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The inscriptions of Ashurnasirpal II : a reappraisal of the available editions

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 1989. / Master copies of 5 1/2 inch (Floppy) disks kept separately by library. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Iraqi State Department of Antiquities and the Polish expedition
under the late Janusz Meuszynski and Richard Sobolewski, assisted
later by Samuel Paley (Buffalo), set themselves the goal to locate,
identify and to reconstruct the original arrangement of the reliefs
from the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II. The majority of the
reliefs are scattered all over the world in museums and institutions
from Leningrad to Los Angeles, mainly due to the style of
archaeologists and opportunists from the previous century who removed
these reliefs from the Nimrud Mound. Section A of the dissertation
attempted to complement the achievements of the combined
Iraqi-Polish-American effort through the study of the "Standard"
Inscription which was carved across and in between the reliefs of
Ashurnasirpal.
Subsequently, this somewhat audacious and time-consuming project was
launched to trace the present whereabouts of those reliefs outside
Iraq in a bid to study each text seperately. This was achieved in the
end in that the inscriptions were studied from the original sculptures
or from photos provided by the institutions in whose care the reliefs
are at present. Each exemplar was eventually copied, transliterated
and reproduced in its original room setting of the North-Vest Palace.
In order to reproduce each text as an entity in its own right and in
an accessible way (in direct opposition to previous attempts whereby a
myriad of text-critical data was simply reduced to footnotes),
available computer software initially had to be experimented with before a suitable program could be decided upon.
Eventually T
3
of TOI Software Research was selected on mainly
user-friendly and font-adaptability grounds. The interested scholar is
now in a position to see at a glance how the texts, which were
originally engraved onto sculptured slabs in the close proximity of
one room, vary from one another. The remainder of Ashurnasirpal's
textual corpus was treated in Section B. These inscriptions were
studied and collated on the original monuments in London and New York.
The texts were finally collated, revised and transliterated in a
standardized form from photographs, provided by the institutions in
whose care they are at present.
In order to facilitate the progress of research on the Ashurnasirpal
inscriptions, it was decided to make all the textual material
available in the electronic medium of two 2.1 megabyte floppy disks
(cf. the envelope attached to the back cover). The data is stored in
T
3
volumes (73VOLS). The latest T
3
version (2.3) has a conversion
program for converting T
3
documents to YordPerfect 5.0, making the
material of this research more accessible to non T
3
users.
Thanks to the initiatives of the Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients
Project which provides the critical historian with a much needed
historico-geographical footing, the unique summary of conquests or
so-called standard titulary sections in the royal inscriptions of
Ashurnasirpal were examined in search of a historically verifiable
methodology. These passages were collected not only from the Calah inscriptions, but especially from other provenances like Ashur and
Nineveh on the assumption that a definite correlation exists between
geographic references and the chronological sequences of events in the
Ashurnasirpal II royal inscriptions. These "summary" sections provide
a useful summary in titular form of the king's conquests comprising
essentially geographic material. They emanated stylistically from the
preceding sections on the king's genealogy, titulary, filiation and
theological legitimation. They were in a constant state of editorial
flux impending on the successes of the king's expansionist policies.
The modern historian can now utilize these summaries, or
historico-political titles, not only as a fixed point of departure,
historically speaking, but also as a normative tool to unravel biased
military reports of the king's military activities in both the
annalistic and display type of inscriptions. A new approach on the
historical reconstruction of the reign of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859
B.C.) with its implications for the study of the Old Testament can now
be anticipated. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Irakse Direktoraat van Rultuursake en 'n Poole ekspedisie onder
aanvoering van wyle Janusz Meuszynski en Ryszard Sobolewski, later
bygestaan deur Samuel Paley (Buffalo), het hulle dit ten doel gestel
om al Assurnasirpal II se reliefs, wat sedert die vorige eeu deur
skattejagters en argeoloe van die Nimrud Tel (naby Mosul in die noorde
van Irak) verwyder is en na museums en instellings van Leningrad tot
in Los Angeles versprei is, op te spoor. Met behulp van hoof saaklik
die ikonografie-is die reliefs se oorspronklike plekke in die beroemde
Noordwes-Paleis vasgestel en grafies gerekonstrueer. Afdeling A van
hierdie dissertasie poog om hierdie projek aan te vul deur al die
II
"Standaard" Inskripsies wat bo-oor en tussen die reliefs aangebring
was, te bestudeer.
11
Yervolgens is die moeisame proses aangepak om hierdie reliefs in
museums oor die hele wereld op te spoor, die inskripsies direk of
vanaf foto's te kollasioneer, te kopieer, te translitereer en in hul
oorspronklike vertrekskonteks weer te gee. Die formaat waarin die
transliterasies van die inskripsies uiteindelik weergegee moes word,
is uiteindelik deur middel van TCI Software Research se T
3
bemeester.
Die formaat waarin die tekste weergegee is in hierdie dissertasie,
vergemaklik die bestudering van individuele tekste sowel as die
vergelyking van die teksvariante in die groter paleiskonteks, deurdat
die tekste gegroepeer is ooreenkomstig die oorspronklike posisies van
die reliefs teen die mure van die onderskeie vertrekke van die paleis. In Afdeling B is die oorblywende tekskorpus van Assurnasirpal
behandel. Die inskripsies is op die oorspronklike monumente, stelas en
tablette in hoof saaklik Londen en New York bestudeer, gekollasioneer
en die transliterasies is hersien en gestandaardiseer. Dit bring
vervolgens mee dat die tekskorpus van Assurnasirpal II in die
elektronies-toeganklike formaat van T
S
-volumes beskikbaar is vir
Assirioloe, wat met behulp van die rekenaartegnologie navorsing op die
Assurnasirpal tekste wil doen. Die nuwe 2.3 weergawe van
7
3 beskik oor
die moontlikheid om
3
-volumes en -leers om te skakel in YordPerfect
5.0 dokumente, wat dus_inligtingsherwinning, data-onttrekking en ander
dergelike funksies van die rekenaartegnologie op spykerskriftekste
verder vergemaklik. Al die teksmateriaal is vir die doel op twee 2.1
megagreep slapskywe gestoor in 73-volumes en is beskikbaar in die
koevert, wat aan die agterblad van die dissertasie vasgeheg is.
Ten slotte is 'n nuwe metodologie, gebore uit die inisiatiewe van en
blootstelling aan die Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients Projek, op
die proef gestel. Kortliks berus hierdie benadering op die aanname dat
daar 'n histories-verifieerbare korrelasie tussen geografiese gegewens
en kronologiese ordening in die Assiriese Koningsgeskrifte bestaan.
Die betrokke gedeelte in die koningsgeskrifte, waarin 'n opsomming van
die koning se verowerde gebiede (en dus geografiese data) stilisties
voortvloei uit die voorafgaande genealogie, titulatuur en teologiese
legitimasie, is vervolgens versamel en gegroepeer uit tekste wat
Assur, Nineve en Nimrud insluit. Hierdie opsommende titulatuur is op
'n gereelde basis deur die amptelike Assiriese skrywers geredigeer
ooreenkomstig die welslae van die koning se buitelandse beleid van ekspansionisme. Vervolgens kan die moderne historikus hierdie beknopte
historiese gegewens in die opsommende titulatiqr, gesuiwer van tipiese
Assiriese propaganda, as 'n vaste normatiewe basis aanwend om die
breedvoerige annalistiese beskrywings van die koning se veldtogte
krities te bestudeer. 'n Betroubare rekonstruksie van die regeringstyd
van Assurnasirpal II (883-859 v.C.) en die implikasies wat dit vir die
flu Testament inhou, kan vervolgens in die vooruitsig gestel word.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/67129
Date03 1900
CreatorsConradie, Andries Frederik, 1953-
ContributorsOlivier, J. P. J., Claassen, W. T., Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.
PublisherStellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
Languageen_ZA
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format2 volumes : illustrations
RightsStellenbosch University

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