Fs. Hirsch 427
Transliteration
1 da-mu-um / da-ma-mu-um
2 kà-al-bu-um
3 ṣa-al-mu-um
4 i-tí-li-im / ra-bi4-iṣ
5 ú-qá-a ellatam(ILLAT-tám)
6 pá-ri-is-tám eṭ-lamx
7 dam-qám / i-ta-na-áp-/l[i-sà]
8 e-na-šu ma-nam
9 lá-áš-pu-ur
10 a-na ma-ru-a-at É-/a
1 4 [+3 ù 5+]2-ma
12 [kàr-pá-tí]-ki-na
13 ša sà-am-tim ú kà-ni-ki-/na
14 ša ḫu-lá-li-im
15 li-qí-a-ma al-kà-ma
16 i-na na-ri-im
17 [ku?-p]u-ra ma-i [e-lu-tim]
18 [x x] x GA a[l-x (x)]
19 [x (x)]-nim [x x (x)]
20 [x x] x [x x (x)]
21 x x x [x x x]
Lower Ed.
22 ṣí-i eṭ-lúm
Left Ed.
23 [a-n]a iš-ri-kà / [t]ù-ur
Translation
2–4 a black dog is lying on the tell,
5–6 waiting for the spread-out caravan.
6–8 Its eyes look around for a beautiful lad.
8–10 Whom should I send to the daughters of Ea,
11 Seven, indeed seven they are - saying:
12–15 'Take your jars of carnelian and your pot-stands of chalcedony
15–17 and go and in the river [clean]se (them) in [pure] water!'
22–23 Get out young man and return (in peace) to your place!
Commentary
1: The much-discussed opening da-mu-um / da-ma-mu-um (see, Hirsch 1972 Nachträge 30b "Zu S. 82", citing Balkan and Hecker GKT §59c.) is not translated by Veenhof (1996, 429) who, following Farber (1981, 70) takes it as "untranslatable magic formula". A close parallel to this line is found in the OB dog incantation ZA 71, 62c: 13: da-mu-um da-ma-nu-um. The mentioning of kalbum ṣalmum (ll. 2–3) prompts the reading daʾmum “dark-colored”, hence da-ma-mu-um is probably a designation of a dog, or another canid.
17: [ku?-p]u-ra: Regardless of Veenhof's (1996, 430) reservations, we analyze this form as kapārum-G-Imp. 2 pl. f.
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. 7220; view on seal.huji.ac.il.