The Ikun-pisa Letter Archive from Tell ed-Der

IPLA

By (author) R. de Boer

Book cover: The Ikun-pisa Letter Archive from Tell ed-Der

Extent: 269 pages

Publisher: Peeters Publishers

Subjects: Ancient Near East

Series: PIHANS

Series volume number: 131

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(April 2021)

ISBN: 9789042943155

Price: $98.00

In stock

PDF (Published)

(April 2021)

ISBN: 9789042943162

Price: $98.00

This volume sees the publication of fifty-six early Old Babylonian letters from ca. 1880 BCE. They were found by legendary Iraqi archaeologist Taha Baqir in 1941 at the site of Tell ed-D?r, ancient Sippar-Amnanum, in central Iraq. The letters are written in an early dialect of Akkadian and are part of the archives of an ancient firm. This firm consisted of a number of families engaged in local agriculture, the manufacturing of textiles, crediting, and international trade. As such it was part of the same larger trade networks as those already known from the contemporary Old Assyrian archives found in central Turkey. The firm strived to have good relations with local Amorite rulers, such as Sumu-la-El, the first king of Babylon, and they used their own trading agents to represent them in far-away cities such as Mari. For these reasons, the letters are also an important source for Babylonia’s political and socio-economic history.


This volume sees the publication of fifty-six early Old Babylonian letters from ca. 1880 BCE. They were found by legendary Iraqi archaeologist Taha Baqir in 1941 at the site of Tell ed-Der, ancient Sippar-Amnanum, in central Iraq. The letters are written in an early dialect of Akkadian and are part of the archives of an ancient firm. This firm consisted of a number of families engaged in local agriculture, the manufacturing of textiles, crediting, and international trade. As such it was part of the same larger trade networks as those already known from the contemporary Old Assyrian archives found in central Turkey. The firm strived to have good relations with local Amorite rulers, such as Sumu-la-El, the first king of Babylon, and they used their own trading agents to represent them in far-away cities such as Mari. For these reasons, the letters are also an important source for Babylonia’s political and socio-economic history.

  • By (author) R. de Boer