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This text, written on an oval-shaped tablet in landscape orientation, is broken into two parts but is almost entirely preserved, except for smaller gaps (see the handcopy in KBo 18.146). Despite the text being nearly complete, its content is of difficult interpretation. For Martino S. de 2005d, 307 the text is not a letter, but an oracle inquiry, and already Güterbock in KBo 18 (vi) listed it among the “Orakelberichte auf Kleintafeln” published in the volume (Güterbock H.G. 1971a).
In this text, the oracular inquiry seems dedicated to the correct performance of certain rites, described in some detail. The king performed some ritual actions in the vicinities of one or more temples, including the recitation of a prayer, and a sequence of his movements is also recorded. The role of Katapaili in these rites is unclear, but being mentioned both at the beginning and at the end of the text, potentially he was also involved. Note that in the other documents where he is mentioned, Katapaili “seems attested as a special envoy of the Hittite king entrusted with the task of overseeing the implementation of certain measures taken by the latter, mostly as a result of oracle inquiries or related vows” (Hout Th.P.J. van den 1998c, 68; see also Historical context). This might well be the case also for the present text.
The oracle (or the oracles), not recorded in the tablet, should confirm that the performance of these rites is appropriate. Based on the use of past tenses, the ritual actions described appear to have already been performed; however, some sections are written in the present or future tense, making the internal logic of the text and the associated inquiry unclear. The final line of the text (rev. 21) seems to contain a positive evaluation of the rites, as determined through bird oracles.
The reading of the epithet of the Storm god in obv. 5 as ‘Storm god of Manuzi(ya)’ remains tentative (proposed in Hout Th.P.J. van den 1998c, 70). In support of this reading is the role of Katapaili in the votive text KUB 57.113, where he is entrusted with reparation gifts (ll. 5-6) most likely for the Storm god of Manuziya (l. 1). The toponym is often attested without its determinative as an attribute for the Storm god: this was usually URU, indicating the town in Kizzuwatna with this name (see notably the Storm god worshipped in the (ḫ)išuwa- festival, CTH 628, or in the ritual of Muwalanni, CTH 703), but Manuzi(ya) was also ḪUR.SAG, the homonymous mountain (and mountain god) from which the city name likely derived.
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The author of this letter, Katapaili, was an important official during the reign of Ḫattušili III and Tudḫaliya IV, and appears in several texts related primarily to oracles and vows. On these sources, see Hout Th.P.J. van den 1998c, 67-70.
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