The texts included in the present volume were computerized by the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project staff in Spring, 1986, from transliterations previously prepared by myself (Texts 1-5 and 7 13), Prof. A. K. Grayson (Text 14) and my co-editor, Dr. Watanabe (the score of Text 6, kindly made available by Prof. K. Deller before its publication in book form in Baghdader Mitteilungen, Beiheft 3). Complete word and reverse word indices, as well as a Key-Word-In-Context concordance and a printout of the texts, were subsequently generated from this material and handed over, in September, 1986, to Watanabe, who had undertaken to complete the basic manuscript of the volume by the end of 1987.
Unfortunately various circumstances prevented Watanabe from embarking on the work until she was invited to visit Helsinki as recipient of a scholarship from the Academy of Finland in December 1987/January 1988. During this visit she prepared, in close collaboration with me, a draft translation of the texts and proofread the transliterations made available to her earlier, as well as the composite transliteration of Text 6 compiled for the volume by Raija Mattila of the project staff. She also discussed with me in depth two central issues relating to the translation of the texts where we disagreed, viz. the meaning of the term adê by which the texts are designated, and the rendering of the subjunctive šumma clauses occurring prominently in the texts.
Upon departure from Helsinki, Watanabe spent a week in London collating the texts, and was expected to submit the rest of the manuscript (the critical apparatus and the introduction) by the end of April. By the end of June it became evident, however, that she would not be able to provide these sections within foreseeable time. Accordingly, in order not to delay the publication of the volume indefinitely, the manuscript was completed by myself with the assistance of the project staff.
Watanabe's responsibility for the volume is thus limited to the preliminary transliterations and translations completed in January, 1988. Since then, both have been substantially revised on the basis of further collations and research by myself, as well as suggestions by the other members of the Editorial Committee. The introduction, all the indices, and the final version of the critical apparatus are entirely my own work. The variant list included in the critical apparatus was compiled according to my instructions by Hannes Hägglund and Laura Kataja of the project staff. The list of manuscript sigla and the basic manuscript of the score transliteration of Text 6 were prepared by Raija Mattila using as a point of departure the data found in BaM Bh 3. The line boundaries of individual manuscripts indicated in the score were supplied by Hannes Hägglund.
Thus, once again, we have a volume of the SAA series which would not have appeared without the cooperation of many people. In addition to Dr. Watanabe and the members of the project already mentioned, the volume owes particularly much to Dr. Julian Reade, who edited· the illustrations and provided many valuable remarks on the translations and name indices. Prof. Benjamin Foster and Dr. Gary Beckman of Yale University thoroughly and competently collated Text 11 at my request. My colleagues Karlheinz Deller, F. M. Fales and Nicholas Postgate read the galley proofs suggesting several improvements. Dr. Robert Whiting, Managing Editor of the project, checked the page proofs and edited the English of the introduction as well as the final (microfiche) version of the score of Text 6. To all these friends and colleagues who were directly involved in the preparation of the volume I wish to express my deep gratitude and appreciation for the work they did.
I also wish to extend my thanks to the following museum authorities and colleagues who granted publication permissions for the texts and photographs included in this volume, or were helpful in obtaining fresh photographs and prints for the volume: Drs. C. B. F. Walker and I. L. Finkel of the Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities of the British Museum; Dr. Annie Caubet of the Département des Antiquités Orientales du Musée du Louvre; Dr. Evelyn Klengel of the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin; and Prof. Paul Garelli of the Sorbonne. I am indebted to the entire staff of the Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities of the British Museum for the help rendered to me and my co-editor during the collation of the originals, and to the Photographic Service of the British Museum for the excellent prints prepared for this volume.
This book would not have appeared without the computer hardware and software donated by the Olivetti (Finland) Corporation, and this valuable support is here gratefully acknowledged. In this context I also wish to record my gratitude to Mr. Pasi Tapanainen, who rewrote the programs used in the preparation of the volume in C and thus enabled their use on the new VAX mainframe of the University of Helsinki.
Our publisher, the Helsinki University Press, has helped in the production of this volume in every possible way. I greatly appreciate the smooth collaboration we have been able to establish, and the dedication and care by which every part of the manuscript has been handled by the staff.
The publication of this volume has been supported by a grant from the Ministry of Education of the Government of Finland, and I take this opportunity to thank Marita Savola of the Ministry personally for the interest she has taken in our project.
My principal thanks of course go to our funding institution, the Academy of Finland, without which the research behind this volume would not have been possible.
November 1988
Simo Parpola
Simo Parpola
Simo Parpola, 'Preface', Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths, SAA 2. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1988; online contents: SAAo/SAA02 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa02/saa2preface/]