During the Second World War the Bodleian Library in Oxford acquired a set of Aramaic letters, eight sealings, and the two leather bags in which the sealed letters were once stored. The letters concern the affairs of Aršāma, satrap of Egypt in the later fifth century. Taken with other material associated with him (mostly in Aramaic, Demotic Egyptian, and Akkadian), they illuminate the Achaemenid world of which Aršāma was a privileged member and evoke a wide range of social, economic, cultural, organizational, and political perspectives, from multi-lingual communication, storage and disbursement of resources, and satrapal remuneration, to cross-regional ethnic movement, long-distance travel, religious practice, and iconographic projection of ideological messages.
Particular highlights include a travel authorization (the only example of something implicit in numerous Persepolis documents), texts about the religious life of the Judaean garrison at Elephantine, Aršāma's magnificent seal (a masterpiece of Achaemenid glyptic, inherited from a son of Darius I), and echoes of temporary disturbances to Persian management of Egypt. But what is also impressive is the underlying sense of systematic coherence founded on and expressed in the use of formal, even formalized, written communication as a means of control. The Arsāma dossier is not alone in evoking that sense, but its size, variety, and focus upon a single individual give it a unique quality.
Though this material has not been hidden from view, it has been insufficiently explored: it is the purpose of the three volumes of Arsāma and his World: The Bodleian Letters in Context to provide the fullest presentation and historical contextualization of this extraordinary cache yet attempted. Volume I presents and translates the letters alongside a detailed line-by-line commentary, while Volume II reconstructs the two seals that made the clay bullae that sealed the letters, with special attention to Aršāma's magnificent heirloom seal. Volume III comprises a series of thematic essays which further explore the administrative, economic, military, ideological, religious, and artistic environment to which Aršāma and the letters belonged.
Author(s): Christopher J. Tuplin; John Ma
Series: Oxford Studies in Ancient Documents
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: xxvi+448
Aršāma and his World: The Bodleian Letters in Context, Vol. I: The Bodleian Letters
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations and Conventions
Persian royal inscriptions
Aramaic texts
Papyri
Journal titles
Dates
Cross-referencing
List of Contributors
A Note on the Representation of Names
Iranian (and other) personal names
Place names
1 Introduction
1.1 Preface
1.2 The Bodleian Achaemenid Aramaic Letters: A Fragmentary History
BORCHARDT AND THE DEALER WITH NO NAME
THE FIRST ANALYSES
DISLOCATED OBJECTS
2 The Bodleian Letters
2.1 The Bodleian Letters: Text and Translation
EDITORIAL CONVENTIONS
CONVENTIONS IN THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
TRANSLATOR’S NOTE
TADAE A6.3
TADAE A6.3
TADAE A6.4
TADAE A6.4
TADAE A6.5
TADAE A6.5
TADAE A6.6
TADAE A6.6
TADAE A6.7
TADAE A6.7
TADAE A6.8
TADAE A6.8
TADAE A6.9
TADAE A6.9
TADAE A6.10
TADAE A6.10
TADAE A6.11
TADAE A6.11
TADAE A6.12
TADAE A6.12
TADAE A6.13
TADAE A6.13
TADAE A6.14
TADAE A6.14
TADAE A6.15
TADAE A6.15
TADAE A6.16
TADAE A6.16
2.2 The Bodleian Letters: Glossary and Concordance
GLOSSARY
Abbreviations
א
ב
ג
ד
ה
ו
ז
ח
ט
י
כ
ל
מ
נ
ס
ע
פ
צ
ק
ר
שׁ / שׂ
ת
Proper Nouns
EGYPTIAN ARAMAIC DOCUMENTS IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY, OXFORD
2.3 The Bodleian Letters: Commentary
TADAE A6.3 (DRIVER 3, GRELOT 64, LINDENBERGER 39)
Punishment of the Slaves of ‘Ankhoḥapi
Summary
Text
TADAE A6.4 (DRIVER 2, GRELOT 62, LINDENBERGER 37)
Transfer of Grant to Beneficiary’s Son
Summary
Text
TADAE A6.5 (DRIVER 1, GRELOT 63)
Fragmentary Letter
Summary
Text
TADAE A6.5 BIS = ‘DRIVER 1A’
Fragmentary Letter
TADAE A6.6 (DRIVER fr.5.1, 2, 5 + TADAE IV p.150)
Fragmentary Letter
Summary
Text
TADAE A6.7 (DRIVER 5, GRELOT 66, LINDENBERGER 40)
Release of Cilician Slaves
Summary
Text
Position in Set of Letters
TADAE A6.8 (DRIVER 4, GRELOT 65, LINDENBERGER 38)
Letter to a Military Commander
Summary
Text
Relations between Officials
TADAE A6.9 (DRIVER 6, GRELOT 67, LINDENBERGER 41)
Travel Authorization
Summary
Text
The Character and Structure of the Document
Long-Distance Travel
Geography
The Nature of A6.9
TADAE A6.10 (DRIVER 7, GRELOT 68, LINDENBERGER 43)
Preserving and Enhancing an Estate
Summary
Text
Structure and Tone of the Letter
TADAE A6.11 (DRIVER 8, GRELOT 69, LINDENBERGER 42)
Assignment of Domain
Summary
Text
TADAE A6.12 (DRIVER 9, GRELOT 70, LINDENBERGER 46)
The Image-Maker Ḥinzani
Summary
Text
Commissioning of Artistic Work
TADAE A6.13 (DRIVER 10, GRELOT 71, LINDENBERGER 44)
Securing Domain-Income (1)
Summary
Text
Place of Letter in the Set
TADAE A6.14 (DRIVER 11, GRELOT 72, LINDENBERGER 45)
Securing Domain-Income (2)
Summary
Text
TADAE A6.15 (DRIVER 12, GRELOT 73, LINDENBERGER 47)
Nakhtḥor’s Misdeeds
Summary
Text
The Letter as Object
Position of Letter Within the Set
TADAE A6.16 (DRIVER 13, GRELOT 74, LINDENBERGER 48)
Artaxaya on the Delivery of Goods
Summary
Text
Structure of Letter
TADAE D6.3–D6.14
Resonances
Novelties
ENDNOTE: LETTER SUBSCRIPTS
Data
Analysis
3 Appendix
3.1 The Egyptian Documents
A. SAQQARA S.H5-DP 434
Comments
B. P. BM EA 76274.1 AND P. BM EA 76287
3.2 The Akkadian Documents
1. TCL 13 203
Transcription
Translation
Comments
2. EE 11 (CBS 5205)
Transcription
Translation
Comments
3. IMT 9 (NI. 523)
Transcription
Translation
Comments
4. EE 109 + IMT 105 (NI. 12993+CBS 12957)
Transcription
Translation
Comments
5. BE 9.1
Transcription
Translation
Comments
6. BE 10.130
Transcription
Translation
Comments
7. BE 10.131
Transcription
Translation
8. BE 10.132
Transcription
Translation
Comments
9. PBS 2/1 144
Transcription
Translation
Comment
10. PBS 2/1 145
Transcription
Translation
11. PBS 2/1 146
Transcription
Translation
12. PBS 2/1 147
Transcription
Translation
13. PBS 2/1 148
Transcription
Translation
INDEX
Geographical Names
Hydronyms
Personal Names
Key Terms
3.3 Photographic Record
PELL.ARAM. III [A6.12] (FIGS. 5–6, 32–3)
PELL.ARAM. IV [A6.7] (FIGS. 7–8, 34–5)
PELL.ARAM. V [A6.14] (FIGS. 9–10, 36–37)
PELL.ARAM.VI [A6.5 AND 6.5 BIS (= DRIVER 1A)] (FIGS. 11–12, 38–39)
PELL.ARAM VII [A6.3] (FIGS. 13–14, 40–41)
PELL.ARAM. VIII [A6.9] (FIGS. 15–16, 42–3)
PELL.ARAM. IX [A6.13] (FIGS. 17–18, 44–5)
PELL.ARAM. X [A6.16] (FIGS. 19–20, 46–7)
PELL.ARAM. XII [A6.4] (FIGS. 21–2, 48–9)
PELL.ARAM. XIII [A6.11] (FIGS. 23–4, 50–1)
FRAGMENT 5 [A6.6] (FIG. 27)
Bibliography
Subject Index
Index Nominum
Index Locorum
Index Verborum
