Zoltán Niederreiter | Eötvös Loránd University (original) (raw)
Books by Zoltán Niederreiter
Papers by Zoltán Niederreiter
In: L. Cousin - L. Quilien - M. Ramez (eds.) Material Culture of Mesopotamia and Beyond 1: People and their Material Environment in First Millennium BCE Babylonia (OLA 319) Leuven - Paris - Bristol, CT), 327-362, 2023
This paper focuses on seal texts dealing with prayers, known from Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian... more This paper focuses on seal texts dealing with prayers, known from Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian cylinder seals and from their sealings. There is no comprehensive study on the corpus of seal legends dated to these periods, which cover roughly the first half of the first millennium BCE (circa 1000–500 BCE). Compared to the great number and diversity of prayers on inscribed Kassite seals, these cylinder seals provide only a few examples of prayers. In the framework of the Austrian-French project (2019–2022) “The Material Culture of Babylonia during the First Millennium BC”, we intend to collect the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian seal legends in a catalogue and classify them into genres, types, variants, etc. In the followings, we present the preliminary results, representing two prayers.
In: Philippe, Clancier - Julien, Monerie (eds.) L’empreinte des empires au Proche-Orient ancien : Volume d’hommage offert à Francis Joannès, Oxford : Archaeopress Archaeology, 278-285, 2023
Une partie du matériel cunéiforme du Docteur Georges Goreux qui a légué sa collection à la Belgiq... more Une partie du matériel cunéiforme du Docteur Georges Goreux qui a légué sa collection à la Belgique est conservée aux Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, à Bruxelles. Parmi ces objets, le présent texte (O.4981, Figures 1 et 2) représente un billet à ordre pour de l'orge émis à Bīt-Kurbannu et daté du règne de Darius I er. Il appartient aux archives centrées sur Zababa-šarru-uṣur, l'intendant du domaine du prince héritier.
In: Philippe, Clancier; Julien, Monerie (eds.) L’empreinte des empires au Proche-Orient ancien : Volume d’hommage offert à Francis Joannès Oxford: Archaeopress Archaeology, 170-176, 2023
Concernant les sources textuelles du VII e siècle avant notre ère de Cutha dans des recherches an... more Concernant les sources textuelles du VII e siècle avant notre ère de Cutha dans des recherches antérieures, il n'y a que deux tablettes cunéiformes, datées du règne de Šamaš-šumu-ukīn (668-648 av. J.-C.). L'une (A6741) est une transaction immobilière portant sur la vente d'une maison (666 av. J.-C.), publiée par Weisberg. Des détails sur l'autre tablette (BM 33905 [Sp. 1]), traitant d'un procès, sont apparus dans quelques publications depuis sa première mention par Brinkman et Kennedy en 1983, et Sandowicz a finalement publié ce texte juridique (656 av. J.-C.) en 2019. Le présent article propose l'editio princeps d'une tablette cunéiforme (O.5027) provenant de la collection du Docteur Georges Goreux, qui a légué sa collection à la Belgique. Une partie de ce matériel, dont l'objet ici étudié, est conservée aux Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles. Cette tablette cunéiforme est un document immobilier de Cutha daté du règne de Kandalānu (647-627 av. J.-C.).
Altorientalische Forschungen 50(1): 6–11, 2023
This study supplements a previous paper that we published in this periodical: The Tyszkiewicz Amu... more This study supplements a previous paper that we published in this periodical: The Tyszkiewicz Amulet, a Chalcedony Pendant Inscribed with an Incantation on Thorn Bush: Notes on an Early Sumerian Kultmittelbeschwörung, AoF 46, 174-185. It compares the Tyszkiewicz amulet to another similar amulet formerly kept in the de Serres Collection and proposes that the two objects originate from the same workshop. Although the de Serres amulet bears a different incantation from the Udug-ḫul series, the two amulets are strikingly similar with regard to physical as well as textual aspects, the latter including the incorporation of certain 'zi-litany' sections.
Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires , 2023
The present note is devoted to BLMJ 2690 seal, which T.M. Oshima first published in the present p... more The present note is devoted to BLMJ 2690 seal, which T.M. Oshima first published in the present periodical in 2022) and then in another paper this year. The object is also of great interest due to its iconography and inscription, so it is gratifying that it has finally become known due to these publications.
Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes 40, 2022
Our study discusses a specific group of Mesopotamian medical-magical amulets. These are cylindric... more Our study discusses a specific group of Mesopotamian medical-magical amulets. These are cylindrical clay objects inscribed with incantations that often mention the names of their owners. Our paper aims to collect all such objects to classify and analyse them based on their origins and archaeological contexts and the texts written on them; furthermore, we discuss medical-magical rituals mentioning the use of these amulets. These texts can be divided into three groups: Ḫulbazizi incantations, Lamaštu and Ḫulbazizi incantations, and incantations against fever.
Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archéologie Orientale, 2022
Cet article présente un sceau-cylindre (Morgan 1123) publié par E. Porada (1948) dans le catalogu... more Cet article présente un sceau-cylindre (Morgan 1123) publié par E. Porada (1948) dans le catalogue du Morgan Library & Museum. Outre cette publication, dans les travaux précédents, il n’y a aucune mention de cet objet qui se trouve dans le chapitre “Seals of doubtful design and recut pieces”. Sur la base de l’iconographie, nous essayons de vérifier d’authenticité de l’objet. En outre, notre article présente la translitération du texte du sceau-cylindre ayant appartenu à un eunuque.
The aim of this paper is to examine the relevant sources in which the Akkadian Šarrat-Nippur(i) (... more The aim of this paper is to examine the relevant sources in which the Akkadian Šarrat-Nippur(i) (the Queen-of-Nippur) and her Sumerian equivalent (primarily called Ungal-Nibru) are mentioned. The following analysis, therefore, attempts to present Ištar at Nippur and discusses additional sources from the Kassite and later periods in which her cult place (Ebaradurĝarra, the temple of Ungal-Nibru) is mentioned. The main questions raised in the recent research concerning this goddess focus on the re-establishment of her temple after its Old Babylonian abandonment and on the role of her cult place in Nippur. Besides the archaeological evidence, the primary sources addressing these issues include royal and seal inscriptions, administrative records as well as literary and scholarly texts which shed light on her connection with Enlil and on her role compared to Ištar worshipped in other cult places.
Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXVIII N° 1-2, 2021
The fragment of clay tablet MFA 1981.156, kept in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, since 1983, co... more The fragment of clay tablet MFA 1981.156, kept in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, since 1983, contains lines 1–14 of the 16th tablet of the omen series Šumma ālu on the obverse and a colophon known from Ashurbanipal’s library tablets (Asb. Type b) on the reverse. We also provide an elaboration of fragment Sm 1565, a duplicate of MFA 1981.156. Publishing both texts together is of prime importance, since previous research has identified Sm 1565 as the 123rd tablet of the Namburbi series. Of the section (lines 1–15) of Šumma ālu 16, this paper presents a Partitur which has five sources according to our present knowledge: Ms. A: MFA 1981.156; Ms. B: Sm 1565; Ms. C: K 5204; Ms. D: BM 30431; and Ms. E: K 14025.
The British Museum acquired the chalcedony stamp seal described as “The property of a lady” in an... more The British Museum acquired the chalcedony stamp seal described as “The property of a lady” in an auction held in London (15 May 2002). Although I published this stamp seal in 2008 and a few publications about it have emerged since its appearance at the auction, I would like to comment on some new aspects on this object related to its modern history, iconography, date, and its connection with sealings depicting very similar scenes.
![Research paper thumbnail of 2020. Niederreiter Z. and Sass B. [Cylinder seals 59, 61 and 65 with alphabetic inscriptions.] In Z. Niederreiter. Catalogue of the cylinder seals in the Royal Museums of Art and History [Brussels], volume I. Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods (circa 1000–500 B.C.). Budapest, 144–154, 163–170.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/65434886/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](This new catalogue by Zoltán Niederreiter includes four items with alphabetic legends, two of the... more This new catalogue by Zoltán Niederreiter includes four items with alphabetic legends, two of them Arabian and two Aramaic, three in Brussels, and one iconographic parallel in a Dutch museum. You will find here the catalogue articles of these four items, their imagery addressed by Z.N. and their legends by B.S. The article on no. 65 was first published separately in: Niederreiter Zoltán and Sass Benjamin 2018. On a Neo-Assyrian period cylinder seal with a cult scene and an unusual Aramaic legend. Semitica et Classica 11, 219–226.
All four seals are unprovenanced.
The chalcedony amulet MFA 98.697, which originates from the famous Tyszkiewicz Collection, has be... more The chalcedony amulet MFA 98.697, which originates from the famous Tyszkiewicz Collection, has been kept in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts since 1898. The object bears a Sumerian Kultmittelbeschwörung on a thorn bush (Sum. ĝ e š kiš i 1 6 , Akk. ašāgum), a shorter version of which was published by A.R. George in 2016. The present paper provides editions of both incantations, including some new readings. In addition to the philological analysis, it explores the magical-medical application of the thorn bush, which might have had an apotropaic use. The object presented here is of great importance, since it provides the first occurrence of an incantation on a particular plant written on a pendant that was used as an amulet during magical-medical activities in ancient Mesopotamia.
- A newly identified fragment of the Ur₅-ra Tablet I, kept in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston-M... more 75) A newly identified fragment of the Ur₅-ra Tablet I, kept in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston-MFA 1981.155 (fig. 1) 1) is a fragment of a multi-column tablet which was offered to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, by the John Gardner Greene Trust in 1981.
This paper focuses on an inscribed bead (AO 31928), formerly kept in the collection of Jean-Alain... more This paper focuses on an inscribed bead (AO 31928), formerly kept in the collection of Jean-Alain Mariaud de Serres (1920-1999), which the Musée du Louvre acquired in a public sale in 2003. The legend engraved on the bead reveals its name – it is a “neck stone (lit.: stone of the neck)” (NA4.GU2) – and provides further remarks on its owner, Aššur-iddin, who was the Palace Herald of Shalmaneser (Salmānu-ašarēd).
This paper focuses on an inscribed statuette kept in The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (reg. nr. 98.71... more This paper focuses on an inscribed statuette kept in The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (reg. nr. 98.71). This human-faced bison, which bears a votive inscription of Pirig-me, the ruler of the Second Dynasty of Lagash, is part of a group consisting of similar inscribed and uninscribed statuettes with a particular function. We can conclude that these objects representing a chosen divine creature, which functioned as stands, were offered to the different deities of the Lagash state and can be connected to the ruling elite of the Lagash II Dynasty.
This identified group of statuettes thus opens new perspectives on the relationship between court art and the ruling dynasty, since we can follow the features of the sculptural traditions from Ur-Ningirsu I to Nammahni (from the first identified ruler to the last ruler of the dynasty). These objects shed light on the preferred divine figure, that is, the human-faced bison, among the Lagashite elite as well as on the local
style of court art produced in the central workshop.
Key-words : human-faced bison, Lagash II Dynasty, mythical creature, Nin-MAR.KI, Sumerian royal inscriptions,
Sumerian statuary.
Cet article porte sur la légende arabique, jusqu'alors non identifiée, et sur l'im-agerie remarqu... more Cet article porte sur la légende arabique, jusqu'alors non identifiée, et sur l'im-agerie remarquable d'un sceau-cylindre acquis par A. H. Layard en Mésopotamie au milieu du XIXe siècle.
Abstract. The paper treats the Arabian legend, hitherto unidentified, and the remarkable imagery on a cylinder seal acquired by A.H. Layard in Mesopotamia in the mid-19th century .
In: L. Cousin - L. Quilien - M. Ramez (eds.) Material Culture of Mesopotamia and Beyond 1: People and their Material Environment in First Millennium BCE Babylonia (OLA 319) Leuven - Paris - Bristol, CT), 327-362, 2023
This paper focuses on seal texts dealing with prayers, known from Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian... more This paper focuses on seal texts dealing with prayers, known from Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian cylinder seals and from their sealings. There is no comprehensive study on the corpus of seal legends dated to these periods, which cover roughly the first half of the first millennium BCE (circa 1000–500 BCE). Compared to the great number and diversity of prayers on inscribed Kassite seals, these cylinder seals provide only a few examples of prayers. In the framework of the Austrian-French project (2019–2022) “The Material Culture of Babylonia during the First Millennium BC”, we intend to collect the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian seal legends in a catalogue and classify them into genres, types, variants, etc. In the followings, we present the preliminary results, representing two prayers.
In: Philippe, Clancier - Julien, Monerie (eds.) L’empreinte des empires au Proche-Orient ancien : Volume d’hommage offert à Francis Joannès, Oxford : Archaeopress Archaeology, 278-285, 2023
Une partie du matériel cunéiforme du Docteur Georges Goreux qui a légué sa collection à la Belgiq... more Une partie du matériel cunéiforme du Docteur Georges Goreux qui a légué sa collection à la Belgique est conservée aux Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, à Bruxelles. Parmi ces objets, le présent texte (O.4981, Figures 1 et 2) représente un billet à ordre pour de l'orge émis à Bīt-Kurbannu et daté du règne de Darius I er. Il appartient aux archives centrées sur Zababa-šarru-uṣur, l'intendant du domaine du prince héritier.
In: Philippe, Clancier; Julien, Monerie (eds.) L’empreinte des empires au Proche-Orient ancien : Volume d’hommage offert à Francis Joannès Oxford: Archaeopress Archaeology, 170-176, 2023
Concernant les sources textuelles du VII e siècle avant notre ère de Cutha dans des recherches an... more Concernant les sources textuelles du VII e siècle avant notre ère de Cutha dans des recherches antérieures, il n'y a que deux tablettes cunéiformes, datées du règne de Šamaš-šumu-ukīn (668-648 av. J.-C.). L'une (A6741) est une transaction immobilière portant sur la vente d'une maison (666 av. J.-C.), publiée par Weisberg. Des détails sur l'autre tablette (BM 33905 [Sp. 1]), traitant d'un procès, sont apparus dans quelques publications depuis sa première mention par Brinkman et Kennedy en 1983, et Sandowicz a finalement publié ce texte juridique (656 av. J.-C.) en 2019. Le présent article propose l'editio princeps d'une tablette cunéiforme (O.5027) provenant de la collection du Docteur Georges Goreux, qui a légué sa collection à la Belgique. Une partie de ce matériel, dont l'objet ici étudié, est conservée aux Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles. Cette tablette cunéiforme est un document immobilier de Cutha daté du règne de Kandalānu (647-627 av. J.-C.).
Altorientalische Forschungen 50(1): 6–11, 2023
This study supplements a previous paper that we published in this periodical: The Tyszkiewicz Amu... more This study supplements a previous paper that we published in this periodical: The Tyszkiewicz Amulet, a Chalcedony Pendant Inscribed with an Incantation on Thorn Bush: Notes on an Early Sumerian Kultmittelbeschwörung, AoF 46, 174-185. It compares the Tyszkiewicz amulet to another similar amulet formerly kept in the de Serres Collection and proposes that the two objects originate from the same workshop. Although the de Serres amulet bears a different incantation from the Udug-ḫul series, the two amulets are strikingly similar with regard to physical as well as textual aspects, the latter including the incorporation of certain 'zi-litany' sections.
Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires , 2023
The present note is devoted to BLMJ 2690 seal, which T.M. Oshima first published in the present p... more The present note is devoted to BLMJ 2690 seal, which T.M. Oshima first published in the present periodical in 2022) and then in another paper this year. The object is also of great interest due to its iconography and inscription, so it is gratifying that it has finally become known due to these publications.
Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes 40, 2022
Our study discusses a specific group of Mesopotamian medical-magical amulets. These are cylindric... more Our study discusses a specific group of Mesopotamian medical-magical amulets. These are cylindrical clay objects inscribed with incantations that often mention the names of their owners. Our paper aims to collect all such objects to classify and analyse them based on their origins and archaeological contexts and the texts written on them; furthermore, we discuss medical-magical rituals mentioning the use of these amulets. These texts can be divided into three groups: Ḫulbazizi incantations, Lamaštu and Ḫulbazizi incantations, and incantations against fever.
Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archéologie Orientale, 2022
Cet article présente un sceau-cylindre (Morgan 1123) publié par E. Porada (1948) dans le catalogu... more Cet article présente un sceau-cylindre (Morgan 1123) publié par E. Porada (1948) dans le catalogue du Morgan Library & Museum. Outre cette publication, dans les travaux précédents, il n’y a aucune mention de cet objet qui se trouve dans le chapitre “Seals of doubtful design and recut pieces”. Sur la base de l’iconographie, nous essayons de vérifier d’authenticité de l’objet. En outre, notre article présente la translitération du texte du sceau-cylindre ayant appartenu à un eunuque.
The aim of this paper is to examine the relevant sources in which the Akkadian Šarrat-Nippur(i) (... more The aim of this paper is to examine the relevant sources in which the Akkadian Šarrat-Nippur(i) (the Queen-of-Nippur) and her Sumerian equivalent (primarily called Ungal-Nibru) are mentioned. The following analysis, therefore, attempts to present Ištar at Nippur and discusses additional sources from the Kassite and later periods in which her cult place (Ebaradurĝarra, the temple of Ungal-Nibru) is mentioned. The main questions raised in the recent research concerning this goddess focus on the re-establishment of her temple after its Old Babylonian abandonment and on the role of her cult place in Nippur. Besides the archaeological evidence, the primary sources addressing these issues include royal and seal inscriptions, administrative records as well as literary and scholarly texts which shed light on her connection with Enlil and on her role compared to Ištar worshipped in other cult places.
Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXVIII N° 1-2, 2021
The fragment of clay tablet MFA 1981.156, kept in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, since 1983, co... more The fragment of clay tablet MFA 1981.156, kept in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, since 1983, contains lines 1–14 of the 16th tablet of the omen series Šumma ālu on the obverse and a colophon known from Ashurbanipal’s library tablets (Asb. Type b) on the reverse. We also provide an elaboration of fragment Sm 1565, a duplicate of MFA 1981.156. Publishing both texts together is of prime importance, since previous research has identified Sm 1565 as the 123rd tablet of the Namburbi series. Of the section (lines 1–15) of Šumma ālu 16, this paper presents a Partitur which has five sources according to our present knowledge: Ms. A: MFA 1981.156; Ms. B: Sm 1565; Ms. C: K 5204; Ms. D: BM 30431; and Ms. E: K 14025.
The British Museum acquired the chalcedony stamp seal described as “The property of a lady” in an... more The British Museum acquired the chalcedony stamp seal described as “The property of a lady” in an auction held in London (15 May 2002). Although I published this stamp seal in 2008 and a few publications about it have emerged since its appearance at the auction, I would like to comment on some new aspects on this object related to its modern history, iconography, date, and its connection with sealings depicting very similar scenes.
This new catalogue by Zoltán Niederreiter includes four items with alphabetic legends, two of the... more This new catalogue by Zoltán Niederreiter includes four items with alphabetic legends, two of them Arabian and two Aramaic, three in Brussels, and one iconographic parallel in a Dutch museum. You will find here the catalogue articles of these four items, their imagery addressed by Z.N. and their legends by B.S. The article on no. 65 was first published separately in: Niederreiter Zoltán and Sass Benjamin 2018. On a Neo-Assyrian period cylinder seal with a cult scene and an unusual Aramaic legend. Semitica et Classica 11, 219–226.
All four seals are unprovenanced.
The chalcedony amulet MFA 98.697, which originates from the famous Tyszkiewicz Collection, has be... more The chalcedony amulet MFA 98.697, which originates from the famous Tyszkiewicz Collection, has been kept in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts since 1898. The object bears a Sumerian Kultmittelbeschwörung on a thorn bush (Sum. ĝ e š kiš i 1 6 , Akk. ašāgum), a shorter version of which was published by A.R. George in 2016. The present paper provides editions of both incantations, including some new readings. In addition to the philological analysis, it explores the magical-medical application of the thorn bush, which might have had an apotropaic use. The object presented here is of great importance, since it provides the first occurrence of an incantation on a particular plant written on a pendant that was used as an amulet during magical-medical activities in ancient Mesopotamia.
- A newly identified fragment of the Ur₅-ra Tablet I, kept in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston-M... more 75) A newly identified fragment of the Ur₅-ra Tablet I, kept in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston-MFA 1981.155 (fig. 1) 1) is a fragment of a multi-column tablet which was offered to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, by the John Gardner Greene Trust in 1981.
This paper focuses on an inscribed bead (AO 31928), formerly kept in the collection of Jean-Alain... more This paper focuses on an inscribed bead (AO 31928), formerly kept in the collection of Jean-Alain Mariaud de Serres (1920-1999), which the Musée du Louvre acquired in a public sale in 2003. The legend engraved on the bead reveals its name – it is a “neck stone (lit.: stone of the neck)” (NA4.GU2) – and provides further remarks on its owner, Aššur-iddin, who was the Palace Herald of Shalmaneser (Salmānu-ašarēd).
This paper focuses on an inscribed statuette kept in The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (reg. nr. 98.71... more This paper focuses on an inscribed statuette kept in The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (reg. nr. 98.71). This human-faced bison, which bears a votive inscription of Pirig-me, the ruler of the Second Dynasty of Lagash, is part of a group consisting of similar inscribed and uninscribed statuettes with a particular function. We can conclude that these objects representing a chosen divine creature, which functioned as stands, were offered to the different deities of the Lagash state and can be connected to the ruling elite of the Lagash II Dynasty.
This identified group of statuettes thus opens new perspectives on the relationship between court art and the ruling dynasty, since we can follow the features of the sculptural traditions from Ur-Ningirsu I to Nammahni (from the first identified ruler to the last ruler of the dynasty). These objects shed light on the preferred divine figure, that is, the human-faced bison, among the Lagashite elite as well as on the local
style of court art produced in the central workshop.
Key-words : human-faced bison, Lagash II Dynasty, mythical creature, Nin-MAR.KI, Sumerian royal inscriptions,
Sumerian statuary.
Cet article porte sur la légende arabique, jusqu'alors non identifiée, et sur l'im-agerie remarqu... more Cet article porte sur la légende arabique, jusqu'alors non identifiée, et sur l'im-agerie remarquable d'un sceau-cylindre acquis par A. H. Layard en Mésopotamie au milieu du XIXe siècle.
Abstract. The paper treats the Arabian legend, hitherto unidentified, and the remarkable imagery on a cylinder seal acquired by A.H. Layard in Mesopotamia in the mid-19th century .
Addendum in "Cuneiform tablets, cylinder seals, stamp seals and scaraboids in the Museum of Cultu... more Addendum in "Cuneiform tablets, cylinder seals, stamp seals and scaraboids in the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo" CLARA 3 (2018)
The purpose of this paper is to present a diverse group of previously unpublished objects from th... more The purpose of this paper is to present a diverse group of previously unpublished objects from the ancient Near East, several of which bear texts. Among the three cuneiform tablets, the first is a Middle Babylonian administrative text from the reign of Nazi-maruttash, the second provides a receipt belonging to the archive of Iddin-Marduk (reign of Nabonidus or Cyrus II) and the third contains a list counting smiths from the Neo-or Late Babylonian period. In addition, there are two cylinder seals: one depicts a presentation scene (Ur III period) and the other two ostrich-like birds (Neo-Assyrian or Neo-Babylonian period). Three stamp seals and two scaraboids, formerly held in the famous collection of Baron Plato von Ustinow, are also recorded and discussed. Finally, in a separate but related contribution, an Old Babylonian letter is presented by Zsombor Földi and the current author.