Towards a Methodology of Studying any configuration of the Ancient Near East

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Visiting Professor

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

1 August 2011

The following methodology became apparent while I was studying menologies of the Ancient Near East. This methodology is able to be used for any other study of the material culture of the Ancient Near East. Other studies like personal names, monthnames, divine names, geographical names, certain economic terms, political constructs or religious activities, iconographical motifs, nutrition and diet and other habits and customs can be benefited by this approach.

1. Choose the area(s) that one wants to investigate. Define the limits of this area as well as the other areas adjacent to it.

2. Select the specific site(s) that will be investigated. Identify its limits and name other sites in its surroundings. Define whether this site reveals to be a Kerngebiet (center) or Randgebiet (periphery).

3. Study the archaeological reports on the site(s) to determine the topographical grid of the site where and when texts or objects were found. Distinguish carefully the levels and with the help of other artifacts suggest a chronology.

4. With the help of the different archaeological levels, suggest a chronology for the different levels. Note especially the destructions/disasters that separate one level from another and with the help of artifacts, try to establish the cause.

5. The history of the site will then reveal an occupation of the site at different levels and in different periods.

6. At this stage, the cultural, religious, political and other configurations has not yet been ascertained.

7. Investigate all epigraphic evidence from this site.

7.1 Identify and allocate the texts to specific periods which will serve as limits in the investigation. Correlate the texts with the levels and artifacts in order to test its chronology.

7.2 With the corpus of texts now divided into different groups, belonging to different periods, as a result of different levels and different locations on the same topographical site, these groups of texts are now investigated philologically to ascertain the different linguistic affinities.

7.3 Distinguish the different genre(s) of the texts, whether it be cultic myths, economic ration lists, letters, treaties etc.

7.4 Ascertain with the help of comparative linguistics, of Sumerian, Akkadian in all its forms, Hurrian, Elamite, Kassite, Hittite and Amorite, the percentage of linguistics affinity of each text and by implication also the percentage of linguistic affinity of the groups of the texts. Correlate this result with what is known about the history of Ancient Mesopotamia in general. Keep in mind that at this stage in the investigation, the results might modify earlier generalizations about this site.

7.5 If there is a presence or preponderance of Hittite/Hurrian/Egyptian at this site, a general overview of the presence of Hittites, Hurrians and Egyptians in a specific period needs to be correlated with their history.

7.6 Relating the percentage of language affinity to the distance of the origin of that language, that is, if Southern Mesopotamia is more known to be Sumerian, the presence of Sumerian in the Northern Syrian territories will alert the student.

7.7 Compare the percentages of linguistic affinity of the Kerngebiet and Randgebiet of a specific period or periods. Correlate the increase or decrease in these percentages with what is known about the Ancient History of the area.

After this preparation, the study of a given configuration can start.

Let's take menologies:

a. Assemble now all the data on monthnames from the texts.

b. Notify each time the location, level, period and the text it belonged to.

c. Ascertain the semantics of each monthname by consulting dictionaries for each area: e.g. Akkadian for North-Western Mesopotamia and Northern-Syrian and Sumerian for Southern Mesopotamia.

d. If a month name is unknown, consult the percentages of linguistic affinity at this site during that specific period in which the text was found. Ascertain whether an increase of Hurrian/Hittite or other influences could require one to use a Hurrian or Hittite dictionary to investigate the foreign name. Etymological and lexicographical investigations are essential. Consider specific orthographical peculiarities that may be present at this site. This can be done by looking for studies that was done on comparisons of more or less similar sites and the orthography of their texts. Ascertain whether that investigator did compare homogenous data (from the same period by people with more or less the same language). Only these observations will be valid for this study. Correlate teh orthographical deviances with the increase or decrease of other linguistic influences at this site and relate it to their history and their phonological and morphological peculiarities.

e. Assess whether a given monthname indicates a specific context e.g. religious, or agricultural. The presence of agricultural monthnames in a city could imply that a rural area around the urban site played a more significant role in that society for that period than vice versa. On the other hand, the presence of a large proportion of cultic monthnames may imply that the urban area played a significant role in that society than the rural forming community.

f. Attempt to construct a list of the monthnames.

g. Correlate the monthnames with what is known about the agricultural and religious activities during the year.