YOS 11, 14c

SEAL no. 7129 · YBC 4599 · Incantations · jaundice (=jealousy?) · Larsa area (uncertain) · 6 lines · 35 words · 94 signs · 2 Sumerograms

CDLI P305833. Coll. Farber, YOS 11, p. 63.

Transliteration

Rev.

7 [tam]-ḫa-ṣi pa-nu-š[a?] tu-uš-ba-al-ki-ti-ma pu-ša

8 [k]i-⌈ir⌉-ba-an eqlim(A.ŠÀ^lim) pa-ar ša-ḫi-i-im

9 [za]-ap-pu ši-ik-ke-e ṣú-ru-ut ar-ra-bi-im

10 [š]!i-i[p]!-tum! ša il-tu[m! i]š?-ku-nu-ki e tu il ḫi ri ṣi i-na li-ib-[bi]-im

11 [x x (x)] ša a-mu-ri-qá-nim

12 [x (x) k]i!-i[k!]-ki-ta-ša ka-ra-ši ú-ḫe-eš-še₂₀-e-ma ù ni-IS i-ša-tu[m]

Translation

Rev.

7–9 You(f.) have hit her face and you(f.) have turned upside down her words (saying:) "field's clod! pig's hide! Mongoose's whiskers! Dormouse's fart!"

10 A spell which the goddess has created for you - do not(f.?)... from (your?) heart,

11 [A spell] for jaundice (i.e. envy?).

12 Her(sic) ritual: I will chop leeks, and... fire.

Commentary

General: Curiously this incantation is destined for a woman and against a woman. One could perhaps imagine that the circumstances behind this incantation were that of a quarrel between two rivaling women which lead one of them to turn to magic means. If this is the case, then ll. 8–9 would contain a list of curses, not materia magica, as one might think at first. How to explain the reference to "a spell for jaundice" (l. 11)? Perhaps green/yellow-face means actually jealousy.

8–9: Similar list of curses in YOS 11, 2: 3–6 and CUSAS 32, 32a: 2.

10: Contra Farber, YOS 11, p. 63 the sign is clearly IL (not AN-tum!).

12: The verbal form ú-ḫe-eš-še₂₀-e-ma (if not a mistake for tu-ḫe-eš-še₂₀-e-ma) can refer to a 3 pr. sg. - but we prefer to render it as 1 pr. sg., namely a remark which the magician wrote for himself.

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. 7129; view on seal.huji.ac.il.