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Assyrian Prescriptions for Diseases of the Ears

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

R. Campbell Thompson
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Extract

The following translations are from the texts in my Assyrian Medical Textsfor sick men suffering from ear-trouble.

No. 80. AM. 34, 4 (K. 2422) + 37, 2 (K. 7096 + 9059 + 11916 + 16434) + 35, 4 (K. 10787) + 4, 7 (81–7–27, 61, already translated as a fragment, No. 14, PRSM. 1924, 15); AM. 33, 1, and 34, 1 (K. 3215 + 3666 + 8109 + 10453) + 36, 1 (K. 3696 + 7221 + 10767 + 11788) + 12, 2 (K. 10019) + 34, 5 (S. 379); AM. 97, 6 (K. 3486); AM. 38, 4 (K. 6661) + 37, 10 (K. 10498) + 38, 1 (K. 13492). From an examination of these four pieces of tablets it seems reasonably certain that they form parts of the same original whole. At the same time it should be observed that AM. 37, 2, rev., has three air holes in the body of the text, and that these occur in the others only in the vertical lines whch divide the columns. Three of the above are in KMI. 18, K. 6661, K. 10498, and 19, S. 379.

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Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , January 1931 , pp. 1 - 25
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Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1931

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References

page 1 note 1 For abbreviations see JRAS. 1929, 801.

page 2 note 1 Written USI.KIfor uŠi.MAN.

page 2 note 2 Ta-lal uš-ša-bu da-tim(?), but doubtful.

page 2 note 3 This broken group has all the appearance of ku-up-ri ilu N[âri], an expression unknown to me, perhaps synonymous with the well-known A.GAS.GAR iluNâri “dung of the river”, which I take to be asphalt or bitumen (JRAS. 1924, 455).

page 2 note 4 Tuḳattar, followed by i-ib-ṣa ša … See PRSM. 1926, 67, n. 2.

page 3 note 1 See note to 1. 29.

page 3 note 2 1 I-rit-ti, used also of putting a peg in a wall. (Meissner, , Altb. Privatr., 12, n. 2.Google Scholar)

page 3 note 3 Lik-[la-ka?].

page 3 note 4 1 Sa-par-ti, which settles the reading sappartu, not šappartu.

page 3 note 5 IM.MA.AN.NA TI.KU.A: Cf. my On the Chemistry,13, and for the phrase AM. 37, 2, r. 6 (Col. ii, 6). The reference appears to be to the KIR.GAB, which Ea has made, of which the sand (as coming from Ea's domain) is part. Possibly the explanation is that the unstable sand represents the evil, just as the “stone”, which is to guard the patient, represents the beneficent power to heal.

page 3 note 6 The “stone” must have been quoted in the lost part of the prescription.

page 3 note 7 Li-iš-kip-šu, cf. Syr. šukâ;phâ, inunctio.

page 4 note 1 takAŠ.GE.GE, arsenic, probably powdered (see my On the Chemistry, 42).

page 4 note 2 Dr. Arnold Chaplin has suggested to me that it.might be verdigris, which is probably not far off the truth, but since it is used here with lapis lazuli, it is more probably some natural deposit containing copper. Verdigris, the sub-acetate of copper, is used as a stimulant to foul and indolent ulcers (Squire, , Oomp. to the Brit. Pharmac., 18th ed., 465)Google Scholar. Cf. KAB. 186, 32: 213, 29: AM. 29, 2, 9.

page 4 note 3 The word which I have translated “lobes” (?) is literally “flesh”, but the dual mark after it must surely have some significance. Cf., however, AM. 48, 2, 2, where it cannot mean “lobes”.

page 4 note 4 This is a duplicate of AM. 35, 1, 5 (No. 81), and 38, 2, iv, 1 (No. 82), the difference being trifling, except in one point, which is that the first drug zirudaprânivaries with zir uSU.MAN (MAT, by scribe's mistake, in the second instance), which goes to show that the two are synonymous. Read also in AM. 38, 2, iv, i, zir, for scribe's error, EN.

page 4 note 5 See JBAS. 1924, 454, where the “male” is explained as being “like tamarisk bark, massed and red”, and the female “like tamarisk bark, fine and yellow”.

page 4 note 6 KU-pi, varying with zap-pi, AM. 38, 2, r. iv, 2. For zappu “hair”, the Syr. zappê, see PRSM. 1924, 11, n. 5. to which should be added that Ungnad, ZDMG. 1923, 85, read the word as ṣappi “Mähne”, without giving a Semitic comparison. In 1. 35 it would appear that there is a variant form d-za-pi; cf. KAR. 191, iv, 8, a-zap-pi ša i.

page 4 note 7 KU.NIK.IB.SU.LAL, JRAS. 1924, 453, n. 1.

page 5 note 1 Duplicate of AM. 35, 1, 7 (No. 81); 38, 2, r. 9 (No. 82); and KAR. 202, r. iv, 33 (except that in this latter there is a slight variation in the order, and an additional drug, šsuadu); cf. also Col. ii, 15 (5), and KAR. 202, iv, 14.

page 5 note 2 See my article, PRSM. 1926, 38, n. 2.

page 5 note 3 See my article, PRSM. 1924, 14, n. 3. Mr. Gadd (Liverpool Annals, 1925, 132) suggests “mole”. Cf. MU .TUL, CT. xxvii, 22, 11.

page 5 note 4 See note to 1. 29.

page 6 note 1 Read IM.MA.AN.NA TI.KU.A, with AM. 33, 1, 22.

page 6 note 2 Ina UL tuš-ziz. Tuš-zizis the correct reading, as E. (xiii, 15, n. 4) pointed out from “an unpublished text” (probably my AM. 85, 3, 4), ina UL uš-ziz. E. would make UL = “Glut” (?) (“in die Glut (?) Stellen”), or “Herd” (Liebeszauber, 30, 1. 35), but I cannot agree with this, finding, ior one thing, that it is a little difficult to understand.

Küchler (p. 67) showed that UL varied not infrequently with MUL inthis phrase (as also occurs in AM. 62, 3 r. 6, as well as 14, 5, 5, where there are definite traces of MUL, and also Weidner, , Keilschrifturk. aus Boghazk., iv, No. 48, 14Google Scholar), and he translates “beim Herankommen des Stern(bild)es”. The phrase is habitually preceded by drugs put into some fluid (oil, water, beer), and constantly followed by directions to use it “in the morning ” (once with the addition of ina musi “in the night” to the phrase in KAB. 191, obv. 7, dup. of AM. 70, 5, 8, No. 193). This would surely show that some point of time in the evening was indicated, and since UL (like MUL) = kakkabu “star”, we may follow Küchler in seeing in UL the idea of “star ”. The point is that the drugs are allowed to steep for a night, not necessarily put under the stars as an offering, which would be ana or ina pân, rather than ina, as in the case of the Goat-star, AM. 100, 3, obv. 6, etc., and Iahtar, AM. 87, 1, 14, but rather at the time when the stars come out (cf. AM. 39, 1, 7, “in the morning without a meal he shall drink”). Interesting comparisons are found in the latter part of SM. ii (receipts which often show great similarity with the Assyrian); p. 658, “set it under the stars during the night of the fourth day in three consecutive weeks, and afterwards rub the mixture on his head”; p. 663, “set it in the sun until it becometh thick like honey”; p. 672, “let the mixture remain all night under the stars, and let the patient drink it in the morning”; p. 673, “let the patient drink it in the morning when fasting.” As a translation I would suggest tentatively “let (the mixture) stand during the time of the stars” (retaining in the text “let it stand under the stars”).

page 7 note 1 ŠA.RA.BA.ŠA.RA *ŠAO.OA.HE.A. Is this first word connected with ŠA.RA (Reisner, Hymnen,73, 3) = ubbil “remove ”, “bring”, (parallel with uštebi' in the preceding line) ?

page 7 note 2 For pa-tar-ri (PA.TAR.RI ?), cf. pa-ta-ar-ri, AM. 35, 1, 2.

page 7 note 3 Li-i -ši, presumably a permansive form like limnitunu (Maḳlu, v, 140), from the Heb. lâ aš. Cf. SM. ii, 111, “and there arise inside the ears sounds and singings and whistlings.”

page 8 note 1 Re-examined: text sic, I-tum, probably. Cf. 1. 7.

page 8 note 2 BIL (as in CT. xxiii, 23, 1; AJSL. 1908, 337, “If a man's skull holds fire,” and in several passages closely parallel to the present text in KAR. 202, r. iii, 42, 47, 50, etc., where “fire” can spread to practically any part of the body), must mean heat, or inflammation.

page 8 note 3 Ippušis from napâšu. Cf. KAR. 202, r. iii, 37, “If a man is sick, and his sickness extends (ippuš) to his head.”

page 8 note 4 Glossed … NI (= šaman ?) ŠlM …

page 8 note 5 Re-examined: text apparently as I have given it. We should expect “shalt thou do”.

page 8 note 6 Ittak-ma [innadi]: of. AM. 34, 5, 9; 36, 1, r. 5 (=1. 15, below). For pus exuding from ears, see receipts in SM. ii, 114 ff., expecially the one prescribing burnt alum.

page 8 note 7 LU-sa (?), i.e. sibit-sa, on the analogy of the use of LU= sabâtu in medical texts. The subject is probably išatu “ fire ”.

page 8 note 8 Dup. KAR. 202, iii, 50, which shows by comparison that KIT = eili'tu, confirming Br. 5932. Cf. CT. xxiii, 38, 26, dup. TOPP., obv. 31, and KAR. 202, iii, 42, AM. 17, 9, 6.

page 8 note 9 See JRAS. 1929, 339.

page 9 note 1 I-ḳal-lil, variant in KAR. spelt with Br. 6698.

page 9 note 2 See, in addition to AH. 187, JRAS. 1926, 100.

page 9 note 3 Practically duplicate of KAR. 202, iv, 12, for the first part. My text is completed from the join, S. 379, pl. 34.

page 9 note 4 U PA pl-su; KAR. has u PA.PA.-su, i.e. unappas-su. Cf. 1. 15, where it is augmented by bi-'-iš (“with offensive foetor”).

page 9 note 5 Tu-raḳ-ḳa, Heb. râka “compound (ointment)”, less probably râka' “beat”. Cf. Senn. (Layard, 42, 50) šaman ilusirdi u ibišti urakka enlarged in King, CT. xxvi, Col. viii, 71, šaman ilusirdi u ibšti ša iluukirépl ṣiri ša abburti uraḳḳââ (“almond oil and gum I compounded, etc.”) (for hibisti “gum” see JRAS. 1924, 455). If the sense “compound” is taken in the medical receipt above, it must, of course, be understood as preparing each oil separately.

page 9 note 6 RID, i.e. kurban. Kurban (or kirban) ṭâbti may be spelt with or without the determinative U (see SAI. 4283) and is discussed by Kuehler (with kirbinu) (Beitr. 125), he adducing kurbâni/o abari “lumps of antimony” (Tiglath-Pileser, v, 39) as an example. Kurban ṭâbti occurs also in AM. 52, 1, 16, KAR. 202, r. iv, 1, and 13, and AM. 58, 1, 5, while in AM. 35, 2, 11, the present text (part dup. of KAR. 202, r. iv, 12), the variant is kurban MVN.EME.ŠAL.LIM (nitre). See also the note on kirbinu, No. 80, Col. iii (41 ff.).

page 9 note 7 MUN.EME.ŠAL.LIM, JRAS. 1924, 454; KAR. simply “salt”. Cf. SM. ii, 115, for ears “which discharge pus, and have worms”, where alum and “Cappadocian salt” in old wine are prescribed.

page 9 note 8 The prescription is very similar to KAR. 202, r. iv, 14.

page 9 note 9 Bi-'-iš, KAR. bi-iš Cf. SM. ii, 114, “For ears which are swollen and stink”; and cf. also CT. xxiii, 36, 58, bi-'-[šaf], as in 1. 64.

page 10 note 1 … -u-ra-s[u (?)].

page 10 note 2 Iṣalal (?), from KAR.

page 10 note 3 KAR. omits some of these drugs, and some of the latter part of the receipt.

page 10 note 4 Kasî(?).

page 10 note 5 IM.KAL.LA, see RA. 1929, 63, n. 3.

page 10 note 6 ŠAR= ḳatâru, by variants AM. 80, 6, 6, and 98, 1, 5.

page 10 note 7 Cf. col. ii, 2 ff.

page 10 note 8 Read šarku (Br.1691), re-examined.

page 10 note 9 Cf. SM. ii, 117, for worms in the ears: “Take the juice which runneth from the flesh of the bull that is being roasted, and strain when warm, and pour into the ear”; or, still better, 665, for worms in the ears: “Press out the juices from the kidneys of an ox which have been half broiled, [mix] with salt, and apply.”

page 11 note 1 Tu-ru-'-a… -as-si-lu bu- …

page 11 note 2 Kam-ka-ma ša šadî, a reduplicated form from kammu?

page 11 note 3 Hardly “pearl” (Virolleaud, , Babyloniaca, iii, 222:Google ScholarOn the Chemistry, 29).

page 11 note 4 SE.ŠAR, or SE.EL.ŠAR (AH. 124); cf. onions, leeks, or garlic for ears in SM. ii, 112, 116, 117, 665, and goose-grease, onions, and garlic in Pliny, NH. xxix, 39.

page 11 note 5 Isarrur, Syr. ṣarr, colligavit, coarctatus est..

page 11 note 6 Probably water in which the astringent rinds have been soaked. For pomegranates for ears cf. SM. ii, 116, 665.

page 11 note 7 SM. ii, 112.

page 12 note 1 … mê iṣunurmi tu-ra (?)-ar; from arâra (?)

page 12 note 2 Ta-sa-?

page 12 note 3 Text here similar to KAR. 202, iv, 23, whence the restorations.

page 13 note 1 This section runs: Enuma amelu ina lib uzni-šu lu Mêpl Iu dâmu lu šarku illak(ak) lib uznâII-šu ta-lcap-pa[r IM. lŜ. TAK. KUR. RA ? ina lib uznâII-šu] ina Gl.ŠAG. TAR tasaraḳ lib uznâII-šu temissi (si)-[i/m(?)- ma ṭâbati ensi ana lib uz[nall-šu tanatak]. For DUB = sarâḳu, see PRSM. 1926, 58, n. 3. For tâbati enṣi, cf. AM. 7,3, 1 (No. 25).

page 13 note 2 “To visit the Temple of Shamash ” (or Sin, or Ninurta, or Ishtar) would appear to be some technical method of expressing a diagnosis. In 11. (41) ff. it is not improbable that “to visit the Temple of Ishtar” indicates sexual over-indulgence, resulting in loss of physical power. It is therefore possible that to have “visited the Temple of Shamash (or Sin)” indicates exposure to the sun or moon.

page 13 note 3 Restored from AM. 4, 7, 8. See JRAS. 1924, 456, for different possibilities.

page 14 note 1 Read PI-šu.

page 14 note 2 Cf. AM. 34, 1, 6.

page 14 note 3 The sense is uncertain. It can hardly mean “ after seven months”, as the treatment lasts only seven days.

page 14 note 4 See No. 81, 1. 9, n. 2.

page 14 note 5 Read IR ana Kir-bi-nu ip-ur. The probability is that IB = irru, a word occurring in AM. 74, iii, 13 as ir-ra, since GlŠ.IRhas the value irru (Br. 5385) and IR.DAM = irritu ša ša i (SAI. 3734). KAB. 159, r. 15, “If a man ditto (unknown) IR rabiš išipl-ši IR kima mêpl KV …, i.e. there is much IR like water; cf. also AM. 83, 2, 10. CT. xiv, 32, K. 9061, 2–4, šammu IB parasi (si) “drug for stopping IB ”(the name of the drug being lost). CT. xii, 32, 93070, makes IR= izutv, which is comparable to IIR. 62, 50, c, IR.TA.SUD.SUD = niḳilpû ša zu'utu “to come, of sweat”. AM. 74, iii, 13 (quoted above) is apparently for a blister ša ir-ra malî, “which is full of irri”. Irru must therefore mean a watery secretion or mucus, and in the case of the ear the reference is probably to obstruction of the Eustachian tube. Kirbinu was taken by Küchler (125) to be connected with the kurbânu of kurbâni ša abari “lumps of antimony” (Tiglath-Pileser, v, 39), and therefore, in the stomachic trouble (Kii. ii, iv, 11) [šumma NA….] rupuštu-š'u la ittadi mê kiṣirte. libbi mariṣ UD.DA.DI.D1 libbi-su kirbinam imaras, as a euphemism for “Kotballen”, which looks very probable. Cf. Soheil, RA. xviii, 13. 9, Šumma NA kirbina imaras…: AM. 41, 1, 32, “three potions for sa kirbinam imarasu him who is sick of kirbinu ”: KAS. 201, 42,… ŠAB. ŠAR-u u-na-pak kir-bi-nu imaraṣ um-ṣa-tum A.DAN … Cf. p. 9, n. 6.

page 14 note 6 [U -te(?)]-en-ni-iḳ-šu.

page 15 note 1 Kitî (re-examined) ta-sap-par, see PRSM. 1926, 66, n. 6.

page 15 note 2 See No. 81, 9, n. 2.

page 15 note 3 After re-examination, KI ša, and then as text.

page 15 note 4 Difficult line. Can it be “If the ear rings… (?), making (?) pus, [he has been visiting] the Temple of…” ? Cf. AM. 35, 1, 8, 10.

page 16 note 1 Pusikku. Ball, PSBA. xiv, 1892, 158, waa probably right in comparing Syr. paiskâyâ “parti-coloured”; Torczyner, DKAW, 1913, Altbab. Tempelrechn., 126, “ Bezeichnung eines Stofles nach der Qualitat.”

page 16 note 2 Uncertain. See AM. 53, 1, iv, 3; 58, 1, 5; and note SE.ŠAR šir-rum, 61, 5, 8.

page 16 note 3 See 1. 34.

page 16 note 4 On this see JRAS. 1929, 340.

page 17 note 1 On mil'u = probably “saltpetre”, see my On the Chemistry, 28, with which Eisler, ZA. xxxvii, 117, agrees.

page 17 note 2 See PRSM. 1926, 55, n. 3.

page 17 note 3 A bitter seed cultivated round Seruj, apparently like the seed of * Chrysanthemum segetum or * Anacyclus pyrethrum, its flour being described as kime ubbulu (JRAS. 1924, 453).

page 17 note 4 Silctu(the kappears to be certain from the adjective discussed below). See note to AM. 8, 7 (PRSM. 1926, 37. No. 33), where instances are given of its use (“of parched corn”, “of Lycium” (15 grains)), and cf. AM. 95, 3, 13 + 50, 6, 12: “⅓ ḳx sikti of mucilage of sesame, 1 ḳa of flour of …” What seems to indicate definitely that it means “powder” is the passage KAR. 194, i, 39, si-ik-ti takAD. MAŠ tasala ” with powder of AD.MAS stone thou shalt sprinkle”. The root is used adjectivally of Lolium (sa lf si-ka-a-ti, AM. 39, 1, 33, and si-ki-te, AM. 81, 1, 4), dried roses (si-ku-ti, AM. 75, 1, 31, and si-ku-u-ti KAR. 192, iii, 19). Possibly sikkatu, applied to myrrh, AM. 69, 8, 11, (dup. 56, 1, r. 6) is a form of it, but it is doubtful. Everything appears to point to the words meaning “powder” and “powdered” respectively.

page 17 note 5 KU.bu-ṭu-tu.

page 17 note 6 Cf. SM.ii, 114, two drachms each of myrrh, aloes, frankincense, opium, and fresh shoemaker's vitriol in vinegar for a boil in the ears.

page 18 note 1 “For three days” omitted in KAR.

page 18 note 2 Reading [niš]-mu-šu ippite(te).

page 18 note 3 SE.EL, see AH. 124.

page 18 note 4 Or ku-tuld-šu.

page 19 note 1 HUL.GIG= zâru (Br.9515 and 8AI. 7219); HUL.GIG.GA =bil (i)-la-a-tum and pa-aš-ḳu (De Genouillac, RA. 1913, 72).

page 19 note 2 AM. has [DÚ.DÚ.BI] “Practical prescription for this”.

page 19 note 3 KAR. adds “male” after alpu.

page 19 note 4 Cf. “root of uza-bu-…”, AM. 29, 1, 2.

page 19 note 5 KAR. “fumigate him ”.

page 19 note 6 The text of AM. 38, 2, iv, 1, here (mat and en for man and zir) is as it is on the tablet. iṣuSU.MAN is thus shown by the variant to be luydapranu.

page 20 note 1 Cf. AM. 37, 2, obv. 7 (No. 80).

page 20 note 2 Pu ru or bu ru, a difficult word. Note first in comparison 11. 9 and 10, where it is used in the one passage before the dates, and in the other after; this would suggest it as an eatable substance, and the variability of the position is definitely against it meaning “the whole”, or “all”, or, connected with ba ru, “hot.” In AM. 35, 4, 7, pu ra ikkal 11šikara išatti 11; 49, 6, r. 5, šilcara tdba išattipl pu rita ilclcalpl pu ra lusadir, shows that it is to be eaten at the same time as beer is drunk; 69, 8, 14, ina šikari u šizbi RAT pu ru UD.DU šaman …; 23, 3, 8,… tusapir pu ra …; 80, 4, 3, [p]u ra ana pî-šu …; 37, 2, 4,… -di pu ra ikkal.

page 20 note 3 Text re-examined and correct. Or is it ni-me-lam ŠI?

page 20 note 4 Kuluttu, unknown to me.

page 20 note 5 The traces of the first character may have another horizontal wedge within, but it looks like ur (taš, lik, tan), which makes tan-na-šu-u. LI. 15 ff. appear to be duplicate of AM. 83, 2, 12.

page 21 note 1 The composite text runs (numberingas in A M. 4 2, 4): (2) … [libbi]pl-ka (3) … libbipl-ka (4) man-nu lu-uš-pur… ina lib-bi-ka (5) li-šs-ša-a iṣuMARPL (= marru, SAI. 4126, cf. 4154, mar kaṣpi) ša haspi (u) hi-din-ni-e (v. gi-dim-me-ti) ša hurasi (6) li-par-ta-a nâripl li-pat-ta-a a-tappa-(a)-ti(7) li-par-ši-du-(u)-ni lu-ṣu-u-ni zu-(u)-šu(8) a-šam-šu-tu(m) Sa lib-bi-šu li-ṣa-am-ma iluŠamaš li-mur (9) Šiptu ul ia-at-tu-un Šiptu ša ilu Marduk mašmaš ilânipl iddi-ma ana-ku aš-ši (10) iluGu-la bulluti-ma kišta-ki liki(i) (TU).EN.

Gidimmeti in 1. 5 must be from gadâmu. Syr. g'dam “to cut off, back off”. The variant Kidinnuis difficult. The two natural tools for a Mosul digger would be the hoe and the pick.

page 21 note 2 AM.45, 5, continues in a different way: (11) … lib-ba-šu ka-si-šu-ma (12) … ma a-lak-ta-a-šu (13) … šu ul NIN-su (14)… ni u-ba-a -i zu-um-ri…(15) … nu…

page 21 note 3 Šu-un-du(?) (re-examined, and apparently correct), cf. šanudu “strong”.

page 21 note 4 In the face of XIV KU pa-tin-ni … u-al-lad (Ku. II, I, 22, cf. II, 15), and me-šu u-al-lad(AM, 80 1, 12), ul-ladin 1. 6 cannot refer to supporting the abdomen of a pregnant woman. The group ŠA.SI.ŠÁ is to be read kušur libbi ('SAI. 6007).

page 22 note 1 Cf. my Devils, ii, 77, 143.

page 22 note 2 Cf. ib., 73. 88.

page 23 note 1 The following charm is dup. of CT. xvi, 15, iv, 40 ff., which it restores almost entirely.

page 23 note 2 By combining CT. xvi, 15, iv, 56–7, and the present text, we must read GABA.ZV (irat-ka) li-ni-'.

page 23 note 3 HUL.DUB, with the value za-ma-nu (De Genouillac, BA. 1913, 72). Except for nabnitu, there ia no indication either in this exorcism, or in that of CT. xvi, that a special atonement offering or figure is being made.

page 23 note 4 … mu(?)-ša-ši ina išâti tar-ad. Translation doubtful: the rest suggests the hollowing of a trap for a lizard. Ra âtti means “to bubble” (see my On the Chemistry, 68); cf. Kii. ii, iv, 24 (spread a medicament on a cloth, bind it on day and night); “he shall drink *Solanum in beer without a meal; thou shalt boil in water, tar-hat-su “(end of prescription) where it would appear to have a transitive meaning. But what tarhad (t, ṭ) means is quite uncertain; it is perhaps “ dig”, and perhaps BILshould be read digmenu “ashes “.

page 24 note 1 … gi-id. For the prescription cf. CT.xiv, 23, K. 259, 10, and KAR. 203, obv. 10, “ Root of the (dry, or white) caper which as thou pullest it up does not see the sun; a drug for a decayed tooth, thou shalt dry, bray, mix in oil, put on the tooth.” For the use of caper-root on teeth cf. Diosc, ii, cciv.

page 24 note 2 See JRAS. 1924, 454, 10, where *BIR.ZU = Mzzu, the ZU here being explained as edu “to know ”, i.e. in distinction from the more common “virgin kid” (NU.ZU.).

page 24 note 3 KUR-su at end; cf. AM. 93, 1, 9, at end.