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January 9, 2009

Friday Culture Word: 'gn/bowl

The root, if that is the correct word, *'gn occurs in Akkadian (agannu), Aramaic, (אַגָּנָא) Hebrew (אַגָּן), Ugaritic (agn), Arabic (إجانه), Phoenician/Punic ('gn), and also in Hittite (or Hurrian) (aganni), Egyptian (ikn) and perhaps even Greek (τον ειγαν). In most of these cases, the word means some kind of bowl. In many Akkadian contexts it is a unit of liquid(?) measurement. Agannātu, the Akkadian plural of agannu, can be medal, stone, or clay. ikn in Egyptian is some kind of cup or, as a verb, to draw water and the Arabic is something like a tub for washing cloths.

No one knows the origin of the word; scholars have proposed a Hittite, Hurrian or Egyptian origin. West, 146, even sees it's origin as Semitic but a Semitic origin is unlikely. See Mankowski, 21-22, who says,

Aramaic 'aggānā with the single third root consonant and geminate second root consonant (i.e. "syllable-lengthening") indicates not Akkadian borrowing but Aramaic reformation of a non-Semitic word; consequently there is little reason to believe that the Aramaic is a trans-Akkadian loan. The BH spelling exactly reflects the Aramaic and almost certainly derives from it, as there is no native phonological pressure to double the middle consonant of an *'agan- or *'aganna- precursor. [references omitted]

אַגָּן occurs three times in the Hebrew Bible: Canticles 7:3 (7:2), Exodus 24:6 and Isaiah 22:24. Canticles uses the word as part of a rather complex source in a metaphor where the target is "your navel." How's that for taking all the fun out a delicious metaphor? "Your navel is a round bowl (אַגָּן) that never lacks spiced wine." One should note that Akkadian agannātu figure prominently in the preparation of perfumes. This example from Canticles and the related words in other languages is discussed Dobb's study of the linguistic features of Canticles.

The Exodus 24 is a little bloodier if less figurative. Here we see the use of the lexeme in a ritual context. Akkadian agannātu are also used in rituals. The Isaiah 22:24 example is figurative enough. "All the bowls" are part of the burden of Eliakim. In both of these contexts, but particularly so in the case of Isaiah, it is possible that one should consider the meaning as reflecting a specific measure or bowl size just as is often the case in Akkadian.

There are a few proposed instantiations of *'gn that are abnormally interesting. First, agnn is the first word on a jar handle inscription from Sarepta in Lebanon. The inscription is written in the short cuneiform alphabet. While only eight words, the language of this inscription shows closer affinities to Phoenician than Ugaritic. It is most accessible as KAI 6:70 and I wrote about it in my aging series on the Cuneiform Short Alphabet. If it is indeed an example of very early Phoenician, we see our lexeme here in the 13th century BCE and again in the Punic tariff inscription from 3rd century or early second BCE Marseille (KAI 69:11).

Second, an inscription from Delos contains "τον ειγαν" in a dedication of an object or installation. But I wonder if this is simply a case of a purely foreign word, Phoenician (?), not even a loanword in this inscription. See Will, 298f, and Teixidor, #21, on this inscription. But in the light of the following topic, who knows?

Finally, there is the question of Oceanus (Ωκεανος). As West correctly says, "The etymology of Oceanus' name is quite obscure." Having described a couple of Greek and Semitic possibilities, West goes on to suggest that the name may be related to our *'gn. He thinks the alternate spelling, ωγηνου δωματα, Mansions of Ogenos, in Pherecydes of Syros, enhances the possibility of foreign origin. He further notes Ugaritic KTU 1:23:30-54 where El goes to the shore and sees two women bathing over a basin, an agn; "one goes down as the other rises up (your results may vary)." After El mates with them, the account is rather erotic, one gives birth to "dawn" and the other to "peace" (dusk?). West associates this agn with the cosmic bowl over which dawn and dusk appear in sequence. He, 147, cites Homer's several indications that "it is from and into Oceanus that the sun raises and sets, and for the stars it is a washing-place; Sirius emerges gleaming after his bath in Oceanus, and only the Bear has no share in these λοετρά.[bath]"

Hmmm! I'll let you be the judge of this last one.

References:

Posted by Duane Smith at January 9, 2009 8:41 PM | Read more on Hebrew Bible |

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Posted by: Glen Gordon at January 11, 2009 10:06 AM

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