80 THKO. (i. PJNCHES : ON CERTAIN INSCRIPTIONS AND RECORDS 



"the god of destruction" (gul=dbatu, "to destroy"). The 

 next word, iini-hulhv" {mer-hulhc^ and tu-hullu'"' are also 

 possible readings) is like^vise from the Akkadian, and means 

 *' evil wind" {imi, met\ or tu, " wind," A?</, '• evil").* Upassihi 

 is for npa-isihu (sing, for plu., as in obv., 11. '22, 23, etc.), from 

 pa.'<dhu, probably not a variant f(n-m (with .s' for s) from 

 IxiSaha, '"to cease," " be quiet," as this meaning does not 

 seem to suit very well. The Heb. cognate of pasdhu, how- 

 ever, has s for s (nOQ) , as in the present text. 



18. Prof. Sayce suggests the completion of this line as 

 J)iuin nakru Elamu, '" When the enemy, the Elamite (decreed 

 destruction)." 



28. La suhat-sn, "not his seat." This curious expression 

 is not without its parallel in Assyrian, as in Id kettii, " not 

 right," "wrong;" Id-anmi, "unsm," "innocence;" Id-hel- 

 kussl, " a not-lord-of-the-throne," "a usurper." 



2V). Suhurnw is shuphul permansive of hardrn, •' to hollow 

 out," " dig through," whence hurm. "hollow," "hole;" harm, 

 'canal," and harranu, "road" (probably (jriginally a dual). 

 The expression siihurrur sakke-su is a parallel to suprisa 

 sakke-sH, "came its enclosare to be out through" in 1. 14 of 

 the obverse. 



32. Meskis. Prof. Sayce suggests Jiere ^^, •v^ (Siskis) 

 for If—, Die (Meskis), which would mean "to Babylon" 

 (TytT'tr, .Jer. xxv, 26; h, 41). The character I—, however, 

 is certain, and, if correct (as we are bound to assume it is) it 

 implies a further extension of the Elamite conquests spoken 

 of, and furnishes an interesting explanation of Psalm cxx. 5: 

 " Woe is me, that 1 sojourn in Mesech," i.e., in the land of 

 darkness, the harran dawnmata " road of darkness " of this 

 passage. Prof. Hommel regards ^ {ki) as a determinative 

 suffix, and reads " to ]\Iish." 



POSTSCHIPT. 



in the foregoing pages an attempt has been made to give 

 fair renderings of three very difficult texts, one of them of 

 considerable length. Their nnitilated state has prevented 

 the author from making translations which may be regarded 



* Gidhi"^ u rini-/iuUit'»' seems to be ])arallel to the me/ie sane limnu, 

 ^•' storm (and) evil wind," in line 13. 



