Editorial Note

EIDEM, J., and R. DE BOER — Editorial note

Articles

KEETMAN, J. — Zur Schreibung des Wortes i d i g n a „Tigris“ und der möglichen Bedeutung „Reiherfluss“

The sign of the Sumerian word for Tigris idigna was also used for writing the name of a bird. It is argued, that this bird may have been the heron, later written with a combination of signs as igirá^mušen in Sumerian. The name of the river may have been originally /idigira/ as attested in Ebla, for which a meaning “river (i₇-d) of the heron (igira)” fits well with attested naming practices, while other suggested etymologies for the name can be shown as less probable.

VEENHOF, K.R. — A difficult Old Assyrian business venture. Mannum-kī-Aššur tries his luck with iron

Assyrian merchants active in Anatolia also traded in iron, most probably both bloom-iron and un-worked ore, which could be found in small quantities in the “inner land”. This extremely expensive metal was highly appreciated by the local élites and its trade therefore a potentially lucrative, though somewhat risky undertaking, also because it often implied indirect exchange (e.g. iron > copper > silver). Assyrians often formed partnerships for this purpose and we regularly read about problems the partners ran into, which could result in confrontations and legal proceedings, and the judicial records this generated are an important source of information. The present article deals with such a complicated trading adventure, documented in seven records, apparently from different archives, three of which are published here for the first time. These records are described and presented and followed by a reconstruction of the phases of this trading operation and the problems it raised, which gives us an interesting view behind the scene.

DILLO, M. — The location and erection of the Storm-god stelae from Arsuz: deciphering the unreadable Luwian city name in Cilicia as the port of Urassa/i)

In the recently published article on the Arsuz stelae with a first edition of the hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions, the authors (B. Dinçol et al. 2015) put forward a proposal suggesting that the erection site of the Neo-Hittite monuments was not the same as their find-spot. In this article it will be argued that this theory should be rejected and that the coastal city Arsuz (Rhosus) was already at an early stage (c. 910 BCE) under the influence of Hiyawa (Cilicia) and its capital. This permits the identification of the city with the unreadable name in Cilicia with Greek Magarsus and with Hittite Urušša, which makes the deciphering of the hieroglyphic writing of the name possible. Even the differences between the scenes of the Storm-god on both stelae, may be understood as intentional designs linked up with their location in Arsuz. The differences in spelling in the two identical inscriptions can be explained by the logographic working method used by the scribe.

Announcement

DICK, M.B. — New On-Line Version of Mīs Pî (text and photographs)

Book reviews and announcements

Faraonisch Egypte, Grieks-Romeins Egypte, Assyriologie, Hettitologie, Iranica, Aramees, Hebreeuws, Ethiopisch, Oude Testament, Judaica, Syriaca, Archeologie, Arabica, Islam,
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