Catalogue information

British Museum

K.2064

Nineveh›Nineveh (Kuyunjik)

CDLI:

P394167

Publication

Copy:

ACh Ištar 21 [composite copy]

Commentary

Divination›Astrological. Enūma Anu Enlil

Broken

Base text:

Enūma Anu Enlil 55

Commentary no:

Tablet information

Assyrian

Fragment

Columns:

Lines:

obv 16, rev 4

Size:

7,62 × 5,08 cm

7th cent (Assurbanipal libraries and other Assyrian cities)

Bibliography

CAD T 20b[On line 12]

CAD S 351b[On line 10]

Frahm, 2011E. Frahm, Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation. Ugarit-Verlag, 2011.: 150

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.
[EAE 55 comm.]: 218

Reiner, 1999E. Reiner, “Babylonian Celestial Divination”, in Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination, N. M. Swerdlow, Ed. Institute of Technology Press, 1999, pp. 21-37.
[On line 6-7]: 28-29

Reiner, 2004E. Reiner, “Constellation into Planet”, in Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree, C. Burnett, Hogendijk, J. P. , Plofker, K. , and Yano, M. , Eds. Brill, 2004, pp. 3-15.
[On line 9-10, 6-7]: 5, 10

Reiner, 2006E. Reiner, “If Mars Comes Close to Pegasus..”, in If a Man Builds a Joyful House: Assyriological Studies in Honor of Erle Verdun Leichty, A. K. Guinan, Ellis, MdeJ. , Ferrara, A. J. , Freedman, S. M. , Rutz, M. T. , Sassmannshausen, L. , Tinney, S. , and Waters, M. W. , Eds. Brill, 2006, pp. 313-323.
[On line 6']: 319

Record

Frazer, 08/2016 (Transliteration)

Frazer, 08/2016 (Translation)

Frazer, 08/2016 (Introduction)

Jiménez, 08/2016 (Commentary markup)

Frazer, 02/2018 (Corrections [introduction])

By Mary Frazer |

How to cite

Frazer, M., 2016, “Commentary on Enūma Anu Enlil 55 (CCP 3.1.55.A),” Cuneiform Commentaries Project (E. Frahm, E. Jiménez, M. Frazer, and K. Wagensonner), 2013–2024; accessed April 24, 2024, at https://ccp.yale.edu/P394167. DOI: 10079/1g1jx5m

BibTex XML RIS

Introduction

This tablet, found on Kuyunjik, Nineveh, preserves twenty lines from the middle of a commentary on the astrological series Enūma Anu Enlil. The preserved lines deal with the appearance of the Kidney Star (= Canopus?) (o 2′-8′) and the Ḫabaṣirânu Constellation (= Centaurus) (o 13′-17′, r 1′-2′), and these sections are delineated by single rulings.

The omens commented on in this tablet slightly overlap with the omens found in last lines preserved on the obverse of CCP 3.1.55.B.The preceding section of CCP 3.1.55.B cites omens that deal with the appearance of the Yoke Constellation, which features in an incipit of EAE Chapter 48 (according to the Assur recension) / 55 (Nineveh recension).1 Consequently, both the present text and CCP 3.1.55.B are commentaries on Tablet 55 of that series, according to the Nineveh recension.

Formally, this commentary is of the indentation-type. The majority of the explanations in the preserved lines depend on an equation of the astral body in the base text with the planet Mercury. Mercury is thrice described with the puzzling phrase gim tùm ḫanṭiš inammar, literally “like ... it will quickly be seen” (o 12’, 15’, 17’). In other astronomical contexts, tùm means tabālu in the sense of “to disappear,” but this meaning seems incongruous in the present context (CAD T 20b and tabālu A mng. 6a-1’ and 6b).

1. J. C. Fincke, “Der Assur-Katalog der Serie enūma anu enlil (EAE)”, Orientalia Nova Series, vol. 70, pp. 19-39, 2001. P. 24 l. i 10′.

Edition

ccpo

ACh Ishtar 21


Obverse
o 1'o 1'	⸢x x⸣ [...]	(means) “[...]”
o 2'2'	* ^mulÉLLAG ⸢ma⸣-[diš SIG₇ ...]1	“If the Kidney Star ve[ry ...]”
o 3'3'	^dSAG.UŠ ina ⸢^mulx⸣ [...] ⸢x x x⸣ [...]	(means) “Saturn in the [...] Constellation [...].”
o 4'4'	* ^mulÉLLAG ma-diš GE₆ [(x)] ⸢ka⸣ ŠE u ⸢x⸣ [x x x]2	“If the Kidney Star is very black ... [...].”
o 5'5'	^dGU₄.UD ina ^mulgu-la ú-tan-[nat-ma]	(means) “Mercury grows faint in the Gula Constellation.”
o 6'6'	* ^mulÉLLAG ^mulUDU.IDIM it-te-ḫi ŠE.GIŠ.Ì SI.[SÁ]3	“If the Kidney Star comes close to a planet, sesame will pr[osper].”
o 7'7'	^dGU₄.UD ina ^mulgu-la ana ^dSAG.UŠ TE⸢^{e^?}⸣	(means) “Mercury in the Gula Constellation (i.e., Aquarius) comes close to Saturn.”
o 8'8'	* ^mulÉLLAG ana ^mulUGA^mušen i-mid ŠE.GIŠ.Ì SIG₅ ŠU.BI.AŠ.ÀM4	“If the Kidney Star leans on the Raven Constellation, sesame will be good (means) “ditto” (i.e., “Mercury in the Gula Constellation comes close to Saturn).”

o 9'9'	* ^dé-a a-dir GÁN.ZI NU SI.SÁ5	“If Ea grows dark, the field will not prosper”
o 10'10'	^dGU₄.UD ina ^mulSUḪUR.MÁŠ^ku₆ ú-tan-nat	(means) “Mercury grows faint in the Goat-Fish Constellation.”
o 11'11'	* ^mulNUN.KI miš-ḫa im-šúḫ BURU₁₄ GÁN.ZI KUR SI.SÁ6	“If (with respect to) the Eridu Star, a meteor flares up, the harvest of the field of the land will prosper”
o 12'12'	^dGU₄.UD ki-ma TÙM ḫa-an-ṭiš IGI-ma7	(means) “Mercury, as though it had disappeared, will soon be seen.”

o 13'13'	* ^mulEN.TE.NA.BAR.ḪUM ina È-šu mu-lu-uḫ ina SAG ^itiŠU.NUMUN.NA IGI8	“If the Ḫabaṣirānu Constellation flickers when it rises (and) is seen at the beginning of the month of Dumuzi,
o 14'14'	BURU₁₄ KUR SI.SÁ KI.LAM ⁱTUR	the harvest of the land will prosper (and) business will shrink.”
o 15'15'	^dGU₄.UD ki-ma TÙM ḫa-an-ṭiš IGI-ma	(means) “Mercury, as though it had disappeared, will soon be seen.”
o 16'16'	[*] ^mulEN.TE.NA.BAR.ḪUM ina È-šu a-pí-il BURU₁₄ NU SI.SÁ up-pu-lu : ka-a-šú9	(In) “[If] the Ḫabaṣirānu Constellation is late when it rises, the harvest of the land will not prosper,” “to be late” means “to linger”
o 17'17'	^dGU₄.UD GIM TÙM a-dan^an-šú ina AN^e DIB^iq-ma10	(means) “Mercury, as though it had disappeared, exceeds its normal time in the sky.”
Reverse
r 1'r 1'	[*] ⸢^mul⸣EN.⸢TE.NA.BAR.ḪUM SAG^?-šú^? AN^{e^?} i-na-aṭ-ṭa-la⸣ ina MU BI11	[If] the Ḫabaṣirānu Constellation, its head looks at the heavens in that year”
r 2'2'	⸢x⸣ zi ⸢x x⸣ [x x x] ⸢x x x ú-tan⸣-nat-ma	(means) “... [...] ... grows faint.”
r 3'3'	[*] ⸢^mul⸣[...]-kur-ru	[If] the [...] constellation [...]
r 4'4'	[...]-ma	[...] ...