PATTERNS OF MOBILITY AMONG ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CRAFTSMEN* CARLO ZA CCA GNINI, University of Bologna THE emergence and spread of specialized crafts in the ancient Near East are strictly bound to the organization of the temple and palace economic structure and are a direct consequence of the process of surplus accumulation. Metallurgy, masonry, stonecutting, wood carving, writing, etc., appeared or were given a thoroughly new dimension, both in terms of quality and the number of items produced, as soon as a class of specialized craftsmen existed who worked full time in the temple or palace ateliers. 1. The general pattern gleaned from textual evidence is that there were a number of people who used their specialized skills within the realm of the palace (/temple) bureaucracy; they were dependants of the administration, which provided them with food, clothing, dwellings, raw materials, and professional tools. The juridical status enjoyed by these artisans, as a rule, was that of free status, and they occupied lifetime posts in the administration. The use of slaves in specialized crafts seldom occurred; one noticeable exception was represented by weavers, who, since the third millennium B.C., were mainly male and female slaves. However, particularly during the course of the first millennium B.C., we learn of a certain number of slaves-although very few with respect to the overall number of employed workers-who were also active in specialized crafts. The pattern which I have just roughly sketched lasted down to the late first millennium B.C., that is, until the Hellenization of the Near Eastern world. 2. My main concern here is to focus upon a specific, yet relevant, aspect of the organization of specialized craftsmen. I shall deal with the topic of the spatial mobility of qualified artisans. The subject is indeed vast, and the evidence provided by our *This article, with minor additions and correc-tions, is the paper I read at the symposium "Rela-tions between the Near East, Mediterranean, and Europe, Third-First Millennium B.C." held in Aarhus (Denmark) in August 1980. The subject is part of a study conducted by a research program which I direct at the Istituto di Storia Antica of the [JNES 42 no. 4 (1983)] ? 1983 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0022-2968/ 83/ 4204-0001 $1.00. 245 University of Bologna, and which is supported fi-nancially by the Italian Ministry of Education, called "Primary Production and Specialized Techniques in Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations." Criticism and useful suggestions were offered by Professors R. McC. Adams (Chicago), M. T. Larsen (Copen-hagen), M. Liverani (Rome), and M. Rowlands (London) during the discussions which took place in Aarhus. Professor C. Grottanelli (Rome) read the manuscript and discussed several topics at length with me. I wish to thank all these scholars. Some aspects of the social role of the artisan in classical antiquity have been recently focused on in a series of articles published in Ktema 3 (1978): 35- 131 and 4 (1979): 3-119.

is abundant; it would thus be unreasonable to try to take into account all pertinent data. Instead, I will attempt to single out some of the most relevant features of the movements of specialized manpower from the standpoint of the functional link that binds the craftsmen to the palace economic structure. I would like to make it clear that I use the terms "craftsmen," "artisans," and the like, to designate those specialists who perform activities other than those strictly connected with primary production or those activities based upon rudimentary technological know-how, such as that of the self-sustaining domestic economies of the villages of the pre-classical Near East. Also included in this category of specialized workers are the activities of scribes, physicians, diviners, etc., with emphasis on the professional qualification of these people, all of whom work full time, performing a specifically designated job. The use of an adequate heuristic model is an essential requirement in order to avoid getting lost in the masses of extant textual data and, furthermore, in order to attempt a suitable historical evaluation of these data. In the course of the present inquiry, I shall make use of a model basically deriving from the theoretical issues of the "substan-tivistic" school of economic anthropology. Although much criticism may be raised in connection with this approach, which was originally elaborated by K. Polanyi,' and subsequently adapted by scholars such as P. Bohannan,2 G. Dalton,3 and M. D. Sahlins,4 this approach, nevertheless, seems to me to provide a useful research tool for the specific purposes of this study. Some adaptations of the substantivistic model will be required, due to the peculiarities of Near Eastern socio-economic background, especially in connection with its development during the first millennium B.C. It is my belief, however, that at least the dynamics of the movements of craftsmen can be sufficiently explained by resorting to this historiographic model. In this regard, I should point out that the substantivistic approach represented a significant component of the theoretical issue~ of my 1973 study on gift exchange in the Near East of the Late Bronze Age.5 The present inquiry is to a certain extent linked to that previous work. Although I am now more inclined to stress the inner limits of the substantivistic model, I am still in favor of taking into account all necessary adaptations and modifi-cations of the model itself in order to gain a suitable tool for the historical evaluation of some sets of ancient Near Eastern records. I K. Polanyi, The Great Transformation (New York and Toronto, 1944); idem, "The Economy as Instituted Process" in K. Polanyi, C. M. Arensberg, and H. W. Pearson, Trade and Market in the Early Empires: Economies in History and Theory (Glencoe, Illinois, 1957), pp. 243-70; Polanyi, "Anthropology and Economic Theory" in M. H. Fried, ed., Read-ings in Anthropology, vol. 2 (New York, 1959), pp. 161-84. 2 P. Bohannan, Social Anthropology (New York, 1963); cf. his Tiv Economy (London, 1968). 3 G. Dalton, Economic Anthropology and Devel-opment: Essays on Tribal and Peasant Economies (New York and London, 1971); cf. the reading edited by Dalton in Tribal and Peasant Economies: Readings in Economic Anthropology (Garden City, New York, 1967). 4 M. D. Sahlins, "Exchange-Value and the Di-plomacy of Primitive Trade" in Proceedings of the 1965 Annual Spring Meeting of the American Eth-nological Society (Seattle, 1965), pp. 95-129; idem, "On the Sociology of Primitive Exchange" in M. Banton, ed., The Relevance of Models for Social Anthropology (London, 1965), pp. 139-236. 5 See my Lo scambio dei doni nel Vicino Oriente durante i secoli XV-XII (Rome, 1973); see also my Patterns of Gift-Exchange in the Old Babylonian Period (in press); cf. M. Liverani, "Elementi 'irra-zionali' nel commercio amarniano," Oriens Antiquus 11 (1972): 297-317; idem, "Dono, tributo, commer-cio: ideologia dello scambio nella tarda eth del bronzo," Annali dell'Istituto Italiano di Numismatica 26 (1979): 9-28. 246

MOBILITY AMONG ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CRAFTSMEN

In what follows I will single out and discuss three main patterns of mobility which will be defined as "redistributive," "reciprocative," and "commercial": the textual evidence which I have chosen to illustrate these patterns is provided by the Mari archives, by the international correspondence exchanged between the monarchs of the Late Bronze Age, and by other texts of various kinds and provenance dating from the first millennium B.C. 3.1. The first mobility pattern can be defined as "redistributive." The presuppositions for it are to be sought in the structural peculiarities of centralized and at the same time spatially articulated palace economic structures. The case is illustrated well by the Middle Bronze Age archives of the city of Mari.6 The artisan (mdr ummenim) was a palace dependant. In spite of the fact that the formal term wardum, i.e., "slave," "dependant," "subordinate employee," etc., either in warad ekallim, "palace dependant" or in warad belim, "dependant of the lord," is sporadically used,7 there is no doubt as to the permanent link which ties the artisan to the palace bureaucracy. In this connection, interesting pieces of evidence are provided by documents dealing with flights of craftsmen (this designation includes scribes, physicians, musicians, barbers, cooks, etc.). Sometimes we are informed of searches which were organized in order to find the runaways;8 at other times these people were caught,9 and we are told of how they were bound, chained, and carefully watched during their journey back to the place from which they had fled.'1 Regular moves of skilled workers were carefully organized: guards were charged to keep watch en route," and the workers were even chained to prevent their escape.'2 In spite of these precautions, the incidence of runaway artisans was by no means negligible. Furthermore, we note that the procurement of specialized craftsmen to be added to the palace personnel was carefully attended to;13 and the central administration took great care in updating its census lists, where specialized workers were included.'4 3.2. The professional activities of specialized craftsmen did not take place exclusively in the city of Mari but, to a certain extent, included the other provinces under the administration of the "palaces of the bank of the Euphrates." On the other hand, it seems that marginal areas, like the border provinces, pattum,'5 had to be provided with certain specialists such as physicians and diviners, since, when none were avail-able, urgent requests for more were sent to the capital city.16 In most cases, however, these requests sent to provincial centers of the kingdom of Mari arose from particular and urgent needs. This phenomenon is well attested in the case of physicians. For 6 See J. M. Sasson, "Instances of Mobility among 10 ARM 1 28: 29-43; ARM 2 4. Mari Artisans," BASOR 190 (1968): 46-54. 11 ARM 1 14: 13-18. 7 See, for example, ARM 5 54: 12; cf. 5: plowman 12 ARM 18 25: 20-23. (ikkarum); ARM 2 22: 24: diviner (bdarum); ARM 6 13A RM 5 32. 21: 6-8: a barber (ina mare gallabi) and another 14 See especially the letters ARM 14 61 and 62, person; ARM 14 47: 19-20: two people, described where gardeners, merchants, and scribes are listed; as warad ekallim, in a list of 13 carpenters (nagarum); the final clause in both texts is "let my lord add the others are described differently (cf. ARM 14, them to the files" (ana tuppatim liriddiguniit). pp. 226-27). 15 See F. Pintore, "Pat(t)um nelle lettere di Mari," 8 ARM 2 103. Oriens Antiquus 8 (1969): 265-79. 9 ARM 4 63. 16 ARM 13 147: 27-33; ARM 2 15: 1-29. 247

example, once Samgi-Adad was urgently requested to dispatch a physician because a person was seriously ill and about to die;17 on another occasion a physician was called for in order to treat someone who had an abscess above his ear-two other physicians had not been able to heal the patient.'8 Another text tells us of an official who requested both a mason and physician, since a wall was about to collapse, and there was no one to repair it.'9 Still another time, a large portion of a wall of Sagaratum collapsed, and no mason was to be found throughout the entire district; the following request was sent: a former artisan previously active there had been totally unable to do his work and by this time had already died; thus an expert house-builder was urgently requested.20 A scribe was needed to carry out a census and measure fields.21 In connection with the high waters of the Habur, an expert in sluices and dams was also needed;22 a fat choice ox was ill and refused to eat; an official was to send it by boat to the king and a cook was requested, in case the animal needed to be slaughtered on the way.23 3.3. At the time of the Assyrian domination, in particular, dispatches and transfers of specialists seem to be connected with particular local requirements. This case is illus-trated, for example, by two letters of IBme-Dagan, who resided in Ekallatum, to his brother Yasmah-Adad, residing at Mari. In one letter a chariot-maker is requested, together with a number of Mari chariots, which were reported to be of better quality than those of Ekallatum.24 In the other, the same Igme-Dagan sends a physician to check some medications and asks his brother to send him at once.25 3.4. An important factor regarding the transfer of specialized craftsmen is certainly represented by a somewhat persistent lack of qualified manpower in the peripheral centers of the Mari kingdom and occasionally also in the city of Mari itself. In spite of the fact that war booty sometimes contributed to the acquisition of specialized workers,26 it is apparent that there were insufficient numbers of artisans in general. The evidence provided by letters clearly shows the lack and/or absence of workers who were needed for particular tasks and the difficulties met by the administration in having them sent from other centers of the kingdom.27 This fact also holds true for less specialized personnel (e.g., plowmen).28 Of course, by no means should this phenomenon be considered an exclusive feature of the Mari palace economy. On the contrary, such a situation was more or less shared by all ancient Near Eastern economic organizations. The evidence provided by the Mari texts however, makes the overall framework absolutely clear-the major concern faced by the administration was that of supplying new artisans to replace those sent (or requested to be sent) to other places.29 17 ARM 1I 115. 26 ARM 13 21: rev. 1'-12'; cf. ARM 10 125. 18 ARM 14 3. 27 ARM 13 16: 11-15 (coppersmith); ARM 13 44 19 ARM 2 127: 1-13. (leather worker): ARM 13 139: rev. 4'-20' (reed 20 ARM 2 101: 8-31. workers); ARM 13 142: 37-42 (wine mixers). 21 ARM I 7: 32-45. 28 ARM 1 44 and 68; ARM 5 54. 22 ARM 14 15 and 16. 29 ARM I 44 and 99; ARM 4 79; see also C. F. 23 ARM 14 5 and 6. Jean, "Lettres de Mari IV: transcrites et traduites," 24 ARM 4 79. RA 42 (1948): 62-64, n. 8: 9'-20'. 25 ARM 4 65. 248

MOBILITY AMONG ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CRAFTSMEN 3.5. A complementary aspect of this lack of specialized manpower can be seen in the vital concern expressed by the bureaucracy that palace personnel always be employed full time, not wasting their time and/or professional qualifications in other less spe-cialized activities. Note, for example, the case of a house-builder who was reported to be idle in Mari and was therefore requested to be sent to Subat-Enlil, where a house was to be built.30 In another case, wool and other materials were requested from Mari so that an artisan might not remain idle;31 in still another example the king sent a few artisans to Mari and added: "Give them strict orders so that they will not be lazy in their work!"32 On the other hand, the way in which some specialized workers were sometimes used seems far from rational. Perhaps the best example is provided by a letter from an official in which we learn of carpenters used for harvesting: the king raises strong objections, and the official apparently argues that these craftsmen were idle-and hence their use in tasks requiring unskilled labor.33 This episode possibly finds a parallel in another letter where 226 pluckers, consisting of several groups of people, are listed, among whom are even masons and chariot-builders(?).34 3.6. Thus, the Mari archives provide significant evidence about the function of a Middle Bronze Age palace economy. The dynamics according to which specialized personnel were assigned to peripheral units, either for long periods or simply for the fulfillment of specific tasks, after which they would be sent back to their original working places, is illustrated in detail. On a general level, the mobility pattern of craftsmen leaving from and returning to the capital city is noteworthy. In principle, the logic of these moves was aimed at the maximization of the exploitation of the craftsmen's professional capabilities, although significant deviations from admini-strative rationale sometimes occurred. At any rate, the various branches of specialized crafts were under strict control of the state bureaucracy. For the artisan, the only chance of operating outside this structure-or, better, of escaping from operating within it-seems to have been either running away or hiding and trying to avoid being caught again by the palace guards, a difficult task but presumably not always an unsuccessful one. 4.1. A second mobility pattern which is particularly evident in the periods of stability of the great political formations can be defined as "reciprocative." I need not point out the theoretical implications attached to the concept of "reciprocity" in the sociological and anthropological literature, starting from the epoch-making Essai sur le don by M. Mauss.35 I have already mentioned the use of this methodological approach in the field of ancient Near Eastern studies.36 The operation of the reciprocative pattern by no means excludes the presence of the redistributive scheme.37 On the contrary, they 30 ARM 2 2. 35 M. Mauss, "Essai sur le don," L'Annee socio- 31 ARM 18 30. logique, 2d ser. 1 (1923-24): 30-186, republished in 32 ARM 18 17: 1-15; see also G. Dossin in "Cor- Mauss, Sociologie et anthropologie (Paris, 1950), munications" section, "Haragu(m) 'etre muet'," RA pp. 143-279. 62 (1968): 75 (A 4210): 5-8. 36 See n. 5 above. 33 ARM 13 40: 1-14. 37 For the various problems connected with the con- 34 ARM 13 30: cf. ARM 13, p. 163. temporary use of the reciprocative and redistribu- 249

coexist and have their factual presupposition in the same, or closely related, socio-economic background, i.e., the strict attachment of the craftsmen to the palace. The logic of redistributive movements is-or ought to be-inspired by purely administrative criteria; the exchanges of qualified manpower between different palace organizations are patterned according to the "rules" of gift-exchanges. My analysis of reciprocative mobility is based on Late Bronze Age documentation, which offers the most pertinent and interesting evidence. 4.2. Here too, the craftsmen are tightly bound to the palace organization. Adminis-trative documents from Late Bronze Age archives explicitly qualify specialized per-sonnel such as palace officials/dependants and/or refer to their activity in the palace ateliers.38 There seems to be hardly any space left for autonomous activities outside the palace. In this regard, interesting evidence is provided by some of the international treaties from this period. Clauses concerning extradition of fugitives are very frequent: the most pertinent examples are provided by two treaties between the king of Hatti, Murgili II, and two vassal states. The formulation of one clause is revealing: a runaway from Hatti, who was a refugee in the vassal state, had to be returned to the king of Hatti; conversely, a refugee to Hatti would not be returned to the vassal state ("to give back from the Hatti land a runaway is not right") unless he was a plowman, weaver, carpenter, leatherworker, or craftsman of any kind. In the latter case, the king of Hatti was to return him to the vassal state.39 4.3. The sending of specialized workers is well attested in the framework of the diplo-matic relations between the "great" kings and, to a certain extent, between the "great" and "small" kings of the Late Bronze Age. The skilled workers who were sent from one court to another were viewed as prestige goods, and their transfers are inserted into the dynamics and formal apparatus of the practice of gift-exchange. In what follows, I will point out the most relevant features emerging from the available documentation. The most recurrent dispatches of specialized personnel were those of physicians and conjurers: they were sent from Egypt and Babylonia, and the country of destination was in most cases the land of Hatti.40 Egypt - Hatti: 1. one physician requested and one physician and one conjurer promised: 652/f+. 2. one physician requested; two physicians (or one physician and one conjurer?) sent: NBC 3934. 3. one physician sent: 401/c. tive models, see my Lo scambio dei doni, pp. 125- article "The Merchant at Nuzi," Iraq 39 (1977): 173, 34 and Liverani, "Dono, tributo, commercio: ideo- etc. logia dello scambio nella tarda eta del bronzo." 39 J. Friedrich, Staatsvertrage des Hatti-Reiches 38 For example, for Ugarit, see Liverani, "Ras in hethitischer Sprache, vol. 1 (Leipzig, 1926), Shamra, histoire" in Supplement au Dictionnaire de pp. 140-41: 41-45; cf. pp. 58-59: 35-40. la Bible (Paris, 1979), cols. 1319, 1339-40; for 40 See E. Edel, Agyptische Artze und dgyptische Alalakh, see AT 227; for Nuzi, HSS 14 593: see my Medizin am hethitischen Konigshof(Opladen, 1976). 250

MOBILITY AMONG ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CRAFTSMEN Egypt - Hatti - King of Tarbuntag: 4. one physician sent; two physicians who were previously sent are requested to return to Egypt: KUB 3 67; KUB 3 66. Egypt - Cyprus: 5. one haruspex requested: EA 35: 26. Egypt - Ugarit: 6. one physician requested: EA 49: 22-26. Babylonia -Hatti: 7. one physician sent: KBo 1 10+ rev. 34-41. 8. one physician and one conjurer previously sent: KBo 1 10+ rev. 42-48. 9. one conjurer sent: KUB 3 71. 10. one sculptor previously sent and one sculptor requested: KBo 1 10+ rev. 58-61.41 There is no need to point out the consistency of these data. Egypt and Babylonia provide their foreign partners and, above all, the king of Hatti, with physicians and conjurers. The fame of Egyptian and Babylonian specialists was well known through-out the Near East, and consequently these transfers are perfectly justified from a "com-mercial" point of view.42 The mechanisms according to which these specialists were sent from one court to another conform totally to the general framework of ceremonial exchanges, the procedures of which were set by well established etiquette and rules which do not always and necessarily correspond to "commercial" patterns but, in fact, significantly deviate from them. 4.4. Those involved in the dispatch of specialists were the "great" kings (i.e., the kings of Egypt, Babylonia, Hatti, and Cyprus). In two instances the corresponding partners were of different rank. For example, in EA 49, the king of Ugarit requested his overlord, the Pharaoh, to let him have two black servants and a physician; his request was accompanied by gifts. One should note the coupling of dark-skinned Africans and a physician; in spite of the tales about the illness of the king of Ugarit, which were stated in order to offer a reason for his request for a doctor, the three people who were requested from the Pharaoh are in fact placed on the same level: exotic curiosities to be shown at court among the king's entourage. KUB 3 67 and the parallel letter KUB 3 66 illustrate a complex transaction in which two "great" kings (Ramses II and HattuSili III) and a "small" king (Kurunta, king of TarhuntaS, vassal of the king of Hatti) were involved. There were no direct relations between Kurunta and Ramses, but the handling of the affair was carried out by HattuNili, since a vassal of the king of Hatti would not have been allowed to act independently in foreign matters. 4.5. I have stated above that the movements of specialists were patterned after the models and rules of gift-exchange. Both physicians and diviners were considered luxury 41 A philological elaboration of texts 1-4 and 7-9 42 See ibid., pp. 38-41 and my article "Le tecniche can be found in Edel's Agyptische Artze. e le scienze" in S. Moscati, ed., L alba della civilta, vol. 2 (Turin, 1976), pp. 387-98. 251

JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES goods, whose appreciation was not exclusively based on their "value of use" but primarily on their "exchange value": in a way, they were on a level which is not very different from that of the foreign princesses who were part of marriage exchanges. The case of the king of Ugarit, mentioned above, is highly illuminating. To have an Egyptian or a Babylonian doctor must have certainly been of exotic interest and a curiosity-with their foreign languages, clothing, professional tools, and practices-and, consequently, a matter of prestige for the rulers who had them at their courts. In this connection, it might be interesting to note that the movement of specialists was practically always in one direction. We have no knowledge of the opposite, i.e., specialists from Hatti going either to Egypt or to Babylonia; the only exception I have noted is KUB 3 67 obv. 3'-4', where the Pharaoh requests the king of Hatti to send some Anatolian masons (?) to Egypt. However, this does not necessarily imply that exchanges were of an unequal nature, as was the case in marriage exchanges, where foreign princesses were sent to Egypt, but Egyptian princesses were not sent abroad.43 The function of specialized craftsmen, within the framework of gift-exchanges, can be included in the category of prestige goods, which were temporarily lent to another king, but which had to be returned to their owners. This essential point will be discussed below. 4.6. Like women, and to a certain extent precious goods, skilled and specialized workers had to be requested, since they were not the customary items of gift dis-patches. Sometimes the requests had to be repeated before the desired person was sent: "Look: you wrote me once, twice, three times, in order that I might send a physician to you, and now I have sent a physician to you."44 At times the reply was negative, possibly veiled by semi-plausible arguments, as in the case of Ramses, replying to Hattugili's request for a physician who was needed to prepare certain medications for his sister in order that she might bear a child. Ramses argued that the woman was 50 or 60 years old and that it was no job for a physician to help her bear a child. Should the gods have given a favorable utterance, he would have immediately sent a conjurer and a physician who would have prepared medications for the lady.45 The mechanism according to which gifts were sent in connection with requests for dispatches of specialists is also worth noting. In general, it can be observed that gifts were sent when a specialist was requested, such as in the case of the king of Ugarit (EA 49), or also when a specialist was refused, as in the letter of Ramses quoted above (652/f+). The case of KUB 3 67 and 66 is more complicated: two Egyptian doctors were already practicing abroad, treating the king of Tarbuntag. Then Hattugili re-quested another physician and sent presents to Ramses; at this point, the parties reached an agreement about Hittite housebuilders (?) who were to be sent to Egypt to work for Ramses. Eventually the Pharaoh sent the physician, asked that the two earlier ones be returned to Egypt immediately and reminded Hattugili to send the housebuilders (?) to him. 43 See EA 4: 6-7 and also my Lo scambio dei also A. Schulman, "Diplomatic Marriage in the doni, pp. 14-32; contra Pintore, II matrimonio inter- Egyptian New Kingdom," JNES 38 (1979): 177-93. dinastico nel Vicino Oriente durante i secoli XV- 44 NBC 3934: rev. 7w-8w. XIII(Rome, 1978), esp. pp. 51-67, about which see 45 652/f+: Edel, Agyptische Artze, pp. 67-75; for my remarks in Bullettino dell'Istituto di Diritto the rendering "50 or 60 years," see Liverani's review Romano "Vittorio Scialoja" 82 (1980): 203-21. See of Edel in RSO 51 (1977): 285-86. 252

MOBILITY AMONG ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CRAFTSMEN In another example, only a symbolic gift (500 shekels of copper) was sent by the king of Cyprus, who asked for a conjurer and for several other items (an ox, two jars of oil, the payment for a shipment of timber, and for great quantities of silver). But the mood and style of this letter (EA 35) is peculiar: the king of Cyprus is highly dis-satisfied with the Pharaoh's behavior, and the tone is one of mercantile bargaining. Summing up, one can say that gifts and artisans are on the same level: specialists are considered particular gifts and are requested, refused, and dispatched like gifts. In addition to their actual professional function, they are an important means for main-taining peaceful international relations between foreign courts. 4.7. Indeed, another relevant issue pertaining to the dispatch of Egyptian and Baby-lonian physicians and conjurers concerns the duration of their sojourn abroad. I have already mentioned that the customary rules implied that the specialists be moved to the place where they were requested to perform professional tasks, after the comple-tion of which the host was required to send the person back to his own country promptly. In more than one case, deep concern was expressed that the specialist(s) should not be detained abroad but sent back as soon as possible. This aspect of the arrangement deserves attention, since we have particularly interesting textual evidence of this fact. The first case is that of the physician sent from Ramses to heal the king of TarhuntaS (KUB 3 67 and 66): the Pharaoh agrees with HattuSili's request but makes it clear that he wants two of his own physicians to be returned to Egypt immediately. A somewhat more serious case is illustrated in KBo 1 10+, which refers to Babylonian craftsmen being detained at the court of Hatti. It seems that HattuSili had a bad conscience in this regard. In asking for the dispatch of a sculptor, he is very careful to justify his request and states: "I wish to make some statues to put in my family house."46 Note that identical justifications are commonly put forth by other "great" kings in their requests for raw materials (e.g., gold) in the Amarna correspondence.47 Secondly, HattuSili very cautiously states that he will send back-the artisan as soon as the work is completed: As soon as he finishes the statues 1 shall send him back to him (i.e., the king of Babylon). Did I not send back the sculptor who formerly came here, and did he not go back to KadaSman- Turgu,a nd did I not give him (back)?T herefore, do not refusea sculptort o me!48 Such justification looks rather suspicious, especially in the light of a preceding passage in the same letter where the king of Hatti discusses at length the topic of a Babylonian physician who had been sent to Hatti and died there and the further mention of a conjurer and physician who had also been sent to. Hatti in the time of Muwatalli.49 All in all, it appears that these foreign specialists were indeed detained abroad and that it was very difficult for them to return home. HattuSili was rather clever in his attempt to distinguish between his behavior and that of his brother Muwatalli: 46 KBo 1 10+ rev. 58. For the problems connected 47 See my Lo scambio dei doni, pp. 67-69. with possible foreign influence on Hittite sculpture, 48 KBo 1 10+ rev. 59-61. see J. V. Canby, "The Sculptors of the Hittite 49 KBo 1 10+ rev. 34-48. Capital," Oriens Antiquus 15 (1976): 33-42. 253

JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES When, in the time of my brother Muwatalli, they received a conjurer and a physician (from Babylon) and detained them, I was the one who spoke to him saying: "Why are you detaining them?I t is not customaryt o detain [a conjurera nd a physician]!"A nd now should I detain a physician?!50 The second point which is worth noting concerns the description of how these foreign people had been treated at the court of Hatti. As for the earlier physician who fell ill and died, HattuSili repeatedly stresses how he took care of him and continues by mentioning the presents he had given him: they have been written on a tablet which was then being carried to Babylon in order that KadaSman-Enlil might check the correctness of HattuSili's statement (N.B., the tablet, not the presents!): a chariot, a wagon, horses, silver, and utensils (or: linen).5' As for the other two specialists, he states: "possibly the conjurer is dead," but the physician is still alive. Here a highly interesting passage follows: The lady whom he has taken (as wife) was of my own family, and he has a nice house (here). [Should he say:]" I want to go back to my country!,"h e may leave and go back [to his country. And] should [I] have detained the great physician of Marduk (or: the physician Raba-Sa- Marduk)?!52 It would thus seem that Babylonian experts were, in fact, detained at the court of Hatti, although efforts seem to have been made to make their stay as comfortable as possible: gifts, including real-estate properties, and even arrangements of kinship ties were presented in an attempt to tie these foreign specialists to their new place of work: hence the sharp contrasts with their previous masters, who demanded that the artisans be returned to their original countries. 4.8. The general pattern of the arrangement described above finds significant parallels in contemporary and later written evidence. A quick glance at the most interesting documents seems warranted. First, there is a letter of TuSratta to Amenophis III: in it, the king of Mitanni consents to send a statue of IStar of Niniveh to Egypt. We must assume that the old Pharaoh,53 presumably ill, requested TuSratta to send him this statue as the ultimate remedy for his illness. It does not make a great deal of difference that in this case a statue and not a person was being dispatched abroad to heal someone's illness. In fact, TuSratta's words fit perfectly those which would have been used if a physician had been sent, the major emphasis being placed on the need for sending the statue back to Mitanni: Thus (says) IStar of Niniveh, the Lady of all lands: "To Egypt, the country which I love, I will go, andfrom there I will come back." And now 1 sent her and she is gone. Behold, at the time of my father, the Lady went to that land, and in the same way she was honored when she formerly sojourned (there), so may my brother honor her and may he send her back with joy, and may 50 KBo 1 10+ rev. 42-44. 53 At the end of the tablet, a hieratic notation 51 Line 39: u-de4-e (or: kit-te-e). specifies that the letter was received in Egypt during 52 Lines 45-48; for line 46, I follow Edel's inter- the 4th winter month of the 35th regnal year of pretation, Agyptische Artze, pp. 121-22. Amenophis III, i.e., one year before his death. 254

MOBILITYA MONGA NCIENTN EAR EASTERNC RAFTSMEN she come back. May IStar, Lady of heaven, protect my brother and myself. May our Lady grant both of us 100,000 years and a great joy. And may we be well. IStar is a goddess of mine; she is not a goddess of my brother.54 The second parallel piece of evidence is provided by the Bentre? stela, a Ptolemaic text referring back to the time and person of Ramses II.55 The main elements to be drawn from this late piece of "historical" narrative are the following: the request for an Egyptian specialist in order to heal a sick princess; the sending of gifts for strengthen-ing the request; the dispatch of a learned royal scribe-presumably a conjurer;56 the dispatch of a statue of the god Khonsu, subsequent to the failure of the conjurer's handling of the princess' illness; the retaining of the statue by the father of the princess (for three years and nine months); and eventually, the sending back of the statue to Egypt. All the relevant elements pertaining to Late Bronze Age texts which I have been dealing with are thus attested to in the BentreS story. The last two pieces of evidence I will cite are provided by two passages in Herodotus. In the first we read of Cyrus asking Amasis for the best eye doctor in Egypt: the Pharaoh "had chosen this man out of all the Egyptian physicians and sent him perforce to Persia, away from his wife and children."57 The second passage narrates the story of Democedes.58 Out of this long narrative, I wish to dwell only on certain specific elements. King Darius had badly injured his leg and immediately called in the first physicians of Egypt whom he had thus far kept near him, but they did not succeed in healing him. After this, someone reminded the king of the presence of Democedes, the famous physician of Croton, who was being held as a slave along with other slaves taken as booty from Oroetes of Sardis.59 Democedes successfully manages to heal Darius, and as a reward the king offers him two pair of golden fetters(!); the women of Darius's harem give the Greek physician a great amount of gold.60 "So now, for having healed Darius at Susa, Democedes had a very great house and ate at the king's table; all was his, except permission to return to his Greek home."6' In what follows we read of how Democedes healed Darius's wife and of his .stratagem for leaving Persia and gaining his freedom to go back to Croton.62 These two passages deserve detailed commentary, but I will restrict myself to some marginal observations, with a view to what will be dealt with in the last section of this paper (the "commercial" pattern of mobility). Firstly, I would point out one common feature of these two episodes, i.e., that the physicians are detained abroad; the Egyptian eye doctor has been sent by force and lives in Persia separated from his family, hence his resentment against the Pharaoh and his desire to avenge himself for having been sent away against his will. As for Democedes, he was formerly a free and independent professional, moving from one city to another, affording himself the opportunity of 54 EA 23: 13-32. Mediterranean in Pre-Classical Times," to be pub- 55 ARE 111, ?? 429-47; J. A. Wilson in ANET2, lished in the Proceedings of the International Col-pp. 29-31. The Bentres stela evidence has also been loquium on the Soteriology of Oriental Cults in the quoted by Edel, Agyptische Artze, pp. 59-63. Roman Empire (the colloquium took place in Rome 56 See Edel's arguments in Agyptische 4rtze, in September 1979). pp. 61-62. 59 Hdt. 3.129. 57 Hdt. 3.1. 60 Ibid. 3.130. 58 Ibid. 3. 125-37. For an exhaustive treatment of 61 Ibid. 3.132. this topic see "Healers and Saviours of the Eastern 62 Ibid. 3.133-37. 255

JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES earning high income.63 Later, he was enslaved by Oroetes of Sardis,64 and was finally brought to Susa, where he became Darius's physician. According to Herodotus, Democedes was in fact a slave of the Great King,65 in spite of the high position he had acquired within the Persian palace bureaucracy, and his treatment is surprisingly reminiscent of that of the Babylonian physicians held at the court of Hatti. Note the mention of his receiving a house and his familiarity with the king's entourage: one of the Babylonian physicians married a woman of the king's family, and Democedes "ate at the king's table"; precious gifts were given to them. If the Babylonian physician wished to go back home, he was free to do so (HattuSili's words, which obviously meant that in fact the physician was hardly in a situation that might allow him to go back to Babylonia). As for Democedes, he was expressly said to have everything but the freedom to return to Greece. Certainly, we must take into account the peculiarity of Herodotus's historiography and its bearing on the ideological connotations attached to his narratives. The Greek world is obviously represented in sharp contrast to the Near Eastern world, which is characterized by its despots and slaves. The attention of the Greek historian is focused upon the individual freedom of these specialists prior to their deportation to Persia. This freedom is, however, a bit dubious, at least in the case of the eye doctor of Amasis; he is said to have been sent by force to Persia, which suggests that his alleged freedom in Egypt must in fact have been rather limited: hence the stress Herodotus places on his separation from his wife and children. As for Democedes, he is described as enjoying the status of a free professional while in Western lands.66 Later, he was enslaved and took a long time to recover his original freedom after his "oriental" sojourn. Thus, the stories narrated by Herodotus reflect a long tradition in the history of the ancient Near East: the thoroughly new socio-economic background, which is typical of the Greek world (free artisans on the one hand and slaves on the other) is apparent in Herodotus's approach to his accounts of "oriental" society, hence the polarization of the freedom enjoyed by the specialists in the West vs. the autocratic and despotic behavior of their oriental employers. In spite of this, however, Herodotus's accounts are significantly reminiscent of a situation which structurally is closely linked with diplomatic interactions current among Late Bronze Age monarchs. 5. En passant, I would like to make a brief reference to still another (sub-) pattern of mobility of these specialists or artisans. From texts dating from the late third millen-nium B.C. down to the end of the Neo-Assyrian period, we know of deportations 63 Ibid. 3.131. fundamental contribution of J. Svenbro, La parole 64 Ibid. 3.125. et le marbre: Aux origines de la poetique grecque 65 Ibid. 3.137. (Lund, 1976), esp. chap. 3: "les artisans de la parole" 66 Democedes received one talent from the Aegi- (pp. 141-212) and particularly the section "La Muse netans "to be their public physician; in the next v6nale" (pp. 173-86), which deals with the subject of [year] the Athenians hired him for a hundred minae, the rewarding of famous Greek artists. An ample and Polycrates [of Samos] in the next again for two discussion of Svenbro's book has been recently pub-talents" (Hdt. 3.131). For the problems related to lished in Dialoghi di archeologia, n.s. 3/2 (1981): the social status of qualified "artisans," primarily 1-108. poets and sculptors, in the Greek world, I cite the 256

MOBILITYA MONGA NCIENTN EARE ASTERNC RAFTSMEN carried out in foreign lands during war campaigns or simple razzias.67 In most cases, the deportees consisted of non-specialized or unskilled manpower, but sometimes we read of specialized craftsmen being carried away. To cite some examples: in the Sumerian poem of Lugalbanda we are told of the siege of the city of Aratta by the king of Uruk; the city is besieged and the conquerers take away with them precious metals together with goldsmiths and precious stones together with jewelers, as well as the molds for casting metals.68 Shifting from epic to history, we should note the deportation of Hurrian, Baby-lonian, and Nairi workers conducted by Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244-1208 B.C.). These people assisted in the building of the new capital Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta and subse-quently lived at court, employed in various tasks.69 Note the occurrences of foreign artisans being sent to Egypt and performing their activities there: Syrian artists, boatwrights, female weavers, etc.70 Note also the numerous occurrences of deporta-tions of chariot-drivers (maryannu) from Syria-Palestine during the war campaigns of the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom.71 Among the mass deportations carried out in Mesopotamia during the first millennium B.C., one should note the deportation from Jerusalem of all the craftsmen and smiths, together with large numbers of other people and precious wares, carried out by Nebuchadnezzar.72 These and other instances might be interpreted as case-limits of "negative" reci-procity,73 where the maximization of one's own profit is sought, regardless of the rank of the so-called partner and without any attempt to provide the other party with some sort of material or non-material exchange. 6.1. The singling out of a "commercial" pattern of mobility raises extremely complex problems, mainly because the operation of such a scheme must be evaluated in rela-tion to a specific socio-economic background, for which ancient Near Eastern sources offer only partial and still problematic evidence. In short, the crucial point to be examined is the following: to what extent are we entitled to recognize the presence of a free labor-market in the pre-Hellenistic Orient (and the Levant) or at least some embryonic stage of such a socio-economic situation? On the one hand, the topic is linked to the disappearance of the Late Bronze Age palace organizations (and of the absolute centralization of all available manpower within the state organization of the economy), and on the other, we have to take into account the emergence of "uni-versal" political entities, such as the Assyrian and Achaemenid formations, which brought about new models of bureaucratic organization, both centrally and in the 67 See the important remarks of I. J. Gelb in altbabylonischen Dilbat," Altorientalische Forschun- "Prisoners of War in Early Mesopotamia," JNES 32 gen 4 (1976): 111-30, esp. pp. 119, 124-27. (1973): 70-98. The practice of deportation is par- 70 See W. Heick, Die Beziehungen Agyptens zu ticularly relevant in the Neo-Assyrian empire; see Vorderasien im 3. und 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr. B. Oded, Mass Deportations and Deportees in the (Wiesbaden, 1971), p. 369 and see also pp. 356-57. Neo-Assyrian Empire (Wiesbaden, 1979). 71 Ibid., pp. 342-44. 68 C. Wilcke, Das Lugalbandaepos (Wiesbaden, 72 2 Kings 24: 14. 1969), ll. 409-12. 73 See Sahlins, "Tribal Economies," in G. Dalton, 69 H. Freydank, RLA, vol. 5, p. 455; idem, "Zwei ed., Economic Development and Social Change Verpflegungstexte aus Kar-Tukultl-Ninurta," Alt- (Garden City, New York, 1971), pp. 52-54; idem orientalische Forschungen 1 (1974): 55-89; idem, "On the Sociology of Primitive Exchange," pp. 145- "Untersuchungen zu den sozialen Verhaltnissen im 49 (see n. 4 above). 257

JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES provinces belonging to them. Acknowledging that the topic would require more exten-sive and detailed treatment, which is beyond the scope of this paper, I will touch upon some elements which might stimulate further interest and investigation. 6.2. The first point concerns the socio-economic background in the Levant and Greek world after the fall of the palace organizations, ca. 1200 B.C. No doubt, the collapse of the Late Bronze Age world brought about new territorial and "tribal" forms of aggre-gation, already latent during the latter part of the second millennium B.c.; Near Eastern sources clearly testify to this phenomenon.74 The status of specialized crafts-men may have undergone radical changes in that some of the former employers disappeared more or less abruptly, and migrations of specialists in search of new work opportunities occurred. On the other hand, craftsmen-possibly in sharply diminishing number and with lower professional qualifications-were reabsorbed into non-palace (i.e., village/tribal) organizations/ modes of production. The evidence we possess is meager and requires careful evaluation. One passage in the Odyssey does provide us with interesting information: Who will personally invite a foreigner, unless he is a craftsman, a diviner, a healer, a carpenter, a divine singer who delights with his songs? These are the ones among men who are sought on the broad earth.75 Perhaps it is not too hazardous to consider this passage in the framework of the movements subsequent to the fall of the Mycenaean world, regarding these craftsmen as professionals looking for new employment in other economic organizations. At the same time, however, it might be surmised that the new socio-economic background of the Greek world of the Iron Age, with the emergence of free artisans moving from one client to another seeking better economic gain, might be reflected in this passage from Homer.76 Incidentally, I want to stress that the passage quoted above does not offer evidence for wandering craftsmen who constantly moved from one place to another. I will not touch here on the old, yet still popular issue of itinerant artisans in ancient Near Eastern society. In my opinion, there is no sound evidence whatsoever to support the existence of such figures throughout the pre-classical phases of Near Eastern history. To hypothesize a significant presence of itinerant craftsmen in the Near East and to link these movements of "free" artisans with the spread of fundamental tech-nologies (e.g., iron metallurgy) seems a serious historical mistake.77 74 Liverani has dealt with this topic extensively: memnon, Achylles, etc. Most of the articles made see esp. "II fuoruscitismo in Siria nella tarda eta del by Ephestus might have been made in his atelier, bronzo," Rivista storica italiana 77 (1965): 315-36; but his work in the palaces of Mt. Olympus and at see also his important review of R. de Vaux's the court of Alkinoos certainly required his actual Histoire ancienne d'Israel in Oriens Antiquus 15 presence. (1976): 145-59. See also "Farsi Habiru," Vicino 77 See my articles "Le tecniche e le scienze" in S. Oriente 2 (1979): 65-77. Moscati, ed., L'alba della civiltai, vol. 2 (Turin, 75 Od. 17. 382-86. 1976), pp. 307-8 and also "Modo di produzione 76 See works cited in n. 66 above. I should perhaps asiatico e Vicino Oriente antico: Appunti per una also mention the legendary figure of Ephestus, who discussione," Dialoghi di archeologia, n.s. 3/3 (1981): lived on the island of Lemnos and worked for 35-36. several Olympus deities and heroes such as Aga- 258

MOBILITY AMONG ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CRAFTSMEN Returning to the Odyssey (17.382-86), what we can say is that qualified artisans moved on their own initiative looking for suitable and steady jobs; in other words, their wanderings represented a temporary stage of unemployment and not a perma-nent and institutional condition of life. 6.3. Several passages from the Old Testament should also be cited. Let us first consider the mythical figures of Bezaleel of the tribe of Judah and of Aholiab of the tribe of Dan, who are described as the prototypes of various craftsmen: gold-, silver-, and bronzesmiths; stonecutters and setters; woodcarvers;78 engravers; and embroiderers and weavers.79 Accordingly, we are told of all the tasks which they were entrusted to carry out by Moses and which they accomplished.80 Without entering into the mani-fold problems related to the historical background of these passages, I will simply point out the relationship of the two craftsmen to two tribal groups: they are not fixed employees of a superior organization but are requested by one "client" to perform a certain amount of highly specialized work, after which their relation with the "em-ployer" presumably comes to an end. Further on, note the passage recounting the work done by Hiram, a bronzesmith, son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and of a man from Tyre, who lived in Tyre and "came to king Solomon and wrought all his works."81 In spite of a certain degree of historical vagueness, it would seem that Hiram operated in a relatively free manner: note that he is not qualified as "slave" of the king of Tyre, in contrast to the Phoenician stone- and woodcutters-albeit less qualified workers-who are "slaves" of the King Hiram.82 In apparent accordance with this, the king of Tyre is not personally involved in the transaction between the craftsman and Solomon: he does not receive anything in compensation for the activity of the craftsman at Jerusalem, in contrast to the sending of grain and oil as reward for his dispatching Phoenician timber and for putting his stone- and woodcutters at Solomon's disposal.83 We may further surmise that, after completion of his work and the settlement of financial matters with Solomon, Hiram went back to Tyre. In consideration of the tenuousness of the evidence provided by these passages, 1 would not overstress their historical significance but only understand it as possibly an alternative scenario, compared with that of the centralized palace organizations of the second millennium B.C. 6.4. A very different situation is suggested by the documentation pertaining to the Assyrian and, subsequently, Achaemenid empires. There is no need to stress that the redistributive pattern of mobility continued throughout the first millennium B.C. The gigantic dimension of the bureaucratic apparatuses was an outstanding feature of these state organizations. The territorial expansion and political supremacy of these empires vs. the "rest of the world" make it clear that reciprocative transfer of manpower was hardly feasible. To what extent is it possible to detect movements of specialized 78 Exod. 31: 1-6; 35: 30-34. 83 Ibid., 5: 25. See also ibid., 9: 10-14: the (refused) 79 Ibid., 35: 35. gift of 20 villages in Galilee that are given by 80 Ibid., 36-39; cf. 31: 7-11. Solomon to Hiram of Tyre as a reward for the 81 1 Kings 7: 1-47. shipments of timber and gold. 82 Ibid., 5: 20; cf. 32. 259

JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES craftsmen outside the core of the state formations and/or within their territorial extensions that might be interpreted as more or less free decisions of the craftsmen themselves and not as simple administrative acts of the central/peripheral authorities? It is prima facie evident that this topic is strictly bound to the extremely controversial issue of Near Eastern mode(s) of production during the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Achaemenid (and Hellenistic) periods, with particular reference to the relations of dependence upon which this/these mode(s) of production are based. Scholarly debate is still in progress, and I can only hint at the topic as such. Yet, while refraining from any attempt at synthesizing the many controversial issues that are presently under dis-cussion,84 I will devote a few words to my specific topic of inquiry, bearing in mind the provisional character of the present attempt. 6.5. During the Neo-Assyrian period we have some evidence possibly hinting at the presence of foreign artisans in Assyria either forcibly recruited by the administration or sent by foreign rulers according to patterns of mobility that fall outside the scheme of reciprocity. Among the workers living at Nimrud and receiving wine rations, we find several specialized craftsmen, among whom are a number of foreigners, such as an Aramean leather-worker, a Chaldaean baker, Babylonian and Syrian singers, Babylonian diviners, etc. The administrative documents listing wine rations date to the first quarter of the eighth century B.C. and stretch from the last years of Adad-nirari III to the first four years of Shalmaneser IV.85 The presence of these people is presumably the result of war razzias or of administrative recruitment, although I would not rule out, at least in some cases, other possibilities, such as that of individual migrations of (runaway) people looking for (better) jobs in the Assyrian capital. This working hypothesis becomes even more sound with regard to the presence of the Egyptian scribes, who are listed along with Assyrian and Aramean scribes, and other Egyptian and Kushite personnel.86 Kinnier Wilson's explanation is that they are prisoners of war who were captured by the Assyrians in Western Asia where they were living.87 I am rather dissatisfied with this suggestion, especially considering that the Egyptian scribes were employed as learned scholars and not as simple secretaries.88 What were Egyptian scholars doing in Syria-Palestine at that period, getting caught by the Assyrians during a war campaign? On the other hand, it hardly seems possible that the Pharaoh sent these people to the Assyrian king. Thus we can only hypothesize the movement of individual artisans and specialists, who were possibly fleeing from their original work-place in search of better jobs abroad. Are we entitled to offer the same explanation for the arrival in Assyria of the Dilmunite craftsmen, together with their bronze artifacts and utensils? This event is recorded in an inscription of Sennacherib.89 I would not rule out this possibility, rather than interpret this episode as evidence for a tribute paid to the king of Assyria by the country of Dilmun. 84 See most recently my article "Modo di produ- 87 Ibid., p. 93. zione," passim. 88 Ibid., p. 63. 85 J. V. Kinnier Wilson, The Nimrud Wine Lists 89 D. D. Luckenbill, The Annals of Sennacherib, (London, 1972), pp. 64-70, 75-77. OIP 2 (Chicago, 1924), pp. 137-38; 40-43; ARAB 86 Ibid., text no. 9 (ND 10048): rev. 18-20; see 2, ? 438. also pp. 62-63. 260

MOBILITY AMONG ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN CRAFTSMEN As for the Phoenician carpenters and the Phoenician and Cypriot sailors who came to Niniveh in order to build and drive Sennacherib's fleet against Elam,90 it is reason-able to surmise that they had been recruited in the western provinces of the empire; yet in this case too, the possibility of a certain degree of personal mobility for these craftsmen cannot be excluded totally.9' 6.6. The subject of labor organization during the Neo-Babylonian and early Achae-menid period is the object of an intense debate.92 For the limited purposes of this paper, it is essential to ascertain whether and to what extent the existence of an actual labor market might be hypothesized during that time. The existence of artisan guilds in the Neo-Babylonian period has already been proposed,93 but this view has been generally disputed.94 I am personally inclined to agree with W. G. Lambert's opinion, according to which the well-known charter of Babylonian craftsmen who swore an oath to the administrators of Eanna95 "tells only of collective bargaining by groups of craftsmen with their employers."96 The use of the term "guild" is historically anachro-nistic, since it denotes a kind of labor organization that is not to be found in the socio-economic structure of the Near East during the sixth-fifth centuries B.C. On the other hand, it should not be overlooked that "the carpenters, the metal engravers, the goldsmiths and all of the craftsmen of Eanna" are in a situation which is substantially different from that of being institutionally inserted within the ranks of a palace or temple organization. These people bargain for their employment conditions; they agree with their employers to respect certain specific professional duties; the employers, in turn, state their obligations toward the craftsmen. No doubt, the overall picture of employment and exploitation of skilled (and un-skilled) manpower underwent significant changes in the second half of the first millen-nium B.C. On the one hand, there is a rising percentage of slave labor, which is also reflected in Neo-Babylonian apprenticeship contracts.97 These contracts enabled private slave-owners to have their slaves learn a craft, obviously with the purpose of allocating them to third parties with a view to financial profit.98 On the other hand, there was an 90 Luckenbill, Annals, p. 73: 58-64; ARAB 2, ?319. 91 The dispatch of Phoenician experts who (build and) drive Solomon's fleet should be interpreted, rather, according to a reciprocative pattern of mo-bility: I Kings 9: 26-28; 10: 11, 22. 92 See, for example, M. A. Dandamayev, Slavery in Babylonia in the VII-IV Centuries B. C. (626-331 A.C.) (Moscow, 1974) (in Russian); idem, "Social Stratification in Babylonia (7th-4th Centuries B.c.)" in J. Harmatta and G. Komor6czy, eds., Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im alien Vorderasien (Budapest, 1976), pp. 433-44; idem, Persien unter den ersten Achameniden (6. Jahrhundert v. Chr.) (Wiesbaden, 1976), passim; J. Oelsner, "Erwagungen zum Gesell-schaftsaufbau Babyloniens von der neubabylonischen bis zur achamenidischen Zeit (7.-4. Jh. v. u. Z.)," Altorientalische Forschungen 4 (1976): 130-49, etc. 93 D. B. Weisberg, Guild Structure and Political Allegiance in Early Achaemenid Mesopotamia (New Haven and London, 1967), passim with literature cited, esp. the contributions of I. Mendelsohn cited onp. 116. 94 See, for example, Dandamayev in VDI (1971/ 2): 129-35; H. M. Kiimmel's review of Weisberg's Guild Structure in Welt des Orients 5 (1970): 284-89; W. G. Lambert's review of the same in BiOr 27 (1970): 370- 71; J. Renger, "Notes on the Goldsmiths, Jewelers and Carpenters of Neobabylonian Eanna," JA OS 91 (1971): 494-503; see also Kiimmel, Familie, Beruf und Amt im spatbabylonischen Uruk (Berlin, 1979), esp. pp. 161-62. 95 Weisberg, Guild Structure, pp. 5-9. 96 See Lambert's review of Weisberg (BiOr 27 [1970]: 371). 97 M. San Nicol6, Der neubabylonische Lehrver-trag in rechtsvergleichender Betrachtung (Munich, 1950). 98 For a different view see Weisberg, Guild Struc-ture, pp. 99-100. 261

JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES increase in the practice of work hiring, particularly traceable during the Late Baby-lonian period, and revealing significant alterations in the traditional structure of an old established mode of production. The progressive deterioration of the demographic structure of many Mesopotamian areas and consequently a marked shortage of the available labor resources is coupled with the emergence of new patterns of economic organization in which, for example, the role of workers temporarily earning wages tends to become decidedly more important than before. Last but not least, the phenomenon of coinage, in spite of strong Mesopotamian resistance to the new prac-tice and its implications, must have contributed to a progressive alteration of well-established and consolidated socio-economic habits and procedures. 6.7. In the light of the above phenomena, attention should be drawn to the references to foreign workers in the capital cities of the Achaemenid empire. A common feature of the Achaemenid foundation inscriptions is the mention of foreign craftsmen taking part in the building activities undertaken by the kings of Persia.99 Thus we learn of many foreign raw materials which were carried to Persia (cedar beams from Lebanon; teak from Gandhara and Carmania; gold from Sardis and Bactriana; lapis lazuli and carnelian from Sogdiana; turquoise from Chorasmia; silver and ebony from Egypt; decorative elements from Ionia; ivory from Ethiopia, India, and Arachosia; marble columns from Elam) and of a multitude of foreign artisans participating in the labor force (Egyptians, Ionians, Sardians, Medes). A perfect counterpart to the celebrative inscriptions is to be seen in the administrative documents found in the treasury and in the fortification wall of Persepolis,100 which tell us of quite a number of foreign artisans either employed in work at Persepolis or making a stop in the city while journeying to various other places in Persia. The main problem we are faced with is to establish who in fact these people were and how they came to work under the Achaemenid administration, which provided them with wages, both in silver and other commodities. There seems to be no scholarly agreement: discussions are mainly centered upon the term kurta?, which designates most, but not all, of these people. At the same time, the word also applies to native (i.e., Persian) workers employed under Persian administration.'10 The controversy about the juridicial status of the kurta? continues:'02 it seems, however, that the term 99 See F. Vallat, "Table elamite de Darius Ier," RA 64 (1970): 149-60; M. Roaf, "The Subject Peoples on the Base of the Statue of Darius," Cahiers de la Delegation Archeologique Francaise en Iran 4 (1974): 73-160; cf. G. Goossens, "Artistes et artisans 6trangers en Perse sous les Ach6emnides," La Nou-velle Clio 1 (1949): 32-44; C. Nylander, lonians in Pasargadae (Uppsala, 1970); G. Walser, "Griechen am Hofe des Grosskonigs" in Festschrift H. v. Greyerz (Bern, 1967), pp. 189-202. 100 G. G. Cameron, Persepolis Treasury Tablets, OIP 65 (Chicago, 1948), nos. 1, 9, 12, 15, 22, 37, 78; idem, "Persepolis Treasury Tablets Old and New," JNES 17 (1958): 161-76, esp. 164-67; R. T. Hallock, "A New Look at the Persepolis Treasury Tablets," JNES 19 (1960) 90-100, esp. p. 98; Cameron, "New Tablets from the Persepolis Treasury," JNES 24 (1965): 167-92, nos. 2, 16, 20; Hallock, Persepolis Fortification Tablets, OIP 92 (Chicago, 1969), pp. 717-18, s.v. kurtaS and see nos. 850, 867, 868, 873, 1118, 1123, 1132, 1156, 1175, 1224, 1409, 1547, 1552, 1557, 1561, 1577. 10l The most illuminating contributions are those of Dandamayev, Persien unter den ersten Acha-meniden, pp. 189-94; idem, "Politische und wirt-schaftliche Geschichte" in G. Walser, ed., Beitrage zur Achamenidengeschichte (Wiesbaden, 1972), pp. 37-42; idem, "Royal Estate Workers in Iran (End of VI, First Half of V Century B.C.)," VDI 1973/3): 3-24 (in Russian with English summary, pp. 25-26); idem, "Forced Labour in the Palace Economy in Achaemenid Iran," Altorientalische For-schungen 2 (1975): 71-78. 102 See Dandamayev, "Politische und wirtschaft-liche Geschichte," pp. 39-40. 262

MOBILITYA MONGA NCIENTN EAR EASTERNC RAFTSMEN kurtag, for which the general rendering "worker" is acceptable, included enslaved people brought to Persia as prisoners of war, free people belonging to lower social strata, as well as persons temporarily obliged to perform compulsory work for the administration. It is more difficult to establish the social status of the Egyptians, Syrians, Ionians, Carians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Cappadocians, Sardians, Sogdians, etc., working at Persepolis and elsewhere and receiving their wages from the Persian authorities. That all of them were prisoners of war seems unlikely. Yet attention should be called to some interesting features displayed in the Persepolis tablets. The number of foreign workers is very high indeed: wages, in silver and/or in kind, are given to groups of people and not to single individuals. The case of craftsmen recorded by name is quite exceptional; there is, for example, the Egyptian woodworker Haradkama, who is "chief of 100" and, significantly enough, is not designated a kurtaSg,'3 and there is another Egyptian, whose name is partially lost, who is a "beer maker at Parsa": he too is not referred to as kurta?.104N ote further that the professional designations of these artisans do not include scribes,'05 physicians, diviners, etc., but are limited to more or less skilled craftsmen. Thus the Persepolis tablets reflect only one aspect of the organi-zation of professional workers employed at the Persian court. Lastly, an analysis of the numbers of the kurtas recorded in the tablets shows some peculiarities: this is not the place to carry out detailed reckonings and statistics: at first glance, however, it would seem that the numerical composition of the various groups of people receiving wages, as well as the total number of workers registered in the Persepolis tablets, do not fit normal family patterns. The total number of adult men and women is approxi-mately the same, although women are somewhat more numerous than men: 39.8 percent vs. 37.5 percent, and boys and girls together only add up to 22.7 percent. This disproportion, which speaks against the presence of nuclear family groups, or rather, suggests strong factors of alteration of the inner "demography" of family groups, not only is the result of a general adding up of the number of people listed in the tablets but very often occurs in the individual tablets, where even numbers for adults-male and female workers (husbands and wives?)-are coupled with very low figures for boys and girls.106 One example will suffice to show this apparent disproportion: one text107 mentions a group of Carian goldsmiths: 27 men, 27 women, 13 girls, and 3 boys. It is possible to assume that the 54 adults formed 27 married couples, but it is at the same time evident that their children could not possibly amount to only 13 girls and 3 boys (note further the great disproportion between the sexes). A plausible explanation for these abnormal figures might be found in classical sources which inform us of the recruitment of young slaves carried out by the Persian administration.'08 It would thus seem that not only did foreign countries have to send young children to serve in the 103 Cameron, Persepolis Treasury Tablets, no. 1. l'empire achemnide" in Pouvoir, religions, rapports 104 Idem, "New Tablets from the Persepolis Trea- sociaux: Actes du Colloque 1977 sur l'esclavage sury," p. 180, no. 16. (Besan(on 1977) (Paris, 1980), pp. 24-25. 105 One exception is the 16 Persian boys "copying 107 Cameron, Persepolis Treasury Tablets, no. 37, texts," mentioned by Hallock in Persepolis Fortifi- also cited by Dandamayev in "Politische und wirt-cation Tablets, no. 1137. schaftliche Geschichte," p. 37. 106 A different evaluation of these figures can be 108 Dandamayev, "Achaemenid Babylonia" in found in Dandamayev, "Royal Estate Workers in 1. M. Diakonoff, ed., Ancient Mesopotamia: Socio- Iran," pp. 3-24, and in P. Briant, "Forces produc- Economic History (Moscow, 1969), p. 309. tives, dependence rurale et ideologies religieuses dans 263 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES households of Persian kings and dignitaries, but also a (considerable) number of the offspring of the kurta? were taken away to the Persian court or elsewhere. This fact does not contrast with but, on the contrary, agrees with the evidence offered by Greek authors about the demographic policy pursued by the Achaemenids and of special food allowances given to female kurtaS who gave birth to a child.'09 Thus, out of the thousands of foreign craftsmen earning wages at Persepolis and elsewhere, the great majority were either slaves or free people of low social status; their presence in Persia ought to be explained as the result of war campaigns and provincial recruitment but presumably was also due to personal initiatives that led artisans, with various levels of professional skills, to find their way to Persia. In the eyes of the Achaemenid administration, all these people were simply kurtaS, "workers." Highly specialized professionals from abroad, possibly not designated kurta? in the Persepolis tablets, were also employed under the Achaemenids. Western historiography empha-sizes their serfdom at the court of the Great King in opposition to the ideal of Greek freedom, and it must be seriously doubted that their departure from their native lands to Persia was merely a consequence of war enslavement and that their per-manency abroad had to be assured by casting them into the "golden chains" of which Herodotus speaks. 6.8. Clearly, the sources which I have thus far dealt with do not provide decisive and indisputable evidence for the operation of a "commercial" mode of mobility of spe-cialized manpower. From a series of scattered sources, all we can propose with a reasonable degree of confidence is that in the course of the first millennium B.C. there was an emergence of new forms of the organization and employment of professional labor which do not seem to have existed in the third and second millennia B.C. This phenomenon is in line with the trends of development of Near Eastern socio-economic organizations during the Iron Age and Persian period. In a few words, it might be observed that there was an increasing number of "serfs""0 who were employed as unskilled labor but who were also active in more specialized tasks; on the other hand, even in the absence of a true labor-market, the degree of individual indepen-dence de facto enjoyed by single "artisans" or by groups of "artisans" had considerably increased. What presumably existed at this time was a transitional stage between all-embracing state organizations which centralize and monopolize all available specialized skills within the realm of permanent dependence links, on the one hand, and a situa-tion where (highly) specialized craftsmen offer their skills and bargain with the most suitable employer for a defined span of time and/or for specific professional tasks, on the other. The degree of development between the former and the latter situations seems to be rather modest. Even in the later phases of ancient Near Eastern history, the sources testify to consistent "relics" of the old system. In

consideration of this, it is all the more interesting to discover sporadic but significant antecedents of a situation which would become current in "classical" times. 109 See Briant, "Appareils d'6tat et d6veloppement 10 I have deliberately avoided using the word des forces productives au Moyen-Orient ancien: le "slave," since the economic relevance of slavery did cas de l'empire achemenide," La Pensee 217-18 not become really significant in the mode of produc- (1981): esp. p. 14. tion of the Near East of the late first millennium B.C. 264