Mesopotamia: The Old Assyrian Period

Abstract

The first part by Klaas Veenhof "The Old Assyrian Period" is a critical overview of our knowledge of and at the same time an introduction to the study of the Old Assyrian Period (first two centuries of the 2nd mill. B.C.), as we know it from discoveries in ancient Assur and in particular from the cuneiform archives of the Old Assyrian traders living in an commercial colony (called karum) in the lower town of ancient Kanesh (modern Kültepe) in Central Anatolia. The first chapters establish what "Old Assyrian" is and analyze the chronology and the available sources (material and written). There follows a critical sketch of the publications of and research on the Old Assyrian sources, subdivided in a dozen thematic studies. After a sketch of Old Assyrian history, follows an overview of "the Old Anatolian scene", which deals with the cities, local rulers and the about 40 Old Assyrian commercial settlements in Northern Mesopotamia and Anatolia. A special chapter analyzes the important Old Assyrian commercial treaties. The contribution ends with a detailed presentation of the Anatolian titles and officials and the religious festivals and agricultural seasons that figure as terms of payments in Anatolian debt-notes. The second part by Jesper Eidem "Apum: A Kingdom on the Old Assyrian Route" summarises recent evidence for the history of northern Syria during the period contemporary with the late phase of the Old Assyrian trade. To the detailed study of the sources an Appendix of important texts is added. The book is fully indexed (subjects, texts, geographical names, kings and rulers, gods and temples, persons, Assyrian words) and contains a extensive bibliography.

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