Thorkild Jacobsen
1970 Towards

Marco De Pietri – December 2021

Thorkild Jacobsen

Jacobsen 1970 Towards
Towards the Image of Tammuz,
Harvard Semitic Studies 21,
Cambridge: Harvard University Press
(ed. by William L. Moran)

Foreword of Jacobsen 1970 Towards (by Moran)

Forward
(pp. v-vi)

Academic profile^{Note 1}
     “The writings of Thorkild Jacobsen, which span a period of more than forty years, have ranged over a broad field of inquiry. They are the work of an archaeologist, a linguist, a textual and literary critic, an historian of religious thought as well as of social, legal, and political institutions. As the translator of Sumerian poetry he has also been much more than the learned philologist, as is evident from the astonishment of the critic David Grene in finding poetry of such skill and sensitivity in so very ancient times. The contribution of this extensive and many-sided scholarship to our understanding of ancient Mesopotamian civilization has been distinguished and often fundamental.

Mesopotamian early phases
     Yet the work of any scholar, however versatile, usually reveals areas of major interest and the underlying unity of his research. For Jacobsen it will be noted that he has concentrated largely on the earlier phases of Mesopotamian civilization. The explanation of this emphasis is perhaps his dominant concern with the basic forms of the culture, the matrix of geographical conditions, institutions, and conceptual patterns which, though subject to modification in the course of historical development, shaped the beginnings of this culture and continued to define it as Mesopotamian. Thus, characteristically, in religion he studies "formative tendencies" and "central concerns," the relation between pantheon and regional economy, the primary analogies in which religious experience articulated itself and the fundamental values which were sought and found expression in a cult. Similarly, he investigates the "early political development" in which kingship and its specifically Mesopotamian ideology gradually emerged, or introducing new methods he traces the irrigation system, which fixed the lines of human settlement, and the conneqion of the shifts of this system with the ever - recurring problem of soil salinization and of the latter with the fall of dynasty and empire. In this respect, therefore, Jacobsen's work appears as a sustained effort of synthesis and definition of the essential structures and conditions that gave Mesopotamian culture its specific character and determined so much of its history.

Mesopotamian thought
     What he believes this task of synthesis involves is seen from a further concern - and this is most characteristic - with the problem of whether it is really possible to understand Mesopotamian thought, especially its mythological literature, which is its most typical form of expression. By understanding he means an intellectual and emotional response that is faithful to the original and approaches that of the ancients themselves. Such appreciation demands first that the past be understood in its own terms and categories. Here alone the difficulties are formidable, and no one is more aware of them than Jacobsen; he could not stress more emphatically how remote and alien the Mesopotamian world is to our own, nor reject more vigorously facile comparisons that would make the Sumerians appear to be pretty much like ourselves. But he also sees that to achieve this inner resonance with the past much more is required than exact and painstaking philology, however basic it may be. Ultimately, he argues, it demands that one renounce his own world and, in complete sympathy, enter another [cf. Buccellati, G. 2006 on the -emic approach]. He is accordingly openly diffident of the chances of success, including his own, but if anyone has succeeded, he has, and most notably in his essay "Toward the Image of Tammuz." In many ways this is the most characteristic of Jacobsen's writings, and it seemed therefore the most appropriate title for this volume.
     The essays in this volume attempt to be representative of all aspects of Jacobsen's work, but they stress his studies in history and religion, many of which are not easily accessible. It is in these studies that he has made his most important contribution to our knowledge of Mesopotamian culture and the origins of our Western civilization”.

Contents of Jacobsen 1970 Towards

Contents

1. Formative Tendencies in Sumerian Religion (1)
2. Mesopotamian Gods and Pantheons (16)
3. Ancient Mesopotamian Religion: The Central Concerns (39)
4. The Investiture and Anointing of Adapa in Heaven (48)
5. The Myth of Inanna and Bilulu (52)
6. Toward the Image of Tammuz (73)
7. Sumerian Mythology: A Review Article (104)
8. Early Political Development in Mesopotamia (132)
9. Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesopotamia (157)
10. The Reign of Ibbi-Suen (173)
11. The Assumed Conflict Between the Sumerians and Semites in Early Mesopotamian History (187)
12. An Ancient Mesopotamian Trial for Homicide (193)
13. On the Textile Industry at Ur under Ibbi-Sin (216)
14. The Waters of Ur (231)
15. About the Sumerian Verb (245)
16. Ittallak niāti (271)
17. The Akkadian Ablative Accusative (293)

Abbreviations (313)
Notes (319)
Bibliography of Jacobsen's Writings (471)
Lexical Index to Jacobsen's Writings (475)
General Index (489)

Poems translated by Jacobsen
The Kishkanu of White Magic (xii)
Deadly Diseases (47)
The Bride Sings (72)
The Wild Bull, Who Has Lain Down (102)
Love Song to King Shu-Suen (171)
Bucolic (215)
Girl under the Moon (244)

Excerpts from Jacobsen 1970 Towards

Primitive democracy

Topic	Page(s)	Excerpt
Primitive Democracy	pp. 132, 137-139	*Desirability of Inquiry* “In the outgoing third millennium B.C. the Dynasty of Akkade built the world's first empire. It stretched from the mountains of present-day Iran in the East across the fertile plains oflraq and Syria to the shore of the Mediterranean in the West; and the Akkade rulers were able to maintain it over a period of some three generations, from the founder, Sargon, to Naram-Sîn. This achievement, crude and primitive though it may have been, is one of the great landmarks in universal history, for in man's everlasting struggle to enlarge the political unit, on the long road from tribe to village, town, and city; from city-state to nation, empire, and attempts such as the United Nations of our day, the step to empire marks for better or worse the beginning of a major phase in the development of human political forms. [...] *Sources* Our sources for the earliest political forms in Mesopotamia are the ancient myths, stories told about the gods and their exploits. These stories – as even a cursory inspection will show – are all laid in a society governed by a characteristic, simple political pattern, the one we have elsewhere termed "Primitive Democracy." The political pattern of the myths, "Primitive Democracy," differs from a comparable pattern found in the stories about human or semi-human heroes, the epics and epical tales, by its greater primitivity, and it stands apart altogether from anything we know of the political organization of the country in historical times. Since it is difficult to conceive that the original myth-makers could have depicted as setting for their stories a society quite outside their experience and unrelated to anything they or their listeners knew, and since furthermore the myths of a people usually constitute the oldest layer of its tradition, one must assume that a political setting such as occurs in these tales once existed in Mesopotamia and was later replaced by more developed political forms. Primitive Democracy In the political pattern depicted in the myths ultimate authority, sovereignty, resides in a general assembly of the citizens (unkin). Proceedings in this assembly are directed by a leader – in the myths usually the god of heaven, An – and its verdicts, approved by the assenting votes (heam "let it be!") of the individual members, were made law (nam-tar-a)^{Note 2} through being formally announced by a small group of seven known as "the seven law-making gods" (dingir-nam-tar-a(k) imin-anene). Particular weight in the discussions carried, as might be expected, the opinions of the older, experienced members, the "seniors." In the divine assembly they numbered fifty (dingir-gal-gal(-ak) ninnu-(a)nene). The assembly and its role in community crises The assembly was called when a crisis threatened the community and it served two major purposes: it pooled all available experience and inventiveness, and it served as an instrument of achieving agreement for concerted action. There are some indications that an oath to abide by the decisions was imposed on the members beforehand. The crisis which might occasion the calling of an assembly were many, but certain typical ones stand out. In cases of serious offenses by individuals the assembly acted as a court of law, imposing punishment of death or banishment on the culprit. In cases of internal administrative crises – need for organization of large communal undertaking or for checking banditry and lawlessness – the problem before the assembly was that of choosing a suitable organizer, a "lord" (en) and persuading him to serve. The "lord" was chosen for proven administrative abilities (he would normally be the head of a large estate) and charismatic powers, magical ability to make things thrive, was the core of his office. A similar problem of finding a suitable leader confronted the assembly in crises brought on by the threat of attack from outside, but here the qualities looked for were slightly different. The king as war leader The war leader or "king" (lugal) was chosen for skill in warfare and physical endurance. He was therefore typically a young man – usually he still lived at home under parental authority – and of noble family; his father was generally a rich landowner on whose servants and retainers the son could draw for followers on his military ventures. Main features of the primitive democracy Viewed as a whole the most characteristic element of the primitive democracy pattern is probably its provisional and ad hoc character. It is called upon to function in emergencies only and the assembly called is determined not only as to time but also often as to size by the special emergency and the geographical extent of the threat it represents. The assembly deals only with the specific crisis for which it was called and correspondingly the officers which it may appoint, the "lord" and the "king," are appointed for a limited term only, a bala, essentially the duration of the emergency with which they are to cope. When that emergency had passed we must assume that the larger unit temporarily imposed on the community vanished with it and left the ordering of society to the numerous minor overlapping power structures which crisscross any society: family, household, estate, village, town, and so forth. Many of these minor power structures were in the early Mesopotamian society themselves organized along primitive democratic lines with a general assembly as highest authority: family council etc.”.

Notes

Note 1: The headings in bolded italics (besides some of those in section “Primitive Democracy”) have been added by the author of the present page. _{Back to text}
Note 2: on the concept of “namtar”, cf. Mes-Rel, under lemma “fate”. _{Back to text}

Mesopotamian Politics

Excerpts

Thorkild Jacobsen1970 Towards