Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan
Online ISSN : 1884-1406
Print ISSN : 0030-5219
ISSN-L : 0030-5219
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Volume 55, Issue 1
Displaying 1-7 of 7 articles from this issue
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Article
  • The Contracts of Caring by amīlūtus in Emar
    In Comparison with Slaves, Adopted Sons and Creditors
    Masamichi YAMADA
    2012 Volume 55 Issue 1 Pages 2-21
    Published: September 30, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: April 26, 2016
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.55.2
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    As a part of the research on amīlūtus, a specific type of debtors owing silver in Emar, this article deals with the care (palāḫu) contracts which they concluded with their creditors (Emar VI 16, 117; ASJ 13-T 38!; QVO 5-T 2; TS 39, 40). According to these texts, by these contracts, an amīlūtu is exempted from all his debt (or in one case, Emar VI 16, a part of it) and in its stead bears the duty to take care of the creditor and his wife (or in one case, ASJ 13-T 38, him and his daughter) as long as they live. At the same time, the amīlūtu is given his wife by the creditor and seems to be adopted by him relatively often. After finishing his duty, upon the death of the creditor and his family member, he leaves the creditor’s house with his wife and sons, but, even when adopted, he is excluded from inheritance of the family property. The results of a comparison of contracts of caring by amīlūtus, slaves, normally adopted sons and creditors in terms of marriage, adoption and inheritance are summarized as a ‘system’ in the following diagram: Based on this, the following points can be made about the amīlūtus: (1) they are a group of people whose standing is somewhere between free men (represented by normally adopted sons) and slaves; (2) they are a group with socially complex features (not really slaves, not really adopted sons, outsiders functioning as members of the household), who cannot be described by a single concept. Furthermore, in this comparative study, the consciousness of rank distinction between mariyannus (elite), ordinary free men and slaves is clearly discernible. Thus we can see that the various kinds of care contracts are a significant source for the study of the society of Emar in general.
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  • The Seals of the Pre-Indus Period in Light of the Seals Doscovered at Kunal
    Ayumu KONASUGAWA
    2012 Volume 55 Issue 1 Pages 22-35
    Published: September 30, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: April 26, 2016
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.55.22
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    In this paper, the author discusses the distribution pattern and the significance of seals of the Pre-Indus period by studying the seals excavated at Kunal.Through the analysis in this paper, it has become evident that Pre-Indus seals consist of stamp-type seals and button-type seals typified by common motifs such as geometric designs or concentric circles, and that among these, steatite seals are concentrated specifically in the northern area, including the Bannu Gomal, Punjab, and Haryana regions.Furthermore, in order to consider the significance of these seals, their distribution is compared with that of specific pottery types and the functions of Indus-type seals. This paper concludes it is likely that before the Indus-type seal was invented in the formative period of the Indus period, in the northern area where seals with such motifs were used, there was a functioning system that controlled the flow of merchants, goods, and much information, a cultural exchange that operated over a wider area than regions united by a specific pottery type.
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  • Malaria and the Early Holocene Wet Phase
    A Hypothesis about the Neolithic Settlement Shift from the Jordan Valley to the Jordan Highland
    Masashi ABE
    2012 Volume 55 Issue 1 Pages 36-46
    Published: September 30, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: April 26, 2016
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5356/jorient.55.36
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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    The Southern Levant is the southwestern comer of the Fertile Crescent, a center where the domestication of animals and plants originated. In this region, the process of neolithization began in PrePottery Neolithic A (PPNA) . During PPNA, most farming villages were located in the Jordan Valley, which has an average elevation of 300 meters below sea level. But the villages shifted from the valley to the Jordan Plateau, which has an average elevation of 900 meters above sea level, during Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB). The main purpose of this paper is to advocate a new hypothesis about this settlement shift.This paper argues that the Early Holocene Wet Phase, which started during PPNB, changed the Jordan Valley into a region where malaria was hyperendemic. The early farmers probably abandoned the Jordan Valley and moved to the Jordan Plateau to avoid the malaria.
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