A Compendium of Official Correspondence from Seleucid Uruk

Abstract

YOS 20, 87 is a scholarly cuneiform tablet from Hellenistic Uruk. The study of its unusual content shows that it is an Akkadian translation of a collection of Greek official documents issued by the Seleucid administration in the first quarter of the third century BC, concerning the rebuilding of the Bīt Rēš, the main sanctuary of Uruk at the time. These works, which had been recognized on the ground by archaeologists a long time ago, remained unattested until now in the textual records. YOS 20, 87 therefore significantly enhances our understanding of the temple’s history and provides a valuable addition to the dossier of Seleucid euergetic policy in Babylonia.