Third Millenium Cuneiform Texts from Tell Beydar (Seasons 1996-2002)

With this volume the epigraphical team of Tell Beydar (Syria) continues the publication of the Early Dynastic cuneiform texts found during the Euro-Syrian excavations in 1996-2002. The tablets from Tell Beydar constitute the most important find of Presargonic texts from Northern Mesopotamia. A first volume with the edition of the tablets from seasons 1993-1995 appeared in 1996 in the same series (Subartu II). The 69 new texts include administrative documents, a considerable number of inscribed and sealed bullae and a Sumerian literary text. Indexes and additions to Subartu II close this part. Several studies, mostly by authors of the volume, concentrate on various aspects of the new texts: the archaeological context (M. Lebeau); sheep husbandry at Beydar; the bullae and their administrative use; inscribed seals and sealings on the bullae (G. Jans); women in the Beydar texts; the Sumerian literary text; Nabada/Tell Beydar in its regional setting (with J. Ur); and an overview of the Tell Beydar texts in Arabic by F. Ismail. These studies integrate the new written sources into the wider context of the history and culture of Northern Mesopotamia in the Third Millennium B.C.