Fortune and Misfortune in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 60th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Warsaw, 21–25 July 2014

Published by Penn State University Press 2017

Fortune and Misfortune in the Ancient Near East

Proceedings of the 60th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Warsaw, 21–25 July 2014

Edited by: Olga Drewnowska and Małgorzata Sandowicz

In the series Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575064666

Overview
Contents

About this book

In the week between July 21 and 25, 2014, the University of Warsaw hosted more than three hundred Assyriologists from all over the world. In the course of five days, nearly 150 papers were read in three (and sometimes four) parallel sessions. Many of them were delivered within the framework of nine thematic workshops. The publication of most of these panels is underway, in separate volumes. As is usually the case, the academic sessions were accompanied by many opportunities for social interaction among the participants, and there was time to enjoy the historical and cultural benefits of Warsaw. Special honor was accorded to two American Assyriologists whose origins can be traced to Warsaw, Piotr Michalowski and Piotr Steinkeller, and a special session to recognize their contributions to the study of ancient Mesopotamia was organized.

In this book are presented papers on the main theme of the meeting, “Fortune and Misfortune in the Ancient Near East.” The 31 essays are organized into 5 sections: (1) plenary presenations on “What Is Fortune? What Is Misfortune?”; (2) humanity and fortune/misfortune and luck, with discussion of specific examples; (3) additional papers on definitions of fortune and misfortune; (4) the effects on city and state; and (5) God and temple.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Program Publicly Available Download PDF	xvii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part 1 What Is Fortune? What Is Misfortune?
Luck, Fortune, and Destiny in Ancient Mesopotamia Or How the Sumerians and Babylonians Thought of Their Place in the Flow of Things Piotr Steinkeller Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
The Concept of “Misfortune” in Sumerian Wisdom Literature Jacob Klein Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Man’s Fate: Divine Responsibility for Human Welfare in Ḫatti Gary Beckman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
Part 2 Man
Fortune and Misfortune of the Individual: Some Observations on the Sufferer’s Plaint in Ludlul bēl nēmeqi II 12–32 Tzvi Abusch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
On the Fortune—or Misfortune—of Having Children: The Abundance of Children According to the Omen Text K. 6403 Nils P. Heeßel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
Gendering for Fortune and Misfortune: Ritual Gender Assignment in the Ancient Near East Kathleen McCaffrey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
Why Did Paškuwatti’s Patient Fail in the Matrimonial Bed? Zsolt Simon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
Introduction aux symptômes mentaux en Mésopotamie Magalie Parys Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
Legal Remedies against Misfortune: Evasion, Legal Fiction, and Sham Transactions in Late Bronze Age Emar Lena Fijałkowska Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
Hierarchy at the Hittite Court Tayfun Bilgin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
Fortunes and Misfortunes of Messengers and Merchants in the Amarna Letters Graciela Gestoso Singer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
Made Men: Rich Slaves of the Nūr-Sîns and the Egibis Benjamin Dromard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Betting on the Right Horse: Loyalty in the Early Years of the Neo-Babylonian Empire Yuval Levavi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
Part 3 King
The Origins of the LUGAL Office Petr Charvát Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Ups and Downs in the Career of Enmerkar, King of Uruk Dina Katz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
“Šulgi, Mighty Man, King of Ur” Tonia Sharlach Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
The Fate of Yasmaḫ-Addu, the King of Mari Rafał Koliński Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Finding the Good Genius in Your Bowl Daniel Bonneterre Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
The Royal Adoption Scene in Ugaritic and Biblical Texts Joanna Töyräänvuori Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	247
“One Epic or Many?” Das Tukultī-Ninurta-Epos zum Ersten, zum Zweiten und zum. . .? Stefan Jakob Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259
Part 4 City and State
Climate Change, the Mardu Wall, and the Fall of Ur Minna (Lönnqvist) Silver Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
Regional Differences in Middle Assyrian Jacob Jan de Ridder Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297
The Anatolian and Iranian Frontiers: Analyzing the Foreign Policy of the Assyrian Empire under Esarhaddon Selim Ferruh Adalı Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Finis Assyriae: The Fall of the Assyrian State, or the Fall of the Assyrian Civilisation? Stefan Zawadzki Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	325
Fortune and Politics: Nabopolassar’s Campaigns in 616–615 b.c.e. and His Alliance with Media Kabalan Moukarzel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	335
More about the Crisis in Uruk Radosław Tarasewicz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	347
Part 5 God and Temple
Don’t Insult Inana! Divine Retribution for Offense against Common Decency in the Light of New Textual Sources Jana Matuszak Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	359
Fortune and Misfortune of the Eagle in the Myth of Etana Evelyne Koubková Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	371
Within the Ekur: Sitz im Leben for a Literary Topos Regarding Nintur Mark A. Avila, Marcel Sigrist and Uri Gabbay Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	383
Some Remarks on the Archaeology of the Ekur of Nippur during Post-Kassite Times Bernhard Schneider Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	409

Language: English
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 448

eBook

Published: December 27, 2016
ISBN: 9781575064666