Omen 38.20'
Frank Simons, 2021, "Šumma ālu, Omen 38.20", Nicla De Zorzi et al., Bestiarium Mesopotamicum, 2018-2021; accessed 10/08/2026 1:30 a.m. at tieromina.acdh-dev.oeaw.ac.at/omens/Omen-38-20-/tei
↓ 38.20' 
K 03726+iii   4  3  […U]GUNAi-li[(indent)INIMDÙ]G.GATE-šu
K 03726+If a City2, p. 283, *38.19', Ex(1)[…].GATE-šu₂
BM 30427   4  DIŠUR.MEGE₆anaUGUNAi-li[…]
K 06315+   7'  [DIŠUR.ME]GE₆ana⸢UGU⸣NAi-liINIMDÙ[G?.GA…]
K 06315+If a City2, p. 283, *38.18', Ex(2)[…]GI₆anaUGUNAi-liINIMd[i-…]
Copy Text
  • DIŠUR.MEGE₆anaUGUNAi-liINIMDÙG.GATE-šu
  • šummasāmānuṣalmuanamuḫḫiamēliīliamātṭābti?iṭeḫḫēšu
  • If a black blister beetle climbs onto a man- a friendly? word will approach him.
PHILOLOGICAL COMMENTARY

In If a City 2, 283, K 06315+ 7' is mistakenly associated with K 03726+ iii 1-2: see the comment to 38.19'. If a City 2's reconstruction is mainly based on the idea that the broken sign following INIM in K 06315+ 7' is DI, to be interpreted as the beginning of the word di-nim, which appears on the preserved part of K 03726+ iii 2, thus resulting in the apodosis INIM di-nim im-ma-an-[gar] 'a matter of a lawsuit will be acce[pted]' (If a City 2, 274-275, *38.18'). Upon collation, If a City 2's reading DI could not be confirmed. In addition, If a City 2's reading of K 03726+ iii 2 does not take account of a single horizontal wedge preceding di-nim, which we read here as [in]a: see the comment to 38.19'. Our reading of the broken sign following INIM in K 06315+ 7' as DÙ[G] is not entirely certain, but it fits the visible traces. Also, the broken sign preceding GA on K 03726+ iii 4 is probably DÙG.

In the previous edition, BM 30427 4 was mistakenly placed together with K 03726+ ii 49 and K 06315+ 6' (If a City 2, 283, *38.17'), mainly because of the incorrect reading of the protasis verb in K 03726+ ii 49: see the comment to our omen 38.17'. For K 06315+ 6', see now 38.19'.

For a possible explanation of the positive meaning of this omen, see the commentary to 38.15.