Catalogue information

British Museum

BM 39440

80-11-12,1326

Babylon›Babylon (Rassam)

CDLI:

P470005

Commentary

Medical›Medical Other / Uncertain

Broken

Base text:

Sagig 14 (?)

Tablet information

Babylonian

Fragment

Lines:

o 11, r 5

Size:

3,4 × 3,3 cm

Neo/Late Babylonian, specifics unknown

Bibliography

Gabbay, 2016U. Gabbay, The Exegetical Terminology of Akkadian Commentaries. Brill, 2016.: 75 (r 3′), 110 (r 2′), 135 (3’)

Record

Jiménez, 07/2015 (Identification)

Jiménez, 10/2015 (Transliteration)

Jiménez, 10/2015 (Translation)

Jiménez, 10/2015 (Introduction)

Jiménez, 08/2016 (Commentary markup)

Stadhouders, 10/2018 (Suggestions [o 9′, r 2′])

By Enrique Jiménez |

How to cite

Jiménez, E., 2015, “Commentary on Sagig 14 (?) (CCP 4.3.u4),” Cuneiform Commentaries Project (E. Frahm, E. Jiménez, M. Frazer, and K. Wagensonner), 2013–2024; accessed April 17, 2024, at https://ccp.yale.edu/P470005. DOI: 10079/kkwh7ct

BibTex XML RIS

Introduction

This small fragment contains meager remains of a commentary on a medical text. The rare phrase kalīt zikartīšu, “the kidneys of his manhood” (i.e., the testicles), which appears in line r 3′ of the present text, is elsewhere known only in the 14th chapter of the medical series of prognoses and diagnoses (Sagig). The next lines in the present commentary also seem to comment on entries from the same section of Sagig. It seems therefore very likely that this fragment belongs to a commentary on Sagig 14.

The commentary uses the technical terms ana, “to” (to indicate the lemma of an entry, in o 3′) and šanîš, “alternatively” (to introduce alternative explanations, in r 3′).

The accession number of the fragment, 80-11-12, suggests that it comes from Hellenistic or Parthian Babylon. That collection includes other commentaries on medical texts, such as BM 38375 (CCP 4.1.29, on Sagig 29), BM 38657 (CCP 4.2.M.d), and BM 38867 (CCP 7.2.u110), but none of them seems to be part of the same tablet.

Edition

ccpo

BM 039440 (unpublished unassigned ?) [Commentary (Miscellanea)]


Obverse
o 1'o 1'	[...] ⸢x⸣-uš-tu₄ ⸢x⸣ [...]1	…
o 2'2'	[...] ši-si-tu₄ ⸢x⸣ [...]	[…] “cry …” […]
o 3'3'	[...] ⸢x⸣ ana re-ḫu-u : še-[...]2	[…] derives from “to pour our.” […]
o 4'4'	[... (^uzu)ŠÀ].GI₆ : ṭu-li-mu : [...]3	[… ŠÀ].GI₆ means “spleen” […],
o 5'5'	[...] x-nin : GAM : ka-[ma-ṣu ...]4	[…] … GAM means “to prost[rate” …]
o 6'6'	[...] ⸢:⸣ man-za-az-tu₄ : su-ú-⸢x⸣ [...]	[…] means “position” … […]
o 7'7'	[...] giš-gi-nu-ú : giš-⸢gi⸣-[...]	[…] a clamp … […]
o 8'8'	[...]-ú : ^bà-^eKU : te-ṣu-⸢ú⸣ [...]5	[…] … and KU, read /be/, means “to defecate.” […]
o 9'9'	[... pa]-ar-da : gal-ta : MUD [: pa-la-ḫu : MUD : ga-la-tú ...]6	[… “afr]aid” means “fearful,” (since) mud [means “to fear” (and) mud means “to be fearful” …]
o 10'10'	[...]-⸢x⸣-gal-zi la-ni x x [...]7	[…] … figure … […]
o 11'11'	[...] x-mu [...]	…
Reverse
r 1'r 1'	[... ^úŠIM].⸢EREN⸣ : li-piš-tu₄ : x x x [...]8	[… ú.šim]EREN means lipištu-plant, … […]
r 2'2'	[... GISSU : ṣi]-⸢il^?⸣-li : sim-mu šá IGI-MEŠ-šú ṣab-ru : [...]9	[… GISSU means] “shadow,” (i.e.) a wound of one who blinks his eyes. […]
r 3'3'	[... ka-lit zik]-⸢ra⸣-tu-šú : šá-niš iš-ka-a-šú : SA.GIG ⸢:⸣ [...]10	[… means the “kidneys of his mas]culinity,” alternatively, it means “his testicles.” SA.GIG means […]
r 4'4'	[...] x-⸢tu₄^?⸣ : dan-nu : GAL : šep-ṣi : ri-bit-[su ...]11	[…] … means “strong,” GAL means “obstinate.” “[His] abdomen” […]
r 5'5'	[...] x x x x x [...]	…

1Perhaps maruštu?

2Perhaps Sagig XIV ii 26 (TDP 134) tarḫat?

3Sagig XXII 28.

4Alternatively, both ka-[pa-pu ...] and ka-[na-šu] could be restored.

5The equation ba-e (|| bé-e, bi-id, še-e) KU = tezû is attested in Proto-Aa (MSL 14 141 no. 19 l. 27, see CAD T). The verb tezû is attested in Sagig X r 3 (TDP 86), XIII 42' (TDP 114), XIV ii 12-14 (TDP 132), and XIV iii 48' (TDP 140).

6The restorations of the line are courtesy of H. Stadhouders. Compare IGI-MIN-šú pár-da in Sagig XII 112′′.

7The first preserved word may be a Kassite plant name, such as habigalzu, kabittigalzu, or šagabigalzu.

8The equation of the plant lipištu with ^ú.^šimEREN is attested in Uruanna III 426 and elsewhere (see CAD L 199a). In Sagig, lipištu is attested only in Sagig XIV ii 52 (TDP 136).

9Cf. GISSU, Sagig XVI 21-23? H. Stadhouders (privatim) suggests translating “a lesion that narrows his eyesight.”

10Compare Sagig XIV ii 69 (TDP 138), kalīt zikartīšu. Compare SA.GIG in Sagig XIV iii 38' (TDP 140).

11Compare šap-ṣu = dannu in the Theodicy commentary (o 16). It may be a notarikon analysis of SA.GAL (Sagig XIV iii 39'). Compare ri-bit-su e.g. in Sagig XIV iii 42'-57' (TDP 140).