Introductio CTH 766.1.1.a

This collection tablet contains at least three conjurations, only the second of which is fully preserved. It starts with a mythological narrative and ends with a description of a successful birth-giving process. The remaining conjurations are expected to follow the same structure.

Texte

Exemplar A	A₁	KUB 35.102	2563/c	Bk. A
	(+) A₂	(+) KBo 39.179	(+) 2118/c	Bk. A
	+ A₃	+ KUB 35.103	+ 1324/c	Bk. A
			+ 2564/c	Bk. A

Literaturauszug aus der Konkordanz

D. Sasseville, NABU 2023/2: 93f.

Inhaltsübersicht

Abschnitt 1ID=1	Unclear
Abschnitt 2ID=2	God Duwini heard about the situation
Abschnitt 3ID=3	Actions of the Moon-god
Abschnitt 4ID=4	Hittite colophon of the first conjuration of pregnancy
Abschnitt 5ID=5	Actions of the god Pišaišapḫi
Abschnitt 6ID=6	Protective god, cooks and the mother are mentioned
Abschnitt 7ID=7	Spell mentioning goodness; purification of the house with urine and ointment
Abschnitt 8ID=8	Spell mentioning “the Moon-god and his entourage” and pure wipers
Abschnitt 9ID=9	Bringing the child’s own mother; purification of the house with wine and ointment
Abschnitt 10ID=10	Entrusting the child to pure wipers
Abschnitt 11ID=11	Cutting the umbilical cord and placing the child on his mother’s breast
Abschnitt 12ID=12	Spell for protecting the mother from the evil spirits
Abschnitt 13ID=13	Hittite colophon of the second conjuration of pregnancy
Abschnitt 14ID=14	Description of a violent man with wooden feet
Abschnitt 15ID=15	Unclear
Abschnitt 16ID=16	Bringing the child’s own mother
Abschnitt 17ID=17	Cutting the umbilical cord and placing the child on his mother’s breast
Abschnitt 18ID=18	Spell for protecting the mother from the evil spirits
Abschnitt 19ID=19	Hittite colophon of the third conjuration of pregnancy

History of publication

The indirect join A₁ (+) A₃ was proposed by H. Otten in the autographic edition of both fragments Otten H. 1953a (KUB 35), where the direct join of both fragments constituting A₃ is also found. Both fragments are published in transliteration in Starke F. 1985a: 221–223 as a pregnancy spell. In the same publication we find the correct attribution of A₁ and A₃ to the specific columns of the reconstructed tablets. The fragment A₂ was published in transliteration in Groddek D. 2004f: 231, while the direct one-sided join A₂+A₃ was proposed in Sasseville D. 2023a: 93–94.

Tablet characteristics

Fragment A₁ contains a portion of the lower part of column one and the upper part of column four (both with the Randleiste). The joined fragments A₂ and A₃ contain the lower part of column two and the upper part of column three (both with the Randleiste). A₂+A₃ is broken from the left along the intercolumnium, while on the other side it is broken near the right edge of the tablet. The preserved fragments contain three colophons, all mentioning conjurations of pregnancy.

Palaeography and handwriting

Middle Script

Linguistic characteristics

The conjurations are in Luwian, but their colophons are in Hittite.

Text transmission

All the fragments were found in Building A of Büyükkale.

Intertextuality

The epithet uwayammana ulipnaššanza, attached to the evil spirits, finds a direct parallel in CTH 764.8.

General information

This collection tablet (Sammeltafel) represents a model example of birth conjurations, containing three separate texts belonging to this genre. Some spells describe events related to a childbirth (sections 11, 16, 17), while other focus on the purification and protection of the child and his mother (sections 9, 12, 18). The entities that want to harm the pregnant woman or her new-born child are mentioned as well (section 14). The Protective god appears in the second conjuration, but its epithet is lost in a lacuna (cf. the situation in CTH 766.3). Moreover, the Moon-god plays an important role in these conjurations.

Editio ultima: 2025-07-31