Books by Jacob Lauinger
Ancient Near East Monographs 33, SBL Press, Atlanta, 2024
Since the 1949 publication of the Late Bronze inscriptions on the Statue of Idrimi, scholars have... more Since the 1949 publication of the Late Bronze inscriptions on the Statue of Idrimi, scholars have been intrigued by the carefully structured and vividly detailed cuneiform text that recounts the rise of King Idrimi of Alalah. Jacob Lauinger significantly advances prior scholarship through an in-depth historical analysis that combines textual and material perspectives on both the statue and the inscriptions. His study reveals how two distinct inscriptions were added to an originally anepigraphic statue to advance a claim about royal legitimacy long after Idrimi’s death during a time of political upheaval at Alalah. This richly illustrated volume includes a translation, more than ninety-five images, and sixteen composite plates that, for the first time, present each line of the inscriptions in its entirety to scholars and students. The appendix offers a detailed philological commentary treating numerous aspects of the inscriptions that have been the subject of multiple scholarly interpretations.
This volume assembles scholars working on cuneiform texts from different periods, genres, and are... more This volume assembles scholars working on cuneiform texts from different periods, genres, and areas to examine the range of social, cultural, and historical contexts in which specific types of texts circulated. Using different methodologies and sources of evidence, these articles reconstruct the contexts in which various cuneiform texts circulated, providing a critical framework to determine how they functioned.
Legal texts recording the purchase or exchange of entire settlements are among the most important... more Legal texts recording the purchase or exchange of entire settlements are among the most important cuneiform tablets discovered at Old Babylonian/Middle Bronze Age (Level VII) Alalah. Following the Man of Yamhad is the first book-length study of these legal texts and the socio-economic practice that they document. The author explores the nature of the alienated settlements, the rights enjoyed by their owners, the underlying system of land tenure, and the larger political context. The study is supported by extensive collations and up-to-date editions of relevant legal and administrative texts. Its conclusions will be of interest to anyone working on the history, society, and economy of the Bronze Age Near East.
Electronic Resources by Jacob Lauinger
https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/aemw/amarna/
This online edition of the Amarna Letters aims to m... more https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/aemw/amarna/
This online edition of the Amarna Letters aims to make transliterations, translations, and glossaries of the letters and administrative texts available to both scholars and the wider public. At this time, the project comprises 218 texts. This number represents the correspondence to and from Egypt's client kings in the Levant, excluding the letters sent from Phoenicia. In our next update, we will add the letters from Phoenicia. In our final update, we will add the correspondence to and from the so-called "Great Powers" as well as the administrative texts related to this correspondence.
https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/aemw/alalakh/idrimi/
The Electronic Idrimi offers an up-to-date,... more https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/aemw/alalakh/idrimi/
The Electronic Idrimi offers an up-to-date, searchable edition of the Idrimi inscription together with glossaries of the Akkadian words and proper nouns that occur in it. The inscription's notorious script has famously generated debate about the reading of almost every line. In order to contextualize the edition provided here, the Electronic Idrimi includes numerous annotations that illustrate Sidney Smith's reading of the text in the original publication together with the readings put forward in four more recent scholarly publications. Additional studies - textual as well as historical, archaeological, and art historical - can be found at the Bibliography link.
Papers by Jacob Lauinger
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2024
It is a curious fact that the reverse surface of many of the so-called Amarna letters sent by Lev... more It is a curious fact that the reverse surface of many of the so-called Amarna letters sent by Levantine rulers to the Egyptian pharaoh are completely blank or only partially inscribed. In this article, I establish the absolute and relative frequency of the phenomenon within this subcorpus of the Amarna letters. Next, I connect it to a particular type of letter sent by the Levantine rulers that I designate a “replies-to-an-order” letter and offer a suggestion as to why the Egyptian administration may have requested that these letters have blank space on the reverse surface. Finally, I consider one possible origin for the phenomenon in other cuneiform corpora and end the article with a few comments on directions for future research.
Crossroads IV: Migration and Mobility in the Ancient Near East, 2024
It is impossible to talk about movement and mobility at the site of ancient Alalakh (modern Tell ... more It is impossible to talk about movement and mobility at the site of ancient Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) without considering the influential 1965 article by Mario Liverani, “Il fuoruscitismo in Siria nella tarda età del bronzo.” This article, which is a key part of a larger historical narrative advanced by Liverani and other scholars about the social-political dynamics of the Late Bronze Age and its end, relies heavily on the textual evidence from Alalakh. The first part of this article reviews Liverani’s arguments, with a particular focus on the role played by the Alalakh texts. The second part revisits these texts in light of recent scholarship and introduces some others either not included by Liverani or only published after ““Il fuoruscitismo” appeared in order to offer a somewhat different narrative that emphasizes continuity over change.
One Who Loves Knowledge: Studies in Honor of Richard Jasnow, 2022
Pp. 219-225 in One Who Loves Knowledge: Studies in Honor of Richard Jasnow, eds. B. Bryan, M. Sm... more Pp. 219-225 in One Who Loves Knowledge: Studies in Honor of Richard Jasnow, eds. B. Bryan, M. Smith, C. DiCerbo, M. Escolano-Poveda, and J. Waller. Material and Visual Culture of Ancient Egypt 6. Columbus, GA: Lockwood Press. Please email me for PDF.
Ägypten und Altes Testament, 2022
Pp. 313-332 in “Now These Records are Ancient” – Studies in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical His... more Pp. 313-332 in “Now These Records are Ancient” – Studies in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical History, Language and Culture in Honor of K. Lawson Younger, eds. R. Averbeck, J. Hoffmeier, C. Howard, and W. Zwickel. Please email me for a PDF.
Pp. 177-185 in Observing the Scribe at Work: Scribal Practice in the Ancient World, ed. R. Ast e... more Pp. 177-185 in Observing the Scribe at Work: Scribal Practice in the Ancient World, ed. R. Ast et al. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 301. Leuven: Peeters, 2021. In this paper, I attempt to observe Neo-Assyrians scribes at work producing multiple copies of a text known conventionally in the scholarship as 'Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty’. Readers who are interested in the Assyriological minutiae are referred to J. Lauinger, Neo-Assyrian Scribes, “Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty,” and the Dynamics of Textual Mass Production, in P. Delnero and J. Lauinger (eds), Texts and Contexts: The Circulation and Transmission of Cuneiform Texts in Social Space (Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records 9), Boston – Berlin, 2015, p. 285–314. Please email for a pdf of either.
Studia Orientalia Electronica , 2021
This article studies the Idrimi inscription from ancient Alalah, modern Tell Atchana, in order to... more This article studies the Idrimi inscription from ancient Alalah, modern Tell Atchana, in order to explore how and to what effect manifestations of empire may have been socially consequential to local populations ruled by Mittani. Specifically, the article argues that Idrimi is presented as a Mittani hero, but the story of his life is told in a Northwest Semitic-Akkadian code; an imperial vision receives a local expression. From this conclusion, the article ends by trying to infer something about the inscription's intended audience.
Pp. 363-381 in Taxation and Management of Resources in the 3rd and 2nd Millennium BC., eds. J. My... more Pp. 363-381 in Taxation and Management of Resources in the 3rd and 2nd Millennium BC., eds. J. Mynářová and S. Alivernini. Prague: Charles University, 2020.
Archiv für Orientforschung, 2021
Pp. 55-71 in Alalakh and its Neighbors, eds. K. A. Yener and T. Ingman, Leuven: Peeters, 2020
This paper explores which juridical transactions at Level VII Alalah fell under local jurisdictio... more This paper explores which juridical transactions at Level VII Alalah fell under local jurisdiction and which fell under the jurisdiction of the kings of Yamhad. Please contact me for a pdf.
pp. 39-53 in Keilschriftliche Syllabare: Zur Methodik ihrer Erstellung, ed., J. Klinger and S. Fi... more pp. 39-53 in Keilschriftliche Syllabare: Zur Methodik ihrer Erstellung, ed., J. Klinger and S. Fischer, Berliner Beiträge zum Vorderen Orient Band 28, 2019
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2019
Please email for a full pdf.
Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel , 2019
Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 8: 87-100. Please email for a pdf.
De l’argile au numérique. Mélanges assyriologiques en l’honneur de Dominique Charpin, 2019
Pp. 563-582, eds. G. Chambon, M. Guichard, and A.-I. Langlois. Please email for a pdf.
Maarav, 2019
Maarav 23.1 (2019): 19-38
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Books by Jacob Lauinger
Electronic Resources by Jacob Lauinger
This online edition of the Amarna Letters aims to make transliterations, translations, and glossaries of the letters and administrative texts available to both scholars and the wider public. At this time, the project comprises 218 texts. This number represents the correspondence to and from Egypt's client kings in the Levant, excluding the letters sent from Phoenicia. In our next update, we will add the letters from Phoenicia. In our final update, we will add the correspondence to and from the so-called "Great Powers" as well as the administrative texts related to this correspondence.
The Electronic Idrimi offers an up-to-date, searchable edition of the Idrimi inscription together with glossaries of the Akkadian words and proper nouns that occur in it. The inscription's notorious script has famously generated debate about the reading of almost every line. In order to contextualize the edition provided here, the Electronic Idrimi includes numerous annotations that illustrate Sidney Smith's reading of the text in the original publication together with the readings put forward in four more recent scholarly publications. Additional studies - textual as well as historical, archaeological, and art historical - can be found at the Bibliography link.
Papers by Jacob Lauinger
This online edition of the Amarna Letters aims to make transliterations, translations, and glossaries of the letters and administrative texts available to both scholars and the wider public. At this time, the project comprises 218 texts. This number represents the correspondence to and from Egypt's client kings in the Levant, excluding the letters sent from Phoenicia. In our next update, we will add the letters from Phoenicia. In our final update, we will add the correspondence to and from the so-called "Great Powers" as well as the administrative texts related to this correspondence.
The Electronic Idrimi offers an up-to-date, searchable edition of the Idrimi inscription together with glossaries of the Akkadian words and proper nouns that occur in it. The inscription's notorious script has famously generated debate about the reading of almost every line. In order to contextualize the edition provided here, the Electronic Idrimi includes numerous annotations that illustrate Sidney Smith's reading of the text in the original publication together with the readings put forward in four more recent scholarly publications. Additional studies - textual as well as historical, archaeological, and art historical - can be found at the Bibliography link.