Al-Rawi, F. N. H. - Texts From Tell Haddad and Elsewhere. Iraq 56, 1994 35-43
Al-Rawi, F. N. H. - Texts From Tell Haddad and Elsewhere. Iraq 56, 1994 35-43
Al-Rawi, F. N. H. - Texts From Tell Haddad and Elsewhere. Iraq 56, 1994 35-43
Author(s): F. N. H. Al-Rawi
Source: Iraq, Vol. 56 (1994), pp. 35-43
Published by: British Institute for the Study of Iraq
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4200383
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35
By F. N. H. AL-RAWI
This article presents a number of short, but important, inscriptions found on objects excavated at
Tell Haddad and elsewhere.1 Texts nos. 1-6 are from Tell Haddad or the neighbouring site of Tell
al-Sib, no. 7 is from Sippar and nos. 8-10 are of unknown provenance.
2. Stone axe-head of Nergal. IM 95520; Haddad 581; ticket no. 3649 (Fig. 3)
This broken axe-head, excavated in the Neo-Assyrian temple at Tell Haddad, Area 3, Level 1,
measures 9 ? 6*4 ? 5 ? 1 ?7 cm. A photograph and description of the piece have appeared in La terra
tra i due fiumi: venti anni di archeologia italiana in Medio Oriente (Torino, 1985), p. 320, top right,
and p. 415, no. 211.2 According to the catalogue entry for this piece the axe-head is made of "bluish
marble" (marmo bluastro). The text itself, if correctly restored, identifies the stone as uqn?, a term
which is commonly translated "lapis lazuli" but may have been applied to a range of blue stones.
The axe blade is trapezoidal in shape and triangular in section, with rounded corners. The side
opposite the edge of the blade is broken at a pattern of three grooves, near the point where the shaft
of the handle would have been fitted. The two flat faces and the two edges of the blade are polished
smooth and bear an inscription of nine lines of cuneiform: eight on the upper surface and one on the
trailing edge. The inscription, which is in Neo-Assyrian monumental script, is not complete, for the
beginnings of the lines are lacking; evidently the inscription began before the grooved pattern, on
the mounting of the shaft, which is now broken away. As restored the text confirms the evidence of
Assurbanipal's bricks, that the building excavated is E-sa-hulla, the temple of Nergal at M?-Turna.3
In the following transliteration signs marked with an asterisk are read from the photograph or from
a paper squeeze made by the writer:
IraqLVI(1994)
36 F. ?. H. AL-RAWI
^Pfl5${$f\
i?
ffCtff^
^H
s
tMmm^
& &>- mm
y$?l&*
t$
fr
>?^ ? "Uff
JE?
1 2
[For Nergal,] foremost of the gods, fearless in battle and warfare, [. .. ] most powerful of the
gods, who spares not the wicked,3 [who dwells in E-sa]-hul, which is in M?-Turna, the great lord, his
4 5
master, [pn, governor] of Nairi, eunuch of Sargon, made [(this axe-head) out of a block of lapis]
6
lazuli quarried from its mountain source, by the skill of [Ninzadim and Ninkur]ra, and set it up for
8
his life's good health,7 [the lengthening of his days,] his heart's ease, the capture of his enemies, [the
9
absence] of unsparing disease, [and the] gladdening of his heart.
The restoration of 1. 5 follows a prism of Esarhaddon, where this phrase refers to blocks of the
stone in its raw state, among tribute brought to Nineveh by the Medes (tak-k?s na4w^wi(za.gin) hi-ip
sad-di-su: R. Borger, Esarh., p. 54 f., iv 38). In 1. 6 the restoration of Ninzadim and Ninkurra, the
divine lapidary and his wife, relies on their status as patrons of craftsmen who worked with stone.
Their expertise in lapis-lazuli is attested explicitly in the stone tablet of Nabu-apla-iddina, which
reports that a new cult-statue of Samas at Sippar was fashioned of (implicitly wood decorated with)
"red gold and pure lapis-lazuli, through the crafts of Ninildu [the divine carpenter], Kusigbanda (or
Guskinbanda) [goldsmith], Ninkurra and Ninzadim [lapidaries]" (ina si-pir dnin-ildu ^k?-sig^-b?n-
da dnin-kur-ra dnin-zadim ina ?turasi ru-us-si-i na4w^/ii1[za.g?n) eb-bi: BBSt 36 = V R 61, iv 15-19; cf.
Borger, Esarh., p. 89, 24; R. C. Thompson, AAA 20 (1933), p. 82, 33-6).
1 [Sarru-k?n saknu Ellil nu.?s na'id Assur nisJt ml] da-nim u dda-gan
2 [sarru rab? sarru dannu sar kissat sar m?t Assur sar kibr?t arba'i migir] z7i(dingir)mes
rab?ti(g&\)me*
3 [r?u k?nu sa Assur Marduk sarr?t l? san?n usatlim?s?ma z]i-kir sumi(m?)-s? ?-se-su-? a-na
re-se-e-ti
4 [s?kin subarr? Sippar Nippur B?bili h?tin ens?tlsunu mu-sal]-li-mu hi-bil-ti-su-un
5 [k?sir kidinn?tu Baltil batiltu musassik tupsikki Der m]u-sap-si-hu nisl(xm)me*-su-un
6 [le"i kal malkl sa eli Harr?n andullasu it-ru-s?]-ma ki-i sa-ab da-nim rt?
7 [Dag?n isturu zak?ssu zikaru dannu halip namurrati sa] a-na sum-qu-ti m?f(kur) na-ki-ri
8 [sutb? kakklsu sarru sa ultu um b?l?f?su malku gabar?su] la ib-su-? i-na qat?-la
9 [t?h?zi l? Imuru munihhu m?t?ti kal?sina klma hasbatti ?-daq-q]?-qu-ma ha-am-ma- ? sa ar-ba- 7
10 [iddu serretu hurs?rii ber?ti sa n?rebsunu ?s]-tu la mi-na ip-tu-ma i-mu-ru
11 [durugsun t?d?t l? a'?ripasq?ti sa] a-sar-si-na sug-lu-t? i-ta-at-ti-qu-ma
12 [itebbiru nagab ber?ti istu m?t R?si mi-s?]r m?t e-lam-ti lupu-qu-du ]uda-mu-nu
13 [D?r-Kurigalzi Rapiqu madbar kal?su] a-di na-hal m?t mu-us-ri m?t a-mur-ri-i rapasti(daga?)n
14 [m?t Hatti ana sihir?sa ib?lu istu m?t Hasmar adi UT]Usi-mas pat-ti m?t ma-da-a-a ru-qu-?-ti
15 [sit Samsi m?t Namri m?t Ellibi m?t Bit Hamban m?t pa]r-su-mas m?t ma-an-na-a-a m?t
?-ra-?s-tu
38 F. ?. H. AL-RAWI
16 [m?t Harr?n m?t Taballum adi m?t Musici iksudu rabltu qa-as]-su
17 [s?t-reslsu sakn?ti ellsunu istakkan?ma biltu ma-da-a]t-ti
18 [Jmissun?ti etlu qardu sa ina reblt Der itti mhum-ba-ni-g]a-?s
19 [sar m?t Elamti innamr?ma iskunu taht?su . . . mu]-ri-ib kuTblt(?)-hu-um-ri
20 [rapsi sa ina ?l Rapihi dabd? m?t Musri iskun?ma H?n?nu sar ?l Hazati ka-mu-us-s]u ?-se-ri-
b[u ?l Assur]
'
-
'?
-%;?
1 ka-ar-su-um su-me-lam
2 ta-ri-ik li-bu-um su-me-lam ta-ri-ik
3 ti-ra-nu 14 ka-as-ka-su
4 i-mi-tam ha-mi-is* i-na su-me-el ha-x
5 li-tum ia-tum i-[n]a* qa-ti* air ? if-tint
6 ?>anm(m?s.su.g?d!.g?d!) m?r(tur) G?x1 sa G??il'
7 da-du-sa i-na ni-x[ ? x dlb]a-ti-rrf-t[iml ( . . ?)]
8 w n?-pi-is-tim si-ru-u[m x x] wm? x[. . . ]
9 warah(it?) da-du-sa a-na kussfm(g\x.za) x[. . .
10 ? si-mu-ru-um ba-ti-[irkl . . .]
11 [x (x) ]x rte1-re-tum [sa-al-ma (or: i-sa-ra)]
12 [(perhaps nothing missing)]
I.e. i-na s?r-ru-ut da-du-sa / si-ru-um an-nu-um
1 2
The belly was dark on the left. The heart was dark on the left.3 There were fourteen loops of
4
the gut. "(If) the breastbone is bent over on the right, from the left...:5 victory is mine." By the
7
hands of...,6 the divination priest, son of... Dad?sa in [... (the goddess?)] Batir?tum [... ]8 and
the extispicy. The state of the organs [...]...[...]
9
The day of the new moon that Dad?sa [ascended] the throne [(...)]10 and Simurrum, Batir [...]
11
[...] The omens [were favourable.]le* At the (assumption of) kingship by Dad?sa, this was the
state of the organs.
As has been pointed out by Ivan Starr, for an organ in extispicy to be dark on the left side is a
favourable omen (The Rituals of the Diviner = BiMes 12, pp. 18ff.). The place Batir and its goddess
are known from the brick inscription of Ayy?bum, the headman of ba-ti-irM (Frayne, RIME 4, p.
702, 4), which records the construction of the temple of Batir?tum (1. 6: bit dba-ti-ri-tum). The brick
was discovered at Tell al-Suleimah near the Diyala, not far from M?-Turan, and this mound
probably represents the remains of Batir. The Mount Batir where Anubanini of Lullubum and,
probably, Iddin-S?n of Simurrum carved their rock-reliefs is, however, some distance away, at Sar-i-
pul-i-Zohab in western Iran (i-na sa-du-im ba-ti-ir: ibid., pp. 705, i 6-7; 713, 21-2). Whether this is
more than coincidence is for the moment unclear. Simurrum is older Simurrum, near the Jebel
Hamrin, like M?-Turnat. The name of Dad?sa's accession year is sanat(mu) da-du-sa a-na blt(?) a-
bi-su i-ru-bu, "the year Dad?sa inherited his patrimony" (see S. D. Simmons, JCS 13 (1959), p. 80).
40 F. ?. H. AL-RAWI
?a
o
?
00
db
E
TELL HADDAD 41
J?PW5
fefeL
fill >fH*l
1' e-x[ . . .
l! dgu-l[a a-zu-gal-la-tu b?ltu rabltui]
3' si-im-ma ma[r-sa ak-sa la-az-za sal]
4' la i-nu-uh-hu [i-na zumri-su li-sab-sii]
5' bal-tu-us-s? /[/-......]
6' liq-tu-? si-ru-^su1 [.]
? ab?let(mn)-ekalli(?.gal) i-na blt(?) ?ar[n(lugal) b?li(en)-sui]
8' da-me-eq-ta-s[w a-a iq-bil]
9' wra(lugal) a-na gal-le-e [li-ter-sui]
10' ru-?-a-i ? it-ba-r[i a-a ?-sar-si-sui]
11' //w(dingir)mes rabutu(gai)mes ma-l [a ina (muhhi) nar? a???]
12; sum-su-nu u[d-du-u? . . .]
13' sum-su l[i-hal-li-qu . . . ilu sarrui]
14' rub?(nxm) u sa-k[a-nak-ku a-na ser-ri-sui]
15' rlf -[tu-ru-us . . .
2 3
May Gula, [the great lady physician, cause to break out on his body] a painful carbuncle,
4 5 6
[grievous and festering, from which] he will gain no relief; may he [be ... ] alive, and his flesh
7 8
perish [... May] Belet-ekalli [not speak in his] favour in the house of the king, [his lord; may she
10 n
turn]9/ the king into a demon [for him, and deprive him of] friends and allies. May the great
12 13
gods, as many as their names are made [known on this monument, . . . destroy] his name,
14
[and . . . ] May [god, king,] prince and governor [turn into his enemy . . .
1' . . . ]x
2' . . . ]x
3' ... ]-nu
4' ... ]-tum
5' ...] i7?(dingir)me? rrai>u/i(gal.gal)'ime?
6' . . . ]x na-kar
7' . . . ] sa-ru-ru-su
8' ... ]-lid i-lit-ti
9' ... ]-li-su
10' ... na]-pis-tus
11' ...]x-e
12' ... ]-ta
13' ... ]-ki-su
Fig. 13. No. 9: Stone monument fragment. 14' ... ]x-fi
i.e.
J*~T
li