VS 17, 4

SEAL no. 7182 · VAT 8363 · Incantations · snake · Unknown · 7 lines · 20 words · 61 signs · 2 Sumerograms

Rev. uninscribed. CDLI P343025. Collated (NW) 2/2/2011.

Transliteration

Obv.

1 [u]l!-lu-úḫ ki-ma gi₅-ṣí-i-im

2 [w]a-ru-uq ki-ma ^dTišpak

3 a-pa-šu {šu} mu-tum pi-šu na-ab-lum

4 li-ša-na-šu bi-ir-bi-ir-ru-um

5 bi-ir-bi-ir-ru-šu li-a-wu-ti-a-am

6 TU₆ en.é.nu-ru

7 KA.inim.ma muš-ti-l[a-kam]

(Rev. uninscribed)

Translation

1 Tufted like a thorn,

2 Green like Tišpak.

3 Its nose is death, its mouth is a flash,

4 Its double-tongue a flame.

5 Its radiance is...

6 Incantation formula.

7 Spell (to revive) from a snake.

Commentary

For this description of the snake cf. Anzu's description in Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird ll. 123–124 (ETCSL 1.8.2.2).

1: For [u]l!-lu-úḫ, see AHw 1552b s.v. elēḫum (and CAD M/1, 153a).

4: The crux li-a-wu-ti-a-am remains obscure (cf. early attempt by van Dijk's 1969, 541). In AHw 1363b, s.v. t/dium, von Soden suggested hesitantly to parse this construction as li-ZA!?-WU ti-a-am, referring to di'u I, or alternatively to read ti-a-am-[tam]. Since none of these is certain, it is possible that this complex is a crooked form of li'atum, "saliva" (CAD L, 163a, documented in lexical lists)? A nominal sentence, as in the preceding lines, is expected.

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. 7182; view on seal.huji.ac.il.