E. Cohen-Sasson, J. Yogev and Sh. Yona, "Why does the Word "ṯlṯ" ("Three") Mean "Copper" in Ugaritic?", Ugarit Forschungen 43 (2012), 37-40. (original) (raw)
Why does the Word "ṯlṯ" ("Three") mean "Copper" in Ugaritic?, E. Cohen-Sasson; J. Yogev; S. Yona
2012
The Bronze Age period's name reflects two important metals of that period, namely copper and tin. These metals became extremely important to Bronze Age societies, and facilitated the development of more efficient technological production systems, and highly developed trade routes. 1 The significance of Ugarit in the Late Bronze trade system is connected to the physical location of the city. Ugarit is situated on an intersection of land-routes from central Asia from where tin was imported, and maritime routes that were connected to the Mediterranean and Cyprus from where copper was imported. Ugarit's part as a mediator of trade of bronze items is crucial for understanding the trade in the Late Bronze Age in the Ancient Near East. 2 It is therefore difficult to comprehend the absence of a unique word to represent copper in the Ugaritic language, which was of considerable importance in the kingdom of Ugarit.
The merchants of Ugarit: oligarchs of the Late Bronze Age trade in metals?
2012
Ugarit’s location at the nexus of land based routes that delivered tin from Central Asia and Eastern Mediterranean maritime trade circuits, together with its close proximity to Cyprus, from which it received abundant supplies of copper, make it a unique vantage point from which to study trade in the components of bronze in the LBA. Added to this, it is indeed fortunate that, at the close of the LBA, the merchants of Ugarit were literate and recorded their business transactions on tablets that have been excavated in their hundreds since the 1950s. This extraordinary survival means more is known about the activities of Ugarit’s merchants than, for example, their European counterparts in the early Middle Ages. This paper explores the role the merchants of Ugarit played in supplying metals to the Eastern Mediterranean world in the closing years of the LBA, drawing on recent philological work and attempting to integrate this with archaeological and scientific data. It also considers how a business oligarchy comprised of powerful merchants, functioning alongside Ugarit’s Palace, may have provided the foundation for the development of entrepreneurial trade.
Across Cultures, Across Languages. Interconnectivity in the Late Bronze Age Ugarit (2023)
Diacrítica 37/2, 2023
The spread of cuneiform writing and of the linguistic and literary traditions associated with it represents one of the key moments in the cultural history of the ancient Near East. It is a complex and multi-faceted process that can unquestionably be regarded as an excellent example of cultural transfer. The long duration and the state of preservation of the sources enable us to follow this process as a whole and also to focus on specific aspects. The aim of this article is to identify the significance of cultural transfer in the Akkadian texts of Ugarit, especially in relation to the origin of the phrase "according to the loyalty of one's heart".
La richesse du matériel métallique mis au jour sur les sites de Ras Shamra et de Minet el-Beida, ainsi que de Ras Ibn Hani, a été maintes fois soulignée. Le bronze, alliage de cuivre et d'étain, est de loin le métal le plus attesté, utilisé pour une grande diversité d'objets (outillage, armement, parures, figurines, vases…). La découverte de lingots de métal a été signalée dès les premières campagnes de fouille. À ce jour, seuls des lingots de cuivre, d'argent et de plomb ont été répertoriés, ces derniers étant très majoritaires ; aucun lingot d'étain n'est mentionné dans les archives de fouille ou les publications. La documentation textuelle fournit quant à elle de nombreuses mentions de métaux et fait référence aux techniques métallurgiques ainsi qu'aux artisans travaillant le métal et aux personnes en lien avec la gestion des métaux et des productions métalliques. Les textes semblent montrer que l'administration à Ugarit avait affaire pour les métaux à des quantités standardisées avec deux unités, de 4,7 kg et de 5,6 kg. La confrontation des données textuelles et archéologiques pourrait indiquer l'usage d'un système d'échange fondé, pour le cuivre, sur le sicle ougaritique. 1 This article is one result of the research project "Bureaucracy and Administrative Procedures in the Syrian Kingdom of Ugarit (14th to 12th centuries B.C.)" (FFI2015-67357-P) (MINECO/FEDER, UE), funded by the Spanish Ministry for Economic Affairs and Competitiveness within the National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation (I+D+I). It also forms part of the current programme of research by the Mission archéologique syro-française de Ras Shamra-Ougarit (studies of the unpublished archives of excavations), funded by the Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères.
Observations on the Language Situation in Late Bronze Age Ugarit
Multilingualism in Ancient Contexts: Perspectives from Ancient Near Eastern and Early Christian Contexts, 2021
Ugarit is both the name of a kingdom in northwestern Syria and the name of its capital, which thrived during the 14th and 13th centuries BCE. The capital was destroyed in 1185 BCE, and, until the city's excavation, was only known by its modern Arabic name of Tell Ras Shamra. Claude F.A. Schaeffer began conducting excavations on Tell Ras Shamra on 9 May 1929. Only five days later, on 14 May 1929, the first clay tablets with a hitherto unknown cuneiform script were found on the northern part of the acropolis. 2 In spite of various difficulties, the decipherment of this new script was achieved by Hans Bauer (Halle an der Saale), Marcel Cohen (Paris), Paul-Édouard Dhorme (Jerusalem), and Charles Virolleaud (Paris) between 1929 and 1930. 3 At present, ca. 4 000 clay tablets have been unearthed on Tell Ras Shamra. These clay tablets belonged to several archives and libraries from the city of Ugarit and from the palace of Ras Ibn Hani. 4 1 My thanks go to Prof. Louis Jonker (Stellenbosch) for the invitation to the congress on multilingualism. The research for this chapter was carried out at Stellenbosch University in April 2019, where I am indebted to my host, Prof. Izak Cornelius, and at the Collège de France in May 2019, where I am indebted to my host, Prof. Thomas Römer. I also thank Magdalena Bekavac (Tübingen) and Susanne Maier (Tübingen) for supporting me in writing this chapter, and Alexander Johannes Edmonds (Tübingen) for improving the English.
A Reluctant Servant: Ugarit under Foreign Rule during the Late Bronze Age
A Stranger in the House - the Crossroads III. edited byJana Mynářová, Marwan Kilani and Sergio Alivernini, 2019
Type-setting layout: AGAMA ® poly-grafický ateliér, s.r.o., Praha Print: TNM print, Chlumec nad Cidlinou Abstract: The second millennium BC was a period of unprecedented interconnectedness, characterized by the increasing movement of people in conjunction with the transmission of technologies across the Near East. Employing a Communities of Practice approach, this paper investigates the human networks through which this specialized knowledge might have transferred, suggesting that the interaction between foreign and local military and technological specialists was the locus of this transmission. The Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period were characterized by waves of West Asian immigrants moving into the Eastern Delta, bringing with them their mastery of new production processes and technologies. This period also saw the introduction of West Asian military practices and values, including a corpus of military related Semitic loan words. Therefore, this paper will propose that the mixture of immigrant and Egyptian specialists in hybrid military communities of practice played a major role in this cultural exchange. I will also explore the cultural significance behind the adoption and maintenance of these foreign technologies and military values, as well as their impact on the New Kingdom Egyptian military and conceptions of kingship.
urūnum signifies a metal-smelting furnace. Cognate with: Kur. ōrnā to be warm weather, be heated (e.g. iron, body with fever); ōrta'ānā to warm, heat. Malt. órtre to make red-hot; óthre to become red-hot (DEDR 1064) Santali. Ta. uru (-pp-, -tt-) to burn, smart, be angry; uruppam, uruppu heat, anger; urumam heat (as of the sun, of the atmosphere), sultriness, noon; Ka. uri to burn, blaze, glow, burn with fever, rage, envy, burn or smart as a wound, as mouth from pepper; n. burning, flame, blaze, etc.; urika one who burns (tr.), a passionate, angry man; uripu, urisu to cause to burn, inflame; uruvala, uravala, ural, urlu fuel; uru, urapu, uripu, urupu, uruvu, urpu burning, flame; urugu passion, anger, wrath; ummaḷa heat; grief, trouble; ummaḷike heat; grief, distress; ummaḷisu to be hot; to grieve, be distressed. Koḍ. uri (-v-, -ñj-) burning sensation is felt; uri burning sensation. Tu. uri blaze, flame, heat, acute pain, wrath; uriyuni to burn, blaze, feel a burning sensation, be angry, envious, (belly) is hungry; urkilů prickly heat. Te. (K.) uriyu to burn (intr.), be afflicted, grieve; (K.) uralu to burn (intr.)? Br. hushing to set fire to, burn, scorch, make feverish, burn with rage; hushingingto be burnt, etc. Cf. 568 Ta. ukkaram, 661 Ta. uruku, and 1064 Kui ōpu, Kur. ōrnā. (DEDR 656) Ta. uruku (uruki-) to dissolve (intr.) with heat, melt, liquefy, be fused, become tender, melt (as the heart), be kind, glow with love, be emaciated; urukku (urukki-) to melt (tr.) with heat (as metals or congealed substances), dissolve, liquefy, fuse, soften (as feelings), reduce, emaciate (as the body), destroy; n. steel, anything melted, product of liquefaction; urukkam melting of heart, tenderness, compassion, love (as to a deity, friend, or child); urukkiṉam that which facilitates the fusion of metals (as borax). Ma. urukuka to melt, dissolve, be softened; urukkuka to melt (tr.); urukkam melting, anguish; urukku what is melted, fused metal, steel. Ko. uk steel. Ka. urku, ukku id. Koḍ. ur- (uri-) to melt (intr.); urïk- (urïki-) id. (tr.);ukkï steel. Te. ukku id. Go. (Mu.) urī-, (Ko.) uṛi- to be melted, dissolved; tr. (Mu.) urih-/urh- (Voc. 262). Konḍa (BB) rūg- to melt, dissolve. Kui ūra (ūri-) to be dissolved; pl. action ūrka (ūrki-); rūga (rūgi-) to be dissolved. Kuwi (Ṭ.) rūy- to be dissolved; (S.) rūkhnai to smelt; (Isr.) uku, (S.) ukku steel. Cf. 656 Ta. uru.(DEDR 661) Fusing metals: āˊvartayati ʻ causes to turn round ʼ RV. 2. āvártana -- n. ʻ turning round ʼ RV., ʻ stirring, melting of metals ʼ lex. 3. āˊvr̥tta -- ʻ stirred ʼ. [√vr̥t1]1. Pa. āvaṭṭēti tr. ʻ turns round ʼ, Pk. āvattēi, āyaṭṭaï, āuṁtāvēi; āvaṭṭaï ʻ is melted ʼ; Kho. awehrtēik ʻ to cause to turn, make give in exchange ʼ; S. āṭaṇu tr. ʻ to melt ʼ; P. auṭṇā ʻ to boil ʼ; A. āuṭiba ʻ to smelt, thicken (milk) by boiling ʼ; B. āoṭāna ʻ to stir when boiling ʼ; Or. āuṭibā ʻ to melt, boil ʼ; Bhoj. awãṭal ʻ to stir, boil ʼ; H. auṭnā tr. ʻ to boil, to evaporate over a fire ʼ (> intr. ʻ to be boiled, be consumed with rage ʼ whence der. tr. auṭānā); G. avṭavāvũ ʻ to be evaporated while being stirred (of milk or medicine) ʼ; M. aṭṇẽ ʻ to thicken by boiling, fuse metals ʼ.2. Pa. āvattana -- n. ʻ turning back ʼ, āvaṭṭana -- n. ʻ twisting ʼ, Pk. āvattaṇa -- , āyaṭṭaṇa -- n.; Kho. awertōnu ʻ place where water pours over an edge ʼ; S. ātaṇu m. ʻ place where women sit and spin ʼ; L. ātaṇ, attuṇ m. ʻ party of women collected to spin together ʼ; Or. āutaṇa ʻ act of stirring milk over a fire ʼ, H. auṭan m. ʻ boiling ʼ.3. See *ardhāvr̥tta -- ʻ half melted ʼ.Addenda: āvartayati: S. āuṭaṇu (KhubSD) intr. ʻ to melt, dissolve ʼ, tr. ʻ to smelt, cast (metal) ʼ. (CDIAL 1420) Sumerian. Nagga [AN.NA], Akk. Annaku was tin, an additive to copper to produce the alloy bronze (Sum. Zabar, Akk. Sipparu). urudu-luh-ha signified refined copper. urudu-sig5 signified refined copper. urudu, unrefined matte or black copper ingots were imported from Meluhha. "Benno Landsberger and other Assyriologists argued that by examining the structure of Sumerian names of occupations, as well as toponyms and hydronyms, one can suggest that there was once an earlier group of people in the region who spoke an entirely different language, often referred to as Proto-Euphratean. Terms for "farmer", "smith", "carpenter", and "date" (as in the fruit), also do not appear to have a Sumerian or Semitic origin...Proto-Euphratean is a hypothetical unclassified language or languages which was considered by some Assyriologists (for example Samuel Noah Kramer), to be the substratumlanguage of the people that introduced farming into Southern Iraq in the Early Ubaid period (5300-4700 BC)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Euphratean\_language Stone statue of Kurlil, Early Dynastic III, 2500 BC Tell Al-'Ubaid. The statue compares with the Mohenjo-daro and Mari priests. I suggest that the expression urudu-luh-ha 'refined copper' is cognate with (and perhaps derived from) Proto-Indo-European (Meluhha) words rudhira, 'red' and loha 'copper, iron, any metal'. Similarly, the Sumerian word AN.NA, annaku, nagga, 'tin' are cognate with and derived from nāga नाग -गम् 1 Tin. -2 Lead; -जम् 1 red lead. -2tin; -जीवनम् tin; -नामकम् Tin. रुद्र rudra रुद्र -सखः N. of Kubera; -रोदनम् gold; यत्सेवयाग्नेरिव रुद्ररोदनम् Bhāg. 8.24.48; रुधिर rudhira रुधिर a. [रुध्-किरच् Uṇ.1.5] Red, red-coloured. -रम् 1 Blood. -2 Saffron. -रः 1 The red colour. lōha लोह a. 1 Red, reddish. -2 Made of copper, coppery. -3 Made of iron; भ्रमतश्च वराहस्य लोहस्य प्रमुखे समम् Mb.1. 135.23. -हः, -हम् 1 Copper. -2 Iron. -3 Steel. -4 Any metal; वस्तून्योषधयः स्नेहा रसलोहमृदो जलम् Bhāg.2. 6.24. -5 Gold; यथा सौम्यैकेन लोहमणिना Ch. Up.6.1.5. -6 Blood. -7 A weapon; अद्भ्यो$ग्निर्त्रह्मतः क्षत्रमश्मनो लोह- मुत्थितम् Ms.9.321. See: https://www.britannica.com/place/Mesopotamia-historical-region-Asia#ref55467 "Sumer was first settled between 4500 and 4000 BCE by a non-Semitic people who did not speak the Sumerian language. These people now are called proto-Euphrateans or Ubaidians, for the village Al-ʿUbayd, where their remains were first discovered. The Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. After the Ubaidian immigration to Mesopotamia, various Semitic peoples infiltrated their territory, adding their cultures to the Ubaidian culture and creating a high pre-Sumerian civilization." https://www.britannica.com/place/Sumer#ref253215 See: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/JonesM-MA2007.pdf Michael Rice Jones, 2007, Oxhide ingots, coper production, and the mediterranean trade in copper and other metals in the Bronze Age, Thsesis submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University, 418 pages. Abstract. "The production and trade in copper and bronze was one of the major features of the complex societies in the Near East and Mediterranean during the third to first millennia B.C. While finished metal objects are common finds from the period, ancient metal ingots and hoards of scrap metal, as well as archaeological evidence of metallurgical activities, are often more important sources of information for how ancient technology and trade functioned. Shipwrecks, particularly those found off the coast of Turkey at Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya, as well as mining and smelting sites in the Mediterranean region, provide invaluable information on the production and trade of copper and tin, the main ingredients of bronze. In this thesis, I examine the evolution of the copper trade in the eastern and central Mediterranean, particularly during the Late Bronze Age, when ‘oxhide’ ingots were widely exported. Finds of oxhide ingots have increased dramatically in recent years, and no synthesis of all of this newly available evidence is currently available. I attempt to analyze this new evidence in relation to older finds and research, with a particular focus on the cargo of the Uluburun shipwreck, the largest collection of Bronze Age metal ingots from a single site in the Mediterranean. The history of oxhide ingot production is complex, but by the Late Bronze Age Cyprus was supplying much of the copper used to neighboring regions, with revolutionary effects on societies in Cyprus and elsewhere. The archaeological evidence shows that oxhide ingots are early examples of a standardized industrial product made for export by emerging state-level societies during the second millennium B.C. and fueled the development of international trade, metallurgical technology, and complex social institutions in a variety of Mediterranean societies from Egypt and the Levant, Greece, Cyprus, to Sardinia in the central Mediterranean."...