Ilya Yakubovich

Citatio: Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich (Hrsg.), hethiter.net/: Catalog: Hittite-Luwian conjurations (CTH 764–766) (2025-08-08)

Catalog: Hittite-Luwian conjurations (CTH 764–766)

introductio



Short description

The fragments listed under CTH 764–766 feature conjurations that are largely presented separately from the description of non-verbal acts, e.g. offerings, whether or not they had to be accompanied by such. Accordingly, they are introduced as Hitt. ḫukmaiš ‘conjuration’ or as its Akkadographic equivalent ŠIPAT, but not as SISKUR ‘ritual (offering)’. We do not have a single mention of a specific performer in connection with this group of texts: apparently the conjurations were treated as folklore and did not require fixed authorship. As for their function, most of the texts grouped under CTH 764–766 concentrate on fighting diseases. The common designation of patients in these compositions is DUMU.NAM.LÚ.U.LU ‘human child’ / ‘human being’. Since conjurations are short texts, several of them normally occur on a single collection tablet, each being provided with a separate colophon. With regard to their form, several of them contain historiolae (concise mythological narratives). The conjurations assembled under CTH 764–766 are either in Luwian or there are good grounds to believe that they were translated from Luwian. The Luwian language of the Hittite-Luwian conjurations possesses some special features, such as the particle =kuwa “furthermore”, “in turn” and the particle =wa, which is extremely rare in the other Luwian cuneiform texts. The Hittite portions of the compositions of this group were usually compiled in Middle Hittite based on the linguistic criteria. As for their ductus, both Middle Script and New Script tablets are abundantly represented in this corpus (Starke F. 1985a: 218–221).

According to the original version of the Catalogue des textes hittites (CTH), the texts treated here as Hittite-Luwian conjurations can be divided into three groups: CTH 764, Magie et mythe: le dieu négligé “Magic and myth: the neglected deity”, CTH 765, Conjurations contre des maladies “Conjurations against illnesses” and CTH 766, Conjuration de la lune “Conjuration of the Moon” (Laroche E. 1971c: 137–138). Another classification belongs to Starke, who published the transliterations of these texts. Starke believed that most of the conjurations were performed to help a pregnant woman, a woman in labor, or a newborn child. According to his classification, these conjurations are divided into four groups, namely Schwangerschaftsbeschwörungen “conjurations of pregnancy”, Worte der Kamrušepa “words of Kamrušepa”, Beschwörungen mit Nennung eines Götterfestes “conjurations mentioning the feast of the gods”, and Fragmente unsicherer Einordnung “fragments of uncertain classification” (Starke F. 1985a: 202–204). For the principles of our classification, see the introductions to the specific CTH-numbers.

The genre of conjurations is not limited to Hittite-Luwian texts, since there are similar texts composed entirely in Hittite and not showing any Luwian influence. The titles of several conjurations are reflected in catalog tablets. There are instances of conjurations embedded in rituals, which should be distinguished from the ordinary ritual incantations in that they contain mythological allusions rather than explanations of specific rites. Such texts are not treated in the present collection.

Texts

Text CTH 764.1: Collection tablet with three conjurations (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 764.2: Luwian fragments with two conjurations (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 764.3: Fragment of a Luwian conjuration (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 764.4: One nearly complete and one fragmentary conjuration in Hittite (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 764.5.1: Two Hittite conjurations (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 764.5.2: Fragment of a Luwian conjuration (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 764.6: Fragment of one or two Hittite conjurations (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 764.7: Fragment of a Hittite conjuration and a colophon (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 764.8: Two Luwian conjurations with Hittite incipits (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 764.9: One or two conjurations in Hittite (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.1: Luwian conjuration with a Hittite colophon (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.2: Fragment of a Luwian conjuration against diseases (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.3.1: Luwian conjuration performed by zipuriya-priest (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.3.2: Luwian conjuration with textual overlaps to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.4: Luwian conjuration with one line in Hittite (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.5: Fragments of several Luwian conjurations and one Hittite prescription (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.6: Final part of a Luwian conjuration (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.7: Two Luwian conjurations (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.8: Fragments of two Luwian conjurations (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.9.A: Two Hittite conjurations with Luwian foreign words (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.9.B: A parallel fragment (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.9.C: Three Hittite conjurations parallel to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.9.D: A conjuration parallel to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.9.E: A conjuration parallel to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.9.F: A conjuration similar to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.9.G: A conjuration parallel to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.9.H: A conjuration parallel to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.9.I: A conjuration parallel to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 765.10: A fragmentary Hittite conjuration with a colophon (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.1.1.a: Collection tablet with three Luwian pregnancy conjurations (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.1.1.b: A fragment belonging to the same manuscript (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.1.2: A pregnancy conjuration with parallels to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.2.1: Collection tablet with two Luwian conjurations (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.2.2: Collection tablet overlapping with the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.3.1: A Hittite-Luwian text (conjuration and ritual) (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.3.2: A parallel text to the preceding (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.4.a: A fragmentary Luwian conjuration mentioning a father (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.4.b: A fragment belonging to the same manuscript (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Text CTH 766.5: A Hittite-Luwian conjuration (hrsg. von Valerii Ivanov and Ilya Yakubovich)
Editio ultima: 2025-08-08