The catalogue of the CAMS corpus uses a standardised set of keywords to describe the designation, genre, period, and provenance of each tablet. They are listed here to help you search and sort CAMS effectively.
The conventional designations of the tablets in CAMS are based on their places of first publication. They are typically composed of one of the abbreviations below, followed by a number (which may begin with zero), e.g., ACT 1032.
| Abbreviation | Full reference |
|---|---|
| ACT [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/act] | Neugebauer, O. 1955. Astronomical cuneiform texts, 3 volumes. Princeton: Institute for Advanced Study. |
| BagM 21 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/bagm_21] | Friberg, J., H. Hunger and F. N. H. Al-Rawi. 1990. "Seed and reeds": a metro-mathematical topic text from Late Babylonian Uruk. Baghdader Mitteilungen 21: 483–557. |
| BagM Beih. 02 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/bagm_beih_2] | Van Dijk, J. and W. Mayer. 1980. Texte aus dem Rēš-Heiligtum in Uruk-Warka (Baghdader Mitteilungen. Beiheft 2). Berlin: Mann. |
| BRM 4 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/brm_4] | Clay, A. T. 1923. Epics, hymns, omens, and other texts (Babylonian Records in the Library of J. Pierpont Morgan 4). New Haven: Yale University Press. |
| CTN 4 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/ctn_4] | Wiseman, D. and J. A. Black. 1996. Literary texts from the temple of Nabû (Cuneiform Texts from Nimrud, 4). London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq. |
| SpTU 1 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/sptu_1] | Hunger, H. 1976. Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk, I (Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Forschungs-gemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka. Endberichte 9). Berlin: Mann. |
| SpTU 2 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/sptu_2] | von Weiher, E. 1983. Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk, II (Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka. Endberichte 10). Berlin: Mann. |
| SpTU 3 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/sptu_3] | von Weiher, E. 1988. Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk, III (Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka. Endberichte 11). Berlin: Mann. |
| SpTU 4 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/sptu_4] | von Weiher, E. 1993. Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk, IV (Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka. Endberichte 12). Mainz: Von Zabern. |
| SpTU 5 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/sptu_5] | von Weiher, E. 1998. Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk, V (Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka. Endberichte 13). Mainz: Von Zabern. |
| TCL 06 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/tcl_6] | Thureau-Dangin, F. 1922. Tablettes d'Uruk à l'usage des prêtres du temple d'Anu au temps des Séleucides (Textes cunéiformes du Louvre 6). Paris: Geuthner. View volume online [http://www.etana.org/abzu/coretext.pl?RC=20139] |
These genre designations are used to group the corpus into clusters of similar compositions, including pertinent commentaries and catalogues where appropriate. They do not necessarily reflect ancient ways of categorising scholarly writings.
| Keyword | Comment |
|---|---|
| Administrative | Administrative records including accounts |
| Astrological | Used only to describe horoscopic astrology of the late Achaemenid and Seleucid period; see also Astronomy and Omens |
| Astronomical | Observational astronomy, including Mul-Apin and Diaries; Seleucid mathematical astronomy, including ephemerides, instructions, and auxiliary tables |
| Hemerological | Ominous calendars, including Iqqur Ipush and the Babylonian Almanac |
| Historical | Including eponym lists and royal inscriptions |
| Hymn-Prayer | Hymns, prayers, and laments to deities, including the Emesal corpus |
| Incantation-Ritual | Magical, medical, and cultic incantations and rituals |
| Legal | Including sales, loans, and prebends |
| Letter | "Real" letters, not literary ones |
| Lexical | Sign lists and word lists, including Ura, Malku = Sharru, god lists, and Syllabary A |
| Literary | Akkadian and Sumerian literature, from the Epic of Creation and Gilgamesh to lesser known myths, epics, and proverbs |
| Mathematical | Including word problems, metrological lists, arithmetical tables, and calculations |
| Medical | Including recipes, commentaries and lists of ingredients but excluding incantations and rituals (above) and omens (below) |
| Omen | The standard omen series, including: Barutu, Enuma Anu Ellil, Sakikku, Shumma Alu, Shumma Izbu |
| Scholarly | Fragments that can be identified solely as scholarly writings, including colophons and commentaries |
| School | Elementary school exercises in writing and spelling |
| Uncertain | Used for fragments that cannot be identified |
The tablets in the CAMS database are attested from just five periods of Mesopotamian history:
| Period | Modern Dates |
|---|---|
| Neo-Assyrian | c.800-610 BCE, northern Mesopotamia |
| Neo-Babylonian | c.750-540 BCE, southern Mesopotamia |
| Achaemenid | c.540-330 BCE, southern Mesopotamia |
| Seleucid | c.330-180 BCE, southern Mesopotamia |
| Uncertain | Tablets from the ashipu's library in Uruk, which are either Achaemenid or Seleucid in date |
The provenance of a tablet is the ancient city in which it was found (but the search term is ", provenience:" for compatability with CDLI). You can also find tablets from particular libraries within a city (search by the term ", findspot_remarks:"). See the Contexts pages for much more information on the origins of the tablets in the CAMS corpus.
| Provenance | Library/Libraries |
|---|---|
| Huzirina | Huzirina |
| Kalhu | Ezida |
| Uruk | ashipus' house illicitly excavated Resh temple |
The following abbreviations for parts of speech are used in the glossaries:
| Abbreviation | Explanation | Language(s) |
|---|---|---|
| AJ | Adjective (including stative forms) | Akkadian |
| AV | Adverb | Akkadian |
| CNJ | Conjunction | Akkadian, Sumerian |
| DET | Determinative pronoun | Akkadian |
| DP | Demonstrative pronoun | Akkadian, Sumerian |
| IP | Independent/anaphoric prounoun | Akkadian, Sumerian |
| J | Interjection | Akkadian, Sumerian |
| MA | Modal adverb | Sumerian |
| MOD | Modal, negative, or conditional | Akkadian |
| N | Noun (including Akkadian stative forms) | Akkadian, Sumerian |
| NU | Number | Akkadian, Sumerian |
| O | Other | Sumerian |
| PP | Possessive pronoun | Akkadian |
| PRP | Preposition | Akkadian |
| QP | Interrogative pronoun | Akkadian, Sumerian |
| REL | Relative pronoun | Akkadian |
| RP | Reflexive/reciprocal pronoun | Akkadian, Sumerian |
| SBJ | Subordinating conjunction | Akkadian |
| V | Verb | Akkadian, Sumerian |
| XP | Indefinite pronoun | Akkadian |
The following abbreviations for proper nouns are used in the glossaries:
| AN | Agricultural (locus) name |
| CN | Celestial name |
| DN | Divine name |
| EN | Ethnos name |
| FN | Field name |
| GN | Geographical name |
| MN | Month name |
| ON | Object name |
| PN | Personal name |
| RN | Royal name |
| SN | Settlement name |
| TN | Temple name |
| WN | Watercourse name |
| YN | Year name |
Eleanor Robson
Eleanor Robson, 'Keywords used in the CAMS catalogue', The Geography of Knowledge, The GKAB Project, 2019 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gkab/usingthecamsgkabcorpus/keywords/]