Ricerc@Sapienza

The aim of the present paper is twofold. Through the analysis of some words related to the process of weaving in Mycenaean and Hittite documentation, we have tried to verify the presence of a semantic shift from this ‘practical’ concept towards a metaphorical usage. This ‘semantic reworking’ does not seem to be present in either of those second millennium languages, but it is possible to observe some specific peculiarities. On the one hand, Mycenaean data show some linguistic indications of this metaphorical shift that are also attested in the later Homeric epics.

This paper is aimed at comparing the economic and administrative activity of the Mycenaean personnel (collectors, shepherds, and nomenclature personnel) with that of their Middle-Assyrian “colleagues” (stewards, flockmasters, q?pu, etc.) from Tel Ali, Tel Shekh-Hammad, and from the “Steward Archive” of Assur.