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[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Mesopotamia (Sumerian Nibru; Akkadian Nippur[ u]; Arabic Nuffar). City in Babylonia c. 140 km to the southeast of modern Baghdad, for which habitation in varying intensity can be demonstrated from the 6th millennium BC until about AD 800, to some extent even into the 14th cent. AD. During the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, without ever having played a power-political dynastic role, N. - and its city god Enlil - experienced elevated significance in the course of a development which re…

[English version] I. Alter Orient und Ägypten Die M. im alten Mesopotamien war das der Braut in der Regel vom Vater (seltener auch von der Mutter bzw. anderen Familienmitgliedern) in die Ehe mitgegebene Vermögen, das (zusammen mit Vermögensleistungen des Ehemannes) der ökonomischen Sicherstellung der Ehefrau bei Vorversterben des Mannes bzw. für den Fall der Ehescheidung diente. Als Witwe bzw. (von seiten des Mannes) geschiedene Ehefrau hatte sie Anspruch auf die M., die im Falle ihres Todes an ihre Ki…

[English version] (Agade). Inschriftl. bis in die zweite Hälfte des 1. Jt. v. Chr. bezeugte, arch. jedoch nicht nachweisbare Stadt in Nord-Babylonien; erlangte bes. Bedeutung als Königsresidenz und Hauptstadt des Reiches von A., des ersten größeren Territorialstaates in Mesopotamien. Akkadisch Neumann, Hans (Berlin) Bibliography B. R. Foster,Select Bibliography of the Sargonic Period, in: History of the Ancient Near East. Stud. 5, 1993, 171-182  Répertoire géographique des textes cunéiformes Bd. 1, 1977, 5-9; 2, 1974, 6; 3, 1980, 7; 4, 1991, 4-6; 5, 1982, 7-10; 8, 1985, 4-5.

[English version] Dieser Ort ist auf folgenden Karten verzeichnet: Mesopotamien (sumerisch Nibru; akkadisch Nippur[ u]; arab. Nuffar); ca. 140 km sö vom h. Baghdad gelegene Stadt in Babylonien, für die sich vom 6. Jt.v.Chr. bis etwa 800 n.Chr., teilweise sogar bis ins 14. Jh.n.Chr. eine Besiedlung in unterschiedlicher Intensität nachweisen läßt. Während der 1. H. des 3. Jt.v.Chr. erfuhr N. - und mit ihm sein Stadtgott Enlil - ohne daß die Stadt jemals eine machtpolit.-dyn. Rolle gespielt hätte, herausgehobene Bed. im Zuge einer Entwicklung, d…

[English version] Hauptort eines nord-babylon. Stadtstaates, der um die Mitte des 3. Jt. v. Chr. die Vorherrschaft über Nordbabylonien ausübte. Gegenüber von Seleukeia am Tigris gelegen. Umstritten ist die Identifizierung mit Upī (griech. Opis) in jüngeren Quellen [1. 111 Anm. 608; 2. 46-48]. Neumann, Hans (Berlin) Bibliography 1 J. A. Brinkman, A Political History of Post-Kassite Babylonia. 1158-722 B. C., 1968 2 D. R. Frayne, The Early Dynastic List of Geographical Names, 1992.

[English version] (Narām-Sîn). Vierter König (2260-2223 v.Chr.) der sog. Dyn. von Akkad in Mesopotamien, Enkel des Dyn.-Begründers Sargon. Für N., unter dem der Staat von Akkad noch einmal zu großer Blüte gelangte, sind zahlreiche Feldzüge bezeugt, die sowohl der Ausplünderung fremder Gebiete als auch der territorialen Erweiterung des Staatsgebietes dienten, letzteres v.a. die obermesopot. Region von Nordsyrien bis zum Osttigrisgebiet betreffend. Darüber hinaus entfaltete N. intensive Bautätigkeit…

[English version] (“der überaus Weise”). Protagonist einer akkad. mythischen Dichtung aus altbabylon. Zeit (frühes 2. Jt.v.Chr.), von der es zwei oder drei voneinander abweichende Fassungen gab. Der Mythos wurde in Babylonien und Assyrien bis ins 1. Jt.v.Chr. hinein tradiert. Eine jüngere Version entstand in neuassyr. Zeit (7.Jh. v.Chr.). Textvertreter aus Ugarit und Hattuša bezeugen die Verbreitung des Mythos im 2. Jt.v.Chr. auch außerhalb Mesopotamiens. Er behandelt die Erschaffung des Menschen …

[German version] (‘the extremely wise one’). Protagonist of an Akkadian mythic poem from the ancient Babylonian era (early 2nd millennium BC), of which there were two or three diverging versions. The myth was carried forward in Babylonia and Assyria until the first millennium BC. A newer version arose in the New Assyrian era (7th cent. BC). Texts from  Ugarit and  Hattuša attest to the spread of the myth in the 2nd millennium BC, even beyond Mesopotamia. It treats the creation of human beings from…

[German version] In Mesopotamia, from the 3rd millennium BC, the gates of temples, cities and other locations (e.g. palaces) could serve as venues for jurisdiction [1. 140 f.; 2. 66 with n. 6; 3. 321-325]. The same was true in Egypt [4. 782]. This was associated with the role of gates as foci of public and economic life in cities, and in the case of temple doors it was also linked to the temple's function as a venue for the taking of oaths of testimony and purification. Door Neumann, Hans (Berlin) Bibliography 1 A. Falkenstein (ed.), Die Inschriften Gudeas von Lagaš, vol. 1: Intro…

[German version] (Agade). There is documentary evidence of this city in northern Babylon that dates up to the second half of the 1st millennium BC, however, no archaeological evidence of its existence has been found. It achieved particular significance as the king's residence and capital city of the Akkadian kingdom, the first large territorial state in  Mesopotamia.  Akkadian Neumann, Hans (Berlin) Bibliography B. R. Foster, Select Bibliography of the Sargonic Period, in: History of the Ancient Near East. Stud. 5, 1993, 171-182 Répertoire géographique des textes cunéiforme…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt The dowry in old Mesopotamia was given with the bride generally by her father (more rarely also by the mother or other family members) into the marriage, that (together with the means of the husband) served to secure the economic position of the wife if the man died first or in the event of a divorce. As a widow or a divorced (by the man) wife, she was entitled to the dowry, which in the event of her death went to her children, if childless went back to the …

[German version] (Narām-Sîn). Fourth king (2260-2223 BC) of the dynasty of Akkad in Mesopotamia, grandson of the founder of the dynasty, Sargon. Under N. the state of Akkad flourished once again. He is recorded on numerous campaigns that served to increase his power, both through the pillaging of foreign regions and the territorial expansion of the state, the latter primarily pertaining to the upper Mesopotamian region from northern Syria to the eastern Tigris region. In addition N. deployed inten…

[German version] Main location of a northern Babylonian city state which ruled northern Babylonia around the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. Located opposite  Seleucia on the Tigris. More recent sources identify it with Upī (Greek:  Opis) [1. 111, n. 608; 2. 46-48], but this identification is debated. Neumann, Hans (Berlin) Bibliography 1 J. A. Brinkman, A Political History of Post-Kassite Babylonia. 1158-722 B.C, 1968 2 D. R. Frayne, The Early Dynastic List of Geographical Names, 1992.

[German version] [1] of Akkad (Akkadian Šarru[ m]- kīn, 'the ruler is legitimate'). Founder (2340-2284 BC) of the so-called dynasty of Akkad in Mesopotamia. According to later Sumerian and Akkadian literary and historiographical tradition, S. was said to have been the son of a certain Lāipum and a priestess [1. 69; 2. 36-49] and to have begun his career as a cupbearer under King Ur-Zababa of Kiš [1; 2. 51-55]. S. established his own (to date unidentified) residence, Akkad, and created by his conquests …

[German version] A. Definition Bilingual inscriptions (or ‘bilingues’) are inscriptions that present the same text in two languages so as to be comprehensible to different readerships. Thus, bilingual inscriptions (BI), with closely corresponding texts, are distinguished from others in which one of the texts only summarizes the other. -- ‘Quasi-BI’ do indeed differ in their text format but treat the same subject matter or the same personalities. BI are only such texts as are composed contemporaneou…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient As a contractual service, in which the recipient of money or other negotiable items undertakes to return them and/or provide a service in recompence, lending is attested in Mesopotamia [4. 189-203] from the middle of the 3rd millennium BC [1. 141-145] into the Hellenistic period [2. 43-45; 3. 119]. As well as private individuals, (representatives of) institutions (temple, palace) are recorded as creditors. The loans involved comprised for the most part silver and ba…

[German version] A. Types of letter In addition to the few texts on letter theory and letter writers ( Epistolography), the ancient genre of ‘letters’ comprises the following: 1. official letters (edicts) comparable to laws, 2. everyday official correspondence, 3. ‘open’ letters akin to oratory a) with one or several senders and multiple addressees (e.g. letters to the Christian community) or b) letters sent to a specific addressee that had a potentially broad public, and finally 4. letters of a priva…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In judging crimes involving killing, no distinction was made in the ancient Middle East between homicide and manslaughter. Killing, inciting a killing, and having knowledge of a killing were all treated as capital offences and punishable with capital punishment ( Death penalty). In addition, the perpetrator's property and (enslaved) family members could, along with other forms of compensation, be handed over to the victim's family. As the collections of laws show, …

[German version] I. General Renting and hiring today are contracts concerning transfer of the use of a property or an object in return for payment and hence an enduring relationship of continuing obligation. The objects of the contract can be physical, non-consumable objects as well as rights. Such contracts are equally suited to the transfer for payment of movable and unmovable objects. Forgó, Nikolaus (Vienna) [German version] II. Ancient Orient and Egypt There is evidence of hiring, i.e. temporary use of persons and of movable objects (primarily ship and animal h…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the ancient Orient, oral and written messages ( Letter) were transmitted by messengers. Messengers handled the supra-regional diplomatic traffic (e.g. the  Amarna letters between Egypt and Palaestine, Cyprus ( Alaschia), Syria, the Hittite kingdom, Mittani, Assyria, Babylonia and Elam), forwarded political or military news (at times gained through espionage), handled interior administrative communication, and transmitted (private) information in the area of comme…