PHILOLOGICAL COMMENTARY

The beginning of the broken sign following SILA.DAGAL.LA is composed of two parallel slanted wedges.

This omen corresponds to the fourth omen of the nappillu section in If a City 2 (*38.41'). In the previous edition, K 06315+ (Ex(2) in If a City 2) 13'-15' are interpreted as the first three omens of the nappillu section (*38.38'-40'), paralleled by BM 30427 10-11 for omen *38.39'. This is partly due to the interpretation of Sm 0472+ (Ex(4) in If a City 2) as an excerpt text rather than as a standard text preserving the entire sequence. Collation has shown that K 06315+ 13'-15' and BM 30427 10-11 belong to the end of the napillu section instead: see the commentaries to 38.48'-49'. Since Landsberger's (1934, 128) early work on animal names, the nappillu insect has generally been understood to be a type of caterpillar. This is based solely on a lexical equation in Ura = ḫubullu 14 (DCCLT Q000089):