CCP 3.6.1.A.l - Izbu (gurru maḫīru) A

Catalogue information
Vorderasiatisches Museum
VAT 10071
Ass 1114
AššurAššur, N2 (hB4V, eastern corner of Ziqqurrat)
CDLI: 
P381770
Publication
Copy: 
BWL pl. 73
Editions: 

Cavigneaux & Güterbock & Roth & Farber, 1985A. Cavigneaux, Güterbock, H. G. , Roth, M. T. , and Farber, G. , The Series Erim-huš = anantu and An-ta-gál = šaqû. Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1985.: 7, 24, 45

Lambert, 1960bW. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature. Clarendon Press, 1960.: 31, 125

Leichty, 1970E. Leichty, The Omen Series Šumma Izbu. Augustin, 1970.: 211-229

Commentary
DivinationTeratological omensPrincipal Commentary

None

Base text: 
Izbu (gurru maḫīru)
Commentary no: 
A
Duplicates
Tablet information
Assyrian
Complete tablet
Columns: 
1
Lines: 
obv 9-11
7th cent (Assurbanipal libraries and other Assyrian cities)
Colophon
(Šumma-balāṭ s. Nabû-aḫa-iddina ?)
Bibliography

Borger, 1967R. Borger, Handbuch der Keilschriftliteratur. Band I. Repertorium der sumerischen und akkadischen Texte. de Gruyter, 1967.
[t73 VAT 10071 und VAT 10756) Schultafeln, cf p356f. Auszüge aus Vokabularen, dem Šumma Izbu-Kommentar und literarischen Texten.]
: 267

Borger, 1975R. Borger, Handbuch der Keilschriftliteratur. Band II. Supplement zu Band I. de Gruyter, 1975.
[t73 VAT 10071 und VAT 10756) Schultafeln, siehe p356f. Auszüge aus Vokabularen und literarischen Texten. VAT 10071 Z. 9-11 Leichty Šumma izbu p211ff]
: 161

Cavigneaux & Güterbock & Roth & Farber, 1985A. Cavigneaux, Güterbock, H. G. , Roth, M. T. , and Farber, G. , The Series Erim-huš = anantu and An-ta-gál = šaqû. Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1985.
[Edition of the Erimḫuš excerpts]
: 7, 24, 45

Civil, 2004M. Civil, The Series Diri = (w)atru. Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 2004.
[Edition of the DIRI excerpt]
: 105

Frahm, 2011E. Frahm, Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries. Origins of Interpretation. Ugarit-Verlag, 2011.: 204, 206, 252, 271

Lambert, 1960bW. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature. Clarendon Press, 1960.
[Edition of the excerpts from Ludlul and the Šamaš hymn]
: 31, 125

Leichty, 1970E. Leichty, The Omen Series Šumma Izbu. Augustin, 1970.
[Edition]
: 211-229

Pedersén, 1986O. Pedersén, Archives and Libraries in the City of Assur. A Survey of the Material from the German Excavations. Almqvist & Wiksell, 1986.
[(1) Ass. 1114; VAT 10071; school tablet; BWL, pp. 356f., pI. 73; cf. MSL 17, pp. 24ff.]
: 31a

Weiershäuser, 2007F. Weiershäuser, Beobachtungen zur Entwicklung des Korpus lexikalischer Texte in Assur, in Studien zu Ritual und Sozialgeschichte im Alten Orient / Studies on Ritual and Society in the Ancient Near East. Tartuer Symposien 1998-2004, T. Kämmerer, Ed. de Gruyter, 2007, pp. 349-365.: 354 fn. 15

Record
Veldhuis, 05/2017 (ATF Transliteration)
Jiménez, 05/2017 (Translation)
Sáenz, 05/2017 (Annotation)
Sáenz, 05/2017 (Introduction)
Lenzi, 02/2018 (Correction [introduction])
By Luis Sáenz | Make a correction or suggestion
How to cite
Sáenz, L., 2017, “Commentary on Izbu (gurru maḫīru) (CCP 3.6.1.A.l),” Cuneiform Commentaries Project (E. Frahm, E. Jiménez, M. Frazer, and K. Wagensonner), 2013–2024; accessed March 28, 2024, at https://ccp.yale.edu/P381770. DOI: 10079/pvmcvsj
© Cuneiform Commentaries Project (Citation Guidelines)
Introduction

This school tablet was found at Assur, in the House N2. As such, it very likely belonged to the archive of Nabû-aḫa-iddina and Šumma-balāṭ.1 It preserves excerpts from 9 different works, separated by rulings. The excerpted works are the following:

 

Obverse
1-2: Erim-ḫuš II, ll. 234-237
3-5: Erim-ḫuš III, ll.12-17
6-8: Diri I, ll. 247-249
9-11: ‘Principal Commentary’ on Šumma Izbu (gurru maḫīru), ll. 121-123
12-14: ḫar-gud I, ll. 12a, 13, 17
Bottom edge
15-16: Maqlû IV, ll. 135-136
Reverse
17-18: Great Hymn to Šamaš ll. 138-139
19-20: Ludlul bēl nēmeqi I, ll. 82-83
21-22: Enūma eliš I, ll. 22-23
23-24: Erra Epic I, ll. 73-74

 

Remarkably, the tablet VAT 10756, a school tablet from the same archive, preserves excerpts from the following lines of the same texts cited in the present tablet. Thus, whereas VAT 10071 cites Erimḫuš II 234-237, VAT 10756 quotes Erimḫuš II 238-240. The only text cited in the present tablet and not in VAT 10756 is the ‘Principal Commentary on Šumma Izbu’ (ll. 9-11 of the present tablet).

In fact, the present tablet is the only known school tablet to contain an extract from a commentary. As noted by E. Frahm, “it is likely that the ‘Principal Commentary’ owes its exceptional inclusion in Ass. 1114 to the fact that it could be used as a lexical list in its own right.”2

Edition

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(Base textCommentaryQuotations from other texts)

ccpo

CDLI Literary 002701.01, ex. 024 & 002718.01, ex. 031 [ludlul bēl nēmeqi 1 (witness); enuma elish 1 (witness)]

Obverse
x86obverse
excerpt from Erim-ḫuš II 234-237
11

bar dag

tu-pu

di-di1

“bar dag” (= “to pursue”) means tūpu. “di-di” (in Sumerian) ()

22

bar dag-dag

ta-pi

di-di-ba

“bar dag-dag” (= “to pursue”) means tāpi. “di-di-ba” (in Sumerian) ()


excerpt from Erim-ḫuš III 12-17
3a3a

šà dib

zu-un-nu-[u]

GUG

“šà-dib” (in Sumerian) means “very angry.” “gug” (in Sumerian) ()

3b3b

SU-ga-aggag

“sugag” (in Sumerian) ()

44

šà ḫul ŋál

lu-mun lìb-bi

”šà ḫul ĝál” (in Sumerian) means “evil of the heart.”

5a5a

GUG

“gug” means ()

5b5b

SU-GUG

“sugug” means ()


excerpt from Diri I 247-249
66

ku-uk-ku

KU₇.KU₇

nu-til min-a-bi

ṭa-a-bu

(The sign) KU₇.KU₇, (read) kukku, (is called) “double unfinished , (and means) “good.”

77

mat-qu

(and means) “sweet.”

88

da-áš-pu

(and means) “honeyed.”


excerpt from Principal Commentary on Šumma Izbu 121-123 [on Šumma Izbu III]
99

ni-is-sa-te

ku-

“Wailing” (= Šumma Izbu III 76) means “depression.”

1010

MIN<(ni-is-sa-te)>

ḫa-ra-ṣu2

Ditto (i.e., “wailing”) means “breaking off.”

1111

šá-pu-lu₄!(UB)

pe-e-[mu]

“Groin” (= Šumma Izbu III 79) means “thigh.”


excerpt from ḪAR-gud I 12a, 13, 17
1212

ì-dub

-pik-ki

rug-bu

“idub” (in Sumerian) means “grain storage”, (which) means “loft.”

1313

a-ga-zi

im-bu-u

mul-lu-u

“agazi” (in Sumerian) means “loss”, (which) means “compensation.”

1414

mu

ni-šu

ma--

“mu” (in Sumerian) means “vow,” (which) means “oath.”


bottom
excerpt from Maqlû IV 135-136
1515

a-na UDUN a-lik-ti a-šar-rap-ši-na-[ti]

I shall burn them in a flaming stove,

1616

dGIŠ.BAR qu-mi!(LUM) kaš-šá-pi kaš-šap-[ti]

O Gira, burn my sorcerer and [my] witch!

reverse
excerpt from Great Hymn to Šamaš 138-139
1717

dUTU i-maḫ-ḫar-ka a-lak-ti e-te-qu [pu-luḫ-ti]

O Šamaš, the caravan, who travels in fear, addresses you,

1818

DAM-GÀR al-la-ku ŠÁMAN. na-áš ki-[i-si]

The relentless merchant and (his) assistant, the purse bearer.


excerpt from Ludlul bēl nēmeqi I 82-83
1919

URU ki-i a-a-[bi] -kil-[man-ni]

My own city frowned at me like an enemy,

2020

tu-šá-ma nak-ra-tu₄ na-an-dur-ti [ma-a-ti]

As if it were a foe, [my land] (was) savage.


excerpt from Enūma eliš I 22-23
2121

e-šu-u ti-amat-ma na!(MI-)ṣir-šu-nu -[tap-pu]

Their clamour got loud, throwing Tiāmat into a turmoil,

2222

dal-ḫu-nim-ma šá ta-à-wa-tita-ma-te ka-ra-[as-sa]

They jarred the nerves of Tiāmat.


excerpt from Erra and Išum I 73-74
2323

UN-MEŠ lip-la-ḫu-ma lit-qu-na ḫu-bur-šin

May people be afraid and their noise be diminished!

2424

MÁŠ.ANŠE li-ru-ur-ma li-tur a-na ṭi-iṭ-ṭi

May animals tremble and be reduce to clay!


2525

13/163

13?/16? (day of month).

1This and the following lines should be read as a two-column excerpt in which the right column (without translation) is a continuation of the left column. Thus, BAR DAG : tu-pu = Erimḫuš II 237, BAR DAG.DAG : ta-pi = Erimḫuš II 238, DI.DI = Erimḫuš II 239, DI.DI.BA = Erimḫuš II 239.

2The equation of kūru and nissatu in the previous line is well attested elsewhere; however, the equation of the former word with ḫarāṣu, “to break off,” is unattested outside the ‘Principal Commentary’. De Zorzi (La seria teratomantica Šumma Izbu, Padova, 2014 p. 435) suggests that “riguardo a nissatu il verbo ḫarāṣu indichi consunzione, dimagrimento e generale decadimento.” Alternatively, it is tempting to assume that the association may be due to the fact that the logogram for nissatu, ZARAḪ(SAG.PA.LAGAB), could be read “retrographically” as ḫarāṣu.

3The date in school tablets usually consists of month and day, without indication of the year (see Gesche, Schulunterricht in Babylonien, 2001, p. 56). There is a small damaged sign before the three verticals that would well fit a reading U₄.

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© Vorderasiatisches Museum