Fortune and Misfortune in the Ancient Near East

Proceedings of the 60th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Warsaw, 21–25 July 2014

Olga Drewnowska, Małgorzata Sandowicz

• Publisher: Eisenbrauns
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781575064659
• eBook ISBN: 9781575064666
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

In the week between July 21 and 25, 2014, the University of Warsaw hosted more than three hundred Assyriologists from all over the world. In the course of five days, nearly 150 papers were read in three (and sometimes four) parallel sessions. Many of them were delivered within the framework of nine thematic workshops. The publication of most of these panels is underway, in separate volumes. As is usually the case, the academic sessions were accompanied by many opportunities for social interaction among the participants, and there was time to enjoy the historical and cultural benefits of Warsaw. Special honor was accorded to two American Assyriologists whose origins can be traced to Warsaw, Piotr Michalowski and Piotr Steinkeller, and a special session to recognize their contributions to the study of ancient Mesopotamia was organized.

In this book are presented papers on the main theme of the meeting, "Fortune and Misfortune in the Ancient Near East." The 31 essays are organized into 5 sections: (1) plenary presenations on "What Is Fortune? What Is Misfortune?"; (2) humanity and fortune/misfortune and luck, with discussion of specific examples; (3) additional papers on definitions of fortune and misfortune; (4) the effects on city and state; and (5) God and temple.

Table of contents

• COVER Front
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Luck, Fortune, and Destiny in Ancient Mesopotamia —Or How the Sumerians and Babylonians Thought of Their Place in the Flow of Things
• Chapter 2: The Concept of “Misfortune”in Sumerian Wisdom Literature
• Chapter 3: Man’s Fate: Divine Responsibility for Human Welfare in Ḫatti
• Chapter 4: Fortune and Misfortune of the Individual Some Observations on the Sufferer’s Plaintin Ludlul bēl nēmeqi II 12–32
• Chapter 5: On the Fortune—or Misfortune—of Having ChildrenThe Abundance of Children According to the Omen Text K. 6403
• Chapter 6: Gendering for Fortune and Misfortune Ritual Gender Assignment in the Ancient Near East
• Chapter 7: Why Did Paškuwatti’s Patient Fail in the Matrimonial Bed?
• Chapter 8: Introduction aux symptômes mentaux en Mésopotamie
• Chapter 9: Legal Remedies against Misfortune: Evasion, Legal Fiction, and Sham Transactions in Late Bronze Age Emar
• Chapter 10: Hierarchy at the Hittite Court
• Chapter 11: Fortunes and Misfortunes of Messengers and Merchants in the Amarna Letters
• Chapter 12: Made Men: Rich Slaves of the Nūr-Sîns and the Egibis
• Chapter 13: Betting on the Right Horse Loyalty in the Early Years of the Neo-Babylonian Empire
• Chapter 14: The Origins of the LUGAL Office
• Chapter 15: Ups and Downs in the Career of Enmerkar, King of Uruk
• Chapter 16: “Šulgi, Mighty Man, King of Ur”
• Chapter 17: The Fate of Yasmaḫ-Addu, the King of Mari
• Chapter 18: Finding the Good Genius in Your Bowl
• Chapter 19: The Royal Adoption Scene in Ugaritic and Biblical Texts
• Chapter 20: “One Epic or Many?” Das Tukultī-Ninurta-Epos zum Ersten,zum Zweiten und zum
• Chapter 21: Climate Change, the Mardu Wall,and the Fall of Ur
• Chapter 22: Regional Differences in Middle Assyrian
• Chapter 23: Finis Assyriae:The Fall of the Assyrian State,or the Fall of the Assyrian Civilisation
• Chapter 24: Fortune and Politics Nabopolassar’s Campaigns in 616–615 b.c.e. andHis Alliance with Media
• Chapter 25: More about the Crisis in Uruk
• Chapter 26: Don’t Insult Inana!Divine Retribution for Offense against Common Decency in the Light of New Textual Sources
• Chapter 27: Fortune and Misfortune of the Eagle in the Myth of Etana
• Chapter 28: Within the Ekur:Sitz im Leben for a Literary Topos Regarding Nintur
• Chapter 29: Some Remarks on the Archaeology of the Ekur of Nippur during Post-Kassite Times