|
With 35 tablets and fragments, omens concerning lunar eclipses (CTH 532) constitute the single largest group of omen manuscripts from Ḫattuša, not counting liver models. Laroche’s catalog and its online successor distinguish between lunar eclipse omens (CTH 532) and omens concerning other lunar phenomena (CTH 533). This distinction is largely upheld by the texts, although some tablets contain eclipse omens as well as other observations, such as the moon's color (e. g., KUB 8.9+/CTH 532.8). This distinction follows the later sorting of tablets in the first chapter of Enūma Anu Enlil: Tablets 1–14 of the chapter ‘Sîn’ deal with a variety of lunar phenomena, while tablets 15–22 deal with lunar eclipses. Apart from three Akkadian texts (KBo 13.27+ (CTH 532.6); KBo 8.6 (CTH 532.7); KUB 4.64+ (CTH 532.12)), the remaining fragments are all in Hittite.
The fragments represent at most thirteen texts. KBo 34.119 (CTH 532.4) is possibly another manuscript of KBo 8.128 and its duplicates (CTH 532.5). The Akkadian fragment KBo 8.6 (CTH 532.7) could be an Akkadian original of that textual tradition, but might also belong to the same text as KUB 4.64+ (CTH 532.12). Eighteen manuscripts belong to CTH 532.3, one of which, Bo 6688, remains unpublished and is to be treated by N. Aslantürk.
The manuscripts that are preserved well enough show three types of lunar eclipse omens. The first deals with lunar eclipses during the different stages of the night (CTH 532.1; CTH 532.8C; CTH 532.12; CTH 532.14). The second type observes lunar eclipses on specific days of the month throughout the year (CTH 532.3; CTH 532.8; CTH 532.13), known from Old Babylonian texts and from later second-millennium tablets from Mesopotamia, Elam, and Syria (e. g., AlT 451–452; CUSAS 18.13–14; Emar 6.652; MDP 18.258). These later became tablet 22 of the series Enūma Anu Enlil. The third type concerns eclipses in a given month (CTH 532.4; CTH 532.5; CTH 532.6). This type is found already at Mari (ARM 26.248) and later in the series iqqur īpuš.
The tablets KBo 8.47, KUB 34.7, and KUB 57.73 also contain ritual texts. They are unfortunately so fragmentary that their exact nature and relation to the omen passages cannot be determined. KUB 8.27 (CTH 532.14) is an oracle summary with lunar eclipse omens written on the margin.
|