LKA 053[via caspo]

1Schwemer (2001: 671, n.5551) suggests {d}EN.[LIL₂{ki}] but, as he admits, this presents difficulties in the parallel in line 3, where the traces do not support such a reading. Moreover, the available photograph (PhK 517) does not support reading EN after DINGIR. I think the traces here and in line 3 may be compatible with reading {d}dur-an-ki. For DINGIR preceding dur-an-ki, see BM 31749, obv. 3ˊ.

2The last half of the line recalls SB Epic of Anzu I 14.

3u₂#-pe?#-e is written over an erasure (so Ebeling 1953: 96, n.7). Ebeling's copy reads KU after mu-šab-riq, which Schwemer reads as TUKUL⸥, kakki, "weapon" (2001: 671). According to the photograph at my disposal (PhK 517), I think there is room for at least two signs, which would allow a reading that follows the duplicates, both of which attest birqu (written be₂-er-qi₂ or NIM.GIR₂). The same epithet occurs in obv. 12 below, written [mu]-šab#-riq ber-qi₂, which is how I read it here tentatively. Schwemer suggests the line ends with one final sign, which he reads as R°A!?. He understands this to be a logogram for maḫāṣu, "to strike" (2001: 671, 673 ["den Anzû erschlug er"] and n.5557). Ebeling's copy and transliteration (1953: 97, n.8) show SU (in an abraded context). The photograph does not adjudicate the difficulty. We must await a duplicate to resolve the matter.

4Schwemer reads ⸢SAG]?.K[AL]!? °e₂!?-⸢KUR⸣!? at the end of the line tentatively (2001: 671), which is the logographic equivalent of what the duplicates have written syllabically. I think the photograph probably supports the temple name at the end of the line (and in the next line). There is room before it for either SAG.KAL or a-ša₂-red, though the photograph does not reveal the proper reading to my eyes (here or in the following line).

5Schwemer (2001: 672) suggests a-l[i?-lu?, "warrior." The new duplicate, BM 38711+, rev. 8ˊ, reads AD or ṢI after git₂-ma-lu.

6Ebeling 1953: 96 and Schwemer 2001: 672 suggest reading a very broken GI.IZI.LA₂-MEŠ after na-aš₂. I do not think the traces support that reading, at least, as I can see them in PhK 517. Also, BM 38711+, rev. 9ˊ reads A (and perhaps BAN) before breaking. The traces might support ⸢a-ban⸣ [AN]-⸢e u IZI⸣, "hailstones and fire."

7For the above reading, see now BM 38711+, rev. 10ˊ, which reads [...]-MEŠ GIŠ-MEŠ u [...], and BMS 20 (+) 49, rev. 14, [...] u NA₄-MEŠ.

8The new duplicate, BM 38537, suggests the restorations at the heads of the following several lines (see Lenzi 2013: 6, 8; see already Ebeling 1953: 98 for the presence of Adad's name in line 16 below). However, the participle to be restored here is a matter of dispute. Schwemer suggests šāpik, "the one who heaps up" (2001: 272); Ebeling prefers šākin, "the one who establishes" (1953: 98); and Seux suggests pātiq, "the one who shapes" (1976: 306, n.13). Ebeling's copy seems to support Schwemer's reading of the last sign, though I am not so sure after a look at the photograph of the tablet. Compare the traces of the sign here and in line 16 with the clear IK in line 24 below. I think the traces in both lines are more congruent with RI. I have accordingly restored a participle from kaṣāru, though another root ending in /r/ cannot be ruled out.

9The restoration of the verb at the head of the line is based on the duplicate from Boğazköy, KUB 4 26.

10Understandingly, Schwemer hesitates to propose a reading at the end of this line (2001: 672) as does Seux 1976: 306, n.18, whereas Ebeling (1953: 98) suggests ina(?) aḫḫê(?)(me[š)-šu], "among his brothers." A new duplicate in BM 38711+, rev. 19ˊ provides an answer (as above).

11The line continues line 25 and is indented more than half the width of the tablet.

12Ebeling (1953: 98, 99) suggests we read the line as follows: du?-um?-mi?-iq? ik?-ki?-b[u r]u?-um?-mi? kâl? ḫi-ṭi₂-ti, "Mache gut das Schlimme, löse all (meine) Sünde" ("make the taboo things good; release all of my sins"). I share Seux's and Schwemer's doubts about this reading (Seux 1976: 307, n.20; Schwemer 2001: 673, n.5555). Schwemer suggests the two words before the final one might read ⌞ru⌟?-<um>?-⌞me⌟?-°e!? a[r]₂-⌞ni⌟?. My reading is based on careful scrutiny of PhK 517, which leaves many doubts. Collation with the tablet has not been possible.

13Ebeling's copy reads DINGIR followed by an abrasion. He transliterates the signs DINGIR-ut-[ka] (1953: 98; likewise, Schwemer 2001: 673). But, compare the final sign here with the KA in rev. 7.

14Or, "grant me speaking (and) hearing"; so Seux 1976: 307, n.26.

15As Ebeling suggested (1953: 98), the line may very well be incomplete. The photograph indicates an erasure at the far right side of the line, along the edge of the tablet.