La presente synthese porte sur 920 tablettes qui forment un ensemble tout a fait unique dans la documentation cuneiforme. Couvrant une periode de 33 ans, elles datent du tout debut de l'histoire politique d'Isin (regnes d'Isbi-Erra et de Su-ilisi), en un temps ou ce royaume se situe encore dans la droite ligne de la tradition d'Ur. Elles documentent l'activite d'un atelier, l'auteur montrant de facon convaincante qu'il faut comprendre gis-kin-ti comme signifiant un lieu et non pas la fonction d'artisan. Quatre branches d'activites artisanales etaient representees au sein de cet atelier: le travail du bois, du roseau et du textile. Les tablettes mettent en valeur les differentes etapes du travail, autour desquelles l'auteur construit son etude, qu'il complete par l'analyse de plusieurs titres et fonctions. Cette synthese sur l'activite des artisans d'Isin exploite d'une maniere exhaustive un exceptionnel lot d'archives.

Shulgi-simti is an important example of a woman involved in sponsoring religious activities though having a family life. An Ox of One’s Own will be of interest to Assyriologists, particularly those interested in Early Mesopotamia, and scholars working on women in religion. An Ox of One’s Own centers on the archive of a woman who died about 2050 B.C., one of King Shulgi’s many wives. Her birth name is unknown, but when she married, she became Shulgi-simti, “Suitable for Shulgi.” Attested for only about 15 years, she existed among a court filled with other wives, who probably outranked her. A religious foundation was run on her behalf whereby courtiers, male and female, donated livestock for sacrifices to an unusual mix of goddesses and gods. Previous scholarship has declared this a rare example of a queen conducting women’s religion, perhaps unusual because they say she came from abroad. The conclusions of this book are quite different. An Ox of One’s Own lays out the evidence that another woman was queen at this time in Nippur while Shulgi-simti lived in Ur and was a third-ranking concubine at best, with few economic resources. Shulgi-simti’s religious exercises concentrated on a quartet of north Babylonian goddesses.

Studying archaeological evidence from sites covering over 200 kilometres of the banks of the Euphrates River, this book explores the growth and success of human settlement in the Euphrates River Valley of Northern Syria from circa 2700 to 1550 BC.

With topics ranging from social and economic history to literature, language, and to art history and arachaeology, the essays in his book reflect the broad spectrum of interests of its honoree, Benjamin R. Foster.

Covering the period from 2500 BCE to the Byzantine Era, this volume focuses on the social history of furniture found in houses, tombs and temples as narrated through the archaeological evidence. The earliest furniture can be seen as an attempt by humans to enhance their safety, comfort and social standing but it can also offer opportunities for understanding human behavior, values and thought: fine furniture was among the most valuable of possessions in the ancient world so it expressed power, wealth and status. It was appreciated as art, used in diplomacy (both as a gift and as tribute) and recorded as booty. At the same time, its practical and ceremonial uses yield important clues about the domestic environment and daily life in antiquity, as well as revealing aspects of sacred belief and funerary practices. Drawing upon a wealth of visual and textual sources, this volume presents essays that examine key characteristics of the furniture of the period on the themes of Design and Motifs; Makers, Making, and Materials; Types and Uses; The Domestic Setting; The Public Setting; Exhibition and Display; Furniture and Architecture; Visual Representations; and Verbal Representations.