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This fragment contains portions of bird oracles. The name of an augur is partially preserved in rev. 8′, but the signs are not clearly legible in the photographs. This line was partially rewritten, altering the oracle response from “they (i.e., the birds) excluded (it)” to its opposite result, “it was confirmed”. The handcopy indicates additional traces of erasure or damage within the augur’s name – not clearly visible in the photographs.
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The text includes the term ipatarma-, attested in only a few other documents (KUB 22.17 obv. I? 3′, combined KIN and bird oracles; KUB 36.89 rev. 12, offerings for the Storm God of Nerik). This word is possibly connected to the technical term iparwašši-, an adjective that, in bird oracles, refers to the position or direction of a bird in flight, and is understood to mean ‘(being) in the west; in a western direction’ (see HW², I 68 for various proposals; for further discussion, see also Puhvel J. 1984a, 374–377).
In this text, two different forms of the term appear: ipatarma and ipatarmayan, presumably with the same meaning. The reason for the different forms in these two contexts is unclear, and their morphological analysis is also difficult. The first seems to be a stem form, while the second may include the adjectival suffix -aya-, but both forms appear to function adverbially (HW², I 69).
Notably, both are preceded by Glossenkeile, which may indicate their status as foreign words (perhaps Luwian?) or simply as rare technical terms. The Glossenkeil also appears in KUB 36.89 rev. 12, where the term does not refer to birds’ flights but instead describes the direction of a river’s course within a historiola of mythological content: ÍDMaraššantaš=wa annallaza 𒑱i-pa-at-tar-ma-ya-an aršaš D10-aš=ma=war=an waḫnut nu=war=an DUTU-i DINGIR-LIM-an aršanut URUNe[rikki=war=an] maninkuwan aršanut “In the past, the river Maraššanta flowed westward(?), but the Storm god turned it and made it flow towards the ‘Sun of the gods’ (i.e. eastward?), (and) made it flow close to Nerik”.
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