CCP 3.5.6.B - Ālu 6 B

Catalogue information
British Museum
BM 48575
81-11-3,1286
BabylonBabylon (Rassam)
CDLI: 
P470048
Commentary
DivinationTerrestrial omens (Šumma Ālu)

ṣâtu

Base text: 
Ālu 6
Commentary no: 
B
Tablet information
Babylonian
Fragment
Lines: 
obv 10, rev 10
Size: 
4,1 × 6,5 cm
Neo/Late Babylonian, specifics unknown
Record
Jiménez, 08/2016 (Transliteration)
Jiménez, 08/2016 (Translation)
Jiménez, 08/2016 (Introduction)
Jiménez, 08/2016 (Identification)
Gabbay, 08/2016 (Suggestions [o 7′-8′])
By Enrique Jiménez | Make a correction or suggestion
How to cite
Jiménez, E., 2016, “Commentary on Ālu 6 (CCP 3.5.6.B),” Cuneiform Commentaries Project (E. Frahm, E. Jiménez, M. Frazer, and K. Wagensonner), 2013–2024; accessed October 4, 2024, at https://ccp.yale.edu/P470048. DOI: 10079/crjdg13
© Cuneiform Commentaries Project (Citation Guidelines)
Introduction

This fragment contains remains of what appears to be a commentary on the 6th tablet of the series of terrestrial omens Šumma Ālu (see below the commentary on lines r 6′-7′). The fragment probably belongs to the same tablet as BM 48344 (81-11-3,1054 = CCP 3.5.6).1 Both fragments contain several archaizing forms of certain signs, such as IB in BM 48575 (the present tablet) and RU in BM 48344.

Lines o 6′-8′ of this tablet comment on the rare word ribqu, a hapax legomenon.2 Interestingly, the lines explaining this word (o 7′-8′) quote a bilingual line from the eršemma Uru ašera.

  • 1. Note, however, that Uri Gabbay suggests that, since several of the entries in the commentary appear together in the same section of Aa (see in particular the notes on lines r 3′ and 4′ below), the present fragment might represent a commentary on Aa.
  • 2. The rare verb rabāqu is only attested in two Old Babylonian letters, where it is used to designate an action involving cattle (see CAD R 9-10). As suggested by Uri Gabbay (private communication), the ribqu should be probably taken as a place where animals are kept. Gabbay further observes that lexical equations of Sumerian rig₇ with ribku and rabāku, booked in dictionaries s.v. ribqu, “decoction” (CAD R 321) and rabāku, “to decoct” (CAD R 8), respectively, should rather be assigned to this lemma, since in the eršemma quoted the Akkadian word ribqu corresponds to the Sumerian rig₇.
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BM 048575[via ccpo]

Obverse
o 1'o 1'

[...] x : x [...]

[...] ... [...]

o 2'2'

[...] x-tu₄ : i-[...]

[...] ... [...]

o 3'3'

[...] x-le-e : ḫi-[...]

[...] ... [...]

o 4'4'

[...]-ma? [...]

[...] ... [...]

o 5'5'

[...] kim-tu₄ : [(x x)] x [...]

[...] (means) family ... [...]

o 6'6'

[...] ri-ib-qu : (x⸣) ḫe- [...]1

[...] ripqu (lit., “hoed”) (means) ... “broken” [...]

o 7'7'

[... x]-gin₇ na-an-gul-la? : ama ér-[bi-e na-an-gul-e (...)]2

[... (as in)] like a [...] is destroyed, so the abode is [destroyed by its] weeping,”

o 8'8'

[...] ina : ri-ib-qu ṣab-ta [ina maš]-tak bi-[ki-tu₄ ...]3

[...] (in Akkadian) “in the stall is seized, in the abode the w[eeping ...]

o 9'9'

[...] : áš-šu- ze-nu-tu₄ [...]4

[...] angry marriage [...]

o 10'10'

[...] ul i-[...]

[...] not ... [...]

o 11'11'

[...] ú x [...]

[...] ... [...]

Reverse
r 1'r 1'

[...] x x x [...]

[...] ... [...]

r 2'2'

[...] x in-na-bi-tu₄ x [...]5

[...] ... fled ... [...]

r 3'3'

[...] KU₆ : nu-ú-ni : na-bu-tu₄ : x[...]6

[...] KU₆ (i.e., ḪA) means “fish,” “to flee” (ZÁḪ, i.e., ḪA.A) means ... [...]

r 4'4'

[...] x : ma-ša-lu : ṭub-bu-u : ra-ḫa-[ṣu ...]7

[...] ... means “to equal.” “To sink” means to flo[od ...].

r 5'5'

[...] x-ma : ṭe-bu-ú : na?-pu-ú : x [...]

[...] ... “to sink” means ... [...]

r 6'6'

[...] sa-na-pu : ra-ḫa-ṣu šá UR-[...]8

[...] “to tie” means “to trample,” said of ... [...]

r 7'7'

[...] UR.KI : kal-bi ur-ṣu : ḫe-su-[ú? ...]9

[... U]R.KI means “badger,” ... [...]

r 8'8'

[...] : áš-šu- -re-tu₄ šá [...]

[...] invited marriage [...]

r 9'9'

[...] x : gu-uz?-x [...]

[...] ... [...]

r 10'10'

[...] x [...]

[...] ... [...]

1ḫepi could also be taken as a paratextual note.

2The line contains a quotation from the eršemma uru ašera (which also existed as the first section of a balaĝ of the same title). In that text the line appears, with small variations, as ll. 20-23 (see the editions in CLAM pp. 66-67 and Gabbay HES 2 [2015] p. 171).

3The present line probably contains the Akkadian translation of the Sumerian line. The parallels BM 42658 and LKU 10 translate the line as kīma ... ṣa-ab-tu₄ ina maš-ta-ki-šá ba-ka-a ul i?-kal?-la? (see Gabbay HES 2 [2015] p. 306). Note also AMA₅ = maštaku.

4See line r 8′.

5The line probably contains a quotation from a literary text.

6Compare Ea IV 111 and 114 (MSL 14 p. 359): ku-ú ḪA = nu-ú-nu, za-aḫ ḪA.A = na-bu-tu.

7Compare Ea IV 124 (MSL 14 p. 360): se-e SUM su-nu = mašālu. On ṭubbû, see Aa II/7 iv 6a′ (MSL 14 p. 298). Note the very relevant entry from Diri: sa-ah ḪA.A = ṭú-ub-bu-ú (Diri VI B 5 = MSL 15 p. 188). The restoration of the last verb is based on Diri VI B 8.

8The rare verb sanāpu is attested in two rituals (see CAD S 132a) and in Šumma Ālu VI 80 and VII 15.

9kalab urṣi, “badger” (?), is attested in Ḫarra XIV 86. It appears in Izbu V 91, XVII 61, and in the list of prodigies CT 29 48 l. 12. Compare also Šumma Ālu VI 82 and 84 (UR.A and UR.GI₇).

Photos by Enrique Jiménez

Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum