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Nuzi

Coordinates: 35°22′11.9″N 44°15′17.7″E / 35.369972°N 44.254917°E / 35.369972; 44.254917
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Nuzi
Yorghan Tepe
Nuzi is located in Iraq
Nuzi
Shown within Iraq
LocationKirkuk Governorate, Iraq
RegionMesopotamia
Coordinates35°22′11.9″N 44°15′17.7″E / 35.369972°N 44.254917°E / 35.369972; 44.254917
Typetell
Site notes
Excavation dates1925-1931
ArchaeologistsEdward Chiera, Robert Pfeiffer, Richard Starr

Nuzi (Hurrian Nuzi/Nuzu; Akkadian Gasur} at modern Yorghan Tepe (earlier Yorgan Tepa), Iraq was an ancient Mesopotamian city 12 kilometers southwest of the city of Arrapha (modern Kirkuk) and 70 kilometers southwest of Sātu Qala, located near the Tigris river. The site consists of one medium-sized multiperiod tell and two small single period mounds.[clarification needed]

History

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The site has about 15 occupational layers with 12 major strata several of which have subdivisions. The majority of excavation work at the site was on the Late Bronze Age levels with only some soundings to the older strata. Traces of Parthian era occupation were found on the surface.[1]

Late Chalcolithic

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Pottery shards were found from the Halaf/Ubaid periods. In the Uruk period levels mudbrick construction occurred and finds included spouted vessels, bevel-rimmed bowls, a small copper animal figurine and a cache of drilled marble stamp and cylinder seals. [2][3]

Early Bronze

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Akkadian Period

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During the Akkadian Empire (c. 2334-2154 BC), the city was probably known as Gasur. There is some debate about whether the city name was Ga-surki or Ga-sagki.[4][5][6] It was a provincial seat of a governor known from a clay sealing reading: "Itbe-labba, govern[or] of Gasur" found at Tell Brak in modern Syria.[7] 222 Akkadian Empire period (c. 2334–2154 BC) cuneiform tablets were found at the site. They are primarily dated to the time of rulers Naram-Sin and Shar-kali-sharri and written in Old Akkadian. A school tablet mentioned Tuṭṭanabšum, daughter of Naram-Sin.[8][9][10]

Sketch of the Nuzi map

The most famous item found at this level is the Nuzi map, the oldest known map discovered. Although the majority of the tablet is preserved, it is unknown exactly what the Nuzi map shows. The Nuzi map is actually one of the so-called Gasur texts, and predates destruction by fire of the city at this end of the Early Bronze Age.[4] Gasur was a thriving commercial center, and the texts reveal a diverse business community with far-reaching commercial activities. It is possible that Ebla was a trading partner, and that the tablet, rather than a record of land-holdings, might indeed be a road map.[11] The tablet, which is approximately 6 centimeters by 6.5 centimeters, is inscribed only on the obverse. It shows the city of Maskan-dur-ebla in the lower left corner, as well as a canal/river and two mountain ranges.[11] The area below the Rahium river is labeled "20(bur) – 1(eše) of irrigated gardens, belonging to Azala".[12]

The site was occupied to a lesser extent in the Ur III, Isin-Larsa, and Old Babylonian periods following a sack of the city. The relevant deposits were thick but without architectural remains. A few cuneiform tablets from this era were found.[2]

Late Bronze

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Mitanni Period

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In the middle of the second millennium the Hurrians gained control of the town and renamed it Nuzi. The history of the site during the intervening period is unclear, though the presence of a few cuneiform tablets from Assyria indicates that trade with nearby Assur was taking place.

After the fall of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni Nuzi went into gradual decline. Note that while the Hurrian period is well known from full excavation of those strata, the earlier history is not as reliable because of less substantive digging.[13] The history of Nuzi is closely interrelated with that of the nearby towns of Eshnunna and Khafajah.

Nuzi, a provincial town in the 14th century BC

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Tablet from Nuzi: legal dispute over land.

The best-known period in the history of Yorghan Tepe is by far one of the city of Nuzi in the 15th-14th centuries BC. At this time the central complex contained two temples (to Šawuška/Ištar and Teššub) and a palace.[14] The tablets of this period indicate that Nuzi was a small provincial town of northern Mesopotamia at this time in an area populated mostly by Hurrians. Despite the presence of two temples most votive activity at Nuzi in this period is that of household religions with elements of ancestor worship where the eldest son inherits the family cult statue.[15] Usually the tablets of Yorghan Tepe, Kirkuk, and Tell al-Faḫḫar are grouped together under banner of Nuzi tablets.[16] Only 0.18% of tablets contained a date formula of any kind, generally local. They can, however be chronologically ordered by internal clues such as the names of officials and prosopographical data.[17][18]

Administration

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Nuzi was a provincial town of Arrapha. It was administered by a governor (šaknu) from the palace. The tripartite palace, situated in the center of the mound, had many rooms arranged around a central courtyard. The functions of some of those rooms have been identified: reception areas, apartments, offices, kitchens, stores. The walls were painted, as was seen in fragments unearthed in the ruins of the building.[19]

Archives that have been exhumed tell us about the royal family, as well as the organization of the internal administration of the palace and its dependencies, and the payments various workers received. Junior officers of the royal administration had such titles as sukkallu (often translated as "vizier", the second governor), "district manager" (halṣuhlu), and "mayor" (hazannu). Justice was rendered by these officers, but also by judges (dayānu) installed in the districts.

Free subjects of the state were liable to a conscription, the Ilku, which consisted of a requirement to perform various types of military and civilian services, such as working the land.

Archaeology

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Mesopotamia - 2nd millennium BC

The site has a roughly square 200 meter by 200 meter main mound which was protected by a city wall. Only a small portion of the wall was excavated but gates are apparent by deep wadis in the northeast, southwest, and southeast. The cities main road, well drained, ran from the northeast gate to the southwest gate, separating the central temples and palace. A secondary road led from the southeast gate to join the main road. A number of private homes were excavated 200 meters north of the main mound. Originally thought to be extramural it is now believed, partly on textual evidence, that there was an outer town with its own wall, now destroyed by modern agriculture.[20]

The excavators defined a number of occupation strata. The Nuzi occupation lasted several centuries and its chronology is slightly disputed. The excavators dated Stratum II, the destruction of the city, at c. 1500 BC. Later work has proposed a more recent date of c. 1430-1330 BC.[2][21][22] The stratigraphy is complicated because the excavators defined these main strata, "pavements", from a few deep soundings while specifying levels A through G for the temple and a different strata I—VIII for the northwest ridge and the southeast edge of the mound. The only correlation given was Temple A equals sounding Stratum I and "edge" Stratum II.[3]

  • Stratum I - Nuzi Post-Destruction level
  • Stratum II - Nuzi Destruction level
  • Stratum III - IV - Nuzi
  • Stratum V - VII - Gasur/Nuzi transition, Lagash II to Old Babylonian
  • Stratum VIII - IX - Gasur, Akkadian Empire, c. 2334–2154 BC
  • Stratum X - XII - Prehistoric
Large pottery jar, Nuzi, Yorghan Tepe, Iraq, Stratum IV, mid 2nd millennium BC - Harvard Semitic Museum

While tablets from Yorghan Tepe began appearing back as far as 1896, the first serious archaeological efforts began in 1925 after Gertrude Bell noticed tablets appearing in the markets of Baghdad.[23] The dig was mainly worked by Edward Chiera, Robert Pfeiffer, and Richard Starr under the auspices of the Iraq Museum and the Baghdad School of the American Schools of Oriental Research and later the Harvard University and Fogg Art Museum.[24][2][25][26][27] [28][29][30][31] Excavations continued through 1931 with the site showing 15 occupation levels. The hundreds of tablets and other finds recovered were published in a series of volumes[32][33] with ongoing publications.[34]

House-shaped offering stand, Yorghan Tepe, ancient Nuzi, Iraq, Stratum II, ceramic - Harvard Semitic Museum

To date, around 5,000 tablets are known, mostly held at the Oriental Institute, the Harvard Semitic Museum and the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. Those from Gasur are written in the Akkadian language while though from Nuzi are in a Hurrian influenced dialect of Akkadian.[35][36] Many are routine legal and business documents with about one quarter concerning the business transactions of a single family.[37] The vast majority of finds come from the Hurrian period during the second millennium BC with the remainder dating back to the town's founding during the Akkadian Empire. A discovered sealing read "Saustatar, son of Parsatatar, king of Mitani", being the first, Baratarna, and second, Shaushtatar, rulers of the Mitanni Empire.[38][39] An archive contemporary with the Hurrian archive at Nuzi has been excavated from the "Green Palace" at the site of Tell al-Fakhar, 35 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of Nuzi.[40]

The temple area had seven occupation levels, Temple G (Gasur), Temple F (Gasur/Nuzi transition), and Temples A-E (Nuzi). Temple G was a single shrine which in Temple F was transformed into a double shrine.[20] Temple A was contemporary with the Stratum II destruction level. All were of the "bent-axis" type.[2] In the temple area a number of bronze objects were found, including a statue carved in the round, 9 sickles, 2 sun-discs, 2 crescents, 6 pins, 1 bell, 2 bracelets, and hundreds of small beads. One sickle was inscribed with "An. Ud. Za." and the sun-discs were 12 centimeters in diameter with "a circular depression(about 4 cm. across) surrounded by a circle of raised dots; around this center is a six-pointed star".[1]

Nuzi ware

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In 1948, archaeologist Max Mallowan called attention to the unusual pottery he found at Nuzi, associated with the Mitanni period. This became known as the Nuzi ware. Subsequently, this highly artistic pottery was identified all over in the Upper Mesopotamia.[41]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Pfeiffer, Robert H., "The Excavations at Nuzi: Preliminary Report of the Fourth Campaign", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 42, pp. 1–7, 1931
  2. ^ a b c d e [1] Richard F. S. Starr, "Nuzi: report on the excavation at Yorgan Tepa near Kirkuk, Iraq, conducted by Harvard university in conjunction with the American Schools of Oriental Research and the University museum of Philadelphia, 1927-1931", v. 1: text, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1939
  3. ^ a b "NU", Band 9 Nab - Nuzi, edited by A. Bramanti, J. Fechner, M. Greiner, S. Heigl, N. Morello, Erich Ebeling, Bruno Meissner and Michael P. Streck, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 606-647, 2001
  4. ^ a b Meek, Theophile James, "Some Gleanings from the Last Excavations at Nuzi", The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 13, pp. 1–12, 1931
  5. ^ Foster, B.R., "Administration of State Land at Sargonic Gasur", OrAn 21, pp. 39-48, 1982
  6. ^ B. R. Foster, "Land and Produce at Sargonic Gasur", in (ed.) D. L Owen/M. Morri-son, SCCNH 2, pp. 89-107, 1987
  7. ^ Lewy, Julius, "Notes on Pre-Ḫurrian Texts from Nuzi", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 450–61, 1938
  8. ^ Kraus, Nicholas Larry, "Tuṭṭanabšum: Princess, Priestess, Goddess", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 85-99, 2020
  9. ^ Kraus, N. L., "When the King Came Down to Sumer: The Royal Sojourn of Sar-kali-sarrē and the Court of Akkad", Iraq 81, pp. 207-220, 2019
  10. ^ Visicato, Giuseppe, "The Journey of the Sargonic Kings to Assur and Gasur", in Historiography in the Cuneiform World, edited by Tzvi Abusch, Paul-Alain Beaulieu, John Huehnergard, Peter Machinist and Piotr Steinkeller, Proceedings of the XLVe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, pp. 467–472. Bethesda: CDL Pres, 2001
  11. ^ a b Freedman, Nadezhda (1977). "The Nuzi Ebla". The Biblical Archaeologist. 40 (1): 32–33. doi:10.2307/3209575. ISSN 0006-0895. JSTOR 3209575. S2CID 186746259.
  12. ^ Robson, Eleanor, "The Later Third Millennium", Mathematics in Ancient Iraq: A Social History, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 54-84, 2009
  13. ^ Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie 9. 9 (in German). Berlin: De Gruyter. 2001. ISBN 978-3-11-017296-6. OCLC 614578502.
  14. ^ [2]Simona Bracci, "Classification of Knowledge, an Archaeological Approach: The Case of Nuz", in Proceedings of the 51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Held at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, July 18–22, 2005 Robert D. Biggs, Jennie Myers, and Martha T. Roth, eds., Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 62, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, pp. 371-381, 2008 ISBN 978-1-885923-54-7
  15. ^ van der Toorn, Karel, "Gods and Ancestors in Emar and Nuzi", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie , vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 38-59, 1994
  16. ^ Scafa, Paola Negri, "Continuity and Discontinuity in a Nuzi Scribal Family", Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique International at Rome, 4-8 July 2011, edited by Alfonso Archi, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 345-354, 2015
  17. ^ [3]Paola Negri Scafa, "The Scribes of Nuzi: Date Formulae and Their Use in the Nuzi Corpus", in Proceedings of the 51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Held at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, July 18–22, 2005 Robert D. Biggs, Jennie Myers, and Martha T. Roth, eds., Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 62, Chicago: The Oriental Institute,, pp. 119-126, 2008 ISBN 978-1-885923-54-7
  18. ^ Scafa, P. Negri, "“Internal” and “External” Evidence for a Reconstruction of Nuzi Chronology", Time and History in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 56th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Barcelona, July 26th-30th, 2010, edited by Lluis Feliu, J. Llop, A. Millet Albà and Joaquin Sanmartín, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 253-264, 2013
  19. ^ Kertai, David, "Organising the Interaction Between People: a New Look at the Elite Houses of Nuzi", Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Würzburg 20–25 Jul, edited by Gernot Wilhelm, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 519-530, 2012
  20. ^ a b [4]Novák, Mirko, "The Architecture of Nuzi and its Significance in the Architectural History of Mesopotamia", in David I. Owen, Gernot Wilhelm (Hg.), Nuzi at Seventy-five (Studies in the history and culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians 10), Bethesda, Md, pp. 123-140, 1999
  21. ^ Stein, Diana L., "A Reappraisal of the ' Saustatar Letter' from Nuzi", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 79.2, pp. 36-60, 1989
  22. ^ Friedman, A.H., "Toward a Relative Chronology at Nuzi", SCCNH 2, 109–129, 1987
  23. ^ [5]Justel, Josué J., "Where is thy Home, Zike s. Šurki-Tilla? On the Original Distribution of the Findings of Nuzi Texts before 1925", Aula Orientalis 38/2, pp. 263-302, 2019
  24. ^ Lyon, David G. (1928-04-01). "The Joint Expedition of Harvard University and the Baghdad School at Yargon Tepa near Kirkuk". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 30 (30): 1–6. doi:10.2307/1354846. ISSN 0003-097X. JSTOR 1354846. S2CID 163178475.
  25. ^ [6]Richard F. S. Starr, "Nuzi: Report on the Excavation at Yorgan Tepa near Kirkuk, Iraq, Conducted by Harvard University in Conjunction with the American Schools of Oriental Research and the University museum of Philadelphia 1927-1931, Volume 2: Plates and Plans", Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1937
  26. ^ [7] Edward Chiera, "Excavations at Nuzi: Vol. I. Texts of varied content, selected and copied", Harvard University Press, 1929
  27. ^ [8]Robert H. Pfeiffer, "Excavations at Nuzi: Volume II, The Archives of Shilwateshub Son of the King", Harvard University Press, 1932
  28. ^ [9]T.J. Meek, "Excavations at Nuzi III: Old Akkadian, Sumerian, and Cappadocian Texts from Nuzi", Harvard University Press, 1935
  29. ^ [10]Robert H. Pfeiffer and Ernest R. Lacheman, "Excavations at Nuzi: Volume IV Miscellaneous Texts From Nuzi Part I", Harvard University Press, 1942
  30. ^ E.R. Lacheman, "Excavations at Nuzi V: Miscellaneous Texts from Nuzi, Part 2: The Palace and Temple Archives", Harvard University Press, 1950
  31. ^ E.R. Lacheman, "Excavations at Nuzi VI: The Administrative Archives", Harvard University Press, 1955
  32. ^ [11]E.R. Lacheman, "Excavations at Nuzi VII: Economic and Social Documents", Harvard University Press, 1958
  33. ^ [12]Ernest R. Lacheman," Excavations at Nuzi Volume VIII: Family Law Documents", Harvard University Press, 1962
  34. ^ Maidman, M. P. (2003). Joint expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi VIII : the remaining major texts in the Oriental Institute of the U. of Chicago. David I. Owen, Gernot Wilhelm, Matḥaf al-ʻIrāqī., University of Chicago. Oriental Institute. Bethesda, MD: CDL Press. ISBN 1-883053-80-3. OCLC 51898595.
  35. ^ [13]Berkooz, Moshé, "The Nuzi dialect of Akkadian: orthography and phonology", Language 13.1, pp. 5-64, 1937
  36. ^ Markina, E., "Observations on Gasur Akkadian", in Akkade is King. A collection of papers by friends and colleagues presented to Aage Westenholz on the occasion of his 70th birthday 15th of May 2009, hrsg. v. Gojko Barjamovic (Uitgaven van het Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten te Leiden 118), pp. 201-216, 2011
  37. ^ Maidman, Maynard Paul (1976). "The Teḫip-tilla Family of Nuzi: A Genealogical Reconstruction". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 28 (3): 127–155. doi:10.2307/1359758. ISSN 0022-0256. JSTOR 1359758. S2CID 163837436.
  38. ^ Maidman, M., "Appendix: Royal Inscriptions from Nuzi", Assyrian Rulers of the Third and Second Millenia BC (To 1115 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 331-336, 1987
  39. ^ Stein, Diana L., "A Reappraisal of the "Saustatar Letter" from Nuzi", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 36-60, 1989
  40. ^ al-Khalesi, Y.M. (1970). "Tell al-Fakhar. Report on the First Season's Excavations". Sumer. 26: 109–126. ISSN 0081-9271.
  41. ^ [14]Abdullah Bakr Othman, "The Distribution of the Nuzi ware in Northern Iraq and Syria", Polytechnic Journal, vol.8 no. 2, pp: 347-371, May 2018

Further reading

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  • [15]Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 1 : Inheritance Texts", 1927
  • [16]Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 2 : Declarations in court", 1930
  • [17]Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 3 : Exchange and security documents", 1931
  • Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 4 : Proceedings in court", 1934
  • Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 5 : Mixed Texts", 1934
  • Chiera, Edward, "Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi. Vol 6 : Miscellaneous texts", 1939
  • G. R. Driver and J. Miles, "Ordeal by Oath at Nuzi, Iraq", vol. 7, pp. 132, 1940
  • [18] Ignace J. Gelb et al., "Nuzi Personal Names", Oriental Institute Publications 57, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1943
  • Ernest R. Lacheman and Maynard P. Maidman,"Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 3 – Joint Expedition with the Iraq Museum at Nuzi VII – Miscellaneous Texts", 1989, ISBN 978-0-931464-45-4
  • Ernest R. Lacheman et al., "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 4 – The Eastern Archives of Nuzi and Excavations at Nuzi 9/2", Eisenbrauns, 1993, ISBN 0-931464-64-1
  • Brigitte Lion and Diana L. Stein, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 11 – The Pula-Hali Family Archives", CDL Press, 2001, ISBN 1-883053-56-0
  • Löhnert, Anne, "Aspects of Royal Authority and Local Competence: A Perspective from Nuzi", Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique International at Rome, 4-8 July 2011, edited by Alfonso Archi, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 335-344, 2015
  • Maidman, M. P., "Two Hundred Nuzi Texts from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Part I", SCCNH 6, Bethesda: CDL Press, 1994
  • Maynard P. Maidman, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 6 – Two Hundred Nuzi Texts from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago", CDL Press, 1994, ISBN 978-1-883053-05-5
  • Martha A. Morrison and David I. Owen, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 1 – In Honor of Ernest R. Lacheman on His Seventy-fifth Birthday, April 29, 1981", 1981, ISBN 978-0-931464-08-9
  • David I. Owen and Ernest R. Lacheman, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 5 – General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 9/3", Eisenbrauns, 1995, ISBN 0-931464-67-6
  • David I. Owen and Martha A. Morrison, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 2 – General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 9/1", 1987, ISBN 978-0-931464-37-9
  • David I. Owen and Gernot Wilhelm, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 7 – Edith Porada Memorial Volume", CDL Press, 1995, ISBN 1-883053-07-2
  • David I. Owen and Gernot Wilhelm, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 8 – Richard F.S. Starr Memorial Volume", CDL Press, 1997, ISBN 1-883053-10-2
  • David I. Owen and Gernot Wilhelm, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 9 – General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi", CDL Press, 1998, ISBN 1-883053-26-9
  • David I. Owen and Gernot Wilhelm, "Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians: Volume 10 – Nuzi at seventy-five", Bethesda, Md. : CDL Press, 1999, ISBN 9781883053505
  • J. Paradise, "A Daughter and Her Father's Property at Nuzi", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 32, pp. 189–207, 1980
  • Porada, Edith, "Seal Impressions of Nuzi", The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 24, pp. 1–138, 1944
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