sufficiently
important
to be mentioned in the Nuzi documents
(horses
and chariots
were sent
there),
-in
recently
found texts at
Ugarit ("Ishtar
of
Mari"
in an
alphabetic
text,
and in an
epithet
of another
deity
in a Hurrian
text),
and
in the
Egyptian geographical
lists of Thutmosis III and
probably
also of
Ramses III
(15th
and 12th
centuries,
respectively).
The land of
Mari
ap-
pears
in the
neo-Assyrian geographical
treatise
describing Sargon's
Akkadian
empire;
it was on this basis that W. F.
Albright
identified
Mari
with Tell
Hariri
long
before excavation
began. Finally,
Mari
is mentioned in a Greek
itinerary,
in the
(Aramaic)
form
Merrhan.
The Old
Babylonian
Palace and
Royal
Archives
The main discoveries at
Mari
are from the
period
of its domination
by
the West Semitic
dynasties
in the last
quarter
of the 19th
century
and
the first half of the 18th
century (reckoned
on the "middle"
chronology;
if one uses the "low"
chronology
of
Albright
and
others,
the dates would
be
64
years lower).
Several
temples
of this
period
were built over
correspond-
ing
sanctuaries of
pre-Sargonic
times,
namely
those of
Ishtar,
Ninhursag
and
Shamash;
a second
temple
of
Dagan,
also known as the "lions
temple"
from bronze lions found
flanking
its
entrance,
was founded
earlier,
by
the
end of the 3rd millennium.
Dagan,
biblical
Dagon,
held a
prime position
in the West Semitic
pantheon,
and at
Mari
bore the titles
"King
of the
Land" and "Lord of all the Great Gods."
The
outstanding
architectural
discovery
from this
period,
however,
is
the
royal palace,
a structure of
unparalleled magnificence
and
widespread
fame in its time
(Fig. 4).
This
residence,
enlarged successively by
each of
the West Semitic rulers at
Mari,
reached its zenith under
Zimri-Lim,
at-
taining
an area of about
eight
acres and
including
over 300
chambers,
cor-
ridors and courts. Besides the
private quarters
for the
royal family
and en-
6 THE
(Vol. XXXIV,
QI
ILl
r?
rA)?
0
?4
'
i
I
0 040 M ~ ,,~
L
i
. .
...
I
.
. . . . -
Fig.
4. Plan of Zimri-Lim's
palace
at Mari. Legend: gateway (A),
forecourt
(B), foreign
visitor's
quarters (C),
kitchen
(D), great
court
(E),
old throne-room with murals
(F),
sacred area
(G), sanctuary
with earthen altar
(H), sanctuary
with
podium (J), "dining
hall" with murals
(K),
store-rooms and
workshops (L),
court 106 with investiture
mural
(M), entrance-hall with statue of
goddess
on
podium (N),
throne-room
(P),
kitchens and
bath
(Q), palace
administration
(R), steward's and officials'
quarters (S), scribal
school
(T), royal quarters (V), "king's
chamber"
(W).
The numbered
rooms refer to the
places
where archives have been found: administrative archives, mainly palace provisions (5),
Yahdun-Lim's disc
inscription (18),
molds for
fancy
cakes
(77), economic
and other
archives, including
liver models and Hurrian texts
(108),
economic archives (110),
administrative
archives, mainly palace provisions (111), diplomatic
archives
(115),
economic
archives, including
documents of Sumu-Yamam
(119),
economic archives (134
&
135),
economic and administrative archives, including
documents of Yahdun-Lim (142).
1971, 1)
THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST 7
tourage,
there are administrative
offices,
a scribal
school,
quarters
for visit-
ing dignitaries,
a
royal
chapel,
a throne room and a
reception
chamber.
Service areas included
guard quarters,
workshops
and storerooms. A
special
elegance
was
provided
in several
halls
and courts
by
multicolored frescoes
depicting chiefly
ritual and
mythological scenes, including
one
depicting
the investiture of a
king
(perhaps
Zimri-Lim?)
in the
presence
of several
deities
(Fig.
5).
This
ceremony
occurs in an idealized
garden,
its trees
guarded by
"Cherubim" and
symbolically
watered
by
four streams
flowing
-
. .
i~a'AfA
AZT-~ _41-i
VWVWM
11*7,
Fig.
5. Multi-color wall-painting
in the Old
Babylonian palace, depicting
the investiture of a
Mari king.
From A.
Parrot,
Sumer
(1960), pp.
279-280.
from a
single
source
-
all reminiscent of the biblical
paradise
story. Many
of the
figures
in these murals are
depicted
as
typical
West Semites.
The
discovery
of
greatest impact
on historical and biblical research
comprises
the more than
20,000
cuneiform tablets from the several archives
in the
palace,
written in the
Babylonian language.
So
far,
some 3000 do-
cuments have been
published
by
the noted
Assyriologists
G. Dossin
(dean
of the
Mari
epigraphers),
M.
Birot, J. Bott6ro, Mme.
M. L.
Burke,
A.
Finet, J.
R.
Kupper,
and the late G.
Boyer
and Ch. F.
Jean; they
are
pub-
lished
mostly
in the series Archives
royales
de
Mari (henceforth ARM),
I-XIII
(1946-67). Though only
a small
proportion
of the total
found,
these
8 THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST
(Vol. XXXIV,
texts have shed much
light
on the
administrative, economic,
cultural and
political
face~ts
mainly
of
upper Mesopotamia
and
upper
Syria
in the 18th
century
B.C.,
regions previously
known
only vaguely.
The archives were
found
to be
distinguished according
to
subject.
The
political-diplomatic
archives
(ARM I-VI
and
XIII)
include
correspondence
between the
king
of Mari and his
agents,
both at the
palace
and
abroad,
as well as with
foreign potentates.
The 1000 letters
published
so far
(com-
pare
the
mere
350 at
el-Amarna!)
provide
the earliest
insight
into the
com-
plexities
of suzerain-vassal
relationships, diplomatic protocol,
and the fluct-
uating
alliances and
plots rampant
in the ancient Near East. A
noteworthy
class of letters
is
the extensive women's
correspondence
(so far, only
cunei-
form
copies
of 179 documents have been
published,
in ARM
X),
revealing
the
prominent
role of females in activities of the realm. The
outstanding
case is that of
Shibtu,
Zimri-Lim's "chief
wife,"
who entertained the
king's
utter
confidence,
representing
his interests
during
his absence from the
city
and
exercising
considerable influence in her own
right
(cf. Fig.
8).
The
majority
of documents
(ARM VII, IX,
XI and
XII) are
economic
or administrative in
nature,
dealing
with the maintenance of the
palace,
official trade
abroad,
lists of
goods,
and rosters of
persons
in
royal employ
(such
as a list of
nearly
1000 male and female
captives (?)
from the Har-
ran-Nahor
region, engaged
in
manufacturing
clothes for the
palace).
Of a
unique
character are the some 1300 tablets
containing
lists of
daily provi-
sions for the
palace,
often summarized
by
month.
Though dealing only
with
"vegetarian"
foodstuffs and
beverages, they
shed
light
on Solomon's
"provi-
sions for one
day"
and
possibly
also his
monthly quantities
(cf.
I
Kings
4:22-23,
27
[Heb.: 5:2-3, 7];
cf. also
Neh. 5:17-18).
The
royal
table at
Mari,
known to have entertained hundreds of
guests
on
occasion,
was served
from
spacious kitchens;
in one of these were found
numerous
molds for
preparing fancy cakes, some
bearing
animal and
goddess
motifs
(recall Jer.
44:19 and see
Fig. 9).
Dozens of
legal
tablets were also
found,
mostly
contracts
concerning
transactions and loans of silver or
grain
(ARM VIII), revealing
that the
palace
served as a sort of
exchange.
Of
exceptional
interest is an
adoption
contract which ensured the
"primogeniture"
of the "eldest"
(that is,
first
adopted)
son,
stipulating
that he receive a double
portion
of the inherit-
ance;
this is in full accord with biblical law
(cf.
Deut.
21:15-17).
The
very
few
literary
and
religious
compositions
found at
Mari
include
a
lengthy
Ishtar-ritual in
Babylonian,
as well as six texts in Hurrian. That
Hurrian was used
occasionally
in
diplomatic correspondence
is known from
the
only
other tablet at
Mari
in that
language,
a letter written to Zimri-Lim.
1971, 1)
THE
BIBLICAL
ARCHAEOLOGIST 9
Mari under West Semitic Rule
The
origins
of the
West Semitic,
or
"Amorite," dynasties
is
shrouded
in
darkness,
though
there are
pointers
to north
Syria
for the local line at
Mari.
Thus the
theophoric
name element
-Lim,
perhaps
derived from
"folk,"
"people"
(see
Ugaritic
l'im and Hebrew
le'om);
is found at both
Aleppo
(in
the
dynastic
name
Yarim-Lim)
and
Mari (in
the
royal
names
Yagid-Lim,
Yahdun-Lim and
Zimri-Lim).
It is also
present
in the name of
Yashi-Lim,
ruler of Tuttul
(probably
the one at the
mouth
of the Balikh
river),
several
generations
earlier th'an ithe time of the
above-named. Furthermore,
the
title
"king
of
Mari, Tuttul
and
.the
land of Hana" was borne
by
both
Yahdun-Lim (Disc
Inscription)
and Zimri-Lim
(on
a
fragmentary
in-
scription
from
Terqa,
located between Tuttul and
Mari). And, indeed,
the site of ancestor
worship
for both the local and the
"Assyrian" dynasties
at
Mari
lay
at
Terqa,
about 44 miles to the northwest at the
mouth
of the
Khabur river.
Hence,
the immediate
origin
of the West Semitic
rulers
at
Mari
would
appear
to be in the
Terqa region.
The
Reign of
Yahdun-Lim. The historical
figure
of
Yagid-Lim,
founder
of the local
dynasty
at
Mari,
is
vague
and none of his records have been
found. Nor have
many
tablets from the
reign
of his
son, Yahdun-Lim,
been
published, though
in 1965 an archive of some 300 of his economic texts
came to
light.
It is
known, however,
that Yahdun-Lim was able to stabilize
his
kingdom, establishing
his dominance over the entire middle
Euphrates
region,
as is evident from the dozen known
year-formulas
and
especially
the two extant
royal
inscriptions
from his
reign.
The shorter
inscription,
the "Disc
Inscription,"
relates that Yahdun-
Lim fortified
Mari
and
Terqa,
founded a fortress on the desert
fringe (nam-
ing
it after himself:
Dur-Yahdun-Lim),
and laid out an extensive
irrigation
system, boasting
that "I did
away
with the water bucket in
my
land." The
other
text,
the Foundation
Inscription
of the Shamash
Temple,
is a
splendid
literary composition relating
his
campaign
to the Mediterranean coast and
to the "cedar
and
boxwood
mountain,"
where he obtained
several types
of
choice wood "and made known his
might."
However,
this was
probably
only
a
passing episode
and not a
lasting conquest.
Thirty-five
economic texts
published
in 1970 mention two
year-formu-
las for one
Sumu-Yamam,
an obscure character who ruled at
Mari
either
before or after Yahdun-Lim. Also elusive is his
kinship
-
whether to the
local
dynasty
or otherwise
-
because the few other references to
him,
such
as in a "letter to a
god" (ARM I, 3),
are inconclusive. This same letter also
reveals the assassination of Yahdun-Lim in a court
conspiracy,
much to the
benefit of
Shamshi-Adad,
scion of a rival West Semitic
dynasty,
who es-
tablished himself in
Assyria, swiftly gaining control
over
large portions
of
Mesopotamia.
(Vol. XXXIV,
The
Assyrian Interregnum.
Yahdun-Lim's
removal facilitated a take-
over
by Shamshi-Adad,
who installed his
son, Yasmah-Adad,
as
viceroy
at
Mari. Under his father's
tutelage,
Yasmah-Adad
reorganized
the local ad-
ministration,
cultivated
ties
with
neighboring
lands,
and secured his flank
against marauding
nomads.
Though
his brother
Ishme-Dagan,
upon
suc-
ceeding
to the throne of
Assyria, promised
to maintain the
proitective policy
of
their
father,
Yasmah-Adad was left adrift
only
three or four
ecars
later
when he was defeated
by
Lshnunna,
a West Semitic
kingdom beyond
the
Tigris. Altogether, Assyrian
control of
Mari
lasted less then
twenty years.
The
Kingdom of
Zimri-Lim. Thus the
stage
was set for the
advent
of
Zimri-Lim,
son of
Yahdun-Lim,
who in the interim had
lived in exile under
the
wing
of
Yarim-Lim, king
of Yamhad
(with
his
capital
at
Aleppo).
Yarim-
Lim,
who had become
Zimri-Lim's
father-in-law,
was most instrumental in
restoring
him to the
throne
of
Mari.
Thirty-two year-formulas
arc
known
for Zimri-Lim's
reign, though many
of them
are
probably
alternates for he
cannot have ruled for so
long
a
period.
Zimri-Lim's
reign, during
the tumultuous interval between
Assyria's de-
cline
and the rise of the
empire
of
Hammurapi,
marks Mari at its
apogee.
It is this
period
which is
best
represented by
the archives found at
Mlari
which
provide
thorough insight
into
organization
of the
kingdom.
Interest-
ingly,
several of
Zimri-Lim's letters have
recently
been found in the
royal
archives at Tell er-Rimah
(between
the
upper
Khabur and
the Tigris),
prob-
ably
to be identified
with
the
city
of Karana mentioned in
the MTari corre-
spondence.
Mari
had become a
principal political
force in
1Mesopotamia,
alongside Babylon,
Larsa, Eshnunna, Qatna,
and
Yamhad (as
is known from
a
contemporary political report).
Relying heavily
on his
diplomatic
cunning,
Zimri-Lim
developed
an elaborate
intelligence system,
within his
sphere
of
influence and
beyond
it.
Frequent alliances,
as with Yamhad and
Babylon,
were
designed
to meet the
danger
of the moment
-
for
example,
now
against
Eshnunna,
then
against
Elam.
His
military
endeavors were directed
mainly
against
the hostile tribal federation of the Yaminites
(the
previously
subdued
Hanean
tribes were
already
in his
service;
for
both,
see further
below).
This
political
situation
crystallized
hand in hand with the
development
of economic ties
branching
out as far as the island of Dilmun
(in
the
Pers-
ian
gulf),
Elam on the
east,
Arrapha
and Shusharra in southern
Kurdistan,
Cappadocia
in the
north,
Phoenicia and Palestine in the
west,
and even
Kaptara/Crete
in the Mediterranean.
Indeed, tolls
from caravan and river-
ine
trade were one of
Zimri-Lim's
principal
sources of income.
This
golden age
at
Mlari
came to an
abrupt
end, however,
when Ham-
murapi
turned on his
former
ally
and
conquered
the
city
in his 32nd
year,
during
the consolidation of his
empire
-
the
year
was 1759 B.C.
by
the
Summary (dates
are "middle
chronology"
with "low
chronology"
in
parentheses):
B.C. Mari
Dynasty
Rule at
Mari Assyrian Dynasty
Yagid-Lim
Ila-kabkabu
(Sumu-Yamam ?)
Aminu
1820 Yahdun-Lim
Shamshi-Adad
(1755)
(Sumu-Yamam ?)
-
1800 Yasmah-Adad
(1735)
1780 Zimri-Lim
Ishme-Dagan
(1715)
1760
(1695)
I-ammurapi
of Babylon
-4
trl
cm
C)
C.
(Vol. XXXIV,
middle
chronology,
1695 B.C.
by
the low
chronology.
Two
years
later he
ordered the
city
razed to the
ground.
Mari and the West
Mari
was bound
closely
with the lands to the west
-
Syria
and even
northern Palestine
-
in
economy,
politics,
culture,
religion
and ethnic back-
ground.
We have noted above the ties between the local
dynasty
at
Mari
and that of the
kingdom
of
Yamhad;
Zimri-Lim's
queen, Shibtu,
was from
Aleppo
and he
appears
to have held land there which was either a
patri-
mony
or received as a
dowry. Similarly,
the rival
Assyrian dynasty
at
Mlari
secured
political
ties in the west
through
the
marriage
of
Yasmah-Adad
to
a
princess
from
Qatna,
Yamhad's southern
adversary.
Another form of con-
tact with the west is the
already-mentioned campaign by
Yahdun-Lim and
the later
expedition by
Shamshi-Adad
to the Levant. Zimri-Lim is also known
to
have
visited various
places
in the west:
Yamhad,
where he had
presented
a statue to "Adad the
great god
of
Aleppo,"
and
Ugarit,
where he was ac-
companied by
a select
bodyguard
(sabumn behru;
see
below).
The
region
father southwest is
only sparingly
mentioned in the
Mari
archives,
but references
are
found to
Byblos
on the Phoenician coast and
to the land of Amurru in
southern Syria (the
Apum
of the
Mari
texts is
most
probably
the one in the Khabur
region
and not the one near
Damas-
cus known from the
contemporary Egyptian
Execration Texts and various
later
sources).
In northern
Palestine,
Hazor and Laish
(Dan)
are noted in
the
Mlari
archives as the destination of
diplomatic
and economic
emissaries,
as well as of
shipments
of tin
(for making
bronze),
a
commodity
of
impor-
tance
among
the
exports
to the west. In one
instance,.emissarics passing
through
Mari
are on their
way
to
Yamhad, Qatna,
Hazor and a fourth
place
whose name is broken
(the
traces in ARM
VI,
23:23
may
be
restored to
read
"Megiddo,"
rather than
"Egypt,"
which is sometimes
proposed; Egypt,
surprisingly does
not
appear
in the
Mari archives).
On the other side of the
ledger,
Mari
imported
from the west horses
and
fine
woods
(from
the
Qatna region),
various
precious
vessels
of Syrian
and "Cretan"
style, Cypriot copper,
fabrics and
garments (especially
from
Aleppo
and
Byblos),
and
large
quantities
of foodstuffs such as
honey,
wine
and olive oil.
Mari and the Bible
The
Mari
documents have a manifold
bearing upon early
Israelite his-
tory: chronological,
if the so-called
patriarchal
age
is
placed
in the first third
of the 2nd millennium
(Middle
Bronze
II),
keeping
in mind of course that
even the oldest
portions
of the Bible are of much later
date;
geographical,
for the
patriarchal
homeland, Aram-Naharaim, lay
within
Mari's horizons;
ethnic-linguistic,
the Hebrews
being
of the same West Semitic
(or Amorite)
1971, 1)
13
stock as that so
very
much manifest at
Mari;
and
sociological,
for the
des-
criptions
of tribalism
comprise
the most extensive
insight
into the
nomadic
and settled
phases
of the Israelite
tribes.
Patriarchal Homeland. The cities of Harran and
Nahor
in the
upper
Balikh
valley,
which
figure
in the Bible as ancestral habitats of the
patri-
archs,
are well documented as
important dependencies
controlled
by gover-
nors from
Mari (one
of
whom,
Itur-asdu at
Nahor,
will be the
subject
of
the
forthcoming
ARM
XIV).
Both cities were foci of tribal
foment;
at
the
temple
of Sin at Harran a
treaty
between the
"kings"
of
Zalmaqum
and the
Yaminites was sworn
against Mari, while
at Nahor reinforcements had often
to be called in to
quell
local
uprisings
inflamed
by
the Habiru.
Alongside
the West Semitic
peoples
in this
region
was a considerable Hurrian element
(note
the
typically
Hurrian name of
king Adalshenni,
who at one time
gained
control over
Nahor),
which
may
well have left an
imprint upon
the
initial ethnic and cultural
composition
of the Hebrews.
The
picture
revealed in the
Mari
archives of
far-reaching
tribal
migra-
tions such as those of the Yamin-ite
groups,
and of caravan conditions be-
tween the
Euphrates region
and
Syria-north Palestine,
is a realistic
backdrop
for the biblical narratives of the
patriarchal wanderings
between Aram-Na-
haraim and Canaan.
Ethno-linguistic Affinities:the
West Semitic
Idiom. Evidence for the
West Semitic
origin
of the
majority
of the
people figuring
in the
Nlari
do-
cuments is revealed in the onomasticon and in
specific linguistic features
of the
Mari
dialect.
Many
of the hundreds of
proper
names
known
from the
Mari texts are
paralleled
in the
Bible,
especially
in the
patriarchal
narratives
and the
Exodus-Conquest cycle,
but at
Mari
the names often have
theo-
phoric components.
For
example, Jacob
compares
to
Haqba-Ilammu,
I
laqba-
ahim, etc.,
while Ishmael
compares
to
Yasmah-El, Yasmahb-Adad
and Yas-
mah-Ba'al. Parallels even for the divine names YHWH and
Shaddai,
and
for the
epithet Sur,
the
"Rock,"
are
possible;
for
example,
Yawi-ila
and
Yawi-
Adad,
and the
Shadu/i-
and
Sura/i-
names. The names of the Israelite tribes
of Levi and
Benjamin
also seem to have their
parallels.
Thus the Nlari tribal
designation
DUMU.MES-yaamin(a)
'Yaminites' bears the same connota-
tion as
Benjamin, namely
"sons of the
south,"
though
it is
preferable
not
to render the
logogram
for "sons" as West Semitic
balinim,
which would
yield
Ba/inu-yamina, conveniently
homophonic
with Hebrew
Bin),amlin.
The West Semitic
imprint
on the standard
Babylonian language
in use
at
Mari
is evident to a certain extent in
phonology, morphology, syntax
and
especially vocabulary.
The lexical
inadequacy
of this standard
Babylonian
in
specific spheres brought
about at
Mari
the
frequent
adaptation
of West
Semitic
expressions,
of
Babylonian
words in new West Semitic
connotations,
(Vol. XXXIV,
and of out-and-out loanwords from the West Semitic -
words well
repre-
sented in biblical Hebrew
(often
in
"exalted"
language,
as also at
Mari).
Besides the
linguistic yield
a
comparative study
of the West
Semitic
loan-
words at
Marl
and their
Hebrew
cognates may broadly
illuminate
the
nature of the societies involved.
A list of such lexical
items
would include the
following. Geographical
terms:
ha;zqumiz
Hebrew
'emeq 'valley;' k/qasum
=
Hebrew
qaseh
'(des-
ert) frontier;'
hen
(as
a
place
name) - Hebrew 'ayin
'spring.'
Points of the
compass:
aqdanmatum =
Hebrew
qedeimi
'east;' ahartuii
t
-
=
Hebrew
'ahar,
'ahor 'west;'
north and south are attested in the tribal
names
DUAIU.AIE?
sim'al
=
Hebrew
seilol
and
DUMU.A
ES-yanjin(a)
I-eIbrew
xvyan1in.
,,-
j
.. .
iiT::*
: ..
...!i.<;.::.
. ...
:::,
,
::
: ,
:. ,,
...........
. .. ...
..
':
r
:
-....
:-
:
.....
Fig.
6. Earthen altar in the pre-Sargonic palace (hall 209).
From
Syria, XLVI (1969),
P1.
XIII,
1.
Fauna:
ha(ya)rum
=
Hebrew
'ayir 'donkey
foal;'
hazzum
=
I
lcbrew
'e-
'goat;'
higll
=
Hebrew
'egel
'calf'
(referring
to a
zoomorphic vessel
at
Marl).
Flora:
suhrunzim
Hebrew se'orah
'barley;'
hillirum
Hebrew
hemer 'a fermented drink.'
Military
terms:
be(h)rum
-
Hebrew
bahlur
'(select)
trooper;' bazahatum,
'military outpost' (compare
the Hebrew root
bs'); sag/qbum 'guard'
(later Hebrew
zaqip?).
Note also
mzadrvmllz
later Hebrew
miador
'dwelling place;' mIas/shkabumw -
Hebrew
zislhkab
'a
lodging;'
and
probably
sablum
-
Hebrew
sebel 'corv6e.'
A series of West Semitic terms is also found for tribal
organization
and
institutions which were
quite foreign
to
contemporary Mesopotamia,
and
therefore found no
adequate
means of
expression
in the
pure Babylonian
1971, 1)
THE
15
lexicon. Consider for
example
the set of terms for various tribal units:
gayum
=
Hebrew
goy;
hibrum
=
Hebrew
heber;
and
perhaps
ummatum
=
Hebrew
'ummah.
West Semitic verbs unknown in standard
Babylonian
but with
cognates
in biblical Hebrew include haki'im 'to
wait;'
halemr
'to be
ill;'
harashum 'to
be
silent;' nahaluni( 'to inherit,
apportion;'
naqaiuimn
'to
avenge' (only
in
personal
names);
qatalum
'to
kill;'
shapatuiim
'to
judge, govern'
(and
see
below).
Patriarchal Tribal
Society.
The
Mari
archives
provide
the most abun-
dant and
fruitful
source material
concerning
West Semitic tribes of
any
an-
cient Near Eastern
source,
shedding
invaluable
light
on Israelite tribal so-
ciety,
its
structure
and
organization,
as well as
upon
institutions. The wide
range
of the tribes mentioned at
Mari,
from
fully
nomadic to
fully sedentary,
and their confrontation with the
indigenous
population,
bear
directly upon
an
understanding
of the
gradual
process
of
the
Israelite settlement in Canaan
and their
ensuing
relationship
with its inhabitants.
The most
revealing
material at i\ari concerns the broad tribal
federa-
tions of the Haneans and the Yaminites. The former were concentrated
principally along
the middle
Euphrates
and
comprised
an
appreciable
seg-
ment of
the
general
population
(and
of the
army)
of
Mari. Indeed,
the
middle
Euphrates region
became known as the
"land
of
Hana,"
and
"Hana"
was
applied
also to a
type
of soldier and a kind of wool. The
name,
which
was
basically gentilic,
also came to denote the
generic concept
of
(semi-)
nomad;
it seems to be in this sense that
Zimri-Lim
was called
"king
of the
Haneans" in
parallel
to
"king
of the
Akkadians;" together
these
designations
reflect the two main
population
strata,
semi-nomadic
and'indigenous
seden-
tary
(see below).
The
Yaminites,
"sons of the
south,"
were less settled and
posed
the
greater
threat in this
period,
both to the rest of the
population
and to the
authorities. In their subtribes
(Ubrabu, Amnanu, Yahruru,
and Yarihu with
their affiliated
Rabbeans),
they
were
dispersed
over a wide arc from the
city
of
Sippar
(and
even as far south as
Uruk)
and the eastern banks of the Ti-
gris
around to the Khabur and Balikh
valleys up
to the bend of the
Euph-
rates,
where their main concentration
lay.
In the
west, they
had crossed the
Euphrates
toward Mount Bisir
(Jebel Bishri)
and encroached
upon
the
land of Amurru in southern
Syria.
Little mention is made in the
Mari
arch-
ives of the
corresponding
"sons of the
north,"
who roamed the
"upper
coun-
try"
in the Harran
region,
or of the
Sutu,
the
fully
nomadic tribe which
appears
more in
subsequent history.
The Sutu
ranged
in the
Syrian steppe
and the Bishri
mountains, raiding
the
adjacent
oasis of Tadmor
(Tadmer
at
Mari,
later
Palmyra)
on at least one occasion. The
Mari
archives are
16 THE
BIBLICAL
ARCHAEOLOGIST
(Vol. XXXIV,
surprisingly
silent on the "Amorites" as a definite tribal
entity (though
one
reference is made to a
gayu
Amurumn
as a
sub-clan
of the
Haneans);
in
general,
the
designation
(both
spelled phonetically
and wilth the
logogram
MAR.TU)
is restricted to the land of
Amurru,
far to the
west,
or to the
military
titles
"great-of-Amurru"
and "scribe-of-Amurru"
(the
latter
only
at
Mari).
L;
I \` \
'' ~''
I ,
r r
C
c
P
Fig.
7. Warrior with
prisoner,
mosaic of bitumen and shell
inlay
found in the
pre-Sargonic palace.
From
Syria,
XLVI
(1969),
P1.
XV,
1.
Patterns of Settlement
The tribal
society depicted
in the
Mari
archives is
essentially dimorphic,
that
is,
it
encompasses
both nomadic and urban
modes,
with their inherent
distinctions and
interactions,
social as well as economic. Tribal
groups
would
sometimes
undergo
a
gradual process
of
sedentation,
splitting
into
partly
settled and
partly
nomadic factions
(refer
to ARM
VIII, 11),
or
leading
a
life of transhumance
-
in the
steppe
or desert in the
grazing
season and in
urban bases in the "off" months.
Depending
on the
stage
of
sedentation,
the Haneans and the Yaminites
dwelt in towns and hamlets
(both designated
alani
at
Mari, literally "cities;"
the term
kaprum 'village'
is rare in this
context)
and
engaged
in
urban-agri-
cultural
pursuits
as well as
herding,
or
they
live in
temporary encampments
(nawiim)
and
engaged
in
purely pastoral pursuits.
At
Mari,
the standard
Babylonian
word
nawufm 'desert,
uncultivated field' or even "a
savage"
took
on the West Semitic connotation of a
pastoral
abode,
precisely
the connota-
1971, 1)
tion of the Hebrew word naweh
(primarily
in
poetic
usage
in the
Bible).
An illustration of this dual mode of life is found in the distinctions Hana
Sa
nawim (loosely "steppe
Haneans")
and hibrum a
nawnlm,
the nomadic
faction
of a
partly
settled clan
(in
this
case,
of
Yaminites).
Another
type
of settlement
originating among
nomadic and semi-nom-
adic
populations
was the
hasiarumn
(pl.
hasiriitum), which, rather
than an
enclosure for
sheep
or cattle as
usually
assumed denotes a
dwelling
place,
as does the
cognate
Hebrew term
h.serim,
referring
to settlements of the
Ishmaelites,
the Avvi'tes and the "sons of Kedar"
(Gen. 25:16;
Deut.
2:23;
and Isa. 42:11
[cf.
Jer.
49:33],
respectively).
Tribal
Leadership
The
Mari
archives indicate that tribal
leadership
was in the hands of
family
heads
(compare
the biblical beth-'ab
'family,'
the basic unit of the
patriarchial
tribal
organization),
called
abu
bitiiti
'father of the
household'
(plural
at
Mari
abitt
bitim,
a West Semitic form
equivalent
to Hebrew
'abot).
The actual tribal rulers were elevated from
among
these
family
heads,
leading
to the use of the
expression
to
designate
certain
officials;
occasionally
abil served as a
synonym
for "tribal
chiefs,"
for
example
abfi
Hana and
abii
Idamaras.
As in
pre-monarchical
Israel,
the council of the
elders
appears
in the
Mari
documents as a central
institution, deciding
on
matters of war and
peace, functioning
in
treaty making
and in
representing
the tribe before the authorities.
A
capital
role in the tribal
organization,
unknown outside the
Mari
texts,
is that of
sugagum/suqaqum (meaning unknown)
whose function is
somewhat
vague.
He
may
have been a sort of
mukhtar,
chief of a tribal unit
or
village
appointed,
or at least
approved, by
the
Mari
authorities from
among
the local
leadership;
this office was sometimes
purchased
with
money
or
sheep.
At the head of the tribal
hierarchy
stood the
"kings" (sarru,
pl.
arrani),
who
usually appear
in the
Mari
texts as wartime
leaders,
which
again sug-
gests
a
special
West Semitic
nuance,
in this case
military,
much
like
the
Hebrew sar.
Thus,
Yahdun-Lim's
royal
inscriptions
record that he defeated
"seven kings,
fathers
(abii)
of Hana"
and,
on another
occasion,
"three Ya-
minite
kings."
This
plurality
of
"kings"
must be understood as
referring
to
subtribal rulers that
collectively comprised
the tribal
leadership;
such a struc-
ture is also found
among
the Midianites
(Num. 31:8; Judg.
8:12),
the
early
Arameans
(I
Sam.
14:47)
and
perhaps
the Edomites
(Gen. 36:31ff.).
Tribal Traditions: Functional and Religious
The
convergence
of the West Semitic tribes at
Mari with urban Meso-
potamia
involved a dual
process
of friction and strife
alongside symbiosis
and mutual
adaptation;
this interaction between a tribal
heritage
and an es-
18 THE BIBLICAL
ARCHAEOLOGIST
(Vol. XXXIV,
tablished civilization was characteristic also of the settlement of the Israelite
tribes in Canaan. In
Mari,
this
was
especially
evident at the
court, where,
despite
the
process
of assimilation of Sumero-Akkadian
civilization,
much
of tribal tradition was still
preserved.
We
may
thus
interpret
the advice of
the
palace prefect
to Zimri-Lim on a
point
of
protocol:
"[If] you
are the
king
of the
Haneans,
you are, moreover,
a
'king
of the Akkadians.'
[My
lord]
should not ride horses
(that is,
in tribal
fashion).
May my
lord drive
in a
wagon
and mules
(,that
is,
in a "civilized
manner"),
and
may
he
(thus)
honor his
royalty" (ARM VI, 76:20-25).
This same distinction is found at
the
early
Israelite
court,
though
there the mule was ridden
(II
Sam.
13:29,
18:9; I
Kings 1:33)
and the horse
yoked
to !the chariot
(I
Sam.
8:11; II
Sam.
15:1; I
Kings 1:5).
Tribal
heritage
from the nomadic
phase
did
persist
in
spite
of the curbs
of sedentation and
acquiescence
to
royal
administration of
Mari.
Tribal cus-
toms and
institutions,
legal, military
and
political procedures,
and ritual or
religious
practices
all find
expression
in the
Mari
texts.
These traditions,
largely
unknown outside
Mari,
serve to illuminate
early
Israelite
practices.
Only
a few
major
points
can be outlined here.
Making
a Covenant. In the
largely
illiterate
society
of the
tribe,
treaties
were concluded not
by
means of documents but
solely by symbolic
acts -
in the cases recorded in
,the
Mari texts,
by
the ritual of
"killing
an ass-foal"
(note
the
purely
West Semitic
expression applied
here:
ha(ya)ram
qata-
luiz). (Another
symbolic
expression
in this context is "to touch the
throat.")
In one
case,
a
possible ploy
was made to introduce other animals into the
ritual: in a
report
on a
peace treaty
made between the Haneans and the
land of
Idamaras,
a
Mari
official in the Harran
region
tells his
king
that
"they brought
a
whelp
and a
goat,
but I
obeyed my
lord and did not allow a
whelp
and a
goat.
I caused 'the foal of a
she-ass' (cf.
Gen.
49:11;
Zech.
9:9)
to be
slaughtered"
(ARM II, 37:6-12).
The Bible mentions a
parallel
ceremony, involving
the
cutting
in two of
young
animals
(cf.
the covenant
between God and Abraham in Gen.
15:9-10,
and one with the leaders of
Judah during
the
Babylonian siege
of
Jerusalem
in
Jer.
34:18-19).
In all
these
ceremonies,
the common denominator is the ritual sacrifice of
young
and tender animals.
Census. The
Mari
authorities used to take
periodic
censuses of the
tribes,
both nomadic and settled. This
activity
was denoted
by
the terms
ubbubum
(D-stem
of
ebebum),
"to
cleanse,"
and its derivative tebibtum
(literally "cleansing,
purification"),
and is most
likely
West Semitic in
origin.
The
purpose
of -the census seems to have been
military conscription,
taxa-
tion and land
distribution,
though
at least
originally
it was
accompanied
by
a ritual of
purification
similar to that associated with the census of the
1971, 1)
Israelites in the wilderness
(which
involved a
tax,
the
payment
of which
was
regarded
as a ritual
expiation,
Hebrew
kippurim;
cf. Exod.
30:11-16).
Some
scholars, however,
view the tjbibtum as a
purely
administrative
pro-
cedure to clear
persons
or
property
or financial claims
(as
would be indi-
cated
by
the fact that it is carried out
by secular,
not
religious, officials).
Patrimony.
The
Mari
legal
documents
employ, among others,
the West
Semitic term nahalum 'to inherit or
apportion'
in
referring
to land transfers
effected within a
quasi-famillial
inheritance framework and not in the nor-
mal sales
procedures.
This
type
of transaction was
inherently
a
part
of the
patriarchal-tribal system,
in which
land
ownership
was not on an individual
basis but was a
patrimony
(nihlatum
at
Mari,
Hebrew
nahalah).
The
pa-
trimony
could not,
theoretically,
be transferred other than
by
inheritance,
so various means were contrived to circumvent this rule. The Israelites
up-
held a similar
custom,
where the
patrimony
was considered an
inalienable
1
LTo
my lord]
_ _
,
2
say:
3
Thus
(said)
[Shib]tu
4
[your]
maidservant s
5 I
have
[just given]
birth to twins
6
--
a son and a
daughter.
_____ _
7 May my
lord
rejoice'
Fig.
8. Cuneiform
copy
of
message
from
queen
Shibtu to her husband Zimri-Lim
(ARM X, 26)
possession:
"the Israelites must remain
bound
each to the ancestral
portion
of his tribe"
(Num. 36:7;
cf. Lev.
25:13, 28; I
Kings 21:lff;
Ezek.
46:16-17).
The
"Judge."
The Mari documents
employ
several derivates of the
West Semitic root
Sp.t
(verb:
apitum; participle
aiipi.tum;
abstract nouns:
siptum
and
Japitiitum),
which
may
serve to elucidate the biblical
cognates
shaphat, shophet,
and
imishpat, usually
translated
"judge"
(verb
and
noun)
and
"norm, law,"
respectively.
However,
neither in the
Mari
documents
nor in the Bible is the
primary
connotation of these terms
judicial
(for
which
Akkadian
employs dayanu); rather,
they
connote the much broader
concept
of
governorship
and rule.
Thus,
the
svdpitumn
and his
counterpart
in
Judges,
the
shophet,
were
actually
prominent
tribesmen who had ac-
quired
an
authority
far
exceeding
that of a mere
"justice" (and
compare
the later Punic
suffetes).
The
expression ìpptam
nadinuim/lakanum,
met
with in the
Mari documents,
corresponds
to the biblical sim
mishpat
'to
lay
down a
ruling' (by
a
duly
authorized
person)
employed
in connection with
the authoritative acts of a
Moses,
a
Joshua
or a David
(Exod. 15:25;
Josh.
24:25; I
Sam.
30:25).
(Vol. XXXIV,
The Ban. A
peculiar expression
at
Mari,
asakkam
aklalum
(literally
"to
eat the
asakku"),
refers to the
infringement
of a taboo or the
profaning
of
something revered;
it
may
be a loan translation of some West
Semitic
con-
cept paralleling
that of the biblical ban
(herem).
The asakku of a
particular
deity
and/or king
is
frequently
invoked in
penalty
clauses of
contracts,
in
oaths and in
royal
decrees as the sacrosanct and inviolable element. The
closest
parallel
-between
Mari
and the biblical
practice
is in the
imposition
of the ban on
spoils
of war
(see
the Achan
incident,
Josh.
7). However,
whereas the biblical ban functioned on a
purely
religious
plane
(whatever
was banned was
exclusively
God's),
the taboo at
Mari
was
applicable
also
on a human
level,
and its
infringement
there,
though theoretically
still
considered a
capital
offence,
was
expiated by payment
of a
simple
fine.
God
of
the Father.
Among
the central
religious concepts
of the He-
brew
patriarchs
is the "God of
the/my/your/his
father,"
that
is,
a
personal,
innominate
deity,
revered
by subsequent offspring
(cf.
Gen.
28:13; 31:5,
29, 42,
and
53; 32:10, 49:25;
Exod.
3:6, 15; 15:2; etc.).
A direct
parallel
occurs in one
Mari text,
where the
king
of
Qatna
swears
"by
the name of
the
god
of
my
father"
(ARM V, 20:16;
cf. Gen.
31:53),
and in
another,
recently
published,
where
Hammurapi
(undoubtedly
Yarim-Lim's
succes-
sor as
king
of
Aleppo)
is
appealed
to
"by
the name of
(the god)
Adad,
Lord of
A[leppo]
and the
god
of
[your]
father"
(ARM X, 156:10-11).
It is of
significance
for the biblical
comparison
that both instances are in
the
west,
as are all other references to such a
deity
outside
Mari
-
in the
slightly
older
Assyrian
tablets from
Cappadocia,
the much later texts from
Ugarit
(in Akkadian, Ugaritic
and
Hurrian), and, again
at
Qatna,
in
temple
inventories and in an Amarna letter sent from there.
Prophetic
Revelation.
(This subject
was the
topic
of a
very
recent
study
in
BA,
XXXI
(1968), 102-24.)
The earliest definite references to in-
tuitive divination are found in some
twenty-five
Mari texts, revealing
a
religious phenomenon independent
of,
but
alongside,
current external man-
tic
techniques.
The
diviner-prophets
of
Mari largely
acted as the unsolicited
and
spontaneous mouthpieces
of deities
by
means of ecstatic
trances,
dreams
and the like.
Apart
from male and female
laity
imbued with such esoteric
abilities,
there were cult
diviners, usually
attached to sanctuaries
(for
ex-
ample,
the
Dagan temple
at
Terqa
or the
temple
of the
goddess
Annunitum
at
Mari)
-
professionals
designated by
such Akkadian terms as muhhiim
(fem. muhhitum),
'frenzied one' and
apilum
(fem.
apiltumn) 'respondent.'
These
appellatives
may
well be loan translations of West Semitic nomen-
clature,
such as the biblical terms nabi'
'prophet'
and
neshugga'
'frenzied
one,
possessed,'
as well as certain
applications
of the
root 'nh
'to
respond.'
The eminence of biblical
prophecy
lies in its
socio-ethical
pathos,
its
1971, 1)
^' "
~sy
'r;
'
c 3
.d,`?,
r '''
\Y ? ? ? '' ?C~~
rt ~XL
.e,
tr
r 9
;? ,flTLC~~..
91
~.L c;
it
?'
c.? ?-~?, ~ ?
c??~ ?? ~?
\Ic :'? ~?~"
~i~~5~i
'Y
-ìI
??I
~-
~? ?
~WF,
r
.~Y4 -(
..
r
~??. i,
,,
?'?' 4?Y,
....*t ~,'4 ?r`D
.?~L:-~:~ct9~'
`\.+?
? ~ii;p~Irr
;;
I?r ~ - . ? ? . i
7r
s ?~
-4
.L'
r
a
7?-1/' '
.?i
~iif
c~I
-?
1
.?~?'~r
~C;r?
.r ,.
n r
?i ?
r. .r
~ ~c:~?
,...
'4
?r, I
.. ?l *
: ?' h -Y~
I I-.
t?~~
T
~vr
re '3~3~.~t?
'''''' ?1 ?~?~~
J-v? ?, r?
!?' J ''
?~
C~?~ ,, ?e ~(
.). . I --?~
"I
.... I?j; ?: :)
3?
1
~?
1 ~' (1
?CI
bi
ft CD.-.
7'
6?; "
C
4' .c ~:À crti?
*? ??
.?
-h;f~?. ~bf~:L"i'*-
i
?. .r ?r r 1.
.C : C
4?
L
Y
-*Y~j~~cC(
r
'`?
"? r.
I r
I I. '"
'3; ''
~L. .~
c P,3 ?? 111:
-
?t~t(:L:.. r?'1
Fig.
9. Mold for
cakes, representing
a
goddess,
found in
royal
kitchen at
Mari palace.
From
Mission
archdologique
de
Mari, II:
Le
palais--documents
et
monuments (1959),
P1.
XIX,
1044.
religious ideology
and its
popular
level
-
all of which are
missing
in the
Mari material,
where the
ruling
interests alone are
promoted, satisfying
lo-
cal and immediate material demands.
Despite
this obvious
shortcoming,
the
very
manifestation at
Mari
of intuitive
divination, revealing
a conscious-
ness of
prophetic
mission
among
West Semitic tribes in a
period predating
Israelite
prophecy by centuries,
places
the
history
and
investigation
of Near
Eastern
prophecy
in
general,
and both earlier and later biblical
prophecy
in
particular,
in an
entirely
new
perspective.
(Vol. XXXIV,
A Select Mari Bibliography
General
Surveys. A.
Parrot, ed.,
Studia Mariana
(1950)
with
bibliography;
Ch. F.
Jean,
Six
campagnes
de
fouilles
a' Mari 1933-1939
(1952);
A.
Parrot, Mari (1953);
A. Malamat in En-
cylopaedia Biblica,
IV
(1962),
559-79
(Hebrew)
with
bibliography;
G. E.
Mendenhall, BA,
XI
(1948),
1-19
(reprinted
in BA Reader 2
[1964], pp. 3-20); J.
R.
Kupper ed.,
La civilisation de
Mari (XVe
rencontre
assyriologique internationale) (1967;
henceforth:
IIAI
XV);
A.
Petitjean
and
J. Coppens,
Bibliotheca
Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium,
XXIV
(1969), 3-13,
with
bibliography.
Archaeological Reports.
A.
Parrot,
Mission
archdologique
de
Mari,
I.
Le
temple d'Ishtar
(1956);
II. Le
palais-architecture (1958),---peintures murales (1958)
and-documentes et monuments
(1959); III. Les temples d'Ishtarat et de
Ninni-Zaza (1967);
IV. Le
trdsor
d'Ur
(1968); Parrot,
Syria,
XLIV
(1967),
1-26
(16th campaign);
XLVI
(1969),
191-208
(17th campaign);
XLVII
(1970), forthcoming (18th campaign);
W. F.
Albright, Journal of
the American Oriental
Society,
XLV
(1925), 225-26,
XLVI
(1926), 220-30;
M.
Rutten,
Revue
d'Assyriologie (henceforth RA),
XXXV
(1938), 36-52; I. J. Gelb, ibid.,
L
(1956), 1-10; M. Civil, ibid.,
LVI
(1962), 213;
D.
O.
Edzard, RAI XV, 51-71;
P.
Carlmeyer, ibid., 161-69; G. Dossin, RA, LXI (1967), 97-104; Kupper,
Journal of Cuneiform Studies,
XXI
(1967), 123-25;
A.
Moortgat, Baghdader Mitteilungen,
III
(1964), 68-74,
IV
(1968), 221-31;
E.
Soliberger, RA,
LXIII
(1969), 169f.;
A.
Caquot, Syria,
XLVI
(1969), 246f.;
M.
Astour, Journal of
the American Oriental
Society,
LXXXVIII
(1968),
738.
Old
Babylonian
Archives. ARM series: I.
Dossin, Correspondance
de Shamshi-Addu
(1950);
II.
Jean,
Lettres diverses (1950); III. Kupper, Correspondance
de
Kibri-Dagan (1950);
IV. Dossin,
Correspondance
de
Shamshi-Addu
(1951);
V.
Dossin, Correspondance
de lasmah-Addu
(1952);
VI.
Kupper, Correspondance
de Bahdi-Lim
(1954);
VII.
J. Bottero,
Textes
dconomiqures
et ad-
ministratifs (1957);
VIII. G. Boyer,
Textes
juridiques (1958);
IX. M.
Birot,
Textes
adminstratifs
de la salle 5 du
palais (1960);
X.
Dossin,
La
correspondance fdminine (cuneiform only) (1967);
XI. M. Lurton Burke, Textes
administratifs
de la salle 111
du
palais (1963);
XII.
Birot,
Textes
administratifs
de la salle 5 du
palais (1964);
XIII.
Dossin, Bottero,
et
al.,
Textes divers
(1964);
XV. Bottiro and A.
Finet,
Rdpertoire
analytique
des tomes I ii V (1954). Others: Dossin, Syria,
XIX
(1938), 105-26,
XX
(1939), 97-113; idem, RA,
XXXV
(1938), 1-13; W. von Soden,
Welt
des
Orients,
1
(1947-52), 187-204;
F.
Thureau-Dangin, RA,
XXXVI
(1939), 1-28; G. Goossens,
ibid.,
XLVI
(1952), 137-54;
E.
Laroche, ibid.,
LI
(1957), 104ff.;
I. Mendelsohn, BASOR, No.
156
(Dec., 1959), pp. 38-40;
A. L.
Oppenheim,
Letters
from Mesopotamia (1967), pp. 96-110;
Malamat, Qadmoniot, I (1968), 80-87;
P. Artzi and Malamat, Orientalia,
XL
(1971),
75-89.
West Semitic Rule at Mari. Dossin, Syria, XXXII (1955), 1-28; idem, RA,
LXIV
(1970),
17-44;
W. F.
Leemans, RA,
XLIX
(1955), 201ff.; idem, Foreign
Trade in the Old
Babylonian
Period
(1960), pp. 176-81;
B.
Landsberger, Journal of Cuneiform Studies,
VIII
(1954), 35f.; J.
M.
Munn-Rankin, Iraq,
XVIII
(1956), 68-110; Kupper, Les
nomades en
Mdsopotamie
au temps
des
rois de Mari (1957);
H.
Lewy,
Welt des
Orients, II (1959), 438-53; idem,
RAI
XV, 14-28;
A.
Goetze, Journal of
Semitic
Studies,
IV
(1959), 142-47; Gelb, Journal of Cuneiform Studies,
XV
(1961), 27-47;
Edzard in Fischer
Weltgeschichte,
II (1965), 165-91;
K. A.
Kitchen,
Ancient
Orient and Old Testament
(1966),
index under
Mari;
W.
Rllig,
RAI XV, 97-102; J. J.
Finkelstein, Journal of Cuneiform Studies,
XX
(1966), 95-118; Malamat, Journal of
the American
Oriental
Society,
LXXXVIII
(1968), 163-73;
S.
Page, Iraq,
XXX
(1968), 87-97; Albright,
Yahweh and the Gods
of
Canaan
(1968),
index under
Mari; J.
M.
Sasson,
The
Military
Establish-
ments at Mari
(1969).
The West. F. M.
Tocci,
La Siria
nell'
eta
di Mari (1960); Dossin,
Bulletin acad.
roy. belg. (cl.
des
lettres),
XXXVIII
(1952), 224-39,
XL
(1954), 130-34; Kupper
in
Cambridge
Ancient
History
(rev. ed.), II, Chap.
1
(1963); Malamat, Eretz-Israel,
V
(1958),
67-73
(Hebrew); idem, Journal of
Biblical
Literature,
LXXIX
(1960), 12-19; idem,
in Studies in Honor
of B. Landsberger (1965),
365-73; idem,
in Near Eastern
Archaeology
in the Twentieth
Century (Essays
in Honor
of
Nelson
Glueck) (1970), 164-77;
B.
Mazar,
Israel Exvloration Journal, XVIII
(1968),
65-97.
Mari and the Bible.
Dossin,
Mdlanges
Dussaud, II (1939), 981-96; idem, RA,
LII
(1958),
60ff.,
LXII
(1968), 75f.;
M.
Noth,
in Geschichte and Altes Testament
(Alt Festschrift) (1953),
127-52; idem, Urspriinge
des alten Israels im Lichte neuer
Quellen (1961); Finet,
L'accadien des
lettres de Mari (1956); idem, Syria,
XLI
(1964), 117-42; idem, RA,
LX
(1966), 17-28;
W. L.
Moran, Orientalia,
XXVI
(1957), 339-45; Edzard, Zeitschrift
fiir
Assyriologie, N.F.,
XIX
(1959),
168-73;
H.
Klengel, Orientalia,
XXIX
(1960), 357-75; idem,
Archiv
Orientdlni
XXX
(1962), 585-96; idem,
in
Das
Verhiltnis
von Bodenbauern und
Viechziichtern
in
historischer
Sicht
(1968), 75-81;
P.
Fronzaroli,
Ar. Glott. Ital., XLV
(1960),
37-60. 127-49; J.
C. L.
Gibson,
Glasgow University
Oriental
Society Transactions,
XVIII
(1959-60), 15-29; idem, Journal of
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