A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts

Author(s): Hildegard Lewy

Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society , Jan. - Mar., 1968, Vol. 88, No. 1
(Jan. - Mar., 1968), pp. 150-162
Published by: American Oriental Society

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/597909

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150 LAROCHE: Notes sur le Pantheon Hourrite de Ras Shamra

d'Alep, mais celui de "jHalba du Hazi/$apon," exemple, le fait que Simegi-ni " le Soleil " (A 13)
conformement 'a une notice precedemment connue.5 soit identique 'a ama' =s (P 21) et aussi a
Que Kumarbi soit le Dagan des Hourrites rouvre dUTu et ?apsu (Quadrilingue) montre que les
tout le dossier de ce dieu: alors klas'. e6pouse 'a
Hourrites-ou leurs theologiens-ne retiennent
la fois de Dagan et de Kumarbi, reprend un que le nom de la deesse syrienne; ils le traduisent
sens; alors Kumarbi dieu " grain " (cf. Dagan) dans leur langue sans genre grammatical, alors
explique le dieu 'a l'epi de Yazilikaya, entre un que le Simegi = Samas des Hourro-Anatoliens est
Tesub et le dieu Ea; alors Ba'al est " fils de assimile 'a un Soleil bien masculin, celui de
Dagan " comme TeSub est celui de Kumarbi, Yazilikaya, de Malatya et d'ailleurs. L'equation
d'apres la tradition mythologique. Enlil = Kumarbi = hum de la Quadrilingue con-
L'insertion de dieux " cananeens " dans le pan- tredit celle de Kumarbi = Dagan, mais atteste une
theon A, celle de dieux " hourrites " dans le. pan- tradition differente, profondement marquee de
theon P, sont un signe eclatant de syncre'tisme babylonisme.
theologique et de symbiose ethnique. Du coup, Chacun de ces faits meritera un examen appro-
1'Irsappa de 166 ? XII se revele comme une fondi. On peut deja' faire observer, en guise de
adaptation pure et simple du nom de Resef- conclusion, que l'apparition fortuite de la tablette
Nergal (cf. P 26).
166, de loin anterieure 'a celle de A et P, devait
3) enfin la Quadrilingue Sa, qui, h la fin du derouter les meilleurs exegetes du pantheon hour-
verso, fournit plusieurs equations sumero-akkado- rite: exemple typique de ces malchances archeo-
hourro-cananeennes du plus haut interet. Par logiques qui, pour de longues annees, tracent des

"Corpus No 71, 50; cf. Aistleitner, Wirterbuch Nr.

pistes trompeuses et suscitent des speculations mal
1031. fondees.

A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE NUZI TEXTS

HILDEGARD LEWY *
HEBREW UNION COLLEGE-JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION, CINCINNATI

AMONG THE MANY THOUSANDS of cuneiform of cities and towns are mentioned, and frequently
texts at present available there is no single group it is impossible to understand the context or to
which is as inseparably connected with E. A. make use of the historical implications of a passage
Speiser's name as are the texts from Nuzi. He without knowing where the city or town in ques-
was among the first to explore the site, he found tion was situated. An attempt will therefore be
the texts, he read them and he published and made in the following pages to establish the loca-
discussed many of them. He penetrated more tion of at least some of the places mentioned most
deeply into the complexities of the. Hurrian lan- frequently in the Nuzi texts.
guage than any scholar had done before him. An inscription of king Tiglat-Pileser I of
Since, moreover, Speiser traveled not only in the Assyria published about ten years ago 2 contains
Nuzi region itself but also ill the, territory east a brief account of his capture of the territory
of Nuzi toward the Bazian Pass, and since his between the Lesser Zab and the River Tau^k named
detailed description of this journey 1 contributed by the ancients Radanu. In one of the versions
considerably to the knowledge of that mountain- of this text, the region is described as being com-
ous country, it seemed appropriate to dedicate to prised between t'lTir-sa-an sa e-ber-ta-an and the
his memory an investigation into the historical city of Lubdi.3 Both of these cities are mentioned
geography of the Nuzi texts. Dozens and dozens
2 See E. Weidner, Archiv fur Orientforschung XVIII
* Deceased October 9, 1967. (1957-58), pp. 347 ff., text No. II, variant B of 1. 37.
1 See AASOR VIII, 1926-27, pp. 1-41. 8 See ibidem, pp. 350 f. with note 37.

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 LEwY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts 151

frequently in the Nuzi texts. As both occur in of the Lesser Zab at a point where a highway,
contexts referring to warlike actions,4 it is reason- named the "highway of Tursa," crossed the
able to conclude that, even as in the day of Tiglat- stream. Since, according to all the evidence avail-
Pileser I, they were located near the border of able, the Lesser Zab is easily crossed only at the
the territory which, more than three hundred site of present-day Altin Kiprii, " The Gold
years prior to the great Assyrian king, depended Bridge," which, in turn, is identical with the
upon the city of Nuzi as administrative capital. point where medieval sources locate the town of
As regards the location of Tursan or, as it is al-Qantarah, " The Bridge," it appears that Tursa
more frequently called in the Nuzi texts, Tursa,5 and Qabra faced each other across the river, Tursa
the evidence provided by the Assyrian royal in- standing on the southern and Qabra on the
scription that it was located " on the opposite northern side of the river crossing of Altin
bank" (ebertan), which obviously means on the Kiiprii.
non-Assyrian, or southern bank of the Lesser Zab, Some passages in our texts show that the terri-
agrees well with the evidence provided by the tory belonging to the city of Tursa extended for
Nuzi texts: as was pointed out elsewhere by the some length along the river bank. In the exchange
present writer,6 prisoners, or rather hostages, taken document N III 281, two orchards located in
by the Assyrians in a raid on Tursa were brought Tursa 10 are described as iNirit 7sa maire*m
to Qabra. Qabra is known to have stood on the [mWarad] -te-ia i-na iu-sal-li . . . . , "the orchard
northern bank of the Lesser ZAb near the point 7of the sons of [Warad]-teia (is located) in the
where the highway linking Arrapba (modern valley," and 2 i~awiha'r if kirJ 13i-na as-ra-nu-ma
Kerkuik) with Arbela (modern Erbil) crossed the i-na ii-sal-li-im-ma, "2 awihari of orchard 13in
river.7 the same locality, likewise in the valley." In
Some more precise information about the loca- N V 525, in turn, it is stated (in 1. 61) that a
tion of Tursa can be derived from the text AO man from Turga was seized by the Assyrians mna
10887,8 where a piece of real estate is said to Ui-sal-li ti-ki, "in the valley of the river-bank."'
have been situated "ina 41 Ap-za-hu-ul-lu-uw-si ina A further feature of Tursa to which A. L. Oppen-
su-pa-al 7ina harraini rabite sa $l Tur-P[sa, "in
heim called attention years ago12 is revealed by
the town of Apzahullussi, below (it), 70n the a passage of the exchange document N III 246.13
highway (lit. "the great road")9 of Tursa."
Combined with the evidence previously derived
10 To be sure, in 1. 42 the name of the town where
from Tiglat-Pileser's inscription, this passage the document was written is broken. However, the three
makes it clear that Tursa stood on the south bank sons of Warad-teia who were one of the contracting
parties recur in the exchange document N VI 617 where
As regards Tur~a (n), see, e.g., the texts N V 525 it is especially stated (in 1. 16) that their possessions
and N VI 670 discussed in Orientalia 28 (1959), pp. 5 ff. were located in Turga. That the two contracts were
With respect to Lubdi see, e. g., H XIV 174, 11. 7 ff.: written in the same city becomes apparent from the fact
Au-un-du inarkabdte<neb> 8i-na ilLu-um-[ti] 9i-ri-bu(!); that they are witnessed by the same persons part of
H XIV 523, 11. 20 ff.: s.u-un-d u narkabdtemeg 2'i-na whom are said in each of the two texts to have measured
dlLu-ub-ti 22ta-ha-za i-ip-pu-.9u. Besides the spellings the property. Hence they are local people.
Lu-ub-ti and Lu-um-ti there also occurs a variant '1 In the Nuzi texts the term tikku, which usually
&lNu-um-ti (H XIV 132, 1. 7). means "neck," is a synonym of dhu, "river bank."
5 By far the most frequent spelling is Thr-ga; see, This is shown by a group of interrelated documents com-
e.g., N III 239, 1. 30; N III 246, 1. 5; N III 256, 11. 6 prising the texts N 36; N 56; N IV 323; N IV 351,
and 20; N III 272, 1. 6; N III 276, 1. 4. Variant spellings N IV 390 and N IV 395. A piece of irrigated land which
are Ttir-gd' (e.g., N IV 397, 1. 4); T'-ur-as (e.g., Ka (w) inni, the son of U:ulukka, had assigned to Tehip-
N 24, 1. 6); Th-ur-s'd (e. g., H IX 23, 1. 4); Tu-ur-ga-an. tilla as his inheritance share is said in N 56, 1. 6 to
(e.g., N II 121, 1. 20); T7Yr-ga-an (e.g., N 44, 1. 4). have been located i-na a-ah a-tap-pi sa mPu-hi-ge-en-ni,
8For the evidence see Orientalia 28 (1959), p. 8 with whereas in N IV 395, 1. 12 (cf. N IV 390, 1. 17) its
note 1 and pp. 24 ff. site is described as i-na ti-ik-ki 9a a-tap-pi 8a mPu-hi-
7 On the location of Qabra see Die Welt des Orients ge-en-ni. Our term, therefore, must be compared with
II (1959), p. 441, note 3. kitsddu which likewise means "neck," "throat," as well
8 This text which comes from the royal administrative as "river bank."
archive frequently referred to as " archive of Tehiptilla," 12See Rev. d'Ass. 35 (1938), p. 146, note 1. However,
was published by G. Contenau in Rev. d'Ass. 28 (1931), his interpretation was incorrect.
pp. 33 f. 18 This text was partially transliterated and translated
9 A highway is mentioned also in N VI 623, 1. 14 by E. Chiera and E. A. Speiser in JAOS 47 (1927),
(i-na harrdnini rabiti). p. 45 (11. 10 and 16-28 were omitted).

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152 LEWY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts

There the site of the houses involved in the trans- to make it easy for a servant from one of these
action is described as 7i-na 8libbibi a21 Tir-s'a-ma towns to slip across the border in order to gain his
i-na 4li sa pa-pa-nu.14 Papanu being an adjectival freedom from his master. The Assyrians, by the
derivative of the iIurrian term pap-, "C moun- same token, obviously did not find it too difficult
tain," 15 it follows from this passage that there to kidnap some men from these towns and take
was a " mountain-town " within the city of Tursa. them to Assyria.
Accordingly, the territory of Tursa appears to In so far as Natmani is concerned, further evi-
dence to the same effect comes from N V 552,18
have stretched some five miles southward from
a text which records the purchase by Tehiptilla's
the river bank along the highway so as to com-
father, Puhisenni mar Turisenni, of an estate of
prise the site today called G6k Tepe. The ruin
one hundred imer of land worth one shekel of
mound so named rises abruptly out of the plain
gold in the town of Natmani.19 It is significant
and is described by modern travelers as a most
unusual sight."6 that this purchasing contract is witnessed (1. 24)
by a person bearing the Assyrian name Taribatu
Tursa was not the only town exposed to Assyrian
and being designated as malahu, "the sailor."
raiders. Evidence to this effect is contained in
For the presence of a sailor at Natmani makes
H XVI 393 which, after some broken lines, states:
"2Ar[ru]mpa, the servant of [ ], 3es[caped] it reasonably certain that the town was located on
a navigable stream which, in view of the prox-
from Tursa; 5he entered 4the town of Kiparrap1i.
'Thus (said) IIapurhe: 7C Zizza, my servant imity to the Assyrian frontier, must be identified
[. ], 8fle[d] from Tursa; 10he entered 9the with the Lesser Zab.20 The land holdings of the
town of Kiparrapti, too.' 11Thus (said) Turar- family were, to all appearances, supplemented by
Tesup: 12C Silla-Kubi, my servant, 13fled from the subsequent purchases of adjoining land; for in
town of Ka<ra>na; 14he is staying in the city of N V 492, 11. 7 f., one of Puhis'enni's great-
Ass [ur]. 15Ipsaahalu, the servant of 16TeIhipsarri grandsons, Wur-Tesup mar Akiptasenni, speaks
from the town of Natmani,17 they took from of i-na dimti sa mPu-hi-se-en-ni 8U i-na dimti sa
[ ] -kasse; 17he is staying in the house of mTe-hi-ip-til-la a-bi-ni 9sa 4'Thr-s'a. As the con-
Adad-[ ] in the city of Assur.' ..... . 22Thus tract N III 297 mentions (in 11. 10-13) a road
(said) [ .. . .]-pali from [the town of ]: linking Tursa and Natmani, it thus appears that
' My brother, Paitilla, 24[went] 23without the estate of the TeIhiptilla family extended along
[my]
(consent) 24to the town of Natmani 25and this road, on the one hand, and along the Lesser
As [sur-iqi] sani [entered] the houses 26and now Zab, on the other.
.......... As the town of Kiparrapti is known In fact, the family shared with the other inhabi-
from N V 525, 11. 30, 33, and 56 and H XVI tants of the Assyrian border region the sad fate
328, 1. 11 to have been in Assyrian territory not of seeing some of its members kidnapped and
too far from the border, this passage shows that deported to Assur. Evidence to this effect is pro-
also the towns of Natmani and Kana (or Karana?) vided by several texts in the possession of the
were located close enough to the Assyrian frontier Musee d'Art et d'Histoire (hereafter abbreviated
as MAH) at Geneva.21 The first of the pertinent
14 An dlu 9a pd-pd-nu without reference to Tursa
is mentioned in N VI 615, 1. 9. 18 On this text see, e. g., H. Lewy in JAOS 59, 1939,
15 On this term see E. A. Speiser, Introduction to p. 119; P. M. Purves in Am. Journal of Sem. Lang. and
ZUurrian, AASOR XX (1940-41), p. 38, sub (e). Lit., 57, 1940, p. 165.
16 See, for instance, Carl Ritter, Die Erdkunde von "I See 1. 11. This is one of the rare instances of a
Asien, VI. 2,3 (Berlin 1840), p. 639. A sketch of the town name in a Nuzi text being written without the
mound was published by E. A. Speiser, p. 41 of the determinative.
work quoted above, note 1. Olmstead, JAOS 37 (1917), 20 Carl Ritter, op. cit., vol. VI, 2, 3 (Leipzig 1840),
p. 183, note 37 proposed to identify Gbk Tepe with pp. 638 f. describes the valley of the Lesser ZAb as it
the city known from Neo-Assyrian sources as Arzuhina presented itself in the early 19th century when condi-
or Urzuhina and fom the Nuzi texts as Azuhinni. For tions are not likely to have differed materially from
the reasons outlined below, p. 162, this identification is those of the Nuzi period. He reports that the river was
untenable. navigable by " Kelek " from Ki5y Sanjak down to its
17 This Teiipgarri was obviously identical with Te- junction with the Tigris.
1ipsarri mar Akiia who heads the list of witnesses of 21 The permission to study and use these texts was
the sales contract N V 553 which, according to 11. 25 f., given to the writer in 1960 by the then curator of the
was written at Natmani. collection, Dr. Edmond Sollberger. I wish to express to

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 LEwY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts 153

documents, MAll 16026, runs as follows: un-ma Tisnurwhe, "1I have given; and my son, Tupkiia,
fTi-i-esv-na-a-a-m [a] dmrat mTe-hi-ip-til-la 12and3amntu
my daughter, Tisnurhe, 13[int]o the hand
fWi-la-ri-i ?i wardu22 4 mUt-ha-ap-ta-e an-nu-tu4 of my mother, to [Hinzu] ri, have been given.
5sa sise ups-su-ri-ma ?ta-si j6[s]a [i]-din-nut14[And]
A under the supervision of my mother
i-na-an-na 7[amta fW]i-la-ri-i a-na mwri-i[a] 8a-na 15lHinzuri they will grow up. [.............]
mTup-ki-ia at-ta-din 9iU warda mUt-ha-ap-ta-e a-na and i [f ....... ] (edge broken) 1*[. . . they
nwmvrti-ia a-na fTi-is-nu-ur-he "at-ta-din-mi mari-will g]row up. As soon as 2*my [son] and my
ia m~up-ki-ia u2 marti-ia fTi-is"-nu-ur-he F3a-nladaughter are grown up, 3*the maid-servant Wilari
qat UmmimeS-ia a-na f[Hi-in-zu] -ri na-ad-nu '4[i] 4*Tupkiia will take "*and the male servant
a-na pa-ni ummime'-ia 15 fHi-in-zu-ri i-ra-ab-bu Utihaptae e*Tiesnuri (sic) will take. 7*And the
su-nu-ti 16 [........ ] a it f[um]-ma [ ......... price of the horses to Hin[zuri.. ] .. ']." Ll.
(the lower edge is broken off) rev. 1*[...... 8*-14*: 7 witnesses; lower edge and left edge: 6
i-r]a-ab-bu-U' im-ma-ti-[me-e] 2*[wr i] i marti- seals and the names of their owners.
ia ir-ta-bu-ui 3*amta Wi-il-la-ri-i 4*[m]Tup1ki-ia The document represents a declaration before
il-te-qi 5*i warda mUtt-ha-ap-ta-e 6* fTi-e?-nu-ri witnesses on the part of Tehiptilla's daughter,24
il-te-qi 7ui si-mu sa sise a-na f.li-i[n-zu-ri.. Tiesnaia, by which she appointed her mother,
......... ] 8*mahar A-kap-[t]a-e Mitr Ma-si-ili Hinzuri, guardian of her two children. Her two
8mahar Gi5-m[e]-la-da' mar Zu-me 10*[mahar ... servants, a man and a woman, she assigned to the
......... .]z-zi 1l*mahar Ur-hi-ia mar (J-[L]u- two children who were to take possession of them
ur-m [e . . .] l2*mahar Ki-pd-a-a mzar lli-ab-ri as soon as they had reached the age of maturity.
3*mahar A-ka4-wa-til mar Mu-uS'-Te-s.up l4*mahar The declaration does not state why Tiesnaia did
Tup-pi-iwa mar Nu-ri-ia L. E. 15* abankunulc not raise the children herself and did not make
mnGimil (gu) _dAdad abankunuk A-ka4-wa-til use of16*
the services of the two domestics. Yet the
abankunuk Ur-hi-ia Left edge [abankunuk A]-lap- very fragmentary text MAH 16114 indicates that
ta-e ab [anku] nuk mIli-a. " Thus (said) Tie'naia,23 a sister of Tiesnaia named Zilimnaia did a very
2the daughter of Tehiptilla: 3'The maid servant similar thing. She sent two men, Kiparraphi and
Wilarl and the male servant 4Uth1aptae, the ones Akkulinni, as messengers to her brother, Enna-
5who marked the. horses, (it was) to me "that he mati, informing him that she. assigned to him all
gave (them). And now 7 [the maid-servant her male and female servants together with their
W]ilari to my son, 8to Tupkiia, I have given; 9and offspring. She ended her message by stating that
the male servant Utihaptae to 10my daughter, to she assumed full responsibility for these servants
him my warmest thanks for his kindness and cooperation in case claims should be raised against them. The
and I trust that the present authorities of the Mus&e explanation of this strange behavior of the two
d'Art et d'Histoire do not object to the use of some of daughters of Tehiptilla comes from the text MAlH
their texts in the present study. [These texts have now
15864 which reads as follows: umrn-ma mUr-hi-ia-
been fully published by E. R. Lacheman, Genava 15
(1967), pp. 5-23. Ed.] ma 2um-ma mt-hi-til-la-ma 3um-ma mHe-sal-la-ma
22 It should be noted again that the local scribes of 4u um-ma mBe-li-ia-ma 5 fZi-li-im-na-a-a '6mair(sic)
the Nuzi region still pronounced the initial w as shown Te-hi-ip-til-la 7iUs'-tu 1n61As'-s'ur 8a-na mEn-na-ma-ti
by spellings such as mWa-ra-ad-ku-bi N II 213, 11. 2; 9i-is-ur-a-ni-in-ni 1edge um-ma su-u-ma-mi rev.
18; 22; dlWa-ar-di-NI-tar-[we] and the like. An Assvrian
scribe, however, will write his name mC-ra-a?-se-ru-a
[ ] um-ma-a-mi 1-2 fA-ba-ba-al-ti 13i-na qaffiti-
(H XIX 53, left edge) instead of Warad-serua and urki ka-mi pi-qi-is-siu-mi 14U a-na ha-s'a-ar-te-en-na 159a
suduti (H XIX 58, 1. 14), whereas a Babylonian scribe me-li-is-s&u-u%-mi 16im-ma-ti-me-e a-sa-pai-ra-ak-k7u
writes ar-ka4-nu (H V 32, 1. 6).
17[s'e] -bi-i-la, 18aban mHe-stal-la25 19aban mUr-hi.
22 The pronunciation of this and related names such
as fTi-is-nu-ur-h6 (11. 10 and 12 of the present text) ia. "Thus (said) UJrhiia, 2thus (said) Ithitilla,
or mTi-e-es-ur-h6 (e. g., H XIV 92, 1. 6; variant mTi-es-
ur-h6 H XIV 130, 1. 7) is still uncertain. Since the 24 That she is a daughter of the prominent Nuzi
name of Takku's son, the last member of the Tehiptilla personnage, Tehiptilla mdr Puhigenni and not of one
family, appears also in the variants mTi-a-ag-ur-h N of the numerous other persons bearing the name Te-
III 310, 11. 5 f.; mTe-eg-ur-hi N V 433, 1. 39; and hiptilla follows from the name of her mother, Uinzuri
rnTi-ig-ur-he H XVI 109, 1. 4 it is impossible to decide who is known as Tehiptilla's spouse; see, e. g., N VI
whether one or two vowels are intended, or whether 655, 11. 5f.: ffi-in-zu-ri aggatat mTe-hi-[ip]-til-la.
the various spellings are meant to render a vowel which 25 The seal which is identified as Uegalla's is known
had no counterpart in Akkadian and hence no sign in as that of Uegalla mdr Zume; see Edith Porada, AASOR
cuneiform script. 24 (1944-45), plate 32, No. 643.

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154 LEWY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts

3thus (said) Hes'alla, 4and thus (said) Beliia: volving Tentewe were written at Tursa, it is
5Zilimnaia, "the daughter of Teihiptilla, 9sent me 26 apparent that Tentewe was too small a town to
7from Assyria 8to Ennamati. Thus she (said): have a scribe of its own; whence the parties who
'll[ ] thus: 12Ababalti 13has been entrusted to needed a written record had to proceed to the
your hand; 14and as a has'artenna (it is) '5that nearest city where the services of a scribe were
you shall surrender her; 27 16as soon as I send you available. As they proceeded to Tursa, it is appar-
a message, 17cause her to be brought there! '" It ent that Tentewe was located close to Tursa. On
is not stated in the text in which relation Ababalti the other hand, it can be inferred from the
was to Zilimnaia; however, since in MAX 16114 Tentewe contracts concerning the landholdings of
the various male and female servants are not men- Ithista's descendants that this town was a road
tioned by name, it is possible that she was one of junction; because their fields are described not
the female servants who had reached the age of only in relation to the road to Natmani but also
maturity and was to assume the function of a to the road to Bufr-Adadwe (N II 212, 11. 5-7).
OneZilim-
khacartennu. At any rate it is learned from must therefore look for Tentewe in the region
naia's message why she handed over all her of the modern town of Madrana, some 71 miles
domestics to her brother Ennamati: she was in as the crow flies downstream from Altin-kdprii-
Assur and obviously was not in a position to make Tursa; at this point a small affluent falls into
use of her servants. Whereas Zilimnaia's messages the Zab River,30 and a road first follows this
to Ennamati leave it open whether she voluntarily affluent and then bifurcates, one branch running
deprived herself of the services of her domestics, southeast toward Nuzi whereas the other one runs
the fact that her sister, Tiesnaia, was unable to due east to join the highway Arrapha-Tursa.
bring up her own children makes it clear that the Natmani then would have been located still fur-
two sisters had been taken by force to Assur, and, ther downstream, possibly near modern Melisa or
contrary to the usual practice, could not be at the point today called Mahud, some 25 miles,
redeemed by their families. as the crow flies, from Tursa. Mahud appears to
Whereas the question as to whether Natmani be the site of an ancient town.3'
was located upstream or downstream from Tursa As regards Bufr-Adadwe 32 which was linked by
is not directly answered by the texts at present a road with Tentewe, it recurs in the list H XV
available, the connection of Natmani with the 124 together with at least six other places of
Tehiptilla family suggests that it was downstream, which it is said in 11. 11 f.: an-nu-tui alani ina
which means, fairly close to Nuzi. For as those nakruitimes gab -ba ( ?) nu-a-n [a] ( ?), " these town
members of the family who were public officials-
where Tentewe is to be restored in 1. 10; N IV 415,
notably Tehiptilla, the halsuhlu, and Tiesurwhe, the 11. 8 and 12; N VI 603, 11. 7 and 11. All three concern
sa'kin mati 28-had their archives and hence prob- the holdings of a family consisting of the brothers
ably their offices in Nuzi, easy communication garra-gaduni, Akiia, and Uigmeia, the sons of Ithiita,
and -Uigmeia's wife, Uggennaia; two further texts be-
between the family estate and the city of Nuzi
longing to the records of this family are N II 101 and
would appear to have been a necessity. Some per- N II 212.
tinent information can also be derived from the so See the map below (p. 161) which is based on the map
fact that the "road to Natmani " is repeatedly 1: 400000 issued in 1917 by the German General Staff.
mentioned in contracts dealing with property in "' Thus according to a map issued in 1954 by the
Directorate General of Antiquities in Baghdad; it spells
the town of Tentewe.29 As all the contracts in-
the name Mahuz and dates the ruins to the Parthian
period. It does not indicate, however, whether under-
26 Thus under the assumption that the form intended neath the Parthian ruins remains of older occupation
was ispuranni (the masc. instead of the fem. is common are traceable.
in the Nuzi texts). 32 The spelling of this town name &lBu-ra-dd-ad-we
27 melissumi seems to be intended as the imperative which recurs in N II 212, 1. 7, makes it clear that, at
of mallu'um "to make full, to pay" (usually malli; least in so far as the people of Nuzi are concerned, the
see, e.g., KTS 13a, 1. 24). In the Nuzi texts mallu'um name of the weather god was pronounced Adad; some-
is not infrequently used with reference to persons; see, times the final d was assimilated to the following con-
e. g., Gadd 22, 1. 9: 5 tRmeg umallame., la. sonant; see, e. g., A-da-ag-ge-ia (N III 288, 1. 3) which
28 To all appearances he was both kakin mdti and is the phonetic spelling of dIM-ge-ia (N IV 408, 1. 2;
hazannu of the city of Natmani. N IV 359, 1. 2). As the present writer pointed out
29 These contracts are N 68 (transliterated and trans- in CAH I2, 1966, fasc. 53, p. 41, the pronunciation Adad
lated by C. H. Gordon, Le Museon 48, 1935, pp. 120 ff.) is also traceable in Old Assyrian.

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 LEWY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts 155

are devastated 33 by enemy action." Accordingly, this case not only that Katiriwe was close to
Bufr-Adadwe and the other towns in its vicinity- Natmani but also that not only the Tehiptilla
among which we mention War(ad)-Tispaki and family but also another one of the prominent
Puhisenniwe 4sa supal-were close enough to aristocratic families of the Nuzi region had its
the frontier to be reached by Assyrian invaders private estate. in the Natmani region. This tends
even though, as shown by the afore-cited passage to indicate that the best land available in the
N II 212, 11. 5-7, the road from Tentewe to Bufr- proximity of Nuzi was in and around Natmani, in
Adadwe ran in a southerly direction, which means the valley of the Lesser Z~ab.
away from the Assyrian border. As regards Halmaniwe, another one of the towns
The names of some further towns in the immedi- citizens of which, according to the afore-cited
ate vicinity of Natmani are revealed by II XVI document II XVI 394, were staying at Natmani,
394 which, after two broken lines, states: " 3[X it was, to judge by II XVI 237, located right in
men] from 4[the. town of Ta]insuuhwe, 5[y men] the center of the grain-producing country near
from the town of Halmaniwe, 6[x men] from the Natmani. The text lists various amounts of seed
town of Katiriwe, 7[x2 do] mestics from [the grain taken by a person named Warad-Istar
to]wn of Karanna, 9altogether 47 persons; 10these (probably an official) from the grain storage
are men from (surrounding) towns; "-they are (magrattu) of the town of Halmaniwe. The
staying in the city of Natmani." Among these proximity of Halmaniwe to Natmani is further
towns, Karanna (l. 8) is most likely to be identical suggested by II XV 72, a list of towns from which
with the town from which, according to the afore- trucks (ereqq tu) had been received. Here Ual-
quoted text II XVI 393,35 a servant with the maniwe is listed immediately after Natmani (11.
Assyrian name Silla-Kubi had fled to Assur. 6f.).
Katiriwe,36 on the other hand, is also known from In discussing the town of Halmaniwe it is not
the two interrelated texts N IV 326 and N IV without interest to mention that the afore-cited
353 37 to have been in the immediate vicinity of report of Tiglat-Pileser I 40 about his campaign
Natmani. In both records Tehiptilla accused the against Babylonia mentions not only Tursa (n)
neatherd of the town of Katiriwe 38 of having but also a city of Arman located in the same gen-
slaughtered cattle without the owner's permission; eral region. In consideration of the frequent
the defendant, on the contrary, retorts that the interchange between 1 and r in the language of
cattle was slaughtered not by him but by the the Nuzi people 41 we need not hesitate in identi-
butcher 39 of Natmani (N IV 353, 11. 7-8) who, fying this city of Arman with Halmaniwe even
however, denied the accusation. It is learned from though the Nuzi material provides no clue to
the identity of the city of Sa-lum in the sur-
88 Thus on the assumption that the verb is a roundings
II, 1 of which Arman is said in Tiglat-
permansive of nawd'um. Pileser's inscription to have been situated.42 In
84 As is well known, the Nuzi people usually named
referring to 4'Ar-ma-an ugar 6lSa-lum, Tiglat-
towns for their founders and first residents, in the
present case Warad-Tispak and Puhis'enni, respectively. Pileser appears to quote from the Synchronistic
S6 See above, p. 152. History the passage describing (col. I, 1. 30) the
86 Katiri, the founder of the town of Katiriwe, is the borderline between Assyria and Babylonia as estab-
ancestor of one of the prominent Nuzi families. The
lished by Adad-narari I in his peace treaty with
successive generations are represented by Katiri's son,
Akkuia, Akkuia's son, Zigi, and several sons of the 40 See above, p. 150 with note 2.
latter; for numerous documents concerning this family "l Many examples can be added to those given by M..
see Speiser in AASOR 10, 1928-29. That it is actually Berkooz, The Nuzi Dialect of Akkadian, Language Dis-
the ancestor of this family for whom the town is named sertations No. 23, 1937, pp. 59 f., sub G; e. g., the very
is indicated by N IV 326, 1. 26 where Katiri's son, frequent name Na-ig-gi-el-pi, father of Piru (e. g.,
Akkuia, is listed as witness in the town of Katiriwe. N I 1, 11. 25 and 29; N I 2, 1. 26 and passim appears
S7 Both texts were transliterated and translated by as Na-ig-gi-ir-pi, father of Piru in N 80, 1. 12; other
C. H. Gordon, Orientalia 5, 1936, pp. 326ff. instances: Ku-ur-mi-ia mdr Gi-li-ia N V 492, 1. 34 and
88The defendant in both lawsuits is a certain Tillia Ku-ul-mi-ia mdr Gilia H XIII 6, 1. 14; E-wa-ar-ka4-ri,
mdr Taia; he is designated in N IV 353 as r6 alpemeg father of Uhhi-Tegup N IV 358, 1. 31 and E-wa-ar-ka4-li
ka mTehiptilla and in N IV 326 as r6 alpemeg ina 41 f. of Urlhi-Tesup H XIII 122, 1. 2.
Katiriwe. 421H XV 18 mentions, in 1. 27 a town named ga-al-lu;
89 For urparinnu, "butcher," see Leo Oppenheim in as the nature of the sibilant cannot be determined, it
Revue Hittite et Asianique 26 (1937), pp. 65 f., note 13. is uncertain whether it is the precursor of Sa-lum.

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 156 LEFY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts

Nazimaruttas. This frontier, running from the In attempting to locate ail iani, it must be
Tigris via Arman ugar Salu to the land of Lullume taken into consideration that it was a twin city
must have been approximately identical with the consisting of one part called al ilini and another
line which, in the post-Teihiptilla period, separ- one called 41 Tas'eniwe. The two towns, to all
ated Assyria from the province the administrative appearances, had the eakallum, or administration
capital of which was the city of Nuzi. building, in common as is indicated by the numer-
Another town which, to judge by H XVI 394, ous texts listing distributions of food for the is'
was located close to Natmani was Tainsuhwe.48 biti sa ail Taseniwe u s'a a4 ilAni.48 It is equally
This place must have been particularly exposed characteristic that some persons are described
to enemy raiders, because in the document H XV sometimes as being s'a 41 ilani and at other times
1 a proclamation by the king of Arrapiha has sa a2 Taseniwe.4
been preserved in which he advised the city-ruler If one ventures an explanation of the name
(hazannu) of Tainguhwe to communicate to his al Taseniwe, he will remember that a term ta-se-e-
fellow hazannu-officials as well as to the dimtu- ni-e-we occurs in the Tusratta letter (I, 11. 91, 99)
holders (bele dimnti) that they would be held which is usually interpreted by modern scholars
responsible for any losses in human beings as well as " for sacrifice." 50 If this is the meaning of
as in property caused by enemy raids.44 This text the city name, it is easy to understand that it was
appears to belong to one of the short periods when part of a complex the other part of which was
the Nuzi region and the Zab Valley depended upon al iladni, the temple city; for the latter appears to
the small kingdom of Arrapha rather than upon have been a community where all the sanctuaries
the powerful kingdom of Hanigalbat. of the gods worshipped in Arrapha were located.51
Leaving the valley of the Lesser Zab and pro- As regards the location of Taseniwe, Speiser tenta-
ceeding in a south-easterly direction along what tively suggested in 1938 to identify it with the
our texts call harranu rab'tu sa 'l Tur'a,4 one site today called Tis in which is located two miles
reaches the city of Arrapha. Whereas the identifi-north of Kerkuk.52 Gelb, on the other hand, sug-
cation of this city with modern Kerkuk cannot be gested a site named Tes-in southwest of Ker-
kuk.52' This is probably the locality marked as
questioned,40 it must be emphasized that, contrary
to the view expressed by some modern scholars, 47 nis biti is usually spelled ni-es Dtu4.
ol Arraphi is not the same as a1 ilaini. Proof 48 See, e. g., H. XIV 617, 11. 51-54; H XVI 55, 11
to this effect is now furnished by H XIV 63 particularly characteristic is H XVI 12; it lists first
which lists, in 11. 1-8, what is described in 11. a distribution to the nig biti of Nuzi, then one to those
of Zizza, and then (in 11. 8-10) one to those of al [ildni]
9-10 as "this is the distribution which was and 41 Tageniwe.
given to the queen of the city of Arrapije." The 49 The text H XIII 161 is said in 11. 50 f. to have
following lines (11. 11-16) list items summarized been written i-na al ildnimeg. The first witness with the
as "this Hekru took for the queen of ail ilafni" rare name Nikmiia mdr Alkiia (see 11. 36 and 53) also
heads the list of witnesses of Gadd 50 (see 1. 36). Also
(11. 17-19); in 11. 20 If., finally, the corresponding
the witness Turari who sealed H XIII 161 (see 1. 52)
items given to the queen of Nuzi are listed. Thus appears as a witness in Gadd 50, 1. 37. Now the first
there is no room for any doubt that this text lists seven witnesses including Nikmiia are identified in
three different distributions of grain products to H XIII 161, 1. 43 as men from al ildni and the text
the queens of three cities, 41 Arraphi, al ilaini, and is said to have been written in al ildni; Gadd 50, how-
ever, is said to have been written in al Taceniwe.
a, NUzi.
50 See, e. g., F. Thureau-Dangin, Syria 12 (1931),
p. 255.
48 The following are some variant spellings of this 5' According to the present writer's collation (made
name: 41 Ta-in-Au-uh N VI 643, 1. 6; alTa-i-gu-uh-we in September, 1938), the text No. 309 of the collection
N I 23, 11. 5, 6, (31) ; 41 Ta-?u-uh-h6-w[e] H XV 1, of the Musee du Cinquantenaire in Brussels has, in
1. 1. 1. 6, the interesting variant Nlu bit ildnimeg. In the
44 A most unfortunate attempt at rendering parts " copy" of this text published by L. Speleers in 1925,
of this text is found s. v. hazannu in CAD vol. 6, U. the line is unrecognizable. On the function of al ilani
The transliteration is full of errors and unnecessary in juridical proceedings see the present writer's remarks
emendations, and the " translation " has little in com- in The Nuzian Feudal System, Orientalia 11 (1942),
mon with the text. p. 30, note 5 from p. 29.
45 See above, p. 151. 52 See JAOS 58, 1938, p. 463, note 8.
46 For the evidence see especially C. J. Gadd in Rev. 52a See Gelb, Purves and MacRae, Nuzi Personal Names
d'Ass. 23 (1926), p. 64. (Chicago, 1943), p. 263.

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 LEWY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts 157

Tdjidn on the afore-quoted map of the German the Nuzi texts of this and numerous other canals
general staff; it is situated 21 miles SW ofand natural watercourses as well as their names
Ker-
kuk. The latter location is more likely, because, which praise them as givers of abundance 57 con-
according to the evidence of our texts, the sanctu- tradicts the assertion of Starr that the inhabitants
aries of al ildni served both Nuzi and Arrapha. of the Nuzi region did agricultural work "with-
Proceeding from Arraphla in a southwesterly out artificial irrigation " and were " not dependent
direction one reaches, after a ten-mile ride, Nuzi, for moisture on the changing whims of a meander-
the city which the kings of Hanigalbat chose as ing watercourse." 58 Now the map of the German
the administrative capital of the region. Much general staff actually shows a watercourse running
as the cities of Taseniwe and al ildni were twin past Nuzi and joining the Kasa gay which, in
cities, Nuzi appears to have been one half of a turn, runs through Arrapha and thence, in a
metropolitan complex of two settlements. The southerly direction, toward what is called today
other component was named al Anzukallim.53 The Tase Hurmatly. Yet neither one of Starr's maps
close link between the two cities is suggested shows a trace of this watercourse. Carl Ritter
by passages such as the short letter H XV 222 quotes Ker Porter as having seen this watercourse
addressed by a Surkitilla to the awelha-za-an-nu when he traveled from Tuz Hurmatly via Tauk
2sa 4l Nu-zi 3u sa dal An-zu-kac[l-lim]. This letter and Taze Hurmatly to Kerkuk.59 However, he
suggests that, at least in certain periods, the two adds that no other traveller mentions it. The
cities had one and the same city ruler. The text explanation of this seeming contradiction is sug-
H XVI 43 makes it clear (in 11. 2 f.: ge'atia ti gested by Ritter's description of the Tauk gay
e-.e-ti .sa Vl Nu-zu -3 . a al Ar-zu-lacl-lim) that as "ein wild tosender Strom" in winter; then
the two cities had a common grain storage facility; "er wird in mehrere Candle. zur Irrigation ver-
the text then deals with a distribution of new teilt. . Im Sommer liegt er oft ganz trocken,
barley from the two cities amounting, according weil er zur Irrigation der anliegenden Aecker
to 1. 26, to 18 imer 30 qa. In 11. 26 f. it is added: und Wiesen verbraucht wird." It seems therefore
"[Fr]om 27the city of Auzukallim (came) 2811 reasonable to assume that the " canal of Anzukal-
imer 50 qa 27[o]f 28(this amount)." lim " in Nuzi was either a branch of or identical
In order to decide which of the numerous ruin with the watercourse shown on the map near
mounds 54 surrounding the city of Nuzi was the Nuzi. If this assumption is correct, one has to
site of Anzukallim it is not without importance look for Anzukallim upstream, or WNW from
to note that several texts dealing with real estate Nuzi, which means exactly in the direction in
in Nuzi mention an atapp'u, sometimes called which Starr marks on his map the large ruin
atappu niras'se sa al Anzukallim, "the canal" mound of Viran Sehir, 21 miles from Nuzi.
or " very good 55 canal of the city of Anzukallim." One further site in the immediate vicinity of
There also was, as is quite natural, a "road to Nuzi can be identified with a good degree of cer-
Anzukallim " in the city of Nuzi.56 It may be tainty. In N VI 662, a field is described as fol-
remarked in this connection that the mention in lows: 93 imer eqla i-na u'-ga5-ar sa AI Nu-zi .....
11i-na il-ta-na-an eql'times sa" l Ar-we ......
53 In most instances this city name was written dl
An-zu-kadl-lim; in some rare cases (as, e.g., N III 233, 57 Besides the atappu niragge we mention the na-a4
1. 7) the spelling is dl An-zu-ka4-al-en. As always in ap-ta nu-uh-gi, "the stream 'hole of abundance '" in
the Nuzi script, the sibilant is uncertain. AO 10888 (Rev. d'Ass. 28, 1931, pp. 35 and 28f.), 11. 5-6
"See R. F. S. Starr, Nuzi, II (Cambridge, 1937), (it is perhaps not superfluous to mention that, in spite
plan I and vol. I, p. XXX. of the misleading title " Tablettes de Kerkouk du
65 Niragge is not, of course, a personal name as Musee du Louvre " not only AO 10887 referred to above,
assumed by some scholars (see, e. g., Akkad. Hand- p. 151 with note 8 but also the other seven texts pub-
wirterbuch, p. 86b, s. v. atappu) but a Uurrian adjective lished together with it come from Nuzi). Cf. also
consisting of nir-, " good " and the augmentative ending N V 483 where (in 1. 4) a field is said to have been
-as (for nir- see, e.g., E. Laroche, Rev. d'Ass. 54, 1960, located ina gapat iarru, being the Uurrian term for
p. 188; for the ending -ag cf. Speiser, Introduction to water which eventually passed into Akkadian; cf.
Hurrian, p. 132 f., sub (6) ). col. VI, 1. 46 (ia-ar-ri ma-ar-ti) of the Nebukadnezzar
58 girru or harrdnu 9a al Anzukallim is very frequent inscription VAB IV, No. 15. Cf. further the name
in the description of fields; in N II 152, 1. 8 and N II ra-hi-um of a canal shown on H X 1.
194, 1. 8 it is certain that the "road to Anzukallim" 6 Op. cit., I, pp. XXX and XXXI.
was in Nuzi. 69 Op. cit., pp. 549 f.

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158 LEwY: A Contributiorn to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts

14itt [a-d]in. This implies that the environs orde.r to pay tribute to the defenders after the
(ugaru) of Nuzi were immediately north of the city's liberation. From the point of view of the
fields of the town of Arwe. Starr marks on his present discussion the letter H XIV 14, to all
map a ruin mound named Barghftt, 2 miles south appearances written right after the liberation of
of Nuzi. Both Viran *ehir and Barghuft areZizza, is of special interest. It is addressed by
described by him as being from the Nuzi period.60 the king to Aar-Tesup, administrator of the
Anzukallim as well as Arwe were linked by armor.64 He advises the official to send messages
roads with the city of Zizza.61 Since, accordingly, to Zizza and Apenas about the preparations for
the traveller coming from Zizza reached Arwe a festival; even though this is not stated, it is
before he came to Nuzi, and since, as we have likely that the festival was to celebrate the libera-
seen, Arwe lay south of Nuzi, it is obvious that tion of Zizza by men from Apenas who, as evi-
one must look for Zizza still further south. This denced by the afore-quoted lines from HI XV 43,
conclusion is well in line with the evidence that had been active in the defense of Zizza.
Zizza, a city very frequently mentioned in our Who was the enemy who attacked Zizza? Since,
material, was, in the latest period attested, under as we have seen before, Zizza was located south
siege and temporarily occupied by an enemy. Il of Nuzi and since, on the other hand, it is known
XV 40, for instance, lists numerous officers with that in the Tiesurhe period the relations between
their men who lost their horses and therefore did the Nuzi region and Assyria were cordial,65 and
not go to Zizza (left edge).62 Significant in this since it is further known that the Babylonians
respect is II XV 43 which contains these lines: eventually destroyed the city of Nuzi,66 it is a
irnaphar 38 awfl'mes 12a-lik seri (EDIN. NA) i-na priori likely that the enemy in this case was the
a3 [&] Zi-iz-za "[is-ru] sum-ma awil nalcru '5[i-na Babylonian. This conclusion is well in line with
two passages which, by listing Zizza together with
afl Zi-iz-za 16%'-si-bu 17[x +]10 aw*b mes a
A-pe-na-as 18[i]-na Asl Zi-iz-za is-ru, " "altogether Lubdi 07 show that it was located close to the
38 men, 12footsoldiers, 14were [taken prisoner] Babylonian frontier. For Lubdi is generally as-
sumed, on good reasons, to have stood at, or near,
12in 13Zizza 14when the enemy 16stayed 15 [in]
modern Taufk, 8 about 21 miles SE of Nuzi. A
Zizza. 17[x +]10 men from Apenas '8were taken
prisoner in Zizza." However, the enemy who, closer link than to Lubdi, however, appears to
according to this passage, captured Zizza and im- have existed between the cities of Zizza and
prisoned its defenders, was driven from the city. Apenas. This conclusion imposes itself not only
This follows in the first place from the date because, as was seen before, the defenders of Zizza
formula preserved in H XIV 131, 11. 9-11: su-un- came from Apenas but also because, in H XIII
du4 1Onakrumd i-na a'I Zi-iz-za -as'-bu; another 417, a road to Apenas within the city of Zizza
date formula, this one preserved on two tablets 3 is mentioned. Since, on the other hand, H I 14
reports a royal visit to Zizza, possibly made in mentions in 11. 5 f. a road to Apenas in Nuzi,
this city must have been located between Zizza
6' See op. cit., I, p. XXX. On the other hand, he and Nuzi, though not on a straight line. When
mentions a ruin mound named Alwan which he defines trying to locate Apenas it is further important
as prehistoric. It would be very surprising if this name to know that it served as a point of refuge and
did not perpetuate the ancient name Arwe. Other retreat for the troops who had defended Du'r-ubla
occurrences of al Arwe are the following: H IX 43,
1. 13; H XIII 72, 1. 15; H XIII 428, 1. 29; H XV 72,
when this city was attacked and, to all appear-
1. 36. H XIV 171 deals with a situation in which ances, occupied by the Babylonians. Evidence to
Uanigalbataean war chariots were stationed at Arwe and
Arnapuwe, the latter being a town which occurs also 64 In 1. 1 of the letter here under discussion, iar-Tegup
in H XV 72 together with Arwe. is designated as gatammu (ideogr. SATAM, Labat, No.
61 For the "road to Anzukallim " in Zizza see N III 355); H XV 6, obviously referring to the same person,
244, 1. 5; N III 250, 1. 10; N V 439, 1. 5; for the " road speaks in 11. 17 f. of a awega-tarn &4-re-[e] 4a mga-ar-Te-
to Arwe " in Zizza see H XIII 363, 1. 57. [Ijup]. On sariam, " armor," see Speiser in JAOS 70
62 The comparative date of the text can be determined (1950), pp. 47 f.; cf. L. Oppenheim, JCS 4 (1950),
since Tiesurhe is mentioned (in 1. 15) as one of the p. 192.
officers. The action must have taken place when he 6 See Orientalia 28 (1959), pp. 9ff.
was a young man, which means long before he became 66 Ibidem, p. 22.
gakin mdti. 671H XIV 119, 11. 12-15; H XV 235, 11. 8-13.
68 H XIV 42, 11. 8-11; H XIV 53, 11. 22-25. 68 See J. J. Finkelstein, JCS 9 (1955), pp. 1 f.

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 LEwY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts 159

this effect is contained in H XIV 175 (cf. H XV in the texts, it is designated as " irrigated land." 70
264, 11. 12 f.) according to which Tiesurhe, the This definitely points to a site where natural irri-
Sakin mati, brought food to the men from Dufr- gation is plentiful. If it is further taken into
ubla then staying in Ape-nas. From H XV 264 it consideration that Apenas was located in a stra-
further follows that this siege and occupation of tegically important position because, according
Dufr-ubla took place at the same time when to H XV 32, 11. 25-28, it had a garrison of soldiers
Telipirra and Irhah1he were under Babylonian from HaIlnigalbat,71 Taze Hurmatly or its immedi-
siege,69 which means toward the very end of the ate vicinity is the logical place to look for Apenas.
period covered by the Nuzi texts. Now Dufr-ubla Taze Hurmatly is located on the east bank of
can be located with a fair degree of precision the Kasa gay and on the western bank of a
in view of the tablet H X 1. As will be. remem- smaller stream, the Ho1r Dere. It is further situ-
bered, this tablet shows a map on which the ated at the junction of the highway Taufk-Kerkuk
points of the compass are marked; and in the NW (or, in antiquity, Lubdi-Arraphia) with the road
corner of this map, the ancient scribe made a described previously running on the western shore
circle and inscribed it with the name Maskan- of the swamp.
Dfir-ibla. Meek who edited and discussed this A further city of some importance for which
tablet which dates from the Old Akkadian period one must look south of Nuzi near the Babylonian
identified this site with the town of Dfir-ibla frontier was Temtena or Temtenas.72 A tentative
of the Nuzi period. Further information about conclusion as to its location can be derived from
the site can be gleaned from the fact that immedi- the fact that the city is frequently mentioned in
ately north of Maskan-Du'r-ibla, the map shows the archive of the family of Gurpazalh, the son
what Meek described as " a large body of water " of Hilpisuwh who bears a Kassite name as do several
from which several arms of a stream emerge and members of his family.73 More positive informa-
unite further south. Thus one shall not fail in tion about the location of Temtena can be derived
identifying the "large body of water" with the from the mention of a "road to Lubdi" 74 as
great swamp along the western shore of which well as of a " road to Matka" 75 in texts dealing
the Kasa gay flows southward and receives sev- with real estate in Temtena. For these two city
eral auxiliaries from the swamp. Dufr-ubla then names bring us in the immediate vicinity of
must be looked for south of the swamp near the present-day Ta'k,76 Lubdi being, as was repeatedly
point where the Matar Dere leaves the swamp mentioned before close to the site of Taufk but
and joins the Kasa Cay. Immediately west of the probably located on the bank of the Taufk Su.
Kasa Cay run two roads on which, to judge by
the map, numerous ancient tells are located. The 70See, e.g., N I 5, 1. 5; N I 71, 1. 7; N I 94, 1. 6;
road more to the west runs almost straight to the N II 202, 1. 6.

Tigris which it reaches between Tekrit and Sa- 71 On the reading and interpretation of the pertinent
line see H. Lewy and M. Mayrhofer, Orientalia 34, 1965,
marra. The one further to the east follows the pp. 30f.
course of the Kasa gay up to and beyond its 72 This name must not be confused with that of the
junction with the Taufk River. The two roads city of Tentewe discussed above, pp. 154 f.
join some 8 miles north of the swamp, and it is 7"To this archive belong, inter alia, the following
in this region, near the present day village of texts: N I 87; N II 204; N II 124; N III 255; N III
311; N III 315; N III 320; N IV, 331; N V 478; N VI
Kara Tepe, that one must look for Zizza. If the 604; N VI 645. That Gurpa or Kurpa and zah are
Babylonians chose either one of these two roads Kassite name elements was pointed out by Gelb, Purves,
as invasion routes to the Nuzi region, they came and MacRae, Nuzi Personal Names, Chicago 1943,
first to Dfir-ubla and then to Zizza; as the men p. 195. Gurpazah's brother was named Punniia or
Punni-harpa for which name see ibidem, pp. 246 f.;
of both of these cities took refuge in, and received
Gurpazah's cousin, Ianzi-maghu, the son of Uilpiguh's
help from, Apenas, this city, in turn, must have brother, Aiittara, also bears a Kassite name; cf. ibidem,
been located further north on the same road. For p. 219.

the location of Apenas it is also significant that, 71 See N II 204, 1. 5 (on this text see Orientalia 9,
1940, pp. 362 f.) ; N III 255, 1. 20.
whenever land in this community is mentioned
75 N I 29, 11. 8-9.
7d As early as 1938, Leo Oppenheim (Rev. d'Ass. 35
'" See the present writer's remarks in Orientalia 28 p. 152) called attention to the proximity of Temtenag
(1959), pp. 21 f. and cf. H XV 279 and H XIV 238. and Lubdi.

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 160 Lxwy: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts

5 fIamastui,
Matka, in turn., can safely be identified with the 6 fTuwurnaia: 7these 6 women 8from
modern town of Matika,77 2j miles SSW of Tafik. the military district of Azuhinni "with their
It is further important to keep in mind that belongings 80 10Hupita 13caused to return "to the
Temtena was located on a stream; for N III 315 hand of 12Akiptasenni, the governor. 14(At the
describes a field in Temtena as being situated time) when 81 the women "returned 15from Tem-
ina scapat nahli. It is possibly due to this supply tena. 17Seal of Akiptasenni, the governor." Since
of water that, as suggested by N II 124, N II 204, two texts preserved in the palace at Nuzi deal with
N VI 604 and other passages, a good part of the the return of these women to their home at Azu-
land holdings of the Gurpazah family which, as hinni and since the governor himself acknowledged
was mentioned before, were all located in Temtena, their safe arrival by sealing the document, it is
were orchards. Even in modern times, the region obvious that they were very important personali-
around Taufk produced rich vegetation before it ties.82 As Temtena probably was not the point
was devastated by the Kurds. Ritter (op. cit., of departure of the six women but merely the
pp. 548 f.) quoted an early French explorer, last stop on their way back to Azuhinni, the text
Olivier, as describing the approaches to Taufk makes it clear that a road ran from Temtena
being planted with orchards in which date palms, to Azuhinni. Some further information with
lemons, and other fruit trees grew and produced regard to this road can be derived from H XIII
fruit. Later travellers saw no more vegetation 36, a message sent out by Akiptasenni mar Enna-
around Taftk. mati, the governor of Azuhinni who sealed and
In view of the wealth of this region it is not dispatched the text H XVI 387 just discussed.
surprising that "the enemy," which means the H XIII 36 runs as follows: " Thus (spoke)
Babylonians, undertook raids and made efforts Akiptasenni, 2the governor, the son of Ennamati:
to seize Temtena. One such attempt is alluded 3The king sent a message as follows: 'When83
to in H XIV 238; this text deals with the food 4they send [H] asmaru,84 5 [then] Akiptasenni
ration of 25 men who, coming from Nuzi, drove
the enemy from Temtena, captured his war As this name recurs (with n) in H XIII 209, 1. 15, the
latter reading is more likely.
chariots and took them to Irhahhe and Telipirra.
80 The parallel passage is more explicit; it reads:
Besides the two roads already mentioned-that
76 sinnigdtumere [an]-nfu- [tu4] 8a hal-$i [PlA-zu-9i-in-ni
to Lubdi and the one to Matka-a third one, it-ti 966(?) fubdti-gu-nu 5 hu-bur-[ni-?u]-nu 1O'mawakSU]-
leading to Azuhinni ran through, or started at, hu- [up]-ti-?u-nu "[it-ti pa-hu-uz]-zi-?u-nu 12j1 it-ti ba-
Temtena. Evidence to this effect comes from as-ta-ri-su-nu, " 7[th]es[e] 6 women 8(are) from the
military district of [Azuhinni; with] 96 (?) clothing-
E XVI 387 and the parallel text, E XVI 398,
outfits of theirs, 5 foodeontain[ers of t]heirs, 10their
the former of which runs as follows: "fUnammi, [s]hoes, "with their [pahuz]zi '2and with their
2 fTuppilenna, 3 fIstar f8-ummi, 4 fAllainaia,79
sandals( ).........
81 sum-ma is not infrequently used in the Nuzi texts
77 As was intimated above, p. 158, note 60, some of in the sense of " at the time when; " see, e. g., H XIII
the geographical names of the 15th pre-Christian cen- 63, 11. 5 and 13; H XV 43, 1. 14; H XV 84, 1. 8, etc.
tury appear to have survived in the Nuzi region in spite 82 The function of the women is perhaps somewhat
of all the changes in the population. As Lacheman elucidated by H XV 120 which lists first one woman
pointed out (BASOR 81, 1941, p. 12), the modern town belonging to Akiptaienni, obviously the governor, and
of Tarkhelan, less than 2 miles NE of Nuzi, is likely a second one belonging to the Ontu-priestess (NIN.
to have preserved the name of the Uurrian town of DINGIR.RA) of Azuhinni. Accordingly, the city must
Tarkulli. If this identification is correct, it should be have been a cult center of some importance if it had a
possible to locate also the city of Ulamme not far from priestess of this rank. If the women were priestesses,
Nuzi; for from H XVI 397 it is learned that the halfu they may well have been taken to some out-of-town place
of Ulamme comprised the towns of Tarkulli and Til in order to officiate at a festival as did the priestesses
Duri. On the other hand, H XIV 118 would seem to of Apenag according to the afore-quoted text H XIV
suggest that Ulamme was closer to the Assyrian fron- 14 (see above, p. 158; NIN.MEA in 1. 10 of this text
tier, because the king stayed there obviously in order is obviously an error for NIN. DINGIR. RA. MEA; for
to receive an Assyrian visitor; cf. Orientalia 28 (1959), it is known from H XV 120, rev., 1. 7 that Apenag had
pp. 9 ff. an entu-priestess).
78 Lacheman transcribes the name as UAn-nu-um-mi; 83 See above, note 81.
however, the parallel text, H XVI 398, gives in 1. 3 this 84 The name Uagimaru recalls, of course, the name of
woman's name as d49tar-um-mi. mount Uagimur which, as Weidner pointed out (AfO 9,
79 Lacheman transliterates tAl-la-i-ta-a-a; in the par- 1933-34, p. 97), designates a mountain in the chain
allel passage H XVI 398, 1. 6, he offers tAl-ta-i-na-a-a. today called IIamrin. Hence it is obvious that Uagimaru

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 LEWY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts I6

Av%\4\~~~

oaf t'0"'X' At'

/VA t\
1: 4VOOOO

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162 LEWY: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of the Nuzi Texts

6shall give (him) 5into 0[the hail]ds of 3 men to the Bazian Pass, it obviously occupied the site
and 7they will bring (him) [t]o the country of of present-day Leilan from where, still today, one
Nullu; 8they will watch (him) and return him. road leads to the Bazian Pass, a second one south-
9When they bring (him) up,85 these 3 men 1"shall ward toward Taufk and a third one NW toward
stay 10in Azuhinni "and 3 (other) men 12Akipta- Kerkuk-Arrapha.
senni 1will send 13with Hasimaru. But if 17they
This conclusion does not invalidate the identifi-
kill 15Hasimaru 17 (or) he flees 15within the coun-
cation of Azuhinni with the provincial capital
try of [Kussu]le 86 (or) "in the country of referred to in Neo-Assyrian sources as Arzuhina
Nullu, 20he (i. e., the king) will not in any way or Urzuhina. To be sure, as was intimated above,
send 18Akiptasenni 19to the river ordeal 21or kill note 16, this city is usually looked for by modern
(him).' 22Seal of Akiptasenni, 23son of Enna- authors at or near Kerkuk,88 merely on the evi-
mati." Hasimaru was, to all appearances, a diplo- dence that the Assyrians had to cross the Lesser
matic envoy who travelled to Nullu via Azuhinni. Zab in order to reach it. Yet a Neo-Assyrian
As he came from Babylonia,87 he travelled via letter published in 1958 89 makes it clear that
Temtena to Azuhinni on the same road on which the southern boundary of the province of Urzu-
the six women dealt with in the texts H XVI 387 hina was the Radanu, which is, in present-day
and H XVI 398 returned to their home. Yet as terminology, the Taufk Qay. This makes, of course
we learn from HI XIII 36 that this road continued good sense for the province centering around
beyond Azuhinni to the country of Nullu, we Leilan. It may be added that this result agrees
are in a position to define the location of Azuhinni, well with the route through Arzuhina outlined in
a provincial capital which played a considerable the Neo-Assyrian text K. 4675 (= ADD II, No.
role at the time covered by the Nuzi material as 1096). The traveler who kept this record pro-
well as in the Neo-Assyrian period. Nullu, the ceeded in one day from AIBa-kar-ri (1. 1) via
country called in the Neo-Assyrian sources either 4'Sa-re-e (11. lb-2) and dL4r-zu-hi-na (11. 2b-3)
Lullu or Zamua, is the region east of the Bazian to Tell Ar-zu-hi-na (1. 3b). On the next day, he
Pass. Since accordingly Azuhinni lay on the travelled to Dfur-Atanate (1. 5) .90 From there
road leading from the region of Taufk-Lubdi he reached Dufr Talite in one day and the Bazian
Pass after another short march. In other words,
is a name derived from a geographical name as were
as Arzuhina and Tell Arzuhina can be assumed
Dtlr-ubli (H XIX 85, 1. 35), Arrapiari, Arzizza, and
others. to have been located at a short distance from one
" Which means, when they return him from Nullu another,91 the region of Arzuhina was situated
to Azuhinni. slightly more than two travel-days from the Bazian
88 Lacheman restores Arrapbe. However, this restora- Pass. The distance from Leilan to the Bazian
tion is untenable, in the first place because the spelling
Pass is 32A miles as the crow flies, which means
of the latter name with h6 instead of hi is very rare,
whereas it is the usual spelling in the name Kusuhhe. actually slightly more than two day-marches, the
In the second place, and this is more important, the average traveler covering approximately 15 miles
context requires a foreign country in which, even as in in a day.92
Nullu, Akiptasenni, the governor of Azuhinni, could
not guarantee the safety of 1L3agimaru. In his own 88 See, e.g., E. F. Weidner, AfO 21 (1966), p. 42b.
province, he was of course responsible for whatever 89 See H. W. F. Saggs, Iraq 20, 1958, No. XLI (pl.
happened to Uagimaru; and in an adjoining province XXXVIII and pp. 187 ff.; cf. Saggs' remarks ibidem,
of Uanigalbataean territory he could, and was expected p. 209.
to, make arrangements to protect the travelers. 90 On the reading of this name see Speiser, p. 16, note
87 Mount 13agimur for which he was named (see above, 25 of the study quoted above, note 1.
note 84) was, of course, located in Kassite territory. 91 Probably Arzuhina was, at some time in its history,
As the present writer pointed out in Orientalia 28 destroyed either by an enemy or by a natural catas-
(1959), pp. 8-15, the Assyrian envoy who came to Nuzi trophe such as a conflagration and was then recon-
territory in order to establish friendly diplomatic rela- structed not exactly on the same but on a near-by site.
tions between Assyria and IjLanigalbat was the governor 92 As regards a1 Sa-re-e from where the traveler of
of the Assyrian province north of the Lesser ZMb. To K. 4675 proceeded to Arzuhina, it occurs as 4a Sa-a-ra
judge by the name Uasimaru, the Babylonians adhered in H XIII 428, 1. 36; however, no conclusion as to its
to a similar practice, sending a man from a near-by location can be reached from this occurrence except that
province as envoy to Nullu.
it was located south of Arrapba.

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