Cyprian Cuneifom Name List
A CYPRIAN TABLET FROM UGARIT (RS 20.25)
Brian Colless (2008)
Tablet with Cyprian cuneiform inscription from Ugarit (Ras Shamra 20.25)
(Copy drawn by Emilia Masson)
http://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/CCRS20.25transcr.jpg
Click there to see an enlargement of the text with my transcription
My notes show that Werner Nahm (WN) has already done the research to match the names with Semitic, Hurrian, and Anatolian counterparts; also it emerges that his identification of the signs was basically correct.
SIDE A
[1] AKAKLA [PI] PIRU MALI |
Cp. AKALAPI PIRU MAKI in line 15. As the names regularly end in -i, Akalapi would seem preferable to Akala.
Cp. Hurrian Aqalaya, Agalibi, and Maliya (Werner Nahm)
PIRU is presumably the word for 'son'; the Semitic term is bin, and so it is tempting to identify the RU sign as NU. But Aramaic bar (or bir) might explain PIRU here. West Semitic pr 'fruit,offspring' is less probable.
[2] ATI PIRU AZUSAMI |
There is no separater before PIRU, but it is presumably the recurring word for 'son'; and Atti and Addi are Hurrian counterparts for ATI (WN).
A-ZU-SA-MI is transcribed as a-?-sha-pi by Nahm, and he invokes the Hurrian god Irshap. Sign 74 resembles a church-window, and may correspond to LAB79, ZU. It also occurs in line 17.
[3] ISIPALI |
Nahm recognizes West Semitic Ishi-ba`al ('man of Ba`al) attested at Ugarit; cp. ILIPALI on clay ball B79 (a53).
[4] ANENI MAKAPIYI |
Nahm adduces Anani from Alalakh, and bn 'ann from Ugarit.
The ethnic adjective (not Maccabee?) goes with Ugaritic m`qby (from the place-name Ma`qabu) (WN).
[5] ATATARI PIRU TAYANI |
Atatari (cp. Semitic 'Addîr, 'mighty'?).
Tayani: the Hurrian form of Semitic Dayyânu, 'judge' (but T and D are not distinguished in the Cyprian script).
[6] IYAPATI PIRU EKEKASI |
Jean Faucounau cites two Hurrian names from Nuzi: Ekhkh- and Iyaliti (PA and LI are similar in the Cyprian script, seen side by side in line 3).
[7] PIRU EMENI |
'Son of the god Amon? Hurrian name Emena (WN).
[8] NUMESAPI PIRU KAPILI |
Numesapi: Ugaritic name N`mrsp (nu-ma-re-sha-ip) (WN).
Kapili: Ugr. bin Kabuli (WN).
[9] TUTANI ILIYANI TUYANIYI |
Tutani seems Anatolian, and cp Ugr ttn and Amorite Dudanim (WN).
Iliyani goes with Ugr Iliyanu (WN).
Ugr Tyn is personal not gentilic.
[10] TANANI PIRU ILITAMARI |
Tanani, Ugr Dananu, Hrn Tanani (WN).
Ilitamari, Ugr ilthtmr (WN).
[11] ANEYANI PIRU ZERUWANI |
Aneyani: cp Anatolian Anneya, Anina? (WN)
Zeruwani: cp Anatolian Saruwani ? (WN)
SIDE B
[12] ULAMORI [ ]PANIYI |
Ulamori: Ul-amuuru (the god Amurru is strong)? (WN)
[ ]PANIYI: cp gentilic Shubaniyi? (WN)
[13] KOSARAPI |
Ugr K-th-r-a-b (the god Kothar is my father?) (WN)
[14] ILIMALIKI PIRU UMIMOTI|
Note that the last two signs (mo-ti) are at the end of line 15; and the final syllable (ki) of line 15 is forced upwards into the space between lines 15 and 16.
Ilimaliki: Ugr Ili-malik (WN)
Piru Umimoti: Ugr bn ummt, bin ummi-moti, 'son of a dead mother' (WN)
[15] AKALAPI PIRU MAKI |
Akalapi: Hrn Agalibi, Ugr aglby (WN); cp Akala(pi) in line 1.
Maki: Hrn Make, Mage (WN)
[16] EWETASALI ARAPIMASAKOLI |
Ewetasali: Hrn ewir-tashal, Ugr iwrtdhl; Hrn iwr, 'lord'.
Arapimasakoli: there is no piru preceding it ?
[17] AZURAPI SI[ ] [MA]KI[SA]PARI |
Azurapi: Nahm has (inexplicably) A-?-ra-te. Reading MU instead of ZU (Jean Faucounau), we see `Amurapi, a celebrated royal name,belonging not only to the great King of Babylonia ('Hammurabi') but also to a ruler of Ugarit. There is no MU-sign (with bovine features) in this text, but in Enkomi Tablet 1 we can distinguish MU (54,55) from this character (74). I have not found a counterpart for Azurapi, but `az means 'strong', and is found in personal names; `zb`l is a ritual name for the king of Ugarit.
The rest of the line, with three signs unclear, is a mystery, but SAPARI might have a connection with spr 'to count', and sapir 'scribe, recorder', and sipru 'list', all apparently relevant to the present document.
Emilia Masson shows a TU at the end of the line, which breaks the rule of having the names end in -i; but this may not be a name, and may fit into the pattern of PIRU (nominative case, not genitive); but it may simply be the usual marker for the end of a line (which is not a simple straight stroke, as I have transcribed it throughout).
[18] MOZENI PIRU MAKI |
Mozeni: Hurrian (WN)
Maki: as in line 15.46)
[19] SASIMALIKI ZEPERI PA |
Sasimaliki: Shamshi-Malik, cp Shamshi-Adad and the like (WN).
Zeperi: Nahm finds the word 'scribe' in this (see my note on line 17), and Sasimaliki as the signature of the recorder, citing an example at the end of a document from Ugarit: Bs.mn spr, 'Bs.mn the scribe'.
My tentative suggestion is that shamshi-maliki means 'servants of the king'; and zeperi is Ugr s.br 'team (of workers)' (so Cyrus Gordon, in his Ugaritic Textbook,1965, but others disagree about the sense of the word); root s.br 'gather together'.
PA: could be 'and' (et cetera?); or 'here' ('in attendance').
REFERENCES
Emilia Masson, Cyprominoica (1974), 64 pages; La tablette RS 20.25 (29-
Werner Nahm, Studien zur kypro-minoischen Schrift, Kadmos 20 (1981) 52-63 (59-63, on this document, RS 20.25)
This article (with which Nahm had assistance from Chadwick and Neumann) should be recognized as the breakthrough in deciphering this script. References to earlier groundbreaking studies are found in his note 1. In an addendum he acknowledges the work of Jean Faucounau (Syria 54, 1977, 290ff) who has also made a considerable contribution to the solution of this problem, and who has personally given me stimulation in constructing grids of Cretan Linear A and Cyprian syllabograms.
For my own tables of signs and values, see: https://homepages.inspire.net.nz/~briancolless/Collesseum/ccs.html