This small fragment contains meager remains of a commentary on an unknown text. Its most arresting feature is that it quotes a verse from the Epic of Creation (Enūma eliš), likmi tiāmta napištašu lisīq u likri, “Let him bind Tiāmat and straiten and diminish her life” (Enūma eliš VII 132). The verse in question is then commented upon by explaining that ša means “to straiten.”

The fact that the fragment cites and comments on a line from Enūma eliš does not mean, however, that it belongs to a commentary on that text.1 Lines quoted in commentaries are often commented upon to demonstrate points that are independent from the line quoted. In the present case, the commentator probably wanted to prove that the sign ša can mean “to straiten,” perhaps as part of a notarikon analysis of a word.

It is difficult to ascertain the nature of the base text: all that is certain is that one of its words contained the sign ša. Other tablets accessed on the same day (81-4-28) include commentaries on astrological and lexical texts: see a list here.

• 1. Lambert leaves this possibility open: “The piece is too small for any conclusion to be drawn. It could even be a commentary on Enūma Eliš,” in W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Creation Myths. Eisenbrauns, 2013.