| | | |
| Obverse |
| x156 | obverse |
| 11 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x] d30 : DIB : AN : ma-[x x x x] | [...] Sîn means DIB, (since) AN means [...] |
| 22 | [x x x x x x x x x x] ⸢x x⸣-tu di-ib-bi ul-te-ra-[x (x x)]1 | [...] words ... [...], |
| 33 | [x x x x x x x x x] ⸢ul?⸣-tu? U₄ 16.KAM d30 NIGIN-rat iḫ-te-si-[ma]2 | [...] from the 16th day the visible area of the moon is covered, |
| 44 | [x x x x (x)] ⸢ITIḫu-us⸣-su é tùr-<gin₇> niŋin-na-a šag₄-bi a-še-er-[ra]3 | [...] monthly the (lamentation) "The House Is Encircled Like A Cattle Pen; Inside Of It There Are Laments." |
| 55 | [x x (x)] x x (x) abzu pe-⸢el⸣-lá-àm šá U₄ 1.KAM GARnu bu-ub-bu-lu šu-[ú?]4 | [...] the lamentation "The Apsû is Defiled," which is recited on the 1st day, is the day of the new moon. |
| 66 | [itix U₄] 3.KAM ṣal-mu šá ⸢it⸣-[ti?-i? d]30 ul ib-ba-ni ina lìb-bi iq-ta-⸢bi?⸣5 | On the 3rd of [the month ...], statues of bit[umen ...] and Sîn should not made, it is said there. |
| 77 | [ul?]-tu in-<né>-ep-šú : ⸢ul?⸣-[tu ib]-⸢ba?⸣-nu-ú :? bi-kit it-taš-kan : ⸢KI⸣-[x (x)] | "After it is done" means "after it is made." A mourning-ritual is performed [...] |
| 88 | ta-qab-bu-ú um-ma mi?-nu?-⸢ú?⸣ [x x]-KAL-lu-man-ni šá U₄ 18.KAM URU₄ ⸢é⸣-[sag-gil na-di]6 | You should say thus: who [...] of the 18th day, the foundations of the E[sagil are laid]. |
| 99 | itiSIG₄ šá d30 DUMU reš-tu-ú ⸢ša⸣ d⸢en-líl⸣ : dSIG₄ : d30 : dSIG₄ ⸢EN⸣ [UŠ₈]7 | Simānu (iti.SIG₄) belongs to Sîn, the first-born son of Enlil. Kulla (d.SIG₄) means Sîn; Kulla is the lord [of the foundations], |
| 1010 | 4? : ⸢er?⸣-bet-tu₄ : 4? : d30 : U₄ 18.KAM šá ⸢iti⸣SIG₄ šá dAG [u] ⸢dDI⸣.[KU₅]8 | 4 means "four" and 4 means Sîn. The 18th day of Simānu belongs to Nabû and Madānu. |
| 1111 | ana gišKIRI₆ ma-suk-kan-nu il-la-ku-ʾ šá ⸢E⸣u uš-šú [(x x) x x]9 | What it said, "they go to the rosewood garden," means ["they build] the foundations [of the house], |
| 1212 | ma-suk-kan-nu : MA : ba-nu-ú : ⸢SUK⸣ : bi-⸢tu₄ :⸣ EN : ⸢be-lu₄⸣10 | (since, in) masukkannu, ma means "to build," suk means "house," and en means "lord." |
| 1313 | si-ma-nu : ⸢SI⸣ : re-tu-ú ⸢šá⸣ te-me-⸢en-ni⸣ : MA : É : ⸢EN⸣ [: be]-⸢lu₄⸣11 | (In the word) simānu, si means "to fix," said of the foundations; ma means "house," and en means "lord." |
| 1414 | ⸢i/ra⸣-[x x (x)] d30 u dUTU ki-nu AN ⸢KI?⸣ [x (x)] ⸢UR/ḪUL⸣ GÁLši : x [(x)] x | [...] Sîn and Šamaš ... [...] there is [...], |
| 1515 | [lìb-bu-u d]⸢EN⸣.KI d⸢UTU⸣ u ⸢dŠÀ.ZU? ba?-bi?⸣-[lu] x x x x12 | [As in "E]nki, Šamaš, and Šazu to Babylon [...] ..., |
| 1616 | [U₄ 18.KAM UDU.NÍTA ina muḫ-ḫi uḫ]-⸢tat⸣-ta-pu : ÚR : iš-[di]13 | [On the 18th day a sheep is sl]aughtered [on it] — úr means "base," |
| 1717 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]-ud 19 ŠU.SI IGI[mar] | [...] 19 fingers are visible, |
| 1818 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] x IKU ma-da-as-[(su?)] | [...] ... n ikû is its measurement. |
| reverse |
| 1919 | [x x x x x x x] 3.20 : 3.20 : É.SAG.GIL : x x [x]14 | [...] 3.20 means Esagila, ..., |
| 2020 | [x x x x KÁ.DINGIR.RA]ki šu-bat dAMAR.UTU : 3.20 : ÈŠ : bi-[tu₄]15 | [... Babylon], the abode of Marduk; 3.20 means èš, i.e., "tem[ple"]. |
| 2121 | [x x x x x x x] ⸢EGIR?⸣ SIG₄ ina KISAL? BÀN.DA lu-uṭ-ṭu ina KI.TA-ši-⸢na?⸣ | [...] back; a brick in the small courtyard, a vessel that is set up beneath them, |
| 2222 | kin ⸢ITI⸣ [x x] x x x [ITI?].⸢ITI⸣ : ár-ḫa-a-tú : ár-ḫi : ITI : SIG₄16 | the month [...]. [ITI]. ⸢ITI⸣ means "half bricks" (arḫātu); arḫu means "month" and SIG₄ means "brick." |
| 2323 | li-bit-tú lu-uṭ-ṭu šá ina ⸢ŠU ma⸣-[še]-⸢en?⸣-nu kak-ku sak-ku šu-u : SIG₄ šu-u-⸢ma?⸣17 | The vessel that is in the hand of the steward - it is "sealed and shut" (i.e. "implicit"?) - it is a brick. |
| 2424 | KUR MAR.TUki : dmar-tu mu-⸢lu⸣ ḫur-saŋ-ŋá-⸢ke₄⸣ itiSIG₄ šá UŠ₈ É ŠUB[u]18 | The land of Amurru - "Amurru, the man of the mountains." Simānu (iti.SIG₄) is the month for laying the foundations of a house. |
| 2525 | d30 ina É <iti?>ZÍZ u dUTU ina É itiSIG₄ DUR šá a-ḫa-a-meš [x x x] x x x [(x)] | Sîn in the "house" of Šabāṭu (XI) and Šamaš in the house of Simānu (III); the band that [...] with each other [...]. |
| 2626 | be-lu₄ dDI.KU₅ a-ši-ir da-nun-na-ki : MA : É [x x x x x] DÀ? A? [(x)]19 | In "Lord Madānu, the inspector of the Annunaki," ma means "house," [...] dù means [...], |
| 2727 | EN : be-lu : DINGIR : i-lu : ina lìb-bi ki-i SIG₄-ḪI.A ⸢šá?⸣ [x x x x x] ⸢x⸣20 | en means "lord," dingir means "god"; therefore the bricks of [...] |
| 2828 | dDI.KU₅ iš?-[x x x (x x)] | Madānu ... [...]. |
|
|
| 2929 | dib-bi šá x x (x) ⸢pa⸣-liḫ dAMAR.UTU ma-⸢ʾ⸣-diš ÙRI-ma ana la DUMU TIN?.⸢TIR?⸣[ki? NU ú-kal-lam?]21 | Words of the Esagila. The reverer of Marduk should respect them greatly, [he should not show them] to a non-Babylonian. |
| 3030 | imGÍD.DA mdBE-MAN-⸢DINGIR⸣-[MEŠ A mmi]-⸢nu-ú?⸣-[ana]-⸢dEN⸣-da-nu DUMU mÁ.GÁL-d[AMAR.UTU] | One-colum tablet of Marduk-šar-i[lī, son] of Minû-ana-Bēl-dan, descendant of Ileʾʾi-[Marduk]. |
| 3131 | ⸢GIM⸣ SUMUN?-šú SAR-⸢ma⸣ [ba-ri] u ⸢up⸣-pu-uš | Written, collated, and checked according to its original. |
| 3232 | [(x x x x) pa]-⸢liḫ?⸣ dAMAR.⸢UTU?⸣ NU TÙM-šú ina me-reš-tu₄ ⸢la⸣ lìb-bi NU ú-[šel-liš] | [(...)] The reverer of Marduk shall not steal it, nor deliberately remove it from [it]. |
| 3333 | [itix U₄ x.KAM MU x.KAM šá ši-i MU 7/8?].KAM man-ti-gu-nu-us-su lúGAL ÉRIN | [nth of x month of the nth year ..., i.e., 7th/8th] year of Antigonus the General (i.e. 312/311 BCE). |
1The line may contain a quotation, or else arise from the reading dib of LU.
2NIGIN-rat could be read as either saḫrat or ḫap-rat. At the end, the verb could also be reconstructed as iḫ-te-si-ir, "it is trimmed."
3Incipit of an Enki Balag, see CLAM, 73ff. Note that this Balag was perfored monthly on the 15th day in Seleucid Uruk (TCL 6, 48:11-12).
4Incipit of an Enki Balag, see CLAM, 47ff. The Balag is known to have been perfomed on the first of each month in Seleucid Uruk (TCL 6, 48:1-2) and on the first of Addaru in Maul, Fs Lambert, 405: 27'-28' (perhaps on the first of Nisannu in Maul, Fs Renger, 292:1').
5ina libbi may refer to a text mentioned earlier.
6The same entry can be found in the cultic commentary BM 47458 l. 13 (CCP 7.1.6.A.b).
7The first half of the line quotes the last section of Iqqur īpuš (§105).
8For the equation between Sîn and the number four, see CCP 4.2.A.a ll. 18-20. The last signs correspond perhaps to a second god name [ILF]. Inbu bēl arḫi states that the 18th of Simānu belongs to Šamaš and Sîn (Livingstone Hemerologies of Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars, CUSAS 25, 2013, p. 208).
9The line may be a quotation from the Love Lyrics. Compare Lambert, W.G. "The Problem of the Love Lyrics" Unity and diversity (1975a) p. 104 ii 15: ana kirî ma-s[uk?-kan-ni ...]. The same entry can be found in the cultic commentary BM 47458 ll. 8-9 (CCP 7.1.6.A.b).
10Compare SUK = bītu in Aa I/2 211.
11The same commentarial entry can be found in the cultic commentary BM 47458 l. 11 (CCP 7.1.6.A.b).
12The same commentarial entry can be found in the cultic commentary BM 47458 l. 11 (CCP 7.1.6.A.b).
13The same commentarial entry can be found in the cultic commentary BM 47458 l. 10 (CCP 7.1.6.A.b).
14The sign after GIL might be erased [ILF]. Does the number 3.20 derive from 20th Simānu (III)? Note earlier 18th Simānu. [EJ]
15ÈŠ may stand for E(sagil) [ILF].
16kīn may be a stative belonging to the previous line [ILF], or perhaps a logogram for šipru ("the duty of the month") [UG].
17Compare BM 34035 (ZA 6 241f = Livingstone Mystical and Mythological Explanatory Works, 1986, p. 61) mul-ṭu u mu-šá-lu šá ina ŠU-MIN-šú kak-ku sak-ku šu-ú muš-šu-lu šá mul.ADDA, "The comb and mirror in her hands - it is obstuse and obscure - is a representation of the corpse star." On the technical term kakku sakku see Lambert JNES 48 (1989) p. 220-221. The equation luṭṭu = nalpattu, ‘small bowl or ladle’ is in the background, with overlap with nalbattu, ‘brick mould,’ from SIG₄ month and libittu, ‘brick.’ [ILF]
18The line is attested in several Balags, see CLAM, 299:32, 301:82
19The line is a quotation from the bilingual šuʾila Marduk 1 l. 25 (VAT 8411 and dupls., Maul Fs Borger 1998 pp. 165f). Note that BM 47458 ll. 23-24 (CCP 7.1.6.A.b) cite l. 18 of the same text. In the present commentary, only the Akkadian version of the line is cited. Lines 26-28 of the present commentary seem to explain the godname Madānu by means of a notarikon operation as "the god who builds the house." The last DÙ is perhaps derived from the syllable /da/ of Madānu's name (i.e., DÀ), and may have been equated with banû.
20EN may correspond to the syllable /an/ in Madānu's name. On the meaning "therefore" of ina libbi kī, see AHw 551a s.v. libbu D4.
21Perhaps dibbi ša⸢é-sag-íl⸣ (squashed), "Esagil(?) words" vel sim. [ILF]