Fs. Larsen 397-399
Michel 2004, 397 Kt 90/k, 198 mistake for 178.
Transliteration
1 ar-ḫu-um a-ra-aḫ
2 A-ra-aḫ-tum ar-ḫa-at
3 ar-ḫi-iš : ta-ri-i : ar-ḫi-iš
4 tù-lá-ad ar-ḫi-iš : i-lu-ku
5 ma-ú i-pí-ša : i-na
6 a-pí-ša : qá-qá-ra-am : té-sú-uq
7 i-zi-bi-tí-ša : ta-ša-bi-iṭ
8 bé-tám ma-na-me : lá-áš-pur
9 ú lu-wa-e-er a-me-er!-ú-at ša-sú-ra-tim
11 ù ta-áp-šu-kà-tí-ki-na
12 le-qé-a-nim-ma : ba-áb
13 a-ra-aḫ-tim ḫa-ba-tum
14 ḫu-ub-ta : šu-ma : za-kàr
15 e-tù-da-ni šu-ma
16 sí-ni-ša-at ša-pá-ra-ni
17 šu-ma : sà-ak-pu-um : sà-ki-ip
18 i-li-šu : li-šé-lá-ma : k[i?]-i
19 ṣa-ru-ú : ki-ra-nim : li-i[m-q]ú-tám
20 qá-qá-ar-šu : ší-ip-tu[m]
21 lá i-a-tum ší-pá-at Ni-ki-l[i-il5]
22 be-el ší-pá-tim ù be-el tí-i-i[m]
23 be-lá-at ša-sú-ra-tim l[i-dí]
Translation
1–2 A cow - cow! the Araḫtum-canal is quick.
3–4 Quickly she got pregnant, quickly she is giving birth.
4–5 Quickly the water is coming out of her genitals (lit. mouth),
5–6 She is carving the ground with her muzzle,
7–8 She is sweeping the shed with her tail.
8–10 Whom, you may say, should I send to the daughters of the birth goddesses – seven, indeed seven they are, with the orders:
10–14 'Take your spades and your baskets! Forcefully open the gate of the cow!'?
14–15 If (the newborn) is a male – like a wild sheep,
15–16 If it is a female – like a ram,
16–18 If it is a miscarriage (lit. rejected), cast (by) its god – may they (i.e. the daughters of the birth goddess) pick it up
18–20 and may (the stillborn) fall to the ground like a vine-snake!
20–23 The incantation is not mine – (it is) the incantation of Nikilil the lord of spells and lord of the incantation. Let the lady of wombs cast (it!)
Commentary
4–5: Another case of the euphemism 'mouth' standing for pudenda can be found in the love incantation from Isin ZA 75 (IB 1554)a:16-17 uk-ta-as-sí-i-ka i-na KA-ia ša ša-ra-a-tim / i-na ú-ri-ia ša ši-i-na-tim, "I have detained you in my hairy mouth, in my genitals of urine".
6: té-sú-uq is understood as a form of esēq/kum, “to incise, carve”, although the vocalization of this verb is (i/i).
14–16: For the formula šumma... šumma... see Michel/Wasserman 1997.
18: li-šé-lá-ma is understood as an OB form of elûm-Š precative (instead of the expected OA form lušēlâ-ma).
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. 7218; view on seal.huji.ac.il.