engleski

Scribes in the Early Dynastic Period: an Analyses of Personal Names

This paper shows how the analyses of the names of scribes (dub-sar) can contribute to the understanding of status of that class in the Early Dynastic (ED) Sumerian community. We analyzed the names of scribes so we could compare them with other preserved names from the same period and see whether there are any patterns in the name-giving, and, if there are, what we can learn from it. The sources mainly come from the ED IIIa Shuruppak and Abu Salabikh, and ED IIIb Girsu. From Shuruppak on 756 tablets we can identify approximately 1800 names. So far 110 scribal names are identified, and among them the most popular were ones with lugal and amar. In Abu Salabikh 124 scribes were mentioned on 574 tablets, and the most common Sumerian names are those with a and ur. In the ED IIIb period the most relevant is a material from the city-state Lagash (around 1500 names), and the majority of scribal names is mentioned in the archive of Girsu (80 names on 1648 tablets). Among them the most popular are those with lugal and en, followed by e2-names. Those results show that the scribes in Shuruppak mainly belonged to the old, traditional families, proud about their heritage, while in Abu Salabikh there was a notable uniformity of Sumerian onomastikon. In the following ED IIIb society, distinct popularity of certain types of names indicate that the families of scribes were very close or even members of the highest classes of society.

Early Dynastic IIIa and b Periods; dub-sar; Shuruppak; Abu Salabikh; Girsu/Lagash; social status

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