Babylonian Scribes and Notaries more

Reprint from: Proceedings of the XLVe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale PART II Yale University SEALS AND SEAL IMPRESSIONS edited by William W. Hallo and Irene J. Winter CDL Press Bethesda, Maryland 2001 Neo-Babylonian Notaries and Their Use of Seals Heather D. Baker / Cornelia Wunsch Helsinki /Heidelberg and Perth This paper examines the use of seals by the restricted group of Neo-Babylo- nian scribes—or rather "notaries"—active in Babylon and Borsippa in the sixth to early fifth centuries B.C.E. who were responsible for writing the more formal categories of documents, in particular the land sale contracts.1 The combining of prosopographical data with close examination of the seal impressions and their placement on the tablets reveals for the first time how these notaries functioned as a "college"—a team or panel of scribes acting in concert—and how their sealing practices reflect the hierarchy present within this "college."2 There are several difficulties inherent in a study of this nature. Most of the published copies of the sealed tablets not only do not include drawings of the sealings, but do not even indicate the fact that they are sealed. This applies especially to the copies published by Strassmaier over one hundred years ago in his series Babylonische Texte (1889-1897), but it can also be observed in some recent publications.3 Drawings and photographs of seal- ings are often published separately from the tablet, so that it is difficult to determine the exact placement of the impression on the tablet. In the case of the tablets published by Menant (1880), there are many errors in the inven- A useful survey of sealing practices in the Neo- and Late Babylonian periods can be found in Oelsner 1978. For reasons of space the extensive prosopographical data upon which this study draws will be published by the authors in another venue, together with illustrations of each notary's sealing(s) and a catalogue and concordance of sealed tablets. For example, the tablet OECT12 AB 241 is sealed but the published copy does not indicate this fact. 197 198 _ \ H. D. BAKER AND C. WUNSCH tory numbers, which makes identification of the tablets he published diffi- cult. Many other sealed tablets are as yet completely unpublished.4 At the same time, the restricted iconographic repertoire of the sealings has elicited little attention from art historians. In any case, it is not so much the seal design itself, but rather the rules governing the use of the seals that provide contextual information for tablets and fragments. This study has therefore involved the examination of thousands of fragments, both cata- logued and uncatalogued, in order to build up a database of the tablets and seal impressions. Using this database, it is now possible to identify the notaries who were active at this period and the seals that they used. More- over, knowledge of the sealing practices enables the dating of otherwise undated fragments. The Tablets This study focuses on the land sale contracts and the other records that are closely related to them, such as documents of exchange, division and inher- itance.5 They derive from private archives of Babylon and Borsippa, the only cities that have thus far yielded sufficient source material for a study of this kind.6 These tablets can easily be distinguished in terms of their format from other contemporary document types, and from later catego- ries of sealed tablets.7 They range in date from the middle of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II to the middle of the reign of Darius I. This latter limit is determined by the archives themselves, which do not contain later land sale documents, although other contracts continue until early in the reign of The land sale and related contracts from the Egibi archive are treated in Wunsch 2000b and in a forthcoming study by the same author; her edition numbers are given here where relevant. Other tablets cited here, in particular those of the Nappahu archive, are the subject of study by H. Baker. For the sealing practices of the judges and the scribes who sealed court re- cords, see Wunsch 2000a. Temple documents were produced in a different, administrative milieu and betray different conventions in their treatment. See MacGinnis 1995:164-181 for a treatment of sealing practices on letter orders of the Neo-Babylonian archive of the Ebabbar temple at Sippar; Ehrenberg 1999 for a study of seal impressions on Late Babylonian tablets of the Eanna archive from Uruk. For the later Achaemenid period, see, for example, Donbaz and Stolper 1997 no. 4; the tablets differ from the ones discussed here both in shape and in the placing of the sealing. For examples of sealed tablets from the Hellenistic period, see Wallenfels 1994; Jursa 1997 nos. 37-38. NEO-BABYLONIAN NOTARIES E 199 Xerxes. However, there is reason to believe that there was continuity in the sealing practices of the notaries until the reign of Artaxerxes I (see below). The Notaries The land sale contracts were sealed only by scribes. In contrast to Old Assyrian8 and Old Babylonian tablets, and to some tablets of the later Achaemenid9 and Seleucid periods, the tablets were not sealed by witnesses or by parties to the contracts. Land sale contracts were written by a special category of scribes, and sealed ones were written by an even smaller group. The same scribes can be found sealing tablets from different private archives,10 and Babylon scribes can be found dealing with estates located outside the administrative district of Babylon. The texts show that the scribes had not only to be conversant with the legal formulae used in real estate transactions, but also with surveying practices and with court procedure. Some of these same notaries are attested also as scribes of ordinary contracts, but it is notable that they never used their seal on such tablets. These circumstances suggest that the seals were directly linked to the exercise of their function. This can be illustrated by one tablet on which the seal impression has been destroyed, presumably in order to invalidate it; the price of the property has also been deliberately gouged out with the stylus. In cases where a notary had a long-standing association with an archive-holding family, it is sometimes possible to discern a chronological progression from his primarily being known as a scribe of "ordinary" tablets, to his regular appearance as a notary.12 The fact that such a restricted group of scribes both wrote and sealed these particular documents suggests that their function was an official one. See Teissier 1994 for a study of the sealing practices on Old Assyrian tablets from Kultepe kantm Level 2. Sealing practices in the Murasu archive have been the subject of a dissertation by Bregstein (1993). For example, Liburu son of Nabu-zeru-llsir of the Nabunnaya family sealed land sale contracts both from the Egibi archive (Wunsch 2000 no. 124; 125 A- E; 136; Cyr. 188; Cyr. 345) and the Nappahu archive (BM 77513, Baker forth- coming). BM 32024+Camb. 423 (Wunsch forthcoming). Such is the case, for example, with Arad-Marduk son of Kittiya of the Sangu- Ea family, who is attested often as a scribe from late in the third year of Nabonidus (Nbn. 131) on and who acts as a notary beginning in the third year of Darius (Dar. 102). 200 S H. D. BAKER AND C. WUNSCH However, since contemporary state archival documents have not been discovered, it is impossible to determine the full nature and extent of their official role. So far, the private archival documents discussed here remain The only source of information as to how the notaries operated. The exact findspots of these archives are unknown, so that it is not possible to say anything about how the tablets were stored or filed. There is no evidence to suggest that copies of the tablets were kept by any party other than the person(s) acquiring the property, or that there was any requirement to deposit a copy in a central repository. In some tablets the scribes who dealt with property transactions are referred to as "scribes of the king,"13 in the same way as judges may be called "judges of the king" (or of a particular king). Like judges and other officials, their father's name is often omitted; it was sufficient to identify them by name, function, and ancestor's name, with the result that, without the father's name, it can be difficult to construct genealogies. The notaries sometimes acted in collegia, especially in the case of complex land transac- tions, for example, where inheritance rights or claims of creditors were involved.14 In these cases, when they acted in groups of two, three, or four, it is possible to discern a certain hierarchy among them (Tables 1-2), which is reflected in the positioning of their seals (see "Sealing Practices" below). The families to which the notaries belonged formed part of the urban establishment; this is clear from the other contexts in which they occur in the archival texts.15 Like the judges, only one person from a particular E.g., in the related tablets EvM. 16:13; 19:15; 22:15; 23:15. In these instances the scribes are not referred to by name but rather collectively, in the operative section of the documents; it is stated that they are to draw up a sealed tablet at the instigation of one of the parties involved. In our corpus, tablets sealed by two notaries are relatively frequent. Those tablets with three notaries acting together are: BM 32166; BM 34386+ 38113+Lm 29 (Wunsch forthcoming); BM 38613 (Wunsch forthcoming); 38410+38424 (Wunsch forthcoming); 45416 (Wunsch forthcoming); 77492 (and duplicate BM 77675+77744); Camb. 233+BM 41699 (and duplicate BM 41849+42024, Wunsch forthcoming); Cyr. 345; Nbn. 687; Wunsch 2000 no. 111. The tablet BM 33703 (Wunsch forthcoming) is sealed by at least three notaries. Tablets sealed by four notaries are: BM 32203 (Wunsch forthcoming); 47795(+)48712 (Wunsch forthcoming); Nbn. 116 (and duplicate BM 30338); Wunsch 2000b no. 125A; 181A; 5 R 64/1. For example, the notary Arad-Marduk of the Sangu-Ea family is attested as a party to two Egibi contracts. He occurs as a creditor of Nabu-balassu-iqbi son of Iqisaya of the Atu family (Cyr. 114), and as a recipient of rikis qabli from the 201 family performed the function of notary (bold in figs. 1-3) at any one time; other members of the same family often wrote tablets also, but only as "ordinary" scribes (italics in figs. 1-3). The position also appears to have been hereditary. For example, from the Nabunnaya family the position was occupied by Itti-Marduk-balatu, followed by his son Nabu-zeru-lisir, Nabunnaya Itti-Marduk-balatu (Balassu) Marduk-bel-usati Munahhis-Marduk Nabu-zeru-llsir Liblut Liburu Nabu-usur-napiSti Fig. 1: Nabunnaya family stemma. and by his grandson Liburu (Fig. 1). The brother of Liburu, Nabu-usur- napisti, is also known to have written tablets, but not as a notary. In the Suhaya family Kabti-ilani-Marduk (son of Nadin) was succeeded as notary by his son Marduk-musallim, while the latter's brothers, Muranu and Nergal-usezib, both functioned as ordinary scribes (Fig. 2). The two sons of the notary Arad-Marduk of the Sangu-Ea family are attested as ordinary scribes, along with his brother Nabu-tabtani-usur and his two nephews (Fig. 3). Sealing Practices In terms of their formulae, the land sale contracts derive ultimately from kudurru-texts via their early Neo-Babylonian counterparts, with only a few changes, or rather, abbreviations.16 Prior to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II the edges of the tablets were impressed only with the fingernail of the seller, a practice that can be traced back to Middle Babylonian documents.17 The house of Marduk-nasir-apli of the Egibi family, on the orders of the governor of Babylon (Dar. 206). On the formulae, see Petschow 1939. 17 Boyer 1939. 202 H. D. BAKER AND C. WUNSCH Suhaya / Nadin Kabtl-ilani-Marduk Marduk-musallim Muranu Nergal-usezib Fig. 2: Suhaya family stemma. Sangu-Ea Kittiya I-1-1 Arad-Marduk Marduk-balassu-iqbi Nabu-tabtani-usur (Nabu-usursu) I-^-1-1 I- I Marduk-belsunu Muranu Nabu-ahi-bullit Nabu-nadin-ahi Bel-ittannu Iddina (Nabu-bullissu) Fig. 3: §angu-Ea family stemma. NEO-BABYLONIAN NOTARIES 203 earliest example of a sealed land sale contract in our corpus is Nbk. 164, dating from the 26th year of Nebuchadnezzar II. They retained the same formal characteristics until the reign of Darius I, when the latest land sale contracts in this group were written. There is then a gap in the sources until some fifty years later, in the reign of Artaxerxes I, when very similar prac- tices can be observed among the notaries who sealed land sale contracts of the Kasr archive. As for the other types of documents, a change in sealing practices can be detected around the middle of the reign of Darius I. At this time contracts other than land sale contracts were occasionally sealed, and people other than scribes and judges began to seal tablets. As noted above, the land sale contracts are visually easily distin- guished from other tablet types. They are typically oriented in portrait format, that is, they are higher than they are wide. They have broad, squared edges with sharply defined corners, and are also distinguished by being carefully prepared and written. Seals were impressed on the long sides, except on tablets where judges were involved, in which case the shorter upper and lower edges were also used. The seals were identified by captions saying "seal of PN, scribe." In cases where more than one notary was involved, a corresponding number of sealed tablets was drawn up. For example, in the case of the Strassmaier text Cyr. 161+ and its joining fragments and duplicates, the text names four scribes; three sealed copies of it exist, with a further two fragments that might also have been sealed.19 At a later date archive copies might be drawn up, on which captions were written but no sealings were impressed.20 Both originals and copies, whether sealed or not, bear the phrase "at the sealing of that tablet" (ina kanak tuppi suati). The same phrase is also found on other types of docu- ments of which no sealed examples have ever been identified, such as 71 dowry conversions and adoptions. Sealed tablets from the Kasr archive include: Klengel-Brandt 1969 Abb. 1 (composite drawing from tablets VAT 15974, 16109, 16143); BM 30130; BM 30121. For a recent discussion of the Kasr archive, see Stolper 1995. See Wunsch 2000b no. 125A-E. Examples of tablets from our corpus bearing captions but no sealings are: TBER PI. 74 AO 20297; BM 30338 (a duplicate of sealed tablet Nbn. 116); BM 33089 (a duplicate of sealed tablet Nbn. 178); BM 41398 (Sack 1972 no. 22; a duplicate of the sealed exemplars BM 33057+ and BM 32160, Wunsch forth- coming). For example, BM 77344, an adoption contract belonging to the Nappahu archive (Baker forthcoming). 204 H. D. BAKER AND C. WUNSCH Close observation of the original tablets enables us to reconstruct the sequence in which sealings, caption, and text were impressed. The seals were impressed first, then the captions were written, and finally the text was inscribed. Faint traces of sealings may sometimes be observed under the captions, and in some cases the main text runs over the margin onto the seal impression. In two cases it is possible to tell that the names of the wit- nesses were added some time after the main text had been drafted, because the wedges were impressed with greater pressure owing to the drier state of the clay. The placing of the notaries' sealings followed certain conventions ac- cording to how many notaries were involved. A single notary would im- press his seal on both left and right edges of the tablet.22 The left margin was reserved for the highest-ranking notary of a group. With three notaries, the first sealed the left edge, while the second and third sealed the right edge 23 In the case of four notaries, the first and second both sealed the left edge, and the third and fourth sealed the right edge.24 It is possible to identify the progress of certain notaries through the hierarchy over the years (see Tables 1-2). It should be clear from this that it is essential to illustrate fully the mar- gins of these types of tablets in publications. The information contained on them may shed light on the dating of broken tablets, and may enable the names of the notaries to be restored. Some notaries used two, or even three, seals during the course of their careers, which could span over twenty years. In these cases it is possible to discern a chronological sequence in their use, usually without any overlap (figs. 4-7): For example, Dar. 321 is sealed on both left and right edges by Arad-Marduk son of Kittiya of the Sangu-Ea family; TBER PL 74 AO 20297:42 by Bel-ile"i- kalama son of Nabu-bun-sutur of the Rlsu'a family. For example, BM 38410+38424 (Wunsch forthcoming) is sealed on the left edge by Musezib-Marduk/ /Atkuppu, and on the right edge by Nabu-usallim// Misiraya (top) and Nabu-mukm-apli//Paharu (bottom). For example, Wunsch 2000b no. 181A is sealed on the left edge by Musezib- Marduk/ /Atkuppu (top) and Nabu-etir-napsati//Sin-[...] (bottom), and on the right edge by Iqisaya//Bel-etiru (top) and Nabu-mukIn-apli//Paharu (bottom). NEO-BABYLONIAN NOTARIES 205 Fig. 4 Kabti-ilani-Marduk desc. Suhaya seal 1 1 Amel-Marduk-acc. Neriglissar (Ner) seal 2 3 Ner-8 Nabonidus (Nbn) seal 1 seal 2 206 3 H. D. BAKER AND C. WUNSCH Fig. 5 Nabu-zeru-lisir desc. Nabunnaya seal 1 29 Nebuchadnezzar 1 Amel-Marduk - 2 Nbn (possibly 9 Nbn?) seal 2 seal 3 3 Nbn - 5 Nbn seal 1 seal 2 f 1 seal 3 life -1 NEO-BABYLONIAN NOTARIES E E2S 207 Fig. 6 Liburu desc. Nabunnaya seal 1 4 Cyrus to [-] Cambyses seal 2 only known from 1+ Darius seal 1 seal 2 Fig. 7 Nabu-zeru-llsir desc. Samas-abari seal 1 3 Nbn seal 2 3 Nbn - 12 Nbn seal 2 208 3 H. D. BAKER AND C. WUNSCH One notary, Nabu-apla-iddin of the Risu'a family, used the same seal as his father, Bel-ile"i-kalama (Fig. 8).25 The Method of Impression The seals themselves were often stamped rather than rolled, with the result that an impression might represent only a part of the original design (Fig. 9). Notaries could select certain motifs and could combine them in a way that misrepresents the actual design on the seal. This has implications for reconstructing the original seal design, both in terms of the relative spacing of the motifs and their sequence. When illustrating a tablet it is therefore desirable to indicate any indentation(s) left by the impressing of the seal, because this is an indication that the relationship between the motifs may not be reliably represented. Human figures in particular were favored and, sometimes, singled out to the exclusion of other elements. The force and angle of pressure applied may also affect the appearance of a motif on the clay tablet. Occasionally an impression of the top edge of the seal can be seen, but the lower edge is invariably missing, so that usually the feet of the figures, as well as the ends of the lines of inscriptions, are lost.26 Seal Impressions The designs on the seals are very standardized and are even more restricted in range than the judges' seals. They consist of human figures in a position of adoration, with the exception of one seal that has an Uridimmu, and another that bears a free-standing cow. Many of the symbols depicted are familiar from kudurru-retiefs.28 Both of these notaries were active in Borsippa (see Table 2). Several of the features mentioned here can be observed on the left edge of tablet Nbn. 164 (see Fig. 9), where the same figure is stamped three times, with no other part of the seal design present; the impression of the top edge of the cylinder seal is visible, and the feet of the figure can only be seen in one instance, on the far left. Both of these seals belonged to Kabti-ilani-Marduk of the Surjaya family; see Fig. 4. For Uridimmu, see Ehrenberg 1995. See Seidl 1989 on the iconography of the kudurru-relieis; Black and Green 1992: 96-97 present a useful guide to the divine symbols, including many of those which occur on the sealings. Note especially: solar disk: Samas; star: Istar; lightning: Adad; bird: Papsukkal; dog: Gula; serpent: Nirah?; lion-headed staff: Nergal; ram-headed staff and goat-fish: Ea. The last two appear together on a seal used by Arad-Marduk of the Sangii-Ea family. NEO-BABYLONIAN NOTARIES C3 209 Fig. 8: Seal of Bel-ile"i-kalama / / Rlsu'a and his son Nabu-apla-iddin. The human figures may have both hair and beard,29 or they may be clean-shaven. They face either right or left, with the right hand held up and the palm facing the person's face.31 A few right-facing figures hold a bucket in the left hand (see Fig. 8). In front of the figure there is usually a range of divine symbols on pedestals surmounted by a high cello-shaped or oval stand (e.g., Fig. 7 seal 2); these include: the moon (always present), solar disk, star, and lightning. On simple, low pedestals the following occur: bird, dog, cow, goat-fish and serpent. Free-floating symbols include the moon, the lion-headed staff, the ram-headed staff (above the goat-fish), the winged sun-disk, the omega or uterus symbol, and the sebettu. It is worth noting the similarity in design between the seal of Itti-Marduk-balatu of the Nabunnaya family (Fig. 10) and the third seal of his son Nabu-zeru-lisir (Fig. 5). Some of the seal impressions have inscriptions (e.g., Fig. 5 seals 2-3); these can be up to seven lines in length (e.g., Nbn. 164). The way the seals were impressed may mean that the inscriptions are under-represented. The inscriptions are often very faint and only partially preserved. Where extant they usually give the owner's name ("seal of PN [+? Family name]"); sometimes a short prayer is added to this label; in one case the prayer appears on its own. E.g., Fig. 5 seals 1-2; Fig. 7 seals 1-2. E.g., Fig. 5 seal 3; Fig. 6 seals 1-2. E.g., Fig. 5 seal 1 (left-facing), seals 2-3 (right-facing). 210 :<S-5S-I<S'I<S«3 H. D. BAKER AND C. WUNSCH Conclusions In summary, the evidence from private archival texts of sixth- to fifth- century B.C.E. Babylon and Borsippa indicates that a small group of highly trained scribes fulfilled an official function in both writing and sealing tablets that recorded the transfer of real estate. However, contemporary state archival documents, which might shed further light on their function within the state bureaucracy, are not available. Prosopographical study reveals a direct correlation between the rank of a notary within this hierar- chy and the positioning of his sealing. The seals themselves were often stamped rather than rolled, with the result that it is difficult to piece to- gether the complete seal design. In these cases, human figures were often favored, in contrast to earlier periods, when the seal inscription was pre- ferred. NEO-BABYLONIAN NOTARIES KHSHK 211 212 H. D. BAKER AND C. WUNSCH \ a Ph o CD C • rH u B o Z CM I—I X> H NEO-BABYLONIAN NOTARIES K-5>I-5g-I<S-E3 213 \ Bibliography Baker, H.D. (Forthcoming) The Archive of the Nappahu Family. Black, J. and A. Green (1992) Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. An Illustrated Dictio- nary. London. Boyer, G. (1939) "supur x kima kunnukkisu." In J. Friedrich, J.G. Lautner and J. Miles, eds., Symbolae ad iura Orientis antiqui pertinentes Paulo Koschaker dedicatae. Leiden. Pp. 201-18. Bregstein, L. (1993) "Seal Use in Fifth Century B.C. Nippur, Iraq: A Study of Seal Selection and Sealing Practices in the Murashu Archive." Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania. Donbaz, V. and M.W. 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(2000b) Das Egibi-Archiv. 1. Die Felder und Garten. Cuneiform Monographs 20A-B. Groningen. (Forthcoming) Das Egibi-Archiv. 2. Die Hauser.