“Diffusion et caractéristiques de la culture écrite d’origine hourrite dans le Proche-Orient asiatique et à Ougarit,“
in P. Bordreuil, F. Ernst-Pradal, M. G. Masetti-Rouault, H. Rouillard-Bonraisin, M. Zink (eds.)
Les écritures mises au jour sur le site antique d’Ougarit (Syrie) et leur déchiffrement
Paris: Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, pp. 157-185.
Webpage
The author presents an overview on the Hurrian texts found at Ugarit/Ras Shamra, particularly focusing on both the syllabic and alphabetical cuneiform sources (dated between the mid-3rd and the end of the 2nd millennium BC), mostly represented by religious compositions and peculiar (as well as unique) musical texts.
At the beginning of the paper (pp. 160-161), Giorgieri also offers a remark about the most ancient document in Hurrian language discovered so far: the foundation inscription of Tiš-atal, endan of Urkeš (two duplicates of the same inscription are kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris and at the Metropolitan Museum in New York). It is written on a tablet, protected by a bronze statuette in the shape of lion (also inscribed); according to Buccellati, their findspot should be envisaged in the temple of Tell Mozan (on the top of the mound), dedicated to the dKIŠ.GAL (interpreted previously as Nergal and more recently with Kumarbi). The inscription has been lastly dated to the paleo-Akkadian period, Tiš-atal reigning befor Naram-Sin of Akkad (p. 160, with n. 10).
After a general introduction on the history of the Hurrian civilization (paragraph 1) during the Early (paragraph 2), Middle and Late Bronze periods (paragraphs 3 and 4), the author offers a review of the main Hurrian texts retrieved in other sites, such as Akhetaten/El-Amarna (EA 24), Hattuša/Bogazköy, Šamu’a/Kayalipinar, Šapinuwa/Ortaköy and Emar/Meskene. A noteworthy information, is reported at p. 162: according to an interpretation given by I. Wegner (see note 20), a text datable to the Middle Bronze (Mari 7+6), quoting king Zimri-Lim, could have been a letter sent to this king by a king of Urkeš.
Paragraph 5 is devoted to the presentation of the Hurrian texts found at Ugarit: Giorgieri discusses firstly the alphabetical texts (paragraph 5.1) and then the sources in syllabic writing (paragraph 5.2), concluding with a discussion and evaluation of the polyglot vocabularies found at the site (paragraph 5.2.3).
In general, the author sheds light on the peculiar tradition of the texts from Ugarit, hinting to a “spécificité de la culture écrite ougaritique”, presenting “des traits fortement originaux” (p. 178).
The contribution ends with an open question about the scribal practices at Ugarit, a query that deserves further investigations: “Quel scribes ont composé les textes hourrites, aussi bien syllabiques qu’alphabetiques, à Ougarit? Y avait-il des scribes spécialisés dans la rédaction de ces textes, des scribes parlant hourrite ou étant bilingues?” (p. 179).
One last note has to be mentioned: at paragraph. 5.2.4 (pp. 176-177), the author also presents some considerations about a peculiar type of Hurrian texts, i.e. the “textes musicaux” (p. 178), reporting also musical notations that can be used to reconstruct the nature of the ancien Hurrian musical performances (see in detail n. 76, quoting urkesh.org as a reference for this topic).
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