The Cuneiform Texts from the Danish Excavations of Hama in Syria (1931-1938)

In The Cuneiform Texts from the Danish Excavations of Ḥamā in Syria (1931-1938) Troels P. Arbøll offers the first complete publication and examination of 20 unique clay tablets and objects inscribed with cuneiform writing from the Syrian city Ḥamā, known in the Bible and ancient times as Hamath.

Among the most significant finds are the remains of political correspondences and manuscripts with medical prescriptions, magical recitations, and birth omens from the 9th century BCE. The latter group can be classified as ancient scientific texts, and they are interpreted as the remains of a scholarly library. Overall, the texts represent a substantial contribution to the very limited corpus of manuscripts from the Levant dated to the early first millennium BCE. Furthermore, the surprising discovery of ancient scientific cuneiform tablets from this period necessitates a reevaluation of prevailing understandings of the transmission of cuneiform knowledge in the western periphery of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.