Omen 32.N.7
Nicole Lundeen, 2021, "Šumma ālu, Omen 32.N.7", Nicla De Zorzi et al., Bestiarium Mesopotamicum, 2018-2021; accessed 10/08/2026 12:08 a.m. at tieromina.acdh-dev.oeaw.ac.at/omens/Omen-32-N-7/tei
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| Var. (K 03730+) |
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| Var. (K 06912+) |
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PHILOLOGICAL COMMENTARY
- Unfortunately the omen’s protasis is only partially preserved on either manuscript. Given that the verb rakābu ‘to mount; to lie on top of’ can be used in omens to say that one body part is located above another, we suggest two possible interpretations:
- In K 06912+ 14, the traces of the sign following KUN-sà šá fit with the sign NI. A possible reconstruction would then be to read KUN-sà šá-n[i-tu4]. In this context KUN-sà šanītu could be interpreted either as the ‘second tail’ or as the ‘abnormal tail’. If connected with the verb irkab in K 06912+ 15, the verb’s object (the body part upon which the second/abnormal tail lies) is lost within the break.
- In K 06912+ 14, the traces of the sign following KUN-sà šá fit with the sign NI. A possible reconstruction would then be to read KUN-sà šá-n[i-tu4]. In this context KUN-sà šanītu could be interpreted either as the ‘second tail’ or as the ‘abnormal tail’. If connected with the verb irkab in K 06912+ 15, the verb’s object (the body part upon which the second/abnormal tail lies) is lost within the break.
Parallels in other omens, especially extispicy omens, suggest the adjective kajānu ‘normal’ (CAD K, 40–41 s.v. kajānu a) as a possible counterpart to šanītu. The sign -šú at the beginning of K 06912+ 15 is, however, problematic. It would suggest a masculine possessive pronoun for the object of irkab and, while lizards can be either gender in Akkadian, the feminine is used for KUN-sà ‘its tail’, and the adjective šanītu is also feminine.
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- Following the assumption that irkab describes the position of the lizard’s tails, another conceivable reconstruction would be the adjectives ZAG ‘right’ or GÙB ‘left’ as descriptors of the tail. Such a reconstruction, however, does not reflect the traces at the end of K 06912+ 14. There are even fewer remnants of the sign at the beginning of K 06912+ 15—just a partial vertical wedge. While the traces do not exclude the reading GÙB, it remains highly speculative and seems less likely than the suggestion of šanītu and kajānu above.
The traces at the end of K 906912+ 14 and the beginning of K 06912+ 15 were left unread by If a City 2 (190, *32.6’, Ex(3)).
- The final sign on K 06912+ 15 is fragmentary. The remnants, however, allow for the reading in. We follow If a City 2 (166, *32.6’) in reconstructing the verb innassaḫ ‘he will be removed’ in the apodosis as it fits as well with the last sign in line K 03730+ 6.
- In its reconstructed transliteration of the above omen, If a City 2 (166, *32.6’) interprets BI (from K 03730+ 5) as part of the omen’s protasis. From the sign’s position, it seems clear however that it is at the beginning of the apodosis.
- See 32.N.3 for a discussion on the placement of K 03730+ 5-6 with the above omen instead of with K 06912+ 7-8 (32.N.3) as suggested in the CAD.
