Foundation deposits in ancient Mesopotamia [1 ed.]

Table of contents :
Title
Contents
Introduction
1- Building Rites
2- Human and Animal Sacrifice
3- Peg Deposits
4- Tablets
5- Cones, Cylinders, and Prisms
6- Miscellaneous Deposits
7- Some Ancient Terms Used forBuilding Deposits
8- Summary
Appendix A
Appendix B
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations

Citation preview

Foundation Deposits in Ancient Mesopotamia

BY RICHARDS. ELLIS

New Haven and .L ondon, Yale University Press 1968

Copyright © 1968 by Yale University. Designed by Sally Sullivan, set in Monotype Imprint type, and printed in the United States of America by The Murray Printing Company, Forge Village, Massachusetts. Distributed in Canada by McGill University Press. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Library of Congress catalog card number : 67-24498

For my parents

Preface

This study grew from a doctoral dissertation which was submitted to the Department of Oriental Languages and Civilizations of the University of Chicago in 1965. The present version has been considerably rewritten since then. Since the preparation of the dissertation occupied the greater part of a more than five-years' residence at the Oriental Institute, the list of those to whom I am indebted for assistance includes practically the entire Oriental Institute staff. My particular thanks are due to P. Delougaz, who first suggested the topic and guided the writing of the dissertation. Miss H. J. Kantor, T. Jacobsen, and A. L. Oppenheim served at various times together with •Professor Delougaz on my dissertation committee. I owe them many ideas and suggestions, as well as much encouragement. Other members of the Oriental Institute staff to whom I am indebted for ideas and assistance include R. A. Bowman, M. Civil, I. J. Gelb, H. G. Gliterbock, R. C. Haines, B. Landsberger, Miss E. Reiner, M. B. Rowton, and Mrs. L. Switalski. At Yale W. W. Hallo has kindly allowed me to examine objects in the Yale Babylonian Collection, of which he is curator, and, in his capacity as co-editor of the Yale Near Eastern Researches discussed several parts of the manuscript with me and made some valuable suggestions. Several of the figures are reproduced here with the kind permission of the responsible persons, which include R. D. Barnett, Head Keeper of the Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities of the British Museum; R. C. Haines, formerly Field Director of the Joint Expedition to Nippur of the University Museum of Philadelphia and the Oriental Institute; and the Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Hirmer Verlag, Mlinchen. Specific credits are given in the list; of figures. I am indebted also to Mrs. Jane Isay of the Yale University Press, who edited the manuscript and suggested many improvements both technical and literary. vii

viii

PREFACE

Finally, I would like to thank my wife, who typed the manuscript several times, and who has been a constant source of advice, encouragement, and moral support. RICHARD S. ELLIS

New Haven December 1966

Contents

Preface List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Building Rites 2. Human and Animal Sacrifice 3. Peg Deposits 4. Tablets 5. Cones, Cylinders, and Prisms 6. Miscellaneous Deposits 7. Some Ancient Terms Used for Building Deposits 8. Summary Appendix A AppendixB Bibliography Index Illustrations

vii X

xiii

1 5

35 46 94 108 126

145 153 169 187 198

203 215

ix

List of Illustrations

Figure 1. Copper pegs and "horns" from Inanna Temple VII, Nippur: From field photographs of the Joint Expedition of the University Museum of Philadelphia and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, by courtesy of R. C. Haines, Field Director. 2. Copper pegs and "ringbolts" from the !star Temple, Mari: After Andre Parrot, Mission archeologique de Mari, 1: Le Temple d'Ishtar, Institut frarn;ais d'archeologie de Beyrouth, Bibliotheque archeologique et historique, 65 (Paris, Geuthner, 1956), Fig. 38. 3. Stone peg-figurine from Uruk: After Heinrich Lenzen and others, XVII. vorli:iufiger Bericht uber die van dem deutschen archi:iologischen Institut und der deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft aus Mitteln der deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft unternommenen Ausgrabungen in Uruk-Warka Winter 1958/59, ADOG, 6 (Berlin, Gehr. Mann, 1961), Pl. 13b. 4. Stone figure of Lugalkisalsi of Uruk: After E. Douglas Van Buren, Foundation Figurines and Offerings (Berlin, Schoetz, 1931), Pl. V, Fig. 9. 5. "Pre-Ur-Nanse" peg figurine from Telloh: After ibid., Pl. I, Fig. 2. 6. Peg figurine and "fish-tail" plate of Ur-Nanse of Lagas: After Viktor Christian, Altertumskunde des Zweistromlandes (Leipzig, Hiersemann, 1940), 2, Pl. 153, 1. 7. Peg figurine of Enannatum I of Lagas: After M.-L. Erlenmeyer and H. Erlenmeyer, "Uber einige verwandte sumerische, syrisch-anatolische und agaische Darstellungen," Orientalia, N.S. 24 (1955), Pl. I. 8. Masculine peg figurine in the British Museum: Photograph by courtesy of R. D. Barnett, Head Keeper, Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities, British Museum. 9. Peg deposit from Bismaya: After Edgar James Banks, Bismya, or the Lost City of Adab (New York, Knickerbocker Press, 1912), p. 275, and Daniel David Luckenbill, Cuneiform Series, 2, Inscriptions from Adab, OIP, 14 (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1930), Pl. 5. 10. Peg figurine of Tisatal of Urkis: After Andre Parrot and Jean Nougayrol, "Un Document de fondation hurrite," RA, 42 (1948), 5, Fig. 3. 11. Peg deposit of Niwar-Mer of Mari: After Andre Parrot, "Les Fouilles de Mari," Syria, 21 (1940), 7, Fig. 5, Pl. II, 1-2. X

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

xi

12. Peg deposit of Istup-Ilum of Mari: After ibid., p. 21, Fig. 15, Pl. IX, 2-4. 13. Deposit of Apil-kin of Mari: After ibid., p. 7, Fig. 5, Pl. II, 3-4. 14. Figurine of kneeling god with peg, of Ur-Bau of Lagas: After Leon Heuzey, Catalogue des antiquites chaldeennes: sculpture et gravure a la pointe (Paris, Librairies-Imprimeries Reunies, 1902), p. 301. 15. Fragment of a stele of Gudea, showing a kneeling god figurine: After Gaston Cros, Nouvellesfouilles de Tello (Paris, E. Leroux, 1910-14), p. 295, Fig. 8. 16. Kneeling god on a stele of Puzur-Insusinak of Elam: After Andre Parrot, Sumer: The Dawn of Art, Eng. translation Stuart Gilbert and James Emmons(NewYork, Golden Press, 1961), Fig. 239. 17. Peg figurine of Gudea of Lagas with reclining bovine: After Ernest de Sarzec and Leon Heuzey, Decouvertes en Chaldee (Paris, Leroux, 18841912), P. 28, 5. 18. Peg figurine of Sulgi of Ur with reclining bovine: After ibid., Pl. 28, 6. 19. Canephore figurine of Gudea of Lagas: After ibid., Pl. 28, 2. 20. Canephore figurine of Ur-Ningirsu of Lagas: After Van Buren, FF, Pl. VIII, Fig. 5. 21. Typical brick box containing an Ur III peg deposit; A. Closed; B. Open; C. Section: My drawing, based on many photographs and descriptions. 22. Pegless canephore figurine of Ur-Nammu of Ur, from the Ekur at Nippur: After Van Buren, FF, PI. IX, Fig. 16. 23. Canephore figurine of Ur-Nammu of Ur, with peg, probably from Uruk: After Eva Strommenger, The Art of Mesopotamia, Eng. tr. Christina Haglund (London, Thames and Hudson, 1964), Pl. 146, right. 24. Canephorefigurine of Sulgi of Ur: After Van Buren, FF, PI. XI, Fig. 21. 25. Canephore figurine of Rim-Sin of Larsa: After ibid., Pl. XIII, Fig. 24. 26. Canephore stele of Assurbanipal of Assyria, from Babylon: Photograph by courtesy of the Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Hirmerverlag, Miinchen. 27. Perforated clay cones inscribed with legal texts, A. Early Dynastic; B. Ur III: A. After DP, 1, Pl. XIIIa; B. After A. Leo Oppenheim, Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets of the Wilberforce Eames Babylonian Collection in the New York Public Library: Tablets of the Time of the Third Dynasty of Ur, American Oriental Series, 32 (New Haven, American Oriental Society, 1948), P. XIV, below. 28. Arrangements of deposits in the !star Assuritu Temple of TukultiNinurta I at Assur: After Walter Andrae, Die jungeren Ischtar Tempel in Assur, WVDOG, 58 (Leipzig, Hinrichs, 1935), Fig. 14.

xii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

29. Statue of a god holding a box, from Arslan Tash: After Franyois Thureau-Dangin and others, Arslan-Tash (Paris, Geuthner, 1931), Pl. I, center. 30. Shapes of representative prisms and cylinders, A. A normal prism; B. A cylindrical object inscribed like a prism; C. A normal cylinder; D. A "prismoid" inscribed like a cylinder: My drawings. 31. A. Cones of Sin-kasid; B. Cones of Hammurapi; C. A cylinder of Samsu-iluna: My drawings of objects in the Yale Babylonian Collection, through the courtesy of W. W. Hallo, curator. 32. A series of contemporary clay cones and nails (not all to scale), A. Sulgi; B. Sulgi; C. Lipit-Istar; D. Lipit-Istar; E. Sin-kasid; F. Sin-kasid; G. Samsu-iluna; H. Samsu-iluna: A. After J. M. Aynard, "Les Clous d'argile du Musee du Louvre," RA, 54 (1960), 17 (drawn from measurements and description); B. After de Sarzec, Dec., Pl. 16, 3; C. YBC 2324, drawn by permission of W.W. Hallo, Curator of the Yale Babylonian Collection. Text published in YOS, 9, No. 120; D. YBC 2314, drawn by permission of W. W. Hallo, curator, text published in YOS, 9, No. 118; E. After Julius Jordan, Uruk-Warka nach dem Ausgrabungen durch die deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, WVDOG, 51 (Leipzig, Hinrichs, 1928, Pl. 106a; F. After L. W. King, A History of Sumer and Akkad (New York, Stokes, 1910), plate facing p. 258, bottom right; G. YOS, 9, Pl. XXXIX, No. 35; H. Ibid., Pl. XL, No. 36. 33. Early Dynastic inscribed ovoids and cones, A. Eannatum; B. Entemena; C. Lugalzagesi(?); D. Entemena; E. Urukagina: A. After de Sarzec, Dec., Pl. 2, 3; B. After BIN, 2, Pls. LVII-LVIII; C. After E. Sollberger, "La Frontiere de Sara," Orientalia, N. S. 28 (1959), Pl. 63; D. After de Sarzec, Dec., Pl. 22 bis; E. After ibid., Pl. 32. 34. Decorations stamped on two broken prisms of Esarhaddon: Photographs courtesy of R. D. Barnett, Head Keeper, Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities, British Museum (my composite drawing is taken from the two photographs). 35. Decoration on the Black Stone of Esarhaddon: After D. D. Luckenbill, "The Black Stone of Esarhaddon," AJSL, 41, (1924-25), Fig. 1. 36. Chronological distribution of various types of building deposits.

Abbreviations

Objects from Asia in the collections of the Oriental Institute Museum AA Archaologischer Anzeiger (Beiblatt zum J ahrbuch des deutschen Archaologischen Instituts) AAA Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research AASOR AB Assyriologische Bibliothek ADOG Abhandlungen der deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft AfK Archiv fur Keilschriftforschung AHw W. von Soden, Akkadisches H andworterbuch Antiquaries' Journal AJ American Journal of Semitic Languages AJSL AKA L. W. King, Annals of the Kings of Assyria AMI Archaologische Mitteilungen aus Iran ANET J.B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 2d. ed. Lexical series an tagal=saqu, cited from references in the Antagal CAD Tablets in the collections of the Musee du Louvre AO AOB Altorientalische Bibliothek AOS American Oriental Series D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia ARAB Beitrage zur Assyriologie und semitischen Sprachwissenschaft BA Bagh. Mitt. Baghdader Mitteilungen BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania, Series BE A: Cuneiform Texts Belleten Tiirk tarih kurumu, Belleten BIN Babylonian Inscriptions in the Collection of J. B. Nies BiOr Bibliotheca Orientalis H. Zimmern, Beitrage zur Kenntnis der babylonischen Religion BKBR Objects in the collections of the British Museum BM Bulletin du Musee de Beyrouth BMB A

xiii

xiv

CAD CAR CH CRAI CRRA CT DLZ DP Ea E$EM FF }Jg

Ub HUCA

ldu ILN IOM IM JAOS JCS JNES JRAS

K. KAH KAR KAV KB KBo KUB Kuml MAOG MBI MDOG MDP MJ MSL Nabnitu

ABBREVIATIONS

The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Cambridge Ancient History Codex Hammurapi Comptes rendus de l' academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres Compte rendu de la ... rencontre assyriologique internationale Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum Deutsche Literaturzeitung M. Allotte de la Fuye, Documents presargoniques Lexical series ea A=naqu, cited from references in the CAD Texts in the collections of the Eski $ark Eserleri Miizesi, Istanbul E. Douglas von Buren, Foundation Figurines and Offerings Lexical series IJ.AR-gud=imru=ballu, cited from references in the CAD, and in Landsberger, MSL Lexical series IJ.AR-ra=b,ubullu, cited from Landsberger, MSL Hebrew Union College Annual Lexical series A=idu, cited from references in the CAD Illustrated London News Objects in the collections of the Imperial Ottoman Museum, Istanbul Tablets in the collections of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad Journal of the American Oriental Society Journal of Cuneiform Studies Journal of Near Eastern Studies Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Tablets in the Kuyunjik Collection of the British Museum Keilschrifttexte aus Assur historischen Inhalts Keilschrifttexte aus Assur religiosen Inhalts Keilschrifttexte aus Assur verschiedenen Inhalts Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek Keilschrifttexte aus Bo$hazkoi Keilschrifturkunden aus Boghazkoi Kuml: Arbogfor Jysk Arkaeologisk Selskab Mitteilungen der altorientalischen Gesellschaft G. A. Barton, Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions Mitteilungen der deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft Memoires de la delegation en Perse Museum Journal B. Landsberger, Materialien zum sumerischen Lexikon Lexical series sw 7 + ALAM = nabnitu, cited from references in the CAD

ABBREVIATIONS

NBC NFT OBI OECT OIP OLZ PSBA 1-V R RA REC RISA RLA RLV RT SAKI

SAOC SL TCL TSBA UE UET UVB VA VAB VAS VAT WZFSUJ WO YBC YOS ZA ZDMG

xv

Tablets in the Nies Babylonian Collection, Yale University Library G. Cros, Nouvelles Fouilles de Tello H. V. Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions Oxford Editions of Cuneiform Texts Oriental Institute Publications Orientalistische Literaturzeitung Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology H. C. Rawlinson, The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, Vols. 1-5. Revue d' assyriologie et d' archeologie orientate Sign forms as listed by F. Thureau-Dangin, Recherches sur l' origine de l' icriture cuniiforme G. Barton, Royal Inscriptions of Sumer and Akkad Reallexikon der Assyriologie Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte Recueil de travaux relatifs a la philologie et a l' archeologie egyptiennes et assyriennes F. Thureau-Dangin, Die sumerischen und akkadischen Konigsinschriften Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization A. Deimel. Sumerisches Lexikon Textes cuniiformes du Louvre Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology Ur Excavations Ur Excavations, Texts Vorliiufiger Bericht iibe~ die ... Ausgrabungen in Uruk- Warka Objects in the collections of the Staatliche Museen, Berlin Vorderasiatische Bibliothek Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmiiler Tablets in the collections of the Staatliche Museen, Berlin Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Friedrich-Schiller Universitat Jena Die Welt des Orients Objects in the Yale Babylonian Collection Yale Oriental Series, Babylonian Texts Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archaologie Zeitschrift det deutschen morgenliindischen Gesellschaft

Introduction SCOPE

The term "foundation deposit" is used in the title of this study because it gives the reader some idea of what to expect. It is not a very accurate description of the material to be covered, however. Taken literally, the term should refer to something laid down in the foundations, or at the founding, of a building. Many objects have been called foundation deposits that have nothing to do with foundations (as well as some that have nothing to do with buildings). SoD'.le of these objects are clearly similar in purpose to true foundation deposits and must be discussed with them. Others would best be dealt with in other connections. Since the scope of this study cannot easily be defined in a few words, I will enumerate briefly the subjects that I will and will not cover. Most of the objects and practices to be discussed may be called "building deposits." This term is intended to be wider in scope than "foundation deposits" and may be defined negatively. A building deposit is an integral part of the structure of a building but is neither decorative (usually not even visible) nor structurally useful. It may occupy any position in the building-high or low, in walls or under floors. The term "foundation deposit" is used to designate a building deposit placed in the foundations or lower parts of a building-'-below floor level. Building deposits are the primary concern of this study, but some practices will be referred to that have left no detectable traces in the archaeological record, and that could not be expected to; various rites and ceremonies, for example, fall into this category. At this point explanations may be offered for the omission of material that some readers may expect to find. First, my point of view is essentially archaeological, though I will make as much use of ancient written evidence as possible. Textual sources will be used primarily to explain what has actually been found in the earth, or to give information about rites performed on the building but not detectable by the archaeologist. Only in exceptional cases will texts be mentioned that deal solely with the religious and magical side of building, and do not record actual physical operations performed on the building or its site. Secondly, the practices connected with the construction of buildings or of 1

2

INTRODUCTION

subsidiary features within them are of concern in this work. Events in the subsequent history of these buildings, such as the burial of votive offerings or measures undertaken for the magical protection of the inhabitants, are not investigated. The building deposits of countries other than Mesopotamia will be for the most part ignored. To investigate them for their own sake would be beyond the limits both of a workable subject and of my own competence. There is no evidence of direct influence of foreign customs on Mesopotamian practices; a comparative study, with the intention of explaining Mesopotamian practices in terms of common human tendencies, would lead to realms of folklore and psychology into which I fear to embark. My attempts to explain the meaning of Mesopotamian customs related to building deposits will be limited to trying to find out what the Mesopotamians themselves thought they meant-or, alternatively, to showing that the Mesopotamians themselves did not know what they meant. I believe that this must be the first step in trying to elucidate any ancient pattern of behavior; I will leave it to others to try to find out what subconscious urges the depositors of the objects were obeying. Three omissions that might be unexpected are those of a section on clay nails, of a discussion of the texts found with building deposits, and of apotropaic figurines. Clay nails have been discussed by others with great competence.1 I shall not attempt to duplicate this work, though I shall examine some of its results in the chapters on pegs (Chapter 3) and on cones, cylinders, and prisms (Chapter 5). An investigation of the texts found in building deposits would be most useful if it formed part of a general study of building inscriptions. There is a need for such a study; works on the subject that have appeJlred in the past have been of limited scope. 2 A task of such magnitude, however, is one that 1. Walter Andrae, Coloured Ceramics from Ashur and Earlier Ancient Assyrian WallPaintings (London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1932), pp. 63-65, Fig. 38; Das Gotteshaus und die Urformen des Bauens im alten Orient (Berlin, Hans Schoetz, 1930), pp. 78-86. F. R. Kraus, "Altmesopotamische Tonnaegel mit Keilinschriften," Halil Edhem Hatira Kitabi, 1, Turk Tarih Kurumu Yayinlarindan, VII Seri, No. 5 (Ankara, Turk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, 1947), 71-113. More recently, William W. Hallo, "The Royal Inscriptions of Ur: a Typology," HUCA, 33 (1962), 3-5. 2. See e.g. VAB, 4, 5-13; Sigmund Mowinckel, "Die vorderasiatischen Konigsund Ftirsteninschriften. Eine stilistische Studie," Eucharisterion: Studien zur Religion und Literatur des alten und neuen Testaments Hermann Gunkel zum 60. Geburtstage, dem 23. Mai 1922, dargebracht von seinen Schillern und Freunden, I. Teil, Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des alten und neuen Testaments, neue Folge, 19/1 (Giittingen, Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1923), 278-322; W. Baumgartner, "Zur Form des assyrischen Konigsinschriften," OLZ, 27 (1924), cols. 313-17; Hallo, HUCA, 33 (1962), 1'-43. A more inclusive study on the plan of the last-named article, or a series of similar limited works, would be of great value.

INTRODUCTION

3

I feel myself justified in neglecting. Therefore, references to the texts on building deposits will be made only when it seems necessary to throw light on other problems. The apotropaic clay figurines buried under the floors of buildings also appear to belong to a different study. They have no connection with the peg figurines of Sumerian times, while it is clear from ritual texts that similar figures and rites were employed on occasions that had nothing to do with building. These figurines would be more in place in a study of apotropaic magic in general. ORGANIZATION

The first chapter is devoted to customs the major evidence for which is textual. This category includes most of the descriptions that we have of building rites. The arrangement is according to stages in the construction of a building. In Chapters 2 and 6 building deposits that have actually been found are discussed. The division into chapters is according to a typological division of the material as it appears to the archaeologist; I do not pretend that an ancient Mesopotamian would have divided it in the same way or that my types necessarily represent groups of deposits of similar meaning. After Chapter 7, which deals with some individual problems in the correlation of textual and archaeological material, Chapter 8, the summary, reviews the mass of material presented in the earlier chapters from different viewpoints to see what patterns of distribution, development, and motivation may be detected. The chronological terminology employed in the summary and elsewhere was adopted for convenience rather than for universal validity. Building operations, and hence building deposits, are more dependent upon political fluctuations than most other crafts; therefore political periods are used in this study even though they may not correspond to the most logical divisions of Mesopotamian art or culture in general. Thus the "Isin-Larsa" peri9d is distinguished from the "Old Babylonian" because the public architecture of the former is very much better known than that of the latter. ''Neo-Babylonian" refers to the period of the dynasty of Nabopolassar; deposits made in Babylonia under the Assyrian domination are classified "Neo-Assyrian." An exception is the "Neo-Sumerian" period. This term is used simply to permit me to include Ur-Bau and Gudea of Lagas under the same heading as the Ur III kings, without having to worry about the exact date of the former. In order to avoid cluttering the text with long passages of Sumerian and Akkadian in transliteration, the more important of the inscriptions referred to have been relegated to Appendix A, at the end of the book. References,

4

INTRODUCTION

transliteration, translation, and notes will be found there; in the text itself are only the translations and such notes as are pertinent to the argument. Appendix B consists of a list of references for stone, metal, and clay tablets with building inscriptions of rulers from the Isin-Larsa period on, and a table showing the chronological distribution of the different types. It is intended to relieve Chapter 4 of many footnotes. EARLIER WORKS ON THE SAME SUBJECT

By far the most important work on Mesopotamian building deposits and rites that has appeared to date is E. Douglas Van Buren's Foundation Figurines and Offerings.3 Mrs. Van Buren's subject was more limited than that of this study, and many important discoveries have been made since she wrote; nonetheless, her book has been a mine of information, and I owe her many references and ideas that probably could not have been found elsewhere. Another work dealing with the same material that should be mentioned here is the short article by Eckhard Unger, "Griindungsurkunde," in Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte. 4 My debt to many more limited studies will appear clearly in the following pages and footnotes.

3. (Berlin, Hans Schoetz and Co., 1931). 4. (Berlin, de Gruyter, 1924-32), 4, 565-67.

CHAPTER I

Building Rites Our knowledge of the rites and ceremonies that were performed in connection with building is very incomplete. Presumably some kind of ceremony accompanied the putting down of all the deposits found in buildings; what little evidence there is for such rites will be discussed in connection with the individual types of deposits. On the other hand, there are written records of a few building rituals which have left no physical traces for the archaeologist to find. This section shall deal with this textual evidence. Emphasis will be placed on rituals that accompanied the actual process of building and that involved physical manipulation of the site or structure; preliminary ceremonies and dedicatory rites will not be dwelt upon. SOURCES

Sources of information on building rites are of two main types: ritual texts and building inscriptions. Ritual texts naturally give more detailed information, but they are rare: the only example of this type from Mesopotamia is a text known in two copies made in the Seleucid period at Uruk and in one copy, slightly older, from Babylon. 1 It gives the procedures to be followed by the kalil when a new temple is built. A catch-line at the end of one copy proves the existence of another ritual to be performed "when the sippu (the complex of jamb, threshold, and hinge-socket on one side of a door 2) is put in place."3 There are also two Hittite texts from Bogazkoy describing the rituals for founding a temple 4 and for various steps in the building of a 1. See App. A, No. 43. This text will hereafter be referred to as "the kalil ritual." 2. Hermann Wiedhaas, "Der bit !Jiliini," ZA, 45 (1939). Armas Salonen, Die Tiiren des alten Mesopotamien, Annales academiae scientiarum fennicae, ser. B, 124 (Helsinki, 1961), 62-63. 3. App. A, No. 43. 4. Duplicate texts published in KBa, 4, 1; KUB, 2, 2; and KUB, 9, 33. Transliteration and translation by P. Maurus Witzel, Hethitische Keilschrift-Urkunden in Transcription und Uebersetzung mit Kommentar, Keilinschriftliche Studien, 4 (Fulda, Verlag des Verfassers, 1924), 76-87. Since I have no knowledge of Hittite, I have relied on A. Goetze's translation in ANET, pp. 356-57, going to the original texts and Witzel only to find how individual words were orginally written.

5

BUILDING RITES

6

palace. 5 The former text describes the procedure in detail, and even gives an idea of the rationale connected with the acts. Unfortunately the Hittite ritual, while it shows some similarity to Mesopotamina practices as attested archaeologically, is different enough that it cannot be used to explain the latter without great reservations. Physical remains of the Hittite ritual have yet to be found. 6 Royal building inscriptions contain numerous hints of ritual performance. The details of the rituals were not recorded; sometimes it is not even clear whether a ritual is referred to. Still, royal incriptions are a useful source of information on the ceremonial aspects of building. A unique text which refers to building rituals at some length is Gudea's building hymn inscribed on his famous "cylinders" A and B. The usefulness of the text is considerably lessened by the facts that it is still very imperfectly understood, and that it is concerned with the religious significance of what was done rather than with its physical details. A few other texts of various types refer to building rites, such as a NeoBabylonian memorandum that lists materials to be used "for the laying of the foundation of the city gate. "7 RITES EMPLOYED AT VARIOUS STAGES

The Decision to Build The ritual processes involved in the construction of a building, particularly of a temple, could begin before any physical work was done at all. In many cases it is reported that the idea of building or restoring a temple came from a god. Rulers in southern Mesopotamia, from Gudea to Nabonidus, laid great stress on the dreams and other omens that sanctioned their projects. Most building inscriptions earlier than the Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian periods are fairly terse and include no circumstantial details; Gudea's cylinder inscriptions are unique, and are actually building hymns rather than "building inscriptions" in the accepted sense. Only in 5. Ibid, pp. 357-58. 6. A small bronze figurine of a human figure with a conical cap, whose body ends in a tapering peg, was published by Ernst Herzfeld, "Hettitica," AMI, 2 (1930), 136, Fig. 5, Pl. III, right. The figurine was bought in Istanbul, and its provenience is unknown. Herzfeld suggested in Iran in the Ancient East (New York, Oxford University Press, 1941), p. 272, that this object was related to Sumerian peg figurines and to the linchpins illustrated on the reliefs at Persepolis (see Chapter 3). The Anatolian figure is somewhat like the Sumerian ones, but nothing is known about its