The Tikunani Prism is a clay artifact with an Akkadian

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...

inscription listing the names of 438 Habiru soldiers of King Tunip-Teššup of Tikunani (a small North Mesopotamian kingdom). Robert D. Biggs, Review of Mirjo Salvini's ''The Habiru prism of King Tunip-Teššup of Tikunani''.

Journal of Near Eastern Studies The ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies'' is an academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press, covering research on the ancient and medieval civilisations of the Near East, including their archaeology, art, history, literature, lin ...

volume 58 issue 4, October 1999, p. 294. This king was a contemporary of King

Hattusili I Ḫattušili (''Ḫattušiliš'' in the inflected nominative case) was the regnal name of three Hittite kings: * Ḫattušili I (Labarna II) * Ḫattušili II * Ḫattušili III It was also the name of two Neo-Hittite kings: * Ḫattušili I (Laba ...

of the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...

(around

1550 BC The 1550s BC was a decade lasting from January 1, 1559 BC to December 31, 1550 BC. Events and trends *The city of Mycenae, located in the northeast Peloponnesus, comes to dominate the rest of Achaea, giving its name to the Mycenaean civilization. ...

). The discovery of this text generated much excitement, for it provided much-needed fresh evidence about the nature of the Habiru (or Hapiru) and their possible connection to the Biblical Hebrews. However, the majority of Tunip-Tessup's Habiru soldiers recorded in the text had

Hurrian The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...

names that could not be explained in any

Canaanite language The Canaanite languages, or Canaanite dialects, are one of the three subgroups of the Northwest Semitic languages, the others being Aramaic and Ugaritic, all originating in the Levant and Mesopotamia. They are attested in Canaanite inscriptions ...

(the family which

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

belongs to) or any other Semitic language. The rest of the names are Semitic, except for one

Kassite The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology). They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...

name. The Prism is 8½ inches tall, with a square base roughly 2 by 2 inches. It is held in a private collection of antiquities in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and its provenance is unknown.Jack Meinhardt,
The Two Faces of the AIA: Why the Strongarm Tactics?
' Editorial, ''Archaeological Odyssey'', Volume 04 Number 02, May/June 2001. Biblical Archaeology Society.

accessed on 2009-06-29.Bought on the Market
'. Archaeology Odyssey, Volume 02 Number 02, May/June 1999. Biblical Archaeology Society.

External links

Image of the Tikukani prism
from ''Archaeological Odyssey'' archived at coupdefoudre.com. Accessed on 2017-10-12.
Tribes and Territories in transition
(PDF; the link doesn't work yet you can find the book on BnB, Amazon etc.)
"Wer findet Abraham?"
(German)

References

* Mirjo Salvini, ''The Habiru prism of King Tunip-Teššup of Tikunani''. Documenta Asiana, vol. 3. Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali, Rome (1996). 129 pages, 55 figures, including complete images of the prism. . Reviewed by R. D. Biggs. * Thomas Richter, ''Anmerkungen zu den hurritischer Personennamen der ''hapiru''-Prismas aus Tigunana''. In ''General , Studies and Excavations at Nuzi'', vol. 10/2, Studies on the Civilization and Culture of nuzi and the Hurrians, vol. 9. pages 125-134. Bethseda, Maryland (1998). Cited by R. D. Biggs. {{reflist 16th-century BC works Habiru Akkadian literature Akkadian inscriptions Ancient Near and Middle East clay objects