01-01-2006, 06:32 PM
Maybe this note is useful for one or two persons: I have put online the text of three cuneiform texts from Hellenistic Babylonia, which have been deciphered by my friend Bert van der Spek.
I think that for most users of RAT, cuneiform texts are far from their main interests, but still, it may be worthwhile to have seen this type of evidence once. [url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/reading.html[/url] may serve as a first introduction to the system of publication if you really want to study them. [url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/chron00.html[/url] leads to an introduction page, where you will find links to all Babylonian cuneiform texts on my website. (For Persian texts, go here: [url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/achaemenians/inscriptions.html[/url].)
[1]
[url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/bchp-jud/jud_1.html[/url] is the story about people who are accused of stealing from a temple, are arrested, tortured, and burned at the stake. If you have never read a Babylonian chronicle, this is not the worst text to start with, as it tells a story that is understandable.
[2]
[url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/bchp-euphrates/euphrates_1.html[/url] is about digging out the Euphrates, probably in 94 BC. It proves that the old city of Babylon was still "alive" at that moment, and capable of great infrastructural projects. I was surprised.
[3]
[url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/bchp-arsacid-politai/arsacid_politai.html[/url] Don't even try to understand this fragment, not even the scholars of the Arched Room in the British Museum can make sense of it.
I think that for most users of RAT, cuneiform texts are far from their main interests, but still, it may be worthwhile to have seen this type of evidence once. [url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/reading.html[/url] may serve as a first introduction to the system of publication if you really want to study them. [url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/chron00.html[/url] leads to an introduction page, where you will find links to all Babylonian cuneiform texts on my website. (For Persian texts, go here: [url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/achaemenians/inscriptions.html[/url].)
[1]
[url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/bchp-jud/jud_1.html[/url] is the story about people who are accused of stealing from a temple, are arrested, tortured, and burned at the stake. If you have never read a Babylonian chronicle, this is not the worst text to start with, as it tells a story that is understandable.
[2]
[url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/bchp-euphrates/euphrates_1.html[/url] is about digging out the Euphrates, probably in 94 BC. It proves that the old city of Babylon was still "alive" at that moment, and capable of great infrastructural projects. I was surprised.
[3]
[url:2kx0vttq]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/bchp-arsacid-politai/arsacid_politai.html[/url] Don't even try to understand this fragment, not even the scholars of the Arched Room in the British Museum can make sense of it.