This study collects and analyses the lexicon of the containers documented in the texts of the Neo-Assyrian empire (9th–7th centuries BC). Designations for various types of containers refer to the three dialects attested in first millennium BC Assyria, i.e.: 1) the Neo-Assyrian dialect, 2) the Neo-Babylonian dialect, and 3) the literary dialect known as “Standard Babylonian”. Through an interdisciplinary investigation involving a lexical analysis and a comparison of the textual data with the iconographical and archaeological evidence of first millennium BC Assyrian utensils, the research presents an updated tool for the study of an
important sector of the vocabulary and of the material culture of imperial Assyria.
This study is divided into six sections: a lexical repertoire, which discusses all the designations for vessels and other types of containers (Section I); an analytical part which focuses on grammatical aspects of the lexicon of the containers in light of linguistic studies on the Neo-Assyrian dialect (Section II); a glossary (Section III); a section of appendixes (Section IV). A number of tables (Section V) and of figures of Neo-Assyrian containers (Section VI) are also included in the book. The catalogue of figures gathers a selection of the iconographical and archaeological evidence about various containers of the Neo-Assyrian period. Some of these objects may be identified with the ones mentioned in the written sources.