The Burden of Scribes

Abstract

"In memory of Thorkild Jacobsen, I dedicate this study of a "Mari" letter (A.427 + M.8431) that Ibalpi-EI, one of Zimri-Lim of Mari's most trusted officers, sent to the king. In it, Ibalpi-EI corrects information he had previously dispatched on the identity of a city captured by Bunuma-Addu, king of Nihriya, a principal locality in a confraternity of Benyaminite villages in the Balih region. My speculations on the source of the error that was made during transmission will also permit me to raise some issues about the way scribes handled correspondence and about the behavior of royal agents monitoring provincial regions."