ʕálī ḥsḗn
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"Non-Semites"
I. J. Gelb, The Early History of the West Semitic Peoples, at Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 15, № 1 (1961), pp. 39-40 писал(а):The ethnic reconstruction of the earliest Syria given above is not fully paralleled by that obtained from the study of Syrian geographical names. We are now fortunate in possessing extensive information in the form of some three hundred place names, found in the texts from the Alalaḫ VII and IV periods, which shed important light upon the toponymic situation of the Alalaḫ-Aleppo region. Out of all these names I have found only four which are presumably Semitic, namely Dimat, Ḫurṣānu, Ḫuribte, and Maraba, while all other geographic names are non-Semitic. Many of these non-Semitic names can be grouped by their suffixes: -uwa in Azazuwa, Suḫaruwa, Ušuwa, etc.; -ija in Iburija, Kubija, Kuzubija, Uwija, etc.; -ik in Apratik, Arazik, Adabik, Jarabik, etc.; -ka in Arnika, Unika, and Šanuka? (or Tabega); -(a)še in Annaše, Arinnaše, Awirraše, Ḫutiluraše, Tarmanaše, etc. Kupper (pp. 235 and 241) gives a simple answer to the question of what language is represented in these non-Semitic names of Alalaḫ; to him they are Hurrian. This answer does not appear satisfactory to me, because at least the suffixes –uwa, -ija, and –ka often occur in names from areas or periods which cannot be called Hurrian. As far as I am concerned, names with these suffixes and the great majority of Alalaḫ geographical names are of unknown linguistic affiliation; only the names with the -(a)še suffix can legitimately be called Hurrian because of parallels in Hurrian milieus, such as Nuzi, but not outside the Hurrian area.
Much more information on the ethnic situation of Syria can be obtained from the El-Amarna, Boğazköy, and Ugarit sources. Being later in time than the Alalaḫ VII and IV sources, they testify to a growing Hurrian expansion. Especially valuable in this respect are the numerous Ugarit materials (pp. 235f.). Agreeing with Alalaḫ VII and IV, the three main classes of population at Ugarit are of Semitic, Hurrian, and unknown origin, but the proportion of Semites to others is much greater at Ugarit than in the North. Similar conclusions can be drawn on the basis of geographical names. The major part of these names is still of unknown background. As at Alalaḫ, these names can be recognized by the suffixes -uwa (Arruwa, Ulmuwa, Zazaḫaruwa), -ija (Ananija, Aranija, Ja’nija), -ik (Atallik = ’TLG), -ka (Ḫurika, Šammiga, Šatega, etc.). The Hurrians are represented by names with the suffix -(a)ši (Ḫišmaraši, Ḫunduraši, etc.). Again, the striking difference between Ugarit, on the one hand, and Alalaḫ, on the other, lies in the much stronger proportion of Semitic geographical names at Ugarit. This may be due partly to difference in time, partly to difference in geographic location. Situated as it was between the Alalaḫ-Aleppo region in the North and the Phoenician coast in the South, Ugarit may have been more exposed to the Semitic influence emanating from the South than were the areas situated north of Ugarit.
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