CCP 4.2.A.a - Therapeutic (én munus ù-tu-ud-da-a-ni) A

Catalogue information
National Museum of Iraq
11N-T3
NippurNippur, WA50c VI
CDLI: 
P459066
Publication
Editions: 

Civil, 1974aM. Civil, Medical Commentaries from Nippur, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 33, pp. 329-338, 1974.: 329-344

Commentary
MedicalTherapeutic texts

ṣâtu 7c

Base text: 
Therapeutic (én munus ù-tu-ud-da-a-ni)
Commentary no: 
A
Tablet information
Babylonian
Complete tablet
Columns: 
1
Lines: 
55
Size: 
9,4 × 6,5 × 1,8 cm
Achaemenid (5th cent - 331 BCE) (Uruk, Anu-ikṣur / Nippur / Babylon)
Colophon
Enlil-kāṣir kalû of Enlil s. Enlil-šuma-imbi d. Ludumununna the Sumerian
Bibliography

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Cavigneaux, 1976A. Cavigneaux, Die sumerisch-akkadischen Zeichenlisten. Überlieferungsprobleme. PhD thesis, 1976.
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[Translation]
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Cavigneaux, 2000A. Cavigneaux, Neue Texte historischen Inhalts aus den irakischen Grabungen von Babylon, Baghdader Mitteilungen, vol. 31, pp. 213-244 + 4 Tafeln, 2000.
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Civil, 1974aM. Civil, Medical Commentaries from Nippur, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 33, pp. 329-338, 1974.
[Edition]
: 329-344

Civil, 1975M. Civil, Appendix A: Cuneiform Texts, in Excavations at Nippur. Eleventh Season, M. G. Gibson, Ed. The University of Chicago, 1975, pp. 125-142.
[Catalogue]
: 131-132

Civil & Green & Lambert, 1979M. Civil, Green, M. W. , and Lambert, W. G. , Ea A = nâqu, Aa A = nâqu, with their Forerunners and Related Texts. Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1979.
[On line 7]
: 308 ad 122

Frahm, 2010dE. Frahm, Reading the Tablet, the Exta, and the Body: The Hermeneutics of Cuneiform Signs in Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries and Divinatory Texts, in Divination and interpretation of signs in the Ancient World, A. Annus, Ed. The University of Chicago, 2010, pp. 91-141.
[On line 11-12: Partial transliteration and translation]
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Frahm, 2010eE. Frahm, Akkadische Texte des 2. und 1. Jt. v. Chr. 6. Kommentare zu medizinischen Texten [Texte zur Heilkunde], in Texte zur Heilkunde, B. Janowski and Schwemer, D. , Eds. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2010, pp. 171-176.
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Frahm, 2011E. Frahm, Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation. Ugarit-Verlag, 2011.: 38-39, 54, 65-67, 69, 71, 73-74, 92, 99, 104, 228, 231, 237, 241, 302, 304, 312, 389

Frahm, 2014E. Frahm, Traditionalism and Intellectual Innovation in a Cosmopolitan World: Reflections on Babylonian Text Commentaries from the Achaemenid Period, in Encounters by the Rivers of Babylon: Scholarly Conversations between Jews, Iranians, and Babylonians, U. Gabbay and Secunda, S. , Eds. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014, pp. 317-334.
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Gabbay, 2016U. Gabbay, The Exegetical Terminology of Akkadian Commentaries. Brill, 2016.
[74 (11, 15, 16, 18, 29, 31, 32, 34, 36), 77 (40–43), 78 (33–66), 93 (9), 106 (13), 108 (19), 129 (15–17, 17–18, 28–29), 132 (40–42), 135 (34–35), 136 (32–35), 161 (21–23), 164 (12), 170 (3), 189 (15–16), 234 (38–40), 74, 77 (42), 157–158 (18–20), 158–159 (33–37), 209, 223 (46–51), 176, 195, 201, 209 (2–6)]

Genty, 2010aT. Genty, Les commentaires dans les textes cunéiformes assyro-babyloniens. MA thesis, 2010.
[Catalogue]
: 395

George, 1991bA. R. George, Babylonian Texts from the folios of Sidney Smith. Part Two: Prognostic and Diagnostic Omens, Tablet I, Revue d'Assyriologie, vol. 85, pp. 137-167, 1991.
[On line 15-16]
: 155

George, 2003A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts. Oxford University Press, 2003.
[On line 42-43]
: 452-453

George, 2009A. R. George, Babylonian Literary Texts in the Schøyen Collection. CDL Press, 2009.
[Ludumununa]
: 135 ad 1

Gordin, 2016S. Gordin, The Cult and Clergy of Ea in Babylon, Welt des Orients, vol. 18, pp. 177-201, 2016.
[Owner]
: 184

Hätinen, 2017A. Hätinen, “I am a fully laden boat!” A Mesopotamian Metaphor Revisited, Kaskal, vol. 14, pp. 169-186, 2017.
[On line 1-6]
: 174-175

Maul, 1999S. M. Maul, Das Wort im Worte, Orthographie und Etymologie als hermeneutische Verfahren babylonischer Gelehrter, in Commentaries/Kommentare, G. W. Most, Ed. Göttingen: , 1999, pp. 1-18.
[On line 8-9]
: 12

Mayer, 2016W. R. Mayer, Zum akkadischen Wörterbuch: A-L, Orientalia Nova Series, vol. 85, pp. 181-235, 2016.
[On line 12-13]
: 182

Michel, 2004C. Michel, Deux incantations paléo-assyriennes. Une nouvelle incantation pour accompagner la naissance., in Assyria and Beyond. Studies Presented to Mogens Trolle Larsen, J. G. Dercksen, Ed. Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2004, pp. 395-420.
[On line 15: ṭerāt]
: 405

Peterson, 2009J. Peterson, Godlists from Old Babylonian Nippur in the University Museum, Philadelphia. Ugarit-Verlag, 2009.
[On line 25]
: 68

Polonsky, 2006J. Polonsky, The Mesopotamian Conceptualization of Birth and the Determination of Destiny at Sunrise, 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. 297-312.
[On line 38]
: 302 fn. 24

Reiner & Civil, 1990E. Reiner and Civil, M. , La linguistica del Vicino e Medio Oriente, in Storia della Linguistica. Volume I, G. C. Lepschy, Ed. Il Mulino, 1990, pp. 85-118.
[On line 11-12]
: 109-110

Rochberg, 2016F. Rochberg, Before Nature. Cuneiform Knowledge and the History of Science. The University of Chicago Press, 2016.
[On line 17-20]
: 118-119 [17-20], 268-269 [15-16]

Rochberg, 2018F. Rochberg, Ina lumun attalî Sîn: On Evil and Lunar Eclipses, in Sources of Evil. Studies in Mesopotamian Exorcistic Lore, G. Van Buylaere, Luukko, M. , Schwemer, D. , and Mertens-Wagschal, A. , Eds. Brill, 2018, pp. 285-315.
[On line 17-20]
: 293-294

Römer, 2007W. H. P. Römer, Review of Schaffer Ur Excavation Texts VI, Bibliotheca Orientalis, vol. 64, pp. 180-182, 2007.
[UET 6/3 897 identified by M. Stol as a partial duplicate to 11N-T3.]
: 182

Sassmannshausen, 1995L. Sassmannshausen, Funktion und Stellung der Herolde (Nigir/Nāgiru) im alten Orient, Baghdader Mitteilungen, vol. 26, pp. 85-194, 1995.
[On line 6-7]
: 183-184

Scurlock, 1991J. A. Scurlock, Baby-snatching demons, restless souls and the dangers of childbirth, Incognita, vol. 2, pp. 135-183, 1991.
[On line 8-12, 46-51]
: 143-144

Seminara, 2001S. Seminara, La versione accadica del Lugal-e. La tecnica babilonese della traduzione dal sumerico e le sue "regole". Dipartimento di Studi Orientali, 2001.
[On line 3: pūḫtu]
: 531-533

Stadhouders, 2011H. Stadhouders, The Pharmacopoeial Handbook Šammu šikinšu - An Edition, Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes, vol. 18, pp. 4-51, 2011.
[On line 26-27: larah]
: 7 fn. 18

Steinert, 2017U. Steinert, Concepts of the Female Body in Mesopotamian Gynecological Texts, in The Comparable Body. Analogy and Metaphor in Ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman Medicine, J. Wee, Ed. Brill, 2017, pp. 275-357.
[On line 8-9, 11-12, 39-40]
: 331-340

Stol, 2000M. Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible. Its Mediterranean Setting. Styx, 2000.
[On line 12-13]
: 142

Taylor, 2005J. Taylor, The Sumerian Proverb Collections (Review of Alster, B. SP), Revue d'Assyriologie, vol. 99, pp. 13-38, 2005.
[On line 42: Ḫar-ra-tu-da]
: 23

Veldhuis, 1989N. Veldhuis, The new Assyrian compendium for a woman in childbirth, Acta Sumerologica Japonica, vol. 11, pp. 239-260, 1989.
[On the base text]
: 239-260

Veldhuis, 1991N. Veldhuis, A Cow of Sin. Styx, 1991.: 2

Wee, 2017J. Wee, Pan-astronomical Hermeneutics and the Arts of the Lamentation Priest, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, vol. 107, pp. 236-260, 2017.
[On line 8, 17-20]
: 240-241

Woods, 2009C. E. Woods, At the edge of the world: Cosmological Conceptions of the Eastern Horizon in Mesopotamia, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions, vol. 9, pp. 183-239, 2009.
[On line 1: Association of birth boat with lapislazuli]
: 222 fn. 162

Wunsch, 2014C. Wunsch, Babylonische Familiennamen, in Babylonien und seine Nachbarn in neu- und spätbabylonischer Zeit: wissenschaftliches Kolloquium aus Anlass des 75. Geburtstags von Joachim Oelsner, Jena, 2. und 3. März 2007, M. Krebernik and Neumann, H. , Eds. Ugarit-Verlag, 2014, pp. 289-314.
[Ludumununna]
: 289-290

Record
Jiménez, 03/2014 (ATF Transliteration)
Jiménez, 03/2014 (Translation)
Jiménez, 03/2014 (Lemmatization)
Veldhuis, 03/2014 (Lemmatization Correction)
Veldhuis, 03/2014 (Note (l. 17))
Jiménez, 06/2014 (Introduction)
Gabbay, 03/2015 (Note (l. 17))
Jiménez, 08/2016 (Commentary markup)
By Enrique Jiménez | Make a correction or suggestion
How to cite
Jiménez, E., 2014, “Commentary on Therapeutic (én munus ù-tu-ud-da-a-ni) (CCP 4.2.A.a),” Cuneiform Commentaries Project (E. Frahm, E. Jiménez, M. Frazer, and K. Wagensonner), 2013–2024; accessed November 13, 2024, at https://ccp.yale.edu/P459066. DOI: 10079/ht76hsq
© Cuneiform Commentaries Project (Citation Guidelines)
Introduction

This tablet contains what is probably the best preserved commentary yet discovered: not a single sign is missing. It was found during the eleventh campaign of excavations of the Oriental Institute in Nippur (1972/1973), and subsequently published by M. Civil.1 A translation and thorough study of the tablet was offered by Cavigneaux; 2 a partial translation has recently been published by Frahm.3 The tablet was found in a trash pit dating from Achaemenid times, in area WA in Nippur.

The colophon of the tablet states that it belonged to Enlil-kāṣir, a kalû-priest of Enlil, son of Enlil-šuma-imbi and descendant of Ludumununna "the Sumerian" (i.e., the Nippurean). This same individual was known from the tablet TCL 6 47, a cultic commentary from Uruk that was copied, according to its colophon, from a Nippurean original belonging to Enlil-kāṣir. He is also the owner of another commentary tablet found in the exact findspot as the present one, CCP 4.2.B.

 

The rubric classifies the tablet as a ṣâtu-commentary on a text whose incipit is én munus ù-tu-ud-da-a-ni, "Incantation for a woman in labor." This incipit is known from a medical text with bilingual incantations and rituals to assist women during childbirth. The base text was edited by Veldhuis;4 a new edition of it, including new duplicates, is in preparation by U. Steinert.

As usually the case with commentaries, the present one contains several philological explanations of terms considered obscure by the exegete: thus e.g. line 14 explains the verbal adjective šupšuqtum-ma, "woman in labor" by providing the lemma from which it derives: šupšuqu, "to be in difficulties." Similarly, the exotic god names of Naḫundi and Narundi are equated in l. 27 with Sîn and Šamaš.

However, the focus of this commentary is not the philological elucidation, but rather the attempt at finding new or hidden meanings behind the text. The ultimate intention of the text seems to be to prove that each of the words of the recitanda and each of the components of the agenda are actually aimed at easing the childbirth. Thus for instance the instruction from the base text "take dust from a fallen wall" (lines 48-51) is shown in the commentary to refer to a non problematic delivery because in the sign "wall" (bàd = kéš×bad), its two components actually can be interpreted with the meaning "to open" (bad) "the bond" (kéš), i.e., the umbilical cord. Moreover, the specification regarding the fact that the wall is "fallen" is explained because one of the Sumerian words for "fallen" (diri = si.a) contains the words "baby" (a) and "to go straight" (sc. out of the vulva, si).

These very sophisticated exegetical operations make use of a whole plethora of hermeneutical techniques, including notariqon, paronomasia, and false etymology. It shows an intiate knowledge of the lexical tradition and also of the literary lore of Mesopotamia with occasional quotations from it (most conspicuously from Gilgameš VI in ll. 40-43).

There are several leitmotifs spanning the whole text, e.g. the equations si = ešēru, "to go well" (said of childbirth), or a = ṣaḫar, "baby." These appear in full several times in the commentary.

Several termini technici are employed in this text.5 Besides the usual šanîš and šalšiš for introducing alternative interpretations, also kayyān(u) (l. 15) and libbū (passim).

Edition

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OIC 22, 131 20[via ccpo]

Obverse
11

én munus ù-tu-ud-da-a-ni : e-lep-pi šá uq-na-a ṣa-na-at

(1) “Incantation for a woman in labor.” (In) “A ship which is loaded with lapis;” “to be loaded” means “to be full.”

22

ṣa-na : ma-lu-ú : gug nu-zu ù gug nu-zu : lu-ʾa-at-ma

(2) (The line) gug nu-zu ù nu-zu means “She is sullied and not suited for sacrifice,” i.e., “she is a substitute.” gug means “pure,” nu means “to be sullied” (laʾû, written laʾ), zu (means) “to be suited” (naṭû), whence “to see” (amāru). What it says, “she is not suited for sacrifice (siškur), (since) siškur means ‘sacrifice’ and siškur means ‘prayer’” (Diri II 1 and 8), (could be understood) as follows: “she is sullied and not seen for the prayer.”

33

a-na ni--i ul na-ṭa-at : pu-uḫ-tu₄ ši-i : gug : el-lu₄

44

nu : la-ʾa : zu : na-ṭu-u : a-ma-ra : a-na ni--i ul na-ṭa-at

55

šá Eu : siškur : ni-qu-ú : siškur : ṣu-le-e um-ma lu-ʾa-at-ma

66

a-na ṣu-le-e ul am-ra-at : na-gi-ri um-ma dGAŠAN-DINGIR

(6) (In) “The herald summons Bēlet-ilī as follows,” (“the herald” (nāgiru) means “the exorcist,” because) the sign KA×AD.KÙ - i.e., AD.KÙ put inside of the sign kagakku (ka) - read as /nagiri/, means “exorcist.”

77

-ta-na-as-si : na-gi-rinigru(KA×(AD.)) šá ka-ga-ak-ku AD- i-gub : a-ši-pu

88

gi èn-bar bàn-da šu u-me-ti : gi : sin-niš-tim : bar : a-ṣu-u : bàn-da

(8) (In) “Take a small (banda) reed (gi) from the marsh (enbar), gi means “woman,” bar means “to go out,” banda means “baby,” “little one” (ṣaḫru). (In) “Dust (sahar) from the street (sila), saḫar means “dust.” “Dust” (saḫar) and “little one” (ṣaḫar) are one and the same thing.

99

še-er-ri : ṣa-aḫ-ri : saḫar silala : saḫar : e-pe-ri : sa-ḫar u ṣa-ḫar -ten-ma

1010

sila lam₄-ma : si : e-še-ri šá a-la-ku : la : la-a : ṣa-ḫar : am-ma : ze-ri

(10) (In) “Crossroad” (sila-lamma), si means “to go straight” said of walking; la means “child” (laʾû), i.e., “little one” (ṣaḫar); and “people” (ammu, written amma) means “seed.”

1111

šá-am-nu : ni-igníŋ sin-niš-tim : am : ze-ri : nu : ba-nu-u šá-niš iì

(11) (In) “Oil” (šamnu), the sign gar (= šá), read /nig/, means “woman;” “people” (ammu, written am) means “seed;” and nu means “to build.” Another explanation, the sign ni, read /i/, means “oil;” i means “to go out” said of the seed.

1212

šá-am-nu : i : a-ṣu-u šá NUMUN : e-li LI.DUR-šú ḫe-pi-ma -šum GI1

(12) “Break the top of his umbilical cord!” is said on account of the reed that cuts the umbilical cord; the “umbilical cord” is the human knot.

1313

na-ki-is ab-bu-un-na-ti : ab-bu-un-na- ri-ik-si šá ši-i

1414

ŋeški-ri-iskirid : ki-ri-is-su : É ú-ba-nu : šup-šuq-tùm-ma : šup-šu-qa

(14) (The word) kirid means “clasp” (kirissu), i.e., a thimble. “Woman in labor” (šupšuqtum-ma) stems from “person in difficulties” (šupšuqu), it means “to be delayed;” or, alternatively, it means “woman distressed” (dannatu).

1515

ka-a-šú šá-niš dan-na-ti : ina qar-ni-šú qaq-qar ṭe-ra-at : ṭa-ru-u SAG.2

(15) (In) “With her horns she is beating (ṭerât) the ground,” “to beat” (ṭarû) is its usual meaning; alternatively “she is beating” (ṭerât) can mean “she is given shelter” (ḫeṣnet), since “to beat” (ṭarû) means “to give shelter” (ḫaṣānu), as in gudari = nanduru, ‘is intertwined’” (Ḫḫ II 287); and in e-lá = edēru, ‘to embrace’” (?).

1616

šá-niš ṭe-ra-at : ḫe-eṣ--et : ṭa-ru-u : ḫa-ṣa-nu lìb-bu-u -da ri

1717

na-an-du-ra : e : e-de-ri : el-la-me-e : AGA taš-ri-iḫ-ti3

(17) Ellammê (a sobriquet of Sîn) means “Crown of Glory,” as in elamma (a temple of Sîn ?) = “House of Four” (quotation from unknown source); or, alternatively, si egari tilla, i.e., “Elammû, whose figure brings to an end the light,” where si means “light,” egar means “figure,” bi means “his,” and til means “to bring to an end;” (this is said) on account of the moon when there is a complete eclipse.

1818

lìb-bu-u é lam₄-ma : É er-bi šá-niš si é-gar₈-bi til-la : el-lam-mu-u

1919

šá nu-ú-ru la-ni-šu ú-qat-ta-a : si : nu-ú- : é-gar₈ : la-a-nu

2020

bi : šu-u : til : qa-tu-u áš-šú d30 šá AN.TA. gam-mar-ti i-šak-kan

2121

-šum ÁB-ia la a-lit-ti áš-šú d30 EN la-a-tu₄ el-le-e-ti

(21) “Because of my barren cow,” (is said) on account of Sîn, the lord of the pure cows.

2222

zi dnin-dar-a sipad udul₁₀-lu-ú-a ḫé-pàd : niš dMIN<(NIN.DAR.A)> SIPA

(22) (In) “Be adjured by Nindarʾa, the sherpherd of the herdsmen” (cf. Udugḫul V 59) “Nindarʾa” means “Sîn.”

2323

ú-tul-la-a- lu-ú ta-ma-at : dnin-dar-a : d30 : -šel-pa-a

(23) “Slithered” (nešelpû) stems from “to slither” (nešalpû), which means “to cross;” “to slither” (nešalpû) (also means) “to go.” (Moreover), gir₅-gir₅, which means “to slide” (nehelṣû), can also mean “to slith” (našalpû).

2424

-šal--u : e-te-qu : -šal--u : a-la-ka : gir₅-gir₅ : na-ḫal-ṣu-u

2525

gir₅-gir₅ : na-šal--u : ni-ra-aḫAN.GU₄ : ni-ra-ḫu : an : ze-ri

(25) The sign AN.GUD, read /niraḫ/, means “snake” (nirāḫu). (From its components,) an means “seed,” gud means “to jump.”

2626

gud : šá-ḫa-ṭu : ka-inim-ma <<:>> munus la-ra-aḫ-a-kám : la-ra-aḫ : pu--qa

(26) (In) “Incantation for a woman in labor (laraha), “labor” (larah) means “straits,” i.e., “difficulty.”

2727

dan-na-ti : na-ḫu-un-di : d30 : na-ru-un-di : dUTU

(27) “Naḫundi” means Sîn, “Narundi” means Šamaš.

2828

na-am-li-su ki-ma ṣa-bi-tu₄ : zi : ma-la-su : zi : ba-qa-mu

(28) (In) be plucked out (namlisu) like a gazelle!,” is the logogram for “to pluck out” (malāsu), and also for “to pluck.” Alternatively, be plucked out! (namlisu) (can be interpreted) as in “‘To look’ (naplusu) = ‘to see’” (quotation from unknown synonym list).

2929

šá-niš na-am-li-su lìb-bu-u nap-lu-su : a-ma-ra : ki-ma MAŠ.

(29) (In) “Like a gazelle (maš.dà(GAG)),” the sign maš, read /bar/, means “to go out” said of the seed; and the sign gag, read /du/, means “children.”

3030

barba-ár : a-ṣu-u šá NUMUN : du-u : lil-li-du : ul-la : an-na

(30) “No” (ulla) (is the opposite of) “yes,” “yes” means a “command;” alternatively, ulla (sc. ūlu), when said of the sign i, read as /i'u/, means “oil.”

3131

an-na : -bi-ti šá-niš ul-la : ul-la ìi-ʾu-u : šá-am-nu : Ì BUR

(31) “Oil (i) from bowl (bur), means “oil from the oil-presser's vessel;” alternatively, bur means “container.” “Arrow” (urudu.gag.u₄.tag.e) can also be rendered as mul.mul, inasmuch as “dart” (mulmullu, written mul-mul) means “arrow” (šiltāḫu). Hence, mul.mul means “seed” (zēru), because gi.mul.mul means “reed fence” (zerru, written ze-ru) (Ḫḫ VIII 41-42). Alternatively, gi means “woman” and urudu means “copper” (erû), which means “to be pregnant” (arû); the sign gag, read /du/, means “children;” the sign u₄, read /zalag/, means “light;” tag.ga (i.e. tag₄) means “to leave.” Alternatively, the sign gag, read /du/, means “children;” the sign si means “to go straight” said of walking, (si appears here because of the name) of the constellation “Arrow” (mul.gag.si.sá).

3232

Ì kan-nu šá Ì.ŠUR šá-niš bur : bi-ʾi-il-ti : urudgag-u₄-tag-e

3333

mul-mul : mul-mul : šil-ta-ḫu : mul-mul : ze-ri

3434

gimul-mul : ze-ri šá-niš gi : sin-niš-ti : urudu : e-ru-u

3535

a-na a-re-e : du-u : lil-li-du : za-alzalag : nu-úr : tag-ga

3636

e-ze-bi šá-niš du-u : lil-li-du : si : e-še-ri šá a-la-ku -šum

3737

mulKAK.SI. : e-gi-zi-ni-ti : GÉME-d30 : ina SAG.DU-MU na-ma-ra

(37) “Egiziniti” is a name of Geme-Sîn. In “the path in my head,” “path” (namāru) means “way” said of marshlands and forests.

3838

na-ma-ra : KASKAL-MIN šá GIŠ.GI u GIŠ.TIR : šá ŠÀ -qil-la-tu₄ li-kal-lim nu-ú-

(38) The line “let him show the light to the one living in the shell!” refers to the pregnant woman (munus.peš₄), because “the pregnant stone” (na₄.peš₄) means “shell,” where “stone” na₄ means “to go out” said of the seed and (in the sign peš₄ = ŠÀ×A), a means “son” and šà means “womb.”

3939

ana MUNUS.PEŠ₄ iq-ta-bi : na₄iškila : ṣi-il-la-tu₄ : na₄ : a-ṣu-u šá ze-

4040

a : ma-ra : šag₄ : lìb-bi : -šu-rat ḫur-da-at-su : ḫur-da- : ú-ru-u

(40) (In) “Her vulva is loosened,” “vulva” means “female pudenda,” as in “put our your hand and stroke our vulva!” (Gilgameš VI 69); alternatively “vulva” can mean “tuft;” thirdly “vulva” (ḫurdatu) can mean “cavity of the darling” (ḫurri dādi) where “darling” means “son.”

4141

šá sin-niš-ti ŠÀbu-u qa-at-ka šu-ta-am-ṣa-am-ma lu-pu-ut ḫur-da-at-na

4242

šá-niš ḫur-da-ti : qim-ma-ti : šal-šiš ḫur-da-ti : ḫur-ri da-du

4343

da-du : ma-ra : ina kit-tab-ri-šú : ina i-di-šú : kit-tab-ri : i-di : še : i-di

(43) “In his arm” means “in his side,” since “arm” means “side,” because ŠE, which means “arm,” also means “side.”

4444

še : kit-tab-ra : -ip nap-šá-a-tu₄ : qa-a-pa : na-da-nu

(44) (In) “He who is entrusted with their lives,” “to entrust” means “to grant.” (...) dúb means “to beat cloth.”

4545

túg tu-untunₓ(DÚB) : ka-ma-du : ik-kud it-ta-ʾi-id : ta-an-ki-tu₄4

(45) (In) “he is anxious (ikkud) and concerned,” anxiety (takkītu) means “understanding” and “to be concerned” means “to listen.”

4646

ḫi-is-sa-tu₄ : it-mu-du : še-mu-ú : ab-nu ti-ik-ku ANe : ab-nu

(46) (In) “Hail stone from the sky” (abnū tīk AN-e), “stone” (abnu) (can be explained as) ab, i.e., “to create” said of giving birth, and nu, i.e., seed. (Likewise,) u.gú is the logogram for “Rain” (tīku), where u) stands for “to create” and gu stands for “to give birth.” an stands for “heaven” (šamê), but it also stands for “seed.”

4747

ab : ba-nu-u šá a-la-du : nu : ze- : u-gu₄ : ti-ik-ku : u : ba-nu-u

4848

gu : a-la-du : an : ANe : an : ze-ri : SAḪAR BÀD ŠUB

(48) (In) “Dust from a fallen wall” (SAḪAR BÀD ŠUB-), BÀD means “wall;” (from its components (KÉŠ×BAD)), KÉŠ means “bond” and BAD means “to open.” (The wall has to be) “fallen” (because of) what it is said, diri (SI.A) = ‘to collapse’ said of a wall” (Antagal A 151, cf. OB Diri I 18b), since si means “to go straight” said of walking, and A means “little one” (ṣaḫar).

4949

bàd : du-ú-ru : kéš : ri-ik-si : bad : pe-tu-u

5050

ŠUB šá Eu áš-šú dirig : qa-a-pa šá É.GAR₈ : si : e-še-ri šá a-lak

5151

a : ṣa-ḫar : SAḪAR šur-di-i : ma-aŋá : pi-sa-an-nu : ŋá : a-la-ku

(51) (In) “Dust of a leaking box (); the sign , read /ma/, means “box;” but can also mean “to go” (sc. out of the womb).


(colophon)
5252

ṣa-a-ti šu-ut KA u maš-ʾa-al-ti šá KA um-ma-nu šá ŠÀ

(52) Lemmata, oral explanations, and (materials for) a “questioning” by a (master-)scholar, relating to (the text with the incipit) “Incantation for a woman in labor.”

5353

én munus ù-tu-ud-da-a-ni IM.GÍD.DA d50-KÁD

(53) One column tablet of Enlil-kāṣir, lamentation priest of Enlil, son of Enlil-šuma-imbi, descendant of Ludumununna the Sumerian (i.e. the Nippurean).

5454

GALA dEN.LÍL A šá mdEN.LÍL-MU-im-bi ŠÀ.BAL.BAL

5555

m-DUMU-NUN.NA šu-me-ru-ú

1As against previous interpretations, ḫepi is better understood as an imperative (the base text reads ḫé-en-[o]-ge₄ || ḫe-pé-e-ma).

2dannatu is interpreted as a feminine singular adjective. An alternative interpretation would be to take it as the noun dannatu, "hardship," but the equations in the commentary would then be difficult to understand.

3If correctly interpreted, the equation e lá = edēru would be a quotation from an unknown source (but cf. la₂ = edēru in CAD E 29b). As pointed out by N. Veldhuis (privatim), in OB Sumerian “to embrace” is gú lá, which is the source of lá = edēru. U. Gabbay (privatim) further suggests that e lá = e-ṭe-ri may be a mistake for gú-lá = e-ṭe-ri, “to embrace,” since the signs gú and e are similar in some LB scripts.

4The raison d’etre of the first equation is unknown, see Civil JNES 33 (1974) p. 335 ad loc.