New cuneiform sources on Hellenistic Babylonia

[Jona Lendering]

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.

[Dan Diffendale]

Thanks Jona-
the world needs more Assyriologists! so many Classicists are graduated every year, in a field whose texts are relatively few and stable. There are hundreds of thousands of cuneiform tablets, many of which have never been read. Granted, most of them are not "fun" literature, but tax accounts and lists of things, personal correspondence and legal cases.

There remains a lot of work to be done on the exchange between east and west, from the (far) pre-Classical to the end of cuneiform in the 1st c. CE. I did some Sumerian and Akkadian (and just a smattering of Hittite) in undergrad, but maybe I'll do something with grad school.

[ushumgal]

Jona - thanks for the links! Also saw them on Jack Sasson's email list (are you on it? if not, it would probably be useful for you). It looks like I may have to change my dissertation topic (Neo-Assyrian armor) as it turns out someone else is already working a diss. on it, and I am contemplating subjects dealing with the Hellensitic/Parthian period - very interesting and under-studied.

Best,
Jamie
LU2.DUB.SAR

[Arthes]

Greetings Jona,
The third one is of interest to me....
it strikes me that somebody entered the city with Arsaces or I wondered if this was referring to Mithridates III taking refuge in Babylon after the Battle of Seleucia on the Tigris.
Was he actually known as Arsaces.....there was a coin with the inscription
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΥΠΑΤΩΡ[ΟΣ] ΚΑΙ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ (king of kings, great Arsaces, good father god, and friend of the Greeks).
Some of it would just about make sense to me in that case...
regards
Arthes

[Jona Lendering]

I'll forward your message to Bert van der Spek, he knows an awful lot about this.

[Jona Lendering]

it strikes me that somebody entered the city with Arsaces or I wondered if this was referring to Mithridates III taking refuge in Babylon after the Battle of Seleucia on the Tigris.
Was he actually known as Arsaces.....there was a coin with the inscription

I've asked Bert, who was surprised, for a reason that I will explain in a moment. In his view, it is certainly possible to accept the text as a description of the adventures of Mithridates III (who is also known as Arsaces XIV; all Parthian kings were called Arsaces; cf. Roman titles like Augustus and Caesar; perhaps we must translate it as "the Arsacid"). However, there are other possibilities.

Still, an identification with Arsaces XIV Mithridates III is absolutely possible and this is surprising. The youngest Astronomical Diary that is known until now, dates back to 61 BCE; if your suggestion is correct, it is 55. This explains why Bert had not thought of it before.

I hope this is a sufficient answer. If you have any questions left, please contact Bert directly as I am currently extremely occupied. You will find his mail address through [url:2c5c77so]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/chron00.html[/url].

[Jona Lendering]

I confused Mithridates III and Mithridates IV. Sorry. My mistake, not Bert's.

[hoplite14gr]

Good staff Jona.
Can you please help on the Adrainople thread about the clibanarioi?
Kind regards

[Jona Lendering]

Can you please help on the Adrainople thread about the clibanarioi?

I wish I could, but I don't know.

[Jona Lendering]

Here is a new cuneiform source for the history of Alexander the Great and his visit to Babylon. It is certain that it refers to building activities, but no one is able to make sense of this text. So, if you have a brilliant idea, drop a line,
[url:2fvl0bbo]http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/bchp-arses/arses_1.html[/url]