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December 7, 2005
Help- Does Anyone See Patterns in This List of Words and Phrases?
I'm a day or two away from posting my next study of texts related to the short cuneiform alphabet. And while this next text is not really in that alphabet (its not in the full longer alphabet either) it is chock-full of mind benumbing puzzles. On the reasonable assumption that my readers are smarter than I am (after all, you aren't wasting several hours a week trying to figure these things out), I would like your help. You don't need to know any Ugaritic to provide help. The text from which I take these words and short phrases is without doubt a school text. In other words, it is intended to further the education of a scribe. What I want to know is, "Does anyone see any pattern or patterns in this list of words and phrases?"
- "digging tool" or "hole" or a personal name
- "bowl" or "chisel" or a personal name
- "basket" or "ball" (but not basketball!) or a personal name
- "light" or a personal name
- "lamp stand" or "moonlight"
- "sword" or a personal name or a misspelling of something else
- "sandals" or "hearing"
- "eye" or a personal name
- "prince of Tyre"
- "basket" or "ball" (but not basketball!) or a personal name (yes, this is a repeat)
- "cotton card" (for carding) or "projectile"
- "key"
- "stone" or a personal name
- "sorcerer" or "her hand-mill"
- "chariot" or "upper millstone" (maybe "boat" is another option)
- "caldron" or some other type of vessel
- "flour"
- "light" or a personal name (another repeat)
- "leaf" or "blossom"
- "twig" or some unit of dry measure or a personal name
- "‛Ammurapi" (the personal name of last king of Ugarit)
- "two watering cans" or "scarlet watering can" or "conjurer"
- some kind of measurement (leather tubes?)
- "wheat" (but not flour)
- "emmer"
- "legumes" or "wheels"
- "window"
- "sojourner" (i.e. foreign resident)
- "recitation tablet" or "(city) council" or a personal name
The word "light" that arrears twice in the list is "light" like the light that comes from the sun or a lamp as opposed to "light weight."
By the way, I see a couple of patterns that extend over a few words like "wheat," "emmer" and "legumes," but I fail to see any organizing principle for any group longer than two or three words. For what it is worth, neither does anyone else see more than very localized patterns if any at all. I presented the list in the exact order that it appears on the text. In fact, only a single word or phrase is on any one line of this text and I presented them all. The foregoing, therefore, constitutes a rather awkward translation of the text as I now understand it. With a few exceptions, I give various options as to how each word might be interpreted. Some of these differences are the result of uncertain etymology, others the result of uncertain context and some are the result of over exuberant guessing on my part and the part of others.
For those that need the original, you can find it in KTU 5.22. I'll even send you a copy if you'd like; but I thought the translations and various most likely options might be enough to trigger some creative thought process. I have been grubbing around in the details and I'm afraid I have missed the forest for the trees not to mention the leafs, twigs and moonlight.
Some of these words and phrases are clearly identical to those found in other texts from Ugarit. But a large number are not in any other Ugaritic text. Some may be either Akkadian or Akkadian loanwords and one is likely an Egyptian loanword. For the over diligent among you, I have already looked at all the ancient "canonical" word lists I could find (Landsberger, for example) and while a few of the words in KTU 5.22 do appear in one or another such text, they appear here and there but never in this sequence or contiguously in any sequence.
Posted by Duane Smith at December 7, 2005 3:18 PM | Read more on Ugarit |
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Comments
If this were a puzzle (in a sense it is), I would guess that the Prince of Tyre was visiting Ammurapi or vice versa & this was an account of that visit, maybe including the gifts exchanged or food served.
Posted by: Aydin at December 9, 2005 3:18 PM
I wonder if there are any patterns to be seen in the cuneiform, rather than in the content. That is, if it is a scribal exercise, perhaps there is one or a set of orthographic patterns being taught/reinforced. Sort of like a student of cursive English might have a list of words with many descending or ascending letters.
Warning: I have no idea at all whether such exercises are thought to have existed in the ANE.
Posted by: G. Brooke at December 10, 2005 3:27 PM
I will be addressing both of these very interesting suggestions and another one I got at a lunch meeting with one of my readers when I post on the text tomorrow or Monday. Thanks.
Posted by: Duane at December 10, 2005 4:34 PM
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