Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T19:47:43.816Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Sumerian expression igi-kar2 revisited

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Extract

In 1968, the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary translated the Old Babylonian term aširtu, which in the OB period corresponded to the Sumerian expression igi-kar2, as “an offering of a pious gift to the gods”. In texts from the preceding Ur III period, however, the expression igi-kar2 has usually been associated with the expression gurum2 (written IGI.GAR) and translated “inspection”. In 1982, Piotr Steinkeller demonstrated, in a short article published in ASJ, that igi-kar2 and gurum2 refer to two separate words. He showed that the compound verb igi…kar2 denoted “to examine” in both the Ur III and Old Babylonian periods. For the compound noun igi-kar2 in the Ur III period, Steinkeller referred to the Umma text TJAMC IES 126, where the expression appears together with the institution an-za3-gar3, which — in accordance with its Akkadian equivalence dimtum — has been understood as “some type of fortified building”. This connection led Steinkeller to propose the meaning “provisions, supplies” for igi-kar2 in the Ur III period, seemingly more appropriate for a delivery to the military structure of an-za(3)-gar3.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbreviations used in reference to texts

A Tablets in the Oriental Institute, University of ChicagoGoogle Scholar
AAICAB 1/1Grégoire, J.-P., Archives administratives et inscriptions cunéiformes: Ashmolean Museum, Bodleian Collection, Oxford. Les sources 1 (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1996)Google Scholar
AAICAB 1/2Grégoire, J.-P., Archives administratives et inscriptions cunéiformes: Ashmolean Museum, Bodleian Collection, Oxford. Les sources 2 (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 2000)Google Scholar
AnOr 1Schneider, N., Die Drehem- und Djoha- Urkunden der Strassburger Universitäts- und Landes-bibliothek in Autographie und mit systematischen Wörterverzeichnissen, Analecta Orientalia 1 (Rome: Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 1931)Google Scholar
AnOr 7Schneider, N., Die Drehem- und Djohatexte im Kloster Montserrat (Barcelona) in Autographie und mit systematischen Wörtervereichnissen, Analecta Orientalia 7 (Rome: Pontificio Instituto Bíblico, 1932)Google Scholar
AmoritesBuccellati, G., The Amorites of the Ur III Period, Pubblicazioni del Seminario di Semitistica. Ricerche 1 (Naples: Istituto Orientale di Napoli, 1966)Google Scholar
ASJ 2Gomi, T., “Neo-Sumerian Administrative Tables in the British Museum, I”, Acta Sumerologica 2 (1980) 136Google Scholar
ASJ 4Michalowski, P., “Royal Women of the Ur III Period — Part III”, Acta Sumerologica 4 (1982) 129–42Google Scholar
Atiqot 4Levy, S. and Artzi, P., Sumerian and Akkadian Documents from Public and Private Collections in Israel, Atiqot 4 (Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 1965)Google Scholar
AUCT 3Sigrist, M. and Gavin, C. E. S., Neo-Sumerian Account Texts in the Horn Archaeological Museum (Berrien Springs: Andrews University Press, 1988)Google Scholar
Babyl. 7Langdon, S. H., “The Stevenson Collection”, Babyloniaca 7 (19131923) 237–41, pls. XIX–XXIIGoogle Scholar
BBVO 11Zettler, R. L., The Ur III Temple of Inanna at Nippur, Berliner Beiträge zum Vorderen Orient 11 (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1992)Google Scholar
BCT 1Watson, P. J. and Horowitz, W. B., Catalogue of Cuneiform Tablets in Birmingham City Museum 1. Neo-Sumerian Texts from Drehem (Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1986)Google Scholar
BIN 5Hackman, G. G., Temple Documents of the Third Dynasty of Ur from Umma, Babylonian Inscriptions in the Collection of James B. Nies 5 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937)Google Scholar
BPOA 1Ozaki, T. and Sigrist, M., Ur III Administrative Tablets from the British Museum 1, Biblioteca del Próximo Oriente Antiguo 1 (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 2006)Google Scholar
BPOA 2Ozaki, T. and Sigrist, M., Ur III Administrative Tablets from the British Museum 2, Biblioteca del Próximo Oriente Antiguo 2 (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 2006)Google Scholar
BWAth 6Kutscher, R., “Neo-Sumerian Tablets from the Wadsworth Atheneum Collection”, Wadsworth Atheneum Bulletin, Sixth Series 6 (1970) 4164Google Scholar
CSTFish, T., Catalogue of Sumerian Tablets in the John Rylands Library (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1932)Google Scholar
CT 5King, L. W., Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets, &c, in the British Museum 5 (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1898)Google Scholar
CTNMCJacobsen, Th., Cuneiform Texts in the National Museum, Copenhagen, Chiefly of Economical Contents (Copenhagen: C. T. Thomson, 1939)Google Scholar
DASLafont, B., Documents administratifs sumériens provenant du site de Tello et conservés au Musée du Louvre, Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations 61 (Paris: A.D.P.F., 1985)Google Scholar
HiroseGomi, T., Hirose, Y. and Hirose, K., Neo-Sumerian Administrative Texts of the Hirose Collection (Potomac: Capital Decisions Limited, 1990)Google Scholar
HSS 4Hussey, M.I., Sumerian Tablets in the Harvard Semitic Museum 2. From the Time of the Dynasty of Ur, Harvard Semitic Series 4 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1915)Google Scholar
HUCA 29Hallo, W. W., “Contributions to Neo-Sumerian”, Hebrew Union College Annual 29 (1958) 69107Google Scholar
MatKul 2Struve, V. V., “K istorii patesiata Giršhu”, Izvestija Rossijskoj Akademii Istorii Material'noj Kul'tury 2 (1922) 4964Google Scholar
MCS 7Fish, T., “Ur III Tablets from Nippur”, Manchester Cuneiform Studies 7 (1957) 512Google Scholar
MCS 8Fish, T., “A Copy of the Umma-Tablet BM 106055, and Copies of Other Tablets Relating to its Subject-Matter”, Manchester Cuneiform Studies 8 (1958) 8398Google Scholar
MTBMSigrist, M., Messenger Texts from the British Museum (Potomac: Capital Decisions Limited, 1990)Google Scholar
MVN 1Pettinato, G. and Waetzoldt, H., La collezione Schollmeyer, Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico 1 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1974)Google Scholar
MVN 2Sauren, H., Wirtschaftsurkunden des Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Genf, Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico 2 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1974)Google Scholar
MVN 4Cagni, L., La collezione del Pontificio Istituto Biblico; Pettinato, G., La collezione della Collegiata dei SS. Pietro e Orso, Aosta, Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico 4 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1976)Google Scholar
MVN 5Sollberger, E., The Pinches Manuscript, Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico 5 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1978)Google Scholar
MVN 11Owen, D. I., Selected Ur III Texts from the Harvard Semitic Museum, Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico 11 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1982)Google Scholar
MVN 12Gomi, T., Wirtschaftstexte der Ur III-Zeit aus dem British Museum, Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico 12 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1982)Google Scholar
MVN 13Sigrist, M., Owen, D. I. and Young, G. D., The John Frederick Lewis Collection 2, Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico 13 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1984)Google Scholar
MVN 14Yıldız, F., Waetzoldt, H. and Renner, H., Die Umma-Texte aus den archäologischen Museen zu Istanbul, Nr. 1–600, Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico 14 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1988)Google Scholar
MVN 15Owen, D. I., Neo-Sumerian Texts from American Collections, Materiali per il Vocaboloario Neosumerico 15 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1991)Google Scholar
MVN 16Waetzoldt, H. and Yıldız, F., Die Umma-Texte aus den Archaologischen Museen zu Istanbul, Band II (Nr. 601–1600), Materiali per il Vocabolario Neosumerico, 16 (Rome: Bonsignore Editore, 1994)Google Scholar
MVN 21Koslova, N. V., Neusumerische Verwaltungstexte aus Umma aus der Sammlung der Ermitage zu St. Petersburg, Russland, Materiali per il vocabolario Neosumerico 21 (Rome: Bonsignore, 2000)Google Scholar
NATNOwen, D. I., Neo-Sumerian Archival Texts primarily from Nippur in the University Museum, the Oriental Institute, and the Iraq Museum (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1982)Google Scholar
Nik. 2Nikol'skij, M. V., Dokumenty chozjajstvennoj otčetnosti drevnej Chaldei iz sobranija N.P. Lichačeva, Cast' II: Ėpocha dinastii Agade i ėpocha dinasta Ura, Drevnosti Vostočnyja 5 (Moscow: Trudy vostochnoy kommissi, 1915)Google Scholar
Nisaba 6Ar-Rawi, F. and D'Agostino, F., Neo-Sumerian Administrative Texts from Umma Kept in the British Museum 1, Nisaba. Studi Assiriologici Messinesi 6 (Messina: DiScAM, 2005)Google Scholar
NYPLSauren, H., Les tablettes cunéiformes de l'époque d'Ur des collections de la New York Public Library, Publications de l'Institut Orientaliste de Louvain 19 (Louvain: Institut Orientaliste, 1978)Google Scholar
OIP 115Hilgert, M., Drehem Administrative Documents from the Reign of Shulgi, Oriental Institute Publications 115 (Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1998)Google Scholar
Ontario 1Sigrist, M., Neo-Sumerian Texts from the Royal Ontario Museum 1. The Administration at Drehem (Bethesda: CDL Press, 1995)Google Scholar
OrAnt 11Archi, A., “Testi in cuneiforme — I”, Oriens Antiquus 11 (1972) 263–75Google Scholar
OrSp 18Schneider, N., Das Drehem- und Djohaarchiv 2: Der Götterkultur (1. Teil), Orientalia, Series Prior 18 (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1925)Google Scholar
OrSp 47–49Schneider, N., Die Geschäftsurkunden aus Drehem und Djoha in den Staatlichen Museen (VAT) zu Berlin in Autographie und mit systematischen Wörterindices herausgegeben, Orientalia, Series Prior 47–9 (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1930)Google Scholar
PDT 1Çığ, M., Kızılyay, H. and Salonen, A., Die Puzriš-Dagan-Texte der Istanbuler Archäologischen Museen. Teil I: Nrr. 1–725, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae B 92 (Helsinki: Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian toimituksia, 1954)Google Scholar
PDT 2Yıldız, F. and Gomi, T., Die Puzriš-Dagan-Texte der Istanbuler Archäologischen Museen. Teil II: Nr. 726–1379, Freiburger Altorientalische Studien 16 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1988)Google Scholar
Princeton 1Sigrist, M., Tablettes du Princeton Theological Seminary: époque d'Ur III, Occasional publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund 10 (Philadelphia: University Museum, 1990)Google Scholar
RIAASpeleers, L., Recueil des inscriptions de l'Asie antérieure des Musées royaux du cinquantenaire à Bruxelles: textes sumériens, babyloniens et assyriens (Brussels: Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire, 1925)Google Scholar
RochesterSigrist, M., Documents from Tablet Collection in Rochester New York (Bethesda: CDL Press, 1991)Google Scholar
RTCThureau-Dangin, F., Recueil de tablettes chaldéennes (Paris: E. Leroux, 1903)Google Scholar
SAJean, C.-F., Šumer et Akkad, contribution à I'histoire de la civilisation dans la Basse-Mésopotamie (Paris: Librairie Paul Geuthner, 1923)Google Scholar
SACT 2Kang, Shin T., Sumerian Economie Texts From the Umma Archive. Sumerian and Akkadian Cuneiform Texts in the Collection of the World Heritage Museum of the University of Illinois 2 (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1973)Google Scholar
SANTAG 6Koslova, N., Ur III-Texte der St. Petersburger Eremitage, Arbeiten und Untersuchungen zur Keilschriftkunde 6 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2000)Google Scholar
SAT 2Sigrist, M., Texts from the Yale Babylonian Collections, Sumerian Archivai Texts 2 (Bethesda: CDL Press, 2000)Google Scholar
SETJones, T. B. and Snyder, J. W., Sumerian Economic Texts from the Third Ur Dynasty. A Catalogue and Discussion of Documents from Various Collections (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1961)Google Scholar
SNATGomi, T., Selected Neo-Sumerian Account Texts from the British Museum (Abiko: Chuo-Garvin University, 1990)Google Scholar
STAChiera, E., Selected Temple Accounts from Telloh, Yokha and Drehem (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1922)Google Scholar
TCNDArchi, A. and Pomponio, F., Testi cuneiformi neo-sumerici da Drehem n. 0001–0412 (Turin: Cisalpino-La Goliardica, 1990)Google Scholar
TCNUArchi, A., Pomponio, F., Bergamini, G., Testi Cuneiformi Neo-Sumerici da Umma, NN. 0413–1723 (Turin: Cisalpino-La Goliardica, 1995)Google Scholar
TCTI 1Lafont, B. and Yıldız, F., Tablettes cuneiformes de Tello au Musée d'Istanbul: datant de l'époque de la IIIe Dynastie d'Ur. Tome I. ITT II/1, 617–1038 (Leiden, Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 1989)Google Scholar
TCTI 2Lafont, B. and Yıldız, F., Tablettes cunéiformes de Tello au Musée d'Istanbul, datant de l'époque de la IIIe Dynastie d'Ur. Tome II. ITT II/1, 2544–2819, 3158–4342, 4708–4714 (Leiden, Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 1996)Google Scholar
TJAMCSzlechter, E., Tablettes juridiques et administratives de la IIIe dynastie d'Ur et de la Ire dynastie de Babylone conservées au Musée de l'Université de Manchester et, à Cambridge, au Musée Fitz-William, à l'Institut d'études orientales et à l'Institut d'egyptologie (Paris: Recueil Sirey, 1963)Google Scholar
Trouvaillede Génouillac, H., La trouvaille de Dréhem (Paris: Librairie Pual Geuthner, 1911)Google Scholar
TSULimet, H., Textes sumériens de la IIIe dynastie d'Ur (Brussels: Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 1976)Google Scholar
UCP 9/II-2Lutz, H. E., Sumerian Temple Records of the Late Ur Dynasty, University of California Publications in Semitic Philology 9/2 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1928)Google Scholar
UET 3Legrain, L., Business Documents of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Ur Excavation Texts 3 (London: British Museum Press, 1937 and 1947)Google Scholar
UTI 4Gomi, T. and Yıldız, F., Die Umma-Texte aus den Archäologischen Museen zu Istanbul 4 (Nr. 2301–3000) (Bethesda: CDL Press, 1997)Google Scholar
UTI 5Yıldız, F. and Ozaki, T., Die Umma-Texte aus den Archäologischen Museen zu Istanbul 5 (Nr. 3001–3500) (Bethesda: CDL Press, 2000)Google Scholar
YOS 18Snell, D. C. and Lager, C. L., Economic Texts from Sumer, Yale Oriental Series 18 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992)CrossRefGoogle Scholar