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Charles E. Jones - Blegen Library, Athens Matthew W. Stolper - Oriental Institute, Chicago Fortification Texts Sold at the Auction of the Erlenmeyer Collection*

The catalogue for the auction sale of cuneiform tablets from

the Erlenmeyer collection at Christie’s London in 1988 listsfive lots of “dockets, some bearing just seal impressions and

* WeareindebtedtoIrvingFinkelforinformationontheErlenmeyersaleof1988,to

Ulla Kastenand the Yale Babylonian Collection for information on items in the

Rosen Babylonian Collection, and to Jonathan Rosen for permission to publish

them; to Mark Garrison for observations on seal impressions; to Wouter

Henkelman for critical additions and corrections. Abbreviations: Fort. =

unpublished Persepolis Fortification tablets now in the National Archaeological

Museum, Tehran, cited from transliterations and photographs by George G.

Cameron and notes by Richard T.Hallock; PF =Persepolis Fortification texts in

Hallock 1969; PF-NN = unpublished Persepolis Fortification texts cited from

transliterations by Hallock; PFS =Persepolis Fortification Seal, cited according to

Garrison &Root 1998.Where seal identificationsdiffer fromthosepublished in

Hallock1969,theyreflectcollationsbyHallock,Garrison,Root,andtheauthors.

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others both seals and full texts in Late Elamite cuneiform,evidently from Persepolis.” We have no other record on thesource or history of these objects. Lots 127 and 128 consistedof five items and four items, respectively, all tablets withcuneiform texts and seal impressions; photographs in thecatalogue illustrate the inscribed obverses of two tablets fromeachof theselots.Lots129and130consistedof9 itemseach,all clay tags with seal impressions only;none are illustrated inthe catalogue. Lot 131 consisted of a single item with anincised Aramaic text, shown in a photograph.1 Antiquitiesdealers bought these lots at the auction2 and the items werelaterdispersedbyresaletocollectorsandtootherdealers.

Five of the nine tablets with cuneiform texts that can bepositively identified as coming from Erlenmeyer Lots 127-128are presented here, along with four other tablets that are pro-bablytheremainingtextsfromtheselots.3Generalappearance,contents, proper names and seal impressions strongly indicatethat all these texts originally belonged to the PersepolisFortificationfind,astheChristie’scataloguesuggested.4

1 Anonymous 1988:61.OneoftheElamitecuneiformtablets isalso shownon the

coverofthecatalogue.2 OnedealerboughtLots128and130,anotherboughtLot127andanotherLot129.

WedonothaveinformationonLot131.3 Aselectionofphotographsforeachtabletisgivenhere;completesetsofimageswill

be made available in the future Musée achéménide virtuel et interactif

(www.achemenet.com).4 Indeed,theymaybeenpartofanancientgroupwithintheFortificationfind,since

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1-3 Stolper ex-Erlenmeyer In1999, threeAchaemenid Elamite tabletsacquired from the

antiquities trade were donated to Stolper. One of them is atext from Lot 127 of the Erlenmeyer sale illustrated in thecatalogue. The other two were said to have come from theErlenmeyercollection,perhapsfromthesamelot..

1 MWS 1

mostofthemcanbelinkedcircumstantiallytotheadministrativevicinityofTirazzi⌃

(Achaemenid Shiraz). Other unexcavated Achaemenid Elamite administrative texts

that originally belonged (certainly or probably) to the Persepolis Fortification

archiveinclude:Grillot1986(CategoryN);Vallat1994:264(CategoryT)and272

(Category E). A special case is the tablet that was evidently removed from

Persepolis in pre-modern times and found at Qapr-i Abu Napr, illustrated by

Wilkinson 1965: pl. LXXVII fig. 24, and edited by Hallock as PF-NN 2303

(Category C6). Less probably connected with the known Fortification archive is

YBC16813(CategoryR;seeJones&Stolper1986:249).

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Description ErlenmeyerLot127No.1.5 3.95×3.1×1.7cm Reverseuninscribed Category:C1 Transliteration

1. 43GI⇧ tar-mu«GI⇧»2. GI⇧ha-da-ti-i⌃gi-3. umuk-gi[zik]-kak-4. ka4HALhal-sa-ik-ra?-5. baHALsa-da-ba-um6. [HALza]-ra-ti-ia-naLowerEdge7. A⇧[be-ul]28-me-[na]

Translation 43 (BAR)of hadati⌃ tarmu (grain)deposited to the accountofHalsakraba(or:Sakraba),oftheZaratiya“century.”28thyear.

Comparanda Cf. PF 0141-0142, PF-NN 1174, PF-NN 1854 (all Category C1,

tarmu kurrusam, Zaratiya “century,” seals PFS 0161*s and PFS0451s), PF-NN 1744 (C1, tarmu kurrusam, Zaratiya “century,”four other seals, year 24), PF 143 (tarmu kurusam, U⌃tana“century,”PFS0161*sandPFS0451s);andbelow,No.9.

5 ThesecondtabletfromtheleftintheillustrationatthetopofAnon.1988:61.

MWS 1 lower edge

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Seals Seal PFS 0161*s, re-

verse, left edge. An-other seal reverse,perhapsPFS0451s.

Comments 4. Or: HAL «HAL»? PN

apparently hapax. Aform of the verbhalsa-isinappropriate.

2 MWS 2 Description 3.5×2.7×1.6cm Loweredgeandreverse uninscribed Category:M

MWS 1 left edge

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Transliteration 1. 6mar-ri-i⌃GI⇧GE⇧TINME⇧2. kur-mín[HALmar]-ri-[ia]-3. da-da-naHALkur-ta⌃4. galma-ki-ipA⇧5. pír-na-ku-ma⌃?AN6. ITIME⇧2-naha7. sa-ti-ka48. PAP60kur-ta⌃

Translation 6 marri⌃ of wine, allocation of Marriyadadda, given as sat to

workersconsumingrationsatPirnaku,(for)2months. Comparanda Cf. PF 1123, PF-NN 1364, PF-NN 1822 (all Category M, wine,

Marriyadadda), and especially PF-NN 0389 (Category M,Marriyadadda, at Pirnakuma⌃, wine, kurta⌃ gal makip... hasatika).

Seals Seal PFS 1077 (probably

identical with PFS 0034=Garrison&Root2001,No. 73) left edge.Anothersealreverse.

The impressions ofPFS 0034 and PFS 1077are visually indistinguishable. Hallock perhaps set ‘Seal 34’ (=

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PFS 0034) apart from the unnumbered seal impressed on theleft edge of PF 1123 (laternumbered as PFS 1077) on the basisof thecontentsof the tablets towhich theywereapplied,butthe contents are not consistently distinct. Hallock identifiedimpressions of PFS 1077 (in his notation, ‘N-33’) on PF-NN0725, 1531, 1822, and 2093 (all Category M or N, wine,Marriyadadda supplier, at Tirazzi⌃ or Karikma⌃dan). Heidentified impressions of PFS 0034 on 11 tablets published inPFTand19moretabletsinthePF-NNseries;24ofthesebelongtoCategoryC1;21of those24havePFS0034on theleftedge,and 17 of those 21 refer to deposits at Bakti⌃. Nevertheless,Hallockalso identifiedPFS0034on6 textsofcategoryM,andthe4ofthesethatrecordissuesofwinenameMariyadaddaasagent, like the texts impressed with PFS 1077 (PF-NN 1364[Tirazzi⌃ and(?) Karikma⌃dan], 1471, and 1479, all with PFS0034 on the left edge; PF-NN 1335 [halmarri⌃, “the fortress,”probablyTirazzi⌃]withPFS0034ontheupperedge).6

Comments 5. Pirnakuma⌃ (alsoPF-NN0389:4f.)= PirnakuPF2018:34;Pirna-

ku⌃ PF-NN 1697:4, PF-NN 1902:5f.; Pirnakuya PF-NN 1498:3;Parnaku⌃PF-NN1805:4;cf.Koch1990:263(Shirazdistrict).

8. 60 kurta⌃ × 2 months × ½ QA sat (see Hallock 1969: 35) = 6marri⌃.

6 Still other texts of category M or N that record allotments of wine and name

MarriyadaddaasagentlackimpressionsofPFS0034(e.g.,PF-NN0459,0715,1201,

allwithPFS0036ontheleftedge;PF-NN0115,0389).

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3 MWS 3 Description 4.3×2.8×1.5cm Category:M?

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Transliteration 1. 1ME25mar-ri-i⌃GI⇧GE⇧TINME⇧2. [(ø)]kur-mínHALmar-ri-ia-da-da!-3. [(ø)]naHAL[kur]-ta⌃galma-ki-ip4. [(ø)]A⇧ hal-mar-ri-i⌃-ik-ki5. [(ø)]HALapap?nu-i⌃-ki-ip6. [(ø)]a-akSALab-ba-mu-i⌃!-«na»-7. [(ø)] ipANITIME⇧3-naLowerEdge8. [(ø)] [A⇧ be-ul]17-um-me-man-na9. [(ø)] [AN][ITI]ME⇧ANka4-ir-ba-[⌃i]-Reverse10. [(ø)] [ia-i⌃]-nasa-ut[xx] 11. [(ø)] [PAP?]6ME23HALkur-ta⌃

Translation 125 marri⌃ of wine, allocation

of Marriyadadda, [given as]sat [to] workers consumingrations in the fortress,treasury workers and womenof (the) Abbamu⌃, for 3months. 17th year, 6th month.Total:623workers.

Comparanda Cf. Fort. 6662, PF-NN 0410

(both Category M, Marriya-daddasupplier,abbamu⌃;sameseals).

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Seals Sealleftedge.Anothersealreverse.Samesealupperedge? Comments 5. Theonlyplausible intentionhere iskapnu⌃kip;henceHAL<ka4>-

«ap»-ap-nu⌃kip,orevenappakapnu⌃kip?10f. Expected:[apdu-][nu-ka4PAP]7.,11. 3months×623kurta⌃=1869.(Total1,250QA)/(1869)=.6688,

i.e.,approximately⅔QAinsteadoftheusual½QA.Perhapsanerror for 4 months (4 × 623 = 2492; 1250/2492 = .5016, i.e.,closetotheappropriate½QA)?

The collocationof halmarri⌃,kapnu⌃kiandabbamu⌃ stronglyindicates that the wine was issuedat Shiraz or in thedistrictofShiraz.

4 Schoyen ex-Erlenmeyer AlegiblephotographofanotherAchaemenidElamiteadmini-

strative tabletappeared inAnonymous1992,No.18.Aphoto-graph of the same tablet was shown to Stolper in 1991, withthe information that it had come from the Erlenmeyer sale.New photographs were shown to Stolper in 1996. At thattime the tablet was in the Martin Schoyen collection. It hassincebeendescribedandillustrated(obverseonly)atwww.nb.no/baser/schoyen/5/5.21/index2.html#1814 and www.nb.no/baser/schoyen/5/5.21/ms1814.jpg(27/V/2006).

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4 MS 1814 Description 3.4×3.8×1.7cm Category:K3 Reverseuninscribed Transliteration

1. 2mar-ri-i⌃GI⇧GE⇧TINME⇧2. HALma-ti-⌃ágal-ma3. du-i⌃-daANITIME⇧4. ANmar-ka4-⌃á-na-á⌃-na5. du-i⌃-daANbe-6. ul20-um-me-na

Translation 2 marri⌃ of wine Mati⌃a has received as rations. He has

receivedit(for)the8thmonth.20thyear. Comparanda Cf. PF 1902 (label, wine for

Mati⌃a); PF 0685 (beer forMati⌃a).

Seals Seal left edge. Another seal

reverse. Neither seal is PFS0162 (= Garrison & Root2001, No. 249), associated

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with Mati⌃a by Koch 1990: 139. The seal on the reverseresembles PFS 0853 (= Garrison & Root 2001, No. 204),impressed on the reverse of PF 0685 and PF1487 (both withMati⌃aasrecipient).

5-8 Rosen ex-Erlenmeyer FourAchaemenidElamitetabletsinthecollectionofJonathan

Rosen were made available for study by the Yale BabylonianCollection. Two of them are the tablets from Lot 128 of theErlenmeyersale thatare illustrated in theauctioncatalogue.Itislikelythattheothertwocomefromthesamelot.

5 R137 Description =ErlenmeyerLot128No.11 3.5×2.9×1.5cm Category:F

1 ThetabletonthefarleftintheillustrationatthetopAnonymous1988:61.

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Transliteration

1. 3ME[⇧E.BAR]ME⇧[kur-mín]2. HALba-ka4-[ba]-ad-3. -da-naHALka4-rák-4. ka4hi-⌃eHALma-ti-5. radu-⌃áNUMUN6. ME⇧nu-ti-i⌃-da7. A⇧ ku-ut-ku-i⌃8. HAL⌃u-ut-te-ez-zaLowerEdge9. ⌃á-ra-man-na10. A⇧ be-ul25-na

Translation 300 (BAR) of barley, [alloca-

tion] of Bakabada, (theperson) named Karakka, thematira, received and hasstored as seed at Kutku⌃,⇧utezza being responsible.25thyear.

Comparanda Cf.PF0637,PF-NN1244 (Category G,with Karakka, ⇧utezza,

atKutku⌃,sameseals);PF0153(Karakkakarhuttira,atKutku⌃,⇧utezza); PF-NN 1780 (Bakabada supplier, at Kutku⌃). SamecombinationofsealsalsoonPF0481,PF0638.

R137 left edge

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Seals SealPFS0305reverse,upperedge.ProbablyPFS0042leftedge. Comments 3f. matira andkar huttira may be associated (hence this Karakka

calledkarhuttiraPF0153:4f.)butareperhapsnotsynonymous(hencethecollocationmatipakkarhuttipinPF-NN0460:5ff.).

6 R140 Description 3.7×3.0×1.7cm Category:K2 Reverseuninscribed

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Transliteration 1. [x+]3GI⇧GE⇧TINME⇧[kur-mín] 2. HALx-x-pu-zil-3. la-naHALmar-du-4. uk-ka4mu-⌃i-inHAL5. zik-ki-ragal-6. madu-i⌃-da7. ANITIME⇧ AN

8. ba-gi-[ia-ti]-i⌃LowerEdge9. ANbe!-ul[x]-10. um-me-man-na

Translation [x+]3 (marri⌃) of wine, allocation of x-puzilla, Mardukka the

accountanthasreceived.7thmonth,x-thyear. Comparanda Cf. PF 0780-PF 0782; PF-NN

1769 (Category P, flourreceivedbyMardukaandtwoboys, mu⌃in zikki⌃); PF 0790(Category K2), PF-NN 1876(Category L2) (both grainsuppliedbyMarduka,PFS0143s);PF-NN2261:22-25(K2entry inajournal,sheepforMardukaand3associates,karamara⌃be).

Seals Stampseal,perhapsPFS0143s,reverse.Anothersealleftedge.

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Comments 2. Perhaps HALkur+zap- for HALnap!-pu-zil-la (cf. kurmin HALnap-

zil-la-naPF0016,PF0108,PF0109,PF0504,PF-NN0112,PF-NN0927,allwithPFS0154leftedge;PF-NN0927;PF-NN2315)?ButsealonleftedgeisapparentlynotPFS0154.

7 R557 Description =ErlenmeyerLot128No.22 4.8×4.4×1.8cm Category:M

2 Thesecondtabletfromtheright inthe illustrationatthetopofAnonymous 1988:

61.

R557 obverse

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Transliteration

1. 27mar-ri-i⌃3[QA] 2. KA⇧ME⇧kur-mínHALka4

?- [x-x-na]

3. HALkur-ta⌃gal- (2erasures?)-lu?HALra-4. á⌃-da⌃á-ra-man-nasa-ti?-5. ikHALti-<ud>-da?hu-ut-ti-6. ip[sa!?]-ti-i⌃-daANITI7. ha-du-kán-nu-i⌃ANsa-8. kur-ri-zí-i⌃[ANtur]-[na]-9. ba-zí-i⌃ANba-gi-10. [ia-ti]-i⌃ANLowerEdge11. ha-⌃i-ia-ti-[i⌃]Reverse12. ANmi-ia-kán-na-[i⌃] 13. ANITI6ha-tusa-ti-ik14. PAP91HALkur-ta⌃A ⇧ be-ul15. 22-um-me-man-na

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Translation 48.3marri⌃ofbeer,allocation

of Ka-x, supplied as sat toworkers (consuming) rations,for whom Ra⌃da is res-ponsible. The tidda?makerssupplied sat. Supplied as satduring 6 months, the 1st, 3rd,5th,7th,9th (and)12thmonths.Total91workers.22ndyear.

Comparanda Cf.,e.g.,PF1092,PF1129,PF-NN0029,PF1944:24-29. Seals PFS0115*reverse,upperedge.Anothersealleftedge. Comments 2. Karki⌃? Cf. PF-NN 0215 (Category M, Karki⌃ supplier, Ra⌃da

responsible,3months).6. Parallelssuggesthasati⌃,(ap)sati⌃daorhupibesati⌃da.12. Samiyama⌃,11thmonth,isexpected.14. 91kurta⌃×6months×½QAsat=273marri⌃.

R557 upper edge

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8 R558 Description 4.1×3.0×1.4cm Category:D Transliteration

1. [ ]2. []xxx[ ]3. [HALú-ka4-maA⇧ be-iz?-zí?]-4. ia-ma-ti-ia5. HALta⌃-⌃u-ípi-[da]-ka46. 3?galul?[du]-i⌃-da7. A⇧ da?-⌃á-x-tiANLowerEdge8. be-ul22-me-na9. ANITISIG4

?-me-man-na

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Translation [… ] Ukama the Beziyamatian, together with troops, has

receivedfor?3?rations.AtDa⌃a-x-ti.22ndyear.3rd?month. Comparanda Cf. PF 0330, PF 2027, PF-NN 1159, PF-NN 1254, PF-NN 1816 (all

CategoryD,Ukamata⌃⌃upidaka,sealPFS0284*). Seals PFS 0284* (= Garrison &

Root 2001, No. 111), seal ofUkama,reverse,leftedge.

Comments 3. Ukama the Beziyamatiyan:

see Henkelman 2003: 133f.withn.54.

6. In parallels, nothing intervenesbetweenidakaanddu⌃da.

7-9. In parallels, A⇧GN HALPN HALir-ma-ut-tám-me-ma,“atGN,attheestateofPN,”followsdu⌃da.

9 ex-Erlenmeyer ex-Christie’s Finally, another tablet from the Erlenmeyer collection is

partiallylegiblefromaphotographinthesalecatalogue.

R558 reverse

R558 left edge

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9 Erlenmeyer Lot 127 No. 23 Description Category:C1 Transliteration

1. 3?ME??80?+3GI⇧tar-mu2. GI⇧?kur-ru-sa-umgi-3. umuk-gizik-ka4-4. ka4HALbat-ti-i⌃?-⌃á5. A⇧ sa-du!-ba-umHAL6. [za?]-ra?-ti-iaA⇧ ?be?-ul?LowerEdge7. [x-um-ma-na?]

Translation 383(BAR)ofkurrusamtarmu(grain),depositedtotheaccount?

ofBatti⌃⌃a,oftheZaratiya“century.”x-thyear. Comparanda Cf.especiallyNo.1,above. CharlesE.JONES MatthewW.STOLPER ce-jones@ascsa.edu.gr m-stolper@uchicago.edu

3 ThetabletonthefarrightintheillustrationatthetopofAnonymous1988:61.

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GARRISON, M.B. & ROOT, M.C. 1998, Achaemenid History IX:Persepolis Seal

Studies,Leiden[correctededition].

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Encounter(OIP117),Chicago.

GRILLOT,F.1986,Unetabletteachéménideinédite,AMI19:149-150.

HALLOCK,R.T.1969,PersepolisFortificationTablets(OIP92),Chicago.

HENKELMAN,W.F.M.2003,AnElamiteMemorial:the ⌃umarofCambysesand

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PersianPerspective.EssaysinMemoryofHeleenSancisi-Weerdenburg,Leiden:

101-172.

JONES,C.E.&STOLPER,M.W.1986,TwoLateElamiteTabletsatYale,in:L.De

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MélangesoffertsàM.J.Steve,Paris:243-254.

KOCH,H. 1990,VerwaltungundWirtschaft im persischenKernlandzurZeitder

Achämeniden(TAVOBeih.B89),Wiesbaden.

VALLAT,F.1994,Deuxtablettesélamitesdel’UniversitédeFribourg,JNES53:263-

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WILKINSON,C.K.1965,TheAchaemenianRemainsatQapr-i-AbuNapr,JNES24:

341-345.