Ricerc@Sapienza

Nella ricostruzione storica, archeologica e linguistica dell’Oriente antico un ruolo preminente ha da sempre assunto il tentativo di definire le identità culturali, un tentativo che risale all’espressione “terra delle genti con la testa nera” toponimia in lingua sumerica con cui le prime culture urbane (seconda metà del IV millennio a.C.) della Mesopotamia antica si riconobbero e distinsero.

During the 7th campaign of the Italian-Iraqi archaeological team digging at the site of Abu Tbeirah (South-Western Iraq) , of which the two Authors share the responsibility of the direction, two bricks, inscribed with the so called ‘standard inscription’ of Amar-Suena (AS nr. 1), have been found. It is our pleasure to present them to the two Jubelees as a little token of our admiration for their immense scientific contribution to our knowledge of 3rd millennium BC Mesopotamian history.

Since 2012 seven excavation campaigns have been carried out at Abu Tbeirah, a 3rd mill. BC city located near Nasiriyah. The paper will present the results of the interdisciplinary researches carried out in these years and the discoveries in the excavated areas, that are shedding new light on the life of a 3rd mill. BC southern Mesopotamian city. Moreover, the preliminary results of the 2017 excavation of Abu Tbeirah harbor, a huge artificial basin surrounded by a rampart and linked to the main canal crossing the Tell, will be presented as well.

In this article I deal with IInd millennium Mesopotamian incantations to sooth a baby. Four Babylonian incantations are hereby analysed and their structure and motives discussed. A translation of the texts is presented in the Appendix. Incantations to soothe a baby are often associated or directly identified with lullabies, with which they share the aim and some motives, but both show fundamental differences. In incantations, the restlessness of the baby is perceived as an element that disturbs human and superhuman beings of the house.

The present volume collects eighteen essays exploring the history of ancient Near Eastern studies. Combining diverse approaches—synthetic and analytic, diachronic and transnational—this collection offers critical reflections on the who, why, and how of this cluster of fields. How have political contexts determined the conduct of research? How do academic agendas reflect larger social, economic, and cultural interests? How have schools of thought and intellectual traditions configured, and sometimes predetermined, the study of the ancient Near East?

Analysis of the function and the symbolism of the door in the Assyrian rituals of the first millennium

In this paper I discuss the Mesopotamian concept of time, from its mythological foundation to its ritual reckoning in calendrical festivals, taking the Babylonian Poem of Creation as a main guideline. From the creation, and conception, of time in cosmogonies I proceed to treat the dichotomy mythical vs. historical time and the preeminent theories on time when applied to religious phenomena. The recitation of the Poem of Creation during the New Year festival (ak?tu) is taken as a key element to deal with the function and relation of rituals with time marking, creation, and control.

Una civiltà dimenticata da millenni emerge dalla decifrazione dei più antichi documenti scritti. Questo volume guida il lettore alla riscoperta delle culture della Mesopotamia in tutta la loro ricca complessità. Gli elementi che appartengono all'immaginario comune quando si pensa alla Mesopotamia, come l'astrologia, la torre di Babele, l'Eden, sono qui presentati in una sintesi organica.

In this article I will analyse each of the seven animals and their features mentioned in the description of the Seven (the fox, the dog, the raven, the vulture, the wolf, the owl, and the shark), discussing parallels from Sumerian and Akkadian literature in order to highlight how animal symbolism works in ancient Mesopotamia.

In this article I deal with the description of two groups of “seven warriors” in two Sumerian literary compositions: the Hymn to Hendursa?a and Gilgameš and Huwawa. Thus, I discuss the relevant passages of the compositions, analysing the parallels and supporting the hypothesis that these seven warriors may be Sumerian literary forerunners to the hep- tad, later known as the Sebettu. In the conclusion, I discuss the number seven and the Heptad, adding a further parallel (Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave), as well as further comments on demonic descriptions and iconography.