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Abschnitt 1ID=1: Communication of bird oracle report |
| 1ID=1 | -- | Concerning the fact that: ten ‘fox’-birds, up from the river,1 (came) in front from the favorable side. |
| 2ID=2 | -- | Then, it2 turned back |
| 3ID=3 | -- | and (came) in front from the unfavorable side. |
| 4ID=4 | -- | It turned back (again), |
| 5ID=5 | -- | and it (came) in front from the favorable side, |
| 6ID=6 | -- | (and) lengthways from the favorable side. |
| 7ID=7 | -- | An ālliya- bird, which (was) across the mountain, |
| 8ID=8 | -- | flew lengthways from the unfavorable side. |
Abschnitt 2ID=2: About the augurs |
| 9ID=9 | -- | Until the augurs arrive at Ašramma, |
| 10ID=10 | -- | and until (later) they come back,3 |
Abschnitt 3ID=3: Oracle question |
| 11ID=11 | -- | if for the life of the little girl, for the matter of (her) fever, we have nothing to fear later on: |
| 12ID=12 | -- | let the birds exclude it. |
end of text |
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See the similar formulation EGIR ÍD (KBo 66.70+, obv. I 28-32). Since šara is never found elsewhere in combination with appa (EGIR UGU), it clearly refers to the river, and should be disconnected from the sequence peran SIG₅-za.
i.e. the group of birds? Resumption in the singular seems to refer to the ten birds as a group, moving together (as understands Rieken E. 2019e, 268), unless it is implied that only one of them changes its flight course and moves as described. For the exact meaning of this passage, there are two main options: 1) The augurs are travelling to Ašramma, a place different from the location where the letter is being written, and are expected to return after this trip; in this case the two actions are sequential. This interpretation is quite linear, since the detail that the augurs are heading to Ašramma might not have been known to the receivers of the letter. 2) Alternatively, Ašramma is the same place where the letter is being written; if so, then the second kuitman introduces a parenthetic statement, replicating the same meaning: “until the augurs arrive at Ašramma - until they come back - (…)”. =ma could thus be seen here as a marker of concurrent action (particularly with kuitman; Hoffner H.A. – Melchert H.C. 2008a 398, §29.35); the repetition of kuitman, however, is peculiar. |
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