PHILOLOGICAL COMMENTARY

Our Sm 0472+ 23' corresponds with If a City 2, 285, *38.54', Ex(4)22': the indented line after Sm 0472+ 21' is not counted in the previous edition.

As with the lallaru and nappillu insects, it is not yet possible to distinguish between the ancient terminology for orthoptera (see commentaries to 38.31' and 38.37') and offer a more specific identification for ṣāṣiru. The word is attested lexically, in the present omens, and in a single omen from Šumma ālu 85 (l. b+ 58. See preliminary edition by Boddy at https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:151807). That ṣāṣiru is a kind of orthopteran is clear from the lexical equations (see CAD Ṣ, 115a s.v. ṣarṣaru A). As with lallaru, a notable trait of this insect seems to be that it is noisy (see 38.51'-38.53', and CAD Ṣ, 115a s.v. ṣarṣaru A, discussion section), and it is worth considering whether the name ṣāṣiru could be onomatopoeic (cognates are found in several Semitic languages, see Militarev and Kogan 2005, Semitic Etymological Dictionary 2, no. 213). The only other known characteristics of the insect are that it can 'become numerous' (see 38.56'-38.60'), and that it can be white (38.56'), black (see 38.57'), or red (38.58'). Unfortunately, these are all common traits of orthopterans, and so are of no assistance in identifying the ṣāṣiru more closely.  Note that orthoptera, though not generally white, are white immediately after moulting.