14 OLD BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS 



foundation may Guti, Ninna and Sin tear up and exterminate his seed, and may 

 whatsoever he undertakes not prosper ! " l 



To the time of Sargon and Naram-Sin 2 belongs also the first of the two inscrip- 

 tions of Ser-i-Pul (Steles de Zohdb), published by Messrs. J. de Morgan and V. 

 Scheil in Recueil de Travaux relatifs a la Philologie et a V Archeologie egyptiennes et 

 assyriennes XIV, Liv. 1, 2, 1892, pp. 100-106. Both of these badly mutilated 

 inscriptions are written in a Semitic 3 dialect, and the phraseology is very similar to 

 that of the king of Guti. Scheil offers a transliteration and translation of the 

 preserved jDortions. In regard to the first inscription I remark, however, that col. I, 

 11 : « DUB BA AM, can hardly be read (with Scheil) u dubbam? The preceding 

 phrase, salmetum anridum, " these images," and the parallel passage of the Guti 

 text and PI. 1 and 2 of the present volume — diqjpa shu'a — require a demonstrative 

 pronoun in connection with duppa. I therefore regard BA as the ideogr. for sTiu'atu, 5 

 and read duppa sJm'atam^-am), "this inscribed stone." The second character in 

 col. II, 10, which Scheil does not recognize (I. c, p. 105) is ilf and the line 



1 In the interpretation I remark the following : L. 2. . da-num is not to be regarded independently as an apposi- 

 tive representing the usual sharru da-num {Stele de Zoluib I, col. 1, 2), but must be joined with shar Gutim, as "the 

 mighty king of Guti." The position of the adjective before the substantive is not so much due to the emphasis of the 

 adjective (Del. Oram., § 121) as to the endeavor to avoid separating the adjective from the noun to which it belongs. 

 L. 14. Shu'a (or shuica) is the older form from which shu'atu, resp. shu'atu, has been derived. Cf. Arabic liuioa, 

 Del. Oram., § 57, and Jager, in B. A. I, p. 481 seq. L. 15. 17. usazakuni, isataru are not present tenses of the 

 stems IIL, and I, respectively (= utsazakuni, ilsataru), but, in consideration of 1. 29, are to be regarded as III, and I x 

 = ushazakuni (Stele de Zoliab I, 12) = ushazzakuni = ushanzaku -f- ni (Del. Gram., % 79 ^9) and ishataru. Sh 

 between two vowels, or with an m following, was apparently pronounced as s (cf. also PI. 1 and 2). The root of 

 usazaku is "]!J or pu, II R. 30, 42, e, f (Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 339), not "]Sa (Scheil, I. c, p. 108). It means "to be in 

 motion, to move " (intr.). Cf.naziktu, II R. 23, 65, e, f, synon. of daltu, "door " = "that which moves (on a hinge);" 

 izzuk mulmullu (Creation Tablet IV, 101), "the spear quivered." 111!= "to move (trans.), to remove." This 

 meaning is supported by parallel passages, as V R. 33, col. VIII, 42 : mannu sha iiabalu (Jensen, in Schrader's R. B., 

 Ill, Part I, p. 152, note 3) shumishu kima shumi'a ishataru, " Whoever carries off (the tablet) and writes his name as 

 my name." L. 16. The sign gish — dialect, for MU — signifies apparently zikru (Sargon Cyl., 1. 50). Cf. Jensen, 

 Z. A. I, p. 184. L. 23. UsuJ}a = lissvka, HDJ. Cf. PI. 2, 20 (PI. 1, 21 : lissvhu). For the & of the 3d pers. masc. 

 plur., cf. Del. Gram., §90, c. L. 26. M-il(sic ! = Brunnow, I. c, 4&4?l)-gu-da=lilkitta, cf. PI. 2, 23. PI. 1, 24 

 reads in its place li-ilgu-lu =lilkutu, aph. Cf. the corresponding Sumerian phrase at the close of the inscription of 

 KadasJiman-Turgu, PI. 24, No. 63. L. 28 is uncertain. The second character I regard as ~Dl=alaku, and the 

 third character, kat (Briinnow, List, 2701), a phonetic compliment. According to the scribe's method of writing, we 

 should expect but one word on this line. L. 29. a isir=& ishir, Prcet. Ij of -its*'- Cf. Ill R. 61, No. 2, 14 : alkat 

 mali la i$h$7tir, "the business (Handel und Wandel, Del.) of the land may not prosper." 



2 Thus, correctly, Scheil, I. c, p. 105. The second is considerably younger. 



3 Also the features of the king Anu-banini of Lulubi, carved together with the inscription in the rock, are mani- 

 festly Semitic. 



4 Scheil translates " cetle tablette," but adds "cette" only from the general context. 



5 Perhaps it is to be read directly shu, and the two characters must be transcribed as slm-am. Cf. also Amiaud, 

 in Z. A. II, p. 292. 



6 No. 73 in Amiaud et Mechineau, Tableau compare, must be corrected accordingly. 



