A Primer on Ugaritic: Language, Culture, and Literature - enenuru

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Ugaritic <strong>Primer</strong>
subjunctive, vowel /u/. Hebrew usually employs a relative in such
cases, e.g., yI;trA;bî;d rRvSa rDb;dAh “the word that I spoke” (Gen. 41:28).
The basic configuration of the N form of the verb is shown in
Figure 3.8:
Suffix-Conjugation Prefix-Conjugations Participle Infinitive
G qatala, -ula, ila
yaqtul-,
yiqtal-
yaqtil-,
qaœtil- qataœl-
N naqtala yiqqatil- *muqtatil- naqtaœl
Figure 3.8 Comparison of G and N Verbal Forms
Interpretations that connect this term with the defeat of the letter
sender seem to miss the intent of the letter. The context of this
letter is as follows: }Iwridarri has heard of negative events, military
losses, the activities of brigands, or some other kind of attack,
which have befallen two of his neighbors. He writes to Pilsiya for
help in order to avert a similar fate, not to report his own demise.
}Iwridarri’s later reference to the deathly grip of the gods (lines
11–12) describes the severity of his state; it does not indicate that
he has already lost. If }Iwridarri has already lost the battle, why
write this anxious letter to Pilsiya? And, come to think of it, if
}Iwridarri has already been gripped by Death, how could he write
this letter? We refer, again, to the contemporary Amarna messages
and references to a destroyed or empty house, obviously written by
someone who still lives in the house (see EA 102:11–12;
316:16–25).
2.10:8b–11a ht hm.}inmm nh˙t}u.w. l}ak {my.
/hitta him(ma) }eœnumimma nih˙h˙ati}uœ wa la}ak {immiya./
Now, if there is nothing, we are defeated, so send to me.
Line 8b
The term ht (/hitta < *hinta/)—a temporal adverb—focuses on the