CHIEFLY FROM NIPPUR. . 17 



regard to the close connection of these three words as constituting the name of the 

 king, and read accordingly Shargdni-shar-dli as one word. For, as Oppert properly 

 states, it is impossible to read the name simply Shar-ga-ni, inasmuch as, according to 

 the parallel passages of the oldest Semitic cuneiform texts, in this case we should ex- 

 pect the two parts (Shargani and shdr-dli) to be separated by a line. Only individual 

 words, or two expressions very intimately connected, 1 as "son of Itti-Bel," "temple 

 of Bel," " in Nippur," are written together without this separating line. 2 Titles are 

 not considered to stand in such close connection with their antecedent proper names. 

 But, contrary to the view of the two French scholars, I maintain the identity of 

 Sargon and Shargdni-shar-dli for the following reasons : 



1. By the side of the long names of kings and private individuals we find — at 

 least in the last two thousand five hundred years of Babylonian history — abbreviated 

 forms in use. The lists of kings and the contract tablets, not to mention other pas- 

 sages, furnish ample proof. Cf. e. g: Ki-an (Listb s ) with Ki-an-ni-bi (List a, Rev.) ; 

 Kir-gal (List b) with Kir-gal-dara-bar ; A-dara (List b) with A-dara-kalam-ma ; 

 Bibe (List b) with Bi-be-ia-sM 4 (PI. 26, No. 70) ; Kab-ti-ia abil-shu sha Tab-ni-e-af 

 with Kabti-ildni-Marduk abil-shu sha Nabu-tab-ni-u-sur? among hundreds of similar 

 examples. 7 It is therefore highly probable that at some future time we shall find 

 the abbreviated form Shargani even on Sargon's own monuments. 



2. It was especially to be expected in the case of a king famous above all others, 

 and who so early became the hero of popular story, that the longer name should so s 

 be abbreviated in the mouth of the people, and, finally, when it had ceased to be 

 intelligible, explained after the method of 'folk etymology', 9 as Sharru-kemi, "the 

 true king." Moreover, Pinches 10 has pointed out, by comparison of Sumer. Tcurgina = 

 Assyr. TcurTcanti, gishhin = JcishJcanu, that the sign GI (ge) was originally pronounced 

 as ga, and that the Hebr. JUIP represents this older pronunciation. 11 



1 In this respect the writer of the stele de Zohab is freer. Cf., however, sha duppa, which is always written on 

 one line even in the Sargon inscriptions from Nippur and in that of the king of Guti. 



2 Cf. PI. 1, 1. 3, 11, 24; PI. 2, 1. 1, 2, 11, 12, 23 ; PI. 3, No. 3, 1. 1 ; No. 4, 1. 1, 3. 



3 Winckler, Unters., p. 146, col. I, 4. For List a, cf. ibid., p. 145. 



4 Hilprecht, " Die Ergan/Aing der Namen zweier Kassitenkonige," in Z. A. VIII, in print. 



5 Strassmaier, Nabon. 133, 4. 



6 Strassmaier, Nabon. 132, 4. Cf. Peiser, Aus dem Babylonischen Rechtsleben I, p. 11. 



'The same principle of abbreviating names in everyday use occurs among nearly all ancient nations. Cf. e. g., 

 Erman, JEgypten und Mgypiisehes Leben im Altertum, p. 233 ; also the Hebrew dictionaries ; Fick, Die griechischen Per- 

 sonnenamen ; O. Crusius, Neue JahrbucJier, 1891, pp. 385-394 : " Die Anwendung von Vollnamen und Kurznamen bei 

 derselben Person." For the last two references I am indebted to my friend and colleague, Prof. W. A. Lamberton. 



8 Shargani, "the powerful." See p. 18, note 4. 



9 Hommel, Gesch., p. 301. 



10 P. 8. B. A., VII, p. 67 seg. 



11 Cf. Hommel, I. c, p. 303. 



A. P. S-. — VOL. XVIII. C. 



