Article

Incoming Mail, Outgoing Mail and Copies of Letters in the Ur-Utu Archive

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Abstract

Old Babylonian archives are believed to contain passive correspondence only. But obviously outgoing letters cannot be distinguished from incoming letters unless their archival and archaeological contexts are known. In the Ur-Utu archive it soon became clear that several letters had been sent by the archive's owner, rather than to him. But what is the status of these letters? Are they originals that somehow ended up in his own archive, copies, duplicates or drafts? By studying their appearance, it became clear that one group of rectangular letters could be identified as copies. They can be recognised by the absence of ruling, and the omission of an address and greeting section. The other group consists of letters that are not different from incoming letters in any respect. In terms of their contents, it is obvious that letters from the first group are connected to very specific (legal) contexts. As for the letters of the second group, they are a variegated lot, and their presence should be explained case per case. A final question that is raised is why Ur-Utu chose to file letters and their copies in his newly installed archive room.

How to Cite:

Janssen, C., (2017) “Incoming Mail, Outgoing Mail and Copies of Letters in the Ur-Utu Archive”, Akkadica 138(1), 1–35. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/akkadica.99649

Rights: © The author