With this volume the epigraphical
team of Tell Beydar (Syria) continues the publication of the Early
Dynastic cuneiform texts found during the Euro-Syrian excavations
in 1996-2002. The tablets from Tell Beydar constitute the most
important find of Presargonic texts from Northern Mesopotamia. A
first volume with the edition of the tablets from seasons 1993-1995
appeared in 1996 in the same series (Subartu II). The 69 new texts
include administrative documents, a considerable number of
inscribed and sealed bullae and a Sumerian literary text. Indexes
and additions to Subartu II close this part.
Several studies, mostly by authors of the volume, concentrate on
various aspects of the new texts: the archaeological context (M.
Lebeau); sheep husbandry at Beydar; the bullae and their
administrative use; inscribed seals and sealings on the bullae (G.
Jans); women in the Beydar texts; the Sumerian literary text;
Nabada/Tell Beydar in its regional setting (with J. Ur); and an
overview of the Tell Beydar texts in Arabic by F. Ismail. These
studies integrate the new written sources into the wider context of
the history and culture of Northern Mesopotamia in the Third
Millennium B.C.