From: owner-ane To: ane-digest@oi.uchicago.edu Subject: Ancient Near East Digest V2 #60 Reply-To: Errors-To: owner-ane Precedence: bulk Ancient Near East Digest Monday, 16 January 1995 Volume 02 : Number 060 OI on-line Cheops boats Coptic vowels Sumerian phonology Kraus Reprints Re: Sumerian phonology Base for Koren TaNaKh address of Prof. W.D. Shea Re: Sumerian phonology News from Luxor (long) Arch. news from Lebanon Herodotus and the Bible TELA Fwd: Mesopotamian Directory 1995 Threat to NEH (fwd) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: cejo@midway.uchicago.edu (Charles E. Jones) Date: Fri, 13 Jan 95 15:54:47 CST Subject: OI on-line Thanks to John Sanders, the first component of the the most recent Oriental Institute Annual Report (1993-1994) [hard copy version sent to members of the OI in November 1994] is now available via WWW. The on-line version of this volume will eventually contain all the illustration included in the paper version. Included in this component are the incidental illustrations (mostly archival photos of early OI prjects). A full list of all new articles can be found in the Abzu What's New page at: http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/RA/ABZU/ABZU_NEW.HTML - -Chuck- ------------------------------ From: fnaerebout@tempo.nest.nl (Frits Naerebout) Date: 12 Jan 95 21:47:44 +0100 Subject: Cheops boats The ship that launched a thousand mails... Very many thanks for the large number of answers to my question about the Cheops boats: I can definitely help along the model ship builder on whose behalf I bothered you all. And I have been inspired to read up on this myself (if I can find the time: far too much inspiration of this kind!). Frederick Naerebout Dutch Open university fnaerebout@tempo.nest.nl - --- timEd 1.01+ ------------------------------ From: Vincent DeCaen Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 18:22:15 -0500 (EST) Subject: Coptic vowels I'm interested what the evidence for the following is, if any: a) eta, omega interpreted as long, ie., geminate vowels: VV vs. V (or are we simply dealing with vowel quality?) b) the supralinear stroke represents the schwa vowel with nonsonorants (besides the Nubian transliteration) c) that epsilon is the notation for the actual schwa; or is rather a "default vowel" (besides alternating with the supralinear stroke) d) that the double writing of vowels represents V + glottal stop + V n.b., my main source is Lambdin's Introduction to Sahidic Coptic. ------------------------------ From: Vincent DeCaen Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 12:21:12 -0500 (EST) Subject: Sumerian phonology I haven't had the benefit of formal instruction in Sumerian, and perhaps some of my concerns would have been addressed in the classroom. But there are some curious anomalies in Sumerian grammar that beg for attention, especially in phonology. At this time, I'm really puzzled about the interpretation of the consonants. I find that all the basic pronominal, etc, suffixes are transcribed with voiced segments, e.g., -gu (1s), -zu (2s), -bi (3s,inam). Typologically this is wildly (to put it mildly) atypical. In such environments we expect contrasts to be neutralized and to get the unmarked segments (unmarked varies depending on what the phonetic nature of the contrast is; but for (un)voiced, unvoiced is unmarked). I'm wondering if it is coincidental that a typologically consistent interpretation will look somewhat Afroasiatic (esp. Egyptian)? - -gu - ku (1s) - -(d)zu - (t)su (2s) - -bi - pi (3s, inanimate) ( > f in Eg??) In passing I also note Comit. -da, modal prefixes bara, ga, "future" - -ed, verbal 3s,inan. -b-. Further, I note in the work of Nostraticists that the correspondences work better with a revised consonantal inventory for Sumerian. Just curious. ------------------------------ From: JWBAKER@ricevm1.rice.edu Date: Sun, 15 Jan 95 12:23:21 CST Subject: Kraus Reprints Could someone tell me (off-list) how to contact Kraus Reprint Co.? I have noticed that a number of American Oriental Series volumes which have gone O.P. are, according to the JAOS, "Available from Kraus Reprint Co." Unfortunately, I have no idea how you get in touch with them. If JAOS gives that information, I have yet to find it. Thank you in advance. John W. Baker Rice Univ. ------------------------------ From: Jose Rubio Pardo Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 18:34:47 -0500 Subject: Re: Sumerian phonology On Sun, 15 Jan 1995, Vincent DeCaen wrote: > At this time, I'm really puzzled about the interpretation of the > consonants. I find that all the basic pronominal, etc, suffixes are > transcribed with voiced segments, e.g., -gu (1s), -zu (2s), -bi > (3s,inam). Typologically this is wildly (to put it mildly) atypical. > In such environments we expect contrasts to be neutralized and to get > the unmarked segments (unmarked varies depending on what the phonetic > nature of the contrast is; but for (un)voiced, unvoiced is unmarked). > I'm wondering if it is coincidental that a typologically consistent > interpretation will look somewhat Afroasiatic (esp. Egyptian)? > > -gu - ku (1s) > -(d)zu - (t)su (2s) > -bi - pi (3s, inanimate) ( > f in Eg??) > > In passing I also note Comit. -da, modal prefixes bara, ga, "future" > -ed, verbal 3s,inan. -b-. > Further, I note in the work of Nostraticists that the correspondences > work better with a revised consonantal inventory for Sumerian. 1) in the 1.sg. possessive suffix -gu10, the initial /g~/ is a complex Sumerian phoneme, described either as a velar nasal (Krecher), or as a nasalized labio-velar (Jacobsen), etc. In Emesal, this /g~/ becomes an : ma.al for g~al2, dim3.me.er for dig~ir (or dingir), etc. 2) Alster thinks that might represent [sd] , but the concrete nature of the Sumerian sibilants is really obscure. 3) your "rule" on neutralization would work (as Trubetzkoy thought) ONLY in real context of neutralization, i.e. stops in final positions, where the archiphoneme (which would be represented as D for the opposition t/d) is the result of that loss of oppositional significance. 4) comitative is -da, and Ablative-Instrumental is -ta... Would you like to eliminate the clear morphological opposition between them, both in the nominal chain and in the verbal chain...? 4) the opposition voiced/voiceless is very difficult to establish in Sumerian. Actually, the writing system doesn't help us too much, and it is possible to suggest other oppositional criteria (glottalic, etc.), but with NO special reason. Regarding that "typological" criterion (if the opposition were not voiced/voiceless, your "rule" wouldn't work), Civil proposed a probable rule "that adds a feature + voice to final stops before suffixes with initial vowel". Your could find bibliography and much more information in Attinger (_Elements de Linguistique Sumerienne..._, OBO, 1993) and Thomsen (Mesopotamia 10, 1984). I understand Prof. Civil was (is?) working on a Phonematics of the Sumerian language. Regarding the Nostratic stuff... well, I didn't know Illic-Svitic or other Nostratic scholars have used or use Sumerian. Nostratic research is now at the very beginning of its development, and most stuff is very weak yet (and some, only some, is completely ridiculous, I dare say, if you don't think so, please, read that nice book which "shows" that Hebrew and Greek come "clearly" from a common "mother"). Thank you very much. Gonzalo Rubio Near Eastern Studies Johns Hopkins U. gonzalor@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu ------------------------------ From: Sigrid Peterson Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 01:31:26 -0500 (EST) Subject: Base for Koren TaNaKh In checking my copy of the Koren TaNaKh, I found that I wasn't able to determine the source of its Hebrew text, whether manuscript or printed edition. I've been using it along with BHS for years; will read a passage in the Koren edition and decide I want to use the critical apparatus of BHS. I've never noticed that the two texts differed other than a paseq (|). The chief difference is that BHS lacks the names of parasha divisions of the Torah, that are used in Jewish worship. In rabbinic writings these names are the standard way of locating anything keyed to Torah. BHS indicates where they fall, on the inside margins; Koren TaNaKh gives the full name in the outer margin, and marks the divisions for the calling up of readers. In addition, the Koren TaNaKh is laid out according to the traditional columns used in Torah Scrolls and manuscripts of Prophets and Writings -- as much as possible, says the introduction. And, of course, it's as beautiful a printed version of Hebrew as there is. But what is the basis of the Koren text? Codex Leningrad B19\A/, or something else? Sigrid Peterson UPenn petersig@ccat.sas.upenn.edu ------------------------------ From: ic@maties.sun.ac.za Date: Mon, 16 Jan 95 10:32 GMT+200 Subject: address of Prof. W.D. Shea I am urgently looking for the e-mail address of Prof. Shea Thank you! Izak Cornelius Ancient Near Eastern Studies University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch ZA-7600 ------------------------------ From: "Robert Whiting;AAKKL;Tel 1913289" Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 12:24:05 +0200 (EET) Subject: Re: Sumerian phonology On Sun, 15 Jan 1995 Vincent DeCaen wrote >At this time, I'm really puzzled about the interpretation of the >consonants. I find that all the basic pronominal, etc, suffixes are >transcribed with voiced segments, e.g., -gu (1s), -zu (2s), -bi >(3s,inam). Typologically this is wildly (to put it mildly) atypical. >In such environments we expect contrasts to be neutralized and to get >the unmarked segments (unmarked varies depending on what the phonetic >nature of the contrast is; but for (un)voiced, unvoiced is unmarked). >I'm wondering if it is coincidental that a typologically consistent >interpretation will look somewhat Afroasiatic (esp. Egyptian)? > >-gu - ku (1s) >-(d)zu - (t)su (2s) >-bi - pi (3s, inanimate) ( > f in Eg??) > Whatever the distinction between homorganic consonants in Sumerian was, it almost certainly wasn't voiced/voiceless. This is shown clearly by the adaption of the signs to Akkadian which did have this distinction. Particularly, the signs GA, TI, and BI were used to write /ga/, /ka/, /qa/ (emphatic); /di/, /ti/, /#i/ (emphatic); and /bi/, /pi/ respectively for several centuries after the adaptation. General use of the KA sign for /ka/ and the DI sign for /di/ did not occur until after the Neo-Sumerian Period. In short, speakers of Akkadian simply did not recognized the distinction between Sumerian /g/ and /k/ as reflecting the distinction between these phonemes in their own language. On the other hand, the DA and TA signs were used by the Akkadians for marking /da/ and /ta/ from the very beginning. A number of suggestions on what the distinction was (including tense/lax and aspirated/unaspirated) have been put forward, but the matter is far from resolved. The "g" in the first person s. suffix is not a velar stop /g/, but is probably a nasalized velar, /g~/, that does not enter into the /g/ / /k/ opposition in Sumerian (whatever it may have been). It is usually written with the MU sign or, when followed by -a, with the GA2 sign (GA2 is misnamed and does not represent the same sound as the GA sign). The Sumerian sibilants are a real mess, as are Akkadian and Semitic in general. There are many other problems with Sumerian phonology including initial /n/ that comes into Semitic as /l/ (Sum nubanda > Akk laputtu^m; Sum lugal >Ebla syllabic Sum nu-gal) and a phoneme that is a probable conjunction of d and r. It must be kept in mind that much of what we know of Sumerian phonology has been filtered through the ears of Semitic speakers, and that the constraints of the writing system limit our ability to get at the underlying phonology. Robert M. Whiting Managing Editor The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project Department of Asian & African Studies PL 13 (Meritullinkatu 1 B) | Voice: +358-0-1913289 FIN-00014 University of Helsinki | Fax: +358-0-1912094 Finland | E-mail: whiting@cc.helsinki.fi ------------------------------ From: ncs3@cus.cam.ac.uk (Nigel Strudwick) Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 14:51:29 +0000 (GMT) Subject: News from Luxor (long) News from Luxor Nigel Strudwick 16/1/95 Many things always happen in Luxor, but this autumn/winter seems to have been particularly remarkable. From having spent several weeks there working in TT99, I have compiled the following (lengthy) notes, as of the second week of January 1995: This document is also available by ftp using the URL: ftp://newton.newton.cam.ac.uk/pub/ancient/egypt/luxor.txt A WWW version with images will soon be available. Flooding People will be aware that there was news of severe flooding in Luxor in November. There was a lot of rain in Luxor this autumn. There were three main separate rainfalls, on September 23, October 8, and November 2. Of these, the last was the most severe. There was one lot of rain at about 8 am and then more at about 11 am. Huge black clouds gathered, there was an incredibly heavy rainfall, and even hailstones were seen. A flash flood was formed from the confluence of large amounts of water rushing down from the different Wadis in the area of the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank. This turned into a torrent of water up to 2 m deep rushing down the road from the Valley. It continued down the recently rebuilt road through the area known as el Ginena, passing through the Muslim cemetery, through the forecourt of the mortuary temple of Sety I, and through sundry other places. The force of the torrent was such that it carried away most mud brick and some brick and concrete structures in its path. These were mainly houses, and it is estimated that between 100 and 200 houses were destroyed, and the occupants lost most of their possessions. There was apparently no loss of life, attributed to the time of day when the flood struck--if it had been during the night things would have been much much worse. Various houses in other parts of the West Bank were also destroyed by the rainfall or very localised flooding. Many of the tombs in the modern cemetery were destroyed. The authorities have moved only slowly to help those who suffered in the floods. A city of tents has been set up in the area of the Sety temple, in which those dispossessed are living. A sum of money has apparently been offered to help these people erect new homes, but it (LE 500) would seem inadequate, and stands in stark contrast with sums recently spent on tourist-orientated projects. Stories are also circulating of the inevitable slow disbursement of this money and of those attempting to gain from the suffering of others. The monuments have also suffered to varying degrees. News reports noted flooding in the Valley of the Kings only. Many of the tombs did get water in them, such as the tomb of Tutankhamun, Amenhotep II, and Horemheb. Because these tombs are normally open, they were immediately inspected and appropriate measures, basically pumping, undertaken. Those tombs which have a pit part way down their corridors were saved by much of the water entering there. We visited most of the open tombs in our recent visit, and there was no obvious damage, although there were some "tide marks" visible, and many tombs smelled of having been wet. Of course, the longer term damage of the effect of the water in the rocks is less clear. I believe it is being proposed that the low tombs in the valley will be provided with better ways of excluding water. One temple was particularly badly hit. This was the mortuary temple of Sety I, which was in the path of the flash flood, and this took away the main (modern) gate and various sections of the thick brick wall which had been so painstakingly built over the past 15 years. One or two stelae which stood near the first pylon or gateway were knocked flat, and the areas excavated by the German Archeological Institute were filled with mud and partly obliterated. I saw a 2 m high mark from where the water had stood in the front court, and the ground is still soft at the end of December (seven weeks after the disaster). Limestone blocks in the area of the first pylon are showing extreme indications of salting and are crumbling away. Some blocks which are not decaying seem to be exhibiting strange traces of a red colour. Visitors to the other temples in Luxor report an increase in salt activity from the soaking they received in the rain. It is clear that the problem of the increase in the subsurface water level has not been helped by the rains. It looks as if the private tombs of the Nobles have perhaps suffered the most. Water has entered a number of them--for example the well-known tourist tomb of Ramose, which is showing some traces of salting on the limestone. The famous tomb of Menna got very wet, although it does not appear to be damaged. The difficulty with the private tombs is their very number, and their varying degrees of accessibility. It is clear that the Antiquities Organisation have opened a number of those lower down in the hills which would appear to have been most at risk, and at least one of these has suffered the most serious damage I have yet seen resulting from the rains. The tomb of Pairy (no 139) is quite low in the hill, but not by any means the lowest. It is, however, built into a stratum of the incredibly poor quality rock known in Thebes as tafl. When this type of stone is exposed to water, it rapidly absorbs the water, first increasing in size, and then disintegrating completely. Those who saw John Romer's television programme The Rape of Tutankhamun will have seen a graphic demonstration of the properties of this material. When the walls of the tomb of Pairy became wet, the base tafl material expanded and then collapsed, causing two of the three decorated walls in the tomb to fall to the ground. The situation was made worse by the fact that the painted plaster fell into standing water, and was thus further damaged. Since it inevitably took longer to get round to inspecting such tombs than those in the Valley of the Kings, it was several days before the damage was discovered. As there is no formal publication of this tomb, the restorers of the Antiquities Organisation have found it extremely difficult to put the scenes back together. I found some unpublished photographs in Chicago House which have (I hope) made this job somewhat less difficult. Accidents like this to me stress the importance of continuing to document and conserve the tombs. There are reports of other problems too. For example, some damage seems to have happened to the tomb of Amenemopet (tomb 41), and the Antiquities Organisation are planning to begin work there soon. Who knows what other tombs are damaged, or which will start to exhibit signs of problems over the next few months? The task facing the Antiquities Organisation in Qurna is huge. New Tombs There is however good news in that several more tombs have been opened to visitors. In the Valley of the Kings, the tombs of Siptah, Ramesses VII, and Ay are now accessible. The entrance to the valley was pushed back 200 m to just before the tomb of Ramesses VII, so that the latter and Ramesses IV are now within the official boundary. The tomb of Ay is located in the West Valley and is a considerable walk or even taxi ride from the new rest house, but is well worth the visit, with its beautiful burial chamber containing a number of unusual scenes. For the opening of the tomb, the sarcophagus was brought back from the Cairo Museum. It was returned through the outer parts of the tomb in a manner not unlike that which must have been used in ancient times, namely ropes and wooden rollers, and it is a tribute to local Reis Aly el-Ghassab that the job was successfully completed. Once in the burial chamber it was carefully restored. Three new private tombs have also been opened. They are those of Nefersekheru (no 296), Neferrenpet (no 178), and Djehutymose (no 295), all around a courtyard in the area known as el-Khokha. 296 and 178 are of the reign of Ramesses II, and should be on all tourists' visits as they give an important alternative view of the private tombs to the otherwise 18th dynasty ones which are mainly visited. Tomb 295 is a lovely Thutmoside chapel accessible now via the tomb of Nefersekheru. Tourism When we arrived in Luxor at the beginning of December, we felt that the level of tourism was the quietest we had perhaps ever seen. This is always a quiet period, but this year it was worse than ever. The level of visitors rose sharply a few days before Christmas, but started to decease again shortly after the New Year. The prospects are not good at present, even though there have been no more terrorist incidents affecting foreigners. There are restrictions on foreigners travelling north of Luxor, and those travelling south by road are required to follow military convoys. Aida and the Luxor Renaissance Many will have heard about the performance of Mori's travelling production of Verdi's Aida in front of the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari in late November. This was the most prominent of a number of events in Luxor in November billed as the "Luxor Renaissance", which included a short conference on work in Luxor and various recreations of ancient rites. Setting up Aida was a major undertaking. Not only was a large seating arrangement erected just outside the temple enclosure at Deir el Bahari, but the car park there was rebuilt, all the shops rearranged, and the entire road rebuilt. A military pontoon bridge over the Nile almost in front of Karnak was set up, and a brand-new road from there to the main north-south road on the west bank was built on land compulsorily purchased at a very low rate. These latter were intended only for visitors to Aida! When the time came for the performances, up to 30,000 soldiers were brought in to provide security, and visitors apparently had the spectacle of seeing tanks and other equipment in various locations, as well as armed personnel all around Deir el Bahari. Five performances of the opera were planned, but only three took place due to the number of bookings. They coincide with another period of cold weather, and blankets had to be provided. The opera was broadcast on television. I am told that the standard scenery of the production was so large that it obscured much of the temple during the proceedings, making some wonder why the opera was staged in such a way as to obscure the beautiful environment of Deir el Bahari. As at the beginning of January, the seating and other paraphernalia still stands in front of the temple, and is not a pretty sight. Rumour has it that the contractors will not take it away until they have been paid. The pontoon bridge only disappeared at the beginning of January. Why Aida was staged is really not clear, and it remains to be seen whether it has boosted tourist confidence in Egypt. Estimates of the cost of this work vary between LE 12Ð40 million. Readers might want to contrast the efforts made for this project with the way the inhabitants who lost their houses in the floods are being treated. Robberies When the Italian mission to the tomb of Sheshonq (no 27) arrived in September, it was discovered that about nine blocks from the walls had been removed. The tomb itself is not roofed over at present, and is relatively easy of access, but it is suspected that there must have been some collusion with the guards. One robber was even found in the tomb in the daytime, and was later apprehended. There is also an investigation taking place as to a robbery from a magazine in North Karnak. One result from these robberies is that the number of guards is being increased by about 60, so that each set of guards has a smaller area to watch over. One advantage of more tombs being open than before is that it is much easier to check on damage of any type and deter thefts in tombs which are regularly open. Archaeological work The Antiquities Service has seen some changes in the area. Dr Mohamed el-Saghir continues in overall charge, but he now has the added duties of Chief Inspector of Upper Egypt, and so is in Cairo more often than he was. Dr Mohamed Nasr now assists him, and his place as Director on the West Bank has been taken by Mr Sabri Abdel Aziz. They have all had a difficult time recently will the floods, Aida, and the robberies. Autumn and early winter in Thebes seem to have been unusually quiet archaeologically. On the East Bank, the usual seasons of the Franco-Egyptian Centre and of Jean and Helen Jacquet at Karnak took place. The Higher Committee for Antiquities has let a contract for the dismantling and rebuilding of the sun court of Amenhotep III in Luxor temple. On the West Bank, Chicago House continues at the small temple of Medinet Habu, and the French CNRS expedition works on at the Ramesseum. This year the latter have been working in the chapel of Merytamun, as well as continuing with conservation and restoration in the main temple. No work has yet taken place in the Sety temple, nor that of Merenptah. Two Polish expeditions have been working in the temple of Deir el Bahari. The Valley of the Kings has been busy. The Antiquities Service has been this year working on the tombs which they have now opened (above). John Rose worked in tomb KV39 in September, and the expedition from Hamburg came to work in the tomb of Bay in about November, but were hampered by the rain water. The Japanese mission came in December to continue in the tomb of Amenhotep III, as did Edwin Brock to work on objects from the tomb of Ramesses VII and the sarcophagus of Merenptah, and Leila Brock to continue with her study of KV55. There has been relatively little activity in the private tombs. We have been active in tomb 99 of Sennefer, and Betsy Bryan's mission to tomb 92 arrived at the beginning of January. Tomb 92 has been the subject of some cleaning by the Antiquities Service, and some restoration has been done in the tomb of Menna, in addition to various emergency works noted above. As we left, Andrea Gnirs arrived to continue work in TT95. It is likely that there will be an increase in activity by foreign missions in the next two months. ------------------------------ From: e.d.wardini@easteur-orient.uio.no (Elie Wardini) Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 16:52:41 +0100 Subject: Arch. news from Lebanon - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 8 Jan 95 00:00:21 EST Subject: "Leb-Net Daily Digest Volume 526" Subject: Article from L'Orient Le Jour (French) UN REMPART DE L'AGE DE BRONZE DECOUVERT DANS LE CENTRE-VILLE [From L'Orient le Jour December 5 1994] La Beryte de l'antiquite etait une ville beaucoup plus grande et importante qu'on ne le pensait. Ce sont les premieres deductions des archeologues, apres l'importante decouverte, dans le Centreville, derriere le site de l'ancien "Rivoli", d'un troncon de rempart incline datant vraisemblalement de l'age de bronze (3.000 ans avant Jesus-Christ), du type qui existe dans la ville d'Ugarit, l'un des fleurons archeologiques de la Syrie. Tout recemment, sur le meme site, c'est le corridor d'entree d'un edifice encore indetermine qui a ete mis A jour. Sur le sol du corridor, des tessons de poteries importees de Rhodes portant le poincon du potier rhodien, ainsi que des imitations beyrouthines portant le poincon du fabricant local, au nom bien familier, Abdo (en grec Abdoy). Une centaine de metres a l'est, en effectuant une grande tranchee, en prevision du percement du boulevard Georges Haddad, les bulldozers ont detruit des vestiges indetermines. Toujours est-il que le sol, dans, cette section du centre-ville, est jonche de tessons de toutes les epoques, de l'ottomane a la cananeenne. Une chose est sure, si l'expertise le confirme, la decouverte de vestiges de l'age de bronze est une nouvelle archeologique inter- nationale. C'est ce que pense le prestigieux magazine "National Geogra- phic", qui a demande l'autorisation d'effectuer un reportage sur le sujet. Mais Mme Leila Badre, l'archeologue en charge, a du refuser cette autorisation, la loi stipulant que toute decouverte doit, avant d'etre divulguee publiquement, faire l'objet d'une note publiee dans le bulletin de la Direction generale des antiquites (DGA). Alerte par M. Albert Naccache, un professeur de langues anciennes de l'Universite libanaise, qui est egalement un passionne d'archeologie, le depute de Beyrouth Mohammed Kabbani avait effectue mardi une tournee sur le site. Le parlementaire avait ensuite tenu une conference de presse dans laquelle il a adjure les responsables d'accorder aux archeologues le temps necessaire pour que leurs fouilles aboutissent. M. Kabbani avait du faire valoir sa qualite de depute pour ordonner au chauffeur d'un bulldozer qui allait endommager un mur ancien, d'arreter son engin. M. Kabbani a renouvele son cri d'alarme, hier, devant les representants de nombreux medias libanais et etrangers alertes par M. Naccache, et notamment de representants des agences AFP et Reuter, de deux representants de la societe "Solidere", MM. Hareth Boustany et Rached Fayed, de l'entrepreneur Milad Mouawad, en charge des travaux d'infrastructure et de Mme Leila Badre, chef de la mission archeologique de l'AUB en charge des fouilles sur le site. Selon le specialiste universitaire, "on ne trouve pas tous les jours une ville de l'age de bronze", et si la chose s'avere exacte, on est la devant un evenement qui pourrait etre l'une des trou- vailles archeologiques des annees 90. Cependant, cette decouverte impose des amenagements dans le plan directeur du centre-ville, notamment la defini- tion d'un nouveau trace pour les egouts. En surface, le plan directeur prevoit de planter des arbres et de semer du gazon sur une pente douce qui ira jusqu'a la mer. Mais qu'on imagine les vestiges d'une ville de l'age de bronze, sur un site d'on l'on voit la mer et la montagne, et la realite depassera ce qui n'est encore que plans d'urbanistes. Ce que redoute M. Naccache, c'est qu'entre les prerogatives de la DGA et les calendriers d'execution de "Solidere", des vestiges archeologiques qui pourraient etre de premiere importance, ne serait-ce que sur le plan academique et touristique, ne soient negliges on detruits par inadvertance ou, pire, par ignorance. Le specialiste deplore egalement le fait que les sites ne soient pas proteges plus efficacement, et contre les machines, car leur pierre est tres friable et contre le pillage, car ils ne sont pas gardes de nuit. L'importance du passe Plus profondement, M. Naccache pense que les decouvertes archeologiques peuvent aider tous les Libanais a se retrouver dans un meme passe. Parmi les tessons de poteries retrouves, l'une porte le poincon grec Abdoy. Un prenom familier qui devient ainsi un patrimoine linguistique commun aux chretiens et aux musulmans, puisqu'il date d'avant Jesus-Christ. "Ce qui est pathetique, declare le professeur Naccache, c'est que c'est notre ville, notre passe. C'est le fait que nous, en tant que nation, nous ne sachions pas donner a notre passe l'importance qu'il merite". Apres son cri d'alarme, M. Kabbani a demande au ministre de la Culture, M. Michel Edde, une supervision quotidienne des travaux d'excavation dans le centreville. Pour sa part, la societe "Solidere" a publie un communique dans lequel elle a rappele l'attention extreme qu'elle ac- corde aux fouilles dans le centre-ville, et rappelant que ces fouilles disposent d'un financement total de 2,1 millions de dollars (Fondation Hariri: 1 million de dollars; Solidere: 500.000 dollars; Programme des Nations Unies pour le developpement: 600.000 dollars), dont moins que la moitie a ete depense a ce jour. "Une erreur humaine" La societe "Solidere" rappelle par ailleurs qu'elle a signe avec le ministre de la Culture un accord prevoyant que les travaux d'in- frastructure et les espaces A reconstruire se font sous la supervision de la Direction generale des antiquites, et que chaque chef de chantier a le droit d'exiger de la societe qu'elle mette a sa disposition les instruments necessaires pour parachever ses fouilles. Au sujet de l'incident de mardi, la societe "Solidere" et l'entreprise des T.P. Khlat et Mouawad ont precise qu'il est du a une simple "erreur humaine", qui ne reflete en rien la conduite generale des travaux dans le centreville. Ce jour-la, le conducteur d'un bulldozer n'avait pas attendu l'arrivee de l'observateur de la DGA, et avait voulu poursuivre des travaux entames la veille. Le machiniste avait failli heurter un mur recemment mis a jour, dont les archeolo- gues n'ont pas encore de- termine, l'age exact. ------------------------------ From: Jan Wim Wesselius (by way of cejo@midway.uchicago.edu (Charles E. Jones)) Date: Mon, 16 Jan 95 10:46:47 CST Subject: Herodotus and the Bible As I announced privately to several people, I finished a new version of my article on Herodotus and the Biblical History (Genesis - 2 Kings), a first preliminary version of which I announced on the net in August 1994; a print-out of a second version I sent to some people whom I knew or supposed to be interested in its subject. The basic thesis, for those who did not read it, is that the genealogies of the patriarchs and of the Persian-Median royal family, as found in the work of Herodotus of Halicarnassus (ca. 490-430 BCE) are congruent (sic!), and that corresponding important family members (Abraham/Cyaxares, Joseph/Cyrus, Moses/Xerxes) are described in a higly similar way. In a way, the main episode is almost the same in these works: a leader, prompted by a divine command, sets out at the head of an immense army in order to conquer a country on another continent, which they reach by passing through the sea as on dry land: Xerxes in Her. books VII-IX, Moses in the biblical books Ex.-Deut. Besides, I attempted to demonstrate that the way in which both works end is also similar. No need to say that this has important consequences in several fields. I made an ASCII version of the newest version (about 100K!), merely leaving out some technical footnotes and fig. 4, which could not well be reproduced this way, and will send it to those who are interested. I would like to post it to the Ioudaios fileserver as well, but something went wrong last time and it never arrived there. I hope to have the final version ready for publication within a short time now. Jan Wim Wesselius University of Amsterdam wesselius@sara.nl ------------------------------ From: cejo@midway.uchicago.edu (Charles E. Jones) Date: Mon, 16 Jan 95 10:54:26 CST Subject: TELA TELA (The Electronically Linked Academy): Scholar Press World Wide Web Site is now back on line after being down for a few weeks. http://scholar.cc.emory.edu/ In addition to information directly related to the activities of Scholars Press, it has home pages for the following organizations: American Academy of Religion American Philological Association Society of Biblical Literature American Society of Papyrologists American Schools of Oriental Research - -Chuck- ------------------------------ From: cejo@midway.uchicago.edu (Charles E. Jones) Date: Mon, 16 Jan 95 12:21:41 CST Subject: Fwd: Mesopotamian Directory 1995 Posted on behalf of J. A. Brinkman, please respond directly to him at: j-brinkman@uchicago.edu Mesopotamian Directory 1995 The sixth edition of the Mesopotamian Directory is scheduled for publication in mid-February. This list, published every two years since 1985, contains names and addresses of persons in North, Central, and South America engaged in professional research on the pre-Islamic archeology, history, and languages of greater Mesopotamia (including Syria east of the Upper Euphrates, the Elamite plains, and regions using a standard cuneiform script, e.g., Ugarit and Hatti). It includes academics, museum personnel, library staff, and senior students with a formally approved dissertation topic. Anyone not listed in the 1993 directory who wishes to be included in this edition should get in touch with J. A. Brinkman, Oriental Institute, 1155 E. 58th St., Chicago IL 60637 (e-mail: j-brinkman@uchicago.edu; phone: 312-702-9545; fax: 312-702-9853), who will send a form to be filled out. Deadline for submissions: January 31. ------------------------------ From: "Daniel P. Tompkins" (by way of cejo@midway.uchicago.edu (Charles E. Jones)) Date: Mon, 16 Jan 95 13:38:10 CST Subject: Threat to NEH (fwd) I'm forwarding this from another list. Dan Tompkins - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 16:20:47 EST From: Linda Lopez McAlister, SWIP-L Moderator To: Multiple recipients of list SWIP-L Subject: Threat to NEH - ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- At last week's AHA meeting, there was an emergency session devoted to efforts to save the National Endowment for the Humanities, whose elimination is one of the points in the Republican "Contract." NEH has suffered from confusion with NEA, from controversy over the recently proposed National Standards for history education (a project it helped fund but was not responsible for) and from the general conservative attitude that government should not be involved in such activities. NEH has been funded since 1993 on a continuing basis. Legislation reauthorizin g the NEH was not passed in the last Congress. If it is not specifically re- authorized this year (and, indeed, in the next couple of months), the endow- ment will cease to exist. If you agree that the NEH should continue to operate, you need to write letters NOW to key congresspeople supporting reauthorization of the NEH. Suggestions f or effective arguments that came out of the open forum at the AHA included the following points: (1) NEH programs benefit not just professors but communities all over the country--through funding of state humanities programs, enrichment programs for hi school and 2- and 4-yr college teachers who in turn bring benefits to students, etc., funding of museum exhibits (local history, art, etc.), funding of important research resources such as the newly published AHA Guide to Hist. Literature. (2) NEH grants give legitimacy to funding requests to private foundations, etc., which know that NEH's peer-review process provides assurances of quality. (3) Private funding sources cannot replace NEH. In 1991, NEH provided 64% of all research fellowships given to humanities scholars. The next-largest program (Guggenheim) was about 10%. Private funding for humanities research has been declining since 1980. (4) NEH is a great "equalizer." It has given faculty at institutions like ours the opportunities for research and development that would otherwise be restricted to professors at elite institutions with top libraries. A vote to kill NEH is a vote to limit top-level work in the humanities to a few Ivy League-type schools. (5) The american research-university system is the envy of other countries and an essential resource for American competitiveness in the world of the "information era." The unique NEH program is one of the most effective mechanisms in keeping American campuses at the forefront of intell- ectual development in all disciplines. Things NOT to stress if you want your letter to be effective: Don't put the main stress just on benefits to our own scholarly research. conservative congresspeople are not likely to be receptive if they think NEH serves only as a "slush fund" for academics. While we don't want to save NEH at the ex- pense of the fine arts, remember that NEA and NEH are separate programs. NEA supporters will wage their own campaign. As one AHA Council member reminded us, "they have more millionaires and celebrities than we do." Don't bring up the national-standards controversy unnecessarily--it has been seized upon by conservatives to tar NEH, even though NEH was not responsible for its content and provided only part of the funds for the project. Key addresses to write to: Bill Goodling (R-PA), Chr, House Economic and Educational Opportunities Comm. (has oversight responsibility for NEH) House Office Building, Washington DC 20515 Bob Livingston, Chr., House Appropriations Committee, 2368 Rayburn House Office Bldg, Wash DC 20515 John R Kasich, chair, House Budget Comm., 1131 Longworth House Office Bldg., Wash DC 20515 Ralph Regula, chr., House Interior Comm./Appropriations, 2309 Rayburn Office Bldg, Wash DC 20515 Sen. Mark O. Hatfield, Chr., Senate Appropriations Comm., 711 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Wash DC 20510 Sen. Don Nickles, Chr., Senate Interior Subcommittee/Appropriations 713 Hart Sen. Off. Bldg, Wash DC 20510 We were told that Sen. Nancy Kassebaum heads the Senate committee respon- sible for NEH. She has been a strong supporter of the NEH but I suppose it can't hurt to encourage her. In addition to the points I suggested earlier, remind legislators there has been a 30-year trad. of BIPARTISAN support for NEH--it has not been an exclusively Democratic concern. NEH's main difficulties are expected to be in the House; few of the key Repub. leaders have any record of sympathy (or knowledge about) NEH. To be effective, WRITE NOW! Crucial decisions will be made in the next few weeks. ------------------------------ End of Ancient Near East Digest V2 #60 ************************************** Back issues are available by two means: anonymous FTP at oi.uchicago.edu in pub/ane/ OR on the World Wide Web (WWW) at ftp://oi.uchicago.edu/pub/ane/