Merge branch 'content-editing' into develop

* content-editing:
  Update src/syriacranslation.md
  Update src/index.md

src/index.md

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ layout: Layout
 
 ## Plot of the Ahiqar story
 
-The story of the wise Ahiqar is one of the most frequently edited and reworked tales in the literature of the ancient Near East (also in the Bible within the Book of Tobit). It describes how the childless Ahiqar (counsellor at the court of the Assyrian kings Sennacherib (reigned 705-681 BCE) and Esarhaddon (reigned 681-669 BCE)) adopts and trains his nephew Nadan to be his successor. However, it is Nadan himself who conspires against his uncle to kill him. Ahiqar saved his life with a trick and recovered from the attempted murder when the Assyrian King received a challenge to solve a riddle sent by the Pharaoh of Egypt. Hence, Ahiqar solved the riddle and various other tasks while in Egypt. Finally, he lectures Nadan afterwards with a lesson which finally puts him to death.
+The story of the wise Ahiqar is one of the most frequently edited and reworked tales in the literature of the ancient Near East. Ahiqar also features in the apocryphal Book of Tobit. It describes how the childless Ahiqar (counsellor at the court of the Assyrian kings Sennacherib (reigned 705-681 BCE) and Esarhaddon (reigned 681-669 BCE) adopts and trains his nephew Nadan to be his successor. However, it is Nadan himself who conspires against his uncle to kill him. Ahiqar escaped execution by a trick and emerged from hiding in time to solve a riddle received by the Assyrian king from the Egyptian pharaoh. As a result, his nephew is condemned to death; but Ahiqar, who is reinstated, has the opportunity to lecture Nadan on morality before his nephew dies.
 
 ## The peculiarity of the Syriac and Arabic versions
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ The story of Ahiqar became widespread even beyond the Middle East. The oldest so
 
 The extensive Syriac and Arabic versions played a central role in the transmission of the (originally Aramaic) material into other languages and literary traditions. The last attempt so far to compile a reasonably comprehensive account of the Ahiqar’s story tradition was made more than a hundred year ago by F. C. Conybeare et al. in 1913, but the study does not include all known textual witnesses. As for the Aramaic version, several publications have since appeared, which makes them well accessible. Despite the fundamental importance of the Syrian and Arabic versions, reliable text editions are still lacking. The aim of the project is to fill this gap and provide a textual and literary analysis of the Syriac and Arabic versions of the Ahiqar tradition in digital form to establish the material and technical basis for further research on the other versions.
 
-Therefore, the main text witnesses of the Syriac and Arabic versions have been identified, transcribed, and translated. Furthermore, the names of people, places, motifs, and biblical references have been tagged. A short description and further literature to the manuscripts have also been appended. Related to the manuscripts, it should be noted that several Syriac text witnesses bear impacts of local spoken language (esp. regarding vocalization and spirantization). Only those phenomena, that can be described as gross errors, have been corrected (related to orthography and content).
+Therefore, the main text witnesses of the Syriac and Arabic versions have been identified, transcribed, and translated. Furthermore, the names of people, places, motifs, and biblical references have been tagged. A short description of the manuscripts has been appended, with a list of relevant publications. Several of these manuscripts exhibit features of the scribe's own dialect of Syriac (esp. regarding vocalization and spirantization). Only those phenomena that can be described as gross errors have been corrected (related to orthography and content).
 
 All texts in the present archive are reserved under a Creative Commons Licence (CC-BY-SA). These texts were created as XML-files with an own scheme and in following the Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange (in version P5) of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). However, some of the images were reserved under a Creative Commons Licence (CC-BY-SA), too, while others can be used only with a VPN-connection of the University of Göttingen.
 

src/syriacranslation.md

@@ -185,9 +185,9 @@ So when I beheld me that my son Nadan was doing detestable things, I answered an
 When I Ahiqar heard these words, I said: “Alas for you, my wisdom, that my son Nadan has made defiled, and my sayings - he has despised them. Now when my son Nadan heard (thereof), he was angry and went to the gate of the king, and has been purposed evil in his heart. He sat down (and) wrote two letters to two hostile kings of Sennacherib my lord: one to Akhi, the son of Ḥamselim, king of Persia and Elam(, as follows:)
 
 ‘From Ahiqar the scribe and keeper of the seal of  Sennacherib king of Assyria and Nineveh: Greeting. When this letter reaches you, stand up and come to Assyria to meet me, and I will bring you into Assyria, and you shall seize the kingdom without war.’
-And he wrote another letter(, as follows:) ‘To Pharaoh, king of Egypt, from Ahiqar the scribe and keeper of the seal of  Sennacherib of Assyria and Nineveh: Greeting. When this letter shall reach you, stand up and come to meet me at  Eagles’ plain, which lay to the south, on the 25th day of the month ’Āb, and I will bring you into Nineveh without war and you shall seize the kingdom.’ **(fol. 70r)**
+And he wrote another letter(, as follows:) ‘To pharaoh, king of Egypt, from Ahiqar the scribe and keeper of the seal of  Sennacherib of Assyria and Nineveh: Greeting. When this letter shall reach you, stand up and come to meet me at  Eagles’ plain, which lay to the south, on the 25th day of the month ’Āb, and I will bring you into Nineveh without war and you shall seize the kingdom.’ **(fol. 70r)**
 
-And he made these writings of his like to my (own) handwriting; and he sealed them in the king's palace, and went (his way*). He wrote further another letter to me, as if from my lord the king Sennacherib; and he wrote it in this way: ‘From Sennacherib the king, to Ahiqar, my scribe and keeper of the seal: Greeting. When this letter reaches you, gather all the forces together, to the mountain that is called Ṣīṣ, and go out from thence and come to meet me at  Eagles’ plain, which lay to the south, on the 25th day of the month ’Āb. When you see me approaching to you, array your forces against me, like a man that is ready for battle, for ambassadors of Pharaoh the king of Egypt were coming to me, so that they may see what forces I have.’
+And he made these writings of his like to my (own) handwriting; and he sealed them in the king's palace, and went (his way*). He wrote further another letter to me, as if from my lord the king Sennacherib; and he wrote it in this way: ‘From Sennacherib the king, to Ahiqar, my scribe and keeper of the seal: Greeting. When this letter reaches you, gather all the forces together, to the mountain that is called Ṣīṣ, and go out from thence and come to meet me at  Eagles’ plain, which lay to the south, on the 25th day of the month ’Āb. When you see me approaching to you, array your forces against me, like a man that is ready for battle, for ambassadors of pharaoh the king of Egypt were coming to me, so that they may see what forces I have.’
 
 My son Nadan sent this letter to me by the hands of two of the king’s servants. Thereupon, my son Nadan took the writings that he had written, as (one) who had (recently) found them; and he read them out in front of the king. When my lord the king heard them, he lamented and said: “O God, wherein have I sinned against Ahiqar, that he will do such *to me?” My son Nadan answered and said to the king: “My lord, do not be irritated nor rage. Stand up (and) let us go to  Eagles’ plain on the day that is written by him in the letter. If it be true(, then) all that you command shall be done.” (Thus) my son Nadan guided the king my lord, and they came to me at  Eagles’ plain and they found me while there were with me great forces that were gathered there. When I saw the king, I put my forces in array against him, as it was written in the letter. When the king saw it, he was much afraid. (Then) my son Nadan answered and said to him: “Let* it not frightens you, my lord the king. Return (and) go into your inner room in peace and Ahiqar will be (brought) before you.” Then my lord the king returned to his house. My son Nadan came to me and said to me: “All that you have done, you have done finely; and much have the king praised you; and he commands you to dismiss your forces and (that) the every(body) may go to his (own) country and place and (that) you come to me (cf. king) (yourself) alone.” **(fol. 70v)**
 
@@ -201,13 +201,13 @@ When I spoke these (words), even Nabusemakh, my poor companion, also was very af
 
 Then Sennacherib  the king called my son Nadan , and said to him: “Go make a mourning for your father Ahiqar, and (then) come to me.” And when Nadan  my son came, he did not make a mourning for me, nor any remembrance at all; but he gathered worthless and lewd fellows, and set them down at my table, with singing and great joy; and he stripped my beloved servants and handmaidens and flogged them without mercy. Nor was he ashamed of my wife Eshfagni, but he sought to do the thing with her that man with woman do. And I, Ahiqar, was cast into darkness in the pit beneath and I was hearing the voice of my bakers, cooks and butlers as they wept and groaned within my house. And after a few days came Nabusemakh, my poor companion, and opened (my prison) over (lit.: before) me and comforted me; and set before me bread and water. And I said to him: “When you go forth from me, remember me before God, and say, God, just and righteous, show grace upon the earth, hear the voice of Ahiqar, your servant, and be remembered that he sacrificed to you fatted oxen (just) as sucking lambs; now he is cast into a darksome pit where he sees no space* of light – are you not redeeming him who is crying to you? My lord, hear the voice of my companion!”
 
-After Pharaoh, king of Egypt, heard that I, Ahiqar, had been killed, he was greatly rejoiced, and he wrote a letter to Sennacherib  in this way: “Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to Sennacherib , king of Assyria and Nineveh: Greeting. I want to build a castle between heaven and earth, (wherefore) I seek out and send me from your kingdom a man who is a skilled *architect, that concerning all **(fol. 72r)** that I shall ask him he may give me reply. And when you shall send me such a man, I will gather and send you the tribute* of Egypt for three years; and if you will not send me a man who shall give me reply (concerning) all that I ask him, then (you have to) gather and send me the tribute of Assyria and Nineveh for three years, by the hands of these ambassadors that came to you.” After this letter was read before the king, he cried out to all the nobles and franklins of his kingdom, and said unto them: “Whom of you go to Egypt to give reply to the king concerning all that he shall ask him, and shall build him the castle that he wants, and retrieve the three years’ tribute of Egypt and come (hither)?”
+After pharaoh, king of Egypt, heard that I, Ahiqar, had been killed, he was greatly rejoiced, and he wrote a letter to Sennacherib  in this way: “Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to Sennacherib , king of Assyria and Nineveh: Greeting. I want to build a castle between heaven and earth, (wherefore) I seek out and send me from your kingdom a man who is a skilled *architect, that concerning all **(fol. 72r)** that I shall ask him he may give me reply. And when you shall send me such a man, I will gather and send you the tribute* of Egypt for three years; and if you will not send me a man who shall give me reply (concerning) all that I ask him, then (you have to) gather and send me the tribute of Assyria and Nineveh for three years, by the hands of these ambassadors that came to you.” After this letter was read before the king, he cried out to all the nobles and franklins of his kingdom, and said unto them: “Whom of you go to Egypt to give reply to the king concerning all that he shall ask him, and shall build him the castle that he wants, and retrieve the three years’ tribute of Egypt and come (hither)?”
 
 After the nobles heard this, they answered and said unto the king: “My lord the king, you know that not only in your years (of reign), but also in the years of your father Esarhaddon, Ahiqar the scribe was resolving affairs *like these. And even now, behold his son Nadan! Also, he is instructed in his father’s book-lore* and wisdom.” When my son Nadan heard these (things), he cried out before the king and said: “The gods (themselves) cannot do things like these, not to mention people!” When the king heard these words, he was much indignant, and he descended from his throne and sat on the ground, and spoke in this way: “Alas for you, Ahiqar  the wise, that I perished you for the words of a boy. Who will give you to me for this time? I would give him your weight in gold.”
 
 When Nabusemakh, my poor companion,  heard these words, he fell down before the king and said to him: “My lord the king; He who has condemned the commandment of his lord, is guilty of death; and I, my lord, have condemned the command of your kingship. Command, therefore, that they crucify me. For Ahiqar, whom you did command me to kill, is yet alive.” And when the king heard these (words), he answered and said: “Speak on, speak on, Nabusemakh, speak on, diligent and good man, who did not know evil. If it is (indeed) as you say, (then) show me Ahiqar alive; I will give you presents of silver, a hundred talents in weight, and of purple, fifty talents in value.” Nabusemakh said to him: **(fol. 72v)** “Swear to me, my lord the king, that, if other sins of mine will not be found before you, this (sin) shall not be remembered (against) me.” The king gave him his right (hand) on this (matter). And that same hour the king rode with *his chariot, and came unto me in haste, and opened (my prison) over* me, and I ascended, came, and fell before the king – while the hair of my head had grown down on my shoulders, my beard reached my breast, my body was* ravaged with dust, and my nails were (grown) long like (those of an) eagle.
 
-When the king saw me, he wept and was ashamed to speak with me, and in great pain he said to me: “Ahiqar, I have not sinned against you, but your son whom you raised up, sinned against you.” Thereupon, I answered and said to him: “From henceforth I have seen your face, my lord, no evil (is) in my mind.” The king said to me: “Go to your house, Ahiqar, and shave off your hair, and wash your body, and recover your strength (lit.: let your soul come into you) forty days, and after that come to me.” Thereupon, I went to my house, and I was in my house for thirty days, and when my body (lit.: my soul) was recovered (lit.: in good order), I came to the king, and the king answered and said to me: “Look Ahiqar, what did Pharaoh, king of Egypt, has written to me! And I answered and said to him: “ My lord the king, you should have no anxiety concerning this matter. I will go to Egypt and build for him, the king, a castle; concerning all that he may ask me I will give him an answer and I will bring with me the three years' tribute of Egypt.” When the king heard (these things) he was glad with a great joy; he made a great (festive)day and sacrifice big offerings and gave me as well as with Nabusemakh, my poor companion, gifts; he set him at the head of all.
+When the king saw me, he wept and was ashamed to speak with me, and in great pain he said to me: “Ahiqar, I have not sinned against you, but your son whom you raised up, sinned against you.” Thereupon, I answered and said to him: “From henceforth I have seen your face, my lord, no evil (is) in my mind.” The king said to me: “Go to your house, Ahiqar, and shave off your hair, and wash your body, and recover your strength (lit.: let your soul come into you) forty days, and after that come to me.” Thereupon, I went to my house, and I was in my house for thirty days, and when my body (lit.: my soul) was recovered (lit.: in good order), I came to the king, and the king answered and said to me: “Look Ahiqar, what did pharaoh, king of Egypt, has written to me! And I answered and said to him: “ My lord the king, you should have no anxiety concerning this matter. I will go to Egypt and build for him, the king, a castle; concerning all that he may ask me I will give him an answer and I will bring with me the three years' tribute of Egypt.” When the king heard (these things) he was glad with a great joy; he made a great (festive)day and sacrifice big offerings and gave me as well as with Nabusemakh, my poor companion, gifts; he set him at the head of all.
 
 After this, I wrote a letter to Eshfagni my wife (as follows): “When this letter reaches you, command my huntsmen that they catch two young eagles (lit.: eagles’ sons*) for me: and command to my* cotton workers that they make (me) ropes from cotton; **(fol. 73r)** the length of each one of them shall be a thousand ells, and their thickness that of one’s little finger; say* to the carpenters that they make for me birdcages for the young eagle; and deliver (them) over  Ubael and Tabshalem, the two boys, who do not (yet) know to talk, and they shall teach them to say this: “Give the builders who are idle mud, mortar, tiles (and) bricks.”
 
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ And the king answered and said unto me: “What is your name?” And I said to h
 
 I said to him: “My lord the king, you are like to the moon, and your nobles to the stars.” And again he said to me: “Go to your house and come to me tomorrow.” And the king commanded his nobles: “On tomorrow dress in dyeing and varied (colours), and let the doors of the palace be covered with red (hangings). The king himself dressed in fine needlework (lit.: carpet). He commanded and I came into his presence, and he said to me: “To what am I like,  Abiqam? and my nobles, to what are they like?” And I said to him: “My lord the king, you are like to the month Nisan, and your nobles to its flowers.” Thereupon, the king said to me: “The first time you compared me to Bel, and my nobles to his priests. The second time you compared me to the sun, and my nobles to its rays. The third time you compared me to the moon, and my nobles to the stars. The fourth time you likened me to Nisan, and my nobles to the flowers thereof. Now tell me,  Abiqam, to what is your lord like?” And I answered and said to him: “Be it far from you, my lord the king, that I should make mention of my lord  Sennacherib while you are seated. My lord  Sennacherib is like (?) and his nobles to the lightnings that are in the clouds. At what time he wills, he fashions the rain and the dew (and) the hail; and when he thunders, he restrains the sun from rising, and its rays **(fol. 74r)** from being seen; and he will restrain  Bel from coming in and going forth in the street, and his nobles from being seen. And he will hinder the moon from rising and the stars from appearing.”
 
-When the king heard these (things) he became exceeding angry, and said to me: “By the life of your lord, I adjure you to tell me what is your name?” I answered and said to him: “I am Ahiqar the Scribe and Seal of  Sennacherib king of Assyria and Nineveh.” The king said to me: ”Did I not certainly hear that your lord had killed you?” And I said to him: “Until now,  I am alive, my lord the king; and God saved me from something which my hands did not do.” The king said to me:  Go, Ahiqar, to your house, and come to me tomorrow, and tell me a word which have not been heard by me nor any by one of my nobles; and which was never heard in the city of my kingdom.” Thereupon, I sat down and meditated in my heart and wrote a letter as follows: “From Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to  Sennacherib, king of Assyria and Nineveh, Greeting. Kings have need of kings and brethren of brethren. And at this time my gifts become less, because silver is in want in my treasuries: Please, send me from your treasuries 900 talents of silver, and in a little while I will return them to their place.” And this letter, then, I rolled up and held it in my hands. And the king commanded and I came into his presence, and I said to him: “Perhaps in this letter, there is a word that have never been heard by you.” When I read it before him and before his nobles, they cried out, as they were ordered by the king (to do so), and said: “This has been heard by all of us, and it is so.” Thereupon, I said to them: “Behold, Egypt debts 900 talents to Assyria.” When the king heard (this), he marvelled.
+When the king heard these (things) he became exceeding angry, and said to me: “By the life of your lord, I adjure you to tell me what is your name?” I answered and said to him: “I am Ahiqar the Scribe and Seal of  Sennacherib king of Assyria and Nineveh.” The king said to me: ”Did I not certainly hear that your lord had killed you?” And I said to him: “Until now,  I am alive, my lord the king; and God saved me from something which my hands did not do.” The king said to me:  Go, Ahiqar, to your house, and come to me tomorrow, and tell me a word which have not been heard by me nor any by one of my nobles; and which was never heard in the city of my kingdom.” Thereupon, I sat down and meditated in my heart and wrote a letter as follows: “From pharaoh, king of Egypt, to  Sennacherib, king of Assyria and Nineveh, Greeting. Kings have need of kings and brethren of brethren. And at this time my gifts become less, because silver is in want in my treasuries: Please, send me from your treasuries 900 talents of silver, and in a little while I will return them to their place.” And this letter, then, I rolled up and held it in my hands. And the king commanded and I came into his presence, and I said to him: “Perhaps in this letter, there is a word that have never been heard by you.” When I read it before him and before his nobles, they cried out, as they were ordered by the king (to do so), and said: “This has been heard by all of us, and it is so.” Thereupon, I said to them: “Behold, Egypt debts 900 talents to Assyria.” When the king heard (this), he marvelled.
 
 Thereupon, he said to me: “I want to build a castle between earth and sky; and its height from the earth shall be one thousand ells.” **(fol. 74v)** Thereupon, I let out the young eagles and bound the ropes to their feet and set the boys on them; and they were saying: “Give the builders who are idle mud, mortar, tiles (and) bricks; the master yokes (it)." When the king saw it, he was amazed. Then I, Ahiqar, took a rod and beat the king’s nobles, till they all fled. Thereupon, the king became enraged of me, and said to me: “You rave wildly, Ahiqar, who is able to carry up anything to these boys?” And I said to him:” Concerning the matter of Sennacherib my lord, you say nothing, but it was about that he built two castles in one day.” The king said to me: “Withdraw from the castle, Ahiqar, and go to your lodging, and in the morning come to me.”