Hittite [.sup.GIS/GI.kurtal(i)], Akkadian nab-bu, and the cuneiform sign NAB.

• Author: Cohen, Yoram
• Position: Report

J. Puhvel gave in his Hittite Etymological Dictionary, Volume K (Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, 1997), 227, under the entry kurtal(i), kurtalli- (n.) the meaning 'crate, hamper, basket.' Indeed the meaning of this Hittite word, many times preceded by either the determinative GIS or GI, was already suggested by E. Laroche in his review of J. Friedrich's Hethitisches Worterbuch (Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1953). Laroche wrote that kurtal(i) means "recipient en bois (GIS) ou en vannerie (GI)," (1) and his translation has rightly been accepted ever since. (2)

Puhvel proceeded to add a second meaning for Hittite kurtal(i), as the "name of the constellation (MUL) Pleiad(es)." This meaning, which is based on a single source, is exceptional, because otherwise the Pleiades constellation is always written [.sup.d.7.7](.BI) in Hittite texts, or with the likely Hittiticized lemma for this deified star-group, [.sup.d.Seppitta]. (3)

The meaning of kurtal(i) as the constellation Pleiades was taken by Puhvel to be an inherited Indo-European word of significant cultural meaning. As he says, "[d]ecisive for the etymology is kurtal as an apparently inherited name for the Pleiad ... It is in line with other Indo-European 'wickerwork' terms for the Pleiad, from Italy ... to India ..." (4) This notion was also accepted by J. Tischler, (5) although the connection between kurtal(i) and Indo-European basket-like words for the Pleiades was first suggested by G. Neumann. (6) Neither Puhvel, Tischler, nor Neumann claimed for themselves the discovery of the equation between kurtal(i) and the Pleiades, but referred to H. Otten and W. von Soden, Das akkadisch-hethitische Vokabular KBo I 44 + KBo XIII 1 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1968), 40, where this meaning was derived from a single source--902/z, later published as KBo 26.34--a fragment of the [S.sup.a] Vocabulary. (7) It is because of the interpretation of Otten and von Soden, therefore, that kurtal(i) has been understood as the Hittite word for the Pleiades. However, their interpretation can now be proven to be mistaken. (8)

Otten and von Soden, Das akkadisch-hethitische Vokabular, 39-41, provided comments on the Bogazkoy [S.sup.a] Vocabulary fragment 902/z (= KBo 26.34). Although the pronunciation and Sumerian or sign columns were missing from the reverse of the tablet, Otten and von Soden reconstructed the sequence of the signs as [[KISIM.sub.5]], [AN], [MUL], [SUHUB], [HAL], and [UR] on the basis of what survived in the fragmentary Akkadian and Hittite columns. Line 7' of the fragment was reconstructed thus:

Pronunciation Sign Akkadian Hittite [mu-ul] [MUL] za[p.sup.!]-pu kur-[t]a-a-al 'Plejaden' The line's restoration rested on the well documented equation between MUL and the Akkadian word zappu, '(animal) hair,' or 'mane' (of the constellation Taurus), identified with the Pleiades. (9) However, the reading of the line depended on an incorrect emendation of the first sign of the Akkadian entry. The sign in question is partially broken, but recent collation of the tablet's photograph has proven with no doubt that it should be restored as [n]ap, like the sign directly below in 8', and definitely not corrected to za[p.sup.!]. (10) Furthermore, a reading MUL is likewise impossible. (11)

The error of Otten and von Soden's reconstruction can be demonstrated by comparing the Emar recensions of the [S.sup.a] Vocabulary, not yet discovered when they wrote their commentary. (12) The Emar [S.sup.a] Vocabulary gives the following equations:

Emar [S.sup.a] Vocabulary, Copy 1, iii (= Msk 74171b = Arnaud, Recherches, 17, 281-92)

24 AN sa-mu-u 'sky' 25 sa-a AN er-se-tum 'earth' 26 ti-kar AN dingir-lim 'god' 27 MIN AN a-mi-lu 'man' 28 NAB nab-bu 'god' 29 MUL ka-ak-ka-bu 'star' Emar [S.sup.a] Vocabulary, Copy 3, rev. vi' (= Msk 74231a = Arnaud, Recherches, 17, 281-92)

1' A[N] [sa-mu-u] ['sky'] 2' AN [er-se-tum] ['earth'] 3' na-ab [a-na-mi]-na-be sign-name ('nab...