Catalogue information

British Museum

BM 59595

82-7-14,4005

Sippar›(Sippar), 82-7-14 consignment

CDLI:

P461268

Publication

Copy:

STC 2 xlix-l

Photo:

Nisaba 2 cover [obv]

Editions:

Lambert, 2013W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Creation Myths. Eisenbrauns, 2013.: 175-177 [ll. 1-16]

Verderame, 2002L. Verderame, Le Tavole I-VI della serie astrologica "Enūma Anu Enlil". Di.Sc.A.M., 2002.: 36-37

Commentary

Divination›Astrological. Enūma Anu Enlil

Broken

Base text:

Enūma Anu Enlil 1

Commentary no:

Tablet information

Babylonian

Fragment

Columns:

Lines:

obv 20, rev 10 + 2

Size:

4,6 × 4,12 cm

Chaldean / early Achaemenid (late 7th / 6th cent) (mostly "Sippar Collection")

Bibliography

Frahm, 2011E. Frahm, Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation. Ugarit-Verlag, 2011.: 92, 136-37, 287

Gabbay, 2016U. Gabbay, The Exegetical Terminology of Akkadian Commentaries. Brill, 2016.: 64 (r 4), 74 (0b), 85 (r 12)

Horowitz, 1998W. Horowitz, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography. Eisenbrauns, 1998.: 146

Lambert, 2013W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Creation Myths. Eisenbrauns, 2013.
[On line 1-20: Transcription and translation]: 175-177

Leichty, 1986E. Leichty, Catalogue of the Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum. Volume VI: Tablets from Sippar 1. British Museum Publications, 1986.
[Bilingual literary; STC 2 49-50]: 288

van de Mieroop, 2016M. van de Mieroop, Philosophy before the Greeks. The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia. Princeton University Press, 2016.
[Translation]: 135-136

Verderame, 2002L. Verderame, Le Tavole I-VI della serie astrologica "Enūma Anu Enlil". Di.Sc.A.M., 2002.: 36-37

Weidner, 1941aE. F. Weidner, “Die astrologische Serie Enûma Anu Enlil”, Archiv für Orientforschung, vol. 14, pp. 172-195, 1941.: 193

Record

Jiménez, 03/2014 (ATF Transliteration)

Jiménez, 03/2014 (Collation)

Jiménez, 03/2014 (Introduction)

Veldhuis, 09/2014 (Lemmatization)

Jiménez, 08/2016 (Commentary markup)

By Enrique Jiménez |

How to cite

Jiménez, E., 2014, “Commentary on Enūma Anu Enlil 1 (CCP 3.1.1.C),” Cuneiform Commentaries Project (E. Frahm, E. Jiménez, M. Frazer, and K. Wagensonner), 2013–2024; accessed April 19, 2024, at https://ccp.yale.edu/P461268. DOI: 10079/5mkkww1

BibTex XML RIS

Introduction

This tablet preserves a commentary on the opening section of the astrological series Enūma Anu Enlil. This series opens with a short bilingual introduction referring to how Anu, Enlil, and Ea appointed Sîn (or, in the Akkadian version, Šamaš) to be the omen-bearing sign in the sky. As argued by Lambert1, the divergences between the Akkadian and the Sumerian versions of this section are probably the result of a not altogether successful attempt at combining the Sumerian part of the introduction to the Moon section of Enūma Anu Enlil (tablets 1-22) with the Akkadian part of the prologue to the Sun section of the series (tablets 23-36).

The base text is cited in full at the beginning of the commentary (ll. 1-14), the Akkadian being introduced by the word šanîš, "alternatively," after the Sumerian part. The commentary follows the text. At the beginning it explains the beginning and end of the temporal clauses of the main text: ud ... ta in Sumerian, enūma in Akkadian. Then it states that the phrase "barge of the sky" is a sobriquet for the moon. It then continues equating moon and month and, apparently, the signs mú and dù,

Lines 24ff represent a different section, of astrological character. It mentions several constellations, and some of the words used had already appeared in the previous lines (e.g. napāḫu). However, the tablet is very damaged at this point, and the relationship of this section with the previous one remains uncertain.

It is possible that the tablet had a colophon, but the meager remains at the end of the reverse are not sufficient to settle the question.

1. W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Creation Myths. Eisenbrauns, 2013. Pp. 175-176

Edition

ccpo

STC 2, pl. 49-50 [commentaries]


Obverse
x16	obverse
11	ud an-na ^den-líl-lá ^den-ki diŋir [gal-gal-la]			(1) When Anu, Enlil and Enki, the [great] gods had established in their firm plans the great cosmic structures and the barge of Sîn,
22	ŋalga-ne-ne gin₆-na-ta me gal-gal-⸢la⸣
33	má-gur₈ ^dsuen-na mu-un-gin₆-ne-⸢eš⸣
44	u₄-sakar mú-mú-da itud ù-tu-ud-da			(4) when they had established that the crescent moon should grow and give birth to the month, and (had established this) as the omen-bearer of heaven and earth,
55	ù ŋiškim an ki-a mu-un-gin₆-ne-eš
66	má-gur₈ an-na ní pa è ak-a-dè1			(6) that "the barge of heaven" (sc. the moon) should come forth radiantly, and that it should be seen in the middle of the sky, it (sc. the moon) came out.
77	šag₄ an-na igi bar-ra-ta èd

88	šá-ni-iš e-nu-ma ^da-num ^den-líl ^dé-a			(8) Or, alternatively: When Anu, Enlil and Ea, the great gods, established the designs of Heaven and Earth with their firm decision,
99	DINGIR-MEŠ GAL-MEŠ ina mil-ki-šú-nu ki-i-nu
1010	GIŠ.ḪUR-MEŠ AN^e u KI^tim iš-ku-nu
1111	a-na ŠU-MIN DINGIR-MEŠ GAL-MEŠ ú-kin-nu			(11) and entrusted in the hands of the great gods the creation of the day and the renewal of the month - things which are to be observed (for omens),
1212	u₄-mu ba-na-a ITI ud-du-šú šá IGI.DU₈-MEŠ
1313	a-me-lut-tu₄ ^dUTU ina ŠÀ KÁ È-šú i-mu-ru			(13) so that humankind could see the sun in the gate from which it sets out,
1414	qé-reb AN^e u KI^tim ki-niš uš-ta-mu^*-ú			(14) (the great gods) firmly took counsel in the middle of heaven and earth, (saying what follows).

1515	ud e-nu-ma	e-nu-ma	ul-tu šu-ta-mu-ú mál-ma-liš	(15) UD (l. 1) means "when;" "when" (l. 8) means "after they took counsel with one another."
1616	ta i-nu	ta	ul-tu	(16) TA (l. 7) means "when;" TA (l. 7) also means "after" (from the previous line in the commentary).
1717	má-gur₈	^dNANNA^ru	RU e-de-šú2	(17) The "barge" (l. 7) means "the crescent moon" (nannāru), where the sign RU means "to renew."
1818	u₄-sakar	ár-ḫa	SAKAR šu^*-x-[(x)]	(18) The "crescent" (l. 4) means "the month" (l. 12), where SAKAR means [...].
1919	⸢ár⸣-ḫa	^d30	[x x x x]	(19) The "month" (l. 12) means "the moon," which means [...].
2020	⸢mú⸣-mú	ud^!-du^!-⸢šu⸣	[x x x x]3	(20) MÚ.MÚ (l. 4) means "to renew" (l. 12), which means [...].
	reverse
2121	mu-mu ni-si-gu min-[na-bi]4			(21) (The sign read as) /mumu/ (l. 4) (is called) nisigu minnabi (i.e., "reduplicated SAR-sign").
2222	DÙ ^ga-^ag-^gugag-⸢gu^*⸣5			(22) (The sign) DÙ (is called) gaggu. DÙ means "to light, said of fire."
2323	DÙ na-pa-ḫi šá i-šat^*6
2424	^mulSAG.<(ME.GAR)> ^ḫe-píx ⸢šu^?⸣ x na-an-⸢šu^?⸣-x			(24) Jupiter [...] from the "tail" of Leo is visible, in the "forehead" of Libra the tail of Leo is a circle.
2525	ul-tu KUN ^mulUR.MAḪ IGI.DU₈
2626	ina IGI ^mulzi-ba-ni-tu₄
2727	KUN ^mulUR.⸢A^?⸣ kip-pa-tu₄
2828	ina ^iti⸢ŠU ^dUTU⸣ x [x x] ŠÚ			(28) In the month of Duʾūzu the sun [...] sets and in the month of Elūlu [...] rises.
2929	u ina ^iti⸢KIN^?⸣ [x] x x x KUR^ḫa
3030	ina [x x x x x x] MAN			(30) [...] If in [...]. If in [...].
3131	[...]
3232	[...]
3333	[...]
3434	[...]
3535	* ina [x x x] x
3636	* ina [x x x IGI].⸢TAB^? IGI⸣.KÁR7			(36) [...] collated and checked. [... of] Ša-Šamaš-šū.
3737	⸢x x⸣ [x x x ^{m^?}šá^?]-^dUTU-šu-ú8

1The construction ní ... pa è ... aka is otherwise attested in some manuscripts of the Hymn Enlil A (ETCSL 4.05.1) ll. 12 = 95, a text that was still copied in the MB period (Peterson UF 42 [2010] pp. 574-575); and in Winter and Summer (ETCSL 5.3.3) l. 292. Most importantly, it is said of the "crescent moon" (u₄-sakar) and the "month" (iti) in a hymn to Nanna (Nanna L = ETCSL 4.13.12) l. 4. These parallels are of relevance for dating the composition of the present text.

2ru = edēšu is an otherwise unattested equation. It is probably based on řu(DÙ) = edēšu. The latter equation, which is likewise unattested as such, was probably to be found in some lexical list now lost: it underlies in all likelihood the equation TU = edēšu in the Commentary on the Names of Marduk (CCP 1.1.B) l. 9.

3For the reading of the second word of the line, see Frahm GMTR 5 (2011) p. 92 fn. 460. The equation mú = uddušu is attested in CT 18 pl. 29 ii 33' (series Šarru).

4For the reading of the second part of the line, see Frahm GMTR 5 (2011) p. 92 fn. 460. For the sign name nisigu minnabi, see Gong AOAT 268 (2000) p. 174.

5The sign DÙ is not to be found in the text commented upon. It is probably a step in the commentator's line of reasoning, probably depending on the equation RU = edēšu in l. 17.

6The sign MÚ was probably equated with napāḫu in one of the previous lines of the commentary. The present line would then be an attempt at equating MÚ and DÙ. The equation DÙ = napāḫu ša išāti is, however, otherwise unattested. However, cf. Nabnītu XXII 7' (MSL 16 206).

7Lines 36-37 contain perhaps a short colophon.

8Si vera lectio, the name at the end would be otherwise unattested. Ša-Nabû-šū is, however, a common name in the NA and Achaemenid period (see e.g. PNA 3 1227, ref. courtesy of E.E. Payne).