gan with complementary nu is represented here by an ancient form of the sign which is very different from the Assyrian form

The meaning

^here

must

be expressed

by dahddu,

"plenty", kindred to alidu (IV^R.9,A24a).

ki: the

KIKU

of our text is

New-Babylonian

(see the

Cyrus

Cylinder, IR._35, line 4).

The

early linear

form

iswellrepresented

by

^the

wedge-form

^of

Hammurabi

_(CH. Col. I, line 10, plate I).

A

_picture of the earth

was

_{probably attempted} in the archaic linear form. It should be noted that space^is represented con-ventionally

by

parallel horizontal lines included in a rectangle, orientated to the four quarters of the heavens.

10. ^di

mmer

_Mu-ul-lil nin kar-ra ki

damal-ra

Bel, the bountiful 'lord ofthe broad land!

dimmer Mu-ul-lil _(see line 2 for notes).

nin in the sense of_b&lu, "lord", gives a

good

^context.

kar-ra equals

noun kar

and postposition ra\

kar =

"plenty"

(see

MSL.

_123).

The

text

however may

^be dam-kar-ra.

32

Note that

ra may

^{be taken as} a postposition of the genitive as well as phonetic

complement

(see on line 3).

ki _(see online 9).

damal-ra

_{equals adjective plus} postposition.

damal,

ES

for the

EK

_dagal, with the

meaning

^of rapsu,

"extensive" (Br.5452).

The

_sign

name

isAMtf.

The

_signis com-posed ^of

two

_signs one within the other,

PISANNU,

"house", the outer _sign, and ANtf, "high", the inner _sign, hence the

meaning

"large space", "extensive".

11.

u-mu-un mu-ud-na du _sag-ma-al

ki

The

lord of creation, thecreator, the trueheadof theland!

u-mu-un

_(see line 1 for note).

mu-ud-na may

equal "creator" or "begetter", just as

muh-na

equals the Assyrian ^a-li'd (IV^E. 9,

32

_a),

mu-ud

is a phonetic representation of the

word mud, ^whose

sign ^is

MUEN-DUGlX HU

plus

HI

_(Br.2273).

The word mud

is equalto theAssyrian

banu

_(Br.2274).

du: here

we must

^{let the} sense govern us ⁱⁿ deciding ona form which

may

^{be readeither as}

KAK

or NI.

KAK

withthevalue

du

_equal to

banu

_{(Br.5248) gives} a

meaning

^{that fits} smoothly with

what

precedes and ^follows. In their originalforms

KAK, ^NI

and

IR

are similar yet entirely distinct signs. In the archaic linear form,

KAK

is a triangle with one of the angles pointing to the _right.

NI

is a _triangle with one of the angles pointing to the right and one upright ^line passing through ^the triangle.

IE

also is a _triangle with one of the angles pointing ^{to the} right

and two

_upright lines passing through ^the triangle.

sag-ma-al equals

noun

_{sag, plus} suffixma-al. Itcould stand for sag-gajust as

sag-mal

^{can stand for} sag-ga (Br. 3595). sag equals "head" _(as in line _5). ma-al: if

ma-al

is takenasuffix (as inline_1),itstands forthe

signPJSANNU meaning

sakdnu,"establish", or baSu, "exist", and is

ES

forthe

EK

_gal.

ki_(see line 9).

12.

u-mu-un

zal lah-na

ga ^nunuz-dm

da-ma-al-la

The

lord

whose

_shiningoilismilkforanextensiveprogeny!

u-mu-un

_(see line 1 for note).

zal:

NI means

"oil".

The

_Babylonian

KAK, NI

^and

^IE

^should be distinguished from the Assyrian. In Assyrian the horizontal

wedges

^areparallel and do not

come

to an angle ^{at the} right.

lah-na: zal lah-na

means

"his shining oil", and the thought appears ^to be that Bel causes food to be produced ^{to sustain} successive generations. His oil is milk for

many

generations.

- 33

zal-lahis

somewhat

likethe expression"finest oil"foundinAssyrian inscriptions.

lah: the signs

HiSSU

and

ABU

find theirnearest approach to each other in the value lah.

Both

_signs have this value with the

meaning

"brightness".

na

here is a suffix ofthe thirdperson^; sometimesit issecond person (see line _1).

ga: our _signhere is the old Babylonian

GU which

with its

common

value

ga ^means

sizbu, "milk".

The

archaic linear

form

represents the teat of the breast,

ga

^{occurs often as} a phonetic

complement

(see line _4).

nunuz-dm means

"is multitudinous",

nunuz: NUNUZ

in this

form

is, as Delitzsch observes

(HW.

p 525b), New-Babylonian. In Assyrian ^{it is}

composed

^of

SAB

and

HI

and in New-Babylonian of

SAB

and SE.

Here

it is equal ^{to the} Assyrian Upu,

German

"Nachkomme".

dm: _A.AN,

_equalling

dm,

^{is a} well recognized verbal ^suffix used like the verb "to be"; for instance, dingir-ra

dm means

"is a god"

and

_gal-la

dm means

"is great" (see

SVA.

_p.56).

da-ma-al-la is

composed

^{of the} adjective

da-ma-al

and the phonetic

complement

^la.

da-ma-al

is the phonetic representation in

ES

of the _sign

AMU meaning rapSu

(see line 10).

13. it-mu-un silim-ma-a-nieriir-ir

The

lord

whose

decrees bind together ^the city.

silim-ma-a-ni

means

"his decree".

Thus,

silim-ma-a equals noun, plus phonetic complement, plus vowel prolongation, silim:

we

have

had

the sign

SARARU

(in line 7),

where

it

was

_given the value _{di\ here,} however, ^the phonetic

complement

suggests the choice of the value _silim,

from which we

derive the

meaning

"decree", although "salutation"isa

more

_primary

meaning

expressed

by

^{the Semitic value} silim (from sulmu).

The

_signis apparently New-Babylonian.

ni

is one of the

common

nominal suffixes ofthe third person.

Note

thatBel is addressed in the third person ^{in this line,} but

we

shall find

him

addressed in the second personagain in^line16.

eri is

ES

for the

EK

uru. This value is substantiated

by

the

name

of the city of Eridu

=

Eri-tu (see

MSL.

p.105).

The name

of the _sign is

ALU. Our

_sign is oldBabylonian

and

isnot very ^different

from

the hieroglyphic form

which

is supposed ^to represent ^a city (eee

AL.

_{p. 121,} No. _21). It differs considerably from the

New-Babylonian ALU which

is

much

like the Assyrian.

ir-ir is an intensive form ofthe verb and therefore

may

^be

causative. Bel is supposed ^to have aided kings especiallyin cap-turing ^{cities, ir}

may ^mean

"bind", expressed

by kamu,

^but

kamu

3

34

is not so often represented

by IB

^as

by DIBBU

or

LALLU. kamu may

^be represented

by PA

_(see line _9).

Although

^{ir is} said to be aSemitic _value, it is used in this

hymn

syllabically andisthe only value ^ofthe sign preserved (see line¹

and

also

du

inline11 for further comment).

14.

du

nh-a-ni

a hm-e

_gal-la

Whose

_powerful dwelling-place (is the seat _of) a great

command,

du: the sign giving this value has

two

_origins, one ofwhich is represented

by

^{the value}dul,

meaning

"cover" (Br.9582).

The

other is represented

by

^{the value}

du and means

"dwelling-place", rendered in Assyrian

by

^subtu(Br.9588).

du

_really

means

"pre-scribed space".

nh-a-ni

means

"hislying-downplace", nh-adefineswith

more

particularity the nature of the dwelling ^{as "a} lying-down place",

"a

permanent

place of rest".

Here we

have

du

_nh-a; above

we

have

ama

nh-a_{(line 9).}

a:

IDU and DADDU come

from the

same

ideogram which^is the picture of the

hand

and the forearm, ^the fingers pointing to

the left.

The

value idis supposed ^to be of Semitic derivation,

from the root appearing ⁱⁿAssyrianas idu, "hand".

The

_sign

IDU

also

means

"side", "wing", "horn", "power".

Hence

Irender "power-ful" here,

making

^it qualify

du

nh-a-ni.

The

_sign in our text is oldBabylonian; yet ^it seems to be a form thatisapproaching^the Assyrian ^form.

TA

is also related to

ID

and

DA

and is used as

DA

sometimes is, as a postposition.

hm-e,

composed

of prefix

hm

and

stem

e.

hm: we

have

had

the sign used phonetically (line 1).

Here

it is undoubtedly an abstract prefix

(MSL.

p. XVII), qualifying the _following e.

The

sign ^is oldBabylonian, readily foundinoldBabylonianinscriptions.

It is a composite sign.

The

enclosure containsthe _sign

IZU which

is also composite.

IZU

_however, asexplained above(line 6),

means

"fire".

So hm

is primarily ^{the "fire of} love", hence the usual

meaning

"love".

e: it is clear that e can equal kabu, "speak" (Br.

5843

and

HW. 578

_a).

Hence hm-e must mean

"speech".

The

_sign is old Babylonian, ^as

may

^beseen,for instance,

by

examining

Hammurabi.

It is called

EGU. The

New-Babylonian form

comes

nearer to the old Babylonian than the Assyrian ^does. This fact goes ^to

show

that the Assyrian signs are as arule farther

away from

the archaic forms than the

New-Babylonian

signs^are.

The

_sign

AU

represented

"water", but the _sign

EGfr

represented ^the "waterditch", "canal".

How

e

comes

to

mean kabu may

perhaps be explained

by

^its

In document SUMERIAN HYMNS ORM TEXTS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM FREDERICK AUGUSTUS VANDERBURGH, PH.D. AND COMMENTARY TRANSLITERATION, TRANSLATION (Page 47-50)