Kiṣir-Aššur's Mašmaššu-Phase
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Chapter 6 Kiṣir-Aššur’s mašmaššu-phase In this and the following chapter, I examine the mašmaššu-phase of Kiṣir- Aššur’s training, alongside associated material from the mašmaššu- and mašmaš bīt Aššur-phases. Chapter 6 consists of a close examination of the texts that can be securely assigned to this phase by means of the colophons, in which Kiṣir-Aššur is identified as a mašmaššu, and it provides an in-depth discussion of the significance of some of these texts for Kiṣir-Aššur’s career. In chapter 7, the tablets that can be assigned to the mašmaššu-phase on the basis of text-internal criteria are discussed, even though they do not explicitly iden- tify Kiṣir-Aššur as mašmaššu. The medical texts from Kiṣir-Aššur’s mašmaššu- phase are discussed in relation to his entire production of magico-medical texts in Section 9.1. The texts written during the mašmaššu-phase indicate that Kiṣir-Aššur’s education was not completed until sometime during this phase, yet the pre- cise date on which he would have “graduated” is unclear. It is possible that we have to assume an on-the-job transition from student or trainee to indepen- dent practitioner, but this has to remain hypothetical. If my reconstruction is correct, it is possible that some time after he was qualified as an exorcist he was able to begin treating patients on his own, i.e., without supervision, and he was also allowed to conduct house calls. 6.1 Texts with Colophons including the Title mašmaššu Table 9 shows that only eight tablets can be securely assigned to Kiṣir-Aššur’s mašmaššu-phase of training, as well as one text that may have been copied by either Kiṣir-Aššur or Kiṣir-Nabû. As in the previous phases, none of the tablets are dated. Consequently, the tablets are discussed according to their contents, because no chronological order or sequencing can be established at this point. I have tentatively grouped the tablets in groups of medical texts, ritual texts, and other technical literature perhaps connected to scholarship. The tablets indicate that Kiṣir-Aššur focused on more diverse areas, in contrast with the earlier phases of his education. According to the available evidence, it is also the first time since the šamallû ṣeḫru-phase that he copied symptom descrip- tions with medical diagnoses. During this phase he also copied out treatments © Troels Pank Arbøll, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004436084_007 This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.Troels Pank Arbøll - 9789004436084 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 01:43:59PM via free access Kiṣir-Aššur’s mašmaššu-phase 125 Table 9 Texts assigned to Kiṣir-Aššur’s mašmaššu-phasea Group Text Content Format and designation Medical texts BAM 81 Obverse: (broken) Portrait; uʾiltu Reverse: three prescriptions for a bandage against maškadu-illness (rev. 1’–7’), a potion to be drunk (rev. 8’–9’) and an enema (rev. 10’–16’) BAM 102 Obverse (broken) and reverse: Landscape; one broken incantation (rev. 1’) IM.GÍD.DA against “Anus illness” (DÚR.GIG) (rev. 2’), where the ritual is explicitly “not written” (rev. 3’) BAM 122 Obverse: three prescriptions for Portrait; uʾiltu a bandage (obv. 1–7) and a wash (obv. 8–15) against a shin repeat- edly slackening (obv. 1), hurting feet that change place with one another with paralysis and stiff “strings” (obv. 8–10) and paralyzed feet where the patient has difficulty walking (obv. 16–17) Reverse: one broken entry (rev. 1’) and four prescriptions for a bandage (rev. 2’–10’), ointment (rev. 11’–17’) and a potion to be drunk (18’–19’) against stiff “strings” of the feet where the patient is unable to walk (rev. 2’–4’, cf. rev. 11’–13’) Ritual texts KAL 4 no. 7 Obverse and reverse: one prayer (Fragmentary, (obv. 11’–15’) and three instructions portrait?); (obv. 7’–10’, rev. 1’–3’, 4’–6’) for a uʾiltu(?) namburbi-ritual against witchcraft (obv. 1’–6’) a Bibliography for individual tablets can be found in Appendix 1. The colophon of BAM 81 is partly reconstructed and could also have referred to Kiṣir-Aššur as mašmaššu (ṣeḫru): MAŠ. [MAŠ (TUR?)]. Troels Pank Arbøll - 9789004436084 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 01:43:59PM via free access 126 Chapter 6 Table 9 Texts assigned to Kiṣir-Aššur’s mašmaššu-phase (cont.) Group Text Content Format and designation KAR 230 Obverse and reverse: incantation Portrait; uʾiltu (obv. 1–14) for the exorcist going to the patient’s house and a ritual instruction (obv. 16–rev. 8) involving figures of Marduk and Ninurta, followed by a secrecy formula (rev. 9–11) KAR 298 Obverse and reverse: 25 entries Portrait; […] providing instructions with incantation incipits (obv. 2–11, 12–14, 15–16, 17–18, 19–20, 21–25, 26–28, 29–32, 33–37, 38–40, 41–42, 43–44, 45–46, 47–48, rev. 1–2, 3, 4–5, 6–7, 8, 9–10, 11–12, 13, 14, 15–17, 17–22) for produc- ing figurines for the ritual “To block (the entry of) ‘the foot of evil’ into a man’s house” (obv. 1) and eight entries providing instructions (rev. 23–25, 26–29, 30–35, 36–37, 38–40, 41–42, 43–44, 45–46) for rituals connected with “To avert di’u-illness, plague and epidemic” LKA 115 Obverse and reverse: namburbi-ritual Portrait; N/A against any observation in a man’s house (obv. 1–2), ritual instruction (obv. 3–8), incantation with instructions(?) (obv. 9–rev. 6’) and final instruction (rev. 7’–9’) Other texts CT 37 pl. 24f. Obverse and reverse (col. i–iv): Two- bilingual Lú lexical list providing columned; […] entries with Sumerian titles for professions with Akkadian translations Troels Pank Arbøll - 9789004436084 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 01:43:59PM via free access Kiṣir-Aššur’s mašmaššu-phase 127 Table 9 Texts assigned to Kiṣir-Aššur’s mašmaššu-phase (cont.) Group Text Content Format and designation Kiṣir-[Aššur/Nabû?] Ritual texts LKA 146 Obverse and reverse: mythological Portrait; uʾiltu incantation (obv. 1–21) related to 21 mêlu-poultices from Ea (obv. 22–23) and instructions (obv. 24–rev. 15, 16–24(?)) for making these of illnesses related to the lower body and the “strings” (BAM 81 and 122),1 on which he may have focused later as well, and it is likely also the first time that he copied namburbi-rituals. Among the limited medical texts from Kiṣir-Aššur’s mašmaššu-phase, BAM 81 contains a prescription possibly against maškadu, which partly duplicates another treatment in BAM 122 likely designed for ill feet.2 Other text genres copied during this phase were rituals connected to ill patients (a ritual for going to a patient’s house, KAR 230) and preventing evil and illness from entering a house (a ritual intended to safeguard a house from evil demons, KAR 298). The only non-related text is CT 37 pl. 24f., which is a fragmentary copy of a Lú lexical list (Veldhuis 2014: 252–53; Civil 1969: 223ff.).3 1 The maškadu-illness treated in BAM 81 is compared to modern vertebral arthritis and muscle strains (see Scurlock and Andersen 2005: 257–58, 488, 505, 720 with further references), but can also affect the qablu, groin/thigh area, maybe the renal and rectal functions, and the “strings” of the lower body producing stiffness (see Arbøll 2018a; Wasserman 2012; Geller 2005: 3). 2 BAM 81 rev. 8’–9’, BAM 122 rev. 18’–19’, and N4 no. 210 = BAM 257 rev.? 11–16: BAM 122 rev. 18’: úTE.GÍL!.LA úpu-qut-tú BAM 81 rev. 8’a: KI.MIN úti-gi-la-a úpu-qut-tú → BAM 257 rev.? 11–12: úti-gi-la 12 úpu-qut-tú BAM 122 rev. 19’: úK[A.Z]A[L.L]Á? *{x}* ina KAŠ NAG BAM 81 rev. 8b–9: úKA.ZAL.LÁ 9 UR.BI SÚD ina KAŠ NAG-šú-ma TI BAM 257 rev.? 13–16: úKA.ZAL.LA 14 úkur-ka-nu-u 15 4 Ú sa-[x x (x)] 16 ina KAŠ NAG It is uncertain if Kiṣir-Aššur intended to produce a phonetic writing of tigilû/tegilû in BAM 81 and BAM 122, or if the Sumerogram was written in a peculiar manner. I follow the CAD (T: 397) in my transliteration. BAM 257 rev.? 15 may have held an illness name, e.g., SA.[GAL(?)]. 3 See Pedersén 1985: 20. CT 37 pl. 24f. is edited alongside a number of other tablets generally labelled with the title “Miscellaneous LU-lists” 6.212 ms B (Civil 1969: 225ff.). Troels Pank Arbøll - 9789004436084 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 01:43:59PM via free access 128 Chapter 6 LKA 146, copied by either Kiṣir-Aššur or Kiṣir-Nabû, contains a mythologi- cal incantation that describes how Ea endowed humanity with 21 poultices and provides the associated prescriptions for these (LKA 146; Lambert 1980; Lambert 1956: 144; cf. Lawson 1994: 47–48). Several of the tablets contain specific features that either are observed for the first time (see below) or appear during the mašmaššu-phase, although one would expect such types of texts earlier. An example of the latter is the IM.GÍD.DA (lit.: “long tablet”) label found in BAM 102. The NA reading of the label remains uncertain,4 but it is typically interpreted as having had an education or pedagogical function throughout most periods.5 The label there- fore either indicates that Kiṣir-Aššur was not fully trained as a mašmaššu or that the label was used differently in N4.