Steven J. Garfinkle

Manuel Molina

This volume collects the proceedings of a three-day conference held in Madrid in July 2010, and it highlights the vitality of the study of late-third-millennium B.C. Mesopotamia. Workshops devoted to the Ur III period have been a feature of the Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale roughly every other year, beginning in London in 2003. In 2009, Steve Garfinkle and Manuel Molina asked the community of Neo-Sumerian scholars to convene the following year in Madrid before the Rencontre in Barcelona. The meeting had more than 50 participants and included 8 topical sessions and 27 papers. The 21 contributions included in this volume cover a broad range of topics: new texts, new interpretations, and new understandings of the language, culture, and history of the Ur III period (2112–2004 B.C.). The present and future of Neo-Sumerian studies are important not only for the field of Assyriology but also for wider inquiries into the ancient world. The extant archives offer insight into some of the earliest cities and one of the earliest kingdoms in the historical record. The era of the Third Dynasty of Ur is also probably the best-attested century in antiquity. This imposes a responsibility on the small community of scholars who work on the Neo-Sumerian materials to make this it accessible to a broad, interdisciplinary audience in the humanities and related fields. This volume is a solid step in this direction.

Proceedings of the International Conference on Neo-Sumerian Studies Held in Madrid, 22–24 July 2010

From the 21st Century B.C. to the 21st Century A.D.

Justin Cale Johnson

Este volumen recoge las contribuciones de los doce académicos internacionales que participaron en los talleres realizados en la 49a Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (RAI) en Londres el 10 de julio de 2003 y la 51a RAI en Chicago el 19 de julio de 2005. Tales talleres se centraron en el reino de la Tercera Dinastía Ur (2112-2004 a. C.), uno de los primeros y mejor documentados períodos de formación en la Antigüedad. Los reyes Ur crearon un nuevo estado territorial en el sur de Mesopotamia, unido a un complejo aparato administrativo para gobernarlo. Un notable número de registros de este reino ha sobrevivido en forma de decenas de miles de tablillas de arcilla. Los capítulos de este volumen se centran en el funcionamiento real de esta nueva administración y la organización de dichos registros documentales; en las cuestiones específicas de la administración real, desde la presentación al rey de los aparatos de control administrativo a la organización de la fuerza de trabajo; y en la creación y el almacenamiento de textos tanto dentro como fuera de la administración real.

Studies in Ur III Administration : Proceedings of the First and Second Ur III Workshops at the 49th and 51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, London July 10, 2003 and Chicago July 19, 2005

Steven J. Garfinkle

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