Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

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READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
10. si-im-ti-iš-ša i-ḫa-an-ni-i-ma ṣi-ḫa-tum
11. šar-ḫa-at i-ri-mu ra-mu-ú re-šu-uš-ša
12. ba-ni-à-a ši-im-ta-à-ša bi-it-ra-a-ma i-na-ša ši-it-a-ra
would revive one’s strength). In light of lines 6 and 8, “lips” and “mouth” in this line are
likely to be understood as double entendres.
šaptīn duššupat balāṭum pīša
Line 10: Simtum has a wide semantic range, including “person or thing that is fitting,
suitable, seemly, appropriate, necessary,” “person or thing that befits, does honor to, is the
pride of,” “appurtenances, ornament, characteristic, insigne, proper appearance or behavior
or ways, figural representation,” and “face, features” (see CAD S, 278). The latter
meaning is most appropriate here (see CAD S, 283). The form simtišša includes the terminative-adverbial
ending –iš before the 3fs pronominal suffix, –ša (note also that the resulting
–šš– does not change to –ss–). The adverbial ending in this construction has a locative
meaning (“in” or “on”). Ṣīḫtum, “smile” (pl. ṣīḫātum). Ḫanāmum, “to thrive, to be luxuriant,
to flourish” (see CDA, 105; AHw, 320). The older CAD Ḫ volume suggests “to bloom” (76),
but this meaning cannot account for the verb’s use with sheep, noted in CDA and AHw.
simtišša iḫannimā ṣīḫātum
Line 11: Šarḫum, “proud, magnificent, splendid” (used as a 3fs predicative). On the
basis of the context, it is likely that the adjective describes Ishtar’s appearance rather than
her internal attitude. I-ri-mu is difficult. The text may be read as irimmu (so CAD I/J, 177
and CDA, 131) and translated “beaded necklace” or the like. Joan and Aage Westenholz
(“Help for Rejected Suitors: The Old Akkadian Love Incantation MAD V 8,” Or n.s. 46
[1977], 198–219, specifically, 205–7) argue that the word “īrimum (or irīmum ?) denotes a
quality, apparently mostly of females, which makes its possessor irresistibly attractive to
the opposite sex” (206). They suggest the word has an abstract meaning in its plural form:
“loveliness, love.” (The singular, they suggest, may be used to designate a personification
of the attribute in the form of a mythological being like the Greek Eros or Roman Cupid
[see 205 and 207]. For further support for the Babylonian Cupid from a new OB love
poem, see A. R. George, Babylonian Literary Texts in the Schøyen Collection [Cornell University
Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology 10; Bethesda: CDL Press, 2009], 53.) Following
the Westenholzes, Foster translates the word as “love-charms,” but he also recognizes the
possibility that these may take the form of “a necklace or headband” (85, n.1). Ramûm, “to
set in place, to be endowed with.” The form is a 3mp predicative. Rēšum, “head.” The locative-adverbial
ending –um and a 3fs pronominal suffix are attached to the noun, describing
where the beads have been placed. The m of the locative-adverbial ending assimilates to
the š of the pronominal suffix (–mš– becomes –šš–). Notice the consonance in the final
three words of the line.
šarḫat īrimū ramû rēšušša
Line 12: Banûm, “good, beautiful.” Šimtum can mean “mark, token” but also, as here,
“color.” Bitrāmum, “multi-colored.” Īnū, “eyes.” Šitʾārum, “variegated, iridescent.” All of the
adjectives in this line are 3fp predicatives.
baniā šimtāša bitrāmā īnāša šitʾārā