Cult inventory

(CTH 526.21)

Textual tradition

A

A1

KUB 38.25

Basis of the edition

The present edition is based on the photographs available at the Mainzer Photoarchiv of the Hethitologie Portal Mainz, as well as the available hand-copies and relevant secondary literature up to 2019. When the original manuscripts have been collated, this is noted in the commentary.

Commentary

This fragment of a large two-columned tablet inscribed in a cursive script pertains probably to the area of Ḫakmiš. This conclusion follows from the consideration that the gods treated therein are connected with Nerik and Ḫakmiš (Storm god of Nerik, Zaḫpuna), and from the mention of the town of Ḫakmiš in the colophon. The presence of a peculiar formula denoting the sunset hints at the area of Ḫakmiš as well (see commentary on i 6′-7′). The text is perhaps connected with the restoration of the cults of Nerik at the time of Ḫattušili III and Tudḫaliya IV (Cammarosano 2018: 332-34 with literature).

The tablet has numerous erasures and some apparently missing signs, facts which hint at a hastily redaction. Especially striking is the repetition of mistakes, like NAG-zi NAG-zi (for GU7-zi NAG-zi) both in obv. i 6′ and 24′. The word GIŠirḫui seems to be consequently spelled as GIŠirui (obv. i 15′, 16′, and 21′). It is interesting to note that the scribe adopts on the one hand a clearly cursive writing (evident both in the ductus and in the use of cursive, wedges-sparing variants like DUG without broken vertical), on the other hand full spellings of words which in most cult inventories are abbreviated, like ḫuppar(aš) and ḫanešša(š). For the identification of obverse and reverse of the tablet see already Güterbock 1971: 382 and note the interplay between obv. i 24′ and ii 10′.

The text is organized in sections and paragraphs. The preserved portion of column i contains the end of a festival description (obv. i 1′-10′, perhaps a spring festival, mentioned in obv. i 10′) and then the description of the “festival of the goat kid” for the Storm god of Nerik (obv. i 11′-25′, it probably continued on col. ii, now lost; cf. Haas 1970: 276-77 with an erroneous reading as spring festival). Within the corpus of the cult inventories, this festival is attested in KBo 22.222 and IBoT 2.106 as well. The festival took place in spring, “when the sheep give birth.” The rite, which follows the usual pattern and is described with the usual formulae, involved a great number of meals and stews. The preserved portion of col. ii contains another fragmentary festival description, followed by a description of cult images. Part of the colophon is preserved on the left edge of the tablet.

Palaeography and orthography: Cursive script. Late QA, ḪA with one Winkelhaken. Peculiar cursive variant of DUG, formally identical with GA; the broken vertical of the sign A is often hardly distinguishable from an unbroken vertical (e.g. ii 7′). Note the unusual spellings [URUḫ]a-ak-miš in l. e. 2′ and URUne-ri-ik-ki in i 11′, 13′, as well as zé-nu-wa-an-zi (i 14′, vs. normal zanuwanzi), perhaps influenced by the medio-passive form zeantari.

i 2′: Perhaps Luwian k(u)wannani- “eyebrow” or k(u)wanzu- “heavy?”?

i 6′-7′: For this formula, apparently connected with the area of Ḫakmiš, see Cammarosano 2018: 40.

i 8′: The form ambaššiti, here marked by a double Glossenkeil, represents a rarely attested variant of the common Hurrian cult offering terminus ambašši (other occurrences of ambaššiti are found in KUB 29.4+ and KBo 15.52+). It is seemingly modeled on the pair anaḫi / anaḫiti.

i 11′: Haas 1970: 276 (followed by others) erroneously reads EZEN4 DI[ŠI]. For EZEN4 MÁ[Š.TUR] see already Güterbock 1971: 382.

i 16′-21′: As expected, the objects listed show singular agreement, see Brosch 2013: 32 fn. 28. Haas 1970: 276 fn. 2 noted that the signs at the end of line 20′ resemble TI₈MUŠ[EN]; Lamante 2009: 208 read ID-⸢DIN⸣, which is however incompatible with the traces. For NINDA.TU7 BA.BA.ZA cf. TU7 BA.BA.ZA “dish of porridge” see CHD P 194. The alleged term *ga-ka4-pí- (Haas 1970: 276-77, HED K 15) is a ghost word, the reading originates from the interpretation of the peculiar variant of DUG used in this text, resembling GA (see palaeographical notes above). Interestingly, the same peculiar spelling for DUGkappi is used in a festival text concerning the cults of Nerik, namely KBo 2.4 (CTH 672, ii 24 1 DUGga-pí-iš TU₇kán-ga-ti, cf. the use of the standard spelling DUGkap-pí-iš ibidem ii 25 and passim). On NINDA.Ì BA.BA.ZA see Weeden 2011: 593 (NINDA.Ì “oily bread, bread and oil,” not an abbreviated form of NINDA.Ì.E.DÉ.A = Akk. mirsu). The nature of NINDAmiumiu, which seems to be normally made from BA.BA.ZA, is uncertain, see CHD L-N 310, HED M 174. On the connotation “of the tooth” applied to bread loaves, probably denoting the shape (less likely the quality of being somehow suited to teeth), see HW2 K 11 and cf. KBo 31.165 5′ and KUB 42.91 ii 1; for the possible equivalence of NINDA.LÀL with mallitiwalla- see CHD L-N 131. Note the spelling GIŠir-u-i, GIŠir-u-i-ti (dat.-loc.), for irḫui(ti) (i 15′, 16′, 21′).

i 25′: Contrast the defective spelling used here with aš-ša-〈nu〉-ma-aš of obv. i 5′.

ii 3′: For the Luwian epithet tarmatnaš “of the fastening” see CLL 213 (add probably KBo 47.76 rev. 14, tarma[…), note the Storm god tarmatnaš attested in another cult inventory, KBo 21.81 iv! 12.

ii 6′: For this passage and appanda nai- “to add” see CHD L-N 363; cf. appa iya- used for the renewal of cult images (KUB 38.12 obv. ii 6).

ii 7′-8′: The goddess Kuišḫamaššani is attested only here and in KBo 55.186 r. col. 24. She holds a grape in her right hand. Güterbock 1983: 210 erroneously translates GUB as “seated.” These two goddesses are represented standing, which is an exception to the usual pattern.

l. e. 1′-4′: These lines constitute the colophon of the tablet. Its structure is unclear and many readings are tentative.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Michele Cammarosano | Produced as part of the research project Critical edition, digital publication, and systematic analysis of the Hittite cult-inventories (CTH 501-530), funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – project number 298302760, 2016–2020.