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[German version] I. Near East and Egypt Although there is copious epigraphical and graphic evidence for a highly developed  table culture at the courts of oriental rulers in antiquity, cooking recipes are known to us so far only from Mesopotamia: 34 from the 18th cent. BC (gathered from three clay tablets), one from the 6th/5th cents. BC. They offer practical instructions in the manner of medical prescriptions. The reason why the recipes were preserved in writing is not clear. They deal predominantly with stewed poultry and other meat, together with two recipes…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The idea of a  rulership that encompassed the entire known world was expressed in Mesopotamia in various royal epithets ─ i.a. ‘Ruler of the Four Regions (of the world)’ ( šar kibrāt arbaim/erbettim), ‘Ruler over the Totality’ ( šar kiššatim), ‘Ruler of Rulers’ ( šar šarrāni). The title ‘Ruler of the Four Regions (of the world)’ is first documented for the Akkadian ruler  Naramsin (23rd cent. BC). However, the claim inherent in this title did not hold true according to contemporary documents, since Naramsin's…

[German version] A. Ancient Orient Since prehistoric times in the Ancient Orient there have been numerous objects made as pendants (either figurative or abstract symbols) which could be worn, tied on or hung and also chains or other arrangements, which were all referred to as amulets [1]. Particularly Akkadian and Hittite texts for experts in the area of magic rituals describe materials, shapes and the process for making amulets and the purpose for which they are used. Stones and plants are ascribed …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The requesting of a surety to secure a contract is documented in the laws of the Ancient Orient to varying degrees. Requiring a pledge plays a large role in debt trials in agrarian societies. For example, if tenants were in arrears with their obligations, the forfeiting of a personal surety often led to debt-bondage [1; 2; 15. 179f.] with the resultant negative consequences for the social balance of a society ( Leasehold I.). The requesting of a pledge has been documented in cuneiform legal texts by documents of varying complexity from t…

[German version] I. General points The term UL today conveys two meanings: (1) an artificially created language, intended to serve as a lingua franca for the entire world; efforts of this kind were made especially in the 19th cent. (e.g. Esperanto and Volapük); yet, as might be expected, they fell behind their self-imposed goal. (2) A language actually in world-wide use today is, above all, English. In the wake of the colonial period, it has established itself on all continents at least as a subsidiary means of commun…

[German version] (Λάβακα; Lábaka). According to Ptol. 7,1,46, city in north-west India, in the land of the Pandoi (probably Old Indian Pāṇḍava). Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Fischer, Klaus (Bonn) Bibliography O. Wecker, s.v. L., RE 12, 239.

[German version] A. Object of research, and method The object of demographic history is the description and explanation of structures and developments in (ancient) populations in their relationship to living space. So far, ancient demographic history has made studies of esp. ancient views of population development, the numerical values of ancient populations (at a particular point in time or over a particular period of time), the age and gender structures of ancient demographics and particular determina…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The religion of Mesopotamia is characterized by a system of tutelary deities for the numerous city settlements that has its origin in the Sumerian religion of the 4th millennium BC. There is evidence of the existence and worship of city deities from the 3rd to the 1st millennium. Individual city deities achieved supraregional importance in the course of history (e.g.  Assur [2];  Enlil;  Ištar,  Marduk;  Nabû).  Asia Minor IV.;  Pantheon;  Religion II. and III. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] II. Classical antiquity For Graeco-Roman …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Dreams and their interpretation were a popular topic in the written tradition of the Ancient Orient and Egypt since the 22nd cent. BC. Both spontaneously experienced dreams as well as dream incubation are attested. Preserved dreams relate divine messages (in the form of theophanies). Though usually contained in literary texts [3; 5. 746; 6], they also occur in letters [1]. Dreams also contained ethical maxims and wisdom for life reflecting personal experience and st…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt As a rule, literature in the Ancient Orient and in Egypt was anonymous. It was produced in schools by the  scribes. However, a number of important literary or scholarly works in special list-like compilations are attributed to certain authors, as e.g. the Egyptian wisdom literature [1] or the  Epic of Gilgamesh. The author of the latter, Sîn-leqe-unnīnī [2; 3] rewrote, probably in the 12th cent. BC, traditional material dating from the 18th cent. BC into the…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia In historical times, bull cults were of no significance in the religions of Mesopotamia which were mainly anthropomorphic in character. Enlil was metaphorically referred to as a bull, and the roaring of the weather god Hadad compared to the bellowing of a bull. The fact that bulls (and other animals) served as pedestals for the statues of gods (in Syria-Palestine and Hittite Anatolia) is no argument for an actual bull cult. The 'golden calves' in Ex 32 and 1 Kg 12,28-32 are also interpreted as pedestals for the invisible Yahweh. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt Since sacrifices were primarily intended to ensure that the daily needs of the gods were met, not only victuals but also beverages (generally water, beer, wine) were an essential component of regular sacrifices to the gods, as well as of sacrifices offered to the dead. Both in Egypt and in Mesopotamia, libation and terms used for libation stand as pars pro toto for sacrifice. This may have stemmed originally from the fact that for people living at a subsistence level the libation of water constituted their only opport…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Caraway was widespread as an aromatic plant in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Asia Minor and is mentioned in Mycenaean Linear B texts as ku-mi-no [6. 131, 136, 227]. The word is a cultural term that can be traced back to the 3rd millennium (Sumerian * kamun; Akkad. kamūnum, Hittite kappani- [with m > p change], Ugarite kmn, Hebrew kammōn, Turkish çemen, English/French cumin). Egyptian caraway (Cuminum cyminum; Egyptian tpnn, Coptic tapen) seems to have possibly been another species of caraway [5]. Caraway was also used medically in…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt In the kitchen gardens of the Middle East and Egypt fruit trees (principally apples, figs, pomegranates, but in Egypt also carob trees and jujube;  Pomiculture) were grown in so-called tiered cultivation in the shade provided by date palms, and below them  vegetables (especially onions and cucumber plants, pulses, leaf vegetables, such as cress, and also aromatic herbs, coriander, thyme, caraway and mint, for example). The date palms provided not only dates …

(ἱερὸς γάμος; hieròs gámos: sacred marriage). [German version] I. Term A term which has attained great significance in modern research as the name for a ritual sexual union, since the emergence of the fertility paradigm in the 19th cent. (Mannhardt, Frazer). Based on the sexual intercourse between  Demeter and her mortal lover  Iasion ‘in a thrice-ploughed field’ recounted in the Homeric epic (Hom. Od. 5, 125-128; Hes. Theog. 969-971), which has been understood by analogy with north-European customs as th…

[German version] (Old Persian bagastāna ‘place of gods’, Βαγίστανα; Bagístana), Βαγίστανον ὄρος; Bagístanon óros, Behistun). Rock face 30 km east of Kermanshah, on the road from Babylon to Ecbatana on the  Choaspes ( Silk Road [3. 11]), on which  Darius I had his achievements from c. 520 BC recorded pictorially and in inscription -- c. 70 m above the road level -- in several phases. Because of their trilingual form (Elamite, Babylonian, Old Persian) the inscription [1] was the key to decipherment of the  cuneiform script ( Trilinguals). The reli…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East Many song genres are attested in Mesopotamia (beginning in approx. 2600 BC), in Egypt (from the 24th/23th cents. BC onwards), among the Hittites (14th/13th cent.), in Ugarit (14th/13th cents.) and in the OT (see below). There is no uniform genre classification, since hybrid forms are common. The ancient terminology is only of limited help. The umbrella term ‘cultic poetry’ refers to the literary, lyric form of song. The term ‘song’ is related to the type of performance, i.e. singing with or without instrumental accompaniment. Texts from M…

[German version] I. General Inscriptions in three languages on a single object that refer to the same facts exist in Antiquity, albeit rather rarely on the whole, ordered by official as well as private sponsors. The different versions were usually tailored to the cultural requirements and interests of the respective audiences so that their messages (and length) are not always completely congruous (cf. [4]). Most of the trilingual inscriptions (TI) originated in the east. They reflect the multi-lingu…

[German version] I. The Ancient Orient and Egypt With palaces, temples constituted the central institutions of society in the Ancient Orient (in Mesopotamia from the 3rd millennium BC) and Egypt. Besides their function as locations for divine worship, they also normally exercised significant economic power. This was founded on the fact that they had at their disposal extensive tracts of agricultural land (the essential means of production of an agrarian society) and stocks of precious metals, i.a. in the form of craft-produced votive gifts (Votive offerings). The temple estates o…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the field of  legal texts in cuneiform, the political structure of the Mesopotamian confederation, that at times comprised small territorial states and at times large states stretching over the whole of southern Mesopotamia, created regional peculiarities that are demonstrated above all in the form of documents as well as in substantive law. The essential parameters of the legal system were defined by the structure of the society (Social structure), economy and f…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East There was at various periods and in various regions of the ancient Near East a spectrum of manifestations of collective bodies with diverse powers of decision-making  and capacities for implementation. Crucial to the role of such collective bodies was on the one hand the nature of their historical genesis, and on the other hand the nature of their integration into the prevailing system of rulership. There were no popular assemblies as in the Classical Mediterranea…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt Both Sumerian and Akkadian kinship terms - other than basic words like father (Sumerian a.a, Akkadian abu), mother (Sumerian ama, Akkadian ummu), son (Sumerian dumu, Akkadian māru), daughter (Sumerian dumu.munus, ‘female son’, Akkadian mārtu), brother (Sumerian šeš, Akkadian aḫu), sister (Sumerian nin, Akkadian aḫātu, ‘female brother’) - are of an analytical character (e.g. Akkadian abi abi or abi ummi, paternal or maternal grandfather; father's brother = uncle). In Sumerian, šeš.bànda (literally ‘little brother’) …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the societies of the Ancient Orient and Egypt with their rules regarding patrilineal inheritance and succession, women did not assume the role of rulers. The only exceptions to this occurred in cases when a female member of the ruling family - generally the queen mother - acted as regent for an underage heir to the throne. For example, Hatshepsut, half-sister and wife of Thutmosis [2] II, acted for 22 years as regent for her underage nephew Thutmosis [3] III.. In…

I. In general and in classical antiquity [German version] 1. History of the term The adjective πολύθεος/ polýtheos refers in poetic Greek to that which pertains to many deities: the altar as the seat ( hédra) of many gods (Aesch. Suppl. 424) or the divine assembly attended by many gods (Lucian. Iuppiter Tragoedus 14). It is only in Jewish and Christian literature (Apologists) that this concept is used to justify the rule ( monarchía) of a single deity. Philo [12] of Alexandria coined the terms δόξα πολύθεος/ dóxa polýtheos (Phil. De decalogo 65) and πολυθεΐα/ polytheḯa (Phil. De mutatione…

(Ἀδάμας; Adámas). [German version] [1] Thracian (4th cent. BC) Thracian, who in the 370s BC seceded from Cotys (Aristot. Pol. 5,10,1311b). The identification with A. in IG XII 5,245 is doubtful (SEG 34, 1984, 856). Peter, Ulrike (Berlin) [German version] [2] River of India on the Gulf of Bengal A river of India on the Gulf of Bengal mentioned only in Ptol. 7,1,17; 41, identical with the current Subarna rekha. The name means ‘River of Diamonds’. Inland, to this day the diamond mines of Chota Nagpur are known. Renger, Johannes (Berlin)

[German version] (Ἰσσηδόνες; Issēdónes, Ἰσσηδοί; Issēdoí, Ἐσσηδόνες; Essēdónes). A Scythian people of Asian origin. According to Herodotus (1,201; 4,13-26), they lived southeast of the Aral Sea; however, the heaviest population centres within the regions of their habitation lay in Central Asia. Ptolemy (6,16,5; 16,7; 8,24,3; 24,5 N) ascribes to them the cities of Ἰσσηδὼν Σκυθική (modern Kucha) and Ἰσσηδὼν Σηρική (modern Charqliq), which were located on the Silk Road in Chinese East Turkistan (Tarim Basin, Xinjiang), to the southwest of Lobnor.  Scythians Renger, Johannes (Ber…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt Votive offerings (VO) to a variety of deities played an important role in the religious practices of the Ancient Middle East and Egypt, as documented by inscriptions found on consecrated objects. In Mesopotamia, the oldest clearly identifiable VO date from the 24th cent. BC [14], and in Egypt from the prehistoric and Early Dynastic eras (end of the 4th/early 3rd millennia; e.g. the Narmer Palette). Most of the attested Mesopotamian offerings came from rule…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East In the Ancient Near Eastern oikos or palace economy, the majority or (large) parts of the population were integrated into the institutional households of temples and/or palaces as direct dependents (the extent varied according to region and period). They were provided with the rations of natural produce (grain, oil, wool) guaranteeing them the level of subsistence necessary for their reproduction. In Mesopotamia, these rations of produce were in part supplemented, and in certain periods replaced, by the allocation of areas of land ( c. 6 ha.) as…

and other Alliaceae [German version] I. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia Minor The numerous Sumerian and Akkadian expressions for Alliaceae, not all of which can be definitely botanically identified, partly refer only to the subspecies leek, shallot, onion or garlic [1. 301]. Leek in its various forms - Sumerian *karaš, Akkadian kar( a) šu, Hebrew kārēš, Aramaic karrāttā, Arabic kurrāṯu - is a word of Oriental culture. Garlic is in Sumerian, sum, Akkadian šūmū, otherwise in Semitic languages ṯūm; the onion is in Akkadian šamaškillū, in Aramaic šmšgl (also as an ideogram in Pahlavi); the…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In Mesopotamia, the legend of the deluge is preserved in a Sumerian as well as an Akkadian version; the Akkadian one is transmitted in 17th-cent. BC copies of the  Atraḫasīs myth[3. 612-645]. Extensive passages reappear verbatim on the 11th tablet of the recension of the Epic of  Gilgamesh from Niniveh [3. 728-738], and the myth is later also transmitted by  Berosus [1. 20 f.]. The gods perceive the noisy behaviour of the humans as hubris, causing them to eliminate …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt The early Mesopotamian documents (24th-21st cents. BC) that refer to  loans and advances from institutional bodies to private individuals allow us to surmise that interest was calculated, though without our being able to make any observations about the rates of interest. Instead of being made to pay interest, the debtor was often obliged to undertake agricultural work for the creditor [10. 117]. In the Early Babylonian period (19th-17th cents. BC) a sharp distinction was drawn between loans of grain (331/3 %) and loans of silver (20%…

[German version] A. Ancient Near East Xenophon (Cyr. 8,2,10ff.) tells of undercover informants, the “eyes and ears of the king”, who reported to the Persian king. Antecedents of this Achaemenid institution can be found in Mesopotamia: soothsayers (Mari 18th cent. BC) and state officials (Assyria 8th/7th cents.) undertook in their oath of office to report to the king any moves or actions against him. The extent to which fear of the “eyes and ears of the king” was an encumbrance to contemporaries can be…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Debt incurred by the population which lived on agriculture is a general phenomenon in agrarian societies. It ultimately led to debt bondage, thus threatening the social equilibrium. Debt redemption by sovereign decree was a common means of reducing or eliminating the consequences of debt, i.e. of restoring ‘justice in the land’. Instances of debt redemption are well attested in Mesopotamia from the 3rd millennium BC, but more especially between the 20th and 17th cen…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt In the Ancient Orient and Egypt, oil was not only part of human nutrition (e.g. the daily rations for the population dependent on central institutions), but was also used as body oil, for making scent, for embalming (in Egypt), for medicinal purposes, in craft production, as lamp oil and in the cultic and ritual sphere (e.g. unction for rulers in Israel: 1 Sam 10,1; 16,3; not in Mesopotamia). Depending on the regionally varying agronomic and climatic conditions, oil was obtained from a number of plants: whereas numerous olei…

[German version] A. Definition Lists are a graphic-linguistic technique for representing facts and concepts of varying complexity. They asyntactically and enumeratively present facts removed from their written or oral (narrative/descriptive) context. Lists may be exhaustive - with a claim to completeness - or open. In addition to simple lists (compilations of terms and/or numbers in a column or line or row), there are binary lists, in which terms (words) are opposed in two columns. In a matrix, term…

(Ἀδάμας). [English version] [1] Thraker (4.Jh. v. Chr.) Thraker, der in den 370er Jahren v. Chr. von Kotys abfiel (Aristot. pol. 5,10,1311b). Die Identifizierung mit A. in IG XII 5,245 ist zweifelhaft (SEG 34, 1984, 856). Peter, Ulrike (Berlin) [English version] [2] Fluß Vorderindiens Nur bei Ptol. 7,1,17; 41 erwähnter Fluß Vorderindiens am Golf von Bengalen, mit der jetzigen Subarna rekha identisch. Der Name bedeutet “Diamantenfluß”. Landeinwärts sind bis heute die Diamantgruben von Chota Nagpur bekannt. Renger, Johannes (Berlin)

[English version] A. Forschungsgegenstand und Methode Gegenstand der B.s-Geschichte ist die Beschreibung und Erklärung von Strukturen und Entwicklungen von (ant.) B. in ihrem Verhältnis zum Lebensraum. Ausgehend von qualitativ und/oder quantitativ auswertbaren, aber nicht unproblematischen ant. Zeugnissen sowie unter Berücksichtigung moderner Modellsterbetafeln und ethnologischen Vergleichmaterials hat die B.s-Geschichte der Ant. bislang vor allem die ant. Sicht der B.s-Entwicklung, die zahlenmäßige …

I. Allgemein und Klassische Antike [English version] 1. Begriffsgeschichte Das Adj. πολύθεος/ polýtheos bezeichnet in der griech. Dichtersprache das, was einer Mehrzahl von Göttern zukommt: der Altar als Sitz ( hédra) vieler Gottheiten (Aischyl. Suppl. 424) oder die von einer großen Zahl besuchte Götterversammlung (Lukian. Iuppiter Tragoedus 14). Erst die jüd. und christl. Lit. (Apologien) verwendet das Begriffsfeld zur Rechtfertigung der Herrschaft ( monarchía) eines einzigen Gottes: Philon [12] von Alexandreia prägt δόξα πολύθεος/ dóxa polýtheos (Phil. de decalogo 65…

[English version] [1] Land in Afrika Äg. pwn.t, ab dem NR durch sprachliche Neuanalyse als p-wn.t aufgefaßt, woraus unter Weglassung des scheinbaren Artikels ein neuer Name wn.t kreiert wird, der in einigen Quellen aus griech.-röm. Zeit erscheint. Nach äg. Quellen ein Land im fernen SO; h. meist im Bereich von Būr Sūdān (Port Sudan) [6] oder um Eritrea und das Horn von Afrika [1; 2] gesucht. Im AR könnten Handelsgüter aus P. über Zwischenstationen entlang des Nils nach Äg. gelangt sein, auch direkte Handelsfahrten sind …

[English version] I. Alter Orient und Ägypten In den Nutzgärten im vorderen Orient und Äg. wurden im sog. Stockwerksbau unter dem schattenspendenden Dach der Dattelpalmen Obstbäume (v.a. Apfel, Feige, Granatapfel; dazu in Äg. Johannisbrotbaum, Jujube; Obstbau) und darunter Gemüse (v.a. Zwiebel- und Gurkengewächse, Hülsenfrüchte, Blattgemüse wie Kresse, sowie Gewürzkräuter, z.B. Koriander, Thymian, Kümmel, Minze) angebaut. Die Dattelpalme lieferte nicht nur Datteln als wichtigstes Süßmittel, sondern auc…

[English version] A. Definition Die L. ist eine graphisch-sprachliche Technik zur Darstellung von Sachverhalten und Konzepten unterschiedlicher Komplexität. Sie stellt Sachverhalte herausgelöst aus ihrem schriftlich oder mündlich vorliegenden (narrativen/beschreibenden) Kontext asyntaktisch und enumerativ dar. L. können ausschließlich - mit einem Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit - bzw. offen sein. Neben einfachen L. (Aneinanderreihung von Begriffen und/ oder Zahlen in einer Kolumne oder Zeile bzw. Reihe…

[English version] I. Alter Orient K. war als Gewürzpflanze in Mesopot., Äg., Äthiopien und Kleinasien verbreitet und wird in myk. Linear B-Texten als ku-mi-no erwähnt [6. 131, 136, 227]. Das Wort ist ein bis ins 3. Jt. zurückzuverfolgendes Kulturwort (sumer. * kamun; akkad. kamūnum, hethit. kappani- [mit m > p-Wechsel], ugarit. kmn, hebr. kammōn, türk. çemen, engl./franz. cumin). Äg. K. (Cuminum cyminum; äg. tpnn, kopt. tapen) scheint möglicherweise eine andere Spezies des K. gewesen zu sein [5]. K. wurde in Äg. auch medizinisch (u.a. bei Magen-Darm-Beschwe…

[English version] I. Alter Orient Zahlreiche L.-Gattungen sind in Mesopot. (seit ca. 2600 v.Chr.), in Äg. (seit dem 24./23. Jh.v.Chr.), bei den Hethitern (14./13. Jh.), aus Ugarit (14./13. Jh.) und dem AT (s.u.) bezeugt. Die gattungsmäßige Zuordnung wird uneinheitlich gehandhabt, da sich häufig Mischformen finden. Die ant. Nomenklatur ist nur bedingt hilfreich. Die als Oberbegriff verwendete Bezeichnung “Kultlyrik” bezieht sich auf die lit., d.h. lyrische Form der L. Die Bezeichnung “Lied” orientiert…

[English version] I. Alter Orient In der altorientalischen Oikos- oder Palastwirtschaft waren - je nach Region und Epoche - die Mehrheit oder (große) Teile der Bevölkerung in die institutionellen Haushalte von Tempel und/oder Palast als direkt Abhängige integriert. Sie wurden durch Natural-R. (Getreide, Öl, Wolle), die das für ihre Reproduktion nötige Existenzminimum garantierten, versorgt. In Mesopotamien wurden diese Natural-R. durch Zuweisung von Unterhaltsfeldern (ca. 6 ha), die das Existenzminimum einer Familie sicherstellten, partiell supplem…

[English version] I. Alter Orient und Ägypten Obwohl es zahlreiche inschr. und bildliche Zeugnisse für eine hochentwickelte Eßkultur an den Höfen altoriental. Herrscher gibt, sind Kochrezepte bisher nur aus Mesopot. bekannt: 34 aus dem 18. Jh.v.Chr. (gesammelt auf 3 Tontafeln), eins aus dem 6./5. Jh. Es handelt sich dabei um praktische Handlungsanleitungen im Stil von medizinischen Rezepturen. Der Zweck, für den die Rezepte schriftl. festgehalten wurden, ist unklar. Sie betreffen überwiegend in Brühe gekochtes Geflügel und anderes Fleisch, daneben z…

[English version] A. Alter Orient Von verdeckten Informanten, den ‘Augen und Ohren des Königs’, die dem Perserkönig Nachrichten zutrugen, berichtet Xenophon (Kyr. 8,2,10ff.). Vorläufer dieser achäm. “Institution” finden sich im mesopot. Bereich, wonach sich etwa Opferschauer (Mari 18. Jh. v.Chr.) oder Funktionsträger des Staates (Assyrien 8./7. Jh.) im Amtseid verpflichten, dem König gegen ihn gerichtete Bestrebungen und Handlungen zu melden. Wie sehr die Furcht vor den ‘Augen und Ohren des Königs’ d…

[English version] A. Definition B. (oder Bilinguis) heißen Inschr., die den gleichen Text in zwei Sprachen bieten, um für unterschiedliche Adressaten verständlich zu sein. Dabei unterscheidet man B., die Texte mit genauer Entsprechung bieten, von solchen, bei denen der eine Text nur knapper informiert. - “Quasi-B.” unterscheiden sich zwar in ihrer Textgestalt, handeln aber vom selben Thema oder denselben Personen. B. sind nur solche Texte, die zeitgleich aus gleichem Anlaß und zum gleichen Zweck ve…

[English version] (Λάβακα). Nach Ptol. 7,1,46 Stadt in NW-Indien, im Land der Pandooi (wohl altindisch Pāṇḍava). Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Fischer, Klaus (Bonn) Bibliography O. Wecker, s.v. L., RE 12, 239.

[English version] I. Mesopotamien, Ägypten, Kleinasien Die zahlreichen, botan. nicht in jedem Fall eindeutig identifizierbaren sumer. und akkad. Ausdrücke für Alliaceae beziehen sich z.T. lediglich auf Subspecies von L., Schalotte, Zwiebel (Z.) oder Knoblauch (K.) [1. 301]. L. ist in seinen versch. Formen - sumer. *karaš, akkad. kar( a) šu, hebr. kārēš, aram. karrāttā, arab. kurrāṯu - ein oriental. Kulturwort. K. heißt sumer. sum, akkad. šūmū, sonst in semit. Sprachen ṯūm, die Zwiebel akkad. šamaškillū, aram. šmšgl (so auch als Logogramm in Pahlevi); die äg. Bezeichnungen ḫdw (Z…

(ἱερὸς γάμος, Heilige Hochzeit). [English version] I. Begriff Ein Terminus, der zur Bezeichnung einer rituellen sexuellen Vereinigung in der neuzeitlichen Forsch. seit dem Aufkommen des Fruchtbarkeitsparadigmas im 19. Jh. (Mannhardt, Frazer) eine große Bed. erlangt hat. Ausgehend von dem im homer. Epos erzählten Geschlechtsverkehr zwischen Demeter und ihrem sterblichen Liebhaber Iasion ‘auf einem dreimal gepflügten Feld’ (Hom. Od. 5, 125-128; Hes. theog. 969-971), der in Analogie mit nordeurop. Bräuchen…

[English version] [1] Teil der Rüstung (μίτρα, μίτρη). (1) Nach Homer (Hom. Il. 4,137; 187; 216; 5,857) zum Schutz des Unterleibes getragener Teil der Rüstung, der von der arch. Forsch. mit bes. auf Kreta gefundenen, halbkreisförmigen Bronzeblechen der früharcha. Zeit identifiziert wird. Ebenfalls m. heißt das in seiner Funktion entsprechende Rüstungsteil der Salier (Salii; Dion. Hal. ant. 2,70; Plut. Numa 13,4). (2) Gürtel der jungen Frauen (Theokr. 27,55, vgl. μιτροχίτων/ mitrochítōn, Athen. 12,523d) und Göttinnen (Kall. h. 1,120; 4,222, epigr. 39), nach einer s…

[English version] A. Alter Orient Im Alten Orient finden sich seit prähistor. Zeit zahlreiche als Anhänger geformte und zum Anlegen, Umbinden oder Aufhängen geeignete Objekte (figürlich oder symbolhaft-abstrakt), Ketten oder sonstige Gebinde, die allg. als A. gedeutet werden [1]. Vor allem akkad. und hethit. Texte aus dem Bereich der Experten für magische Rituale beschreiben Material, Gestalt und den Prozeß des Anfertigens von Amuletten und den Zweck, für den sie gebraucht werden. Steinen und Pflanze…

[English version] I. Alter Orient Pfand(=Pf.)-Bestellung zur Vertragssicherung ist in den altorientalischen Rechten unterschiedlich gut bezeugt. Die Pf.-Bestellung spielt eine große Rolle im Verschuldungsprozeß in agrarischen Ges. Wenn z.B. Pächter mit ihren Abgabeverpflichtungen in Rückstand geraten waren, führte der Verfall eines Personen-Pf. oft zu Schuldknechtschaft [1; 2; 15. 179f.] mit den sich daraus ergebenden negativen Folgen für das soziale Gleichgewicht einer Ges. (Pacht I.). Pf.-Bestellung ist im Keilschriftrecht seit der 2. H. des 3. Jt. für di…

[English version] (Ἰσσηδόνες, Ἰσσηδοί, Ἐσσηδόνες). Skythisches Volk asiatischer Herkunft. Nach Hdt. (1,201; 4,13-26) südöstl. des Aralsees zu lokalisieren; der Schwerpunkt ihrer Wohngebiete lag aber in Mittelasien. Ptolemaios (6,16,5; 16,7; 8,24,3; 24,5 N) rechnet ihnen die im chinesischen Ost-Turkestan (Tarimbecken) an der Seidenstraße gelegenen Städte Ἰσσηδὼν Σκυθική (h. Kutscha) u. Ἰσσηδὼν Σηρική (h. Tscharchlik) südwestlich des Lobnor zu. Skythai Renger, Johannes (Berlin) Treidler, Hans (Berlin)

[English version] (altpers. bagastāna “Götterplatz”, Βαγίστανα, Βαγίστανον ὄρος, Behistun). Felswand 30 km östl. von Kermanschah an der Straße von Babylon nach Ekbatana am Choaspes (Seidenstraße [3. 11]), an der Dareios I. seine Taten seit ca. 520 v.Chr. bildlich und inschr. - ca. 70 m über dem Straßenniveau - in mehreren Phasen festhalten ließ. Wegen ihrer dreisprachigen Form (elam., babylon., altpers.) bildete die Inschr. [1] die Grundlage für die Entzifferung der Keilschrift (Trilingue). Das Rel…

(Ἀμ(μ)αθοῦς; Am(m)athoûs). [German version] [1] Fortress to the east of the Jordan A fortress to the east of the Jordan, tell 'ammatā, which towers over the north bank of the wādi raǧib and has control over three roads, one of which runs close beside it on the west towards Pella ( ṭabaqāt faḥil) (Eus. Onom. 22,24) [1; 2]. Ceramics found here have so far shown no evidence of either pre-Hellenistic settlement or Cypriot imports [3. 44; 4. 301]. After 98 BC it was taken by  Alexander Iannaeus from the tyrant Theodorus of Philadelphia and razed to th…

(Hebrew Menašše; Greek Μανασσῆ(ς)/ Manassê(s)). [German version] [1] Israelite tribe Israelite tribe in Middle Palestine, east of the Jordan ( Judah and Israel). Liwak, Rüdiger (Berlin) [German version] [2] King of Judah King of Judah. During his unusually long reign ( c. 696-642 BC), Judah was restricted to Jerusalem and its environs after the Assyrian conquests of 701 BC ( Judah and Israel), but progressively regenerated politically and economically [2. 169-181]. M. (in cuneiform script Me-na-se-e/si-i or Mi-in-se-e) as a loyal vassal of the Assyrians was obliged to pr…

I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. Mesopotamia From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC onwards, numerous systems for the names of the months that varied according to region and era are attested. In the Old Babylonian Period (20th-17th cents. BC), a system used throughout Babylonia gained acceptance. In the 19th/18th cents., there were initially autonomous local systems, among other places in the Diyālā area and in Mari, and up to the end of the 2nd millennium BC also in Assyria as well as during va…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East The creation of stores, esp. of less perishable foodstuffs (esp. grain), is essential to the existence of societies whose agriculture is strongly exposed to environmental and political risks. The paradigm for such experiences is found in the OT story, referring to ancient Egypt, of the seven 'fat' and seven 'lean' years (Gn 41:25-36). The economy (I.) of Mesopotamia, centralized from the 4th millennium BC, also had a central SE, but it is known only from texts. In…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia In Mesopotamia, the Sumerian sun god Utu (written with the Sumerian sign for day, ud, which may be an etymological connection) was regarded as the city god of South Babylonian Larsa [2. 287-291] and the Akkadian god Šamaš (also common Semitic for 'sun') as the city god of North Babylonian Sippar. The sun god was never at the top of the Mesopotamian pantheon [1] which was dominated by Enlil (3rd/early 2nd millennium), Marduk (1st millennium) and Assur [2]. As the god of daylight, Ša…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East Knowledge of one's own progenitors in the ancient Near East legitimized one's status and material and immaterial rights in the individual and societal spheres. Such knowledge was based on patriarchal relationships of kinship. Evidence for this comes, for example, from lineage lists (Genealogies; OT: Gn 5; 11:10-32; 22:20-24; 25:1-9; Judges 4:18-22: progenitors of David [1]; 1 Sam 9:1-2: progenitors of Saul; Mt 1:1-17: progenitors of Jesus), the Assyrian Kings' Lis…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The rotation of the moon and the phases of the moon served as significant structural elements of the calendar from early times in all ancient Oriental cultures. People discussed not only the phases of the moon but also, from earliest times, the eclipses of the moon, regarding them as ominous signs (Astrology; Divination). Like the sun, the moon, which was represented as a deity, was the protagonist of numerous myths in Egypt, Asia Minor [1. 373-375] and Mesopotamia (Moon deities). In Babylonia, as early as toward the end of the 3rd millennium,…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia In Sumerian the adjective kug and in Akkadian the corresponding adjective ellu express the principle of (cultic) purity. Both words also contain the nuance of 'bright', 'shining'. Sumerian kug and Akkadian ellu (when in textual dependence upon kug) mark characteristics of deities, localities (e.g., temples), (cult) objects, rites and periods of time as belonging to the sphere of the divine. This, however, does not necessarily mean that they must be in an uncontaminated state. In this respect kug is most often rendered as 'holy/sacred'. Akkadian ellu, …

[German version] I. General Linen (λίνον/ línon, Lat. linum) or flax belongs to the family of Geraniaceae. Linum angustifolium is considered the original form of cultivated flax. The use of this wild, perennial plant is archaeologically proven for the Neolithic period in Europe. Common flax ( Linum usitatissimum), an annual plant, has a delicate stalk with oblong, sessile leaves, and reaches a height of 60-90 cm. The stalks form the raw material from which the most important spinning material, after wool, can be extracted. The valuable fibre…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East In the Near East, wool (Sumerian si, Akkadian šīpātu) from sheep was an essential raw material for textile production (Textiles, production of). Chiefly with the aid of numerous administrative documents from the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur (21st cent. BC), many typical details of wool production can be reconstructed. The fleecing of sheep, for which Sumerian has various terms, took place as a rule in spring. This is the removal of the fleece from the sheep in its tota…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the early period (4th-3rd millennia), both in Egypt ( sqr-nḫ, 'those tied up for killing' [3]) and in Mesopotamia, POW were often killed on the battlefield. Killing - as a ritualized act - or parading POW and plunder before the ruler was ideological in character and hence a theme of pictorial representation  (southern Mesopotamia in 3100 BC: the killing of chained, naked POW in the presence of the ruler [5. 9]; 24th cent: naked male POW - probably immediately after their…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East In the ancient Near East, the procurement of WB was directed towards obtaining important raw materials (e.g. metals - Egypt: gold from Nubia, silver from Cilicia, copper from Cyprus (Middle Kingdom); Assyria: iron from Iran, silver from Cilicia; Cilices, Cilicia) and items required for further warfare (e.g. horses, chariots in Assyria, 1st millennium BC) or served to supply the royal court with luxury goods for purposes of prestige. WB must be distinguished from '…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East Prices or equivalents for numerous fungible items had a generally recognized value in both Egypt and Mesopotamia, though nothing is known of how this came about. Prices in Egypt were at first expressed in a value unit šn( tj) (perhaps 'silver ring'?), in the New Kingdom also in copper and sacks of grain (though neither served as media of exchange) [7. 13]. In Mesopotamia, they were generally expressed in weights of silver (in Assyria, occasionally also tin). Indications as to equivalents are preserved to varying degrees of abundance and …

(Animal) [German version] I. Ancient Orient In the Ancient Orient and Egypt animal husbandry was always systemically linked with agricultural production (farming), insofar as both were mutually dependent and together formed the basis for society's subsistence. That view was given expression (i.a.) in the Sumerian polemical poem ‘Mother ewe and grain’ [1]. In Mesopotamia the basis of animal husbandry was mainly the keeping of herds of  sheep and to a lesser extent of  goats, which were collectively termed ‘domestic livestock’ (Sumerian u8.udu-ḫia; Akkadian ṣēnu). Sheep were pri…

In early societies, largely based on family organizations, genealogy as a derivation of a person's descent in the form of a pedigree is often used as a means of legitimation and (pseudo-historical) memory, which was always also directed at publicity (genealogy from Greek γενεαλογεῖν; genealogeîn, ‘to talk about [one's] origin’). [German version] I. Near East and Egypt The purpose of lineage, transmitted in the form of a genealogy (generally patrilineal; exceptions in the case of Egyptian rulers), was to legitimate a claim to rulership, to tenure of a …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the palace economies (  oîkos economy) of the Ancient Orient, certain mass products were made for the requirements of (large) patrimonial households themselves, but also for exchange in long distance trade with large ergasteria (factories) in which often several hundred, sometimes far more than a thousand male or female workers were employed. Their wages were normally paid in kind as daily rations; their social status was equivalent to patrimonial subjects, required to perform compulsory service. The best evidence for ergasteria comes from s…

[German version] I. General Cult encompasses the entirety of ritual tradition in the context of religious practise. Via Christian usage, the term derives from the cultus deorum (‘divine worship’) named already in Cicero, and corresponds to the Greek thrēskeía; like the latter (and the Latin caerimonia, ‘rites’), it can in pagan language stand simply for ‘religion’ in general and thus refer to the absolute predominance in pagan Greek and Roman religion of ritual actions over faith. There, as in the religious cultures of the ancient Mediterr…

(οἶνος/ oînos; Lat. vinum). [German version] I.Egypt and Ancient Near East Archeological finds (excavations, pictorial representations in tombs) as well as Egyptian and Roman texts contain a plethora of information about the growing, production and use of wine in Egypt from the Early Period to the Ptolemaic-Roman Period. Wine (Egyptian jrp; Coptic ērp; Old-Nubian orpj/ē; cf. in Sappho 51 ἔρπις/ érpis [9. 46], probably an old foreign cult word [7. 1169]) was grown primarily in Lower Egypt or the Nile Delta and in the oases, clearly because of the favourab…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt The concept of the market is the subject of controversial discussions in classical Middle Eastern studies and Egyptology, since there was no term, neither in the Mesopotamian area nor in Egypt, that clearly designated the market as a place and a modus operandi. Background of the discussion are, on the one hand, the studies regarding pre-modern societies inspired by K. Polanyi (among others by M. Finley for the classical world), according to which a market did not exist as a system of supply and dema…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the Ancient Orient the deification of  rulers always occurred in the context of the legitimization and exercise of  rulership. Deified rulers and proper gods were always differentiated on principle. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] A. Mesopotamia References to the deification of living rulers are geographically restricted to Babylonia and temporally to the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC: a) individual rulers claimed divine descent for themselves as a means of legitimizing their rule…

(NYC). The beginning of the year was variously fixed in different local or supra-regional calendars. It was oriented, as far as we know, towards agricultural patterns connected to the time of the year (especially sowing in the spring and harvest in the autumn). The beginning of the year was connected with administrative measures (e.g. raising taxes). Spring and autumn received particular consideration in the festival calendar because of their significance within the agrarian cycle. Because in re…

Die G. als Ableitung der Herkunft in Form von Ahnenreihen ist in frühen, stark von Familienverbänden geprägten Gesellschaften ein häufig verwendetes Mittel der Legitimation und (pseudohistor.) Erinnerung und zielt immer auch auf eine Öffentlichkeit (G. von griech. γενεαλογεῖν “die [eigene] Herkunft erzählen”). [English version] I. Vorderer Orient und Ägypten Die in Form von G. überlieferte Abstammung (in der Regel patrilinear; Ausnahmen bei äg. Herrschern) sollte Ansprüche auf Herrschaft, Besitzstand im Amt (Priester, hohe Beamte), Status im B…

[English version] I. Alter Orient K. sind sowohl in Äg. ( sqr-nḫ, “Gebundene zu Erschlagende” [3]) als auch in Mesopot. in der Frühzeit (4./3. Jt.) oft schon auf dem Schlachtfeld erschlagen worden. Das Töten - als ritualisierte Handlung - bzw. das Vorführen der K. und der Beute vor dem Herrscher hatte ideologischen Charakter und war daher Thema bildlicher Darstellung (Südmesopot. 3100 v.Chr.: Erschlagen gefesselter nackter K. in Gegenwart des Herrschers [5. 9]; 24. Jh.: nackte männl. K. - wohl unmittelbar…

I. Alter Orient [English version] A. Mesopotamien Seit Mitte des 3. Jt.v.Chr. lassen sich zahlreiche nach Region und Epoche unterschiedliche M.-Systeme feststellen. In der altbabylon. Zeit (20.-17. Jh.v.Chr.) setzte sich ein in ganz Babylonien verwendetes M.-System durch. Eigenständige lokale Systeme gab es im 19./18. Jh. zunächst noch u.a. im Diyālā-Gebiet und in Mari, bis zum Ende des 2. Jt.v.Chr. auch in Assyrien sowie zu verschiedenen Zeiten in den Randgebieten Mesopotamiens, wie in Ebla, Elam [2. …

[English version] I. Alter Orient In den Palastwirtschaften ( oíkos-Wirtschaften) des Alten Orients wurden bestimmte Massenprodukte für den Eigenbedarf patrimonialer (Groß)Haushalte, aber auch für den Austausch im Fernhandel in großen Ergateria (Manufakturen) hergestellt, in denen oft mehrere hundert, bisweilen weit über tausend männliche oder weibliche Arbeitskräfte beschäftigt waren. Ihre Entlohnung erfolgte in der Regel durch tägliche Naturalrationen; ihr sozialer Status war der von dienstpflichtigen …

[English version] I. Alter Orient M.-Lauf und M.-Phasen dienten bereits frühzeitig als wesentliche Strukturelemente des Kalenders in allen altorientalischen Kulturen. Außer mit den M.-Phasen hat man sich seit frühester Zeit ebenfalls mit den Eklipsen des M. als ominösen Zeichen auseinandergesetzt (Astrologie; Divination). Wie die Sonne war auch der als Gottheit vorgestellte M. Protagonist zahlreicher Mythen in Ägypten, Kleinasien [1. 373-375] und Mesopotamien (Mondgottheiten). In Babylonien war bereits gegen Ende des 3. Jt. die systematische Beobachtung de…

[English version] I. Alter Orient Preise oder Äquivalente für zahlreiche vertretbare Sachen hatten sowohl in Äg. als auch in Mesopotamien einen allgemein anerkannten Wert, über dessen Zustandekommen aber nichts bekannt ist. P. wurden in Äg. zunächst meist in einer Werteinheit šn( tj) (vielleicht “Silberring”?), im NR auch in Kupfer und Sack Getreide (die beide aber nicht als Austauschmedium dienten) [7. 13], in Mesopot. meist in gewogenem Silber (zuweilen in Assyrien auch in Zinn) ausgedrückt. Angaben über Äquivalente sind in unterschiedlicher Dichte und Aussagekraf…

[English version] I. Allgemeines L. (λίνον/ línon, lat. linum) oder Flachs gehört der Gattung der Storchschnabelgewächse an. Als Stammpflanze des kultivierten L. gilt das linum angustifolium. Der Gebrauch dieser wildwachsenden, perennierenden Pflanze ist schon für die neolithische Zeit in Europa arch. nachgewiesen. Der echte L. ( linum usitatissimum), eine einjährige Pflanze, hat einen feinen Stengel mit länglichen ungestielten Blättern und erreicht eine Höhe von 60-90 cm. Die Stengel bilden den Rohstoff, aus dem das nach der Wolle wichtigst…

(hebr. Menašše; griech. Μανασσῆ(ς)). [English version] [1] Israelitischer Stamm Israelitischer Stamm in Mittelpalästina und östl. des Jordan (Juda und Israel). Liwak, Rüdiger (Berlin) [English version] [2] König von Juda König von Juda. In seiner ungewöhnlich langen Regierungszeit (ca. 696-642 v.Chr.) war Juda nach den assyr. Eroberungen von 701 v.Chr. (Juda und Israel) auf Jerusalem mit Umland beschränkt, regenerierte sich aber zunehmend politisch und ökonomisch [2. 169-181]. M. (keilschriftlich Me-na-se-e/si-i bzw. Mi-in-se-e) war als loyaler Vasall der Assyrer…

[English version] I. Alter Orient Im Alten Orient galt das Aufbringen von K. der Versorgung mit wichtigen Rohstoffen (z.B. Metallen Äg.: Gold aus Nubien, Silber aus Kilikien, Kupfer aus Zypern (MR); Assyrien: Eisen aus Iran, Silber aus Kilikien; Kilikes, Kilikia) und für die weitere Kriegsführung benötigten Objekten (z.B. Pferde, Streitwagen im Assyrien des 1. Jt.v.Chr.) oder diente zur Versorgung der königl. Hofhaltung mit Luxusgütern zu Prestigezwecken. K. ist von Tributleistungen zu unterscheiden,…

In den einzelnen lokalen bzw. überregionalen Kalendern wurde der Jahresanfang unterschiedlich festgelegt. Er richtete sich, soweit erkennbar, an den jahreszeitlich gebundenen landwirtschaftlichen Gegebenheiten (bes. Aussaat im Frühjahr und Ernte im Herbst) aus. Der Jahresanfang war mit verwaltungstechnisch relevanten Maßnahmen (z.B. Abgabenerhebung) verbunden. Ihrer Bed. innerhalb des agrarischen Zyklus entsprechend fanden Frühjahr und Herbst im Festkalender bes. Berücksichtigung. Da Frühjahrs- …

[English version] I. Mesopotamien Das Prinzip (kultischer) R. wird im Sumerischen durch das Adj. kug, im Akkadischen durch das korrespondierende Adj. ellu ausgedrückt. In beiden Wörtern ist auch die Nuance “hell”, “leuchtend” enthalten. Mit sumer. kug bzw. akkad. ellu (wenn in textueller Abhängigkeit von kug) werden die Eigenschaften von Gottheiten, Örtlichkeiten (u. a. Tempel), (Kult-)Objekten, Riten bzw. Zeiträumen als zur Sphäre des Göttlichen gehörig bezeichnet, d. h. heißt aber nicht unbedingt, daß sie sich in einem Zustand fre…

(Ἀμ(μ)αθοῦς). [English version] [1] Festung östl. des Jordan Festung östl. des Jordan, tell 'ammatā, der das Nord-Ufer des wādi raǧib überragt und drei Straßen, darunter die dicht westl. vorbei nach Pella ( ṭabaqāt faḥil) führende, beherrscht (Eus. Onom. 22,24) [1; 2]. Der keramische Befund verrät bisher weder vorhell. Besiedlung noch zyprischen Import [3. 44; 4. 301]. Nach 98 v. Chr. von Alexandros Iannaios dem Tyrannen Theodoros von Philadelphia abgenommen und geschleift (Ios. bell. Iud. 1,4,2 f.; ant. Iud. 13,13,3; 5), 57 v.…

[English version] I. Allgemein Kult(us) umfaßt die Gesamtheit der rituellen Trad. im Kontext der rel. Praxis. Der Terminus leitet sich über die christl. Verwendung vom bereits ciceronischen cultus deorum (“Verehrung der Götter”) her und entspricht griech. thrēskeía; wie dieser (und lat. caerimonia, “Riten”) kann er in der paganen Sprache für “Rel.” überhaupt stehen und damit auf die absolute Prädominanz der rituellen Akte gegenüber den Glaubensinhalten in der paganen griech. und röm. Rel. verweisen. Dabei steht hier wie in den rel. Kul…

[English version] I. Alter Orient und Ägypten Das Konzept des M.s wird in der Altorientalistik und der Ägyptologie kontrovers diskutiert, da es weder im mesopot. Raum noch in Äg. ein Wort dafür gab, das eindeutig den M. als Ort und als Operationsmodus bezeichnet. Hintergrund der Diskussion sind auf der einen Seite die von K. Polanyi inspirierten Forsch. zu vormod. Gesellschaften (u.a. für die klass. Welt von M. Finley), wonach ein M. als ein System von Angebot und Nachfrage mit dem Resultat von Preisbi…

[German version] [1] Goat or nymph, who nourished Zeus as a child (αἴξ aíx). According to the post-Hesiodic myth, Zeus was fed and nourished as a child in the Cretan cave by a goat ( Amalthea) or a nymph by the name of ‘Goat’. Zeus kills her, uses her coat as a shield ( Aegis) in the battle of the Titans and in gratitude sets her among the stars (Eratosth. Catast. 13 Capella; Ant. Lib. 36). The nymph is the mother of Aegipan and Aegocerus (Capricorn, Eratosth. Catast. 27). The representation of the constellation of Ἡνίοχος ( Hēníochos; Auriga) bearing the goat on the shoulder and her two …

[German version] I. Ancient Near East Social structure in the ancient Orient was determined by who controlled the fundamental means of production in an agrarian society, the arable land. The usual form of government in such societies was a patrimonial monarchy. Palaces and temples were the institutional centres dominating the economic and social structures and developments, especially in Egypt and Mesopotamia; all parts of society were directly or indirectly incorporated into this system. The existenc…

[German version] I. General The states of antiquity had no executive PA independent of government and legislature in the sense of the modern separation of powers. The triple division of constitutions, indicated in Aristot. Pol. 1297b 35-1301a 15 ( tría mória, 1297b 37), into a decision-making, legislating organ ( tò bouleuómenon), an executive element ('on the offices': tò perì tàs archás) and judicature ( tò dikázon) owes more to the schematically working mind of the author than to a political concept as such, especially since the fields defined show conside…

[German version] I. General information Cattle ( Bos taurus) belong to the bovine family and are descended from the Eurasian big-horned aurochs ( Bos primigenius). Longhorn wild cattle were most likely domesticated in Central Asia between 10,000 to 8,000 BC and in the Near East around 7,000 to 6,000 BC. In the 3rd millennium BC various breeds of domesticated cattle spread throughout Europe. Herds of wild cattle still existed in the forested regions of the eastern Mediterranean, such as Dardania and Thrace (Varro, Rust. 2,1,5), as well as in Central Europe (Caes. B Gall. 6,28). In antiquit…

I. Ancient Orient and Egypt [German version] A. General Points Translation by means of an interpreter (Akkadian targumannu; Ugaritic targumiānu; Hittite tarkummija- ('to translate'); Aramaic ta/urgmānā; Arabic tu/arǧumān; Italian turcimanno; cf. dragoman) played an important role in the cultures of the Ancient Orient in their contacts with other ethnic groups. Mesopotamian rulers prided themselves on their command of foreign languages. Especially during the second half of the second millennium BC, Akkadian served as a kind …

[German version] I. Terminology and Definition The modern term ‘palace’ is derived from the Palatine (Mons Palatinus), one of Rome’s seven hills, on which the residences of the Roman emperors were located. Palaces are buildings that a ruler uses as a residence and for representation. Depending on additional functions, they could have other names in Antiquity, relating to their respective use. Nielsen, Inge (Hamburg) II. Ancient Near East [German version] A. Structural History In the Ancient Near East and Egypt, the palace was originally a house with considerably expa…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East With the possible exception of the numerous depictions of the sexual act on terra cotta reliefs and lead tablets - many of which may have served as magical amulets or represented ex voto gifts [1. 265] - there is no evidence of pornography from the ancient Near East. In literary texts, explicit verbal depictions that refer to sexuality are found in literary texts (e.g. hymns to Ishtar, who was, among other things, the goddess of sexual love) and therefore are to b…

I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. General remarks Several hundred prayers have been preserved from the ancient Orient, dating from as far back as the 3rd millennium BC. In some cases, the history of their texts can be traced back for several centuries. A variety of genres usually classified as lamentations, hymns, etc., are actually prayers, since lamentations or hymns of praise to a deity simply represent the occasion for a following prayer, which constitutes the underlying reason for that hymn or lamentation. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] B. Egypt Invocations of th…

[German version] [1] Nimbus vitreus Nimbus vitreus (‘glass clouds’), a pun by Martial (14,112), which has been misunderstood mostly since Friedländer's annotations [1. 322] and into the most recent commentary [2. 174] has been misunderstood and is translated as a ‘glass vessel for sprinkling liquids with numerous openings’. What is meant is the effect of such an instrument when wine is sprayed. Willers, Dietrich (Berne) Bibliography 1 L. Friedländer (ed.), M. Valerii Martialis epigrammaton libri (with explanatory notes), vol. 2, 1886 2 T.J. Leary (ed.), Martial Book XIV. T…

[German version] [1] Horticulture s.  Horticulture Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [2] Gardens [German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt In the immediate proximity of homes, gardens were important providers of shade for humans and livestock. Pleasure gardens as part of palace grounds enhanced prestige. As part of the temple grounds they symbolized the cosmos. The Garden of Eden is a mythological invention (Gen 2,8; 2,15). Gardens were depicted in reliefs (Assyria) and wall paintings (Egypt). Assyrian kings recorded …