Lingering over Words: Studies in Ancient near Eastern Literature in Honor of William L. Moran 1555405029, 9789004369559, 9781555405021

Table of contents :
LINGERING OVER WORDS: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern
Preface And Acknowledgments
CONTENTS
William L. Moran An Appreciation
The Publications of William L. Moran
An Early Form of the Witchcraft Ritual Maqlû and the Origin of a Babylonian Magical Ceremony
Lugalbanda and the Early Epic Tradition in Mesopotamia
The Babylonian Chronicle Revisited
On Poeuy—Theirs and Ours
Job's Children
Selbstgespriich und Monolog in der akkadischen Literatur
On Weaving Etymological and Semantic Threads: The Semitic Root qlc
Prayer to the Gods of the Night
La Conception de la beauté en Assyrie
The Language of Imagery in Psalm 114
Two Proverbs of Aḥiqar
Proverbs Quoted in Epic
Images of Women in the Gilgamesh Epic
The Gilgamesh Epic Romantic and Tragic Vision
Bm 96927: A Prime Example of Ancient Scribal Redaction
The Case Against Joseph
A New Babylonian Descent to the Netherworld
A Tamίtu From Nippur
Canonical And Official Cuneiform Texts: Towards An Understanding Of Assurbanipal's Personal Tablet Collection
A Seasonal Pattern For The Amarna Letters
Welches Orakel Gab Den Davididen Dauer? Ein Textproblem In 2 Kön 8,19 Und Das Funktionieren Der Dynastischen Orakel im Deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerk
Gilgamesh And Other Epics
Presence at the Creation
Praises to the Pharaoh in Response to his Plans for a Campaign to Canaan
The Prefix Conjugation Patterns of Early Northwest Semitic
Nocturnal Talk
"Versstrukturen" als Stilmittel in den Inschriften Sargons II von Assyrien
Mari Historiography And The Yakhdun-Lim Disc Inscription
A Celtic-latin-hittite Etymology
Orthographie, Grammatik und literarische Form: Beobachtungen zu der Vaseninschrift Lugazaggesis (SAKI 152-156)
Marginalien Zu Herodot Klio 199

Citation preview

LINGERING OVER WORDS

William L. Moran

LINGERING OVER WORDS Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Literature in Honor of William L. Moran

edited by TzviAbusch John Huehnergard Piotr Steinkeller

Scholars Press Atlanta, Georgia

LINGERING OVER WORDS Edited by Tzvi Abusch John Huehnergard Piotr Steinkeller

© 1990

The President and Fellows of Harvard University

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lingering over words : studies in ancient Near Eastern literature in honor of William L. Moran / edited by Tzvi Abusch, John Huehnergard, Piotr Steinkeller. p. cm. -- (Harvard Semitic studies : no. 37) ISBN 1-55540-502-9 1. Semitic philology. I. Moran William L. II. Abusch, I. Tzvi. III. Huehnergard, John. IV. Steinkeller, Piotr. V. Series. PJ3002.Z5M675 1990 892--dc20 90-40251 CIP

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

§

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ARTICLES FOR THIS VOLUME in honor of William L. Moran were solicited from Bill's friends and colleagues in the summer of 1985. The majority of the contributions were received in 1986 or early 1987, and with few exceptions authors have not had the opportunity to make substantive changes or to update their references. The editors take full responsibility for the ensuing three-year delay in getting the volume to press.

Abbreviations in the papers in this volume, except where otherwise indicated, follow the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary for Assyriological items and the stylesheet of Journal of Biblical Literature I Catholic Biblical Quarterly I Harvard Theological Review for biblical items. It is our pleasant duty to thank a number of individuals for their kind assistance in manuscript preparation: M. Carasik, C. I. Cross, S. Huehnergard, T. Kamionkowski, K. Kravitz, W. Schniedewin, and K. Slanski. We are also very grateful to F. M. Cross for accepting the volume for publication in the Harvard Semitic Studies series. TA JH PS

CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgments........................................................................... William L. Moran: An Appreciation................................................................... The Publications of William L. Moran................................................................

v ix xi

TzVIABUSCH

An Early Form of the Witchcraft Ritual Maqlu and the Origin of a Babylonian Magical Ceremony............................................................................

I

BENDT ALSlER

Lugalbanda and the Early Epic Tradition in Mesopotamia...........................

59

J. A. BRINKMAN The Babylonian Chronicle Revisited...........................................................

73

GIORGIO BUCCELLATI

On Poeuy-Theirs and Ours......................................................................

105

MICHAEL DAYID COOGAN

Job's Children.............................................................................................

135

DIETZ OTTO EDZARD

Selbstgespriich und Monolog in der akkadischen Literatur .........................

149

BARRY L. EICHLER

On Weaving Etymological and Semantic Threads: The Semitic Root qf ....

163

DAVID FERRY

Prayer to the Gods of the Night...................................................................

171

PAUL GARELLI

La conception de la beaute en Assyrie .........................................................

173

STEPHEN A. GELLER

The Language of Imagery in Psalm 114 ... .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .

179

JONAS C. GREENFIELD

Two Proverbs of AJ:iiqar .............................................................................

195

WILLIAM W. HALLO

Proverbs Quoted in Epic.............................................................................

203

RIVKAH HARRIS

Images of Women in the Gilgamesh Epic....................................................

219

THORKILD JACOBSEN

The Gilgamesh Epic: Tragic and Romantic Vision......................................

231

SAMUEL NOAH KRAMER

BM 96927: A Prime Example of Ancient Scribal Redaction.......................

251

viii

CONTENTS

JAMES KUGEL

The Case Against Joseph............................................................................

271

W. G. LAMBERT

A New Babylonian Descent to the Netherworld .........................................

289

ERLE LEICHTY

A tamitu from Nippur ... .. ................ .. .. .. .... .. ............................ .. .... .. ... .........

301

STEPHEN J. LIEBERMAN

Canonical and Official Cuneiform Texts: Towards an Understanding of Assurbanipal' s Personal Tablet Collection..................................................

305

MARIO LIVERANI

A Seasonal Pattern for the Amarna Letters..................................................

337

NORBERT LOHFINK

Welches Orakel gab den Davididen Dauer? Ein Textproblem in 2 Kon 8, 19 und das Funktionieren der dynastischen Orakel im deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerk ...........................................................................................

349

ALBERT B. LORD

Gilgamesh and Other Epics.........................................................................

371

PIOTR MICHALOWSKI

Presence at the Creation...............................................................................

381

NADAVNA'AMAN

Praises to the Pharaoh in Response to his Plans for a Campaign to Canaan

397

ANSON F. RAINEY

The Prefix Conjugation Patterns of Early Northwest Semitic.....................

407

ERICA REINER

Nocturnal Talk.............................................................................................

421

JOHANNES RENGER

"Versstrukturen" als Stilmittel in den Inschriften Sargons II von Assyrien

425

JACK M. SASSON

Mari Historiography and the Yakhdun-Lim Disc Inscription......................

439

CALVERT WATKINS

A Celtic-Latin-Hittite Etymology.................................................................

451

CLAUS WILCKE

Orthographie, Grammatik und literarische Form: Beobachtungen zu der Vaseninschrift Lugazaggesis (SAKI 152-156)............................................

455

GERNOT WILHELM

Marginalien zu Herodot: Klio 199...............................................................

505

WILLIAM L. MORAN AN APPRECIATION

Der Zweck des epischen Dichters liegt schon in jedem Punkte seiner Bewegung; darum eilen wir nicht ungeduldig zu einem Ziele, sondern verweilen uns mil Liebe bei jedem Schritte. Schiller to Goethe 21 May 1797

WILLIAM L. MORAN was born in Chicago on August 11, 1921. His family moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1935, and Bill was enrolled in St. Charles, a Roman Catholic preparatory school. There he fell in love with languages, first with Latin and then with Greek, which he taught himself. In 1939, he entered the Jesuit order, where, after the novitiate (1939--41), he received literary training in the classics as well as in English literature, and pursued studies in classical and scholastic philosophy. He received his B.A. from Loyola University in 1944. In 1946--47, Bill taught Latin and Greek in high school in Cincinnati. Though he might well have chosen a career in classical philology, Bill's order encouraged him to pursue biblical studies with W. F. Albright at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In the summer of 1947, therefore, as he had done with Greek nine years earlier, Bill taught himself biblical Hebrew. The following fall, beginning his first year at Hopkins, he became fascinated with cuneiform, and realized the scope of the field of Assyriology and many opportunities for research and interpretation. The following year Albright elected to tutor him, reading Old Babylonian and Amarna letters, and suggested that he seek out Canaanite influences in the Byblos letters. Over the summer of 1949 Bill collected, sorted, and analyzed the Byblos texts, and made many exciting discoveries about the underlying Canaanite language. These were presented in his dissertation, "A Syntactical Study of the Dialect of Byblos as Reflected in the Amarna Tablets," for which he received his Ph.D. in 1950. The dissertation has become one of the most oft-cited unpublished works in Semitic philology. From 1950-55 Bill pursued the Jesuit training in theology. But he also studied Hittite with Albrecht Goetze in the summer of 1950 at a summer linguistics institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and after that began spending summers at the Oriental Institute in Chicago, studying Assyriology with Thorkild Jacobsen. In 1955-56 he

x

William L. Moran: An Appreciation

worked on the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary and studied with Jacobsen and Benno Landsberger. He was then invited to remain in Chicago as a member of the Dictionary staff and as a research associate of Jacobsen's, but instead accepted his order's decision that he proceed to Rome to take up teaching responsibilities in the biblical faculty at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. During his years in Rome, Bill made major contributions to the field of biblical scholarship with studies on topics such as covenant, Deuteronomy, and Hebrew language. In 1966 Bill accepted an invitation to teach Assyriology at Harvard University as the eventual successor of Thorkild Jacobsen. In 1970 Bill and Suzanne Drinker Funkhouser were married, and since then they have lived in a large and welcoming house in Belmont, Mass., in which much of the third floor is given over to Bill's study and a not insignificant part of the second floor is given over to the Boston Celtics. Throughout his career, Bill has concentrated his labors on the interpretation of texts, where his interests have taken him far and wide. He is recognized as our leading authority on the el-Amarna tablets, on which he has written masterful essays concerning both the history of the period and all levels of the language of the texts. His recent volume of translations of the Amarna letters immediately became the new standard. But Amama has been only one of his interests. He has also considered, for example, "The Repose of Rahab's Israelite Guests" and "Some Akkadian Names for the Stomachs of Ruminants," chased "Puppies in Proverbs" through the millennia, produced a still-standard survey of "The Hebrew Language in its Northwest Semitic Background," and discussed "New Evidence from Mari on the History of Prophecy." In such studies, Bill has invariably shown a meticulous attention to detail, an acute awareness of the importance of a firm textual basis as the starting point for any interpretation. But his work has also always had a special appeal. Regardless of the topic, there is in his approach a humane quality, a concern for broader issues that expresses the intellectual and vital excitement that he brings to a text. This is especially clear when he turns to his favorite passion, literature, for there he brings to bear in addition a cultivated interest in esthetics and literary criticism. From his insightful studies of Atrahasis and Ludlul to his exemplary presentation of "The First Tablet of the SB Recension of the Anzu-Myth," to his delightful note on "Rilke and the Gilgamesh Epic," to a marvelous, but unfortunately still-unpublished, lecture on Gilgamesh (which supplied the quote for our epigraph), he has been a uniquely gifted philologist with the vision of a true humanist. It was in recognition of this that Harvard some years ago appointed Bill its Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities. The spring of 1990 is Bill's last semester of teaching at Harvard. In the summer Suzie and he will move to a new home on the coast of Maine, to begin the retirement to which they have long looked forward. We wish them well.

THE PUBLICATIONS OF WILLIAM L. MORAN BOOKS

1960 The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Volume 7, I and J. Chicago: The Oriental Institute-Gliickstadt: Augustin. 1987 Les lettres d' el-Amarna: Correspondance diplomatique du pharaon, avec la collaboration de V. Haas et G. Wilhelm. Traduction fran~aise de Dominique Collon et Henri Cazelles. Paris: Cerf.

ARTICLES

1948

An Unexplained Passage in an Amarna Letter from Byblos. INES 8 124-25.

1949

A Re-interpretation of an Amarna Letter from Byblos (EA 82). JCS 2 239-48 (with W. F. Albright).

1950 The Putative Root ctm in Is 9:18. CBQ 12 153-54. Rib-Adda of Byblos and the Affairs of Tyre. JCS 4 163-68 (with W. F. Albright). The Use of the Canaanite Infinitive Absolute as a Finite Verb in the Amama Letters from Byblos. JCS 4 169-72. 1951

New Evidence on Canaanite taqtulil(na). JCS 5 33-35.

1952 "Does Amama Bear on Karatepe?"-An Answer. JCS 6 76-80. 1953

Amama summa in Main Clauses. JCS 7 78--80. A Note on PS 119:28. CBQ 15 10.

1957

Mari Notes on the Execration Texts. Or. NS 26 339-45.

1958

Ugaritic #~uma and Hebrew ~f~. Biblica 39 69-71. Gen 39,10 and its Use in Ez 21,32. Biblica 39 405-23.

1959

Notes on the New Nabonidus Inscriptions. Or. NS 28 130-40. A New Fragment of DIN.TIR.KI = Babilu and Enilma elis vi 61-66. Analecta Biblica 12 (Studia Biblica et Orientalia ill; Rome) 257-65.

xu

Publications of William L. Moran The Scandal of the "Great Sin" at Ugarit. INES 18 280-81.

1960

Early Canaanite yaqtula. Or. NS 29 1-19.

PAR-sa-a. Or. NS 29 103-4. 1961

The Hebrew Language in its Northwest Semitic Background. Pp. 53-72 in The Bible and the Ancient Near East, Essays in Honor of William Foxwell Albright, ed. G. Ernest Wright. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.

1962

Some Remarks on the SongofMoses.Biblica 43 317-27. Moses und der Bundesschluss am Sinai. Stimmen der Zeit 170 120-33 (= De foederis mosaici traditione. Verbum Domini 40 3-17). "A Kingdom of Priests." Pp. 7-20 in The Bible in Current Catholic Thought, Gruenthaner Memorial Volume, ed. John L. McKenzie. New York.

1963

The Ancient Near Eastern Background for the Love of God in Deuteronomy. CBQ 25 77-87.

A Note on the Treaty Terminology of the Sefire Stelas. JNES 22 173-76. The End of the Unholy War and the Anti-Exodus. Biblica 44 333-42. 1964

Taqtul-Third Masculine Singular? Biblica 45 80-82.

1966

The Literary Connection between Lv 11,13-19 and Dt 14,12-18. CBQ 28 271-77.

1967

The Conclusion of the Decalogue (Ex 20,17 = Dt 5,21). CBQ 29 543-54. The Repose of Rahab's Israelite Guests. Studi sul/'Oriente e la Bibbia (Milano) 273-84.

1969

New Evidence from Mari on the History of Israelite Prophecy. Biblica 51 1556. Some Akkadian Names of the Stomachs of Ruminants. JCS 21178-82. The Death of c Abdi-A~irta. Eretz-Israe/ 9 (Albright Volume) 94-99.

1970

The Creation of Man in Atrahasis I 192-248. BASOR 200 48-56.

1971

Atrahasis. The Babylonian Story of the Flood. Biblica 52 51---61.

1973

The Dual Personal Pronouns in Western Peripheral Akkadian. BASOR 211 50--53.

1974

An Apotropaic Formula in KUB 30 6. JCS 26 55--58.

1975

The Syrian Scribe of the Jerusalem Amarna Letters. Pp. 146---68 in Unity and Diversity, eds. Hans Goedicke and J. J. M. Roberts. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University. Amarna Glosses. RA 69 147-58.

Publications ofWilliamL. Moran

xiii

Notes breves. RA 69 191. 1976

The Kesh Temple Hymn and the Canonical Temple List. Pp. 335--42 in Kramer Anniversary Volume, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 25.

1977

Notes breves. RA 71 190--91.

1978

An Assyriological Gloss to the New Archilochus Fragment. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 82 17-19. Puppies in Proverbs-From Sam~i-Adad I to Archilochus? Eretz-lsrael 14 (Ginsberg Volume) 32-37.

1979

The First Tablet of the Standard Babylonian Recension of the Anzu-Myth. JCS 31 65-115 (with W.W. Hallo).

1980

Rilke and the Gilgamesh Epic. JCS 32 208-10.

1981

duppuru (dubburu)-?uppuru too? JCS 33 44--47.

1983

Notes on the Hymn to Marduk in Ludlul bet nemeqi. JAOS 103 255-60. A Note on i g i-k ar, "provisions, supplies." Acta Sumerologica Japonensia 5 175-77. Notes breves. RA 77 93-94; 189.

1984

Additions to the Amarna Lexicon. Or. NS 53 297-302.

1985

Notes breves. RA 19 90.

1986

Rib-Hadda: Job at Byblos? Pp. 173-81 in Biblical and Related Studies Presented to Samuel /wry, eds. Ann Kort and Scott Morschauser. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns.

1987

Some Considerations of Form and Interpretation in Atra-!:Jasis. Pp. 245-55 in Language, Literature, and History: Philological and Historical Studies Presented to Erica Reiner, ed. Francesca Rochberg-Halton. New Haven: American Oriental Society. Join the cApiru or Become One? Pp. 209-12 in "Working with No Data": Semitic and Egyptian Studies Presented to Thomas O. Lambdin, ed. David M. Golomb. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns.

1988

Nouvelles Assyriologiques Breves et Utilitaires Nos. 21, 36.

To Appear Ovid's blanda voluptas and the Humanization of Enkidu. INES. Notes on Anzu. AJO. Assurbanipal's Message to the Babylonians (ABL 301), with an Excursus on Figurative biltu. Festschrift H. Tadmor. A Bowl of alallu-stone. With George F. Dole.

xiv

Publications of William L. Moran CONlRIBUTIONS TO ENCYCLOPEDIAS, COMMENTARIES, ANTHOLOGIES

1967

Amarna Letters; Apiru; Hittites; Hurrians; Mesopotamian Religion. New Catholic Encyclopedia, eds. William J. McDonald et al. New York: McGrawHill.

1969

Akkadian Letters. Pp. 623-32 in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed., ed. James B. Pritchard. Princeton: Princeton University. Deuteronomy. Pp. 256-76 in A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, rev. ed., general ed. Reginald C. Fuller. London: Nelson.

1972

Phoenicians; Tell el-Amarna Letters. Encyclopedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Keter.

1987

Gilgamesh. The Encyclopedia of Religion, eds. M. Eliade et al. New York: Macmillan.

1988

Amarna Texts (Nos. 102, 103). Pp. 149-51 in Cuneiform Texts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I: Tablets, Cones, and Bricks of the Third and Second MillenniaB.C., ed. Ira Spar. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

REVIEWS

1952

Segundo Miguel Rodriguez, C.S.S.R. Diccionario hebreo-espanol y arameobiblico espanol, segunda edici6n. CBQ 14 202-3. Nabih Amin Faris. The Book of Idols: A Translation from the Arabic of the Kitiib-al-A~nam by Hishiim ibn-al-Kalbi. CBQ 14 298.

1953

Alexander Scharff und Anton Moortgat. Agypten und Vorderasien im Altertum. CBQ 15 118-22. Frank Moore Cross, Jr. and David Noel Freedman. Early Hebrew Orthography: A Study of the Epigraphical Evidence. CBQ 15 364--67.

1954

Hubert Junker. Genesis. CBQ 16 232-34.

R. de Vaux, O.P. Les Livres de Samuel. CBQ 16 236-38. 1956

Sabatino Moscati. Oriente in nuova luce. CBQ 18 84-S5.

1957

G. R. Driver and John C. Miles. The Babylonian Laws, vol. II. CBQ 19 398401.

Albrecht Goetze. The Laws of Eshnunna. Biblica 38 216-21. 1958

E. L. Ehrlich. Geschichte Israels von den Anfiingen bis zur Zerstorung des Tempels (70 n. Chr.). Or. NS 27 221-22.

Publications ofWil/iamL. Moran

xv

Cl. Schedl. Geschichte des A/ten Testaments. Biblica 39 97-100. M. Reise!. The Mysterious Name ofY.H.W.H. Biblica 39 232-33. G. Rinaldi. Secoli sul Mondo. Biblica 39 360. J.-R. Kupper. Les nomades en Mesopotamie. Biblica 39 373-75. 1959

J. Laloup. Bible et classicisme. Biblica 40 124. S. H. Hooke. Myth, Ritual, Kingship. Biblica 40 1026-28. H. H. Rowley, Prophecy and Religion in Ancient China and Israel. Biblica 40 1028-29.

1960

Divo Barsotti. Spiritualite de l' Exode. VerbumDomini 38 314-15. John Bright. A History of Israel. Biblica 41 88-90. R. de Vaux, O.P. Les institutions de l' Ancien Testament. Biblica 41 90-91. W. Zimmerli. Das Alte Testament als Anrede. Biblica 41 198-99. N. K. Gottwald. A Light to the Nations: An Introduction to the Old Testament. Biblica 41 293-95. L. Pirot, A. Robert, H. Cazelles, eds. Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplement. Fasc. xxxi-xxxii. Biblica 41295-97. G. E. Mendenhall. Law and Covenant in Israel and the Ancient Near East. Biblica 297-99. R. Hentschke. Die Stellung der vorexilischen Schriftpropheten zum Kultus. Biblica 41 419-22.

H. Gross. Die /dee des ewigen und allgemeinen Weltfriedens im Alter Orient und im A/ten Testament. Biblica 41423-24. R. Reymond. L' eau, sa vie, et sa signification dans l' Ancien Testament. Biblica 41426.

H. van Vliet. No Single Testimony: A Study on the Adoption of the Law Deut. 19:15 Par. into the New Testament. Biblica 41427-28. 1961

G. Ahlstrom. Psalm 89, eine Liturgie aus dem Ritual des leidenden Konigs. Biblica 42 237-39. L. Pirot, A. Robert, H. Cazelles, eds. Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplement. Fasc. xxxiii. Biblica 42 371-72. E. M¢rstad. Wenn du der Stimme des Herrn, deines Gottes, gehorchen wirst. Biblica 42 372. G. Auzou. De la servitude au service. Biblica 42 477. S. Goldman. From Slavery to Freedom. Biblica 42 478.

xvi

Publications ofWilliamL. Moran J. J. Petuchouski. Ever Since Sinai. Biblica 42 482-83.

1962

K. Baltzer. Das Bundesformular. Biblica 43 100-6. J. de Fraine. Adam et son lignage. Biblica 43 534-35.

1963

A. Weiser. Glaube und Geschichte im Alten Testament und andere ausgewi:ihlte Schriften. Biblica 44 100-1. P. Morant. Die Anfi:inge der Menschheit. Biblica 44 101-2. W. Beyerlin. Herkunft und Geschichte der i:iltesten Sinaitraditionen. Biblica 44102-4.

H. W. Wolff. Dodekapropheton, I: Hosea. Biblica 44 217-19. H. Gross und F. Mussner, eds. Lex Tua Veritas. Festschrift H. Junker. Biblica 44 219-21. M. Weise. Kultzeiten und kultisches Bundesschluss in der "Ordensrege/" vom Toten Meer. Biblica 44 229-30.

John Bright. Altisrael in der neueren Geschichtsschreibung. Biblica 44 250. 0. Blichli. lsrael und die Volker: Eine Studie zum Deuteronomium. Biblica 44 375-77. H. W. F. Saggs. The Greatness That Was Babylon. Biblica 44 557. S. H. Hooke. Babylonian and Assyrian Religion. Biblica 44 558. E. Zehren. The Crescent and the Bull. Biblica 44 569. 1964

E. R. Dalglish. Psalm Fifty-one in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Patternism. Biblica 45 111-13. D. Winton Thomas and W. D. McHardy, eds. Hebrew and Semitic Studies. Festschrift G. R. Driver. Biblica 45 127-29. U. Cassuto. From Adam to Noah. A Commentary on the Book of Genesis. Biblica 45 283-84. H. Lubsczyk. Der Auszug Israels aus Agypten: seine theologische Bedeutung in prophetischer und priestlicher Uberlieferung. Biblica 284-85. E. von Waldow. Die traditionsgeschichtliche Hintergrund der prophetischen Gerichtsreden. Biblica 45 288-90. R. Fey. Amos und Jesaya. Biblica 45 290-91. R. Gradwohl. Die Farben im A/ten Testament. Biblica 45 312.

1965

A. Malamat. Mari Documents Selected and Translated into Hebrew. Biblica 46 109-10. W. Richter. Die Bearbeitungen des "Retterbuches" in der deuteronomischen Epoche. Biblica 46 223-28.

Publications of William L. Moran

xvii

H. W. Wolff. Amos' geistige Heimat. Biblica 46 231-32. M. Noth. Konige. 1. Lieferung. Biblica 46 384-85. S. Mowinckel. Tetrateuch-Pentateuch-Hexateuch: Die Berichte uber die Landnahme in den drei altisraelitischen Geschichtswerken. Biblica 46 48182. 1966

G. Fohrer, Uberlieferung und Geschichte des Exodus: Eine Analyse von Ex 1-15. Biblica 47 131-33. E. Wiirthwein und Otto Kaiser, eds. Tradition und Situation. Studien zur alttestamentlichen Prophetie. Festschrift A. Weiser. Biblica 47 133-35. Z. W. Falk. Hebrew Law in Biblical Times. An Introduction. Biblica 47 155. J. Jeremias. Theophanie: Die Geschichte einer alttestamentlichen Gattung. Biblica 47 597-99.

1967

Sigrid Loersch. Das Deuteronomium und seine Deutungen. Einforschungsgeschichtlichen Uberblick. CBQ 646-47. Manfred Weippert. Die Landnahme der israelitischen Stamme in der neueren wissenschaftlichen Diskussion: Ein kritischer Bericht. CBQ 30 644-45.

1969

James Barr. Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament. CBQ 31 238--43.

1970

Giorgio Buccellati. The Amorites of the Ur llI Period. JAOS 90 529-31.

1972 Walter Mayer. Untersuchungen zur Grammatik des Mittelassyrischen. CBQ 34 516-18. 1976

Morton Cogan. Imperialism and Religion: Assyria, Judah and Israel in the Eighth and Seventh Centuries B.C.E. CBQ 38 222-24.

1977

Angel Marzal. Gleanings from the Wisdom of Mari. CBQ 39 264-65.

1978

Karl Jaros. Agypten und Vorderasien: Eine kleine Chronographie bis zum Auftreten Alexander des Grossen. CBQ 40 242--43. Denise Schmandt-Besserat, ed. The Legacy of Sumer. CBQ 40 651.

1979

Sabatino Moscati, ed. L' alba della civilta, volumes I-III. JBL 98 411-14.

1980

G. Dossin. Archives royales de Mari: Correspondance feminine. JAOS 100 186-89. H. W. F. Saggs. The Encounter with the Divine in Mesopotamia and Israel. CBQ 42 109-10.

1981

J. H. Hospers, ed. General Linguistics and the Teaching of Dead HamitoSemitic Languages. CBQ 43 427-28.

1982

Lennart Hellbing. Alasia Problems. Or. NS 51 143--45.

xviii

Publications of William L. Moran Mark E. Cohen. Sumerian Hymology: The Eriemma. CBQ 44 478-79.

1984 Jean-Georges Heintz. Index documentaire d'el Amarna-ID.E.A. 1: Listel Codage des textes. Indes des ouvrages de reference. AfO 31 90. John Gardner and John Maier with Richard A. Henshaw. Gilgamesh; Robert Silverberg. Gilgamesh the King. New York Times Book Review, November 11, 13-14.

L. Cagni. Briefe aus dem Iraq Museum (TIM II). Altbabylonische Briefe 8; M. Stol. Letters from Yale. Altbabylonische Briefe 9. JAOS 104 573-75. 1985

Jerrold S. Cooper. The Curse of Agade. CBQ 47 114-15.

1987

F. R. Kraus. Briefe aus kleineren westeuropiiischen Sammlungen. Altbabylonische Briefe 10. JAOS 107 134-35.

1988

G. E. Mendenhall. The Syllabic InscriptionsfromByblos. CBQ 50 508-10. M. Stol. Letters from Collections in Philadelphia, Chicago and Berkeley. Altbabylonische Briefe 11. JAOS 108 307-9.

To Appear Brigitte R. M. Groneberg. Syntax, Morphologie und Stil der jungbabylonischen "hymnischen" Literatur. Freiburger Altorientalische Studien 14/1-2. JAOS. Neil Forsyth. The Old Enemy: Satan and the Combat Myth. Comparative Literature Studies.

Tzvi Abusch

AN EARLY FORM OF THE WITCHCRAFT RITUAL MAQLU AND THE ORIGIN OF A BABYLONIAN MAGICAL CEREMONY1

MESOPOTAMIAN MAGICAL TEXTS-along with the remains of the later classical, Talmudic, and European magical traditions-deserve a place among the texts scrutinized by philologists and historians interested in the human experience and its literary expression. Magical texts are indeed interesting. It is true that structural irregularities, thematic incongruities, and logical lapses do crop up in magical texts, but rather than mistaking these disorders as signs of an incoherence that some would allege to be characteristic of magic, we would treat these textual problems as the consequences of and clues to changes that were introduced into the texts in the course of their development. In this regard, magical texts are similar to many other literary texts from the ancient world. Accordingly, a historical frame ofreference is no less valuable than a stylistic one for understanding magical texts and demonstrating that incantations and rituals possess meaningful patterns of thought and contain a range and depth of ideas, images, and experiences comparable to those of the finest products of the cuneiform tradition. Certainly, the series Maqlu-a magical text against witchcraft-is distinguished for its poetic, intellectual, and human richness. Recognizing the importance of this

1A condensed version of the present essay was read before the 1976 meeting of the East Coast Assyriological Colloquium, New Haven, and then, in a slightly revised form, was delivered as a lecture at several universities. In a paper on the nature of Maqlu read before the 181st meeting of the American Oriental Society, Cambridge, 1971, I discussed for the first time my discovery that the Bit rimki list of Maqlu incipits represented not an extract from the canonical Maq/u text, but rather an early version from which the standard series itself developed; that paper also included a preliminary sketch of this early version. The aforementioned findings appear in summary form in the introduction to my "Studies in the History and Interpretation of Some Akkadian Incantations and Prayers Against Witchcraft" (Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 1972), 4-6 (cf. 128-29) = Babylonian Witchcraft Literature: Case Studies, Brown Judaic Studies 132 (Atlanta, 1987), 3-4 (cf. 85). Cf. "Mesopotamian Anti-Witchcraft Literature: Texts and Studies. Part I: The Nature of Maqlu: Its Character, Divisions, and Calendrical Setting," INES 33 (1974), 257, n. 17, and 262. The present study is the second part of a series begun in INES 33 (1974), 251-62. For the third part, see my "The Ritual Tablet and Rubrics of Maq/u: Toward the History of the Series," in Festschrift Tadmor, ed. M. Cogan and I. Eph'al (Jerusalem [in press]). In readying this essay for publication, I have tried to keep notes to a minimum and have, therefore, provided only the minimum of necessary supporting documentation. I wish to thank Kathryn Kravitz for her assistance during the preparation of this essay in its final form.

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text, I have set out in the present essay to reconstruct its early form. Although-or perhaps because-I have followed a historical approach in the present study, I seem to have elicited from this magical text an experience and a world that are at once alien and familiar and, on both counts, meaningful. An abiding characteristic of Professor William L. Moran's work is a concern for the linguistic details, concrete images, and literary forms of a text, a love of beautiful, malleable, and expressive language that encapsulates and evokes basic human experiences. Bill was one of my teachers and has been a dear friend for many years; for this volume in his honor, I offer this study in a spirit of personal affection and respect as well as of admiration and gratitude for the example he has provided, the standards he has set, and the spirit he has infused into the study of Akkadian literature. Contents I. Introduction II. The Maqlu Incantations in Bit rimki and Related Morning Rituals 1. A Short Early Version of Maqlu 2. Textual Problems 3. Significance of the Short Version III. The Short Morning Version of Maqlu: An Explication 1. Introduction 2. Background 3. The Ceremony: The Ritual 4. The Ceremony: The Incantations

IV. Indications of the Primacy of the Short Version 1. Introduction 2. Order, Boundaries, and Ceremonial Setting 3. Textual and Literary Evidence A. Evidence of Textual Revision 1) Preliminary Summary 2) Detailed Argumentation 3) Conclusion B. Inappropriate Elements 4. Ritual Form 5. Distribution of Incantations V. Make-Up and Origin of the Short Version VI. Conclusion

I. INTRODUCTION In an earlier study, 2 I undertook an examination of Maqlu and sought to determine the nature of the work. Maqlu had usually been regarded as a simple collection of incantations and rituals, but using the evidence of several structural and thematic features of Maqlu as well as of outside sources, I was able to demonstrate that Maqlu comprises three clearly defined divisions and that these divisions were performed in

2JNES 33 (1974), 251--02. Except where I note otherwise and cite from my own unpublished edition, Maqlu is referred to and line numbers are given according to Meier's edition: see G. Meier, Die assyrische Beschworungssammlung Maqlu, AJO Beiheft 2 (Berlin, 1937), and idem, "Studien zur Beschwllrungssammlung Maqhi," AJO 21 (1966), 70-81.

An Early Form of the Witchcraft Ritual Maqlfi

3

sequence during a single night and morning at the end of the month Abu. Accordingly, the Maqla series must now be treated not as a collection or textbook in which incantations and rituals against witchcraft were set down in a random or even topical order, but rather as a document in which the extensive legomenon and dromenon of a structured ceremony were prescribed and recorded in the actual order of their performance. Given, then, that Maqta served as the script of a ceremonial performance, we should now be able to analyze the text much as we would analyze a drama; we should, that is, be able to discern the plan and objective of the work by uncovering its inner structure and defining the trains of thought that link ideas and events mentioned in the composition. In truth, the Maqta series, as most lengthy and complex magical and liturgical series, appears to be chaotic and convoluted. But when we again reexamine the text in the light of these earlier observations, we actually begin to feel the thrust of the composition and to grasp the meaning of the work. Working through the text carefully, we find that we are now able to discern patterns in the ritual actions, to divide the sequence of incantations into blocks that have a common theme and are linked to a corresponding segment of the ritual, and to define the various relationships that exist between what is done and what is said. We can even discern a narrative progression, a central image, and a cosmic and divine framework in Maqta. And once we have delineated the outline, plot, and episodes of the ceremonial complex of ritual and incantation, we are able to recreate the dramatic performance of action and recitation that form the densely textured organic complex that is the Maqta ceremony.3 All this would seem to suggest that Maqla embodies a single and definite ceremonial ideal; that is, that those responsible for its composition have, as it were, created a coherent intellectual construct, a construct which is rendered in reduced and schematic form in a well-defined ritual and is given substance and elaboration by means of a series of incantations that fill in the form. But while this conception of the ceremony may serve as a helpful abstraction4 and can even form a basis for the description, analysis, and interpretation of the composition, this conception is not strictly true and does not fully explain the text. For Maqta does not really possess either the coherence of an organic work or even the unity of a system of thought. Actually, its inconsistencies, disorders, and difficulties are all the more apparent now

3See, for the time being, my articles "Maq/u," in RLA, 7/5-6 (1989), 346-51, and "The Demonic Image of the Witch in Standard Babylonian Literature: The Reworking of Popular Conceptions by Learned Exorcists," in Religion, Science, and Magic in Concert and in Conflict, ed. J. Neusner et al. (New York, 1989), 39-50. 4r do not mean to imply that ceremonies are simply the product of conscious intellectual activity, although, of course, intellectual and even scholarly activity may play a role in their formation. Ceremonies evolve from standard ritual forms; human ritual itself is a form of behavior and may even have a biogenetic basis.

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that we have established the rational character and orderly nature of Maqlu and have found form and meaning therein. The text contains a number of apparently incongruous themes and images; these themes and images reflect originally distinct patterns of thought and must be regrouped into discrete sets in order to be understood. Moreover, the elements in the text do not always follow a logical order and the sequence of events does not always take a meaningful course. Not infrequently, proximate passages seem to be mismatched or misplaced and to lack connections with each other. As a consequence, the text contains anomalous constructions, on the one hand, and sundered inner connections, on the other. A rational explanation of the illogicalities, intricacies, and disorders in the text is called for. Such an explanation will be forthcoming only when the text is unraveled and its lost history recovered. For if Maqlu now reflects an overall plan, it was not originally constructed according to that plan; the present form of the text is the result of change. Its irregularities are the marks or scars left by a series of operationsadaptation, repatterning, revision, expansion-that Maqlu underwent, and they reflect far-reaching structural changes made in the text. Thus, its coherence in part reflects the work of redactors who, nevertheless, have not eliminated all discrepancies from the text. Our present text stands at the end of a long and complex theological, literary, and ceremonial development; it underwent a series of changes which altered its identity and character. To demonstrate this evolutionary proposition and to provide a means of assessing the text critically and of comprehending its meaning, it is necessary to uncover the original form of the text. This form may be regarded a priori as having been much shorter than the present text, for long involved ceremonies usually grow out of rituals that were once shorter, simpler, and more straightforward. And the development of our text from a short ritual is clearly indicated by the complexities and illogicalities of the present text The recovery of such a ritual is not easy to accomplish. Manuscript variations and differences in style and locution may allow us to isolate recensional developments but by themselves they do not bring us appreciably closer to the historical nucleus of the text. Besides, prior knowledge of the nucleus is often a prerequisite for the correct grouping and characterization of variants and for a decision regarding the direction of their development. And even repetitions, inconsistencies, and lapses are of uncertain value in reconstructing the stages of composition. This is not to deny the importance of internal irregularities as sources of historical information, but rather to acknowledge that in the first instance their value sometimes lies more in their suggestiveness than in their expressiveness. These marks of historical development and mainstays of internal criticism would be especially apt to betray us were we to rely on them too heavily in reconstructing the original form of a complex ceremony. For· these signs of expansion, adaptation, and revision are also the very features that characterize long ceremonies. Thus, repetition may sometimes simply be a dramatic device

An Early Form of the Witchcraft Ritual Maqlfi

5

used to emphasize an important idea by means of its thematic reiteration and elaboration. Inconsistencies may sometimes be no more than insignificant tangents due to the occurrence of marginal themes in incantations which the ritual architect incorporated or even composed himself. And lapses may sometimes be only apparent, reflecting the simple fact that episodes and connections are assumed by or are implicit in the performance or are simply left unmentioned in the text.

II.

THEMaqlu INCANTATIONS IN Bit Rimki AND RELATED MORNING RI11JALS

1. A Short Early Version of Maqla

Accordingly, it would be quite difficult-though probably not impossible-to recover early forms of Maqla were it not for the existence of an actual record of what I judge to be an early version of Maqla. This version is short; it comprises ten incantations-ten incantations rather than the canonical one hundred. These ten form part of the extensive early morning ritual of the Bit rimki ceremony and of related morning rituals. 5 The incantations are cited by their incipits in the ritual instructions for these ceremonies. These sequences of Maqla incantations are found in the Bit rimki ritual tablets: H. Zimmern, BBR, vol. 2, no. 26, 6 col. V, *71-76 and E. von Weiher, SpBTU, vol. 2, no. 12, col. III, 31-40, and in the related rituals: D. W. Myhrman, PBS, vol. 1/1, no. 13, rev. 41-51 // K.15234 (+) 16344, rev. l'-5' and SpBTU, vol. 2, no. 19, rev. x + 14'ff. The texts which prescribe the recitation of these incantations represent several slightly different forms of the same basic ritual. In the main, an almost identical list of Maqla incantation incipits is preserved in these parallel texts. 7 Our Maqta incantations were to be recited during the morning hours of the aforementioned rituals. When the large Bit rimki ritual was constructed sometime in the first millennium, it incorporated a number of pre-existing rites and ceremonies and combined them into a long complex ceremony. Among these was an early form of the Maqlu ceremony. This early form of Maqla was a morning ritual; this morning ritual,

5For the text of the ritual of the Blt rimki ceremony, see most recently W. Farber, "Rituale und Beschw0rungen in akkadischer Sprache," in Farber et al., Rituale und Beschworungen, I, TUAT 11/2, ed. 0. Kaiser (1987), 245-55; the Maqlu section is translated on p. 253.

6BBR, no. 26 (= K.3227+), BBR, no. 30 (= K.8921), and K.8194 are now directly joined. I thank Rykle Borger for this information. The join has not affected the several lines of BBR, no. 26 studied here. 7There are minor differences among the lists. For a discussion of some of these differences, see below, §11.2. As noted below, there also seem to have been ten incantations in the broken Maqlu section of BBR, no. 26, V *71-76. SpBTU, 2, no. 19 exhibits greater variation than the other lists; note also that eleven Maq/u incantations may possibly have been cited in that text if an incipit is to be restored in the break at the end of rev. 16'.

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rather than the expanded nighttime version, would have been taken up by and incorporated into such other morning rituals as Bit rimki. Of course, an expanded version of Maq/a-perhaps even our standard text-could have already been in existence at the time of the inclusion of its short precursor in Bit rimki. 8 Even after the growth of the developed form of Maq/a, the short early form could have remained in circulation and been taken up and preserved in various morning ceremonies. If this were the case, the two forms of Maq/a would have co-existed as separate ceremonies. PBS, 1/1, no. 13: 41--50 provides a simple and well-preserved list of the Maqla incipits used in the morning ceremonies, and this list is the best representative of the short version. This text reads (collated): EN duru an-nu-tu NU.MES DU-[ia] 'EN dENSADA1 Jur-bu-u i-rlit1 -ti d[Anim] EN fL-Ji [dli-pa-[ru] EN !a dUTIJ-Ji man-n[u A]D-[M] EN M-rru1 -u!J la-a-[ml EN SA.MES tu-kas-si-'ra 1

[E]N e-piJ-u-a e-pile~tu-u-a9

'EN' ez-ze-tu-nu Jam-ra-tu-nu

[EN K]UR-u lik-tum-ku-nu-![11 [EN] i-sa-a i-sa-a

= Maqlu I = Maqlu I = Maqlu I =Maqlu IV = Maqlu V =Maqlu V =Maqlu V =Maqlu V = Maqlu V =Maqlu V

73-121 122-134 135-143 96-104 89-94 95-103 118-138 139-148 156-165 166-184

For the sake of simplicity, I shall use this list as the basis of my discussion. But before doing so, I must dispose of several misunderstandings and textual problems. 2. Textual Problems

A. The Usburruda Cycle

It has been claimed that there are two Maqla or usburruda cycles in the Bit rimki ritual; that is, that the fragmentary BBR, no. 26, V 7'3--76 and PBS, 1/1, no. 13: 41--50 were distinct and separate lists and formed the first and second Maqla cycles, respectively_lO Years ago, when only BBR, no. 26 and PBS, 1/1, no. 13 were available, I was able to prove to my own satisfaction that this assessment was false, but the detailed argumentation I was then required to construct has been rendered superfluous. For now the more fully preserved and newly published Uruk version of the Bit rimki

8Of course, this need not actually have been the case. 91 construe e-piJ-u-a e-PIS-tu-u-a as the plural nouns epiJu'a epiJetu'a and, therefore, read e-PIS-tuu-a as e-pi!e-tu-u-a. In support, note the following telltale writings of the feminine form in this incipit: Maqlu IX 87: K.11603 (I have joined K.11603 to K.2544 +): [e-pi-.f]i-tu-u-a; SIT, 1, no. 83: (e-pi-Ju-u-a) e-pi-Ju-tu-u-a. Maqlu V 118: K.15958 (I have joined K.15958 to K.2530 +): (re1 [pWpi-Ju]-' u'-a) e-pi-Ji-t[u-u-a]. Plural construction agrees with the fact that the addressee in the incantation is addressed in second person plural form. 10see W. Kunstmann, Die babylonische Gebetsbeschwiirung, LSS, NF, 2 (1932), 107-8; Laess0e, Studies, 27, n. 59, and 95.

An Early Form of the Witchcraft Ritual Maqlfi

7

tablet, SpBTU, 2, no. 12, 11 provides a full text of what was thought to be the first cycle, and there is no longer any reason to assume with Kunstmann and Laess¢e that there are two Maqlu cycles or that the second occurred in the broken col. VI of BBR, no. 26. The Uruk text demonstrates that what was thought to be the texts of two cycles (BBR, no. 26, V 73-76 and PBS, 1/1, no. 13: 41-50) are essentially identical. This identity is proved by the fact that (1) at the place where the text equivalent to BBR, no. 26, V 73-76 occurs in SpBTU, 2, no. 12, this Uruk version provides a text similar to PBS, 1/1, no. 13: 41-50, and (2) in both PBS, 1/1, no. 13 and SpBTU, 2, no. 12 (as well as in SpBTU, 2, no. 19), this Maqlu sequence is preceded by the same Sama~ incantation: EN Bel beli Jar sarri dfomaJ.12 Thus, there is only one uJburruda cycle in Bit rimki, and BBR, no. 26, V 73-76 is the part of the Nineveh text that preserves that cycle. Accordingly, the versions of Maqlu incantations in PBS, 1/1, no. 13 and in the Bit rimki ritual tablets are variants of each other.13 In this context, I should also note that neither the exact Maqlu incantation dNusku annutu ~a/mu

11 For a transliteration and translation of SpBTU, 2, no. 12 and SpBTU, 2, no. 19, see E. von Weiher, SpBTU, vol. 2, pp. 61--69 and 95-99. I thank Walter Farber for alerting me in 1983 to the recently published but then still inaccessible SpBTU, vol. 2 and providing photocopies of nos. 12 and 19. 12This Sam~ incantation occurs together with the Maqlu series in all preserved texts. Note that I was able to make the indirect obverse-reverse join K.16344 and K.15234 because the Samas incantation occurred on one fragment (K.16344) and the Maqlu list of incipits on the other (K.15234). For this Samas incantation and its duplicates and parallels, cf. my observations in "Demonic Image," in Religion, Science, and Magic, 35-36. 13 The Uruk text SpBTU, 2, no. 12 not only provides proof that there is only one Maqlu cycle in Bit rimki, but also clarifies the relationship of the dingir. Sa. dib. ba incantations and Surpu incantations and their position relative to the Maq/u cycle. In spite of the fact that a dingir. Sa.di b. ba cycle comes before the Maqlu cycle in PBS, 1/1, nos. 14-13-The sequence PBS, 1/1, no. 14 followed by PBS, /1, no. 13 was suggested by the identification of the catchline of PBS, 1/1, no. 14 with the first line of the incantation PBS, 1/1, no. 13: 1-40 (cf. Kunstmann, Gebetsbeschworung, 107), an identification which is now rendered fairly certain by the occurrence of this opening line intact in SpBTU, 2, no. 12, III 31 // SpBTU 2, no. 19, rev. 11 + 33.-but right after the Maqlu cycle in BBR, no. 26 (V 78ff.), there is also only one dingir. Sa. di b. ba cycle in Bit rimki. In the Uruk text, the di ngir. Sa. dib. ba incantations appear in III 44-44b after the Maqlu cycle (III 3139) and between two groups of Surpu incantations (III 42-43 and 45ff.). If H. Zimmem, "Zu den 'Keilschrifttexten aus Assur religi6sen Inhalts' ," ZA 30 (1915-16), 199, n. 4, was correct in suggesting thatSurpu incantations might have occurred after the di ngir. Sa. di b. ba incantations also in BBR, no. 26, in the break at the beginning of col. VI, then a Surpu set occurs after the Maqlu set in all examples of Bit rimki and related rituals. In any case, the sequence PBS, 1/1, nos. 14-13 simply reflects a variant tradition wherein the dingir. Sa. di b. ba set was not between the two Surpu sets (as in Uruk) nor before or in place of a Surpu set (as in BBR, no. 26), but was placed before the Maqlu set, which set here, as in all texts, was introduced by a Samas incantation against witchcraft and was then followed by a Surpu set. The writing in SpBTU, 2, no, 12, of patt of the dingir.fadib.ba unit (III 44a-44b) on the right margin of the tablet might possibly reflect the fluidity of the dingir.Sa.dib.ba set. But, in any case, the second group of Surpu incantations cited in III 45ff. seems to be an addition to the liturgy. Cf. below, n. 94.

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episiya (I 73-121) nor any of the preceding incantations in Maqla I 1-72 could have occurred in BBR, no. 26 in the gap prior to V 73.14 B. Textual Variations The lists ofincipits to be recited are fundamentally the same in all the texts. PBS, 1/1, no. 13: 40-50 is the best representative. K.15234 (+) 16344 is a duplicate of PBS, 1/1, no. 13. There are, however, several textual problems and variations in the Nineveh tablet BBR, no. 26 and in the texts from Uruk that should be mentioned. I) BBR, no. 26. The Maqlu incantations in BBR, no. 26, V 73-76 have already been partially restored. See H. Zimmem, BBR, 2, 132-33; idem, "Zu den Maqlu-, Surpu- und Su-ila-Beschworungen," ZA 28 (1914), 68-69; and (following Zimmem), J. Laess!lle, Studies in the Assyrian Ritual and Series bft rimki (Copenhagen, 1955), 26-28. Thus, Laess!lle identifiesBBR, no. 26, V 73 with Maqlu V 74 with Maqlu V 75 with Maqlu V 76 with Maqlu

I 135, reading: V 95, reading: V 139, reading: V 156, reading:

l[L-Ji di-pa-ru NU.MES-Ju-nu a-qal-lu]-u; SA.MES t[u-kaNi-ra .... ]; ez-ze-tu-n[u Jam-ra-tu-nu k~-~a-tu-nu]; KUR-u lik-tum-ku-nu-J[1].

I think it possible to provide some new readings and restorations for BBR, no. 26, V

71-76. I construe these lines as follows:15 71: EN [dUTU an-nu-tu NU.MES e-piJ-MU] 72: 73: 74: 75: 76:

EN rd1 [ENSADA Jur-bu-u i-lit-ti da-nim] EN l[L-Ji di-pa-ru EN Ja dUTlJ-Ji man-nu ADJ-'Ju' SA.MES t[u-~-#-ra EN e-piJ-u-a e-piJe-tul-' a}-a EN ez-ze-'tu'-n[u §am-ra-tu-nu EN akbus GA]Ls(?)!LA(?)'-a-a EN KUR-u lik-tum-ku-nu-'§i' E[N 1]-sa-a MIN(=i-sa-a)

1?N

Thus, if my reading is correct, this text follows the Maqlu order and agrees in the main with the PBS, 1/1, no. 13 list: BBR, no. 26, V 71 = 73a =

Maqlu I 73-121 Maqlu I 135-143

72 = 73b =

Maqlu 1122-134 Maqlu IV 96--104

14Contrary to a suggestion by Lae~. Studies, 47, n. 115, and 89, the Nusku form of the incantation Maqlu I 73-121 was not included in the cycle. Of course, the Sam~ form of this Maqlu incantation was recited here. It is cited in PBS, 1/1, no. 13 as well as in SpBTU, 2, no. 12 and SpBTU, 2, no. 19, and the Uruk texts prove conclusively that it was this version and not the Nusku version that was recited. As I note below, the Nusku version was created when the Maqlu ceremony was changed into a nocturnal ceremony. And insofar as this part of the Bit rimki ceremony is a morning ritual, the Sam~ version and not the Nusku version is appropriate and would have been cited in Bit rimki. Furthermore, it is incorrect to postulate the occurrence of incantations from Maqlu l 172 in the aforementioned gap in this part of the Bit rimki ceremony. These incantations have a nighttime setting, and this setting makes them less than suitable for use in the morning section of the Bit rimki ceremony. The Uruk texts prove that these incantations were not recited in the Bit rimki ritual; they were incorporated into the Maqlu ceremony only when Maqlu became a nighttime ritual. 15 1 thank C. B. F. Walker for checking some of my suggested readings for this passage in July, 1975, and providing photographs of the tablet.

An Early Form of the Witchcraft Ritual Maqlil 74a = 75a = 76a =

Maqlu V 95-103 Maq/u V 139-148 Maqlu V 156--165

74b = 75b = 76b =

9

Maq/u V 118-138 Maqlu V 149-151 Maq/u V 166--184

An observation is necessary. It is possible that I have squeezed too much into lines 73-74; but this procedure seems to yield the better reading. My reading does suggest that BBR, no. 26, col. V diverges slightly from the other lists of incipits, for it apparently omitted the incipit EN Saru!J Jani (Maqlu V 89) and added in line 75b the incipit [EN Akbus GA]Ls(?).rLA(?) 1 -a-a (Maqlu V 149). If this reading is correct, then BBR, no. 26 has preserved a text which reflects a slightly later stage of development of the Maqlu text in that the late incantation V 149-151, which picks up on the Nusku theme (see below), would have already been incorporated into the series. Especially since Saru!J Jani, which may reflect a reference to Sama~, seems to have been omitted here, the inclusion of this Nusku-related incantation suggests that BBR, no. 26 may have represented an attempt at harmonizing the Bit rimki short version with an already existing expanded text of Maqlu. 2) Uruk Texts. Turning to the Uruk texts, we note that the main difference between the Uruk texts and the other Bit rimki texts is the placement both in SpBTU, 2, no. 12 and SpBTU, 2, no. 19 of the incipit EN Isa isa (Maqlu V 166): in no. 19, rev. 19, Isa isa (V 166) is placed between the incipits EN Saru!J Jani (V 89) and EN Ser:,ani tuka$#rmug ub-lil-lil-e dir[ig] 44. [amaJ-dnan§e dbendm-sag-[gaJ 45. [ga]-§a-an-e-gal-la mu-lu-ama-ri-[na] 46. [u]-mu-un-ki-SES-du-a dba-ia !ti-?- ... 47. [gig]-gig-ge ga-§a-an-ka-si-[aJ 48. dP34-tin-dug lti-ne-sag-g[a]

BM 96927: A Prime Example ofAncient Scribal Redaction

255

49. d1.1.4-sat)ar-ra dumu-[hi-nu-gi-ga] 50. ga-§a-an-zalag-zalag dsu-zi-[an-na] 51. [um]-me-da-§ags-ga mu-lu-e-[kur-ra] 52. [ga]-§a-an-iri10-gal-la ama-kul-abalkil 53. [den]-a-nun ama-gu-an-[ne-si] 54. [ii-mu-un-dNINDA]xGUD amar-ra ... 55. [d~-nir-da en-§ul-me-a]

obv. ii 56. ddumu-[§ags-ga dnin-kar-nun-na] 57. ga-§a-an-[ug5-ga dJum-ma-ur-sag] 58. ii-mu-un-[eriu-gal il-mu-un-e-gid-da] 59. d-rr-[ra-gal gil-an-ne-si] 60. dlama-[§ag5-ga sila-mi-edin-na] 61. dnin-[imma-ke4 dku-ze-ban-da] 62. il-mu-[un-narn-ma-ke4 mu-S34-a-kur-kur] 63. munus-dar-[a a-ab-ba-§ags-ga] 64. ii-mu-un-[pirig dnin-me dumu-abzu-a] 65. d[a§nan dku-sii kii mu-lu-sa1-sal] 66. il-mu-un-[sa-a-zu dsud dumu-nun] 67. dudug-[erim,-ma ur-sag-imin] 68. ASA-mu-ud-na [mu-tin-ur-sag] 69. e-ta(!) e-[da mu-lu-ki-kii-ga] 70. ii-mu-un-[ma-da §u-duran-na] 71. ii-mu-un-[a-zu il-mu-un-e-gid-da] 72. ga-§a-an-[gir-da ii-mu-un-mu-zi-da] 73. de-ri-da [ur-sag ga-§a-an-e-ma§(?)-da] 74. ama-erim,-ma [ga-§a-an-tin-D9-ba] 75. sukkal-an-[na ga-§a-an-§ubur-ra] 76. dsa1r[du5-an-na ga-§a-an-i-si-in-na] 77. dp[a-bil-sag il-mu-un-la-ra-akki] 78. dgu-[nu-ra gifdimgul(!)-kalam-ma] 79. dda-mu-§ags-[ga ii-mu-un-me-ir(!)-si-a] 80. di§kur-e [ii-mu-un-fd-de(?)-da] 81. dme-dfm-~ [mu-ud-na-di§kur-ra] 82. den-bi-[lu-lu kii-gal-fd-da] 83. il-[mu-un-m-ka-na-ag-ga §i-kur-kur-ra] 84. d[sud dumu-nun lal-e-§a-ba] 85. Mf.SIL~-zi-[da-kii ga-§a-an-tum-ma-al] 86. dku-[zu-mu ga-§a-an-gir-&i4-lu] 87. nu-gig-[an-na ga-§a-an-e-bub-ka] 88. kur-gul-[gul ga-§a-an-e-an-na] 89. dnu-[bar-ra ii-mu-un gu-edin-na] 90. d[en-ki-im-du ii-mu-un-e-pa5-ra] 91. d[mar-tu-e mu-lu-bur-sag-ga] 92. d[sumugan-e mu-lu-ki-kil-ga] 93. d[nu-mu§-da ii-mu-un-in-na-?] 94. d[sataran i-bf-§uba-a]

The remainder of the column, about twenty lines, is destroyed; no doubt, some of these duplicated some of lines 38-51 of CT 42 3 col. vi.

256

SAMUEL NOAH KRAMER

rev. i 1. t4-an-[na gu-d6] 2. di§Jcur [t4-an-na gu-d6] 3. dumu-an-n[a gu-