CCP 7.2.u51 - Uncertain

Catalogue information
British Museum
BM 41637
81-6-25,253+ 81-6-25,284
Babylon(Babylon)
joins: 
BM 41637+ BM 41667
CDLI: 
P461207
Commentary
MiscellaneaUnknown
Base text: 
Uncertain
Tablet information
Babylonian
Fragment
Columns: 
1
Lines: 
obv 11, rev 10
Neo/Late Babylonian, specifics unknown
Record
Jiménez, 12/2015 (Transliteration)
Jiménez, 12/2015 (Translation)
Jiménez, 12/2015 (Introduction)
Stadhouders, 02/2016 (Corrections and suggestions)
Jiménez, 08/2016 (Commentary markup)
By Enrique Jiménez | Make a correction or suggestion
How to cite
Jiménez, E., 2015, “Commentary on Uncertain (CCP 7.2.u51),” Cuneiform Commentaries Project (E. Frahm, E. Jiménez, M. Frazer, and K. Wagensonner), 2013–2024; accessed March 29, 2024, at https://ccp.yale.edu/P461207. DOI: 10079/08kps40
© Cuneiform Commentaries Project (Citation Guidelines)
Introduction

This previously unpublished commentary is preserved in two small fragments that have been joined back to back, in a so-called “sandwich join.” Both fragments belong to the 81-6-25 consignment, reported to stem from the city of Babylon. The big, neat script of the tablet is reminiscent of the very late Egibatila commentaries, most importantly the Šumma Ālu commentary CCP 3.5.31, BM 41586 (81-6-25,201), which belongs to the same consignment as the present tablet.1

The tablet seems to comment on a text that pairs plants with gods. It appears to be related to a small fragment from Kuyunjik, K.14081 (CT 14 38), which contains a list of plants that are said to be effective against the “deputy spirits” of certain gods (šēdu šanê DN). Such “deputy spirits” are in fact mentioned in o 1′ and 5′.

The text seems to perform notariqon-type analyses of some words: thus, for instance, the first component of the logogram i.dutu (“lament”) is explained by means of a rare lexical equation that pairs i with the uncommon verb nâqu, “to cry.”

  • 1. The script is also very similar to one of the other two commentaries from the 81-6-25 consignment, CCP 7.2.u49 (BM 41481(+) BM 41635). It is, however, different from that of the Alamdimmû commentary CCP 3.7.2.K, the only other known commentary from the 81-6-25 collection.
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ccpo

BM 041637 + BM 041667 (unpublished unassigned ?) [commentaries]

Obverse
o 1'o 1'

dLAMMA : d15 : x (x) x-na-tu₄? [...]

“The protective angel” is Ištar, ... [...]

o 2'2'

d30 ana MIN-ba/giš? la i-ṣal-lal : ú[...]1

Sîn should not fall sleep to ... The ...-plant [...]

o 3'3'

I.dUTU : ta-zi-im-tu₄ : MIN [...]

I.d.UTU means “complaint,” ditto means [...]

o 4'4'

x MIN : ba-ku-u : I : na-a-qu [...]2

... ditto means “to cry,” I means “to cry” [...]

o 5'5'

dALAD šá-ne-e dAMAR.UTU : ú[gaṣ-ṣu ...]3

“The protective deity, emissary of Marduk.” The plant [nadru (?)...]

o 6'6'

na-ad- : še-gu-ú : na-[ad?-? ...]4

“wild” (nadru) means “aggressive,” w[ild (nadru) ...]

o 7'7'

KU.KU.ALAM un-ni-ni [...]5

KU.KU.ALAM (means) “praye[r” ...]

o 8'8'

ŠÈ.ŠÈše-še su-x-[...]

KU.KU, read /šeše/, (means) ... [...]

o 9'9'

da-ri : id-[...]

eternity means ... [...]

o 10'10'

DU₇.DU₇ [...]

DU₇.DU₇ [means ...]

o 11'11'

li-[...]

... [...]

Reverse
r 1'r 1'

x [...]

... [...]

r 2'2'

IGI šá [...]

Face of [...]

r 3'3'

Ì.GIŠ ŠÉŠ-[su ...]

“you will ru[b him] with oil [...]

r 4'4'

ina itiBÁRA U₄ [x.KAM ...]

In the month of Nisannu, on the [xth] day [x.KAM ...]

r 5'5'

ina-an-zíq : šá x [...]

“He worries” refers to (the man) who ... [...]

r 6'6'

Ì.UDU a-me-lu- : [...]

“Human fat” means [...]

r 7'7'

úan-ki-nu-te x [...]

The ankinūtu-plant [...]

r 8'8'

ki-i dEN.KI x [...]6

ki (means) Enki ... [...]

r 9'9'

KUN šá GÍR.TAB [...]7

“Scorpion’s ta[il” ...]

r 10'10'

[(x)] x x x [...]

... [...]

1H. Stadhouders (private communication) suggests reading ¶ MIN-ma!, and points out that the line might refer to a patient suffering from insomnia at the time of some lunar phenomenon.

2The reading of the first sign is uncertain. The equation I = nâqu is attested, albeit rarely (CAD N/1 341). The line probably contains a notariqon analysis of the logogram I.dUTU.

3dALAD šá-ne-e dAMAR.UTU is attested in BAM 379 iv 4 // K.14081 ll. 4'-5' (CT 14 38). Also, as pointed out by H. Stadhouders (privatim), in STT 93 l. 50.

4The line probably refers to either the plant “against the ‘cruel one’ (gaṣṣu) or ‘the wild one’ (nadru),” see K.14081 l. 2′ (CT 14 38): Ú na-ad-ri MIN<(dALAD)> MIN<(šá-ne-e)> dmes-lam-ta-è-[a]. See also H. Stadhouders JMC 18 (2001) p. 34 fn. 179, 37ff, and 40 §6 l. 3.

5The sequence of signs at the beginning of the line seems to be KU.KU.ALAM, but it is uncertain how this should be interpreted.

6H. Stadhouders ingeniously proposes that this line might contain an “etymographic” analysis of the plant name ankinūtu, in which the element /ki/ would be associated with Enki (private communication).

7The reading of the line is courtesy of H. Stadhouders.

Photos by Enrique Jiménez

Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum