Paul Delnero
Paul Delnero is an Assyriologist who specializes in the history, culture, and society of Ancient Mesopotamia, with a particular emphasis on the study of the Sumerian language and its grammar. His dissertation, “Variation in Sumerian Literary Compositions: A Case Study Based on the Decad,” was written on the subject of textual variation in duplicates of Sumerian literary narratives. The primary aims of this work were to answer fundamental questions pertaining to how and why scribes were trained in antiquity, and to develop a text-critical methodology for editing Sumerian literary compositions that takes into account the means by which the sources for these texts were produced. Specifically, the role of memorization in scribal training and the errors in recall that occurred while copying from memory were identified as one of the most common causes of textual variation in the duplicates of these texts. This topic is treated in the article "Memorization and the Transmission of Sumerian Literature" (Journal of Near Eastern Studies 2012).
In addition to a book entitled The Textual Criticism of Sumerian Literature (Journal of Cuneiform Studies Supplemental Series 3, 2012), Delnero has also written articles on the topics of the Sumerian verbal elements mu-ni- and mi-ni-, the conjugation prefixes im-ma- and im-mi-, and the pre-verbal pronominal element /n/, as well as the place of Sumerian literary extract tablets in the training of scribes, and the function of the so-called "literary catalogues" in archiving collections of Sumerian texts in antiquity. His current project is a study of Sumerian cultic, liturgical texts and the political and cultural roles of ritual in Mesopotamia at the beginning of the second millennium BCE.
In addition to a book entitled The Textual Criticism of Sumerian Literature (Journal of Cuneiform Studies Supplemental Series 3, 2012), Delnero has also written articles on the topics of the Sumerian verbal elements mu-ni- and mi-ni-, the conjugation prefixes im-ma- and im-mi-, and the pre-verbal pronominal element /n/, as well as the place of Sumerian literary extract tablets in the training of scribes, and the function of the so-called "literary catalogues" in archiving collections of Sumerian texts in antiquity. His current project is a study of Sumerian cultic, liturgical texts and the political and cultural roles of ritual in Mesopotamia at the beginning of the second millennium BCE.
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Three different interpretations of CU 30-31 have been proposed. The present short essay will reconsider these interpretations and propose a new translation.
Three different interpretations of CU 30-31 have been proposed. The present short essay will reconsider these interpretations and propose a new translation.
(English version)
In this workshop, we aim to examine how Mesopotamians acquired practical knowledge, alongside writing, associated with different professions and, more broadly, to investigate the link between scribal formation and practice. Topics relating to the aims of the workshop include:
• how might the content of texts learned during scribal training have contributed to the acquisition of specific practical or professional skills?
• were there specialized groups of texts that were used to teach skills relating to a particular profession that were only taught to pupils being trained specifically to work in that profession?
• to what extent did the texts copied during scribal training prepare those who learned them to exercise their profession, and to what extent were they adapted to local realities? How might trained scribes have acquired the skills they needed for their profession that they were not taught during their scribal training?
• is there evidence for professional training outside scribal schools?
• what technical skills were required to exercise the various professions in which writing played a role (accountant, land manager, diviner, etc.)? How were these skills acquired?
(version française)
Dans ce workshop, nous voulons étudier comment étaient transmis le savoir technique et les gestes qui étaient requis, en parallèle de l'écrit, pour exercer certaines activités, et voulons questionner plus largement le rapport entre la formation scribale et la pratique. Les axes de recherche suivants seront notamment explorés :
• comment le contenu des textes appris pendant la formation à l'écrit contribuait-il à l'acquisition de compétences pratiques ou professionnelles spécifiques ?
• y avait-il des groupes de textes spécialisés, qui étaient utilisés pour transmettre des compétences associées à une profession particulière et n'étaient enseignés qu'à des élèves formés spécifiquement pour exercer cette profession ?
• dans quelle mesure les textes copiés lors de la formation à l'écrit préparaient-ils ceux qui les étudiaient à exercer leur profession, et dans quelle mesure ces textes étaient-ils adaptés aux réalités locales ? Comment les scribes formés à l'écrit pouvaient-ils acquérir les compétences dont ils avaient besoin pour exercer leur profession mais qui n'étaient pas enseignées pendant la formation scribale ?
• existe-t-il des preuves d'une formation professionnelle en dehors des écoles scribales ?
• quelles compétences techniques étaient requises pour exercer les divers métiers au sein desquels l'écrit jouait un rôle (comptable, responsable du cadastre rural, devin...) ? Comment ces compétences étaient-elles acquises ?