WP7: Scribes, Bureaus, and Filing Methods

Description

This WP will explore the work of temple scribes in the context of Files, Dossiers and, whenever that is possible, Bureaus. It is therefore not so much interested in the social world of the Babylonian scribe per se (on which see e.g., Zadok 2023, Still 2019), but rather in the scribes’ secretarial and administrative duties that formed the backbone of the organization of the temple household. With these considerations in mind, the Files, Dossiers and Bureaus reconstructed in WPs 3, 4 and 5 will be studied. The investigation falls into two parts. The descriptive part of the study is devoted to the processes underlying the creation of the temple’s administrative record. The focus is on individual text types, which together constitute the primary and secondary documentation of the administrative processes of the temple household (Jursa 2004a), and on the modus operandi of the scribes who are entrusted with the writing of these documents and their organization into Dossiers. The Who’s Who of these individuals will be assembled and provided by WP 6. The study of the individual text types is complemented by a survey of the seal impressions found on the Eanna tablets, since studies of comparable material (e.g., MacGinnis 1995, Monerie 2014) have amply demonstrated the importance of sealing practices for reconstructing administrative procedures of individual scribes and Bureaus within the temple administration. This task will constitute an update of Ehrenberg 1999. The historical part of the WP will build on the descriptive part, since the Files and Dossiers thus reconstructed allow for yet another testing of the hypothesis that the Eanna material betrays an archival break (see WP 4). In a final step, these observations on the micro-level are to be transferred to the macro-level, that is, the changes in archival structure are to be correlated with the several instances of restructuring imposed by the crown that the temple underwent in the period under discussion (e.g., Kleber 2008).

WP-Lead

Jena

Tablets