Maul, Stefan

Propylaeum-DOK

AI . -RAF IDÄN VOI .  XX  I 999
NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE RULERS OF TANTTU
Stefan M. MAUL''
German excavations at Tall Bdöri, which is situated at Yabür - approx. 25 km south of the Syrian
province capital Hasaka - supplied new information about a dynasty of princes, who in the late Middle-
Assyrian rime had ruled over the town Täbetu and its immediate surroundingsl'. Inscriptions found in
Tall Bdöri indicated that a prince named A5(ur-kettt-lö5er had initiated raids fronr Tabötu during the
reign of the Assyrian king Tiglatpilesar I. ( I I lrt-1076 B.C.), and that on these raids, smalier towns and
abandoned land settlements in the imrnediate neighbourhood of his residence were conquered and
extended into fortresses. Although A55ur-kettr-lö5er like his predecessors proudly called himself 'King
of Mari', he actually was under the supremacy of the kings of Assur.
In 192I, E. Forrer already suspected that the ruins of the old Täbötu were to be fbund under the
rubble of the gigantic Tall Tabän'r. This identification was substantiated by discovered ceramic objects
from the Middle- and New Assyrian time periodr). A55ur-kettr-löSer's in criptions from Tall Bderi also
constituted substantial evidence. The information that Tall Bderi, at that time Dür-A55ur-kettr-löSer,
was situated 'above Täbetu'1), coincided with Foner's identification. Tall Bdöri is actually located
approx. 6 km northerly air distance, i.e. upstream and 'above' Tall Täbän and like Tall Täbän on the left
riverbank.
The most recent Japanese xcavations in Tall Täbän provided the final evidence for Foner's iden-
tification. Inscriptions of A5iur-kettr-löSer, which are going to be presented in the following, were also
found in Tall Täbän.
The sarne as in Tall Bderi, fiagments of cylinder inscriptions of Ai5ur-kettr-löSer were also discov-
ered in Tall Täbän. In appearance, size and shape, the cylinders from Tall Täbän showed no difTerences
to the already known cylinders of A55ur-kettT-lö5ers). The same as these cylinders, they must have been
written in the early lltt 'century B.C. during the reign of Tiglatpilesar 16). The new fragments from
Täbetu/Tall Täbän belong to two different cylinders. Due to the poor preservation of the existing frag-
ments, it is unfortunately impossible to tell as to whether they represent he same or slightly differing
inscriptions. It is likely, however, that with the discovery of additional cylinder fiagments in subsequent
excavation campaigns, we will gain new knowledge of the capital of the land of Märi as well as its king
A55ur-kettl-leier and his activities.
One fragrnent, where the initial lines of the inscription of Atiur-kettr-leier were preserved (here
fragment A: Fig. I - I ), was tbund in the relics of a Middle-Assyrian house in a stratigraphically unfortu-
nately not fully cleared context. lt is not guaranteed as to whether this fragment is part of the foundation
document of the discovered house. If this is contlrmed. then the relics of the house could have belonsed
to the palace of the 'Kings of the land of Märi'.
Two fragments of another cylinder (here fragment B: Fig. l-2) were discovered in connection with
a thick Middle-Assyrian wall, which the excavators interpreted as town wall. These cylinder fiagments
* Seminar für Sprachen und Kulturen des Vorderen Orients, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Hauptstrasse 126,
D-69 1 l 7 Heidelberg, GERMANY
I ) Rf. S.M. Maul, Die Insthri.fien von 
'[all Bdari. Die Ausgrirbungen von Tall Bd€ri Band I . BBVO Texte Band 2, Berlin 1992.
2) E. Forrer, Die Provin:einteihug des ass.t'ris<hen Rei<hes. Leipzig |92I. p. 144.
3)  Rt ' .  to H.  Kühne, AIO 26 (1978179),  p.2531' .
.l) Rf. to S.M. Maul, Dia lnsthrifit'n yttn T ull BdPri, p.22,lilne 2.
5) For rnore details, ibid. p. l5 anrl p. 36f.
6) Rf. to ibid. p. .34f.
Originalveröffentlichung in: al-Rafidan 20, 1999, S. 49-55
50 Stefan M. MAUL
belong probably to one of the foundation documents in rernembrance of the building owner of the town
wal l .
Two fragments of inscribed bricks (Fig. 2) probably belong to a younger, but also Middle-Assyrian
stratum. They possibly belong to a wall, which the grandchild of A55ur-kettT-löSer had set up. If this
assumption is confirmed, then the appertaining settlement stratum dates back to the middle of the 1l'n
century B.C.
I. The cylinder inscription(s) of A55ur-kettr-le5er
l. Transcription:
1 lekttl A,iiur-ket)tt-leier iar mal Mc1ri mar Adacl-bPl-gfabbe iar nnt Mari mar Adud-bel-apli
ictr mat Mari(m)mal
2 fenüma(?) inal abba'tja ierrunft maherüte ... mamma \a... l
3 t  1 . . . . . . . . . . . .  t  l
1 lekalla('l) larylui daldti ittu blabailid ld urete/uktn' l
5 lu Aiiur-ketttl-leier iar mat Mari mor Adad-b7l-gabfbe lctr mat Mari mar Adad-bel-apli iar
mat Mari(m)mal
6 t inel milik tE[mTia amdalikma inct nigüt libbeja ]
7 lekullu('l l ln epui dalati inu babartia I
(gap)
I' lenüma alu u ekallt iuutu ana urkfu umel ennetlfümo uialbarru igariu miqta iraiiü(?)l
2' frluba'u urkü ia ellä [un$ussu] lEmunna luddili iumt iatra itte ium?ful
3' la]na air?iu luter ia,iurnt iatra itltel iumeiu ana ctir?fitt utarru ilanü, rabütu]
4' liul Tabete ikrib?iu lu iliannüiu(1) ia lutnT iatrct unukkarünru hunlul
5' lkTmü iulmeja iiattaru Stn u lSamui(?) ilAnü rabfitu ia iam4 u ersetil
6' lz€rleiu u iumEiu ina mat Mari llul-ralliqül
J' ino i' i1... UD.x.lKÄM ltrtti Mudammeq-fBet Aiiur-kettr-leier iar mat Maril
8 '  t  EI.GAL an-ni- [ i
2. Transliteration:
I A, 4' IE.GAL tA!-iur-ZlI-SI.SÄ .iar+ KUR t\r A X-EN-glab-be iar+ KUR A A X-EN- A iara
KUR A-rual
2 A, 5 '  le-uu-ma(?) i+nal ct-ba- i- la '" '  XX.MESlmuhert i te . . .  mamma la . . .1
3  A,  6 '  t  G l l '  N iG TAR x  x  (x )  x  i [a r  ]
4 A, J' IE.GAL ta(-a) i-plu-lr.Y sirIG.MES i+na KlA.MnS-fa bca) l
5 A, 8' [ütAi-iur-ZI]-SI.SÄ iara KUR A A X-EN-gafb-be iura KUR A A X-EN-A
6 A, 9' lirrr.' KUR A-met K]I mi-lik {ö-[rni-ia am-da-liklna i+na ni-gu-ut lib-be-ia ........]
7 IE.GAL tu e-pu-ui  s i ' IG.MES i+na KÄ.MES-ra l
(gaP)
1'B, l '  le-nu-ma I  ( t races) e-1d-[ [u-ma uiulbarru ]
2' B, 2' [NUIN EGIR-ka iti el-la aln-hu-sLt IIGI-ma lu-ud-d[i-ii MU ittt-ra KI-re MU-sil]
3'B, 3' rl _na Kl_jrl iul_GUR_er,l jri MU !ut_rnt KI_te MU_jti ct_na 111-t_[jri utorru ilanü
rcrbütul
4' B, 4' [i]d *"DÜG .GA-be-te BAL.MES-,rti lu . i t 
'-ltam-mu-iu(?) .i, MU iay-ra KtJR-ru-mn
MU-in ki-mul
5'B, 5 '  LMIU-la IN.SAR'rXXX rur [dUTU ]
NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE RULERS OF TABETU 5I
6' A l' [NUMUN.MBS-5,; a M]U.MES -. iü-t ina KUR A flu$atliqul
B. 6' tNUMIUN.MeS-ff u MU.MES-5Iü inct nrut Mari ltrhaltiqul
The colophon
7' A, 1' l(vacant) ino i' ix UD.x].KÄM li-mi IMu-SIG.-[d+EN ]Ai-iur-ZI-SI.SÄ .iarr
KUR A]
B, 1' (vacant) ma i' iAP[IN ]
8'A 3'  [ (vacant) E].Cel an-ni- f  I
3. Translation
I [(Property of) the palace of A55ur-ke]ttr-lE5er, the king of the land of Märi, the son of Adad-
bel-g[abbe. king of the land of Märi. son of Adad-böl-apli, also king of the land of Märi.]
2 [When (?)] none [of] my firthers, my royal [predecessors ]
3 I  1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  t  l
4 L- none (of thern) had buillt [a palace, none (of them) had hung/fixed doo]rs in [its] gate
Iways 1.
5 [But then A5iur-kettr]-löüer, the king of the land of Märi. the son of Adad-bel-gabb[e, king of
the land of Märi, son of Adad-bel-apli, also king of the land of Maril -
6 t I thoulght by myself [and with joy in my heart
1 $ built a palace. I hung/fixed doors in its gateways.
l .
l .
(gap)
l' [When this city and my palace in future days] becornes weak [and old and its wall starts to
break downl,
2' the future prince who will come up shall see [its bad conditionl and he may restore it. [My
written name (i.e. my inscription)l
3' may he put back to its place [together with his name (i.e. his inscription)]. The one who will
[put back] to its place my written name together with his name, [the great gods]
4' of (the city of) Täbötu will lhear] his prayers. [The one who will take away my written name]
5' and writes down [his own name instead] of my name, the gods Sin and [Sama5, the great gods
ofheaven and earthl.
6' shall [destroy] his semen and his name in the land o1'Märi.
1' In the month Ara[[samnaT)......., the xl'h [day], when Mudammeq-[Bel] was eponym. [A55ur-
kettr-löSer, the king of the land of Märil,
[has foundedr th] is palalce ( . . . )1.
4. Comment
2 Rf. to the parallel passages in: S. M. Maul, Die Inschriften von T'ull BdE ri, p. 20 line 3 and p. 37
l ine 3.
3 Cuneiform characters included in this line are heavily damaged. The photographies at my dis-
posal are not good enough for reliable reading.
4 The addition urette (or possibly uretti or urette) is based on a contemporary inscription of the
Assyrian king Tiglatpilesar I. (1114-1076 B.C ), in which the production and setting up of doors of the
king's palace in Assur is reported in a very similarcontext:tirdolafiG.MES) tita-!lu-bli si-ra-te epu.i(DÜ-
ui) i-na mö-ser siparur(ZABAR) I ü-re-ki-is i-na babatr(KtA.MlES)-ia ü-re-et-te, 'I made high doors of
tir, I reinforced (them) with bronze bands (and) hung lthem) in its gateways'. (rf. to A.K. Grayson,
Assyricu't R ilers of the Eorly Fir,sr Millennium BC I ( I 1 l4 -B59.BC), RIMA 2. Toronto l99l, p. 55. lines
1\ Acc.  to text  B
52 Stefan M. MAUL
69-70;apart fromthatcf.A.K.Grayson, ibid.p. 135, l ines79f.  [A55ur-dänII . ]  and p.202, l ine4; p.228,
l ine 60; p.276, l ines 20f. ;  p.282, l ines 63f. ;  p.289, l ines27-29;p.323, l ine 30 [Assurnasirpal I I . ] .  The
addition ukTn, which is less applicable, is based on a building inscription of Adad-nrrän I. (l 307-1275
B.C.) from Assur (relating to the Anu-Adad temple; cf. A. K. Grayson, Asstrian Rulers of the Third and
Second Millennium BC (to 1 I I 5 BC ), RIMA l, Toronto 1987, p. 154, lines 8-l 2).
6 Rf. to parallel passages in: S. M. Maul. Die Inschriften von Tull Bcleri, p. 20 line 7.
7 The restauration of line 7 results from line 4.
I' Rf. to S. M. Maul, Die InscltriftenvonTall BdEri, p.37 line 8 with respect o the suggested
restauration of the line.
7' For the eponym Mudammeq-Böl rf. to H. Freydank, Beiträge 7ur mittelassyrischen
Clrronologie uncl Gesclichte,Berlin 1991. p. l5lff. H. Freydank's assumption that Mudammeq-B-l
was 'sehr wahrscheinlich Eponym zurZeitTiglatpilesars I.', is confirmed by the existing new text. We
know from the inscriptions of A55ur-kettr-lE5er, which were found in Tall Bderi, that A55ur-kettT-löSer
was a contemporary of Tiglatpilesar Is). The same as the already known inscriptions of A5(ur-kettr-
l65er, the new cylinder inscription fiorn Tall Täbän/Täbötu is not only inscribed with an Assyrian date
(hmtr) but also with a yearname. which is probably only valid in the area of the Täbetu princedom. This
form of dating is based on Babylonian traditions. The short summary of the inscription after the Assyrian
date can probably be interpreted as the name of the year assigned by A55ur-kettr-le5er.
II. Brick fragments: A building inscription of a grandchild of A55ur-kettr-leSer?
Fragments of inscribed bricks were found in Tall Bdöri as well as in Tall Täbän. Whereas the brick
fragments from Tall Bdöri were only saved from the building rubble, with which a pit had already been
filled in the Old Ages"i, the two inscribed brick fragments from Tall Täbän can be allocated to a wall
complex from the Middle-Assyrian period (building level 2).
Originally, the inscribed bricks were square, the same as the non-inscribed bricks of the wall complex,
which have a side length of 36 cm. The external appearance of the bricks discussed in this paper hardly
differs from the inscribed bricks from Tall Bdörir0). They are only poorly baked and manually inscribed,
the same as the bricks from Tall Bdöri. ln the case of the two fragrnents, the line height is approx. 7 cm.
A direct join of the two fragments is not possible and it will not be possible to find out as to whether
they are actually parts of the same brick. It cannot be excluded, however, that the two fiagments belong
to different inscriptions but the circumstances of the discovery speak against his. It is very likely that
the two fragments belong to the same inscription of the same king.
Due to the exceptionally bad preservation of the brick inscriptions, the reading presented in the
following should be rated as an interpretation proposal. New discoveries of inscriptions will finally
clear this issue.
Different fron-r initial expectations, the building owner of the building. which was rediscovered in
relics, was not A55ur-kettr-löSer. ln all probability, this king is stil l mentioned in the last line of the brick
inscription, which altogether probably did not have more than three lines. It is difficult to complete the
traces A-iur(-) [ in line 2' of the lst brick fragment (Fig. 2-l ) in any other way than to the name A55ur-
kettt-leSer. In all probability, a rest of this royal name is also preserved in the second brick fragment
(Fig.2-2). The two lying wedges, which can be seen in front of the title 'King of the land of Mari' in
the second preserved line, can be easily interpreted as the last third of the sign OIt= SÄ t. Accordingly,
the last line of the brick inscription would read,: A-iur-tZI-SI.SlÄ iar. KUR rN -[ma]t r). As the paral-
8 )
9)
l0 )
Rf. to S.M. Maul, Dle Insthriften von TalL Bd?ri, p. 34 ro the ljnes l9-21 .
R f .  t o  S .M .  Mau l ,  i b i d .  p . . { 1 .
Rf. t() ibid. p.11-16. ln all probability. at least one of the inscribed bricks fcrund in Tall Bdöri originally came tiom Ttb€tu/Tall Täban (rf
to ibid. p. 4-5).
I I ) The spelling A-iar-te-ri-SlSÄ 1rf. to ibid. p. 2-1. line 6. rext E) is a possible alrernarive
NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE RULERS OF TABETU 53
lel inscriptions from Tall Bdöri clearly show, the first, unpreserved line of the inscription contained the
name of the royal building owner after the mention of g.CeL. In line 2 after the name of the building
owner, the title iarru 'king' followed (preserved in fragment 1, line 1)'2r or even more likely the title .iar
mat Maril3). The traces in line I of the second brick fragment can probably also be restored to the title
'King of Märi', in front of which another royal name must have been stated at the time. On the existing
building inscription, the building owner is named in the 1st line, his father in the 2nd line and in the 3rd
line his grandfather, namely A55ur-kettr-lö5er. Unfortunately, we do not know the name of the royal
building owner, the grandson of A55ur-kettr-lE5er, nor the name of his son.
The brickwork laid open in 'building level2' probably belongs to a building, which was set up as a
palace in the name of the grandson of A55ur-kettr-le5er, who held the title "king of the land of Märi', as
did his father and his grandfather.
Brick fragment I
f  ia ra l
2' A-iur(-)l
Brick frasment 2
I '
z',
I .iarol K[UR
I x iara KUR rAr I
Reconstruction of the brick inscription
| [ekal(E.GAL) ROYAL NAME]
2 iaro [na(KUR) Mari(A) mar(A) ROYAL NAME] .iaro-1 ma(KIUR) Mari(A) mar(A)l
3 A-iur- lkett i tZl)-1?irr(Sl .S lAt iaro nar(KUR) Mari \m) [  n-t  y- lmal
1 [Palace of ROYAL NAME],
2 of the king [of the land of Märi, of the son of ROYAL NAME], the king of the lan[d of Märi,
the son ofl
3 A55ur-[kettr-lö5]er, [also] king of the land of Märi.
As in the Bderi bricks l, 2 and 3 (rf. to ibid. p.42 44).
As in the Bd€ri bricks 4 and 5 (rf. to ibid. p.44).
t2)
l 3 )
54 Sretan M. MAUL
ffiEa4YMe
",,<<l{Mtr4%F#'i
l. Cylinder fragment A
2. Cvlinder frasment B
Fig. I Fragments of cylinder inscriptions from Täbetu/Tall Täbän
NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE RULERS OF TÄBETU 5.5
2. Brick fragment 2
1. Brick fragmenr I
Fig.2 Brick fragments from Täbetu/Tall Täbän


New information about the rulers of Tabetu

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