Sasson should be complimented for a vivid narrative in exquisite prose the fictional history related to the life of Zimrilim who was ruler at Mari.
This note complements Jack M. Sasson's enthralling fictional account of Zimri-Lim's thoughts.
Jack M. Sasson offers a fictional history of the thoughts of Zimri-Lim, king of the ancient city of Mari, based on his knowledge of the archives of Mari. http://discoverarchive.vanderbilt.edu/bitstream/handle/1803/3579/Thoughts%20of%20Zimri-Lim.pdf?sequence=1)
While Sasson has reconstructed a segment of history based on texts, this monograph focuses 1. on hieroglyphs mostly in the palace of Zimri-Lim and 2. on Bronze-age life-activities of Assur as metalworkers.
Particular focus is an abiding Meluhha hieroglyph: overflowing pot with fish swimming up the flowing waters. Other associated Meluhha hieroglyphs describe the bronze-age metal- and stone-work as a collaborative enterprise between artisans-merchants of Meluhha, Magan, Dilmun and Assur (Mesopotamia-Assyria), along the Tin Road which extended upto Kanesh and beyond upto Nahal Mishmar (of cire perdue artifacts fame of 4th millennium BCE), not far from Haifa where a shipwreck hoard included two pure tin ingots with Meluhha hieroglyphs.
Jack M. Sasson offers a fictional history of the thoughts of Zimri-Lim, king of the ancient city of Mari, based on his knowledge of the archives of Mari. http://discoverarchive.vanderbilt.edu/bitstream/handle/1803/3579/Thoughts%20of%20Zimri-Lim.pdf?sequence=1)
While Sasson has reconstructed a segment of history based on texts, this monograph focuses 1. on hieroglyphs mostly in the palace of Zimri-Lim and 2. on Bronze-age life-activities of Assur as metalworkers.
Particular focus is an abiding Meluhha hieroglyph: overflowing pot with fish swimming up the flowing waters. Other associated Meluhha hieroglyphs describe the bronze-age metal- and stone-work as a collaborative enterprise between artisans-merchants of Meluhha, Magan, Dilmun and Assur (Mesopotamia-Assyria), along the Tin Road which extended upto Kanesh and beyond upto Nahal Mishmar (of cire perdue artifacts fame of 4th millennium BCE), not far from Haifa where a shipwreck hoard included two pure tin ingots with Meluhha hieroglyphs.
This note complements this presentation by focusing on life-activities of citizens of Mari, Meluhha Assur artisans, in particular.
The Assur were maintaining the tradition handed down by their Assur ancestors -- smelters and metalworkers of yore -- using hieroglyphs to denote in rebus cipher, the contributions to Bronze-age metalwork.
The hieroglyphs as symbolic forms are the tradition handed down by the Assur ancestors (who were Meluhha speakers of Indian sprachbund) and venerated by the inheritors of that tradition, now operating in the river basins of Tigris-Euphrates.
The Assur were maintaining the tradition handed down by their Assur ancestors -- smelters and metalworkers of yore -- using hieroglyphs to denote in rebus cipher, the contributions to Bronze-age metalwork.
The hieroglyphs as symbolic forms are the tradition handed down by the Assur ancestors (who were Meluhha speakers of Indian sprachbund) and venerated by the inheritors of that tradition, now operating in the river basins of Tigris-Euphrates.
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This note is a fourth sequel to the work: Philosophy of symbolic forms in Meluhha cipher.
See the first to third sequels at:
1.http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/meluhha-metallurgy-hieroglyphs-of.html Meluhha metallurgy: hieroglyphs of pomegranate, mangrove date-palm cone (raphia farinifera), an elephant's head terracotta Nausharo, Sarasvati civilization
2.http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/ant-twisted-rope-and-other-meluhha.html Twisted rope, ant and other Meluhha hieroglyphs on Ancient Near East and Indian seals.
3.http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/04/perforated-plaques-of-tello-lagash.html Perforated plaques of Tello, Lagash, Sumerian artifacts, and Meluhha hieroglyphs
Zimrilim was king of Mari from about 1775 to 1761 BCE.He was the son [Sasson, J. M., 1998, "The king and I. A Mari king in changing perceptions" Journal of American Oriental Society 118(4): 453-470] or grandson [Charpin,D,. 1992, "Les legendes de sceaux de Mari: Nouvelles Données" in: Young, G.(ed.)Mari in restrospect, Eisenbrauns, pp.59-76] of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamkhad when his father was assassinated.The city was occupied by Shamshi-Adad I, the king of Assur, who put his own son Yasmah-Adad on the throne. Shortly after the death of Shamshi-Adad I, Zimrilim returned from exile and was able to oust Yasmah-Adad from power with the help of Yarimlim, the king of Yamhad.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimri-Lim
"Shrewd historians have come to recognize that recreating the past is essentially an imaginative undertaking in which facts culled from a variety of sources are blended together to form a plausible reality. It is a common verity of the profession, however, that when it comes to reconstructing moments from Mesopotamian life, modern historians have largely failed to invest their narratives with the vision necessary to persuade and command attention...I also hope that you will note the ambiguity of the title and realize that Zimri-Lim's thoughts are, in effect, hardly distinguishable from my own reconstructions." (Sasson, JM, 1984, Thoughts of Zimri-Lim. Biblical Archaeologist, 47, p.110.
Early 2nd millennium BCE Mari (Syria), Amorite palace H 1.75 m; W. 2.50 m A. Parrot excavations, 1935-36 The Investiture of Zimri-Lim AO 19826
Found in Mari.Old Babylonian Period. 18th century BCE.
The Investiture of Zimri-Lim is a large colorful mural discovered at the Royal Palace of the ancient city-state of Mari in easternSyria. The fresco, which dates back to the 18th century BC, depicts Zimri-Lim, king of Mari, receiving the symbols of rule (a ring and a staff) from the goddess Ishtar (Iselin, Claire. Mural painting. Musée du Louvre.) One of the most distinctive features of the Amorite palace at Mari is its painted decoration. Many rooms and courtyards retain the traces of pictorial decoration, most often in the form of decorative motifs but sometimes in the form of large figurative compositions. Of these very fragile works it has been possible to reconstruct the famous Investiture of Zimri-Lim, showing a scene in which the king does homage to the goddess Ishtar, at the center of a composition representing the Mari palace.The lower register of the middle panel reflects the podium room in which the body of a statue of a goddess similar to the goddess Lama depicted in the mural was discovered. The statue had a vase from which actual water flowed... Plants are shown sprouting from the vase, and fish swimming in the flowing stream...Three mythic animals, a lion, a sphinx and a bull with a human head, are depicted each on a ground line. The animals are symmetrically placed on each side, and are turned towards the central scene in the painting. Flying doves, which symbolize the pacific aspects of Ishtar, counterbalance the lion which symbolizes her aggression.
m1656 Mohenjodro Pectoral. kāṇṭam காண்டம் kāṇṭam, n. < kāṇḍa. 1. Water; sacred water; நீர். துருத்திவா யதுக்கிய குங்குமக் காண் டமும் (கல்லா. 49, 16). <kanda> {N} ``large earthen water ^pot kept and filled at the house''. @1507. #14261.(Munda) Rebus: khāṇḍā ‘metal tools, pots and pans’ (Marathi)
Investiture ceremony; Lama deity dispensing water from a vase, fish in the dispensed water; a winged lion:
Isin-Larsa Period
Statue from palace of Zimrilim
One of a matching set from the throne room
River goddess - holds vase
- ripples of water and fish engraved along her dress
Has a serpent running up the backhttp://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/exam-2/deck/6131959
Dragon spurting. Hunting scene. Mythological figures from a relief on a white limestone ritual basin (17th BCE) from the great Temple D, Acropolis of Ebla, Syria (Middle Bronze Age).National Museum, Aleppo, Syria
Two weights shaped like a lion and a bull. Bronze and lead. From Ugarit (Ras Shamra) Middle Syrian/Late Bronze Age II Cat. 4516 National Museum, Aleppo, Syria.
Sumerian fragment of two relief panels in two registers from Mari.
Hero fighting or holding two bisons (top of the stele). Anzu, the lion-headed eagle with two ibex (bottom). Fragment of a relief panel with two registers Steatite (2645-2460 BCE) from Mari, Syria National Museum, Damascus, Syria. Findspot: Mari.
arye 'lion' Rebus: āra 'brass' eraka 'wing' Rebus: erako 'moltencast copper'.
adar 'zebu' Rebus: aduru = gaṇiyinda tegadu karagade iruva aduru = ore taken from the mine and not subjected to melting in a furnace (Kannada) (Siddhānti Subrahmaṇya śāstri’s new interpretation of the Amarakośa, Bangalore, Vicaradarpana Press, 1872, p. 330) adar ḍangra ‘zebu or humped bull’; rebus: aduru ‘native metal’ (Ka.); ḍhangar ‘blacksmith’ (H.)
tamar, ‘palm tree, date palm’ (Hebrew) Rebus reading would be: tam(b)ra, ‘copper’ (Prakrit)
ayo, hako ‘fish’; ãs = scales of fish (Santali) Rebus: aya ‘metal, iron’ (Gujarati); ayah, ayas = metal (Sanskrit) [Note the fish hieroglyph shown on the overflowing water from the pot on the Palace mural of Zimri-lim].
ayo, hako ‘fish’; ãs = scales of fish (Santali) Rebus: aya ‘metal, iron’ (Gujarati); ayah, ayas = metal (Sanskrit) [Note the fish hieroglyph shown on the overflowing water from the pot on the Palace mural of Zimri-lim].
lo ‘pot to overflow’A person with a vase with overflowing water; sun sign. C. 18th cent. BCE. E. Porada,1971, Remarks on seals found in the Gulf states, Artibus Asiae, 33, 31-7.] kāṇḍa ‘water’. Rebus: लोखंड lokhaṇḍ Iron tools, vessels, or articles in general.
The overflowing water from the vase is a hieroglyph comparable to the pectoral of Mohenjo-daro showing an overflowing pot together with a one-horned young bull and standard device in front.
Hieroglyphs, rebus readings: arye'lion' Rebus: āra 'brass'. ceṭṭai 'wing'; Rebus: seṭṭi 'merchant'.eruvai'eagle' Rebus: eruvai 'copper'. mraṅ m. ‘markhor’ (Dm.) merg f. ‘ibex’ (Wkh)(CDIAL 9885) Tor. miṇḍ‘ram’, miṇḍā́l ‘markhor’ (CDIAL 10310) Rebus: meḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.) mẽṛhet ‘iron’ (Munda.Ho.)
<lo->(B) {V} ``(pot, etc.) to ^overflow''. See <lo-> `to be left over'. @B24310. #20851. Re<lo->(B) {V} ``(pot, etc.) to ^overflow''. See <lo-> `to be left over'. (Munda ) Rebus: loh ‘copper’ (Hindi) The hieroglyph clearly refers to the metal tools, pots and pans of copper. Thus, the two words read together Rebus: lōkhaṇḍa लोखंड Iron tools, vessels, or articles in general (Marathi).
S. Kalyanaraman Sarasvati Research Center
S. Kalyanaraman Sarasvati Research Center