Ugarit Archive
December 16, 2011
Update: On The Tiryns Ivory Cuneiform Inscription
I’ve reposted a somewhat revised draft of my paper on the Tiryns ivory cuneiform inscription at Academia.edu. I have just heard that Manfried Dietrich and Oswald Loretz’, “Rhabdomantie im mykenischen Palast von Tiryns. Das Fragment eines kurz-alphabetisch beschrifteten Elfenbeinstabs, (Ti...Read all of "Update: On The Tiryns Ivory Cuneiform Inscription"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:05 PM
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December 3, 2011
Crazy Alphabetic Cuneiform Ms
I spent much of today improving the graphics for my paper on the Tiryns ivory inscription. Here’s the M chart. I’ll add labels later. The first row, if you can call it a row, is my drawing of what I...Read all of "Crazy Alphabetic Cuneiform Ms"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:52 PM
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November 30, 2011
An Underlying Assumption
A correspondent raised an abnormally interesting question about the Tiryns ivory inscription. On what warrant can I or Cohen et al., for that matter, think the markings on this inscription map to any variant of a alphabetic cuneiform alphabet like...Read all of "An Underlying Assumption"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:11 AM
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November 29, 2011
Linville On Ugarit
Jim Linville has a nice write up on Ugarit in the Lethbridge Herald. If you prefer the same article with pictures, he posted it on his Thinking Shoppe and Rather Posh Tea Room. I might have a minor nit or...Read all of "Linville On Ugarit"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:25 PM
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November 28, 2011
QDŠ As Reconciler(?)
At the last SBL session I attended in San Francisco, Pierre Bordreuil presented two as yet unpublished Ugaritic tablets, RS 94.2965 and RS 94.2391. His handout provides the Ugaritic text of both tablets. I’ve been working my way through them....Read all of "QDŠ As Reconciler(?)"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:13 PM
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November 13, 2011
Feedback Requested
Update: This draft paper is no longer available. I've submitted a revised edition to a journal for publication. If you would like a copy drop me an email and I'll send you one. I thank all you you who read...Read all of "Feedback Requested"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:33 AM
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October 31, 2011
The Long And The Short Of Ṯ/Š
In the standard Ugaritic alphabet, the orthography of the Ṯ has more relatively common variants than just about any other letter. Vita’s drawing in Tropper, 19, and Tropper’s, 26, own discussion amply illustrate the point. Ellison, 694-737, discuses and illustrates...Read all of "The Long And The Short Of Ṯ/Š"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:15 AM
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October 30, 2011
The Pot To The Right, Righty, Or Cyprus
The inscription on a pithos handle from Kämid el-Löz/Kumidi, KTU 6.67, reads simply ymn. The orthography, particularly the M, has close affinities to the orthography of texts written in the short cuneiform alphabet. As Pardee, 60, warns us, orthography alone...Read all of "The Pot To The Right, Righty, Or Cyprus"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:32 AM
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October 27, 2011
Crowd, Group, Clique Sourcing
I am looking photographs of tablets KTU 4.61 (RS 11.[914]), KTU 4.89 (RS 11.796) and KTU 4.43:1,5 (RS 9.011) from Ugarit that are good enough for paleographical analysis. They are not on InscriptiFact. Well, part of one of them is...
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Posted by Duane Smith at 8:18 PM
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October 20, 2011
They Wrote On Ivory
Following up on my discussions of the cuneiform alphabetic inscription on ivory from Tirnys, I decided to take a look at the thirty one alphabetic inscriptions on ivory from Ugarit published by Dietrich and Loretz published with drawings and photographs...Read all of "They Wrote On Ivory"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:24 PM
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October 15, 2011
The Tiryns Alphabetic Inscription: One More Time
I’m still fretting about the inscription on the ivory rod from Tiryns published by Cohen, Maran and Vetters that I mentioned the other day. I continue to think it reads from right to left. You may remember that my preliminary...Read all of "The Tiryns Alphabetic Inscription: One More Time"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:04 PM
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October 12, 2011
An Ugaritic Inscription From Tiryns(?)
Now this is abnormally interesting! I hadn’t seen this. Chaim Cohen, Josheph Maran and Melissa Vetters published the remains of a cuneiform inscription from the lower Citadel of Tiryns. In case you are wondering, Tiryns is a Mycenaean site on...Read all of "An Ugaritic Inscription From Tiryns(?)"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:37 PM
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August 22, 2011
It’s Good To Have A Dictionary To Divine The Meaning Of Words
But it doesn’t always help. I’m still struggling with the question of bird-divination at Ugarit. Let me be clear. On one hand, there isn’t any obvious evidence for bird-divination at Ugarit. On the other hand, there is lots of evidence...Read all of "It’s Good To Have A Dictionary To Divine The Meaning Of Words"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:41 PM
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July 13, 2011
Please Refresh My Memory
I have a rather clear memory of having once seen what appears to be an alphabetic cuneiform tablet (I almost said “an Ugaritic tablet”) with the impression of the side of two tools, one rather clearly an (miniature?) adze on...Read all of "Please Refresh My Memory"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:41 PM
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June 26, 2011
The Sea People Event
David Kaniewsk and ten colleagues have recently published a radiocarbon dating study of materials from the ancient port of Gibala near Ugarit in Syria. This study is in the context of textual evidence for the “Sea People event.” Here’s the...Read all of "The Sea People Event "
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:04 AM
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May 13, 2011
Sealed And Delivered
The other day Glen Gordon, proprietor of Paleoglot and frequent commenter here, called our attention to a collection of images of things ancient provided by Holly Pittman of the University of Pennsylvania. An image of a cylinder seal impression on...Read all of "Sealed And Delivered"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:55 PM
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December 31, 2010
A 1056 Page Book With A 404 Page Review
Among the several books I received for Christmas this year was Josef Tropper’s Ugaritische Grammatik. I’ve used a library copy from time to time but the nearest copy is over 20 miles away so its nice to have it within...Read all of "A 1056 Page Book With A 404 Page Review"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:51 AM
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November 19, 2010
This Here This
The other day I wrote a short post on the Ugaritic phrase w . hndt . yṯb . lmspr that is on the left edge of KTU 1.19. My question was, to what does hndt refer. Well, I’ve spent some...Posted by Duane Smith at 9:42 PM
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November 16, 2010
What’s This ”This”?
I’ve been working on a footnote to a footnote and I ran across something that, depending on what it means, may be abnormally interesting. The left edge of KTU 1.19, part of the Aqhat legend, reads, w . hndt ....Read all of "What’s This ”This”?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:43 PM
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October 26, 2010
Verb Or Noun? It Makes A Difference (To Me)
And if a noun, which meaning should I adopt? Take a look at the colophon at the end of KTU 1.6, lines vi 54-58. KTU 1.6 is part of the Ba’al myth. I offer three options on how to understand...Read all of "Verb Or Noun? It Makes A Difference (To Me)"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:02 PM
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October 13, 2010
A Tedious Task
I’ve been busy trying to see if I can identify differences in the semantic ranges of the verbal use of the root ktb in various cognate Northwest Semitic languages. It’s a common enough root in Biblical Hebrew with a meaning...Posted by Duane Smith at 8:25 PM
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September 26, 2010
Scholarly Tablets From The Royal Palace At Ugarit, One More Time
I’ve written about this before but I thought I’d try to cut the cake in a somewhat different way this time. The Royal Palace at Ugarit yielded eight classical school and literary texts or excerpts written on seven tablets in...Read all of "Scholarly Tablets From The Royal Palace At Ugarit, One More Time"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:44 AM
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August 29, 2010
Atrahasis At Ugarit
I’ve been looking at the work of the several scribes from Ugarit, among them Na’amrašap. He was not only a scribe but the father of scribes. We have several of his mature works. But we may also have one of...Read all of "Atrahasis At Ugarit"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:01 PM
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August 16, 2010
New Discoveries North Of Ugarit
The Global Arab Network headline reads, “Syria – Archaeological findings in Ugarit dating back to Hellenistic and Bronze ages.” Well, almost. It’s only 7 km off. Not that bad for a headline. But then, perhaps they meant the Kingdom of...Read all of "New Discoveries North Of Ugarit"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:01 PM
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June 30, 2010
Ugaritic Deciphered Using AI: Abnormally Interesting But . . .
Andrew Robinson claimed that decipherment required a combination of synthesis, logic and intuition that is beyond the reach of artificial intelligence. Regina Barzilay, an associate professor in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, Ben Snyder, a grad student in...Read all of "Ugaritic Deciphered Using AI: Abnormally Interesting But . . . "
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:02 PM
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November 9, 2009
A Hebrew-Ugaritic Bibliography
Over at Daily Hebrew, Chip Hardy has posted and posted and posted and posted . . . and posted a lengthy Hebrew-Ugaritic bibliography. I have no idea how many entrees it has but there are hundreds. Such a lengthy bibliography...Read all of "A Hebrew-Ugaritic Bibliography"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:20 PM
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July 17, 2009
New Blog - Sects and Violence in the Ancient World
Steve Wiggins is a "part-time academic, compulsive reader, sometime editor, dangerously curious, failed priest" who has a new blog, Sects and Violence in the Ancient World. He is also an Ugaritite or an Ugaritan or an Ugaritiyu or maybe just...Read all of "New Blog - Sects and Violence in the Ancient World"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:54 AM
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June 21, 2009
Open Access Syria
Sometime ago JSTOR announced that they would provide back issues of the journal Syria. Well, now all Syria issues between 1920 and 1992 are available free online without the need to going through JSTOR. I am very happy to see...Read all of "Open Access Syria "
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:15 AM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
April 27, 2009
Why All These Abecedaries From The Royal Palace of Ugarit?
After more than a year of waffling, I've decided to formally write up my random speculations on the possibility that Niqmaddu (III?) and perhaps other kings of Ugarit were literate. I want to see if the resultant paper will convince...Read all of "Why All These Abecedaries From The Royal Palace of Ugarit?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:44 AM
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January 18, 2009
Not Sure How To Look Words Up In An Ugaritic Dictionary
Jim Getz has the lowdown at Ketuvim. I agree with Jim. If there is anything that can be easily standardized it must certainly be an alphabetical order. As an old more mature student of Ugaritic, I prefer Cyrus Gordon’s ordering....Read all of "Not Sure How To Look Words Up In An Ugaritic Dictionary"
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Titles Only From Here On
November 16, 2008
Syria: Now Available At JSTOR
August 28, 2008
A Few Strange Letters
August 20, 2008
More Horsing Around
July 22, 2008
Ad Hoc Rituals for Canonical Gods?
June 22, 2008
Tit for Tat
May 24, 2008
Ugarit-Forschungen 38 Has Arrived
May 7, 2008
Problems Are on the Horizon
May 6, 2008
The Schøyen Collection for Sale
April 23, 2008
Did The King of Ugarit Write?
April 16, 2008
How Long Do You Think It Took to Negotiate These Few Words?
April 8, 2008
The Final Missing Administrative Tablet: RS 1957.701 (KTU 4.709)
April 6, 2008
Another Missing Tablet: RS 1957.3
April 4, 2008
Where Is It Now?
March 17, 2008
What Is Going On Here?
March 15, 2008
Is PZ Myers Habayu? or What Does YLŠN Mean?
March 13, 2008
KTU 1.114 - A Student Exercise?
March 12, 2008
That Which Cheers Gods and Men
February 27, 2008
Another Ugaritic Ritual Text By A Semiliterate?
February 12, 2008
Proto-Semitic Language and Culture
February 8, 2008
Cyprus Points to It
January 26, 2008
Semi-Literates in the Hinterlands of Ugarit?
January 11, 2008
On the "Ugaritic" Alphabet and Cuneiform Alphabets
December 28, 2007
An Evil Eye On KTU 1.96
December 22, 2007
What to Do?
December 18, 2007
The King is Dead, Long Live the King
November 10, 2007
Two Thousand Horses
November 8, 2007
Teams of Horses for Teams of People
November 4, 2007
2800 Years Down a Horse's Nose
October 29, 2007
The Veterinary Tablets from Ugarit and Scribal Training
October 11, 2007
Where is Ba'al?
September 10, 2007
A Probable Possible Prehistory of KTU 1.85
September 5, 2007
Liver Models, Lung Models and Science
September 2, 2007
Someone Else With Abnormal Interests
The Horse Tablets in Archaeological Context
August 27, 2007
Mitchell Dahood and the Ras Shamra Parallel Project
August 25, 2007
Ba'al the Thunderer?
August 23, 2007
A Novel Approach to Ugarit
August 20, 2007
A Structure for the Ages
August 12, 2007
Putting It All Together, The Ugaritic Veterinary Text That Is
August 11, 2007
A Scratching Horse with Mange (Maybe)
August 8, 2007
A Restored Text to Restore a Horse
August 3, 2007
A Broken Text for a Broken Horse
August 1, 2007
Back With My Sick Horse
July 28, 2007
A Horse in Pain or Just a Painful Text?
July 27, 2007
Is Your Horse Constipated or Suffering from Ischuria?
July 26, 2007
More Medication Down a Horse's Nose
July 25, 2007
How to Take Care of a Coughing Horse
July 23, 2007
On My AMule Again
June 10, 2007
The Scribe that Perhaps Could Add After All
April 11, 2007
Jim Qetz Thinks About Ugarit Too
March 16, 2007
This Seems Dangerous
March 10, 2007
A Little A and the Scribe that Couldn't Add
January 26, 2007
Shifting Back Ten Centuries?
December 7, 2006
Ša in Labels, One More Time
November 29, 2006
On the Preposition of Ownership and Transfer
November 24, 2006
Filling in the Blanks
November 3, 2006
The Ugarit Library
October 30, 2006
A Broom for a Horse or a Coat for a Goddess?
October 9, 2006
Getting Hung Up on a Preposition
September 6, 2006
Two Out of Three Is Not So Bad
July 28, 2006
Akkadian? Charles Halton will Tell You What It Is
July 26, 2006
More on the Breath of Life
July 18, 2006
Ugarit-Cola and Pop Culture
July 13, 2006
An Ugaritic Text Written in Syllabic Cuneiform?
July 10, 2006
Which of These Tablets is Written in Ugaritic?
July 8, 2006
One Good Reason to Publish Quickly
July 3, 2006
RS 25.130: A Translation of the Akkadian Portion of the Text
July 1, 2006
Conceiving and Giving Birth the Akkadian, Ugaritic and Hebrew Way
June 10, 2006
Papyrus Ebers Online
May 28, 2006
Testing a Hypothesis
May 23, 2006
The Role of "Literature" in Scribal Training
May 20, 2006
Is Being an Ape Always a Bad Thing?
May 4, 2006
van Soldt on Scribal Training at Ugarit
April 29, 2006
Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon Free Online
April 27, 2006
Another Can of Wedges