Akkadian Archive

March 10, 2010

A Disconnected Ramble On God And King

Do two lines found together only in SST 60 and SST 61 from Sultantepe refer to gods, people, or both? Here are those two lines, 25a and b, with their immediate context (Line numbers refer the position of the lines...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 10:15 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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March 8, 2010

Specialized Interests Indeed

After summarizing the contents of several of the Sultantepe tablets, the Wikipedia article on Sultantepe ends with this curious sentence, “Other texts were of more specialised interest to the Assyriologist: rituals, incantations, omen readings, contracts and vocabulary lists.” Among the...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 7:09 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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March 2, 2010

Lambert On A Divine Ambiguity

Related to an issue I discussed a few weeks ago, here is a quotation from a paper by Wilfred George Lambert on ancient Mesopotamian gods. Lambert’s paper is online. . . . these ancients were surrounded by forces of nature,...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 8:16 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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March 1, 2010

Deuteronomy 32:43a In Context

Daniel O. McClellan shared a paper proposal for the upcoming annual SBL meeting. His proposal ends as follows: This paper proposes the threshold of monotheism is found not at the rejection of the existence of other deities, but at the...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 8:23 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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February 6, 2010

Crazy Thoughts On Blindness And Reading Clay Tablets

Caution: this is another of my wildly speculative posts. Don’t take it too seriously. I’m constructing thoughts not conclusions. Some of these thoughts are unsupportable; some are little more than free associations; some, like the last one, are surely wrong....

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Posted by Duane Smith at 2:55 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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February 2, 2010

The Latest ZA

The December 2009 edition of the Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie is now available. There are a couple of papers that I think will prove to be of abnormally interesting. Jeremiah Peterson’s “Two New Sumerian Texts Involving The Netherworld...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 11:14 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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January 23, 2010

Akkadian And Being Wrong About Making A Mistake

With apologies to Lucy Van Pelt, I thought I made a mistake but I was wrong. The borrowed writing system that scribes used for Akkadian can be very vexing. It alternatively provides less information than one would like and more...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 3:44 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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January 7, 2010

Two New Books On Abnormal Interests

Over the last couple of weeks, I've written speculative posts on two topics that I now see have whole books devoted to them. My ignorance of these volumes illustrates one of the problems with posting what often amounts to little...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 10:20 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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January 4, 2010

On Ghosts, Demons, Gods And Contagious Diseases

Tomorrow I need to return a couple of books I have on interlibrary loan. One is Scurlock and Anderson's Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine. This is an abnormally interesting work that exposes the amazing knowledge, the amazing ignorance, and...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 2:56 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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December 22, 2009

A New Idiot's Guide to KAL DILI

If the logogram string KAL DILI in an Akkadian prayer is not within your normal abnormal interests, don't read any more of this post. But I do feel that I owe my truly abnormal readers follow-ups on the important issues...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 10:25 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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December 19, 2009

A Somewhat Different Light On The Sun

While I'm on the subject of Shamash/Utu, there's a Sumerian poem (BM 23631) that sings of a rather strange set of divine attributes. Among other things, Utu enjoys beer. Who would have guessed? Inana, his sister, asks if she can...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 10:04 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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December 18, 2009

It Seems Simple Enough

I'm trying to write a couple of paragraphs on dšamaš (dUTU) - Shamash. Here's what I have so far, Shamash was the solar deity sun sun god sun Am I trying to resolve a distinction without a difference? Did the...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 2:01 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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December 15, 2009

When Gods And Ghosts Were Not Supernatural

While discussing the role of gods, ghosts, and demons as causes of disease, Jo Ann Scurlock makes the following abnormally interesting observation, Ironically, it does not follow that ancient Mesopotamians attributed diseases to "supernatural" causes. Although ancient Mesopotamian gods made...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 8:22 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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December 8, 2009

One Elephant Got Up

An old friend once said that he felt like he had two elephants on him and one of them got up. Well, I've had four elephants on me and it feels like one of them just got up. Don't get...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 8:05 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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November 27, 2009

Plural Verbs

When we think of plural verbs, (I'm using the awkward expression on purpose), we tend to think of them in terms of multiple actors, "they seize" as opposed to "he seizes," for example. But there is another way to think...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 8:19 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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November 18, 2009

Who Is "You"

I'm still worrying over an Akkadian ritual intended to rid a patient of the pernicious effects of a ghosts, BAM 323:1-38. In addition to multiple instructions, the ritual has two prayers, one for an exorcist (āšipu) and one for the...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 1:19 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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November 12, 2009

A Rant About A Tablet And It's Text

Please note these three designations. VAT 8242 KAR 184 BAM 323 These letter number combinations all designate the same Akkadian tablet. Well, VAT 8242 designates the physical tablet; KAR 184 designates an early publication of the tablet; BAM 323 designates...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 3:13 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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November 1, 2009

Is Ludlul Wisdom Literature?

Over at Feeling Finite . . ., Alan Lenzi provides an engaging discussion of "Ludlul and 'Wisdom'." From a very strictly "indigenous perspective," Alan concludes that it isn't wisdom. But as Alan points out there is more to wisdom than...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 9:39 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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October 31, 2009

Just In Case

In case Halloween doesn't turn out all that happy, you might need this. If a ghost has seized a man, coral, sulfur, yellow sulfur, cedar resin and mandrake: five plants, you mix in blood of a black snake and then...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 11:00 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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October 26, 2009

Division Of Labor In Healing Rituals

I've been thinking about who gets addressed by whom in Mesopotamia medical rituals like BAM 323:1-38. Here's my translation of the practitioner's incantation, Oh Ghost (or) anything evil, from this day you are expelled from the body of so and...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 8:54 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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October 19, 2009

Fair Warning

I will not be attending the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature this year. Anyone who has delayed a decision until this announcement should now feel safe to attend next month's mega affair in New Orleans. However, I...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 9:05 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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October 13, 2009

A Wild Idea About Cuneiform Literacy

and some numbers that may support it. And then again, they may not. In fact, my numbers may support something quite different or nothing at all. Like many of my more abnormal posts, this one is only a thought experiment....

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Posted by Duane Smith at 10:39 AM | Read more on Akkadian |
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September 22, 2009

A Rhetorical Orthographic Pun

I was reviewing some work I did a week or so ago on an Akkadian ritual text when I ran across something that I hadn't thought about the first time through. I had seen it but I didn't consider its...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 4:29 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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September 9, 2009

More Likely Irresponsible Speculation

Except for the last word which is mine, the JPS translates Leviticus 17:13, And if any Israelite or any stranger who resides among them hunts down an animal or a bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 3:27 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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September 6, 2009

What The Heck Is Wrong With This Guy

Do these two lists describe the same disease? a ghost, a Rabiṣu-demon, a Eṭemmu-spirit, a Lilû-spirit, goose bumps, dizziness, paralysis of the flesh, vertigo, stiffness (and), confusion weigh on me and leave me mourning(?) every day. a Eṭemmu man seized...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 6:57 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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August 25, 2009

Sick? Maybe Shamash Can Help

Over the last week or so I've been bothering you with some thoughts on details of a prayer to Shamash, a prayer of a sick person. Today I thought I'd provide my complete translation for those who may need to...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 2:39 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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August 22, 2009

Micromanaging The Gods

While working on Akkadian prayers, I often come across things that strike me as odder than the general oddity. These folks wanted to make sure that their gods looked after them in an expeditious manner and they weren't above giving...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 3:07 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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August 11, 2009

The July 2009 JNES Is Online

The July 2009 issue of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies is now online. Here is a list of the papers. Jack Cheng, "A Review of Early Dynastic III Music: Man’s Animal Call" Isaac Kalimi, "Placing the Chronicler in His...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 4:35 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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August 7, 2009

Another Case Of A Cuneiform Literate Professional (?)

A recently annoiunced tablet contains a desperate plea for help from an Assyrian leader. Mannu-ki-Libbali was a city treasurer at Tushan when the ancient city was overran by forces allied with Babylon. Check out the report in Times On Line....

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Posted by Duane Smith at 12:44 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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August 6, 2009

I Heart This Post

In general, when faced with an idiom of uncertain meaning, I favor a literal translation. If I'm not sure what something means, I think it best to pass that uncertainty along to the reader of my translation. But this can...

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Posted by Duane Smith at 8:10 PM | Read more on Akkadian |
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Titles Only From Here On

August 4, 2009

Is There A Doctor In The House?

July 30, 2009

July 2009 ZA Online

July 28, 2009

Their Life Is, Ah, Err, Excrement

July 15, 2009

Good Enough For Me

July 12, 2009

Be Careful

July 10, 2009

Have A Snake Problem? Try Prayer

June 22, 2009

The Idiot's Guide To KAL DILI

June 7, 2009

The Latest Journal Of Near Eastern Studies

June 5, 2009

Playing With Signs And Signs

June 2, 2009

On Translations, Background Knowledge, And Acknowledgement

May 28, 2009

Like Shamash?

May 25, 2009

Dickless Or Just Impotent?

May 24, 2009

Virtually Taking Apart and Physically Putting Together

May 16, 2009

A Long Time Passing

May 7, 2009

Divining A Prayer

April 28, 2009

Attempted Identity Theft?

April 2, 2009

Something Else That Doesn't Mean Wine

March 3, 2009

Another Irresponsible Post On Bodily Fluids

February 21, 2009

The Power of the Big House

February 19, 2009

Floating Akkadian Prayers

February 3, 2009

Why Do Lacuna Always Come at the Wrong Place?

December 15, 2008

The Latest Zeitschrift für Assyriologie

November 23, 2008

The Latest JNES Is Out

November 19, 2008

Cuneiform Digital Library Update

October 31, 2008

Friday Loanword: uḫḫuru

September 24, 2008

What Does It Say and How Does It Say It?

August 13, 2008

Reflections on a Few Caveats

August 11, 2008

A Small Rant About the Book that Wasn't There

August 2, 2008

3D Printing and Clay Polymer Tablets

July 28, 2008

Tel Beit Shemesh and fNIN UR.MAMEŠ

July 24, 2008

Free Sumerian Teaching and Learning Material

July 16, 2008

There's Nothing Like a Schlüsselszene

July 8, 2008

I'm a Citation Already

July 6, 2008

Filling in the Blank

June 29, 2008

The Letter of Gilgamesh: A Translation

June 21, 2008

I Should Have Known Better

June 17, 2008

The Story in a Colophon, Part I

June 10, 2008

An Ambiguous Post on the Gilgamesh Letter

June 3, 2008

That Was Fast

June 1, 2008

3D Imaging and the Problem with Photos and Casts

May 30, 2008

Sheep Omens, Akkadian in Greek Letters and Other Mysteries

April 30, 2008

Sumerian, Akkadian, Hebrew, Oh, My!

April 29, 2008

The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary Online

April 12, 2008

Could He Have Been All That Certain?

March 22, 2008

When Is a Pun Not Punny?

December 29, 2007

Please, Send One Scribe ASAP

December 21, 2007

To Jean Bottéro and Lawrence Toombs

September 3, 2007

Another Inscribed Liver Model from Hazor

August 31, 2007

Playing Around With Akkadian, Sumerian and Egyptian

July 27, 2007

More Tablets from Alalakh

July 20, 2007

In Preparation for Something Unimportant

July 18, 2007

What's a ŠA Among Friends?

July 13, 2007

Nabu-šarrussu-ukin on a Tablet

July 5, 2007

Akkadian Is So Easy

June 20, 2007

Notes on the Taanach Letters

June 16, 2007

Translations of Akkadian Cuneiform Texts Online

April 24, 2007

Taanach 6: A letter from Amanhatpa to Talwashur

April 23, 2007

Taanach 5: A letter from Amanhatpa to Talwashur

April 22, 2007

Taanach 2: A letter from Ahiami to Talwashur

April 21, 2007

Taanach 1: A letter from Ehli-Tešub to Talwashur