ZA 71, 62a
CDLI No. P274698. For the provenance of Tel Duweihes, cf. Farber 1981, 61: fantasy name, but see Cunningham 1997, 99 n. 4 (Walker's personal communication). According to script the text comes from the South.
Transliteration
1' [i]-[n]u-⌈um⌉ ⌈ip⌉-⌈pa⌉-⌈la⌉-⌈ás⌉ ⌈it⌉-⌈ta⌉-⌈na⌉-⌈ap⌉-[ra-ar]
2' ša-aš-ka-lum sà-ḫi-ip-tum
3' ḫu-ḫa-ru-um sà-ḫe-eš-tum
4' ba-ab la-'ì i-ba-ma
5' i-na be-ri la-'ì ṣe-[e]l!-ta-am iš-ku-un
6' ba-ab wa-li-[d]a-ti-im i-ba-ma
7' še-ri-ši-na u4-ḫa-ni-iq
8' i-ru-ma a-[n]a [b]i-it qè-e
9' ši-pa?!-sa-am [i]š-bi-ir
10' ki-nu-na-am pu-zu?-ra-am ú-sa-pi-iḫ
11' bi-ta-am ša-gi-[m]a?-am? ti-li-ša-am iš-ku-un
12' im-ḫa-aṣ-ma i-še-er-ta-am
13' i-ta-ṣi ì-lí bi-tim
14' ma-aḫ-ṣa-ma le-e-sà sú-ḫi-ra-ši / a-na wa-ar-ka-{da}-tim
15' i-ni-ša mu-li- ṭa-ab-ta-am
16' pâša(KA-ša) mu-li-a di-ig-ma-a[m]
17' il bi-ti-im li-tu-r[u?]
Lower Edge
18' ši-ip-tum ša i-ni-[in?]
Translation
1' The (Evil) [E]ye is looking, it is [roa]ming about!
2'–3' A swooping-down net! An Ensnaring mesh!
4'–5' Passing through the gate of the tots, she caused quarrel between the tots;
6'–7' Passing through the gate of (women) in labor, she strangled their babies;
8'–9' She entered the vessels’ storeroom, broke the sealing bullae.
10' She scattered the fireplace, the place of safety(?).
11' She turned the house full of (happy) noise into a ruin
12'–13' After she stroke down the sanctuary, the god of the house has gone out.
14' Strike her cheek! Make her turn backwards!
15' Fill (pl.) her eyes with salt!
16' Her mouth fill (pl.) with ashes
17' May the god of the house return(?)!
18’ Incantation (against) the (Evil) Eye.
Commentary
1': Reading following Ford 1998, 205 (improving on Cavigneaux/Al-Rawi 1994, 85 n.19). Could the "'roaming" of the Evil Eye refer to curious look, to the rolling of the eyeball in its hole?
5': For collation see Wasserman 1995a.
15'–16': Note that the methods used to drive away the Evil Eye try to reverse the damage it has caused. In l. 10' it is said that the Evil Eye has scattered the fireplace – and in l. 16' ashes are used to drive her away. In l. 8'–9' the Evil Eye broke the bullae in the storeroom – and in l. 15' salt (probably stored in the jars) is mentioned.
17': Last sign remains difficult. Traces might be of –r[u], but litūrū is hard as the subject, il bītimis sg. (so also in l. 13’ where the verb proves the ili bītim is also sg.).
18': See Farber 1984, 70; Farber 1989, 9 n.1; and Ford 1989, 205 n. 9.
Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman, Sources of Early Akkadian Literature (SEAL), seal.huji.ac.il. No commercial use is allowed. Published under CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives). Reproduced unmodified. Cite as SEAL no. 7106; view on seal.huji.ac.il.