Catalogue information

British Museum

82-5-22,572

Nineveh›Nineveh (Kuyunjik)

CDLI:

P237219

Publication

Copy:

RA 17 190-191

Photo:

CM 43 pl. 30

Editions:

Gehlken, 2012E. Gehlken, Weather Omens of Enūma Anu Enlil. Thunderstorms, Wind and Rain (Tablets 44–49). Brill, 2012.: 161-162, 197-198, 202-204

Labat, 1933R. Labat, Commentaires assyro-babyloniens sur les présages. Imprimerie-Librairie de l’Université, 1933.: 108-111

Commentary

Divination›Astrological. Enūma Anu Enlil

ṣâtu mukallimtu

Base text:

Enūma Anu Enlil 47-49 ("49"-"51")

Tablet information

Babylonian

Fragment, lower half

Columns:

Lines:

obv 26, rev 23

Size:

6,98 × 6,66 cm

7th cent (Assurbanipal libraries and other Assyrian cities)

Bibliography

de Zorzi, 2015N. de Zorzi, “Review of Gehlken Weather Omens of Enūma Anu Enlil Cuneiform Monographs 43”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, vol. 105, pp. 252-255, 2015.
[On line r 3-5 and 13]: 255b

Frahm, 2011E. Frahm, Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation. Ugarit-Verlag, 2011.: 56, 134, 148

Gabbay, 2016U. Gabbay, The Exegetical Terminology of Akkadian Commentaries. Brill, 2016.: 85 (r 6′), 146 (r 11, r 15, 17, 20)

Gehlken, 2012E. Gehlken, Weather Omens of Enūma Anu Enlil. Thunderstorms, Wind and Rain (Tablets 44–49). Brill, 2012.
[New edition]: 161-162, 197-198, 202-204

Heeßel, 2014N. P. Heeßel, “Review of Gehlken Weather Omens of Enūma Anu Enlil Cuneiform Monographs 43”, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, vol. 109, pp. 435-437, 2014.
[On line r 34': Read ru-ú-qu instead of **ru-qu-ú]: 436 fn. 5

Labat, 1933R. Labat, Commentaires assyro-babyloniens sur les présages. Imprimerie-Librairie de l’Université, 1933.
[Edition]: 108-111

Reiner, 1998aE. Reiner, “Celestial Omen Tablets and Fragments in the British Museum”, in tikip santakki mala bašmu.. Festschrift für Rykle Borger zu seinem 65. Geburtstag am 24. Mai 1994, S. M. Maul, Ed. Styx, 1998, pp. 215-302.: 290

Weidner, 1941aE. F. Weidner, “Die astrologische Serie Enûma Anu Enlil”, Archiv für Orientforschung, vol. 14, pp. 172-195, 1941.: 191

Weidner, 1968E. F. Weidner, “Die astrologische Serie Enûma Anu Enlil”, Archiv für Orientforschung, vol. 22, pp. 65-75, 1968.: 73-74

Record

Jiménez, 04/2014 (ATF Transliteration)

Jiménez, 04/2014 (Translation)

Jiménez, 04/2014 (Introduction)

Jiménez, 04/2014 (Lemmatization)

Jiménez, 08/2016 (Commentary markup)

By Enrique Jiménez |

How to cite

Jiménez, E., 2014, “Commentary on Enūma Anu Enlil 47-49 ("49"-"51") (CCP 3.1.47),” Cuneiform Commentaries Project (E. Frahm, E. Jiménez, M. Frazer, and K. Wagensonner), 2013–2024; accessed April 17, 2024, at https://ccp.yale.edu/P237219. DOI: 10079/gmsbcqw

BibTex XML RIS

Introduction

The tablet 82-5-2,572 preserves a commentary with a tabular format on several tablets from the meteorological section of Enūma Anu Enlil. According to the preserved rubrics (ll. 12' and 26'), this would be a commentary on the 49th and 50th tablet of EAE, which correspond with 47 and 48, respectively, in the main recensions. A further tablet, presumably the 49th, is commented upon in the reverse of the tablet.

The most remarkable peculiarity of this commentary is that its rubrics classify it as a ṣâtu mukallimtu. This is in fact the only commentary that combines both terms. E. Frahm1 has suggested that this might indicate that the tablet contains a ṣâtu-commentary (or, "lemmata") on a mukallimtu-commentary, i.e., a super-commentary. The fact that no mukallimtu-commentary on EAE 47-49 is known does not preclude this possibility.

The commentary is mostly concerned with philological issues. The most frequent operation is the syllabic rendering of logograms: e.g., ll. 17'-18' equate lal and an.ta, which in the base text describes the prosperity of the market or the harvest, with the Akkadian šaqû, "to be high." Another operation is the explanation of difficult words from the base text through more common terms, which occurs e.g. in l. 34' (duppuru = nesû = rūqu, the three words with the meaning "distant"). In the same manner, difficult or misleading sequences of signs are explained through fuller syllabic renderings, e.g. 15' it-kup kúr, "attack of the enemy," explained as it-ku-up lúkúr; or l. 28' ila-min, "shall be evil," rendered as i-lam-min. In one case the commentary makes the base text more explicit, as to avoid misinterpretations: l. 27', where the protasis "if the south wind blows during the month of Nisannu" is said to mean "it blows from the 1st until the 30th day."

This commentary thus tries to ensure the correct interpretation of its base text, rather than to look for deeper or hidden meanings of it.

The tablet was collated in the British Museum in August 2014.

1. E. Frahm, Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation. Ugarit-Verlag, 2011. P. 56

Edition

ccpo

RA 017, 190-191


Obverse
o 1'o 1'	[x x x (x x x)	x x x]-⸢x-ma iz-nu-nu^*⸣ GIB	[... means ...] it rains and (the rainbow) arches (cf. Enūma Anu Enlil 47 r 19').
o 2'2'	[x x x (x x x)	x x] ⸢GIB^?⸣-ma mit^?-tuḫ^?-tu^? ina AN.ÚR GIB	[... means ...] arches ... arches in the horizon.
o 3'3'	[x x x	x]-pu-ú e-le-ni-i	[...] means the upper [...].
o 4'4'	[^giš]⸢TUKUL^?⸣	kak^*-ku	[TUKUL] (= Enūma Anu Enlil 47 unknown) means "weapon."
o 5'5'	[ar-bu]-⸢tu₄^?⸣	ni-du-tu₄	["wasteland" (= Enūma Anu Enlil 47 r 40' (?))] means "uncultivated land."
o 6'6'	[x x] ⸢x⸣	it-tan-mar	[...] means "is seen."
o 7'7'	[x] ⸢x x⸣	a-la-ku	[...] means "to blow."
o 8'8'	⸢x⸣ [x] ⸢x⸣	šá-ka-nu	[...] means "to set."
o 9'9'	qab-lu	ta-ḫa-zu	"Combat" (cf. Enūma Anu Enlil 47 r 59') means "battle."
o 10'10'	ut-tu-ú	a-ma-ru1	"To discover" means "to find."
o 11'11'	KI	ma-a-tu₄	KI means "land."

o 12'12'	U₄.UL.DÙ.A NÍG.PÀ.DA DUB 49-KAM * U₄ AN ^dEN.LÍL2		Lemmata from the mukallimtu-commentary on the 48th tablet of Enūma Anu Enlil.

o 13'13'	⸢x⸣ [(x)]-ru-uš	ša-ne-é ṭè-mi3	[...] means "to change someone's mind."
o 14'14'	[it]-kup ⸢KÚR^*⸣	⸢it⸣-ku-up ^lúKÚR	"Attack of the enemy" (e.g. Enūma Anu Enlil 48 S 9' and 33') means "attack of the enemy."
o 15'15'	⸢ma-ṭe⸣-e KI.LAM	[x] ma-ʾa-a-du	"Loss in the market" (Enūma Anu Enlil 48 S 10'f, 22'f and 34'f) means "great [...]."
o 16'16'	ⁱ-^dimIDIM	⸢x x x⸣	IDIM (Enūma Anu Enlil 48 S 7', 19' and 20') means DUGUD, i.e., "noble."
o 17'17'	LAL	šá-qu-ú	LAL (Enūma Anu Enlil 48 35') means "an increase" (sc. in the market).
o 18'18'	AN.TA	MIN<(ša-qu-ú)>	AN.TA (Enūma Anu Enlil 48 S 41') means ditto ("an increase," sc. in the harvest).

o 19'19'	ḫur-ḫum-ma-⸢tu⸣	⸢ḫu^*⸣-[ur-ḫu-um-ma-tu x (x)]-šú	ḫur-ḫum-ma-tu (Enūma Anu Enlil 48 S 56') means "foam" (written ḫ[u-ur-ḫu-ma-tu]).
o 20'20'	[(x x)] šu-ub-[x (x x)	x x x x x]-⸢x⸣	...
o 21'21'	ḫa-ru-bé-[e	ŠE.GIŠ].Ì4	"Carobs" (cf. Enūma Anu Enlil 48 S 93') means "[se]same"
o 22'22'	mu-še-lu-ú TU₁₅-MEŠ ⸢x⸣ [x	x x x x x] ina TU₁₅ LIMMU^*-BA GAR-MEŠ5	"A mušēlû-cloud formation that [...] the winds" (cf. Enūma Anu Enlil 48 r 11') means that ...] are in all four directions.
o 23'23'	* U₄ ŠÚ^am-ma ⸢i⸣-[za-nun MURU₉ x x x	x x x x x x x x]	"If the day gets cloudy and it [rains ] (cf. Enūma Anu Enlil 48 r 6')
o 24'24'	MURU₉ ⸢la⸣ [x x x	x x x]-šú	Fog [...].
o 25'25'	DIRI ma-ḫa-ḫu x [x x]	[x x x]-⸢ma⸣	DIRI means "to soak" (quotation from Diri I 12) [...].

o 26'26'	U₄.UL.DÙ.A NÍG.⸢PÀ⸣.[DA DUB 49-KAM * U₄] AN ^dEN.LÍL		Lemmata from the mukallimtu-commentary [on the 49th tablet of Enūma] Anu Enlil.
Reverse
r 27'r 27'	* ina ^itiBÁRA ^tu₁₅U₁₈.LU DU	TA U₄ 1^*-KAM EN U₄ 30-KAM DU^ku	"If the south wind blows during the month of Nisannu" (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 1) means it blows from the first day until the 30th day.
r 28'28'	ila-min	i-lam-min	ila-min (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 1) means "he will become angry."
r 29'29'	^šarŠÁR ra-bu-ú	^šarŠÁR du-uš-šu^!(DU-)ú6
r 30'30'	^šarŠÁR	ma-ʾa-a-du	ŠÁR (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "to be big," ŠÁR means "to let flourish."
r 31'31'	DUMU GABA	šu-u ṣa-aḫ-ru šá UBUR	"Son of the breast" (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "he is the small one of the breast" (i.e., a suckling child).
r 32'32'	ḪÚL	na-ḫa-šú	ḪÚL (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "to thrive."
r 33'33'	KIN.KIN	ši-te-ʾ-ú	KIN.KIN (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "to search."
r 34'34'	dup^*-pu-ru	né-su-ú MIN<(dup-pu-ru)> ru-ú-qu7	"Astray" (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "distant," it also means "far away."
r 35'35'	BAL	e-nu-ú	BAL (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "to change."
r 36'36'	[EŠ.BAR] GARⁱⁿ	EŠ.BAR šá-kin áš-šú ITI gab-bi-šú DU^ku	"[The decision] is made" (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "the decision is made" because it will blow for the whole month.
r 37'37'	[x.(x)].DA	it-tu₄	"[...]" means "ominous sign."
r 38'38'	[GIG^? GIG^? ZI^?]-ma	mu-ru-uṣ mar-ṣu i-de-ek-ka-a	"[...]" means "the disease of the sick man will depart."
r 39'39'	[sur]-sur	za-mar	"Rapidly" (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "quickly."
r 40'40'	[(x x)] ⸢AN⸣^ú	šá-mu-ú da-a-ru áš-šú za-na-an zu-un-nu8	"[(... of)] rain" (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "downpour forever," referring to the "raining of the rain."
r 41'41'	[na]-⸢a⸣-ru	miṭ-ra-tu₄ ki-ru-ú9	"River(bank)" (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "irrigated orchard" (in the sense of) "garden."
r 42'42'	x-(x)]-ḫu	áš-šú da-ke-e	[...] on account of "to raise."
r 43'43'	^iti]⸢GAN^?⸣	ITI šu-a-tu₄ KAM šu-a-tu₄10	[The month of] Kislīmu (= Enūma Anu Enlil 49 unknown) means "that month," inasmuch as KAM means "that."
r 44'44'	[...]	ina KUR ^dUTU ZI-ma	[...] means "(a wind) will blow at sunrise."
r 45'45'	[x x x	a^?]-⸢šam^?⸣-šu-tu₄ áš-šú du-luḫ-ḫe-e	[...] dust storm, on accound of the disturbance.
r 46'46'	[...]-⸢ḫa^?⸣-tu₄11		...
r 47'47'	[...] x x		...

1The first word is transcribed by Gehlken (CM 43 [2012] p. 161f) as a₁₂-tu-u₂.

2This is the only rubric which classifies the text as both a ṣâtu and a mukallimtu commentary. Frahm GMTR 5 (2011) p. 56 points out that this might be an indication that this is a ṣâtu-commentary on a mukallimtu-commentary, which could be translated as "Lemmata from the mukallimtu-commentary ..."

3Gehlken follows the restoration of CAD Š 403b, Ṭ 86a and AHw 1166b: ⸢GALGA⸣.[KÚR].RU.UŠ, but it is difficult to believe that such a phrase could have appeared in an omen. Cf. the Commentary on the Theodicy 12 (CCP 1.4) dubbubiš : DIMMA.KÚR.RA : dubbubu : šanê ṭēme.

4The line has been restored according to VAT 9434 o 3.

5The sign MEŠ copied by Meek is no longer visible on the tablet.

6The emendation of DU in šu follows Labat Commentaires (1933) p. 110. The equation ŠÁR = duššû is also attested in BM 39612 (CCP 7.2.u126).

7Collated, correct the reading of the first word in Meek's copy (RA 17 p. 191), Labat Commentaires (1933) p. 110 and Gehlken CM 43 (2012) p. 203f.

8The restoration follows CAD Z 34b.

9Gehlken CM 43 (2012) p.203 restores [mu-š]á-ru, but the term mūšaru, "garden," is never attested in omens, an its equation with miṭrātu would be equally unattested. The equation miṭrātu = nāru, on the other hand, is attested e.g. in Malku II 41.

10Cf. in Sîn ina tāmartīšu I 50 (Koch-Westenholz ResOr 12 [1999] p. 156): ITI.NE ITIšuātuNEšuātuina ṣâti qabi, "ITI.NE means 'that month,' because NE means 'that,' as it is said in bilingual lists." Here it is assumed that the commentator plays with the homophonic signs GAN (KÁM) and KAM.

11According to Frahm GMTR 5 (2011) p. 148, this line would be the first one of the final subscript.

DOI: 10079/gmsbcqw

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CCP 3.1.47 - Enūma Anu Enlil 47-49 (“49”-“51”)

RA 017, 190-191