23.1.3-4
The Birth of the Gracious Gods 23.1.3-4 · A city on high
The hymn goes on describing the gods it calls, in words that are hard to pin down.
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3𐎊𐎚𐎐𐎎𐎖𐎗𐎚𐎍𐎓𐎍𐎊
4𐎁𐎎𐎄𐎁𐎗𐎌𐎔𐎎𐎊𐎄𐎗
as the scribe pressed it into the clay, left to right, a small upright wedge between words
ytnm1
𐎊y𐎚t𐎐n𐎎m1
yatinūma
who givegiving
qrt2
𐎖q𐎗r𐎚t2
qiryatu
a city
lʿly3
𐎍l𐎓ʿ𐎍l𐎊y3
la-ʿalī
on highto the high
, bmdbr4
𐎁b𐎎m𐎄d𐎁b𐎗r4
bi-midbari
in the wildernessin the steppe
, špm5
𐎌š𐎔p𐎎m5
šapīma
on the bare heights
, ydr6
𐎊y𐎄d𐎗r6
ydr
(meaning uncertain)ydr
who give a city on high, in the wilderness, on the bare heights, ydr…
who give a city on high, in the wilderness, on the bare heights, ydr…
23.1.5-6
The Birth of the Gracious Gods 23.1.5-6 · Eat and drink
The gods are invited to eat bread and drink wine.
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5𐎍𐎗𐎛𐎌𐎅𐎎𐎆𐎊𐎌𐎎
6𐎍𐎈𐎎𐎁𐎍𐎈𐎎𐎀𐎊𐎆𐎌𐎚𐎊𐎁𐎃𐎎𐎗𐎊𐎐𐎀𐎊
as the scribe pressed it into the clay, left to right, a small upright wedge between words
On their heads and… Eat of any bread, and drink of any foaming wine.
Word by word the line is clear enough: give, city, high, wilderness. How the words fit together is argued. A common reading takes the gods as givers of a city on high, with the wilderness and the bare heights as their country, the same wilderness they are sent to at the end of the poem.
špm is often compared with a Hebrew word for bare hilltops. ydr is not understood.