BAM 524[via asbp/ninmed]
| Obverse | ||
| Column i | ||
| o i' 1'o i 1' | [...] x | (o i' 1') . . . |
| o i' 2'2' | [...] x | |
| o i' 3'3' | [...] x | |
| Column ii | ||
| o ii' 1'o ii 1' | [x] x x [...] | (o ii' 1') |
| o ii' 2'2' | ki-i la iṣ-li-⸢mu⸣ x x x [...] | |
| o ii' 3'3' | ||
| o ii' 4'4' | ||
| o ii' 5'5' | ||
| o ii' 6'6' | ||
| o ii' 7'7' | SA-ka lik-ka-ṣir-ma ⸢ši-ḫa⸣-ta₅ lid-⸢di⸣ | |
| o ii' 8'8' | DU₃.DU₃.BI su-gin₃ gišIG su-gin₃ gišSAG.⸢KUL⸣ | (o ii' 8') Its ritual: you twist together splinters |
| o ii' 9'9' | ||
| o ii' 10'10' | ||
| o ii' 11'11' | ||
| o ii' 12'12' | (o ii' 12') You wrap seed from maštakal (a plant) in red wool (and) you place it over his nostril (lit. mouth of the lung). | |
| o ii' 13'13' | [EN₂] ⸢in⸣.dar bu.ki.na KI MIN | (o ii' 13') Incantation: “indar bukina DITTO ba’an la’e ba’an šu’ene . . . da ḫara anta . . . kid imgim baḫubi . . . bi la’assu šaga nizi . . . Marduk, by the utterance of Marduk, may he recover . . . |
| o ii' 14'14' | [(x)] ⸢ba⸣.an la.e ba.an šu.e.ne | |
| o ii' 15'15' | [x x] x da ḫa.ra an.ta | |
| o ii' 16'16' | [x x] x kid im.gim ba.ḫu.bi | |
| o ii' 17'17' | [x x x] bi la.as.su ša.ga ni.zi [x] | |
| o ii' 18'18' | [x x x] ⸢d⸣AMAR.UTU ina qi₂-bit dAMAR.UTU lib-luṭ [x x] | |
| o ii' 19'19' | [DU₃.DU₃].⸢BI⸣ 7 u ⸢7⸣ x [x x] x x [...] | (o ii' 19') Its ritual: seven and seven . . . |
1 For an edition of the incantation in lines 1′–7′ , see Collins Natural Illness pp . 183–184.
2 Lines 6'–7 ' of our text have a partial parallel in the belly incantation ABRT 2 11 + iv′ 1′–2′ : [. . . Gul]a b[e-l]et T[I.LA ] / šer₂ -a-ni li-ik-ṣir-ma! ši-ba lid-di TU₆ [EN₂ ]. The difficult form ši-ḫa-ta₅ is replaced in this version by ši-ba, presumably for Akk . šību or šīpu, cited in CAD N/2 95 and Š/3 94 under šību and šīpu C , respectively , with the suggested meaning ‘to show / produce discolouration’ . In the Middle Babylonian medical letter BE 17 31 obv . 16–17 , it is said of the skin condition išātu to have produced a šīpu (MIN i-ša-tu ša uḫ-ḫu-ra-tu₄ / ši-i-pa it-ta-di). Sibbing Plantholt ZA 104 pp . 177–178 understands išātu as a sore or a lesion on the skin that produces clear or colourful discharge , whereas šīb/pu may indicate a more developed stage of the condition . The word may also describe the formation of scabs (CAD N/2 95 and Š/3 94 ), which is a meaning better suited in our context : scabs are a sign of healing after the bleeding is stopped , described here as binding up the blood vessel . The form ši-ḫa-ta₅ in our text still remains unclear but presumably is used here in the same sense as šīb/pu in the parallel . For this form , see also Collins Natural Illness p . 184 , who suggests that it is the result of a misreading between ši-pa and ši-ḫat.
3 Compare Lamaštu III : 40 with the form su-gin₃ kakki ḫar-bi “a splinter from the handle of a ḫarbu-plough” . The translation of sumkinnu as ‘splinter’ follows Farber Lamaštu p . 189 , in agreement with CAD’s (S 378 ) suggested translation of the word as ‘wood shavings’ . On the other hand , von Soden (ZA 62 p . 83 and AHw 1057 ) assigns the meaning ‘Verrottetes (Holz)’ to sumkinnu.
4 The idiom KA MUR , for Akk . pî ḫašê ‘mouth of the lung’ , occurs relatively often in texts dealing with nosebleed : see BAM 526 with a description of pî ḫašê as being of the right - and left-hand side (lines 5′ and 6′ ), as well as the unpublished single-column tablet K 1452 , which collects incantations , short rituals and prophylactic measures against nosebleed and mentions pî ḫašê six times in this context . Moreover , the idiom is found in the respiratory disease text AMT 52/9 : 5′ , as part of the medical incipit [DIŠ N]A ADAMA bi-šu₂ ina KA MUR 150 -šu₂ DU [. . .] ‘if foul black blood flows from his left nostril’ (compare the unpublished fragment K 2245 rev . 9 ). Following Köcher BAM 6 p . xv , pî ḫašê most likely is a figurative description or a layman’s term for the nostrils , rather than a reference to a specific part of the respiratory tract . In support of this idea , one may consider a treatment recorded in SpTU 1 44 obv . 29–30 for bu’šānu disease that has caused pain and sores to appear in someone’s nostrils . As part of this treatment , softened alum is blown into the ‘the mouth of the lung’ (pî ḫašê), which can only mean the diseased nostril in this context (see Scurlock Sourcebook pp . 392 and 395 , as well as Bácskay Akkadica 142 p . 200 with an edition of all parallels ). For a discussion of pî ḫašê, see also Haussperger ZA 87 p . 207 and ZA 89 p . 182 , as well as Heeßel Diagnostik p . 73 n . 24.