How to be an Assyriologist? by Dominique Charpin

Author:Dominique Charpin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: philology, Proche-Orient, Leçons inaugurales, archaeology, Egyptology, Série « Inaugural Lectures » (anglais), Mesopotamia, history of civilizations, Ancient Near East, assyriology, cuneiform writing
Publisher: Collège de France
Published: 2017-12-19T16:00:00+00:00

An example of join: Letter A.4626 completed with fragment M.6217.

Photograph: Archives royales de Mari.

All translators have to choose between a literal translation and one that moves away from the words used, without falling into the excess of the old “beautiful infidels”. They navigate between two pitfalls, anachronism and paralysis, and this leads them to a refusal to translate. Take the word šukkallum , which designates the most important member of the royal entourage: should it be translated as “prime minister”? Admittedly, Hammurabi’s šukkallum had a very different status from that of Manuel Valls! Translating as “vizir” adds an Oriental touch but in no way solves the problem. At that rate, none of our words can be used to describe any aspect of ancient reality. The very use of the term king is deceptive: although Hammurabi was compared to the Sun, he bore little resemblance to Louis XIV. 18 We must therefore make do with duly justified approximations.

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