Fwd: [Indo-Eurasia] Important new book on Hurrians and Mittani

[Guest guest]

Forwarded conversation[indo-Eurasia] Important new book on Hurrians and Mittani------------------------

Bjarte Kaldhol <bjarkalFri, Apr 4, 2008 at 5:28 AMIndo-Eurasian_research

 

 

 

 

 

Dear List,

 

A ground-breaking book about the Hurrian society in Alalah

has just appeared in the SCCNH series: Eva von Dassow,

STATE AND SOCIETY IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE ALALAH UNDER THE

MITTANI EMPIRE (SCCNH 17, CDL Press, 2008). She has much to

say about the hoary theory of the supposed Indo-Aryan

" aristocracy " that continues to be recycled in survey

textbooks (p. 79). As some list members may remember, a few

years ago I wrote very critically about the French

historian Jacques Freu's HISTOIRE DE MITANNI (2003), and

some of you may have thought that I was too sarcastic then.

Now, Eva von Dassow writes about a whole page (more than

forty lines) in a footnote about his book (p. 80):

" Incredibly, the entire theory packaging the image of the

maryanni class as an aristocracy of chariot warriors

together with the idea that a transformative Indo-Aryan

invasion accounts for both the rise of Mittani and the

transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age has just

lately been revived in a " history " of Mittani by Freu

(2003). " Later she continues: " Disregarding the evidence

and arguments developed by Mayrhofer and others in the

ongoing debate about the nature of the Indo-Aryan presence

in the mid-second-millennium BCE Near East, Freu

simplistically adopts the assumption that an Indo-Aryan

people did exist, and invaded the Near East, together with

the general theory of which this proposition is an

instance, namely the outdated (for good reason) concept of

ethnic movements as an engine of historical change, without

either arguing for these ideas or even recognizing that

they might require argument... " Commenting on Freu's phrase

about Indo-Aryan " sang neuf " , she concludes: " And with that

quotation, we leave Freu's work behind, noting with dismay

the survival in twenty-first-century scolarship of the

racial essentialism manifest in the idea that people are to

be defined according to their 'blood'. "

 

By the way, one of those scholars who still appear to

believe in the myth of Aryan supremacy in Mittani is

Parpola!

 

If I can find time next week, I will sum up what von Dassow

has to say about Indo-Aryan(s), Mittani, and Alalah on the

basis of her very extensive research.

 

All the best,

 

Bjarte Kaldhol

 

 

 

 

----------Steve Farmer <safFri, Apr 4, 2008 at 6:08 AMIndo-Eurasian_research

Cc: Steve Farmer <saf

 

 

 

 

Dear Bjarte,

 

Whatever the truth, so far as I can see, your post simply pits the views of

one writer you agree with (Eva von Dassow) against the opinion of another

researcher (Jacques Freu) you disagree with. But how does that settle

anything without citing any evidence? We try for that reason to discourage

simple " wars of authorities " on the List.

 

Also, do you agree with the view apparently taken here that " ethnic

movement " is never " an engine of historical change " ? I can think of

dozens of counter-examples that suggest otherwise, starting with

the obvious example of the movement of Europeans into the Americas.

 

I don't have any strong opinions on the Mittani issue, but I can't see that

the fact that Eva von Dassow doesn't like Jacque Freu's views by itself

is a useful argument unless the evidence is discussed.

 

Best,

Steve

> ---

>

>

[Guest guest]

From Bjarte:

 

 

 

Eva von Dassow's book treats the 15th

century, not the 14th century. Most of the tablets are from the last

two or three decades before 1400. From the 14th century, we have

only the names of the Indian deities in the Suppiluliuma-$attiwazza

treaties from c. 1325 plus about twelve putative Indo-Aryan names in

the nearly 400 Amarna letters, as well as a few names and

appellatives from other sources, mainly the Nuzi archives. The

Alalah sources are much more informative than anything else; I don't

understand why you want to disregard them. Because they give us the

names and social classification of thousands of people, they

represent the best window through which to study the Mittani empire

and the marijannena, and they are very rich in background

information that can help us understand the functioning of Mittani.

The onomastic material contains many new names that may be of

interest also to Indologists (to mention but one: Zandara, probably

= Candrah). These tablets are virtually the only good sources we

have that can throw any light on the Indo-Aryan influence! If you

read the book, and all of it, not only the " juicy " parts, you will

realize that.

 

For example, the author has found information in the Alalah VII

archive from the 17th century about horses, charioteers and

weaponry, and concludes that " the use of chariotry in war did not

wait for the arrival of Indo-Aryans, nor for the establishment of

Mittani " (p. 83). This is important as a background for the

interpretation of appellatives that may or may not be Indo-Aryan. If

the Indo-Aryans arrived late, their influence on the Hurrian

horse-and-chariot language was probably minimal, and this

realization will help us to avoid etymologies like " aradijanne " from

IA " rathya " - an impossible etymology, since the word is written

with (voiced or lenited) -d- and not with -tt- (compare -ratta with

-tt-). In this case, I believe a West Semitic interpretation is more

likely, since we know that " servant " was " aradu " in this dialect, so

aradijanne would probably be a " service wagon " rather than a

chariot. If we know nothing about the social and historical

background and just speculate as linguists, we may end up in many

kinds of traps. Those who are interested in putative Indo-Aryan

appellatives at Alalah, will find some information on pp. 308-309.

Words like " upparanne " and " a$uwaninne " could have an Indo-Aryan or

perhaps Anatolian origin.

 

As for Anatolia and a possible Anatolian (Hittite and/or Luvian)

influence on Hurrian horse-language, an unexpectedly early source

(not quoted by von Dassow) may throw some light on the word

" a$$u$anne " , which I believe is a slightly Luvianized Hurrian word

from the Kikkuli text (dated to about 1400 BC). This source tells

about horses sent by king Aplahandas of Kar-Kami$ ( " Carchemish " ) to

king Zimri-lim of Mari early in the 18th century. I quote from W.

Heimpel's LETTERS TO THE KING OF MARI, Eisenbrauns, 2003, p. 406:

 

" Further, I spoke (to Aplahanda) about white horses, and he (said),

'There are no white chariot-horses available. I shall write, and

where white horses are available, they will bring them along. And

for now I shall have red Harsamnean horses conducted to him

(Zimri-lim).' This he said to me. Now the red horses ... "

 

Harsamna was located in an area with mixed Anatolian and Hurrian

population, and the real Hurrian heartland may well have been in

" upper " Mesopotamia, between the two rivers in what is today Turkey,

since we know the names of some early Hurrian kings in this area.