Gadotti & Sigrist, 2011A. Gadotti and Sigrist, M. , Cuneiform Texts in the Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University. CDL Press, 2011.: 153
Heeßel, 2000N. P. Heeßel, Babylonisch-assyrische Diagnostik. Ugarit-Verlag, 2000.: 272-273
Wee, 2012J. Wee, The Practice of Diagnosis in Mesopotamian Medicine: With Editions of Commentaries on the Diagnostic Series Sa-gig. PhD thesis, 2012.: 683-686
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Frahm, 2011E. Frahm, Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation. Ugarit-Verlag, 2011.: 227
Gabbay, 2016U. Gabbay, The Exegetical Terminology of Akkadian Commentaries. Brill, 2016.: 107 (7), 109 (6, 8, 10)
Genty, 2010bT. Genty, “Les commentaires à TDP 3-40. Première partie”, Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes, vol. 16, pp. 1-38, 2010.[Catalogue]: 14
Heeßel, 2000N. P. Heeßel, Babylonisch-assyrische Diagnostik. Ugarit-Verlag, 2000.[Edition]: 272-273
Wee, 2012J. Wee, The Practice of Diagnosis in Mesopotamian Medicine: With Editions of Commentaries on the Diagnostic Series Sa-gig. PhD thesis, 2012.[Edition, commentary]: 683-686
This tablet contains the beginning of a commentary on the 23rd tablet of the diagnostic medical series Sagig. The curious triangular shape of the present tablet becomes explicable when compared to another tablet from the same collection, RMC 189, which is also triangular. As suggested by E. Frahm (private communication), both RMC 189 and the present tablet were probably trimmed down to that shape by a dealer, who must have then rejoined them and sold them as a complete tablet. The provenience of the tablet is uncertain, but Nippur or Uruk are good possibilities.
The commentary is concerned with philological issues. Thus the very rare verb ṣarāšu (previously unrecognized) is equated with the more common natāku, “to drip.” Several of the commentarial entires are introduced by the relative pronoun ša, which in commentaries frequently introduces paraphrases. The most arresting feature of the fragment is a previously unrecognized vertical quotation from the lexical series Erimḫuš, which aims to prove the equivalence of the colors pelû, “light red,” and zarriqu, “iridiscent.”1
The edition below has been collated with the help of a CDLI photo of the tablet. The collation has revealed several improved readings, marked below with an asterisk.
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* GIG ZÉ ip-ru : ÚḪ ina ŠUB-šú i-ṣar-⸢riš*⸣1
(o 1) (Tablet) "If the patient vomits gall" (= Sagig 23 1). "When he spits, he keeps dribbling" (iṣarriš) (= Sagig 23 unknown) means "he keeps dripping," since ŠUR means "to dribble" and ŠUR means "to drip."
it-ta-na-at-tuk : ŠUR : šá-ra-šú* : ŠUR : na-⸢ta⸣-[ku]2
MÚD MUD ŠUB.ŠUBa : MÚD : da-mu : MUD : da-mu ⸢:⸣ [x x x]
(o 3) "He continuously vomits dark blood (MÚD MUD)" (= Sagig 23 unknown) MÚD means "blood" and MUD means "dark" [...]
pe-la-a : igi sù : igi sù-a : sù-a : [sù-sù-a]3
(o 4) "Light red" (= Sagig 23 9) - (as in) IGI SÙ, IGI SÙ.A, SÙ.A, [SÙ.SÙ.A] (equal) "iridescent," "iridescent" (fem.), "light red," and "light red" (fem.) (quotation from Erimḫuš II 310-313).
za-ar-ri-iq : za-ar-riq-tú ⸢: pe*⸣-[lu-u pe-li-tu]4
⸢NINDA*⸣ URU₄iš : šá ina la ṭè-mi-⸢šú⸣ [x x x x x x]5
(o 6) "If he craves bread" (= Sagig 23 unknown) refers to (the person) who without consideration [demands bread].
ú-ḫab-ba-at : šá ina ŠU eš-[x x x x x x x]6
(o 7) "He moves" (= Sagig 23 unknown) refers to (the person) who in (his) hand [...]
šá a-kal ina ŠU-MIN-šú : ú-⸢ḫab⸣-[ba-at x x x x x]7
(o 8) [...] refers to (the person) who (has) bread in his hands. "He m][oves" ...].
ina pi-i-šú ma-⸢ár⸣-[x x x x x x x x x]
(o 9) [...] in his mouth [...].
šá ina la ṭè-[mi-šú x x x x x x x x x]
(o 10) [...] refers to (the person) who without co[nsideration ...].
ka-⸢x⸣ [...]
(o 11) ...
⸢x⸣ [...]
1Both readings r[aḫ] (Heeßel) and r[a] (Wee) seem epigraphically impossible. ri[š is epigraphically very likely, and it fits well with the verb in the next line. The verb ṣarāšu G is very poorly attested (the only lexical attestation is MSL SS 1 p. 97 l. 6 and note ad loc., [giš.x]-zé-àm-bar = i-ṣu ṣa-ri-iš).
2The readings šá-ra-ḫu? (Heeßel) and šá-ra+ri (Wee) should be discarded. The last sign is a clear ŠÚ.
3Lines 4-5 contain a previously unrecognized vertical quotation from Erimḫuš II 310-313 (MSL 17 43): igi-su₄ = zarriqu; igi-su₄-su₄ = zarriqtu; su₄ = pelû; su₄-su₄-a = pelītu. In the lexical tradition pelû is equated with SU₄, but the equation SÙ = pelû is attested in the commentary TCL 6 17 r 17 (CCP 3.1.8.A.a).
4As kindly pointed out by N. Veldhuis, in this entry Erimhuš quotes from Sª A. SÙ is not unknown for Sum "red" ("iridescent" when used for eyes): in OB and Ur III the spelling of that word is very unstable (or rather, regional) and it appears as SU₄ (hardly ever Ur III), SÙ, SU₁₃ - and later SA₅ [information courtesy of N. Veldhuis].
5Compare NINDA URU₄ in Sagig XVI 100'. Wee assumes that the first sign is erased, but the traces suggest otherwise.
6The only attestadtion of uḫabbat in Sagig is Sagig XV 16': ŠU-MIN-šú ana KA-šú ú-ḫab-bat, translated by Heeßel AOAT 43 (2000) p. 156 as "Wenn dito und er seine Hände zu seinem Mund bewegt?" (see also the commentary ibid. p. 164).
7The reading ú-ḫ[ab-bat] is proposed in Frahm GMTR 5 (2011) p. 227 fn. 1058. ḫ[ab] is epigraphically very likely.
