CCP 3.6.3.A - Izbu 7 A

Catalogue information
Private Collection
Private Collection
Uruk(Uruk)
CDLI: 
P415763
Publication
Copy: 
CM 31 pp. 147-148
Editions: 

de Zorzi, 2014N. de Zorzi, La serie teratomantica Šumma Izbu. Testo, tradizione, orizzonti culturali. Sargon Editice e Libreria, 2014.: 525-528

Finkel, 2006I. L. Finkel, On an Izbu VII commentary, 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. 139-148.: 139-148

Besnier, 2009 (GKAB)

Commentary
DivinationTeratological omensIzbu cola LB Uruk

ṣâtu 7c

Base text: 
Izbu 7
Commentary no: 
A
Tablet information
Babylonian
Complete tablet
Columns: 
1
Lines: 
obv 22, rev 16
Early Hellenistic (late 4th cent) (Uruk, Iqīšāya)
Colophon
Iqišāya s. Ištar-šumu-ēriš d. Ekurzakir
Bibliography

Finkel, 2006I. L. Finkel, On an Izbu VII commentary, 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. 139-148.
[Edition]
: 139-148

Frahm, 2010cE. Frahm, The latest Sumerian proverbs, in Opening the Tablet Box. Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R. Foster, S. C. Melville and Slotsky, A. C. , Eds. Brill, 2010, pp. 155-184.
[On line o 5-6: Sidu series]
: 168-169

Frahm, 2011E. Frahm, Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation. Ugarit-Verlag, 2011.: 88-89, 100, 102-103, 108, 206-208, 293, 294, 297, 336

Gabbay, 2009U. Gabbay, Some notes on an Izbu Commentary, N.A.B.U. Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires, vol. 2009/53, 2009.
[Reading suggestions]

Gabbay, 2016U. Gabbay, The Exegetical Terminology of Akkadian Commentaries. Brill, 2016.: 64 (19), 74 (10, 21, 34), 78 (33–34), 131 (7–11), 226 (23–24), 227 (16–19), 228 (28–30), 111, 226 (12–14), 118, 119 (31), 255–256 (20–21)

Genty, 2010aT. Genty, Les commentaires dans les textes cunéiformes assyro-babyloniens. MA thesis, 2010.
[Catalogue]
: 441-442

Jiménez, 2018bE. Jiménez, Marginalia on the Cuneiform Commentaries Project. No. 1: A Proverb from the Series Sidu, N.A.B.U. Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires, vol. 2018/46, 2018.
[On line 28-30: Quotation from Sidu, it can be identified with the proverb contained in BM 38539 (BWL pp. 266-267)]

Worthington, 2009aM. Worthington, Review of CM 31 Fs Leichty, Bibliotheca Orientalis, vol. 66, pp. 144-150, 2009.
[On line 26-27: maršīt māt šamši: rather maršit nipiḫ šamši? (But same translation, ‘goods from the east’)]
: 149

Record
Besnier, 01/2009 (ATF Transliteration)
Besnier, 01/2009 (Lemmatization)
Frazer, 02/2016 (Translation)
Frazer, 02/2016 (Annotation)
Frazer, 02/2016 (Introduction)
Y. Cohen, 02/2016 (Typo correction [2 and 23])
Jiménez, 08/2016 (Commentary markup)
Y. Cohen, 08/2017 (Typo correction [29 and 30])
Jiménez, 08/2018 (Correction [28–30])
By Mary Frazer | Make a correction or suggestion
How to cite
Frazer, M., 2016, “Commentary on Izbu 7 (CCP 3.6.3.A),” Cuneiform Commentaries Project (E. Frahm, E. Jiménez, M. Frazer, and K. Wagensonner), 2013–2024; accessed November 13, 2024, at https://ccp.yale.edu/P415763. DOI: 10079/sn02vkv
© Cuneiform Commentaries Project (Citation Guidelines)
Introduction

This almost perfectly preserved tablet contains a thirty-four line commentary on the 7th tablet of the teratological series Šumma Izbu. The rubric classifies the tablet as a ṣâtu 7c-type commentary and as the “8th lecture (on entries) from (the Series) Šumma Izbu.” As noted by Frahm,1 another commentary on Šumma Izbu from Uruk, on the 17th tablet (SpTU 2 38 = CCP 3.6.3.B), also describes itself as a “lecture” (malsûtu).2 The existence of such a series of commentaries notwithstanding, two ḫepi-glosses (at the ends of ll. 19 and 20) mark places where the Vorlage of the present commentary was damaged, and thereby prove that this manuscript is a copy of an earlier composition. The present tablet belonged to the well-known Hellenistic scholar, exorcist, owner of a brewer’s prebend, and (perhaps) teacher, Iqīšāya,3 who also owned the aforementioned commentary on Šumma Izbu 17 (= CCP 3.6.3.B). Together with a commentary on Šumma Izbu 14 (ROM 991 = CCP 3.6.3.D),4 it may have been found by unauthorized diggers in the area of the Bīt rēš temple.5

The text comments on various apodoses and protases of Šumma Izbu beginning with line 3 of that tablet and continuing with comments on sporadic omens, apparently following the order of their appearance in the base text. The commentary’s citation of the base text enables the correct interpretation of some passages of Šumma Izbu VII. Line 2’s explicit spelling mé-eṭ-lu-tú, “mature age,” for instance, clarifies the ambiguous spelling bad-lu-tam in the manuscripts of Šumma Izbu l. 3. Lines 5-6 quote in full an omen otherwise unattested in the preserved manuscripts of Šumma Izbu: “If an anomalous foetus has no head, but has swollen flesh instead of its head.” Many of the apodoses cited in whole or in part are otherwise unattested (e.g., ll. 4, 7 (two different unknown apodoses), 12), and must therefore come from missing sections of Šumma Izbu VII.

In addition, the commentary contributes some otherwise unattested readings of logograms, namely the readings of kur as ṭardu, ṭardūtu, and ḫubtu (l. 4); the reading of ma as nasāḫu (l. 12); and the abbreviated logogram sag.gar (instead of the elsewhere attested uzu.šà.gar.gar.ra) for surummu (l. 33). The commentary also contains the rare word zerpu, approx. “lumpy swelling” (l. 8), and the context in which the verb dakāšu is cited in line 15 indicates that it probably means “to bulge” (AHw 151b) rather than “to pierce” (so CAD D 34-35).

In support of several commentarial entries, the commentator explicitly cites once from the literary text Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi (ll. 17-18); once from an unknown bilingual Emesal prayer (ll. 13-14), described as coming “from the corpus of lamentation priests” (ina kalûtu); once from the lexical list Erimhuš (ll. 23-24), which he quotes “vertically,” i.e. providing first several Sumerian words, followed by their Akkadian equivalents;6 and once from a poorly known series of proverbs and wisdom literature, the “Series of Sidu” (ll. 29-30). Though not identified explicitly, line 11 cites part of a line of Ludlul, and the three-column commentary on the thematic lexical list Ura, ḪAR-gud, may have been the source of some of the equations in lines 9-10.

The commentary often simply equates individual words with synonyms, and several of these equations are also found in the so-called Principal Commentary to Šumma Izbu,7 e.g., itkulu = ḫarāṣu (l. 3) (// Prin Comm 254 b-c) and ṭardu = raddu (l. 4) (// Prin Comm 254 d-e). As noted by Frahm,8 the owner of the present tablet, Iqīšāya, also owned a tablet inscribed with an excerpt from the Principal Commentary.

 

Two common technical terms are used in this commentary: šanîš, “alternatively” (ll. 10, 21, 34) and libbū, “as in” (ll. 11, 17, 29). As in many commentaries, the Glossenkeile that separate the cited portion of the base text from the commentary are deployed inconsistently: they are not used to connect the two synonyms in the equations kur = ṭardūtu (l. 4), assukku = zerpu (l. 8) and surummu = erru (l. 33).

Four scribal errors have been identified in this tablet: (1) a dittography of ṭi-id in l. 9, (2) the omission of a in a-ḫa-a-a in l. 17, (3) an irrelevant kid or é sign in l. 19 (possibly an error of tactile memory), and (4) a disconnected dittography (mu for ru) in l. 26, to use the terminology of Worthington.9

As emphasized by Frahm,10 in line 11 the author seems to reproduce – or himself to perpetrate – an error in his quotation of Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi. In view of the possible composition of this commentary in Uruk, the omission of the name of the god Marduk in the quotation may be deliberate, for theological reasons.11 In lines 17-18, two grammatical errors are apparent in the quotation of the same text: (1) the writing ḫa-la-liš for ḫa-la-la, and (2) the hypercorrection of almad to almadu, as noted by Finkel.12 Occasionally the author may have misunderstood the base text: according to Frahm,13 the learned equation of the verb nasāḫu, “to turn out,” with šakānu, “to place,” by means of a bilingual lament (ll. 12-14) suggests that the commentator did not understand the apodosis “(If) the flesh is torn out like a plum.” Following Finkel,14 Frahm also considers the entry in ll. 16-19 as evidence of misunderstanding of the base text (but see ad l. 16 for further discussion). 15

The text is currently in a private collection. The present edition is greatly indebted to the first edition of the text, by I.L. Finkel, and the making of this electronic edition has been facilitated by an electronic edition prepared by Marie-Françoise Besnier for the GKAB project project, which has been revised. Thanks are expressed to Marie-Françoise Besnier and Eleanor Robson.

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CM 31, 139[via ccpo]

Obverse
x88obverse
11

BE iz-bu SAG.DU UR.MAḪ GAR NUN LUGAL ŠÚ DABbat

(1) "If an anomalous foetus has the head of a lion, a prince will seize kingship of the world” (= Incipit of Šumma Izbu VII).

22

meṭ-lu- DUak -eṭ-lu- : ši-bu-ú- : MIN : lit-tu-1

(2) In “He will reach mature age” (= Šumma Izbu VII 3), “mature age” means “old age"; the same word means (extreme) old age.”

33

KUR ina ṭe-em ra-ma-ni-šú i-tak-kal : it-ku-lu : ḫa-ra-ṣu2

(3) In “The land will devastate itself of its own accord” (= Šumma Izbu VII 31), “to devastate” means “to break off.”

44

KUR DU : KUR ṭar-du-tu : KUR : ḫúb-tu : ṭar-du : ra-ad-du3

(4) In “He will go into exile” (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown), KUR (can mean) “exile”; KUR (also can mean) “captive”; “an exile” means “a pursued one”; (this equivalence, i.e. between “an exile” and “pursued one” is because) SAR (can mean) “to exile” (and) SAR (can also mean) “to pursue.”

55

SAR : ṭa-ra-du : SAR : ra-da-du : BE iz-bu SAG.DU-su NU GÁL-ma

(5) In “If an anomalous foetus has no head, but has swollen flesh instead of its head” (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown), “swollen” (means) “big.”

66

ina maš-kán SAG.DU-šú UZU ul-lu-ṣu GAR : ul-lu-ṣu ra-bu-ú4

77

-re-e- : É-MEŠ : GIM as-suk-ku kup-pu-ut-ma GAR5

(7) The word “shrines” means “temples” (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown). In (If the head of an anomalous foetus) is rolled into a ball like a sling-stone” (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown), “sling-stone” (means) lumpy swelling; “sling-stone” means “clay rolled into a ball”; (in) IM.DUGUD, (which) means “sling-stone,” IM means “clay” (and) DUGUD means “heavy”; alternatively, “sling-stone” means “lump (of earth); “sling-stone” means “stone for a sling,”

88

as-suk-ku ze-er-pi : as-suk-ku : ṭi-id kup-pu-ut6

99

IM.DUGUD : as-suk-ku : IM : ṭi-id : <<ṭi-id :>> DUGUD : kab-7

1010

šá-niš as-suk-ku : kur-ban-nu : as-suk-ku : ab-nu aṣ-pi8

1111

lìb-bu-u i-kim-šú aṣ-pa-šú as-suk-ka-šú ú-saḫ-ḫi-ir9

(11) as in “He took away his sling; he repelled his sling-stone” (partial quotation from Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi see note).

1212

UZU GIM gišŠENNUR ZIiḫ : na-si-iḫ : šá-kin : MA : na-sa-ḫu MA šá-ka-nu10

(12) In (...) flesh is torn out like a plum (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown), “torn out” means “placed” (because) MA (can mean) “to tear out” (and) MA (can also mean) “to place,” (as in) al-ŋá-ŋá al-ŋá-ŋá šà-ba-ni nu-sed-da (which means) “he tears out (and) places (it), (but) his heart does not rest” it is said in the corpus of lamentation priests.

1313

al-ŋá-ŋá al-ŋá-ŋá šà-ba-ni nu-sed-da

1414

i-na-as-sa-aḫ i-šak-kan lìb-bi-šú ul i-na-ḫu ina .<KU>ú- qa-bi11

1515

da-kiš : da-ka-šú : du-uk-ku- : da-ga-šú : ra-bu-u12

(15) The word (it) is pressed in” (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown) (stems from) “to press in” (as does the word) (it) is swollen. (The word) “to press in” means “to become big.”

1616

ši-pir ṭuḫ-du DU : ši-pi-ir ṭu-uḫ-du il-lak : šal-ṭiš13

(16) The phrase “a message of abundance DU” (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown) means “a message of abundance comes,” which means “triumphantly,”

1717

lìb-bu-u šá-ad-di-ḫu <a>-ḫa-a-a ku-ta-at-tu-mu i-ta-ḫa-az

(17) as in “My arms (once) far-reaching are now tight by my side and grasping each other; I, who used to stride out as a lord, have learned to creep past inconspicuously” [said] in Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi (I 76-77).”

1818

šá e-ti-li- at-tal-la-ku ḫa-la-liš al-ma-du14

1919

ina lud-lul EN <<É>> -me-qa qa-bi ana bu-ul ḫe-<(dGÌR)>15

(19) In “For the livestock of (it is broken), wind (and) rain will decrease in the land of the peaks (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown), the phrase the land of the peaks (it is broken); alternatively (it means) “at the beginning of the year, wind and rain will decrease.”

2020

IM ŠÈG ana KUR re-še-e-ti a : KUR re-še-e- ḫe-

2121

šá-niš ina re- šat-ti šá-a-ri u zu-un-nu i-ma-aṭ-ṭu-ú!16

2222

na-mur-ra-as-su GABA.RI NU TUKUši : na-mur-ra-as-su :

(22) In “His awe-inspiring radiance will acquire no rival” (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown), the phrase “his awe-inspiring radiance” is said in Erimḫuš to mean NI₂ (to be pronounced) “NI,” NI₂.GAL, SU.LIM (and) ME.LEM₄.MA (which respectively mean) “fearsomeness,” “mind-blowing brilliance,” “breathtaking luminosity” (and) “astonishing resplendence.”

reverse
2323

ni : .GAL : SU.LIM me!-lám-ma : pu-luḫ- nam-ri-ir-ri

2424

šá-lum-ma- : me-lam-mu ina ERIM.ḪUŠ qa-bi17

2525

bur-ru-um : bu-ur-ru-um : bur-ru-mu : -ri-im18

(25) The word bur-ru-um (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown) (can also be written) bu-ur-ru-um. (It is derived from) “to be multi-colored” (and) means “it is variegated.”

2626

pur-ru-ru!(MU) : su-up-pu-ḫu : mar-ši-it KUR dUTUši : mar-ši-it : bu-šu-u19

(26) The word “to disperse” (= Šumma Izbu VII 154′) means “to scatter”; in “goods from the east” (= Šumma Izbu VII 154'), “goods” means “property”; (because) NIG.GAL.LA means “property” (and) NIG.GAL.LA (also) means “goods.”

2727

NÍG.GÁL.LA : bu-šu-ú : NÍG.GÁL.LA : mar-ši-tu₄

2828

-e-el : ḫe-pu-ú : KU₅.DU : -e-el : KU₅.DU : ḫe-pu-u20

(28) The form “it is crushed” (= Šumma Izbu VII 156′) means “to smash.” KUD.DU means “it is crushed,” KUD.DU (also) means “to smash,” (as in) “The dripping-eyed’s lap is full of clods; (he says), ‘Whoever approaches me and kisses me, I shall crush him!’” which is said in the Series of Sidu.

2929

lìb-bu-ú ṣu-uḫ-ḫu- kur-ban--e su-un-šú ma-li šá i-qer-ru-ba-am-ma21

3030

i--ši-qa-an-ni a--él-šú šá ina ÉŠ.GÀR mSI. Eú22

3131

ku-up-pu-ut : li-ip- nu-šur-ru-ú ki-ma -MEŠ ḫur-ru-šú23

(31) The phrase “is compacted” (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown) means “an affliction of diminution (in the flesh): its (i.e., the affliction’s) holes are like pits.”

3232

BE iz-bu UZU GIM su-ru-um-mi am-ma-at ina SAG.KI-šú GÍD.DA GÁL24

(32) In “If the flesh of an anomalous foetus is like a small colon (and) there is a forearm on its forehead that is long” (= Šumma Izbu VII 164), SAG.GAR means small colon, (and) small colon means “intestines.”

3333

SAG.GAR : su-ru-um-mi su-ru-um-mi er-ru : KUR su-un-qam IGI-ma25

(33) In “The land will experience famine and follow a strong man” (= Šumma Izbu VII unknown) the word “famine” (su-un-qam) (is derived from) sunqu; alternatively, (it can be written) sun₇-qu. (It) means “distress”; alternatively, “famine.”

3434

EGIR EN Á.KAL DUku : su-un-qam : su-un-qu šá-niš sun₇-qu : dan-na- : šá-niš su-un-qa26


3535

UL.LA šu-ut KA u maš-a-a-al-ti šá KA um-man-nu šá ŠÀ

(35) Lemmata, oral explanations, and (materials for) a ‘questioning,’ following the sayings of a (master-)scholar (relating to entries) from (the Series) “If an Anomalous Birth Has a Lion's Head.” Eighth (tablet). 'Reading' (from the Series) “If an Anomalous Birth ... . Incomplete.

3636

BE iz-bu SAG.DU UR.MAḪ GAR 8ú mál-su-ut BE iz-bu AL.TIL27

3737

BE iz-bu 2 SAG.DU-MEŠ-šú -su 1-ma IGI.TAB

(37) (The Series) “If an Anomalous Birth Has Two Heads, but Only One Neck.” Checked.

3838

IM mBAšá-a bu-kúr mdINANA-MU-KAM ŠÀ.BAL.BAL

(38) Tablet of Iqīšāya, offspring of Ištar-šuma-īriš, scion of Ēkur-zākir, the incantation priest, an Urukean.

3939

mÉ.KUR-za-kir MAŠ.MAŠ UNUGkiú

1As noted by Finkel (2006: 141), the spelling -eṭ-lu- enables the correction of Leichty’s interpretation of BAD-lu-tu in the protasis of Šumma Izbu VII 3. The word meṭlūtu is also commented on in the commentary CCP 3.6.3.D (l. 14), on Šumma Izbu XIV (line unpreserved), where it is again equated with littūtu as well as with itbarūtu, “skill.”

2As Finkel (2006: 141) notes, this line comments on l. 32 of Šumma izbu, which is preserved only in SpTU 4 no. 142 l. 21. The Principal Commentary, l. 254b-c, comments on the same phrase. Finkel also suggests that, on the basis of its attestation here, the verb harāṣu may have the nuance “to diminish.”

3The reading of the initial signs as KUR- DU rather than as KUR E₃ (so Finkel 2006) follows Gabbay (NABU 2009/3 no. 53 p. 69). As Gabbay notes, with the help of the Principal Commentary to Šumma Izbu VII, line 257, the entire protasis can be reconstructed as “The ruler will go into exile in a land not his own,” which also occurs in an extispicy omen. The reading ḫúb-tu rather than kab-tu (so Finkel) in the line's second equation also follows Gabbay. With respect to the third equation, the same justification for equating “an exile” with “a pursued one” (i.e., ṭardu with raddu) is found in the Principal Commentary, l. 254d-e, as Finkel notes.

4As noted by Finkel (2006: 142), both the Principal Commentary (ll. 261-2) and Commentary V (l. 254f-g) also comment on this line, as does another commentary on Šumma izbu, CCP 3.6.2.A. The basis for the comment seems to be the different meanings of ulluṣu, which can mean both “to be (physically) swollen” and “to make joyful.”

5As noted by Finkel (2006: 142), the equation of ešrētu with bītātu is otherwise attested in the Principal Commentary (l. 89), with respect to Šumma izbu II 19.

6The word zerpu also appears in the Principal Commentary on Šumma Izbu 12, where it is equated with imšukku, an equation found elsewhere (see Gabbay, NABU 2009/3 no. 53 pp. 69-70). According to Finkel (1986: 142), the description of assukku as ṭīdu kupputu anticipates the equation of IM.DUGUD with assukku at the start of the following line.

7The equation of IM.DUGUD with assukku is attested in Hh X 504, Hg A II 132, and Igituh I 320. As noted by Finkel (2006: 142), the phonetic similarity between kupputu – mentioned in the omen's protasis and in the preceding line of the commentary – and kabtu (= DUGUD) may have been meaningful to the commentator. The second occurrence of ṭīdu in this line seems to be a dittography, as noted by M.-F. Besnier in her edition of the text for GKAB.

8Both IM.DUGUD and assukku are equated with kurbannu (wr. kirbannu) in Hg A, and so this text may have been the commentator’s source for the equation assukku = kurbannuin the present line and the equation IM.DUGUD = assukku in the preceding line.

9This is an incomplete quotation of a line from Ludlul Bēl Nēmeqi III (BWL p. 56). As noted by Finkel (2006: 142), it is interesting that the commentator casually omits “Marduk” (the subject of both verbs) and “my destroyer” (the owner of the sling and sling-stone) in his quotation of the line.

10For plum-related images in Šumma Izbu see the passages gathered by Finkel (2006: 142).

11The equation of MA with nasāhu is not otherwise attested. The reading of the penultimate words of the line as ina! !.<KU>-ú-, “from the corpus of lamentation priests” (i.e., an Emesal prayer), follows Gabbay's suggestion (NABU 2006/4 no. 81 p. 81 and NABU 2009/3 no. 53 p. 70) rather than Finkel, who read <ina> LUGAL NITA+ú-, “King, heroism” - an otherwise unattested composition. It is unclear from which Emesal prayer the commentator is quoting in this instance.

12The spelling of dakāšu as dagāšu is not otherwise attested. As noted by Finkel (2006: 143), the equation of dak/gāšu with rabû is also attested in another commentary on Šumma izbu (CCP 3.6.2.A, l. 269a). In light of this equation, dakāšu seems more likely to mean “to swell, bulge” (so AHw 151) than “to pierce, sting” (so CAD D 34-5).

13Since the Principal Commentary (ll. 270-1) and another commentary on Šumma izbu (CCP 3.6.2.A) both explain šipir GABA as šipir irti (which they then equate with habarattu, "clamor"), Finkel (2006: 143) suggests that the otherwise unattested expression šipir ṭuhdi DU is a textual misunderstanding of the phrase ši-pir GABA DU.DU. However, the phrase šipir irti is only attested in these commentaries; its meaning is thus uncertain, and it is not necessarily the correct interpretation of the phrase.

14The support provided by these two lines of Ludlul bēl nēmeqi for the equation made in l. 16 is not as strong as one would expect, and may therefore be further evidence that the author of the commentary did not understand the base text (Frahm 2011: 102 n. 527).

15As noted by Finkel (2006: 143), the erroneous writing of the sign É or KID after EN may have been caused by the frequent sign combination en-líl. The restoration of Šakkan after būl follows the suggestion of Finkel (2006: 143).

16As pointed out by Finkel (2006: 143), although this commentary understands the signs IM ŠEG₃ as two words (“wind” and “rain”), another commentary on Šumma izbu (CCP 3.6.2.A, l. 271a) understands them as a compound logogram for “rain.” However, as Finkel (2006: 143) also notes, the same commentary (l. 271b) agrees with the present commentary in understanding the phrase KUR re-še-e-ti as rēš šatti, “new year/ beginning of the year.” The reading of the last sign is courtesy of Enrique Jimēnez; it was read by Finkel as i-ma-aṭ-ṭu E.

17As noted by Finkel (2006: 143), the section of Erimhuš cited by the commentator in ll. 22-24 is otherwise unplaced. For discussion of the “vertical” style of quotation used by the commentator here, see Finkel (ad loc.) and Frahm (2011: 88-89), both of whom cite Cavigneaux (1976: 151-152).

18It is unclear why the unusual value of the sign PA, , is used to write barim, nor why the otherwise uncommon G-stem of barāmu is invoked to explain the common D-stem.

19As noted by Finkel (2006: 144), the writing BUR-ru-mu is a mistake caused by the influence of the burrumu-forms in the previous line. The same equation appears in the Principal Commentary (l. 237), where purruru is spelt pur--rum. The Principal Commentary (l. 280) also comments on maršīt šamši, but equates the phrase instead with būlum, “cattle.”

20The interpretation of this line follows Gabbay (NABU 2009/3 no. 53 p. 70).

21The translation of ṣuhhutu follows Gabbay (NABU 2009/3 no. 53 p. 70).

22As discussed by Jiménez NABU 2018/46, the line quoted is attested in the tablet of bilingual proverbs BM 38539, published by Lambert BWL (1960) pp. 266–267 and pl. 67. As discussed by Jiménez, whereas the original text uses the verb sanāqu (the Akkadian counterpart to Sumerian tèĝ), the line in the commentary uses qerēbu, a verb of similar meaning, but one that is never equated with tèĝ (the verb of the original Sumerian version) in lexical lists or bilingual texts. This suggests that the exegete quoted the line from memory, and that he knew only the Akkadian version of the proverb, and not the Sumerian.

23On the equation of liptu with nušurrû see Gabbay (NABU 2009/3 no. 53 p. 71 n. 16). The interpretation of this line follows Gabbay (NABU 2009/3 no. 53 p. 70).

24Finkel (2006: 145) tentatively translates the second part of this protasis as “and the elbow is stretched to the temple.”

25As noted by Finkel (2006: 145), the equation surummu = erri riqītu appears in the Principal Commentary (l. 282).

26As noted by Finkel (2006: 145), comparable omen apodoses to “the land will experience famine and follow a strong man” are noted in CAD E 161 s.v. bēl emūqi. As also noted by Finkel (2006: 146), sun₇ is a rarely attested value of KAL. He suggests that the equation of sunqu with dannatu may be due to the equation KI.KAL = dannatu.

27The protasis “If an Anomalous Birth has a Lion’s Head” is the beginning of the first line of (and thus the incipit for) the seventh tablet of Šumma Izbu.