The Babylonian narû (kudurrētu) in Late Bronze and Iron Age ; Los narûs (kudurrus) babilónicos del Bronce Final y el Hierro

Abstract

Babylonian narû, traditionally named kudurrētu, were stone monuments with divine representations (generally through its divine emblems) and figurative scenes with anthropomorphic figures, together with an administrative text about a land grant. These narû originated in Kassite Babylon and were being used until Neo-Babylonian Period (ca. 1400-650 a.C.). The majority of them have been discovered in Susa without contextualizing, because the items which have been found in situ tell us that their original placement was Southern Mesopotamia. In this paper, the main aim is to study the narû corpus, currently formed by 178 items, in a interdisciplinar way, that is to say, analyzing the information which their texts, iconography, materiality, archaeological context, etc. give us. This is the reason why the author of this article will try to define the corpus according to their own inscriptions and according to the main previous studies of several scholars on this subject. Then, the circumstances which could cause the rising and the historical and political events which could affect their development will be studied, together with the geographical context which they expand on. Subsequently, the content of their inscripctions and symbology of their iconography will be analyzed in a comparative approach. Finally, the main results of this research will be shown in a conclusions paragraph. ; Los narû babilónicos, conocidos tradicionalmente con el nombre de kudurrētu (en singular kudurru), fueron unos monumentos de piedra que incluían representaciones divinas encarnadas generalmente por sus emblemas y escenas con figuras antropomorfas, junto a un texto administrativo sobre transacciones de tierras. Estos narû vieron la luz con la Dinastía Casita de Babilonia y dejaron de utilizarse en el período Neo-babilónico (ca. 1400-650 a.C.). La gran mayoría de los ejemplares se ha descubierto en Susa en contextos arqueológicos descontextualizados, pero los ejemplares hallados in situ nos hablan de que su dispersión geográfica original hay que situarla en el territorio de la Baja Mesopotamia. Hemos emprendido una investigación orientada a estudiar el corpus de estos monumentos integrado hasta el momento por 178 ejemplares, adoptando una postura interdisciplinar que incluye el análisis de la información que transmiten sus textos, iconografía, materialidad y contexto arqueológico. Por ello, a lo largo del presente artículo se intentará definir el criterio de adscripción de los ejemplares conocidos a dicho corpus según sus propias inscripciones y los estudios previos de otros autores. A continuación, se hablará de las circunstancias que pudieron motivar su aparición y de los eventos histórico-políticos que pudieron influir en su evolución, así como del ámbito geográfico en que estuvieron vigentes. Después, se analizará el contenido de sus inscripciones y la simbología de su iconografía para, aportar, finalmente, un estudio comparativo entre textos y símbolos, quedando todo ello plasmado en un apartado final de conclusiones.Babylonian narû, traditionally named kudurrētu, were stone monuments with divine representations (generally through its divine emblems) and figurative scenes with anthropomorphic figures, together with an administrative text about a land grant. These narû originated in Kassite Babylon and were being used until Neo-Babylonian Period (ca. 1400-650 a.C.). The majority of them have been discovered in Susa without contextualizing, because the items which have been found in situ tell us that their original placement was Southern Mesopotamia. In this paper, the main aim is to study the narû corpus, currently formed by 178 items, in a interdisciplinar way, that is to say, analyzing the information which their texts, iconography, materiality, archaeological context, etc. give us. This is the reason why the author of this article will try to define the corpus according to their own inscriptions and according to the main previous studies of several scholars on this subject. Then, the circumstances which could cause the rising and the historical and political events which could affect their development will be studied, together with the geographical context which they expand on. Subsequently, the content of their inscripctions and symbology of their iconography will be analyzed in a comparative approach. Finally, the main results of this research will be shown in a conclusions paragraph.