| | |
Obverse |
oo NaN | (beginning obverse missing) |
o 1'o 1' | [ina qar-ni]-šá qaq-qar ṭe-[rat ...] | (o 1') “With her [horns] she is beating (ṭerât) the ground,” [...]. |
o 2'2' | [ša? el]-lam-me-e DU-⸢MEŠ⸣ak di-⸢ma?⸣-[šu? x x]1 | (o 2') The tears [of] Ellammê flowed [...]; alternatively, si egarbi tilla means “Elammû” [means Sîn], whose figure brings the light to an end,” [(since) si means “light,” e]gar means “figure,” bi means “his,” and til means “to bring to an end;” (this is said) on account of a complete eclipse. |
o 3'3' | [šá]-⸢niš⸣ si é-gar₈-bi til-la : el-lam-mu-ú [(x) : d30?] |
o 4'4' | ⸢šá nu⸣-ru la-ni-šú ú-qé-et!-ta-a [(x) : si : nu]-⸢ru?⸣ : É?.GAR₈? : la!?-⸢ni?⸣ |
o 5'5' | bi : šu-ú : til : qa-tu-ú : ⸢šá AN?⸣.[TA.LÙ] ⸢TIL⸣tì GARnu |
o 6'6' | áš-šú ÁB-MU la a-lit-ti : áš-⸢šú d⸣[30 EN la]-⸢a-tu₄⸣ KÙ-MEŠ2 | (o 6') “Because of my barren cow,” (is said) on account of [Sîn, the lord of] the pure [co]ws. |
o 7'7' | né-šal-pa-a : e-ti-qa : la-⸢ra⸣-[aḫ x x x x x x] x | (o 7') “To slither” means “to pass accross.” “Straits” mean [...], as in “straits are stuck to his body” (quotation from the Compendium). |
o 8'8' | lìb-bu-ú la-ra-aḫ gig-⸢ga⸣ su-ni-⸢ta kéš⸣-da3 |
o 9'9' | na-ḫu-un-di : d30 : na-ru-un-du : d⸢UTU⸣ | (o 9') “Naḫundi” means Sîn, “Narundi” means Šamaš. |
o 10'10' | ul-la dUTU : ul-la : an-⸢na⸣4 | (o 10') (In) “Now Šamaš!,” “now!” means “he[re]. |
o 11'11' | Ì.GIŠ BUR šá ina giGAG.U₄.TAG.GA in-⸢di?⸣ | (o 11') (In) “oil of the bowl which touches the arrow,” “arrow” (gi.gag.u₄.tag.ga) means “arrow” (šiltāḫu), “arrow” (gi.gag.u₄.tag.ga) means “dart” (mulmullu, written mul-mul). “Dart” ([mul-mu]l?) means “arrow” and “dart” (m[ul?-mul]) [means “seed”]. |
o 12'12' | ⸢gi⸣GAG.U₄.TAG.GA : šil-ta-ḫu ⸢gi⸣[GAG].U₄.⸢TAG⸣.GA : [mul-mul?] |
o 13'13' | [mul]-⸢mul?⸣ : šil-ta-⸢ḫu :? mul?⸣-[mul? : ze-ri] |
| (rest of obverse missing) |
Reverse |
rr NaN | (beginning reverse missing) |
r 1'r 1' | na-ma-ri ⸢: KASKAL?⸣ [...] | (r 1') “Path” means “way” [...]. |
r 2'2' | gišMÁ? : tam-tì ⸢šá?-niš? x⸣ [x x x x x x x] ⸢x ḫu? x⸣5 | (r 2') “Boat” means “sea,” alternatively, ... [...] |
r 3'3' | šá ŠÀ na₄iš-qil-lat ⸢li⸣-kal-lim nu?-⸢ru?⸣ a-na MUNUS.PEŠ₄ iq-ta-bi | (r 3') “Let him show the light to the one living in the shell!” refers to the pregnant woman (munus.peš₄), because “shell” (lit. “the pregnant stone,” na₄.peš₄) means “shell,” alternatively, it means “mother.” Thirdly, it can mean “pregnant woman.” |
r 4'4' | na₄iškila : ṣil-lat šá-niš um-mi šal-šiš MUNUS.PEŠ₄ |
r 5'5' | ⸢ul⸣ sa-an-qa-at GABA-sa : šá ku-lu-lu-ša la kut-tu-mu6 | (r 5') “Her chest is not ..."; one whose locks are not covered – as in, “the chest was ..., they stripped away the veil” (quotation from “Evil Demons”). |
r 6'6' | ⸢lìb⸣-bu-ú ir-tu₄ ⸢ar-da?-at⸣ pa-su-um-tu₄ ⸢iš-ḫu⸣-ṭu7 |
r 7'7' | ḫur-da-at-su : su-un MUNUS! : lìb-bu-ú ŠU-MIN-⸢ka⸣ šu-ta-am-ṣa-am-ma8 | (r 7') “Her vulva” means “female loin,” as in “put our your hand and stroke our vulva!” (quotation from Gilgameš VI 69). “In his arm” means “in his side,” since “arm” means “side.” |
r 8'8' | lu-pu-ut ḫur-da-at-ni : ina kit-tab-ri-šú : ina i-di-šú |
r 9'9' | kit-tam-ri : i-di : ṭurṭu-⸢ur-da⸣ giš⸢MÁ⸣ : ⸢ṭú⸣-ur-da : gišMÁ?9 | (r 9') “Boat, send forth! (written DUR-da)” means “Boat, send forth (written ṭu-ur-da).” “Boat” means “pregnant woman", thus (the sentence means) “Pregnant woman, send forth (written TU-ri-di)!” |
r 10'10' | gišMÁ : MUNUS.PEŠ₄ : um-ma MUNUS.PEŠ₄ ⸢tu⸣-ri-di?10 |
r 11'11' | e-di-ti : mi-di-ti ⸢:⸣ e-du-ú : mi-du-ú11 | (r 11') “Known” means “known” (dialectal). “To know” means “to know” (dialectal). “Drop-of-heaven stone” – ... you recite. |
r 12'12' | ⸢NA₄⸣ ti-ki ANe x (x) NUMUN DUG₄.DUG₄ub12 |
r 13'13' | [x] x x [x] x-ti kaz-bat : ba-na-at13 | (r 13') [...] ... “charming” means “beautiful.” |
r 14'14' | [nam?-ru? šá? d?30?] nu?-úr? šá d?⸢30?⸣ : nu-ru-ub Ú-[ME]14 | (r 14') “Brilliant of Sîn” means “light of Sîn.” “The softest grass” means [...]. |
r 15'15' | [...] x ni x [x] | (r 15') ... |
| (rest of reverse missing) |
1The base text is preserved in BAM 401, i:41 and duplicates (Veldhuis, ASJ 11, 243: 41): el-lam-me-e i-il-la-ka di-ma-šu.
2Note the use of alliteration in the base text and the commentary: lītiya lā ālitti and lâti ellēti (cf. also Veldhuis 1989, 257, n. 4)
3This line is a quotation from Compendium 3 l. 39 (see Schramm, W. GBAO 2 (2008) p. 36): la-ra-aḫ gig-ga su-a-n[i-t]a keš₂-⸢da⸣.
4If the second word is emended to an-na!, ulla and anna should perhaps be taken as deictic elements or adverbial particles (status absolutus of ullû and annû), with the meaning “that, this” (or else, “there, here,” or “now, well”). Note, however, that ulla and anna appear together in divinatory context (CAD U/W 75a), as well as in the commentary to the Weidner List cited ibid., but in the present context they need not mean “yes” and “no.”
5The first two signs may also be {giš}GA₂?
6Cf. Lambert Iraq 31 (1969) p. 31 l. 44: ul sa-qa-at uzuGABA-sa sà-pu-ḫu ku-lu-lu-šá, “Her breast is not..., her locks are scattered.” The line is preserved in BAM 248 ii 28. It is not certain whether the entire line is a quotation from the base text, or contains an explanation as well.
7The line contains a quotation from the Akkadian part of Udug-ḫul 13/15 l. 32: [ga]ba šú-ki-a [x x x b]a-an-sìg-ga-eš || ir-ti [x x x] pa-su-un-tu iš-ḫu-ṭu. The word after irtu is not preserved in any manuscript of Udug-ḫul: in the present tablet, the signs are damaged, but they may be read as kat?-ma?-⸢at⸣, “covered,” ⸢ár-ša⸣-at, “unclean,” or ⸢ár-da⸣-at, or “maiden” (i.e., "they stripped away the veil from the maiden's chest"). The word pa-su-um-tu₄ (which is probably pusumtu, “veil,” previously attested only in Malku, see CAD P 538a) is probably motivated by a semantic association of the verb katāmu in the previous line with pasāmu, “to veil” [ILF].
8The sign after su-un may be ši, i.e., su-un-ši, “her lap” (on -ši instead of -ša as the fs possessive suffix, see George Gilgamesh (2003) p. 882) [EJ].
9The reading of this and the following line follows Steinert 2017 p. 333, which is based on collation of BAM 248 ii 51: ṭur-da gišMÁ ana kar šul-me, “send forth the boat to the safe mooring place.” Previous speculations should be discarded (cp. “The signs read as tu-lu ša? may be tu-ur ša gišMÁ (tu-ur would stand for ṭurru, “rope”) [EJ], or else DURṭu-⸢ur.DA⸣ gišMÁ : tu-ur-da gišMÁ (i.e. dur-da = *turdu?) [ILF]. The rope of the boat may stand for the “umbilical cord” (abunnatu = LI.DUR), for the baby is the boat moored at the key of death by the rope and wants to break free [ILF].”)
10The particle umma is used in a few occasions in commentaries as a technical term introducing a paraphrase of the base text in light of the preceding interpretation. As discussed by Hätinen 2017, the “boat” is here interpreted as the “pregnant woman” (note the reading in Hätinen 2017: 179, li-re-di as redû N).
11See BAM 248 iii 4: an-nu ki-nu šá dé-a i-di-tu₄ ÉN ša dma-mi. The second Glossenkeil might be written over an erasure.
12See BAM 248 ii 56, 70, and iii 7: DÙ.DÙ.BI na₄ti-iq ANe SAḪAR sa-mit BÀD ŠUBti. The last phrase would seem like a citation from a ritual instruction in the base text, but it does not appear in the main manuscript of this text (BAM 248).
13See BAM 248, iii 12: bi-nu-tú kaz-bat i-mur-ši-ma d30 i-ra-am-ši, "Sîn saw the charming creature and fell in love with her." Frahm GMTR 5 (2011) p. 241 with n. 1128 cautiously suggests reading ⸢bi?-nu?⸣-ti, but, as noted by him, this is difficult to reconcile with the traces of the signs in the tablet.
14See BAM 248, iii 13: nam-ru šá d30 šu-ba-ḫi iš-ta-kan-ši; and 16: ina nu-ru-ub Ú-ME i-re-ʾ-ú-ši!(ME), "he pastured her in the softest grass."