In August 1999, a research project about the historical geography of Mesopotamia was initiated by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Röllig at the Ancient Near Eastern Seminar of the Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen. The objective of this project is to edit and publish volume 7 of the Répertoire Géographique des Textes Cunéiformes (RGTC 7) "Die Orts- und Gewässernamen der neuassyrischen Texte" (The Place Names and Hydronyms in Neo-Assyrian Texts).
The research project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and led by Dr. Ariel M. Bagg in close collaboration with the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project (Prof. Dr. Simo Parpola, University of Helsinki).
Of the Répertoire Géographique des Textes Cunéiformes, published under the editorship of W. Röllig as part of the Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (TAVO), so far 12 volumes or partial volumes have been published. They form, together with the corresponding TAVO maps, an important resource for research in historical geography.
The publication on Neo-Assyrian toponyms (currently about 3000) were deferred, as large research projects were launched at that time, which were specifically oriented towards making the corpus of Neo-Assyrian texts accessible: State Archives of Assyria in Helsinki and Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia in Toronto. As a result of this, as well as through the text editions of R. Borger (Ashurbanipal), A. Fuchs (Sargon II), and H. Tadmor (Tiglathpileser III), a new and expanded textual basis was created. 30 years fter the pioneering work of S. Parpola "Neo-Assyrian Toponyms" (AOAT 6 [1970]) it is now possible to compile the long-postponed volume 7 of Répertoire Géographique.
The design of the volume is based on the earlier RGTC volumes. The material includes all published non-literary sources of the Neo-Assyrian period, i.e., royal inscriptions, letters, legal and administrative documents, treaties and edicts. As planned, the toponym material of the literary texts will be published in volume 13 of the Répertoire Géographique (G. McEwan, "Die Orts- und Gewäddernamen der literarischen Texte"). The volumes following volume 5 (Kh. Nahef, "Die Orts- und Gewässernamen der mittelbabylonischen und mittelassyrischen Texte", Wiesbaden, 1982) will take into account all texts from Ashur-dan II (934-912).
The alphabetical collection of place names is divided into place names and hydronyms. The main criterion for this arrangement of references is the representation of differing spellings for the respective place names. Within each entry, the references are arranged according to chronology and typology (type of source). The references are followed by information on the localization of the place, whereby relevant secondary literature is included. The amount of toponyms discussed and their corresponding references requires a selection and a limited discussion of suggestion on the localization. Several indices, including a backward-sorted index of toponyms, as well as regional maps are planned.
