Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan
Online ISSN : 1884-1406
Print ISSN : 0030-5219
ISSN-L : 0030-5219
Volume 17, Issue 2
Displaying 1-15 of 15 articles from this issue
  • Cyrus H. Gordon, Toshio Tsumura
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 1-12
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Shigeo Iwata
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 13-26,177
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In the study of the ancient mass systems, many investigators are at ounce confronted with the difficulty that the values found are extremely variables. One cause of this is that the weights may no longer have their original values. There are the wear and tear of use, accidental damage, and corrosion. And some illegal privatemade weights may also occationally included.
    A statistic procedure for detecting outlying masses in sample is significantly far removed from the main body of the data. The mean values and standard deviations are calculated with 95per cent confidence. The regression equation obtained by a least square method from the mean values and standard deviations. Then the average sensitivity of the balances for the preparations of the weights are calculated by extrapolating to zero the mean values in the equation.
    This procedure confirmed by applying to japanese balances and weights.
    There have been judged that 3per cent outlyers were contained in the weights excavated at Moenjodaro, Harappa, and Chanhudaro.
    The mass system of Indus cities are based on the binary and partly. decimal systems, and returned to original state by the use of calculated minimum mass, 0.856g. The capacity and sensitivity of the most precision balances are respectively estimated about 27g and 32mg.
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  • Sakae Shibayama
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 27-48,178
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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    The ration system in Mari involves regular distribution of three basic commodities, barley, oil and wool as well as in the times of the second half of the 3rd Millennium with its four main epigraphic divisions, Fara, pre-Sargonic, Sargonic and Ur III, and also in Mari we find many kinds of other irregular rations distributed among the military men, the corvées in harvest, canals and clipping with their regular rations.
    The corvée workers and ration system dominated the socio-econmic life of Mari all through the periods from Yasmah-Addu, vice king of Mari, son of Šamši-Addu to Zimri-Lim in his whole life time.
    Beginning with the Old Babylonian period, the term for the semifree disappeared, but in Mari nomad played the leading role in the ration system. Pastoral land and agricultural land were closely interwoven in Mari with a natural tendency toward symbiosis between nomad and sedentary and therefore, the two economies complemented one the other. Usual distinction between the realm of the nomad and that of the sedentary does not apply in Mari.
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  • Toshio Tsumura
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 49-58,179
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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    Major problem of understanding the text as a whole lies in the interpretation of the relationship between the Good Gods (ilm ncmm) and the twin gods, Dawn and Dusk (šhr. wšlm). Some scholars hold that the main theme of the text is the birth of Dawn and Dusk. Others take it as the birth of the Good Gods. While “Dawn and Dusk” appears only in the second half of the text, i. e. a mythological portion, the “Good Gods” appears in both liturgical and mythological portions. In other words, it is the Good Gods who are invoked in this dramatic text.
    Hence, some scholars identify Dawn and Dusk with the Good Gods. However, in the mythological portion, the birth of Dawn and Dusk is significantly distionguished from that of the Good Gods.
    The interpretation of bn šrm (1. 2), which appears right after the invocation of the Good Gods, seems to be the key to the correct interpretation of the text.
    There have been four possible translations of bn šrm: (1) “princes”, (2) “sons of Sharruma”, (3) “shining ones”, and (4) “singers”. The last one seems to be the best translation which is natural according to Semitic lexicography. The term bn could well be the one for guild-members, like in _??_ of _??_ _??_ (Neh. 12:28) “the singers”. Since the term ytnm (1. 3) is to be compared with _??_ (Ezra 2:43, Neh 11:21, I Chr 9:2, et al), bn šrm (1. 2) in this liturgical context should be translated as “singers”. This meaning seems to fit the general atmosphere of the drama very well.
    Main theme of the text is the birth of the Good Gods, not of Dawn and Dusk, and the “singers” provide musical background for this drama.
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  • Some observations on the “Trade Community” of the Ancient Near East
    Fumio Yajima
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 59-67,180
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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    Beginning with the etymological observation that the Arabic word tajir(un) “trader” is derived from the Aramaic taggara having the same meaning, I proceeded to the Accadian word tamkaru, which should be the original word of the above mentioned two words. Tamkaru is proved not to be a Sumerian word but rather is conjectured to be a derivative of a Semitic root *m-k-r, as A. Salonen maintains. However, I wish to add some reservation to this etymology, because its linguistic element (i. e. Acc. -karu/Sum. -qar/gar) has some similarity with the Hebrew gar/ger, Ugar. gr “foreigner, foreign resident”, and even with kar discussed below.
    On the other hand, the Accadian word karu(m). known as a special term for “Trade Market/Colony” especially from the Cappadocian Documents of the Old Assyrian Period, means “bank, dike, harbor” as a common Accadian word found, for example, in the Hammurabian Code, written by the Sumerian ideogram KAR, and supposed to be a derivative of the Sumerian word kar(a) having the same meaning.
    Trying to seek the linguistic affiliation of this word, namely Sum. kar(a), in the frame of the “Ubaidian Civilsation” and its “Dravidian Supposition”, I took, for my further study, the statent of A. L. Oppenheim that “the karu, the harbor of the city, a section outside of the town proper” as a meaningful suggestion. Consequently, I thought, as Sum, uru “city” is sometimes compared with the Dravidian *uru “village, city”, this “harbor”, Snm. kar(a), would be found, if the “Dravidian Supposition” is correct, in the Dravidian vocabularies as a correlate part of a cultural set of the Pre-Sumer Civilization.
    I found, after all, that Modern Dravidian languages have many such words, from which the supposed form *kar(a/e) “bank, dike” could be extracted.
    I added, as a supplement, to this short report some statements on the similarity of the said karu(m) with the so-called “karimi”, the Trade Community of much later centuries of the same area, of which some evidence was found among the Cairo Geniza Documents. This “karimi” has been supposed to be a Tamil, that is, a Dravidian word (Goitein, Basham) and on the other hand both had considerably similar functions (M. Rodinson).
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  • Susumu Sato
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 69-74,182
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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    By courtesy of the Tehran Archaeological Museum (Museh Iran Bastan), I had an opportunity to study unpublished Persepolis Elamite tablets in the Museum in 1973. On examination, fourteen Persepolis Treasury tablets (Teh. 9(w); Teh. 32; Teh. 34; Teh. 49 w; Teh. Pers. 3152-31 (?); 214/56 Teh. illus. B; dk 275 No. 25; 279; 2152/55 6(w); 2290; 2290 742; 3152/9 Teh. no. 38(w); no number; no number) and one Persepolis Fortification tablet (3152/37 Teh. 29w) were identified, but six documents (2290; 2290; 2290; 2451; 3152/52 48(w); 3152/65 97w) remained assigned to neither. In addition, some of documents referred as “not found” in Cameron's Index to Published Treasury Tablets (JNES 24, 1965, pp. 190-192) were identified as follows: 2275=PT45, 2279=PT60 and Teh. 3152/72=PT67. (Persian numerals and letters in italics.)
    In the present preliminary report, one of these unpublished Persepolis Treasury tablets, 2290 (one of documents with the same number), is transliterated (see p. 71), translated and commented. This is Marrezza's letter addressed to Barišša the treasurer of Parsa dated in the third year of Artaxerxes I, recording allocations to kurtaš kurnukašbe mišbazanaš. The expression “kurtaš kurnukašbe mišbazanaš”, which has been not found in any published Persepolis Elamite documents, is apparently parallel with “kurtaš marrip mišbazana” in PT 79 and further with “grd 'mnn vspzn” in the seventh Aršdma-letter. It is worth noting that the correspondence of kurnukašbe to marrip or 'mnn correctly reflects the translation of OP karnuvaka into El. marrip or Akk. ummanate, MES in Darius' Foundation Inscription at Susa (DSf),
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  • Eiichi Imoto
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 75-86,183
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Av. xvar_??_nah- n. belongs to the following groups: Av. raex_??_nah- ‘Erbe’<raek- ‘linquere’, cf. Skt. reknas- ‘inherited possession’ Av. aenah ‘Gewalt’<aen- ‘vergewaltigen’, cf. Skt. enas- ‘crime, sin’Av -cinah- in aša-cinah- ‘nach dem AŠa verlangend’<kan- ‘Verlangen tragen nach’, cf. Skt. canas- ‘delight’ Av. θamnah- ‘Sorge’ < *θam- ‘sorgen’, cf. Gk. rd καμνω ‘sich mühen’<km-n- ‘Kummer’ Av. var_??_nah- ‘Farbe’<var- ‘hüllen’, cf. Skt. varnam. ‘Farbe’ Av. var_??_šnah- ‘Tun, Tätigkeit’<var_??_z- ‘wirken’.
    All of the -na-h- nouns are neutral ones. Then, Av. xvar_??_nah- is reduced to xvar- ‘to eat’ and -na-h-, and its original meaning, presumably, was ‘eating, food, sacred meal, corn spirit’. ‘Glory, luck, fortune’ is its developed meaning.
    Aramaic ideogram gaddeh also meant, besides ‘glory’, ‘the god of good fortune’ and ‘coriander’ which was widely used to make mythical manna.
    There were two kinds of xvar_??_nahs, that is, xvar_??_nah and axvar_??_ta- xvar_??_nah; the former, ‘reviving corn spirit’ and the latter, ‘dying corn spirit’. Dumézilian tripartite structure of xvar_??_nah is uncertain. Partaking of the corn spirit to get ‘glory’ was what Pahlavi xveškarih meant. Xvar_??_nah was kosher, halal food while dušxvar_??_nah was treyf, haram one belonging to the daevish existence.
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  • Tsuneo Kuroyanagi
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 87-100,184
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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    Jam-e Jam which means Jamshid's Cup, is one of the most traditional and favourite themes among the classical Persian poets. This Cup has been expressed in various names, such as Jam-e Kai Khosrou, Jam-e Jahan-numa, Jam-e Giti-numa, Jam-e Jahan-bin, Jam-e Alam-bin, Jam-e Jahan-ara, Jam-e Iskandar and Aine-ye Soleiman. Ferdousi, the greatest Persian epic poet, was the first one who used this Cup in his Shahname. He called it Jam-e Gitinumayi, which means the Cup representing the whole world, by which King Kai Khosrou found out the missing hero Bizhan. After this, this Cup was called Kai Khosrou's Cup until the twelfth century and many famous poets, such as Unsuri, Masud-e Sad-e Salman, Muizzi and Khaqani used this Cup in their poems in the traditional and mythical way.
    But after the twelfth century, this Cup began to be called Jam-e Jam and was employed as a mode of Sufi expression. The famous Sufi poet Sanai interpreted this Cup for the first time as Sufi's pure heart in his Tariq al-Tahqiq. After him many Sufi poets, such as Attar and Sadi adopted his interpretation. This Cup found its highest expression in Hafiz's ghazals, in which he expressed this Cup in different ways and meanings. The true understanding of this term is regarded as an important key to appreciate his implicative poems.
    In short, we may conclude from the use of Jam-e Jam in Persian literature that Persian poets who flourished in the Islamic periods were greatly influenced by their pre- Islamic traditions, wherein we make out the Persian cultural continuity and consistency.
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  • Hiroshi Wada
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 101-112,185
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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    “Das Martyrium von St. Arethas” spricht hauptsächlich von der Christenverfolgung in der südarabischen Stadt Negran im Jahre 524 n. Chr., wobei der Vorsteher der dortigen Christengemeinde, Arethas, mit den anderen 4252 Märtyrern zusammen den Märtyrertod fand (ed. Carpentier, in: Acta Sanctorum Octobris X.). In ihrem2. Teil wird vom dadurch hervorgerufenen Krieg zwischen dem christlichen König von Axum, Elesbaas, und dem jüdischen Widersacher, dem Christenverfolger in Südarabien, Du Nuwhas. Aber uns interessiert hier nicht so sehr die Rekonstruktion dieser Geschichte, sondern eher ein persönlicher Brief des byzantinischen Kaisers Justin I. an den chrsistlichen König Elesbaas, der zufälligerweise in der griechischen Version überliefert ist. Nämlich, in jener Übergangszeit von der römischen Spätantike zum eigentlichen Beginn des byzantinischen Mittelalters, die man als “frühbyzantinisch” zu bezeichnen pflegt, waren das Rote Meer und seine Anlieger für bas byz. Reich in politischer, kommerzieller und relgiöser Hinsicht äußerst wichtig. Da das byz. Reich in dauerndem Konflikt mit den Sassaniden war, stellte das Rote Meer einzigartige Möglichkeiten dar, daß das byz. Reich dadurch mit den “indischen Waren” in Berührung kommen, politisch die Sassaniden in Schach zu halten und religiös diese Gebiete-beiderseits des Roten Meeres-zum christlichen Glauben, d. h. unter dem byz. Einfluß, zu bekehren versuchen konnte. In diesem Sinne mußte das byz. Reich notwendigerweise eine konsequente Politik verfolgen. In dissem Aufsatz wird versucht, die historische Bedeutung jenes kaiserlichen Briefs im Rahmen der byz. Poltik im gesagten Sinne zu erläutern. Nebenbei wird beabsichtigt, zu zeigen, daß die frühbyzantinische Zeit als eine völlig selbständige Periode behandelt werden soll, und nicht so sehr wie eine Vorstufe zum sogenannten Beginn des byz. Mittelalters.
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  • Masato Soejima
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 113-127,186
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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    Je suis allé à Paris au mois de juillet de lánneé derniere, Pour assister à nos Congrès. Le Congrès s'est ouvert à la sorbonne à lúniversité de Paris, et au Panthéon à la Sorbonne, et au Collége de France.
    Le Congrès sest ouvert par Ia Séance d'ouverture du Congrès, et chaque jour les sections ont tenu 7 keures. Fans les sections on trouvait 1 Le proche Orient ancien, 2 L' Orient chrétien, 3 Les Etudes hébraiques, 4 L'Arabes et Jslamiques, 5 L'Asie Centrale et La Haute Asie, 6 Inde, 7 L'Asie du Sud-Est, 8 Les études Chinoises, 9 Les études Japonais et coréennes, 10 des Bibliothèques, une Bibiographie, une Documentation.
    Nos sections ont été L'orient chrétien. Elles étaient Composes 1 d' Etudes de litterature syriaque, 2 d' Arabes et Jslamiques, 3 d' Armeniennes, 4 de la Relations Orient-Occident, 5 de Syriaque, 6 de Coptes et Éthiopiennes, 7 de la Liturgie, 8 des Arts et Archéologie (avec projections), 9 de Litterature et Folklore.
    Le jeudi 19 juille t après midi on a fait la Séance solennelle de Commémoration. C'est-à-dire—Centenaire du premier Congrès international des Orientalistes (Paris, 1873), —Centcinquantième anniversaire de la fondation de la société Asiatique (1822), —Centcinquantieme Anniversaire du Premier déchiffrement des hiéroglyphes par Champollion (1822).
    On a fini le Congrès avec une séance de clôture dans le Grand Amphitheâtre de Ia Sorbonue le Samedi 21 juillet après-midi à 15 heures. Juste 2436 personnes étaient réunies à ce Congrès, et ils étaient aussi en moyenne 80 personnes à nos sections.
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  • Fujio Mitsuhashi
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 129-142,187
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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    As a famous Islamic scholar, Claude Cahen pointed out already, Babái was the big religious and social movement which disturbed the “Oguz Türkmen” nomads in Anatolia a few years before Mongol Invasion, and which seems to have been of great importance in the general history of the social and cultural development of the Turkish people.
    This movement had been related deeply with the whole history of the Rum Seljuk Sultanate influenced by Iranian culture and based on Sunni Moslem population of towns in Asia Minor.
    At that time the “Oguz Türkmen” nomads in rural areas or frontiers had remained still more faithful the Central Eurasian shamanistic custom. They sought for the religious faith through a mystical approach to Islam.
    Thus, the antagonism between “Oguz Türkmen” and the Sultanregime, especially the centural administrative authorities was increasingly sharpened.
    Babài movement was, undoubtedly, the struggle carried on under the leadership of the “Eeyh” in the mystical moslem Order against the Seljuks. In Anatolia before the Ottoman period, the important meaning of Babái was recognized for a long time.
    This article discusses mainly about the dynamic power originated in so-called “Türk Siîligi” or “Türkmen Aleviligi” under the strong influence of the “Tarika (or Tarikat)” and tries to contribute to a solution of the political change followed this large scale rebellion, namely the establishment of “Karaman Beyligi” in Tauros mountain ranges of Southern Anatolia.
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  • Ichiro Miura
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 143-146
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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  • Masanori Aoyagi
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 147-150
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
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  • Midori Sasagawa
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 151-153
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • [in Japanese]
    1974 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 155-160
    Published: 1974
    Released on J-STAGE: March 12, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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