City Seals (UNU) and early Political Alliances

[us4-he2-gal2]

Thread Orientation: On this thread we can view and consider Sumerian seals of the non cylinder variety.

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UNU

Hey enenuru!




On this thread I am taking a very unusual approach as I usually don't present information in the form of a IM conversation.
I have in the past had many good conversations with people that on occasion focus on very interesting ANE stuff - I talk to Madness (more bookwise then myself) , Xuch, Naomi, Anne (on a semi-annual basis) and also Sheshki (or Herbst9) who I talked with this weekend and pasted the conversation below.

On this occasion we were discussing seals, particularly those found in Leon Legrains 1936 work "Archaic seal-impressions from Ur" which is a pdf which can be downloaded for free here. These seals are a fascinating study and preserve much Sumerian art and imagination which is not found else where - they are also quite old and many date earlier then the Ur III period.



About City Seals: We are very interested in those seals which display within them the city seals. These are devices which predate writing, and their function was to represent this or that early city - Eridu, Ur, Larsa, Kesh etc. Scholars tend to see these devices as serving in very early trade relations between the cities - when a merchandise or trade item bore the city seal of Ur or Eridu, it was a mark of authenticity and proved the origin of the item.

The above is from N. Postgate's overview of Mesopotamian civilization. As you can see, he also refers to Legrain 1936 as well, and isolates for us the city seal impressions of the archaic cities. To be clear, from left to right the seals he displays are:

1. Eridu? 2. Larsa 3. snake? 4. bird? 5. Ur 6. Der? 7. Keš

Note: In the below discussion Sheshki and I have at times taken sign 7 as that of Kiš - on reading over again I should point out we are actually dealing with Keš not Kiš. Keš is the as yet unfound city of the mother goddes Ningursaga, and we can refer to the Keš temple hymn for more.

About Geographical Names (UNU): In the below we touch on the subject of geographical names. Geographical names are ways in which the the City names are written in the earliest texts, and indeed in subsequent cuneiform literature. The formula for a geographical name is this:

DN+UNU

This stands for - divine name + the sign UNU - . What is interesting to note is that these geographical names, for example UD+UNU (Larsa), or SHESH+UNU (Ur), seem to be direct adaptions of the Early protoliterate City Seals. This becomes clearer still when we note the cuneiform sign UNU, a part of the geographical names, (when flipped vertical) appears to be a direct adaption from the 'base' or 'stand' in the seals. It symbolises the abode of the deity, so UD+UNU, is the home of the Sun god, and the UNU is a part of his temple or ziggurat. And here we see the ePSD entry for unu as dwelling:

"unu [DWELLING] (1511x: Lagash II, Ur III, Old Babylonian) wr. unu6; unu2; unu "banquet; dining hall; the most sacred part of a temple; seat, throne; dwelling, domicile, abode; temple" Akk. mākalû; mūšabu; usukku; šubtu"



In the below we worked much of this out. I should mention that while Sheshki (Herbst9) is quite good at reading signs, in cases where we quote full translations we ARE referring to the comments and explanation section in the Legrain pdf.

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HERBST9 (8:21:47 PM): c heck401
HERBST9 (8:23:13 PM): the old citynameseals are nice





dvldeedz (8:23:17 PM): oh - see 288 - like a cupid
HERBST9 (8:23:23 PM): maybe we can find traces of the league of kish
HERBST9 (8:23:24 PM):





dvldeedz (8:23:35 PM): wonderful idea checking 401
HERBST9 (8:25:02 PM): see the signs to the very right
HERBST9 (8:25:06 PM): thats kish
dvldeedz (8:25:10 PM): I see 401
HERBST9 (8:26:05 PM): thats the file u sent me
dvldeedz (8:26:06 PM): I hope you are making a little text document with all your little Kish numbers - or should! or have a Kish folder maybe - we can link it to the kings of kish artile

[edit: We at this point believe we are looking at Kish - its Kesh]


HERBST9 (8:26:16 PM): ok
HERBST9 (8:26:19 PM): good idea
HERBST9 (8:26:43 PM): do u remember more about that book
dvldeedz (8:27:07 PM): hm With that document, we may be able to see Kish in places more







HERBST9 (8:27:09 PM): at 400 and 402 are also kishsigns
dvldeedz (8:27:49 PM): I dont see th Kish sign i 401 yet hm
HERBST9 (8:28:39 PM): the very right one
dvldeedz (8:28:56 PM): okay - the one on the right, it has an upward trangle
HERBST9 (8:29:03 PM): yes
dvldeedz (8:29:04 PM): a star or AN
HERBST9 (8:29:08 PM): and a star above it
dvldeedz (8:29:15 PM): and then a diamond shape
HERBST9 (8:29:16 PM): and a ...thing





HERBST9 (8:30:00 PM): and on 400 right to it is eridu
dvldeedz (8:30:28 PM): Is that a sign for Kish? I looks different from the cuneiform for Kish I think. I do see the one for Eridu! But didnt know one for kish maybe
HERBST9 (8:30:31 PM): no
HERBST9 (8:30:32 PM): ur
HERBST9 (8:30:51 PM): check the file i sent





dvldeedz (8:30:55 PM): k
HERBST9 (8:30:56 PM): nmb 7
HERBST9 (8:31:00 PM): kesh
HERBST9 (8:31:05 PM): kish

[Edit: Again, we probably are dealing with Kesh the lost city of Ninhursaga, at the time I didnt remember that. Luckily, this didnt invlaidate all of the conversation however heh]


dvldeedz (8:32:04 PM): oh yes!
dvldeedz (8:32:34 PM): I had almost forgotten about tht book I know it now. And yes I see 7 is Kish - I never memorized that one though
HERBST9 (8:32:39 PM): we need a book that knows more about that
dvldeedz (8:32:59 PM): I can find more about it. ;]
HERBST9 (8:33:00 PM): i think ill save em and separate all signs that look like names
dvldeedz (8:33:45 PM): Good idea. If I look at that book at library tommorow, it wil most likely list other books which say more





HERBST9 (8:33:56 PM): so on 401 from right is kish, ?, ur, der, ?
HERBST9 (8:34:10 PM): lets hope
HERBST9 (8:34:18 PM): thats so exciting
HERBST9 (8:34:22 PM): want to know more
dvldeedz (8:35:08 PM): Yes This suff is intriguing. Among the oldest and most basic Mesopotamian ideograms






HERBST9 (8:35:25 PM): do u think 389 shows a early ziggurat
dvldeedz (8:36:34 PM): It looks like a structure o some sort - I would guess its built out or reeds
dvldeedz (8:36:41 PM): Lets see what commentary says
dvldeedz (8:37:27 PM): "The oldest picture of the Sumerian reed shrine, brick tower with receding stages, and minor
huts and shrines. The whole is engraved with characteristic details which deserve attention.
The bundles of reed wh"
HERBST9 (8:37:47 PM): the brick tower is next to the reed thing
HERBST9 (8:37:57 PM): it also says some more infs about the cityseals
dvldeedz (8:38:19 PM): Does it? still reading
HERBST9 (8:38:39 PM): "Larsa is the city of the rising sun, Der the city of the snake, Uruk the city of the evening star. There is a city of the spread eagle. The great pole is the sign of Eridu, and also,
when surmounted by the sign of the rising sun, of Adab."




HERBST9 (8:39:08 PM): "Pictographic inscription again including abstract and individual pictographs. First the cross sign divided into four quarters round the central circle. Then the UB sign surrounded by five leaves (?). The 'abode' pictograph with a double buckle on one side, perhaps uri, the city of Ur (?). A jar with a lid and a star between, the city of Kesh (?). A twin post with crossbars surmounted by the sign of the rising sun, the city of Adab. A bird and egg (?) below a scorpion (or a star?), a city like Ninni-sh."
HERBST9 (8:39:12 PM): thats for 400
dvldeedz (8:40:03 PM): Fascinating
HERBST9 (8:40:15 PM): yes
HERBST9 (8:40:16 PM): !
dvldeedz (8:40:17 PM): Wish we knew what the pole was, the rising pole for Eridu
HERBST9 (8:40:24 PM): so the second next to kish is adab
HERBST9 (8:42:07 PM): that will be a nice thing to work on....sort it all out

dvldeedz (8:43:06 PM): You had something interesting in one of your mails I was going to bring up here let see
HERBST9 (8:43:12 PM): k
HERBST9 (8:43:18 PM): make ur letter bigger pls






HERBST9 (8:43:35 PM): 409 is also nice
HERBST9 (8:43:39 PM): also some buildings





dvldeedz (8:45:05 PM): Oh by the way - 128 -the one with the disk with rope through it ?
dvldeedz (8:45:36 PM): The commentary there states that these are cylinder seals, which are drilled through and the rope is put in and they are worn as amulets
HERBST9 (8:45:37 PM): yes
HERBST9 (8:45:47 PM): ah cool
HERBST9 (8:46:01 PM): make ur letters bigger pls
dvldeedz (8:46:40 PM): oh right - sry heh
dvldeedz (8:46:46 PM): test
dvldeedz (8:46:53 PM): test
HERBST9 (8:47:06 PM): good
dvldeedz (8:47:07 PM): There ;]





HERBST9 (8:47:14 PM): check 441
HERBST9 (8:47:22 PM): there are some signs
HERBST9 (8:47:40 PM): left column
HERBST9 (8:47:45 PM): first one is na
HERBST9 (8:47:55 PM): next under it could be du
dvldeedz (8:47:59 PM): oh yes!
HERBST9 (8:48:09 PM): next one at top is utu or ud
HERBST9 (8:48:16 PM): next one is gish
HERBST9 (8:48:25 PM): next column
dvldeedz (8:48:33 PM): foot- sun - plant?
HERBST9 (8:48:39 PM): the one that looks like a driller is qa2
HERBST9 (8:49:04 PM): ud gish na du
HERBST9 (8:49:07 PM): maybe
dvldeedz (8:49:21 PM): hmm
HERBST9 (8:49:32 PM): second line first and only one could be ba
HERBST9 (8:49:44 PM): next column
HERBST9 (8:49:46 PM): also ba
HERBST9 (8:50:00 PM): and next and final column is shar i think
dvldeedz (8:50:30 PM): Your good
dvldeedz (8:50:56 PM): And the ox head = GU4?
HERBST9 (8:51:00 PM): it says its ud-gish-na-tum
HERBST9 (8:51:07 PM): so du is also tum sometimes
HERBST9 (8:51:26 PM): "Fragment of inscription. The signs are in cases and in two registers: gud e-ti (1) nun-zag-ga
ud gis-na-tum sar sal-gi sal . ."
HERBST9 (8:51:39 PM): qa2 is ga
HERBST9 (8:51:43 PM): yes
HERBST9 (8:51:49 PM): i was rigth
HERBST9 (8:51:57 PM): i need my second star
dvldeedz (8:52:13 PM): Yes you do! ;]


dvldeedz (8:52:55 PM): So I was going to tell you about the Geographical City names- hard to explain
dvldeedz (8:53:49 PM): Well
dvldeedz (8:53:58 PM): in your mail you were wonding about "
but i forgot to mention that the e2 sign is sometimes also read as lil2 so nibru-ki could also being read as en-lil2-ki...city of enlil...or so...says the not-expert... "
HERBST9 (8:54:16 PM): ah yes
HERBST9 (8:54:18 PM): remember
HERBST9 (8:54:40 PM): enlil is also written en-lil2
dvldeedz (8:54:54 PM): I don't actualy have an answer to that - it is a good question! and good observing. But its reminded me of what Diana katz says on gerographical city names
dvldeedz (8:55:02 PM): Which is a similar topic but not the same
dvldeedz (8:55:24 PM): have to get book out cause its tough





HERBST9 (8:55:58 PM): 512 got a lugal
HERBST9 (8:56:04 PM): what did katz say





HERBST9 (8:56:46 PM): check 518
HERBST9 (8:56:52 PM): there is lugal kish
HERBST9 (8:56:54 PM): ki


[Edit - Note here we have the cuneiform for KISH, and it is Kish this time]


dvldeedz (8:58:01 PM): Nice - a royal seal?
HERBST9 (8:59:09 PM): "Gilgamish and the bull between two lions rampant, one of which bites him in the shoulder. On either side of the group Enkidu and the hunter-hero armed with a dagger. The latter wears a long beard and a head-dress in the Kish style. Below the cartouche a human Swastika is made of four runners with long hair and beard, armed with dagger and catching each other's foot. A Swastika of four crossed lions is found on the royal seal of a-gig-hu-dim (cf. Ur Excavations, vol. ii, p. 340, No. 54). This is the seal of mes-an-ni-pad-da lugal kips dam-nu-gig (cf. Ur Excavations, vol. ii, p. 352, No. 214).
U. 13607. SIS I. P1. 57. (C3 s //,/ 6, &"
HERBST9 (8:59:41 PM): yes
HERBST9 (8:59:48 PM): !measnipadda
HERBST9 (8:59:54 PM): jippie
HERBST9 (9:00:00 PM): another king for the list
dvldeedz (9:00:03 PM): Hah - I had just seen that Gilgamesh entry too
dvldeedz (9:00:21 PM): did you type that name correcty?
dvldeedz (9:00:30 PM): because it almost looks like the ruler of Ur
HERBST9 (9:00:45 PM): This is the seal of mes-an-ni-pad-da lugal kips dam-nu-gig
dvldeedz (9:00:48 PM): the one who defeated Agga, and ended the dynasty of Kish
dvldeedz (9:01:10 PM): yes! very intersting he is a king of importance
HERBST9 (9:01:15 PM): indeed
HERBST9 (9:01:29 PM): could add it to the kisharticle
dvldeedz (9:01:57 PM): And we have his seal - noteworrhty. Good idea! He is the first king outside the Kish dynasty to take the standard of th ing of Kish




HERBST9 (9:02:40 PM): 538. Torsades and scorpions below the cartouche inscribed as follows: dnannar (?) igi-mu denlil (?)
ne(r)-gal, 'Nannar is before me, Enlil is (my) great strength'.
dvldeedz (9:02:47 PM): This seal is full of history therefore
HERBST9 (9:02:50 PM): yes
dvldeedz (9:04:32 PM): 518 is th perfect seal for the Kings of Kish thread- good finding
HERBST9 (9:07:54 PM): just saved it
HERBST9 (9:08:02 PM): just in case we need it somehow
dvldeedz (9:08:20 PM): Good well - we need it at the bottom on the Kish article its more then pefect
HERBST9 (9:09:02 PM): in progress
dvldeedz (9:09:18 PM): caption may read "The seal of Mes-an-pa-da, who ended the dynasty of Kish. Note the king adopts the title "king of kish" (highlight)
dvldeedz (9:09:35 PM): Perhaps you might highlight as well the king of kish signs?
dvldeedz (9:10:03 PM): k.. i am typing up Katz comments
HERBST9 (9:10:21 PM): k
dvldeedz (9:15:48 PM): Lemme know when your finished there and Ill start this topic ;]
HERBST9 (9:17:01 PM): i prepare sumptin for the kish article
dvldeedz (9:17:11 PM): k
HERBST9 (9:30:50 PM): done
dvldeedz (9:38:19 PM): Ok so next
HERBST9 (9:38:36 PM): yes
HERBST9 (9:38:38 PM): time runs
dvldeedz (9:38:43 PM): talking about "geographical names". In Kats book on the netherworld
HERBST9 (9:39:11 PM): yes
dvldeedz (9:39:15 PM): She speaks bout Nergal - and the origin of the name of Nergal - evidently in earliest times he was called Kish
dvldeedz (9:39:24 PM): not to be confused with the city of Kish
dvldeedz (9:41:32 PM): So Nergal was named Kish - not the city. Kish jsut meant "bull". Katz talks about his city it was called "kish.unu" - again this is not the Kish we know however
HERBST9 (9:41:36 PM): and maybe there was a temple for kish/nergal and they founded a city there?
HERBST9 (9:42:07 PM): aha
dvldeedz (9:42:18 PM): Indeed she says that NErgal's earlist city was Kish.unu - before Kutha
HERBST9 (9:42:38 PM): kutha is kish?
HERBST9 (9:42:44 PM): #or another city
dvldeedz (9:43:08 PM): Kutha is another city- The city we know of as kish is not related to this discussion umhm
HERBST9 (9:43:27 PM): ok
dvldeedz (9:43:33 PM): So nergal is kish - and his city is kish unu - neither is the city we now know as kish
HERBST9 (9:43:41 PM): k
dvldeedz (9:44:12 PM): Whats interesting is that Katz explains that other Sumerian cities- in earliest time- were named in the SAME way - the divine name + unu
dvldeedz (9:44:16 PM): or DN+unu
dvldeedz (9:44:50 PM): So we have SheSh+unu - residene of Nanna
dvldeedz (9:45:19 PM): and UD-Unu- residence of Utu (Larsa)
dvldeedz (9:45:36 PM): UNU = residence
HERBST9 (9:46:25 PM): ah
dvldeedz (9:46:27 PM): These are called the "gerographic names"
HERBST9 (9:46:28 PM): interesting
dvldeedz (9:46:35 PM): She says "these
dvldeedz (9:47:21 PM): "This construction is very well attested in Sumer since it charcterises the writing of vry important religious centes"
dvldeedz (9:47:59 PM): So it reminds me of the city seals - like utu for example is a UD sign on top of a structure
dvldeedz (9:48:14 PM): perhaps this structure bacame UNU in cuneiform
HERBST9 (9:48:15 PM): yes
HERBST9 (9:48:27 PM): maybe
HERBST9 (9:48:36 PM): have to research that
HERBST9 (9:48:41 PM): i only know unug
HERBST9 (9:49:11 PM): etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/edition2/png/AB_GUNU.png
dvldeedz (9:49:57 PM): hmmm
HERBST9 (9:50:20 PM): psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd/nepsd-frame.html
HERBST9 (9:50:25 PM): check for unu there
HERBST9 (9:50:32 PM): it says dwelling
dvldeedz (9:51:16 PM): Yes I bet you that turned up right is what is siting in out city seals
HERBST9 (9:51:18 PM): if u turn this sign to mthe right it fits
dvldeedz (9:51:22 PM): yep
dvldeedz (9:51:26 PM): Fascinating
HERBST9 (9:51:27 PM): he
HERBST9 (9:51:31 PM): indeed
HERBST9 (9:52:07 PM): so know we can kinda translate thos sealssigns
HERBST9 (9:52:27 PM): check the article
HERBST9 (9:52:30 PM): addition made
dvldeedz (9:52:30 PM): Yes for sure. Someone ought to be giving us some honary degrees. Lamers.
dvldeedz (9:53:34 PM): In earliest times and even laters important religous centers continued to be written DN+UNU - just as they had been in the archaic seals before writting really developed. Tradition
HERBST9 (9:53:47 PM): if u take a closer look to the kish sign u can see signs
HERBST9 (9:54:00 PM): he
HERBST9 (9:54:26 PM): the one above looks like u
HERBST9 (9:54:30 PM): then an
HERBST9 (9:55:39 PM): and inside it looks like
HERBST9 (9:55:48 PM): just have to check the list
HERBST9 (9:55:52 PM): have seen it before
dvldeedz (9:55:54 PM): k
HERBST9 (9:57:31 PM): could be sha...
HERBST9 (9:58:03 PM): or gu4
dvldeedz (9:58:56 PM): Interesting !
HERBST9 (9:59:04 PM): i thought it would be am...bu no
HERBST9 (9:59:22 PM): or maybe its sumptin else
dvldeedz (9:59:31 PM): hum. Well, I dont yet have a idea of what the Kish sign could b however





HERBST9 (9:59:34 PM): at 401 u can see it
dvldeedz (10:00:38 PM): The kish sign does not follow the patten of the DN+UNU, of the geograpgical name = city seal - because they is no base, no UNU here really is there





HERBST9 (10:00:41 PM): 410 is a nice example for ud unu
HERBST9 (10:00:51 PM): indeed
HERBST9 (10:00:55 PM): also eridu
dvldeedz (10:01:21 PM): But if we know the god of Kish perhaps it would get us farther with the kish cit seal - perhaps not









HERBST9 (10:01:35 PM): also 412,414,415
HERBST9 (10:01:45 PM): its a chance
HERBST9 (10:02:19 PM): that unu at 415 and 415 looking like towers in water to me
HERBST9 (10:03:02 PM): also on the next page
HERBST9 (10:03:08 PM): here it looks more like water
dvldeedz (10:10:31 PM): Im not sure - about the kish seal here. What is water like about it? ;p
HERBST9 (10:11:05 PM): i mean the unu signs
HERBST9 (10:11:21 PM): that unu at 415 and 415 looking like towers in water to me
HERBST9: also on the next page
HERBST9: here it looks more like water
dvldeedz (10:11:33 PM): k
dvldeedz (10:12:13 PM): oh it see!
dvldeedz (10:12:35 PM): Yes the lines at the bottom of the Unu - at the very base - seem to be wavy, like in water

HERBST9 (10:13:46 PM): yes







dvldeedz (10:13:49 PM): you see the designs beside the UNU's - on 416 and 417
dvldeedz (10:14:11 PM): They have wavy lines like water to - if we figure out wht those designs are, it may tell us if they have to do with water
HERBST9 (10:14:59 PM): "Pictographic inscription. The edinnu. The signs of Ur (?), Uruk (?), the spread eagle, the
rising sun of Adab, jars, animal head (?)."
dvldeedz (10:15:19 PM): edinnu?





HERBST9 (10:15:23 PM): "A pictographic fragment. We find here the first traces of a new composite sign, clearer on
other impressions (cf. Nos. 459, 461), often associated with the Swastika and which, for convenience sake,'we will call the edinnu, the fertile plain. It is essentially a field enclosed right
and left by semicircular lines and divided by vertical and zigzag lines into compartments which form two horns at the top and two at the bottom, or even more. All the free space within is
filled with dentils-the gunu system of the scribes-which means solid ground."
HERBST9 (10:15:30 PM): thats for 412
dvldeedz (10:15:39 PM): ahhhhh
HERBST9 (10:15:44 PM): yes
HERBST9 (10:15:48 PM): books are fun
dvldeedz (10:15:53 PM): haha - As we were suspecting - edinnu = the fertile plain?
dvldeedz (10:16:04 PM): Theres on the fertiles plain, there are canals, and water
HERBST9 (10:16:10 PM): yes
HERBST9 (10:16:48 PM): so maybe those temples were sourrounded by water
dvldeedz (10:16:53 PM): Therefore the Unu were included with base in water - in fresh water, the abzu or the fresh water
HERBST9 (10:17:06 PM): and naked sumerian ladys
dvldeedz (10:17:45 PM): hhehe.

[sheshki]

Here you can see the city name of Adab

1. is from a rolling seal:"A twin post with crossbars
surmounted by the sign of the rising sun, the city of Adab."date probably Ed I-II

2. and 3. the cuneiform sign for Adab (i turned them 90° clockwise) from inscriptions dating to Ed III times

1.2.3.

here is another nice example from the book for the Unu sign



Pictographic inscription. Four abodes are represented by the unu sign with a spouted jar
between each of them. The emblems on the top, star, eagle, &c., are too indistinct to allow
a proper attribution to Ur, Uruk, or Larsa. The two posts with cross-bars between four stars
are somewhat different from the usual pictograph of Adab, and may have a general meaning.
Eight-pointed star on the butt-end of the cylinder.

[sheshki]

A remarkable ideographic inscription made of pictographs with an abstract meaning in three
main groups, and individual pictographs of various cities.
The first group of composite pictures is again a wind-rose made of two human heads and
two bull's heads.

These archaic Sumerian heads are an anthropological document. They are remarkable for their receding forehead, long nose, small chin, large ears, and heavy eyebrows,
and especially for the lock of hair, almost a queue, at the top of the skull. The group is surrounded
by pictographs.

First a club with curved blade of a very archaic type which, like the
sign pa, means 'master of'. Next the sign UB with its understood meaning: the four points
of the compass. Then the loom sign, which suggests the to and fro activity of the shuttle.

Finally two uncertain ovals, jars or leaves (?).
The second group is a new version of the Swastika. Four legs point again at the four corners
of the compass. The meaning is emphasized by two hands or arms, one right, one left, one
up, one down, which leave no doubt as to the general sense of orientation.

The third group, which is used frequently in the inscriptions following, is not so easily
explained. Its general outline is, in the main, a cross with unequal branches round a central
circle. A vertical pole cuts cross and circle in two, and horizontal bars with dentils further
divide the cross into four unequal parts. The two larger opposite quarters enclose a leg,
one pointing up, one pointing down. At the four corners of the cross are sometimes stars or
hands, and here leaves (?).

All three groups are variants of the wind-rose, made of four elements or pictographs, equal
or in pairs, alternately up and down, which find their best interpretation in the historical
title: lugal an-ub-da tab-tab-ba or shar kissati, 'king of the whole world'. One must quote here
the mitre of the gods with four pairs of horns, sign of their supreme power; and the famous
river which 'went out of Eden to water the garden and from thence was parted and became
four heads', may by analogy derive some light from the Sumerian pictography.

Orientation seems to be a key to many archaic concepts besides the Swastika.The names of most of the Sumerian cities are written with the pictograph of the abodesign
AB, like a major A-often surmounted by the emblem of the locally worshipped power,also with the great pole with cross-bars-sign nun-which we see on the Louvre fragment,
No. 8842.

Larsa is the city of the rising sun, Der the city of the snake, Uruk the city of the
evening star. There is a city of the spread eagle. The great pole is the sign of Eridu, and also,
when surmounted by the sign of the rising sun, of Adab.

We may have here the seal of a ruler of Southern Mesopotamia considerably older than
Queen Shub-ad.

[sheshki]

the signs for Eridu

1. EdI-II ...The great pole is the sign of Eridu...

2. EdIII line 5 lugal eridu{ki}-ra cdli.ucla.edu/search/result.pt?id_text=P222538&start=100&result_format=single&-op_id_text=eq&size=100

1. 2.

--------------------------------------------------------------------


the signs for...i guess Kish

3. EdI-II ....The 'abode' pictograph with a double buckle on one side, perhaps uri, the
city of Ur... but, if you compare to 4. they look kinda similar to me...

4. Kish EdIII cdli.ucla.edu/search/result.pt?id_text=P222742&start=0&result_format=single&-op_id_text=eq&size=100 (check line art)

3. 4.

anyone on this board who knows more about this...amarsin???

[sheshki]

i just came across these two signs in Legrains book

both signs are named as "probably Ur" , but i guess 1. is Kish maybe and 2. is Ur

1. 2.

1. is from picture 401/Legrain



and 2. is from 400/Legrain

[sheshki]

Ack, now while i look over my previous post i realise that the star or rosette (2) belongs to the sign left to the "?kish?" sign on 401





ah, well....

[us4-he2-gal2]

This week I am reading from 'A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 B.C." by Marc Van De Mieroop (2007). (See eisenbrauns entry here) This is an excellent publication and one could take alot from Van de Mieroops insight - for the present I have selected a few comments which will add something to the consideration of city seals..

First there are a few comments which orientate the discussion, followed by the topic of seals themselves. So some patience may be required.

Early Political Alliances

Van de Mieroop on Early City States and Politics/

The author on page 46 -48 has given some discussion on the development of Kingship in Sumer, and the rise of the e2-gal (the palace). He explains that with the expansion of the zone of influence of early city-states, competition for remaining lands led to intra-city wars over agricultural land. Van de Mieroop states however, that despite the rising competition, or perhaps because of it, there was at the same time a "process of centralization of power" resulting in what was in effect "Political alliances whose participants agreed to accept the authority of an outsider"


The King of Kish as leader and authority of an "alliance"/

As an example of this van de Mieroop gives an early text from Lagash: Lagash and Umma had consistent border disputes in Early Dynastic times, and from a document attributed to one King Enmetena of Lagash, we get an accounting of this. Evidently, the Lagashities believed that Enlil had in the distant past drawn up the border between Lagash and Umma, and again the same account acknowledges that in historic times the border had beem established by Mesalim in about 2600 BC - Mesalim who was a king of Kish:


extract from the account of King Enmetana

---

Enlil, king of the lands, father of the gods, upon his firm command
drew the border between Ningirsu and Shara.¹
Mesalim, king of Kish, at the command of (the god) Ishtaran,
measured the field and placed a stele.
Ush, ruler of Umma, acted arrogantly.
He ripped out the stele, and marched unto the plain of Lagash.

---

¹ (read "Lagash" and "Umma")



So here we have a Lagashite king who refers to the authority of an outsider, a king of Kish, and infers that this authority should arbitrate between his own state and that of Umma; in addition, the author notes that a ceremonial macehead bearing the name of Meslim has been found at Lagash and another inscription in as far away as Adab bears his name as well, in concert with the local ruler of that city..

(Ceremonial macehead of Mesilim, AO 2349, See Lourve entry)

The author asks why this title carried such prestige? He answers: "It is highly unlikely that it would confer full control of Babylonia and that the other city-rulers whose inscriptions we read were merely dependents of a dynasty of Kish. States like the well documented Lagash do not seem to have been subject to any outsider. The king of Kish's power seems to have derived from some kind of coalition in the region. Backed by a certain military might (remember that Eannatum became king of Kish only after defeating several neighbors), the king of Kish has an authority that was regionally accepted."


More than one coalition?/


An essential observation made at this point is this: Because of the urban competition, the fights between city states in that time, "cities grouped themselves in various coalitions in order to stand up to one another". "Various coalitions", as Van De Mieroop is able to observe more then one such coalition , there is that which is under the king of Kish and apparently there were others which have been noted:

(The KI.EN.GI coalition?)

- The author mentions that another coalition is attested from reading the administrative texts from Shuruppak ca. 2500 BC. These texts refer to soldiers from Ur, Adab, Nippur, Lagash and Umma stationed at a locality named KI.EN.GI (this later became the name of all southern Babylonia.)

(The Lagash/Umma/Adab Coalition?)

- From the same corpus of texts, can be seen apparently another coalition, this one consisting just Lagash, Umma and Adab. It is noted that this coalitions were disrupted by the border disputes of Lagash and Umma.

More on City Seals

About The City Seals we don't know about yet/


The author now discusses City seals and their cultural context. First, he mentions some earlier seals we have not yet discovered at enenuru:

"There also existed, however, an overarching sense of religious unity that joined the cities of Babylonia together in war and peace. This is already attested around 3000, when multiple cities had just developed, and not surprisingly the oldest urban center, Uruk, played a prominent role in it. The existence of collective cult practices centered on Uruk is suggested by a group of seal impressions on tablets and lumps of clay, which display symbols that render the names of several other cities. Seal impressions on tablets from the Jemdat Nasr period (3100-2900) show a fixed sequence of city-symbols, including those of Ur, Larsa, Zabalam, Urum, Arina, and probably Kesh. It is likely that the tablets reported contributions made to the goddess Inanna or Uruk, and that the inhabitants of various cities supported her cult. "


About the City Seals we know (see above)/

"In the slightly later Early Dynastic I levels of Ur, a large number of sealings were found, giving somewhat different combinations of city-symbols and often combined with the rosette symbol of Inanna. These had been mostly used to lock doors, indicating a storeroom in Ur had been set aside to contain materials for her cult."

---

Going forward: The earliest City seals were from a few hundred years prior to the ones we know of from Ur, which in fact date to the ED I period. These early seals apparently differed in some details with the ones we have, and though it is not stated, I am perceiving that their find-spot was Uruk (must find publications which will offer these!) Also, according to van de Mieroop, these earlier seals demonstrated the cultural influence of Uruk on other cities coming into maturation.. This does not mean political coalition however despite the preceding discussion.

[ummia-inim-gina]

I'm also a fan of Marc Van De Mieroop's works he is always the skeptic and doesn't make as many assumptions as a lot of other scholars do. If you enjoy that one, I would recommend checking out his biography on the life of Hammurabi, also put out by Blackwell. It is a short read but it has a lot of great insights on the early Old Babylonian period.

[sheshki]

Aug 8, 2008 11:57:36 GMT -5 us4-he2-gal2 said:

(The KI.EN.GI coalition?)

- The auther mentions that another coalition is attested from reading the administrative texts from Shuruppak ca. 2500 BC. These texts refer to soldiers from Ur, Adab, Nippur, Lagash and Umma stationed at a locality named KI.EN.GI (this later became the name of all southern Babylonia.)

wow, thats very interesting. never heard of a place called KI.EN.GI before.
yesterday i read in Fischers Weltgeschichte 2, ancient near east kingdoms 1, that there was only one ruler found so far that used the titel En of sumer, En Ki-En-Gi.
it was Enshakushanna, king of Uruk in EdIII times (end of 25th century the book says).

cdli.ucla.edu/search/result.pt?id_text=P222884&start=0&result_format=single&-op_id_text=eq&size=100 line 3

today i started to translate parts of the chapter "Herrschertitel, Herrschaftsformen und soziale Verhältnisse in der frühdynastischen Zeit" the text i want to translate is about the titels lugal, ensi and en... that will keep me buisy for a while......translating stuff is not my favorit thing to do...right ush ban ban ... i know...

[us4-he2-gal2]

I just got the book, Riches Hidden in Secret Places: Ancient Near East Studies in Memory of Thorkild Jacobsen and in it is an article called Archaic City Seals and the Question of Early Babylonian Unity by Piotr Steinkeller - Very exciting

Will have to review and post on it Sat. or Sun. Since I've scheduled Music and Krispijn in for Fri. And today am thinking on KAR 44 but am already late! dammit.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Reviewing: Archaic City Seals and the Question of Early Babylonian Unity

(Steinkeller backs an old idea with older seals!)

In this article Piotr Steinkeller looks again to the question of the Archaic City Seals. His article appears in the volume "Riches Hidden in Secret Places" and is a tribute to Thorkild Jacobsen and at the same time a re-examination of one of Jacobsen's key observations.


History of Interpretation/


Steinkeller begins:

"As is so often the case in matters early Mesopotamian, it is to Jacobsen that we owe the first cogent argument for the existence, in the late prehistoric through the Early dynastic periods, of a supra city-state institution that united all Sumer into a single political and religious body. According to Jacobsen, this hypothetical institution - dubbed by him the "Kengir League" - was centered around the city of Nippur, which served as the league's meeting place, as well as the religious capital of all Sumer."

(For a small introduction to Jacobsen's idea of Kengir league,
see reply #1 on the Tension between Eridu and Nippur thread, under heading "Influence of Nippur" .)


Steinkeller: "Part of the evidence adduced by Jacobsen in support of his proposal was a group of "puzzling jar sealings" from archaic Ur, which bear multiple depictions of city names. [note: the city seals from Legrain 1933.] As Jacobsen reasoned, "since such collective sealings imply collective responsibility for the goods sent under the seal we may see in them evidence of official deliveries to Ur by groups of cities, a feature most easily understandable in terms of a league of cities such as the Kengir League. An obvious parallel is the bala deliveries of later times."

The author adds that ten years after Jacobsen had made these claims another "collective city seal" was found in Jemdat Nasr. In addition a tablet bearing the same seal has been found from outside Jemdat Nasr. By "collective city seal" it is meant one seal that depicts the names of numerous cities - this collective seal appears on numerous tablets dating to the Uruk III period. Scholars it seems, have largely continued with Jacobsen's original proposals about the Ur seals, and see them as evidence of a cooperative institutionalized grouping for the most part.
However, Steinkeller relates that there have been several objections to this interpretation of the Ur City Seals, Michalowski for example, feels that it is unnecessary to read political meanings from them, because they may just be interpreted on grounds of economic function alone: they may just have served to assist with the routing of goods with no other implication. So, given that there may be some ambiguity in interpretation despite Jacobsen's long standing idea's, Steinkeller desires to reach a better understanding.



Re-examination of the Seals/

---

Primary Publication: MSVO 4 15
Museum number: VAT 5296
CDLI #: P005417
Provenance: URUM
Note: For context read below. Contains the URUK III seal impression, identifiable cities are: Ur (Urim₂), Larsa (UD.UNUG), Zabalam (MUŠ₃.UNUG) , Urum₂(UR₂. ḫa."RAD"), BU.BU.NA₂ and probably Kesh.

---

Steinkeller's first step is to exclude Legrain's Ur City Seals from direct consideration "since they only survive on jar sealings, which is not enough to determine the nature of the administrative context in which they functions." However, he see's the early Uruk III seal differently (pictured above) because "it is impressed on inscribed tablets, whose contents might potentially elucidate the background of the respective traditions."

Turning to the Uruk III seal which depicts numerous city names or "toponyms", this same seal is found on numerous tablets from Jemdat Nasr, and Steinkeller is keen to point out, that same seal is on another tablet which turns out to be from ancient Urum (not to be confused with Urim = Ur.)

Those from Jemdat Nasr: MSVO 1, 161, 163, 166-70, 172-74, 176, 178, 180

From Urum: MSVO 4, 15

The author uses his insight on toponyms, city names, to reassert that MSVO 4, 15 DOES in fact come from Urum (which had be overlooked elsewhere) and proceeds with his idea to re examine the text on that tablet and the others and to attempt to contextualize the seals also present. He notes that both the tablets from Jemdat Nasr that have the seal, and the one from Urum, both inscribe lists of the same products: figs, apples, wine (or grape/raisins), and a certain fish product. Whats more, the final column of the tablets being compared contain notations which are basically parallel. In Jemdat Nasr these read:

NI.RU Inanna/Dingir 3 Unug

In the Urum text it reads:

Ur2. ḫA."RAD" MAHxNA dingir 3 PAP Unug



Steinkeller offers a new interpretation of these notations, and suggests for Inanna/dingir 3 Unug, a translation of "triple Inanna/deity of Uruk." This he says is representative of the three forms of Inanna to whom offerings were regularly made in archaic Uruk: Inanna ḫúd(UD), "morning Inanna," Inanna s i g, "evening Inanna," and Inanna NUN, "princely Inanna."
His interpretation as given for these lines is this then:

(Jemdat Nasr)
x commodities (issued by) the city of NI.RU (= ancient Jemdat Nasr) for the triple Inanna/deity of Uruk

(Urum)
x commodities (issue by) the city of Urum for the triple Inanna/deity of Uruk.


Basically, these tablets contained lists of food items which the notations in the last column tell us were meant to be offering items for Inanna in Uruk.




The function of the seal itself/


Finally, Steinkeller offers this wonderful suggestion for how the seal came to be affixed to the offering list tablets (I have made small notes in sqaure brackets to break down his comments):

"How are we to explain the function of this seal, in the light of information provided by the Jemdet Nasr and [Urum] documents?
As the later sealing practice had it, sealed documents were almost invariably receipts for movables, with the recipient acting as a sealing party."

[meaning, the one who took the goods left HIS seal on the list-tablet , which acted as proof, as receipt, that the exchange took place.]

"Such receipts would be deposited among the records of the issuing party, to serve as proofs of expenditures."

[the one to make the offerings to Uruk keep the list-tablet, along with the collectors seal - like a signature - as proof of their offering]

"Such records would be deposited among the records of the issuing party, to serve as proofs of expenditures. If, as seems highly likely, the documents considered here are receipts as well, we would have to assume that the city seal identified the recipient of the foodstuffs destined as offerings for Inanna of Uruk. In other words, that person or persons acted as an official collector of such offerings. Since the seal is impressed on tablets both from [Jemdat Nasr and Urum], this necessarily means that [the seals] "owner" was based outside of either of these two cities, and that he represented therefore, some supra city-state institution...
.. As the facts can best be reconstructed, a representative of that institution traveled to [Jemdat Nasr] and Urum, collected the offerings for Inanna, and left behind receipts sealed with his official seal."


Conclusions/


Steinkeller says these observations, if correct, would suggest an arrangement or "organization" in which different cities (perhaps some or all of the the ones represent in the seal itself) are obligated to prepare offerings for Uruk, to be collected and confirmed by the receipt list-tablet and sealing. This places Uruk as the focus and beneficiary of the system, which given Uruk's prominence in the Uruk III period is "precisely the situation one might expect."
Because of the accompanying text on the Uruk III seal examples, Steinkeller is able to assert such an intra-city arrangement although if we remember that Jacobsen's Kengir-league is somewhat reliant on the Ur city-seals, it may be of some concern that these lack any accompanying text (being jar-lid seals mostly.) However, Steinkeller is ultimately supportive and concludes:

"With all due caution, it may be suggested that the"organization" thus reconstructed was an antecedent of the later "Kengir League." Although that amphictyonic organization remains a largely hypothetical construct, it would seem likely that, as indicated by the Ur III data pertaining to the so-called bala institution, its focus was the city of Nippur and its chief deity Enlil. This leads us to the unavoidable conclusion that, sometime in the beginning of the Early Dynastic period, the original Urukian organization underwent a dramatic transformation, by which its focal point was transferred from Uruk to Nippur. Such a development appears to be entirely plausible, for there exists independent evidence of the rise, roughly at that time, of Enlil to the position of the head of the Sumerian pantheon, which was concomitant with the decline of the importance of the cults of Enki and Inanna. Undoubtedly, this religious transformation reflected political changes which had taken place either at the end of the Uruk period or at the very beginning of the Early Dynastic times: the ascendance of the city of Kish and its region to power, as a result of which the center of gravity of Babylonian politics had moved from the area of Uruk and Eridu to the region of Nippur This brings us, finally, to the issue of the city sealings from Ur, which provided some of the inspiration for Jacobsen's "Kengir League." In light of what we now know about the Uruk III seal, it will not be unreasonable to assume that these sealings attest to a similar arr`angement of amphictyonic nature. But around which particular city and cult did this arrangement center? The fact that the sealings seem to date to the ED I period should probably favor the choice of Nippur, since it is likely that, already then, Nippur enjoyed the status of religious capital of Babylonia. But without any corroborating evidence, this whole question must remain open for now."

[us4-he2-gal2]

The Kesh city seal, Omega sign, and En2 as in en2-e2-nu-ru

Omega sign from Babylonian Kudurru, B/W entry.

Black and Green's entry for OMEGA:



"A symbol approximating in form to an upright or inverted capital Greek letter omega, but with a number of minor variations, is the first attested on an impression from an Early Dynastic seal, and is represented commonly from the Old Babylonian to the Neo-Babylonian Periods. It has variously been interpreted by modern-commentators as a representation of weighing-scales, the yoke of a chariot-pole, a comet, a large horned quadruped, a head-bad, a wig, the bands used to swaddle a baby or as the uterus. Supporters of the last two suggestions usually connect the symbol with the mother goddess Ninhursaga, or with Nintu.. Some Isin-Larsa or Old Babylonian Period plaques of clay with moulded relief show a goddess (probably Nintu) flanked by inverted 'omega' motifs beneath which sit human forms resembling newborn babies, as if newly emerged from the womb...."




Steinkeller's note 27 from Archaic City Seals and the Question of Early Babylonian Unity....



First the Kesh city seal from Jemdat Nasr and Urum in the Uruk period is discussed[/i]:

[/center]


"27. This toponym was interpreted by M. Lambert, RA 64 (1970): 189, as either Umma or Akshak. Identification with Kesh was suggested by Green, ASJ 8 (1986)L 77. Matthews, MSVO 2, 34-35, analyzes the grapheme in question as "two signs, perhaps the jar with lid." The "jar" is more likely a "womb," related formally to the "omega" symbol of Ninhursag = uterus with ovaries, for which see J. Black and A. Green, Gods, demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia (Austin, 1992), 146-47. The second sign is probably ŠU₂ (= ZATU-534).
This writing is conceivably a precusor of KEŠ₃, which unquestionably appears on several Ur sealings.."



Next, the Kesh city seal found at Early Dynastic Ur is discussed:

In this form, the seal appear to be termed "KEŠ₃"

(it appears on the Ur seals..) "either in its complete form EN₂(=ŠU₂+AN)).ŠAG₄ .. or defectively as AN.ŠAG₄.. A possible meaning of the latter logogram is en₂ "incantation" (Akk. šiptu) + ŠAG₄ "womb" i.e. "the one of womb/birth incantations," referring to Ninmah/Ninhursag, the goddess of Kesh..."

In sum, Steinkeller says that the Kesh seal from the Uruk III period is likely the precursor to that we see in Ur in the ED period, and that, in the later occurrence of the seal especially a reading is possible EN2 + ŠAG₄ - how is it he says that this should be read with EN2? If we remember what the word en2-e-nu-ru looks like:

This first part of this is EN2 - the wedge and the AN sign (like a star). Now if you turn this vertically, doesn't it look just like the top part of the Kesh city seal from Ur? Therefore, some experts, after identifying the below parts as ŠAG₄, are able to say incantation-womb, and associate Ninhursaga who is said to know the birth incantations, and whose city was Kesh.

[us4-he2-gal2]

______________________________________




Matthews on the City Seals



__________________

In the following post I will review the scholarship of Roger J. Matthews in Cities, Seals, and Writing: Archaic Seal Impressions from Jemdat Nasr and Ur (1993). This is from the second volume of the series MSVO (Materialien zud den Fruehen Schriftzeugnissen des Vorderen Orients), ISBN 3-7871-1686-5. Following the publishing of many seals from Jemdat Nasr in MSVO I, Matthews undertakes to exam the context and possible administrative role of many of these tablets - because some of the best examples of the city seal formulas come from Jemdat Nasr, the author gives a significant discussion of these seal types in section two of the book.

Matthews discussion is now one of the fundamental resources for the study of these items - such an obscure and focused book had been out of my reach but the libraries of Toronto are better resources than I've known elsewhere. To start with a review of our earlier discussion then...





Reviewing Mesopotamian City Seals
^{______________________________________}





Because it has been some time since this thread has progressed, I will sum up what we have observed above. In the course of reading, it's become clear that there are two essential sources from these city seals:

[/color]1. The Early Dynastic period seals from Ur (published Leon Legrain 1931); these are mainly found on clay sealings on objects like jar lids, hence they are hard to contextualize in the sense of who owned these seals and what were they doing when using them.
[/li][li]2. Jemdat Nasr seal impressions from the Jemdat Nasr period; these are impressions from one large seal which contained numerous different cities devices - they were pressed onto tablets and the contents of the tablet indicate the holder of the seal was an administrative functionary. Hence the earlier examples at least indicate the seals were used by city administrators.



In posts 1-5, we noted:



[/li][li]1. The basic shapes of the city seals from Ur.
[/li][li]2. That the Geographic names (the way cuneiform names are written in texts) seem to be direct adaptations of the older way of representing cities in seal imagery - the formula is DN + UNU (divine name plus UNU/AB (a sign that seems to be present in the seals as a structure or temple like shape representing the divine abode or cella. Exceptions to this formula exist such as the Eridu seal.)



In post 6 the insights of van die Mieroop were noted, this author gives insight into:



[/li][li] 1. The political league theory of early Mesopotamia
[/li][li] 2. some specific perspective on the Jemdat Nasr seals; do they represent evidence for intra-city cultic worship of Inanna? This may imply a political league.



In post 10, the insights on Steinkeller were noted, this author gives insight into:



[/li][li] 1. The political league theory of early Mesopotamia; Steinkeller explains that part of Jacobsen's original idea that there were leagues of cities at this time derives from the Ur city seals themselves.
[/li][li] 2. While he excludes the Ur seals since they are found on jar lids and things that can't easily be contextualized; however, his examination of the Jemdat Nasr seals reinforces Jacobsen's original idea's by interpretation that the seal was used by officials from Uruk who would go around to subordinate cities and collect offerings for the Inanna temple: the seal served as a mark of receipt.

[/li][/ul]
^{______________________________________}












Matthews 1993: In the following reading, sections highlighting new perspective for enenuru will be titled in red.



A) The Ancient Cities from Another Angle: Early Lexical Lists

An interesting way to contextualize the archaic cities represented by the various city seals is to compare them with the list of cities given in the lexical lists - something we haven't done yet at enenuru but that Matthews makes an example of on pg. 39. The lexical list of geographical names (cites or parts of cities) can be found in texts as early as the archaic texts from Uruk, and relevant series of tablets, each containing an (often) fragmented piece of the 88 city list, is treated by Englund and Nissen in ATU 3 ("Die lexikalischen Listen der archaischen Texte aus Uruk"). It is possible to view some of the items from this book at CDLI, under their listing for plate 77; the complete transliteration is available at DCCLT.

As K. R. Veenhof mentions in his review of Matthews (Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 1994), the archaic Uruk lexical list of cities is represented as well in an Early Dynastic era version - in both the first 10 cities listed are virtually the same, and so scholars have used the ED list to fill in slots 6 and 7, which are missing on the earlier version. The ED list can be found at DCCLT; an authoritative treatment is D.R. Frayne, "The Early Dynastic Geographical List of City Names," AOS 74, 1992.

What's important for our reading here is the order of the cities given on the Archaic list - it's interesting where they correspond the cities represented in the early city seals. The best version of the lexical city list is found in Matthews work, pg. 38, and I have reproduced it here. The archaic lexical list of cities is:

1. Ur
2. Nippur
3. Larsa
4. Uruk
5. Kesh
6. Zabala
7. Eresh
8. Gaburra
9. UR₂ KU_6a RAD_a
10. SHIM_a RAD_a

B) Matthews on the Uruk city seals (previously undiscussed at enenuru)

New to our consideration of Archaic city seals will be a small number of city seal exemplars from archaic Uruk which Matthews treats - while these sealings had been published as early as the 1930s, Matthews discussion is the first to attempt to identify the cities depicted.

The best example from Uruk is represented by the drawing in UVB 4, pl. 15g , pictured here at CDLI. The author identifies the signs in this way - 1st: EN over KID = Nippur. 2nd: U₄ of AB = Larsa. 3rd: UNUG = Uruk. 4th: a DUG₃ element for Kesh. He says the signs in the lower row aren't as discernible but there may be an "edinnu" motif below the UNUG. So the cities are:

1. Nippur
2. Larsa
3. Uruk
4. Kesh.

C) Matthews on the City Seals from previously discussed on enenuru (from Jemdat Nasr and Ur)



the Jemdat Nasr seal/

As has been noted in our above reading, the relevant Jemdat Nasr material is actually a collection of thirteen tablets which have been impressed by the exact same seal device, a seal containing the representations of numerous cities.


The Seal Imagery on Jemdat Nasr Seal/

Because the actual seals which make these impressions have never been recovered, its necessary to rely on the impressions themselves... the fact that scholars have been able to produce a nice composite drawing like this is all the more amazing when you see the tiny little scraps of impression they have to work with on the following tablets: MSVO 161, 163, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 176, 178, 180 (click for the relevant CDLI entry).

In describing the above mentioned composite drawing, Matthews names each item from left to right: 1st: Uri_3a + AB_a = Ur. 2nd: AB_a surmounted by U₄ = Larsa. 3rd: EN_a followed by part of a NUN = Nibru (see explanation below.) 4th: AB_a.gunû = UNUG/Uruk. 5th: jar and lid = Kesh? 6th: MUŠ_3a + AB_a = Zabala. 7th = unidentified (AB plus bird with outstretched wings?) 8th = unidentified (perhaps a NIR_a combination 9th = unidentified; unknown archaic sign BU_a +BU_a+NA_2a. 10th is read by Lambert as Ku'ara.


The Textual evidence on the City Sealed Tablets from Jemdat Nasr/

Matthews describes the types of texts found on the tablets that have been sealed - typically the texts are on the obverse and the seal on the reverse. The texts tend to be short lists of items, sexigesimally counted, and seem to be agricultural products such as dried fruits or grape products - they have been interpreted lists of offerings. (This is in line with Steinkeller's later extrapolation that an official from Uruk was the seal bearer, a seal which he used to mark tablet lists of offerings as proof of receipt).






Summing sequence of cities from A), B) and C) so far, the following chart from Matthews underlines the inherent similarities in the order of the cities:

Comments on the Ur City Seals/

Because the nature of the city seals from Ur are less conclusive to an investigation of the use of the seals overall (because they are found on clay sealings on jar lids etc. rather than tablets with textual information) I will keep this section shorter. Matthews examined the drawings of the seals found in Legrain and found them lacking - he uses entirely new drawings from the tablets in his own edition. Some interesting points made are:

- certain seals appear often next to each other: Kesh and Adab, Ur and Nippur, Nippur and Larsa. Matthews believes this may correspond to shared canals and water routes of archaic times.
- Matthews agrees with Legrain about the edinnu as fertile plain, is puzzled by the "cross" figures, but makes the suggestion that the UB sign in fact may represent Jemdat Nasr itself - this is based on the fact that excavations have uncovered spindle whorls, painted pots and tablets with the UB sign from that site.




Conclusions/


Matthews concludes by reflecting on the material collected - on noting again that the earliest sources give "an almost perfect agreement in the sequences in which city are listed," he states that this clearly indicates "an intimacy of contact across the limits of southern Mesopotamia from Uruk to Jemdat Nasr" and this is
perfectly in line with the common material culture across these areas that archaeologists have noted.

Formal intra-city relationships predate writing: "One indication is perhaps that at their first appearance we find the archaic city lists in use in no less than three different modes of communication - as seal impressions on inscribed tablets at Jemdat Nasr, as inscribed signs on tablets at Uruk and as seal impressions on door or container sealings also at Uruk. "

What does the sequence of cities mean?: While Matthews has demonstrated that the sequence of early cities - Ur, Nippur, Larsa, Uruk, Kesh, Zabala - is almost identical in the early lists and in the early seals, the significance of this sequence is elusive: "as pointed out by Green (1977. 294), the sequence of cities..makes
no apparent geographic sense.." Furthermore the archaeology makes the issue even more confusing (Uruk occupied an area of 400 hectors and occupies 4th place, while Ur in those times occupied a space of some 50 hectors and is listed first..). Interestingly, Matthews here chooses to back an old suggestion in order to combat the impass: "Jacobsen has mentioned the possibility that many of the oldest city names incorporate totemic elements and are likely to have represented central shrines and meeting places for tribal groupings of settled and nomadic peoples (Jacobsen apud Adams 1981, xiv), and it may be that the
relative importance of these prehistoric centers, within an established pantheon, is enshrined in the surviving city lists. It is in any case clear that the name of an archaic Mesopotamian city and its respective deity/temple are intimately connected throughout the course of Mesopotamian history."

Although he turns to Jacobsen's explanation of a religious/tribal relationship for the sequence of cities as it appears in the early sources, he sees the reason for a close cooperation of cities at this time to have been necessitated by the same political or military pressures that lead to an increased urbanization from the
late Uruk period heading into Early Dynastic periods - in other words, threats from foreign peoples and the like likely caused the sort of "leagues" scholars can almost name, and the increased urbanization alike. And so for Matthews, "the formal basis for this cooperation is likely, therefore, to have been military and defensive albeit rooted, perhaps, in an already existing religious and ritual framework."







Directions for further reading: I'd like to get my hands on Jacobsen's theories for Tribal groupings.

[sheshki]

from:
The Metamorphosis of Enlil in Early Mesopotamia, Xianhua Wang, 2011
Part I: EN.KID in the Archaic Texts
1.1.1 EN_x+KID_x^?!.NUN_x^? on the Archaic City Seal

The Archaic City Seal refers specifically to the undiscovered seal that produced the impression reconstructed from the twelve tablets from Jemdet Nasr and one from Tell Uqair. The unknown original seal was likely to have a convex girth with a diameter of 4.93cm, therefore of considerable size. The original seal cutter must have cut the signs to have the correct orientation and sequence on the seal face so that when it was rolled across the tablet surfaces a mirror image of the scene would be produced. This practice of sealing is in clear contrats to that of later times when seal inscriptions were generally written in reverse thus producing a true image when rolled.

[sheshki]

Jul 22, 2008 12:55:14 GMT -5 us4-he2-gal2 said:

HERBST9 (10:02:19 PM): that unu at 415 and 415 looking like towers in water to me
HERBST9 (10:03:02 PM): also on the next page
HERBST9 (10:03:08 PM): here it looks more like water
dvldeedz (10:10:31 PM): Im not sure - about the kish seal here. What is water like about it? ;p
HERBST9 (10:11:05 PM): i mean the unu signs
HERBST9 (10:11:21 PM): that unu at 415 and 415 looking like towers in water to me
HERBST9: also on the next page
HERBST9: here it looks more like water
dvldeedz (10:11:33 PM): k
dvldeedz (10:12:13 PM): oh it see!
dvldeedz (10:12:35 PM): Yes the lines at the bottom of the Unu - at the very base - seem to be wavy, like in water

HERBST9 (10:13:46 PM): yes







dvldeedz (10:13:49 PM): you see the designs beside the UNU's - on 416 and 417
dvldeedz (10:14:11 PM): They have wavy lines like water to - if we figure out wht those designs are, it may tell us if they have to do with water
HERBST9 (10:14:59 PM): "Pictographic inscription. The edinnu. The signs of Ur (?), Uruk (?), the spread eagle, the
rising sun of Adab, jars, animal head (?)."
dvldeedz (10:15:19 PM): edinnu?





HERBST9 (10:15:23 PM): "A pictographic fragment. We find here the first traces of a new composite sign, clearer on
other impressions (cf. Nos. 459, 461), often associated with the Swastika and which, for convenience sake,'we will call the edinnu, the fertile plain. It is essentially a field enclosed right
and left by semicircular lines and divided by vertical and zigzag lines into compartments which form two horns at the top and two at the bottom, or even more. All the free space within is
filled with dentils-the gunu system of the scribes-which means solid ground."
HERBST9 (10:15:30 PM): thats for 412
dvldeedz (10:15:39 PM): ahhhhh
HERBST9 (10:15:44 PM): yes
HERBST9 (10:15:48 PM): books are fun
dvldeedz (10:15:53 PM): haha - As we were suspecting - edinnu = the fertile plain?
dvldeedz (10:16:04 PM): Theres on the fertiles plain, there are canals, and water
HERBST9 (10:16:10 PM): yes
HERBST9 (10:16:48 PM): so maybe those temples were sourrounded by water
dvldeedz (10:16:53 PM): Therefore the Unu were included with base in water - in fresh water, the abzu or the fresh water

[/center][/quote]



In the book below i found some interesting information concerning the above discussed UNU signs with the wavey lines at the bottom.



from: Mesopotamia, the invention of the city
by Gwendolyn Leick
Chapter 1, Eridu, creating the first city p.2/3

This placement meant that ancient Eridu had immediate access to the three widely different modes of subsistence: farming, nomadic pastoralism and fishing. Most importantly, however, the city commanded its own ecosystem, since it was built upon a hillock within a depression about twenty feet below level of the surrounding land, which allowed the subterranean waters to collect together. This swampy place can still become a sizeable lake in the month of high water. The earliest Mesopotamian texts, from the early third millennium, underline the importance of this lagoon. In Sumerian this was known as the abzu (in Akkadian Apsû). In the almost rainless southern regions, the most obvious and crucial manifestations of water was the abzu. At Eridu, so the texts say, it surrounded the religious centre and became synonymous with it.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Sheshki -




Quite an interesting suggestion here - although Eridu and the Abzu are often brought up in the context of the myths, Leick's comment here is quite interesting. It's somewhat unusual that people bother to compare cultic reality with the actual geological features such as the topography of the site of Eridu. But it's natural that there is some relation there.


As for the water underneath the UNU sign, the suggest that that these may relate to the Abzu is plausible - we know that the UNU structure symbolized the gods abode, and numerous Mesopotamian temples throughout Sumer had water basins, symbolic of the Abzu at Eridu. Therefore, it would not be surprising if the water represented in the UNU designs was indeed reflecting the influence of Eridu on the divine abode.

[darkl2030]

Steinkeller offers a new interpretation of these notations, and suggests for Inanna/dingir 3 Unug, a translation of "triple Inanna/deity of Uruk." This he says is representative of the three forms of Inanna to whom offerings were regularly made in archaic Uruk: Inanna ḫúd(UD), "morning Inanna," Inanna s i g, "evening Inanna," and Inanna NUN, "princely Inanna."

I'm replying to quite an old post here, but I thought I'd add some important information. Steinkeller himself told me the other day that he no longer interprets the above-mentioned archaic spelling as Inanna NUN "princely Inanna," but instead he is "quite sure" that it is to be interpreted as "Inanna KUR," Inanna of the Netherworld, i.e. when Inanna has set below the horizon and is in her invisible phase.

[sheshki]

From: Non-Textuality in the Ancient Near East

Klaus Wagensonner, 2009


§ 2.2 The so-called City seal-impression
In the Uruk III-(resp. Jamdat Nasr-)period (roughly 3000 BC) and the ensuing Ur I period
we have much evidence concerning a specific seal-impression which is inter
alia found on administrative texts with a specific content. The designs of that seal
impressions which have to be reconstructed based on many fragmentary impressions,
differ considerably from other contemporaneous pictorial scenes (figs. 8b-c). Roger
Matthews compared them most thoroughly with a very important lexical list containing
geographical designations, called Cities (1993). In Matthews’ opinion, the city
seal impression correlates almost perfectly to the arrangement of entries in the contemporaneous
lexical account (fig. 8a). But recently that interpretation was questioned
by Piotr Steinkeller, whose arguments against the seal’s dependency on the list are
persuasive. He quotes, “Whereas the city seal attested to a specific political situation,
limited to a particular time and place, the geographical list served as an exhaustive
scholarly catalogue of all the major ‘Sumerian’ cities, arranged hierarchically according
to their size and importance. It is imperative, therefore, that the seal be treated
with utmost caution, since any attempt to impose readings on it could distort its
unique purpose” (2002: 255). Nonetheless, there are considerable similarities. The
pertaining seal impressions are well recognizable and collected inter alia in the 3rd
volume of the renowned series Ur Excavations published by Leon Legrain (1936).


Fig. 8a


Fig. 8 b & c

[sheshki]

This >>>LINK<<< contains many of the city seals.