29
The Derivation of sabattu and other notes.
By Stephen Langdon.
In Maklu I, 12 occurs the following line
elili nubü hidüti sipdi "my joy is become lament, ray gladness is become sighing".
nubü lament is to be derived from sas call out, as Tallquist
p. 116 correctly interpreted. A very common abstract formation .'>
in Babylonian is {a)t identical with the feminine formation as tanattu
glory, hiSittu property etc. When this tu is added to roots I'b,
Babylonian follows the Aramaic rule of uniting i followed by a
half vowel into «, cf Brockelmann, Syrisehe Grammatik, Par. 32 d,
thus rab%Hu = rabitu, while Arabic retains the root intact as lo
0,c,
xjji a village etc. Aramaic however like Arabic retains n (h) y
[' and y] before the suffix, although tendency to confuse N with i
in these forms is seen in ) K,.\y > m'lä^tä fulness, cf. however jLjIoD
0 u " a iT
for send'tä where the disappearing ' leaves its trace on the vowel
a changing it to e, e. In Assyrian h, g follow the analogy of is
N (') with tendency however to unite with the t of the ending as
in sibittu seven for siba'tu. Where I'b roots are not confused
with ■''3 roots, Assyrian like Aramaic preserves the rule of uniting
«/» into M as nigütu but pl. nigäti = nigawäti. In the case of
forms in Itii, aitu it is therefore sometimes difficult to tell whether '■'^
the root has k final 1 or N. The assimilation of N to 1 forms is
seen in niiitu from t<tt:3 . Forms like kamätu from -«'b roots go
c- ,. c- o .
back however to Jois formations not Jois and follow the analogy
of Aramaic a^" — a. Naturally the tendency to unite the weak
sounds » S n (h) with the following t can occur only in forms ü6
e ,. '3, J o - which had a vowel before these sounds i. e. Joij^ ij>**,
Beside the case of assimilation of y in sibittu we have the assimi-
30 Langdon, The Derivation of Sabattu and other notes.
lation of N in nibittu, name, a joii form == nibdlHu, cf nigittu
light. The word nubattu is apparently an analogous form from
-'
nabU lament i. e. Jois and um nubatli = day of lamentation.
Returning to the Maklu text cited above we find in sapdi
5 the root sapadu, well known in Aramaic and Hebrew, for wail.
0
A Kijis form would then be sapattu wailing. In as much as üm
nubatti — üm äabatli, [cf. King, Magic 61, II üm nubatti name
of 1.5 day of the month, which day acc. to text published by
Pinches in PSBA. 26, Feb. 1904 had also the name üm äabatti]
10 and nubü in the above passage is brought into direct antithesis
with sipdi it is naturally a further inference that Sab{p)attu must
be derived from the same root sapadu. That nubattu is derived
from Na: is also clear from the spelling nu-ba-ti in CT. II, pl. 1, 19.
The difficulty then lies in the change of ^J* to (ji or of *
15 to ^ or ä. Hebrew , Aramaic and Assyrian certainly confirm the
pronunciation s in North Semitic although the Massora on Jer. 49, 3
writes -ED with ir, ä. The surd p is also attested for the verb
in Assyrian by various forms as i-sa-ap-pi-du s. Muss-Arnold p. 777.
In our present inability to explain why the root should be sapadu
20 and the derivative Sapattu, it is necessary to assume an early form
iabadu whence was derived Sabattu a form so generally used that
its pronunciation became fixed, whereas the verb changed the frica¬
tive to s and the sonant b to 'p. sabattu then = day of lament.
Bel-kabi contemporary of Sinmubalit.
2S In Vol. VI Series A of the Babylonian Expedition of the
University of Pennsylvania Dr. Hermann Ranke has published as
No. 18 the record of the purchase of a slave. The importance
of this document has been observed by Ranke p. 9 where he
makes clear the fact that Hammurabi and Samsi-Adad king of
3U ASSur were contemporaries. In fact the recent publication of
historical texts from the British Museum by M. King makes it clear
that not only SamSi-Adad was a contemporary of Hammurabi
but that part of the so-called Second Dynasty of Babylon was con¬
temporary with the first and that the beginning of the First Dynasty
35 must have been nearly contemporary with the founding of the
dynasty at AsSur.
Ranke has however misunderstood a Sumerian phrase in con¬
tract No. 18 which is very important for the clearing up of the
historical situation. In line 4 lugal-a-ni-ir means 'for his king' =
io ana sarri-su. The contraction of ra == ana into r after vowels
is a very well known rule of Sumerian grammar. The contract
then means.
Langdon, The Derivation of Sabattu end other notes. 31
^One male slave, by name Ina-gati-§amas, -slave of Amel-
damku, "from Amel damkn */br his king, ^Adajatum, "son of
Abuwakar, 'has purchased. *The price in full "in silver he paid.
^'^gii-gan-na ib-ta-bal. ^'Hereafter one shall not complain
against the other. 5
i^By Marduk and Sinmubalit, "^by Btl-DA-bi '^and his con¬
sort have they sworn. ^'In the presence of iSamas-ma-j j j j j ,
^>^Arad-lllll, ^^Uti , 20 ^ nß^^ ssyear when
[Sin-mubalit.] built the wall Lu ba-tum, [i. e. first year of this
king]. 10
This contract makes it clear that Be-el-DA-bi was a contem¬
porary ruler of Sin-mubalit and perhaps also of Apil-Sin. Now
in the list of early Assynan kings by Frederick Delitzsch, based
upon recent discoveries of the Deutsche OrientaUsche Gesellschaft
a certain Bel-ka-bi is given as predecessor of SamSi-Adad. But 15
Bel-DA-bi is certainly a variant writing since da in Sumerian is
a shortened form of dug = kabü, ci. Brünnow no. 505. That da
is a variant for KA = dug is evident from several facts. The
element dug is a verbal affix by means of which Sumerian forms
numerous compound verbs with evidently no change of meaning 20
upon the root, cf Th.-Dangin in ZA. 17 p. 198. In place of this
element KA = dug, da is often attached to form compounds also
without changing the sense ; thus a simda is the same musical
instrument as a sim and for examples see ZA. 17 p. 199 n. 4.
Furthermore BI = dal = da is also frequently added to roots 25
in the same way, thus ud-zal-zal in Raw. IV, 28* b, 45 = ustabri
he is satiated, but CT. XV, 12 rev. 1 ud-zal-zal-la-dä = ustabri.
da therefore is certainly for dug = kabü in Bel-DA-bi i. e. Bel-
ikbi or as we know from Delitzsch's list Bel-kabi. See now also
Bezold in ZA. 21 p. 253. so
buganu Sutulc.
The exact meaning of neither of these words in this familiar
ceremony are clear. According to Surpu III, 3 a ban is produced
with the '^"bukanu. According to Jensen, KB. VI, 1, 373 two
roots eteku exists a) break, tear away ; b) waver. The latter meaning, 35
change, shafel, cause to change, must be assumed for the verb
here since the ideogram is BAL also an ideogram for enü waver.
In as much as this word must have a (legal) sense we have no doubt
but that the permansive sutuk means here it teas transferred. In
nearly all these legal ceremonies the order is a) he paid in full 40
b) the bugan was transferred ') c) the affair was terminated d) his
1) Compare passive form in Sumerian ib-ta-bal, with active forms in-na- an-lal = iskul, al-til — gamir, al-dug = tab. See also for the passive Babyloniaca I, 226 and passive forms with instrumental case Bab. II, 73, also Poebel in ZA. 21 p. 221 ff.
32 Langdon, The Derivation of Wahattu and other notes.
heart was content. But when witnesses are lacking b , c -\- d are
also lacking with rare exceptions. When the sum is given b usually
is lacking, cf. CTVIII, 15 a, b; 22 c, but when the sum is not given
the buganu ceremony is performed. Exceptions are CTVIII, 18 a, b.
5 In CTVIII , 26 b instead of gis-kan-na ib-ta-bal is found ihn
ikli-Su kaspu = the price of his field is silver.
The meager conclusion which we can draw is that this cere¬
mony had to be performed in the presence of witnesses and that
when the sum was not stated this ceremony in some way certified
10 that money was paid. The ceremony may be the historical precedent
of the ki pi atri ceremony in later times. On the primitive
Sumerian origin and meaning of giving a small sum of money over
and above the sum stipulated in a sale see the writer's Babylonia
and Palestine p. 57.
15 tam distributive.
In OLZ. April 1907 the writer discussed the origin and
meaning of the particle tam always used distributively. The correct
understanding of this particle is necessary to comprehend many of
the contracts. Thus Ranke p. 23 in his translation of No. 35
20 misunderstands the following phrase, 3 isinni Samai 1 meiirti'^)
10 ka karäni tam. Here the Sumerian particle puts the three
feasts of äamas in distributive relation to one piece of meat and
ten ka of wine. The meaning is that the renter of the house in
question must bring for each of the three Samas feasts a piece
26 of meat and ten lea of wine.
Schorr in his Altbabylonische Rechtsurkunden although cor¬
rectly interpreting isinnu has also failed to understand numerous
parallel passages. Frequent in this period is the stipulation that
a person who has been given property , must support the giver
30 and provide meat, grain and wine for the Samas feasts.
1) On the reading mesirtu for S^»-< cf. CT. VIII, 42 c. 12 — 14;
Frederick, Sippar 104, 15—16 aud Schorr p. 90.
38
Der Sabbat.
Seine etymologische und chronologisch-historische Bedeutung.
Von Eduard Mahler.
In einer der allgemeinen Sitzungen des II. intern, religionshist.
Kongresses (Basel 1904) erörterte ich verschiedene biblische Kalender-
daten und deren religionshistorische Bedeutung. Ich wies dort nach,
daß naä nicht „ruhen", sondem „fertig sein, zu Ende sein' bedeute
und daß, damit zusammenhängend, das Wort naia = äabattu in 5
chronologischem Sinn „Zyklus' heiße und seinen Aus¬
gangspunkt vom „Vollmondstage" genommen habe, d. i. dem
Tage, an dem der Mond seinen Kreislauf vollendet.
Das große Interesse, das diese Frage erregte, veranlaßte mich
— hierzu auch von mehreren Fachgenossen aufgefordert — dieses lo
Thema und mehrere damit in Verbindung stehende Fragen näher aus¬
zuarbeiten und die Resultate meiner daraufbezüglichen Untersuchung
im XXIV. Bande der „Annales du Musee Guimet' niederzulegen.
Da aber die dort gegebenen Auseinandersetzungen bereits am 15. Jan.
1905 abgeschlossen waren und diese Frage seither auch von anderen i5
Seiten einer nähem Erörterung gewürdigt wurde (besonders hervor¬
zuheben wären da Zimmern, Meinhold und Hehn), so wird es mit
Rücksicht auf das hohe wissenschaftliche Interesse, däs diese Frage
erheischt, vielleicht nicht als unerwünscht erscheinen, wenn ich auf
diesen Gegenstand nochmals zurückkomme und auf dessen chrono- 20
logische Bedeutung hinweise.
ünter den Fragen, die zufolge der epochemachenden Resultate
der altorientalischen Forschungen die Aufmerksamkeit der Bibel¬
forscher und Exegeten in reger Weise in Anspruch nahmen, war
die Sabbat-Frage eine der wichtigsten. Wir würden jedoch sehr »6
irren , wenn wir der Meinung Raum geben wollten , als ob diese
Frage lediglich den Resultaten der neuesten Forschungen ent¬
sprungen sei. Vielmehr haben die Assyriologen schon im Anfange
der siebziger Jahre des vorigen Jahrhunderts auf Grund der aus
den entdeckten Keilschrifttäfelchen geschöpften Lehren die Über- so
Zeugung gewonnen, daß der Sabbat der Israeliten eine uralte In-
Zeitschrift der D. M. G. Bd. LXII. 3
