This book undertakes a study of ancient political life through the lens of one body of evidence: the cuneiform texts from Mari. By this approach, I am accepting the need to straddle two distinct demands that proceed from two different audiences. My focus on the archives, which are far from fully published, and which remain the subject of continuing reevaluation by specialists in the field, invites serious investigation of evidence the interpretation of which is by no means settled. This attention to Mari for its own sake requires that I present evidence and arguments with sufficient technical detail to demonstrate the basis for my ideas to cuneiform specialists. My interest in the larger issues raised by this Mari material, however, has involved me in literature far beyond my own specialization, and I mean to make the book as accessible as possible to the scholars and students whose fields I have trespassed.

The introductory material that follows is designed especially for those who know little about Mesopotamia or Mari and who may not be familiar with the conventions of Assyriological study of cuneiform texts. I begin by introducing the Mari archives and offering a historical overview of ancient Mari before addressing the specific issue of collective political forms. I close with observations about my methodological choices, particularly as they result in a text-oriented study.

THE MARI TEXTS

Excavations at ancient Mari (Tell Hariri) began in 1933–4 under the leadership of André Parrot, with a French team.