Ancient Iraq (77 page)

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The fact that all the ancient capital cities of Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria are in Iraqi territory and that Iraq covers about three-quarters of the Tigris-Euphrates valley justifies the title of this work. It must be clearly understood, however, that several important sites mentioned are, in fact, situated in Syria or Turkey. I apologize to the Syrians and Turks and hope that they will feel no more offended than would the Belgians if part of their country was included in a history of Gaul entitled ‘Ancient France’.

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The figures in this list were compiled from damaged inscriptions and are often erroneous. The correct figures are given in brackets.

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One of Dumuzi's names.

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All these priestesses were forbidden to bear children.

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The word ‘dynasty’ in Mesopotamian history should not be taken as meaning a royal
family
, but a succession of kings ruling over the same city-state for a period of time. The Sumerian King List mentions only the dynasties which ruled, over the
whole
country of Sumer.

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Me-barage-si
, for instance, means: ‘the
me
(powers inherent in nature and human institutions) fill the throne’.

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E-anna-tum
: ‘worthy of the E-anna’ (temple of Inanna in Lagash).

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En-temena
: ‘lord of the (temple) platform’.

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Lugal-zage-si
: ‘king who fills the sanctuary’.

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‘Warrior of the goddess Nammu’.

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‘the one called (to power)’

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This name, which probably means ‘noble young man’, was formerly read
Dungi
.

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The name, formerly read
Bur-Sin
, is sometimes transcribed
Amar-Su'en
. It means ‘bull calf of (the god) Sin’.

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It must be noted that neither the word nor even the concept of ‘empire’ has ever existed in the ancient Near East.

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Or
Shu-Su'en
, ‘The one of (the god) Sin’.

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‘Sin has called’.

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In ancient texts the city, the kingdom and their god are all called
Ashshur
. To avoid any ambiguity we have used throughout this work the spellings Assur for the city and Ashur for the god, keeping the traditional Latin name Assyria for the kingdom.

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‘The god Adad (the rain-god) is my sun’.

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The name – which should be written
Hammurapi
– probably means ‘the god
Hammu
(a western Semitic god) is a healer’.

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Zimri-Lim
: ‘(the god) Lim is my protection’.

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The term
Syria
is taken here in its broadest sense and includes Syria proper, Lebanon, Palestine and Transjordan.

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Nabû-kudurri-usur
: ‘O Nabû, protect my offspring’.

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Tiglathpileser is the Hebraic form of
Tukulti-apil-Esharra
: ‘My trust is in the son of Esharra (i.e. the god Ashur)’.

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The exact spelling of the name is
Ashshur-nâsir-apli
, meaning ‘the god Ashur is guardian of the heir’.

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Shulanu-asharedu
, ‘the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent’.

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‘The god Marduk has given me an heir’.

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Ashur-aha-iddin
, ‘The god Ashur has given a brother’.

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Ashur-ban-apli
, ‘The god Ashur is the creator of the son’.

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The goddess Ninlil, originally the female counterpart of Enlil, was the spouse of the god Ashur.

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Most tablets found in Sennacherib's palace, belonged in fact, to Ashurbani-pal, this monarch having used his grandfather's residence in his earlier years.

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‘Ashur, hero of the gods.’

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‘The god Sin has appointed the King.’

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‘O Nabû, protect (my) son!’

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‘The god Nabû has exalted' (the king).

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Respectively the temples of Marduk in Babylon and his son Nabû in Barsippa.

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Small balls of clay attached by a string to official documents on papyrus or parchment.

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Classically, the Neo-Assyrian period begins with the reign of Ashurnasirpal II (883 – 859) noted on table VI.