- Places – stability, uniqueness (no two things in same place), properness, objects
- Spaces – instability, potentiality, movement, actions
- Archaeological and textual evidence for places (libraries, shrines, throne rooms, etc.)
- Textual evidence only for spaces (of rituals, performances, consultations, etc.)
- Movement between home, palace, temple
Work space: for Marduk-šumu-uṣur PGP and the other haruspices TT
- Lack of letters suggests that the haruspices were close at hand in palace for performances on demand (SAA 10: 179)
- Reign of Esarhaddon and early Assurbanipal: Queries TT prepared before extispicy performed (e.g., SAA 4: 20, 149, 190)
- Later reign of Assurbanipal: Reports TT describe disposition of entrails TT , quote relevant omens TT , give "favourable" TT or "unfavourable" verdict (e.g., SAA 4: 282, 306)
- Extispicy rituals TT performed outside, in front of the sungod Šamaš – in palace courtyard (e.g., SAA 4: 280); on military campaign (relief imagery; royal annals); on temple roof (SAA 10: 183); in reed hut (SAA 10: 176)
- Creation of ritual space through cleansing TT : standard request for Šamaš to "disregard" the impurities of everyday actions there (e.g., SAA 4: 23)
- Discussion and revision of interpretation with colleagues (e.g., SAA 4: 308)
- Face-to-face discussion with king (SAA 10: 175) – Assurbanipal's statement of scholarly competence
- Relevant omen compendia kept in royal library – king asked for permission to revise (SAA 10: 177)
Work place: the royal libraries
- Excavated in the mid-19th century, before scientific archaeology
- But original locations within palaces to some extent reconstructible (Reade)
- What was in the libraries? Writing-boards and other media as well as tablets – library records (e.g., SAA 10: 388)
- Libraries as symbol of royal power – direct oversight and involvement of the king (e.g., SAA 10: 373)
- Transmission through teaching (e.g., SAA 10: 143, 171)
- Accumulation through copying, edition, and composition (e.g., SAA 10: 102)
- Acquisition through confiscation and forced copying from Babylonia (Fincke; Frame and George)
The scholars created their own spaces in which to perform and communicate, but the royal libraries were central places of intellectual activity, in which knowledge was shaped according to political imperatives as well as learned desires.
Further reading
- Starr, Rituals of the Diviner, 1983
- Starr, Queries to the Sungod, 1990: 'Introduction', pp. XIII-XXXV
- Fincke, 'Babylonian texts of Nineveh', 2003-04
- Frame and George, 'Royal libraries', 2004
- Lieberman, 'Canonical and official', 1990
- Parpola, 'Assyrian library records', 1983
- Reade, 'Archaeology', 1986
Content last modified: 13 Jan 2017.