This well preserved tablet contains a commentary on the 17th tablet of the teratological series Šumma Izbu. The tablet belongs to the collection of Iqīšāya, and it is dated to the reign of Philip Arrhidaeus (1 August 318 BCE). The rubric classifies the tablet as a ṣâtu 7c commentary on the 18th “reading” (malsûtu) of Šumma Izbu.
All the preserved explanations are concerned with philological issues. For instance, line 24 explains the ambiguous writing géme malî, “an omen of mourning,” by spelling out the logogram géme. The commentary also attempts to provide philological justification for its explanations: for instance, ll. 16-17 explain the phrase “shape of a shrew” (bišimti ḫulê) as “creature (binûtu) (spawn by) a shrew,” and then specifies that the equation is due to the fact that “‘to shape’ (bašāmu) means ‘to create’ (banû).”
Some of the entries are identical with those of the Principal Commentary on Šumma Izbu (gurru maḫīru), e.g. ll. 6 and 8. Occasionally the entries of the present commentary read like expanded versions of the laconic explanations of the gurru maḫīru.
This commentary uses the technical terms šanîš, “alternatively”; and ina … qabi, “it is said in …,” the latter to cite the source of the explanations. Twice in this text are the explanations said to be cited from a ṣâtu, “a bilingual list” (ll. 10-11 and 14). On both occasions the explanation takes the form of “x means y, when said of z,” using the determinative pronoun ša for defining which of the several possible meanings of a word is referred to in a particular instance (see further here). Once the explanation is introduced by the comparative preposition kīma, “like” (l. 18 “‘A kukku of a balance’ is like (kīma) the rod of a weighing scales”), which perhaps indicates that the explanation is not entirely philological. A fully periphrastic explanation can also be found in this commentary: ll. 9-10 explain that “the urethra is a hole of the penis from which urine flows out.”
The present edition has benefited greatly from an electronic edition prepared by Marie-Françoise Besnier for the GKAB project, kindly made available by Eleanor Robson.
