Edition of the Middle Assyrian Texts from the Governor's Residence of Bassetki/Mardama (Rooms I and AN)

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Betina Faist
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 511672249

The subject of this follow-up application is a text edition that began on 1 April 2023 with funding from the DFG. The project focuses on Middle Assyrian cuneiform texts found in excavation area C of the ancient site of Bassetki (Kurdistan, northern Iraq). The excavations were carried out under the direction of Professor Peter Pfälzner (Tübingen), in cooperation with the Dohuk Directorate of Antiquities. Due to the number of excavated texts – now totalling 591 –, Bassetki has become one of the most important sites for Middle Assyrian texts, alongside Assur and Tall Shekh Hamad/Dur-Katlimmu. The texts are basically of an administrative nature and belong to the archive of Ashur-nazir, son of Iddin-Marduk and governor of Mardama, a previously unknown Assyrian governor of an equally unknown province of the Middle Assyrian kingdom. Mardama also referred to the provincial capital, which was located in the upper city of Bassetki. The rooms that were uncovered there and where the cuneiform texts were discovered certainly belonged to the governor's residence. The tablets date from the reigns of Shalmaneser I (1263–1234) and Tukulti-Ninurta I (1233–1197), which represent the first peak in the development of the Assyrian kingdom and are characterised, among other things, by the building and systematic organisation of the provincial administration. The project has two funding periods: In the first period, all tablets from Room I of the governor's residence will be worked on (235 tablets). The second period was originally intended for the tablets from the neighbouring Room AN (224 tablets). However, additional tablets have since been excavated in the northern and eastern areas of the governor's residence (132 tablets). Given that all the tablets originate from the same historical and archival context, the ‘new’ texts will also be included in the second phase of the project. No further texts are expected, as the excavation has been concluded. The edition of the 235 texts from Room I in the form of copies, transcriptions, translations and commentaries is well advanced. First results regarding the content of the texts concern the tasks of the provincial administration and its personnel, the tax system, internal administrative structures, the province's external contacts, forms of territorial rule, the official and private economic activities of the governor, institutions of the palace culture, among other things. Four volumes (two volumes per funding period) are planned for the text editions, which will be published both in print and electronically in open access. Subsequent use by other scientists will also be supported by entering the data into existing online projects.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Peter Pfälzner