DOCSLIB.ORG

Plants, Animals, and Bodies of Water the Significance of Color Terminology in the Nature Omens of the Omen Series Šumma Ālu Ina Mēlê Šakin

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Plants, Animals, and Bodies of Water the Significance of Color Terminology in the Nature Omens of the Omen Series Šumma Ālu Ina Mēlê Šakin CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO Plants, Animals, and Bodies of Water The significance of color terminology in the nature omens of the omen series Šumma ālu ina mēlê šakin Joonas Hirvonen Pro gradu -tutkielma Helsingin yliopisto Maailman kulttuurien laitos Assyriologia 1.9.2014 Tiivistelmä Pro gradu -tutkielmani käsittelee väriterminologian käyttöä ennesarjassa Šumma ālu ina mēlê šakin (”Jos kaupunki on asetettu korkealle”). Työ on tekstitutkimus ja se keskittyy ennesarjan hermeneuttisiin pääpiirteisiin. Ennesarja on kirjoitettu akkadin kielellä ja se on koottu kuningas Assurbanipalin hallintoaikana (669–627 eaa.), mutta sen vanhimmat osat ajoittuvat jo toiselle vuosituhannelle ennen ajan laskun alkua. Tutkielma sisältää analyysin taulujen 1-40 eläin-, kasvi, ja vesienteistä ja työ pohjautuu Sally Freedmanin vuosina 1998 ja 2006 julkaisemiin käännöksiin ja translitteraatioihin. Tutkimukseni osoittaa, että Mesopotamian oppineilla oli systemaattinen tapa yhdistää tietty väritermi joko negatiiviseen tai positiiviseen enteeseen. Luonnon värimuutoksia tarkkailemalla he kykenivät nopeasti tulkitsemaan, oliko kyseinen enne luonteeltaan positiivinen vai negatiivinen ja tarvitsiko tämän pohjalta suorittaa rituaali (namburbû), joka kumoaisi mahdollisen negatiivisen enteen. Mesopotamialaiset uskoivat jumalten kommunikoivan ihmisille asettamalla enteitä kaikkialle kosmokseen. Oppineet ymmärsivät tämän kommunikaation toimivan nuolenpääkirjoituksen tavoin ja he kuvasivatkin tähtiä ”taivaan kirjoitukseksi”. Samalla tavoin kuin nuolenpääkirjoitus, myös jumalten kommunikaatio vaati kokeneen oppineen tämän ilmiön tulkitsijaksi. Tutkimukseni osoittaa, että Mesopotamian oppineet ajattelivat eläinten värieroavuuksien tarkoittavan muutosta niihin viesteihin, jotka pystyttiin lukemaan eläimen ulkonäöstä. Työni loppupuolella pohditaan myös mahdollista syytä siihen, miksi tietyn väriset eläimet ajateltiin pahaenteisiksi ja miksi toiset olivat luonteeltaan positiivisia. Kykenemällä tulkitsemaan luonnon sattumanvaraisia ilmiöitä oppineet lievittivät jännitteitä, joita syntyi ihmisten ja luonnon välille. Tietämättömyys siitä, miksi luonnonilmiöt ja eläimet olivat sellaisia kuin olivat, aiheutti epätietoisuutta ja pelkoa näitä ilmiöitä kohtaan. Tällä tavoin systemaattiset kategoriat, kuten värit, olivat tärkeässä roolissa kun sattumanvaraista ilmiömaailmaa tehtiin ymmärrettäväksi. Lopputuloksena oli ymmärrettävä, rationaaliseen ajatteluun perustuva maailma, missä jokaiselle ilmiölle kyettiin antamaan rationaalinen ja ymmärrettävä selitys. Table of Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Aim of This Study .................................................................................................................1 1.2 Research History ...................................................................................................................2 2. “If a City is set on a Height” – The Omen Series Šumma ālu ina mēlê šakin ............................3 2.1 Origins of Divination ............................................................................................................4 2.2 The History and Contents .....................................................................................................8 2.2.1 Chronology and Geography ...........................................................................................9 2.2.2 Commentaries to Šumma ālu .........................................................................................9 2.3 The Sign and its Semiotics ..................................................................................................10 2.4 Divination as a Part of Mesopotamian Worldview .............................................................13 2.5 Typology of the Omens in the Šumma ālu ..........................................................................15 2.6 Traditions of Interpretation .................................................................................................17 2.7 The Scholars as Interpreters of Color .................................................................................18 3. The Akkadian Color Terms...................................................................................................... 21 3.1 arāqu –Yellow-Green-Blue ................................................................................................21 3.2 barāmu – Multicolored/ Variegated ....................................................................................23 3.3 peṣû – White .......................................................................................................................24 3.4 sâmu and pelû – Red(s) .......................................................................................................26 3.5 ṣalāmu – Black ....................................................................................................................27 4. Plants, Animals, and Bodies of Water ..................................................................................... 29 4.1 Water – mû (Tablet 17) .......................................................................................................30 4.2 Fungus – katarru (Tablet 12) ..............................................................................................31 4.2.1 White Fungus– katarru peṣû ....................................................................................... 32 4.2.2 Black Fungus – katarru ṣalmu .................................................................................... 35 4.2.3 Red Fungus – katarru sāmu ........................................................................................ 37 4.2.4 Yellow-Green Fungus – katarru arqu......................................................................... 39 4.3 Grass – sassatu peṣû ...........................................................................................................41 4.4 Partridge – iṣṣūr ḫurri (Tablet 2) ........................................................................................41 4.5 Ant Omens – kulbābū (Tablets 5, 17 & 37) ........................................................................44 4.5.1 Black Ants – kulbābū ṣalmūtu (Tablet 37) ................................................................. 47 4.5.2 Red Ants – kulbābū sāmūtu (Tablet 37) ..................................................................... 48 4.5.3 Multicolored Ants – kulbābū barmūtu (Tablet 37) ..................................................... 50 4.5.4 White Ants – kulbābū peṣûtu (Tablet 37) ................................................................... 51 4.5.5 Yellow-Green Ants – kulbābū arqūtu (Tablet 37) ...................................................... 51 4.6 Snakes – ṣēru (Tablet 23)....................................................................................................52 4.7 Scorpions – zuqaqīqu (Tablet 30) .......................................................................................53 4.8 Lizards, Geckos, and Skinks – ṣurārû, pizallurtu, šakkadirru (Tablet 32 & 33) ................55 4.9 Mongooses – šikkû (Tablet 34) ...........................................................................................58 4.10 Mice – arrabu, ḫarriru (Tablet 35) ...................................................................................59 4.11 Moths and Crickets – sāsu, ṣaṣiru (Tablet 38) ..................................................................60 4.12 More than One Color Term in an Omen ...........................................................................61 4.12.1 Fungus – katarru ....................................................................................................... 62 4.12.2 Ants – kulbābū .......................................................................................................... 63 5. The Role and Meaning of Akkadian Color Terms ................................................................... 68 5.1 The Semantics of Color Terms ...........................................................................................68 5.1.1 The Basic Omens ........................................................................................................ 73 5.2 Colored Animals and their Social Dimension .....................................................................77 6. Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 81 7. Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 84 Abbreviations: A Tablets in the collections of the Chicago Oriental Institute. ABZ Borger R., Assyrisch-babylonische Zeichenliste. AHw Soden W., Akkadisches Handwörterbuch. AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament. BiOr Bibliotheca Orientalis. BM Bibliotheca Mesopotamica. CAD Gelb Ignace et.al. The Assyrian dictionary of the University of Chicago. CDA Black, Jeremy et.al. Concise dictionary of Akkadian. CHANE Culture and history of the ancient Near East. CT Cuneiform texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum. CTN Cuneiform texts from Nimrud. DIRI Lexical series diri = watru. DT Tablets in the Collection of British Museum. GMTR Guides to the Mesopotamian Textual Record. HdO Handbuch der Orientalistik. Hh Lexical
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Burn Your Way to Success Studies in the Mesopotamian Ritual And
    Burn your way to success Studies in the Mesopotamian Ritual and Incantation Series Šurpu by Francis James Michael Simons A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology School of History and Cultures College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham March 2017 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract The ritual and incantation series Šurpu ‘Burning’ is one of the most important sources for understanding religious and magical practice in the ancient Near East. The purpose of the ritual was to rid a sufferer of a divine curse which had been inflicted due to personal misconduct. The series is composed chiefly of the text of the incantations recited during the ceremony. These are supplemented by brief ritual instructions as well as a ritual tablet which details the ceremony in full. This thesis offers a comprehensive and radical reconstruction of the entire text, demonstrating the existence of a large, and previously unsuspected, lacuna in the published version. In addition, a single tablet, tablet IX, from the ten which comprise the series is fully edited, with partitur transliteration, eclectic and normalised text, translation, and a detailed line by line commentary.
    [Show full text]
  • MESOPOTAMIAN MAGIC in TEXT and PERFORMANCE Sam Mirelman
    ACCEPTED PRE-PROOF: BOOK CHAPTER IN: S. PANAYOTOV, U. STEINERT AND L. VACÍN (EDS.), MAGIC AND MEDICINE IN MESOPOTAMIA. FESTSCHRIFT FOR M. J. GELLER. ANCIENT MAGIC AND DIVINATION SERIES. BRILL (2018). - HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1163/9789004368088_018 DOWNLOADED FROM SOAS RESEARCH ONLINE - HTTPS://EPRINTS.SOAS.AC.UK/30220 MESOPOTAMIAN MAGIC IN TEXT AND PERFORMANCE Sam Mirelman Any representation of an action or utterance in written form is, by definition, never a full reflection of its actual performance.1 Indeed, our knowledge of Mesopotamian magic, as it existed in performance, will always be partial and incomplete. This is a result of the simple fact that our knowledge of the practice of Mesopotamian magic is channeled mainly through the medium of text. 2 Assuming a written representation serves as a record of an existing ritual practice, it must be approached as a selective account of specific aspects of a ritual, which were deemed necessary to be written down, in a specific time, place and context.3 In addition, we cannot assume that a ritual text4 or written recitation merely records a practice which existed before it was written down; the action or recitation may have been composed initially in writing, by means of a combination of observation and writing, or with reference to an oral tradition. Following the initial writing of an incantation or ritual text, the composition represented by the text may have been transmitted in writing and/or orally. Similarly, the composition may have been performed with a full or partial reference to a text, a version of it, or as a purely or partially oral tradition.
    [Show full text]
  • Akkadian Healing Therapies in the Babylonian Talmud
    MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE Max Planck Institute for the History of Science 2004 PREPRINT 259 M. J. Geller Akkadian Healing Therapies in the Babylonian Talmud Part II of the article will appear in a conference volume entitled, Magic and the Classical Tradition, edited by W. Ryan and C. Burnett (Warburg Institute, London) AKKADIAN HEALING THERAPIES IN THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD M. J. Geller Abstttracttt The Babylonian Talmud preserves some of the very latest traditions from Babylonia from the period when cuneiform script was still legible, and one of the last uses of cuneiform tablets was to consult the ancient 'sciences' of astronomy (including astrology), mathematics, omens, and healing (medicine including magic). The present study will argue that throughout the third century CE rabbis in Babylonia continued to acquire technical information from Babylonian scholars who could read cuneiform, and some of this information was translated into Aramaic and was recorded haphazardly in the academic discussions of the Talmud. The nature of the Talmudic sources and the final redaction of the complex work meant that traditions from Graeco-Roman Palestine were mixed in with local traditions from Babylonia, and the dichotomy is particularly evident in fields of medicine and magic, in which clear distinctions can be made between Greek and Akkadian approaches to healing. The present work, in two parts, is an attempt to sort out the source material according to whether it originates from Babylonia or not, and to focus on Akkadian parallels
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright by Ryan Conrad Davis 2016
    Copyright By Ryan Conrad Davis 2016 The Dissertation Committee for Ryan Conrad Davis certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Relating with Gods: Investigating Human-Divine Relationships in the Prayers of Israel and Mesopotamia Using a Performance Approach to Ritual Committee: ____________________________________ John Huehnergard, Supervisor ____________________________________ Jo Ann Hackett ____________________________________ Jonathan Kaplan ____________________________________ Christopher Frechette ____________________________________ Alan Lenzi Relating with Gods: Investigating Human-Divine Relationships in the Prayers of Israel and Mesopotamia Using a Performance Approach to Ritual by Ryan Conrad Davis, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2016 To Mary, Maggie, and Camille ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is a culminating effort to my formal education that has extended far longer and been far more enriching than I had anticipated. I wish to acknowledge the influence of each of the faculty members of the Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East program at The University of Texas at Austin. Jo Ann, John, Na'ama, and Jonathan have all spent enormous amounts of time and energy to help me put my research endeavors on firmer footing. I am very grateful to John for taking time to meet with me over Skype while I worked on my dissertation hundreds of miles away. His patience on a subject that was not his specialty was greatly appreciated. I also owe much to my outside reviewers, Alan Lenzi and Christopher Frechette; both of these scholars were asked to sign a awkward document explaining to them that they would not be reimbursed for their efforts.
    [Show full text]
  • Catalogue of Texts
    Appendix 1 Catalogue of Texts The following catalogue lists the texts in which the colophon includes Kiṣir-Aššur’s name, the remains of his name (Kiṣir-[…]), or texts that are discussed in relation to Kiṣir-Aššur throughout this monograph. All the N4 numbers refer to the numbers in Pedersén’s catalogue of the N4 text collection (Pedersén 1986: 59–76). Additional transliterations of the majority of BAM texts can be found on the BabMed and CDLI websites. The following overview presents information on the tablet format, how the tablet was investigated by the present author, the CDLI numbers where applicable, relevant bibliographical entries, and the content of the individual texts listed according to the entries on each tablet in more or less detail. The manuscripts are listed alphabetically according to the first letter in the acronym: ACh Supp. 2 24 (K. 3145; Nineveh) Tablet: Single-column tablet in portrait format; collated via the CDLI photograph Content: Commentary on tablet 20 of Enūma Anu Enlil CDLI no.: P394833 (photograph) Bibliography: Rochberg 1988: 225–227 (transliteration and commentary) Virolleaud 1912: 42–43 no. 24 (copy) Discussion: Frahm et al. 2013b with additional bibliography Frahm 2011a: 144–145 Frahm 2004: 47 note 18 Obv. 1–20 Commentary on individual lines of at least the 20th tablet of Enūma Anu Enlil (Breaks off ) Rev. 1’–13’ (Same as above) Rev. 14’–17’ Colophon: DIŠ ⸢MUL.ŠUDUN⸣ A.AB.B[A] a-dir ⸢x⸣[(x x x x x x?)] 15’ ⸢ana? mal-su⸣-ut pKi-ṣi[r-(x x x x x x?)] 16’ [(x x x x?)] :? su-bar-tú 17’ [(x x x x x?)] su-bar-tú ana ma-šu-šú-nu BAM 9 (VAT 13785; Assur N4 no.
    [Show full text]
  • Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues Die Babylonisch-Assyrische Medizin in Texten Und Untersuchungen
    Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues Die babylonisch-assyrische Medizin in Texten und Untersuchungen Begründet von Franz Köcher Herausgegeben von Robert D. Biggs und Marten Stol Band 9 Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues Medicine, Magic and Divination Edited by Ulrike Steinert The work on this volume as part of the project BabMed – Babylonian Medicine has been funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013; Project No. 323596). ISBN 978-1-5015-1363-3 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-1-5015-0491-4 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-1-5015-0487-7 Library of Congress Control Number 2018935702 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2018 Walter de Gruyter Inc., Boston/Berlin Cover image: Florentina Badalanova Geller Typesetting: Michael Peschke, Berlin Printing: CPI books GmbH, Leck www.degruyter.com Table of Contents Acknowledgements 1 Abbreviations 3 Ulrike Steinert Introduction: Catalogues, Corpora and Canons in Mesopotamian Scholarship 7 Part 1: Studies on Mesopotamian Text Catalogues Irving L. Finkel On Three Tablet Inventories 25 Markham J. Geller A Babylonian Hippocrates 42 J. Cale Johnson Towards a New Perspective on Babylonian Medicine: The Continuum of Allegoresis and the Emergence of Secular Models in Mesopotamian Scientific Thought 55 Strahil V. Panayotov Notes on the Assur Medical Catalogue with Comparison to the Nineveh Medical Encyclopaedia 89 Francesca Rochberg The Catalogues of Enūma Anu Enlil 121 Eric Schmidtchen Esagil-kīn-apli’s Catalogue of Sakikkû and Alamdimmû 137 Ulrike Steinert Catalogues, Texts and Specialists: Some Thoughts on the Assur Medical Catalogue, Mesopotamian Medical Texts and Healing Professions 158 vi Table of Contents Part 2: Text Sources U.
    [Show full text]
  • Perceptions of the Serpent in the Ancient Near East: Its Bronze Age Role in Apotropaic Magic, Healing and Protection
    PERCEPTIONS OF THE SERPENT IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST: ITS BRONZE AGE ROLE IN APOTROPAIC MAGIC, HEALING AND PROTECTION by WENDY REBECCA JENNIFER GOLDING submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the subject ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN STUDIES at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR M LE ROUX November 2013 Snake I am The Beginning and the End, The Protector and the Healer, The Primordial Creator, Wisdom, all-knowing, Duality, Life, yet the terror in the darkness. I am Creation and Chaos, The water and the fire. I am all of this, I am Snake. I rise with the lotus From muddy concepts of Nun. I am the protector of kings And the fiery eye of Ra. I am the fiery one, The dark one, Leviathan Above and below, The all-encompassing ouroboros, I am Snake. (Wendy Golding 2012) ii SUMMARY In this dissertation I examine the role played by the ancient Near Eastern serpent in apotropaic and prophylactic magic. Within this realm the serpent appears in roles in healing and protection where magic is often employed. The possibility of positive and negative roles is investigated. The study is confined to the Bronze Age in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Syria-Palestine. The serpents, serpent deities and deities with ophidian aspects and associations are described. By examining these serpents and deities and their roles it is possible to incorporate a comparative element into his study on an intra- and inter- regional basis. In order to accumulate information for this study I have utilised textual and pictorial evidence, as well as artefacts (such as jewellery, pottery and other amulets) bearing serpent motifs.
    [Show full text]
  • Dissertation
    DISSERTATION Titel der Dissertation „Elemente ritueller Handlungen in den Elija-Elischa-Erzählungen“ Untersuchungen zur literarischen Umsetzung ritueller Handlungselemente im Vergleich zur mesopotamischen keilschriftlichen Tradition. Verfasser Mag. theol. Gerhard Karner angestrebter akademischer Grad Doktor der Theologie (Dr. theol.) Wien, Dezember 2009 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 082 041 Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt: Evangelische Fachtheologie Betreuerin / Betreuer: O. Univ. Prof. Dr. DDr. Dr. h.c. James Alfred Loader Meiner Familie in Dankbarkeit zugeeignet VORWORT Viele Personen hatten direkt oder indirekt Anteil an der Entstehung dieser Studie. An erster Stelle möchte ich meinem Betreuer O. Univ. Prof. Dr.DDr. Dr. h.c. James Afred Loader für seine unermüdliche Gesprächsbereitschaft von Herzen Dank sagen. Der wissenschafltiche Austausch mit ihm und seine immer konstruktive Kritik waren stets Anregung und Ermutigung zugleich. Zu Dank verpflichtet bin ich der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, die das Dissertationsprojekt vom Juni 2006 bis November 2007 durch ein DOC-Stipendium finanziell unterstützt hat und damit die Rahmenbedingungen geschaffen hat, dass dieser Zeitraum zu einer Periode produktiven Schaffens werden konnte. Mein Dank gilt weiters Prof. Dr. Jürgen van Oorschot (Erlangen), an dessen Lehrstuhl ich von Dezember 2007 bis September 2009 als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter tätig sein durfte und Gelegenheit hatte, neben meiner Arbeit an der Dissertation wichtige Er- fahrungen in der akademischen Lehre zu sammeln. Bedanken will ich mich zudem bei meinen Kolleginnen und Kollegen der beiden alttestamentlichen Lehrstühle am Fachbereich Theologie der Friedrich-Alexander- Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Delia Klingler, Jonathan M. Robker, Sarah Schulz und Dr. Lars Allolio-Näcke für ihre kollegiale Unterstützung, die stets anregenden fach- lichen Diskussionen und so manchen Zuspruch. Nicht zuletzt gebührt mein Dank Herrn Pfarrer Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Démons Et Exorcismes En Mésopotamie Et En Judée
    DANIEL BARBU ET ANNE-CAROLINE RENDU LOISEL DÉMONS ET EXORCISMES EN MÉSOPOTAMIE ET EN JUDÉE Le présent article résulte de la collaboration entre deux chercheurs et d’une enquête plurielle sur les ‘ démons ’ en Mésopotamie (Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel) et en Judée (Daniel Barbu), et présente avant tout un état des lieux. Depuis le volume des « Sources Orientales » sur les démons1, de nouvelles découvertes textuelles et de nouvelles approches ont permis une meilleure compréhension du phénomène en question dans les sources anciennes. De la Mésopotamie à la Judée, bien-sûr, les types de documents sont très différents. Les sols de Mésopotamie ont livré aux chercheurs des documents de première main comme les recueils d’incantations contre les démons qui seront présentés ici : foisonnant de détails relatifs à l’aspect des ‘ démons ’ ou aux rituels qu’il convient d’observer pour les chasser, ces textes ont été transmis et recopiés pendant près de deux millénaires, transcendant les frontières éphémères des royaumes de l’ancien Proche-Orient. A ce très vaste domaine, la petite Judée d’époque hellénistique et romaine ne saurait être comparée sans humilité. La littérature judéenne, la Bible bien sûr mais aussi d’autres corpus de textes, n’ont pas été exhumés tels quels, mais nous sont parvenus par le biais d’une tradition complexe, marquée par un long et sélectif processus de transmission, à travers plusieurs langues. La découverte des manuscrits de la Mer morte a bouleversé cet état de fait, livrant soudain des documents de première main au regard des chercheurs. Il ne faudra toutefois pas s’étonner de la relative « pauvreté » des donnés judéennes en regard de la civilisation mésopotamienne.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded from Brill.Com09/30/2021 12:35:17AM Via Free Access 100 Chapter 5
    Chapter 5 Further Apprenticeship: šamallû to mašmaššu ṣeḫru This chapter discusses the limited material that exists from Kiṣir-Aššur’s “apprentice” šamallû, “junior apprentice exorcist” šamallû mašmaššu ṣeḫru and “junior exorcist” mašmaššu ṣehru phases to provide an overview of what is currently known about these intermediate phases of his training. Furthermore, a text related to calming an infant or a child from Kiṣir-Aššur’s šamallû mašmaššu ṣeḫru-phase is used to suggest that he acquired healing competences related to children. This chapter therefore discusses Kiṣir- Aššur’s possible involvement in healing infants and considers the general theories on infant and child healing in relation to Kiṣir-Aššur’s previous tab- lets. Texts from Kiṣir-Aššur’s nephew, Kiṣir-Nabû, are used to contextualize and discuss Kiṣir-Aššur’s manuscripts from his šamallû mašmaššu ṣeḫru- and mašmaššu ṣeḫru-phases. Furthermore, Kiṣir-Aššur’s tablets labelled as uʾiltus are also discussed in general. Additionally, this chapter examines Kiṣir-Aššur’s use of the phrase “(he) whose trust is Nabû” (ša Nabû tuklasssu) in colophons from his šamallû ṣeḫru and šamallû mašmaššu ṣeḫru phases, as well as on tablets without titles. This facilitates the distribution of a few tablets without titles onto Kiṣir-Aššur’s apprentice career phases. 5.1 The šamallû-phase After Kiṣir-Aššur’s relatively well-attested šamallû ṣeḫru-phase, Kiṣir-Aššur became a šamallû “apprentice” (Maul 2010: 208 and note 67). The phase is unfortunately only attested by two texts, of which one is unpublished. What follows presents the relevant tablets and their content in order to facilitate a cautious discussion of the manuscripts in relation to Kiṣir-Aššur’s career.
    [Show full text]
  • Kiṣir-Aššur's Mašmaššu-Phase
    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.
    [Show full text]
  • Marqasi'den Namburbi Ritüeline Ait Bir Tablet: Nisan Ayinda Görülen Yilanin Uğursuzluğu
    ARCHIVUM ANATOLICUM (ArAn) 14/2 2020 157-175 MARQASİ’DEN NAMBURBİ RİTÜELİNE AİT BİR TABLET: NİSAN AYINDA GÖRÜLEN YILANIN UĞURSUZLUĞU Salih ÇEÇEN* L. Gürkan GÖKÇEK** Faruk AKYÜZ*** Makale Bilgisi Article Info Başvuru: 20.10.2020 Received: 20.10.2020 Kabul: 09.11.2020 Accepted: 09.11.2020 Özet 90 yıllık bir zaman aralığını kapsayan (MÖ 703-613) Maraş Tabletleri arasında ebatları ve içeriği açısından farklı bir yere sahip olan belge (AMM 119.1.09+36.28.07) Nisan ayında görülen yılanın sebep olduğu uğursuzluğa karşı yapılan namburbi ritüelini içermektedir. İlk defa burada yayımlanan belge Yeni Asur Dönemi’nin son yüzyılına ait olmalıdır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Namburbi ritüeli, uğursuz yılan, Yeni Asur Dönemi, Marqasi * Prof. Dr., Ankara Üniversitesi, Eskiçağ Dilleri ve Kültürleri Bölümü, Sumeroloji Anabilim Dalı, [email protected]; ORCID: 0000-0003-2291-6426 ** Prof. Dr., Ankara Üniversitesi, Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi, Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi, Arkeoloji Bölümü, [email protected]; ORCID: 0000-0002-1974-7476 *** Dr. Öğretim Üyesi, Samsun Üniversitesi, İktisadi, İdari ve Sosyal Bilimler Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü, [email protected]; ORCID: 0000-0003-1132-8653 158 MARQASİ’DEN NAMBURBİ RİTÜELİNE AİT BİR TABLET… A Namburbi Tablet from Marqasi: Evil Snake Seen in Nisannu Abstract With respect to its size and content, the tablet AMM 119.1.09+36.28.07 has a special place among the Maraş Tablets, which cover a time span of 90 years (703-613 BC). The tablet contains a namburbi ritual against the evil portended by a snake. The tablet published here for the first time was written in the final century of the Neo-Assyrian period.
    [Show full text]