Hittite āššweni

Alexandrov, Boris; Sideltsev, Andrei V.

doi:10.3917/assy.103.0059

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

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International Politics and Local Change at Emar in the Late Bronze Age

Thames

2023

Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History

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This article considers the administrative changes that occurred in the city of Emar in the early 13th century BCE—including the beginning of the now well-known bifurcation in scribal practices between the Conventional Middle Euphrates Format (also known as the “Syrian” system) and the Free Format (also known as the “Syro-Hittite” system)—in the context of international political currents. In order to position my understanding of Emarite history with respect to the ongoing chronology debate, I offer new chronological considerations using internal data from the Emarite legal documents that affirm the substantial overlap of the two scribal systems at Emar (most recently argued for by Daniel Fleming and Sophie Démare-Lafont), while also adjusting the dating of some important synchronisms. Following the establishment of the chronological position, the article poses the question of why the material changes at Emar were executed by the Hittite empire exactly when they were, despite a previous policy of non-intervention. I argue that the increasing threat posed by expansionist activity of the Middle Assyrian state to Hittite hegemony over the Syrian territories—of which Emar was the farthest south-easterly border state—is a contributing factor to administrative changes in Emar.

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International Politics and Local Change at Emar in the Late Bronze Age

Thames

2023

Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History

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Problems in studying of Akkadian expression ubānum ištēt ‘one finger’

Alexandrov

2021

Orientalistica

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The Akkadian expression ubānum ištēt ‘one finger’ is found in the Old Babylonian letters of the 18th century BCE, where it is used as an allegoric description of a close alliance between rulers. In the Assyriological literature, there are two possible explanations of the origin of this expression. According to the first one, the allegory of ‘one finger’ was based on a symbolic gesture performed by the kings while concluding a treaty. This gesture consisted of joining or locking thumbs or index fingers. The second explanation suggested that the expression ‘one finger’ referred to a phenomenon of syndactyly, i.e. an inborn defect of fusing of two or more fingers. The imagination of ancient Mesopotamians could turn such fused fingers into the symbol of alliance. W. L. Moran, whom these explanations belong to, considered the first one to be the clearest. Other scholars also accepted this explanation. Thus, in 2019 D. Charpin compared the Akkadian expression with a scene of concluding alliance between two Asian rulers of the 1st century AD, as described in the “Annals” of Tacitus. According to the Roman historian, the ceremony included binding the right thumbs of the two rulers. However, no direct proofs from written or iconographic sources from the 2nd millennium BCE were found, which support any of these explanations. The present article suggests considering as an iconographic proof of the first explanation the Ugarit stele, RS 7.116. This stele dates back to the 14th century BCE and likely preserves an iconographic source for concluding an alliance. The two rulers are standing in front of each other with a high table placed between them. On this table are sitting two tablets representing a treaty between the two parties. The rulers lean the elbows of one of their hands against the tablets and join (or are about to join) the fingers of those hands at the height of their heads. If this is so, and the Old Babylonian and Ugarit sources refer to the same gesture, the stele from Ugarit provides a sufficient ground for speculations about continuity of symbolic and legal practices in Syria and Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium BCE.

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The second military conflict between ‘Assyria' and ‘Ḫatti' in the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I

Yamada¹

2013

Revue d'Assyriologie Et d'Archéologie Orientale

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Tous droits réservés pour tous pays.La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit.

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Hittite āššweni

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

International Politics and Local Change at Emar in the Late Bronze Age

International Politics and Local Change at Emar in the Late Bronze Age

Problems in studying of Akkadian expression ubānum ištēt ‘one finger’

The second military conflict between ‘Assyria' and ‘Ḫatti' in the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I

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