Project
History |
Project aims |
The letters of El-Amarna at the VAM |
The
photographs |
The project of photographing all the El-Amarna letters housed at the Vorderasiatisches Museum of Berlin (= VAM) was carried out as part of the Research Project “Automation of the process of interpretation of Ancient Texts (Hermeneumatics)” (PB 98-0674-C04-01), which is under the direction of Prof. Jesús-Luis Cunchillos at the Hermeneumatics Laboratory (http://www.labherm.filol.csic.es) of the Institute of Philology of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (= CSIC; Madrid, Spain). Dr. Joachim Marzahn, Head Curator of the cuneiform tablets of the VAM (Berlin, Germany; http://www.smb.spk-berlin.de/vam) and Dr. Juan-Pablo Vita (CSIC), current Deputy Director of the Institute of Islamic and Near Eastern Studies (Instituto de Estudios Islámicos y del Oriente Próximo; Zaragoza, Spain; web site under construction) have taken part in this project.
In common agreement with Dr. Beate Salje, Director of the VAM, and with J. Marzahn, a digital camera was used to take the photographs. The objective was to build up a database of digital images of the El-Amarna letters of the VAM and to make them available to all researchers via the Internet. In 2001 J.-P. Vita was awarded a “Marina Bueno” grant (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) to take the photographs in Berlin. The work was carried out in November 2001.
The technical construction of the web site that we are presenting was undertaken by Joaquín Siabra (jsiabra@shapshu.filol.csic.es), Computer Engineer at the Hermeneumatics Laboratory. J.-P. Vita (jpvita@ieiop.csic.es) and J. Marzahn (vam@smb.spk-berlin.de) are responsible for its scientific content.
The photographs and their presentation on the Internet
The photographs
Photographs from El-Amarna housed at the VAM are published on this web site, as well as some housed at the Ägyptisches Museum of Berlin. The literary and scholarly texts found in El-Amarna and housed at the VAM are therefore not included. These documents were re-edited by Sh. Izre>el, The Amarna Scholarly Tablets, Groningen 1997 (including photographs and cuneiform copies of the texts). Whenever a text existed and the condition of the tablet permitted, photographs of the obverse, reverse and upper, lower, right and left margins of each tablet were taken. 760 photographs of 186 tablets are presented in total. Each photograph has a number in brackets, for example “(1)”, “(2)”, etc. In the current stage of presentation of the material it is, to a great extent, a number assigned at random and does not yet follow the actual order of the text on the tablet.
The letters from El-Amarna whose photographs are published are the following (according to EA numeration): EA 2, 4, 6, 8, 11-13, 18, 20, 21, 24, 29, 33, 38, 42, 44-48, 50, 51, 54, 56-58, 60, 62, 65-68, 70-72, 76-81, 84, 89-93, 95-98, 103, 105-112, 115, 117-122, 126, 127, 129, 130, 133, 138, 140, 143-146, 152, 154-157, 159, 162-171, 173-175, 177-179, 181-183, 185, 186, 189, 192-194, 196, 200-204, 207, 208, 210-212, 214, 217-219, 221-223, 226, 229, 231, 232, 234, 237-239, 241-243, 246, 249, 253-255, 257-259, 263, 265, 266, 268, 271, 273, 275, 276, 279, 281, 283, 285-291, 295, 300, 302, 307-312, 317, 319, 321, 326, 329, 332, 334-339 and 381. The identification of EA 381 (VAT 3781), a very deteriorated tablet, as a letter is attributed to Sh. Izre>el, The Amarna Scholarly Tablets, Groningen 1997, p. 99 and figure L.
For various reasons, some letters (such as EA 25 [VAT 340] or EA 32 [VAT 342]) could not be photographed during our stay at the museum. EA 258 (VAT 329) was being exhibited at the time outside Berlin. EA 128 (VAT 1873) is registered in the VAM as missing since 1963. Some texts with “VAT” numeration, such as EA 7 (VAT 150) and the fragment VAT 1882 of EA 235+ are housed at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. These and any other omissions will be rectified whenever possible.
The photographs were taken using a Canon Powershot A20 digital camera. They have been slightly retouched using PhotoShop version 7.0 in order to eliminate any unnecessary elements surrounding each tablet, but without ever interfering with the actual image of the tablet itself. The photographs have been taken with the purpose of making them of great use to epigraphic, philological and historic research of the texts. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasise that they are non-professional photographs, taken by J.-P. Vita; such circumstances will account for any imperfections in the quality of the photographs.
The authors of this project wishes to acknowledge the help and support they has received from various people and institutions in completing this work. To Prof. J.-L. Cunchillos for having strongly supported the project from beginning to end and for having provided for the most part the technical means and necessary materials to carry it out (camera, laptop computer, programmes). To Mr. Olaf M. Teßmer, photographer at the VAM, for his valuable technical advice in the initial stages of the project but who is in no way responsible for any deficiencies which may appear in the photographs. To Dr. J.-Á. Zamora (Instituto de Estudios Islámicos y del Oriente Próximo, Zaragoza) for his technical support in the post-production of the digital images. Finally, to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spain) and to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Germany) for awarding the grant (“María Bueno”), which made the journey and the stay in Berlin in November 2001 possible.Access
Currently, the photographs can be accessed in the Image Data Bank in two ways:
- by the “EA number”: simply entering the required number
- by the “VAT number”: by typing “VAT” followed by the required number.
In the future, the letters may also be accessed according to their place of origin.
Double-click on the photograph to see an enlarged version.
Condition of the letters from El-Amarna at the Vorderasiatisches Museum
1. History of the collection
J.A. Knudtzon provides, in the first volume of his work Die El-Amarna-Tafeln,
Leipzig 1907-1915, the following information about the origin of the collection of El-Amarna letters housed at the VAM:
- pp. 6-7: "Eigentlich hätte die ganze Sammlung an Budge in Kairo geschickt werden sollen; seinen Leuten wurde aber unterwegs aufgelauert, und so wurde nur eine verhältnismäßig geringe Zahl für das British Museum in London erworben ..., während die anderen nach dem, was ich habe ermitteln können, in die Hände der folgenden drei Händler gingen: Ali Abd el-Haj, Farag Ismaïn, beide in Gize, und Tano, ein Grieche in Kairo. Es wurde mir weiter mitgeteilt, daß der erstgenannte einem Beamten des Museums zu Bulaq (später zu Gize, jetzt zu Kairo) viele Tafeln gezeigt, von ihm aber den Bescheid erhalten, daß si falsch seien, und sie dann an Theodor Graf aus Wien verkauft habe. Dieser Herr bot die Tafeln, die er erworben hatte, dem Museum zu Berlin an, was wegen Ende des Jahres 1887 geschah. Nach dem eben Mitgeteilten wird es etwas später gewesen sein, daß der eben genannte Farag dem Museum zu Bulaq einige Tafeln und Tafelstücke, die er besaß, abgeben mußte. Es sollen 17 ganze Tafeln und 14 Bruchstücke gewesen sein; sie wurden sämtlich im Januar 1888 unter Nr. 28 179 eingetragen ... Während dieser Zeit erwarb aber das Museum, im Februar, ebenfalls durch Kauf (von wem, weiß ich nicht) eine kleine Sammlung, die auf 15 Tafeln bestanden haben soll und unter Nr. 28 185 eingetragen wurde. Durch das genannte Angebot Grafs erhielt man in Berlin nach der Mitteilung Ermans ... 'nach Zusammenfühgung der Fragmente rund 160 Tafeln, darunter einige von einer bis dahin unerhörten Größe'. Später sind mehr dazu gekommen ...".
- pp. 12-13: "Während meiner Beschäftigung mit den Tafeln haben die Sammlungen in den Museen zu Berlin und zu Kairo eine kleine Änderung erfahren, indem diese Museen im Jahre 1898 miteinander je 6 Tafelstücke austauschten, wodurch beide vollständigere Texte erhielten. Von den Tafeln befinden sich also jetzt: die allermeisten in der Vorderasiatischen Abteilung der Königlichen Museen zu Berlin, darunter sehr viele Bruchstücke ... Von den Nummern dieses Buches, das alle El-Amarna-Tafeln umfassen will, gehören 194 vollständig und 5 entweder fast ganz (Nr. 14) oder zum Teil (Nr. 118. 143. 155. 357) Berlin an ... Zu diesen 199 Nummern kommen dann, von ganz kleinen, gewiß von Berliner Tafeln herrührenden, Bröckchen ohne Schriftzüge abgesehen, ungefähr 20 kleine Bruchstücke hinzu (fast alle mit einigen Keilschriftzeichen oder Resten davon). Von denselben sind im Inventar die meisten unter Nr. 2195 zusammengefaßt, eins ist Nr. 2197, 6 (die übrigen mit Nr. 2197 ebenso wie sämtliche, die unter Nr. 2196 zusammengefaßt sind, gehören sicher oder wahrscheinlich zu Nr. 24. 25. 27. 29; vgl. meinen Text) und die anderen sind ohne Nummer, darunter 4 äußerst kleine mit Schrift, welche ohne Zweifel zu Nr. 7 gehören (vgl. Anm. Zu 7, 68-71)."
2. Editions and translations
The letters from El-Amarna at the VAM have been edited in cuneiform copy
by H. Winckler and L. Abel, Der Thontafelfund von El Amarna, at Mitteilungen aus den Orientalischen Sammlungen - Königliche Museen zu Berlin, Hefte 1-3, Berlin 1889-1890, and O. Schroeder, Die Tontafeln von El-Amarna, at Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmäler der Königlichen Museen zu Berlin. Heft XI, Leipzig 1914, and Heft XII, Leipzig 1915. Schroeder’s edition is clearly superior to Winckler and Abel’s with regard to the quality of the copies and reliability in the interpretation of the signs.
J.A. Knudtzon’s work Die El-Amarna-Tafeln, Leipzig 1907-1915, is still the model transliterations of the letters from El-Amarna housed at the VAM and of the total El-Amarna corpus as a whole. Sh. Izre'el provides a provisional transliterations of the entire corpus on the Internet: http://www.tau.ac.il/humanities/semitic/amarna.html.
All the letters are translated in the works by W.L. Moran, Les lettres d’El
Amarna, Paris 1987, id., The Amarna Letters, Baltimore 1992, and by M. Liverani, Le lettere di el-Amarna, Brescia 1998.
During the process of photographing the letters we noticed certain discrepancies between the VAT number that Moran attributes to some of the El-Amarna letters in his French translation of the corpus (Les lettres d’El Amarna, Paris 1987) and that attributed by Schroeder. In such cases the correct number is usually the Schroeder number. This applies to the following letters: EA 4 = VAT 1657 (instead of 1857); EA 33 = VAT 1654 (instead of 654); EA 95 = VAT 1668 (instead of 1168); EA 106 = VAT 344 (instead of 304). On the other hand, Schroeder’s copy of EA 240 is given number 240 (instead correct number 138).
3. Collations
J.A. Knudtzon, Die El-Amarna-Tafeln, Leipzig 1907-1915, vol. 1 p.14 had the following to say about his work editing the letters: "In allen anderen Fällen beruht mein Text auf eigener Besichtigung der Originale, und zwar oft zu wiederholten Malen; denn ich habe es mir angelegen sein lassen, den Text so richtig und so vollständig wie möglich wiedersugeben. In dieser Beziehung habe ich nun auch sehr viel erreicht, und zwar so viel, daß eine neue Ausgabe des Keilschrifttextes sämtlicher Tafeln nicht nur berechtigt, sondern gewiß auch wünschenswert wäre. Wegen Schwäche meines rechten Armes konnte ich aber unmöglich an ein solches Werk gehen".
The work which Knudtzon highlighted and hoped for was carried out in an outstanding manner by O. Schroeder in his work Die Tontafeln von El-Amarna, at Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmäler der Königlichen Museen zu Berlin. Heft XI, Leipzig 1914, and Heft XII, Leipzig 1915. Although his work was undoubtedly appreciative and facilitated by Knudtzon’s previous work, Schroeder’s cuneiform copies may be considered in themselves as a new collation of the letters from El-Amarna from Berlin. Later on, Schroeder published some epigraphic notes on the Berlin corpus:
- "Zur kanaanäischen Glosse mahzirâmu", OLZ 18 (1915), pp. 38-39.
- "Kanaanäisch malania = 'Quartier, Lager'", OLZ 18 (1915), pp. 105-106.
- "Zur Amarnatafel VAT 1704", OLZ 18 (1915), pp. 174-176.
- "Zum sog. 2. Arzawa-Brief (VAT 342)", OLZ 18 (1915), pp. 231-232.
- "Zu Berliner Amarnatexten", OLZ 18 (1915), pp. 293-296.
- "Zum sog. 2. Arzawa-Brief (VAT 342) - Nachtrag", OLZ 19 (1916), pp. 138.
- "Zu Berliner Amarnatexten", OLZ 20 (1917), pp. 105-106.
- "Ueber die Glossen shi-ir(-ma) und mar-ia-nu(-ma) in den Briefen Rib-Addi's", OLZ 21 (1918), pp. 125-127.Subsequently, the following collations of the letters from Berlin were published:
- M. Dietrich, O. Loretz, "Der Amarna-Brief VAB* 2, 170", in R. Stiehl. H. E. Stier (eds.), Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte und anderen Nachleben (Fs Franz Altheim), Berlin 1969, pp. 14-23.
- R. S. Hess, „Rhetorical Forms in EA 162“, UF 22 (1990), 137-148.
- R. S. Hess, „Smitten Ant Bites Back: Rhetorical Forms in the Amarna Correspondence from Shechem“, in: J. C. de Moor, W. G. E. Watson (Hrsg.), Verse in Ancient Near Eastern Prose (AOAT 42), Neukirchen-Vluyn 1993, 95-111.
- W. L. Moran, Les lettres d’El Amarna, Paris 1987; id., The Amarna Letters, Baltimore 1992. Moran availed of previous collations carried out by E.I. Gordon, and he himself collated almost all the El-Amarna letters. The letters that Moran marked as not collated by him are the following (our list only indicates the letters from the VAM): EA 7 (marked only in the French edition), EA 14, EA 20 (only French edition), EA 45 (two fragments, the smallest not collated), EA 58 (only French edition), EA 127 (only French edition), EA 128 (only French edition), EA 133 (only French edition), EA 287 (only French edition), EA 288 (only French edition).
- Sh. Izre'el, Amurru Akkadian: A Linguistic Study, Harvard 1991.
- Sh. Izre'el, The Amarna Scholarly Tablets, Groningen 1997, pp. 97-100.
- N. Na'aman, "Collations of some Amarna Tablets in the Berlin Museum", NABU 1998/2, number 50, pp. 51-53.
- J.-P. Vita, "EA 361, ein join zu EA 56", NABU 1998/2, number 54, pp. 56-57, completed by id., "Note on the join EA 56+361", NABU 1998/4, number 105, pp. 95-96.
- J.-P. Vita, "Kollationen zu Berliner Amarnabriefen", at B. Böck, E. Cancik-Kirschbaum, Th. Richter (eds.), Munuscula Mesopotamica - Festschrift für J. Renger (AOAT 267), Münster 1999, pp. 617-622.
- A. F. Rainey, in Z. Cochavi-Rainey, The Alashia Texts from the 14th and 13th Centuries BCE. A Textual and Linguistic Study (AOAT 289), Münster 2003.
J. A. Knudtzon, Die El-Amarna-Tafeln, Leipzig 1907-1915, vol. 1 p. 14, comentaba acerca de su tarea de edición de las cartas: “In allen anderen Fällen beruht mein Text auf eigener Besichtigung der Originale, und zwar oft zu wiederholten Malen; denn ich habe es mir angelegen sein lassen, den Text so richtig und so vollständig wie möglich wiedersugeben. In dieser Beziehung habe ich nun auch sehr viel erreicht, und zwar so viel, daß eine neue Ausgabe des Keilschrifttextes sämtlicher Tafeln nicht nur berechtigt, sondern gewiß auch wünschenswert wäre. Wegen Schwäche meines rechten Armes konnte ich aber unmöglich an ein solches Werk gehen”.
La tarea señalada y deseada por Knudtzon fue cumplida de manera modélica por O. Schroeder en su obra Die Tontafeln von El-Amarna, en Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmäler der Königlichen Museen zu Berlin. Heft XI, Leipzig 1914. Aunque la tarea se vio sin duda favorecida y facilitada por el trabajo previo de Knudtzon, las copias cuneiformes de Schroeder pueden ser consideradas en sí mismas como una nueva colación de las cartas de El-Amarna de Berlín. Schroeder publicó con posterioridad algunas notas de carácter epigráfico acerca del corpus berlinés: xxx.
Con posterioridad se han llevado a cabo las siguientes publicaciones de colaciones de cartas de Berlín:
- W. L. Moran, Les lettres d’El Amarna, Paris 1987; id., The Amarna Letters, Baltimore 1992. Moran colacionó casi todas las cartas de El-Amarna, con las siguientes excepciones por él señaladas (nuestra lista se limita a señalar las cartas del VAM):
EA 7 VAT 150 (non collationné)
EA 14 tampoco, según traducc. inglesa
EA 20 VAT 191 (non collationné)
EA 45 VAT 1692 (2 fragmentos, el más pequeño no colacionado)
EA 58 VAT 1716 (non collationné). Pero no lo dice en traducc. inglesa
EA 127 VAT 1687 (non collationné). Pero no lo dice en traducc. inglesa
EA 128 VAT 1873 (non collationné)
EA 133 VAT 1667 (non collationné)
EA 287 VAT 1644 (non collationné)
EA 288 VAT 1643 (non collationné)
- Sh. Izre>el, Amurru Akkadian: A Linguistic Study, Harvard 1991.
- Sh. Izre>el, The Amarna Scholarly Tablets, Groningen 1997, pp. 97-100.
- N. Na>aman, “Collations of some Amarna Tablets in the Berlin Museum”, NABU 50/1998, pp. xxx.
- J.-P. Vita, “EA 361, ein join zu EA 56”, NABU 1998/xxx, pp. 56-57, completado por id., “Note on the join EA 56+361”, NABU 1998/xxx, pp. 95-96.
- J.-P. Vita, “Kollationen zu Berliner Amarnabriefen”, en B. Böck, E. Cancik-Kirschbaum, Th. Richter (eds.), Munuscula Mesopotamica - Festschrift für J. Renger (AOAT 267), Münster 1999, pp. 617-622.
As pointed out by various experts in the last few years, the corpus of El-Amarna
needs a new edition. The texts are housed in several museums around the world and the quality of each of the editions (especially the cuneiform copies) varies considerably. The number of published photographs of the texts is also scarce. On the other hand, research in the last few decades has enabled us to make great progress in the reading and understanding of the documents. However, the condition of the edition of the El-Amarna corpus still presents serious problems for research.
The project’s first aim is to make available to all researchers the photographs of the El-Amarna letters housed at the VAM. This photographic edition intends to be, firstly, a tool for research. The great advantage of the VAM collection is that it houses approximately 200 letters from El-Amarna, more than half of the total corpus. Thus, both experts and students will now have access to graphic images of the greater part of the corpus which may be used both for research and for teaching. On the other hand, it is also hoped that these photographs will contribute to the physical preservation of the tablets, as the digital imagery will render it unnecessary in most cases to handle the originals.
The photographs we are presenting form the nucleus of a much wider project on the Internet about El-Amarna. Its content will be expanded with further information relating to the size of the tablets, place of origin, relevant bibliography regarding each text, etc. The photographs will also be accompanied by Schroeder’s copies and, at least at an early stage, by the transliterations of Knudtzon. It is mainly intended to follow the model of the “Banco de Datos Filológicos Semíticos Noroccidentales” and the “Ugaritic Data Bank” developed in Madrid by the Hermeneumatics Laboratory (see http://www.labherm.filol.csic.es). New updates will be announced as appropiate.
ISBN: 84-933230-4-7. D.L.: Z-1959-04 |
Last
modification : November 2006 |