Edubba A school of writing systems

Cuneiform 103 · Chapter 13

Warm-up · 6 quick retrievals from earlier chapters
  1. 𒊹 — read it

    [šar] — myriad · ŠAR2 · 3600 — the number of everything ↩

  2. 𒄰 [kam] — what does it mean?

    ordinal · KAM · the counting tag after numbers — "-th" ↩

  3. window — draw it, then check

    𒀊 [ab/ap] · AB · a window in the lists ↩

  4. 𒌉 — read it

    [mārum] — child · TUR · veteran — TUR gains [mārum]: the son-sign DUMU as a sumerogram ↩

  5. 𒅋 [il] — what does it mean?

    step · IL · the il- of illak, "he goes" ↩

  6. nook — draw it, then check

    𒌒 [ub] · UB · [ub]; a corner-nook in the lists ↩

I am he

Since chapter 04 this course has promised you the moment the king stops speaking in the third person. It is here — one word, anāku, “I” — and on the way to it, the stele pays off two more debts: the blessing that echoes the creed of chapter 07, and the verb chapter 08 left hanging in the air.

Batch fourteen

SignNameKeyReadsMeansNotes
𒌌ULnever[ul] the flat no of statements chapter 05's lā denies inside conditions; ul denies flat out
𒁲DIverdict[ṭi] — veteran — 102's verdict-sign, pressed to ṭi

The king says who he is

Ten lines of the epilogue, read whole. Every other sign is review; read it aloud and hear how much language you own now:

𒅆𒅕 𒉌𒅆𒋗ši-ir ni-ši-šušīr nišīšu — "the flesh of his people…"
𒇷𒁲𒅁li-ṭi-ibliṭīb — "…may he make well:"
𒁹𒄩𒄠𒈬𒊏𒁉{diš}ḫa-am-mu-ra-piḪammurapi — "Ḫammurapi,"
𒈪𒊭𒊑𒅎 mi-ša-ri-imšar mīšarim — "king of justice,"
𒊭 𒀭 𒆠𒈾𒁴ša {d} ki-na-timša Šamaš kīnātim — "to whom Šamaš the truths…"
𒅖𒊒𒆪𒋳 𒀀𒈾𒆪iš-ru-ku-šum a-na-kuišrukūšum anāku — "…granted — am I."
𒀀𒉿𒌅𒌑𒀀 𒈾𒀾𒂵a-wa-tu-u-a na-as-qaawâtūya nasqā — "My words are choice,"
𒅁𒊺𒌅𒌑𒀀ep-še-tu-u-aepšētūya — "my deeds…"
𒊭𒉌𒉆ša-ni-namšāninam — "…a rival…"
𒌑𒌌 𒄿𒊭𒀀u-ul i-ša-aul išâ — "…do NOT have." Breath released.
Codex Hammurapi (composite text), epilogue. urn:nabu:cdli:p464358:a:3330'–:a:3339' · license: attribution.

Item by item — three new pieces, and one long-awaited word:

  • liṭīb — “may he make well”: ṭâbum, the well-verb of chapter 07’s ṭubbim, wearing l- in front — the precative, the wish form. One letter turns a statement into a blessing. Note the echo: the commission said ana šīr nišī ṭubbim; the epilogue answers šīr nišīšu liṭīb. The monument rhymes with itself.
  • ša … išrukūšum — “to whom (Šamaš) granted”: chapter 00’s ša opening a clause, the granting-verb carrying -šum, “to him” — the giving family of suffixes, one vowel from -šu.
  • anāku — “I”: the independent pronoun, standing at the end of eleven lines of titles like a signature at the end of a page. Everything before it — king of justice, favorite of Šamaš — is one long noun phrase, and anāku is the verbless sentence that owns it: all of that — am I.
  • ul išâ — “have no (rival)”: the having-verb, negated with this chapter’s ul. Chapter 05’s lā lives inside conditions and wishes; ul is for flat statements of fact. The king’s boast could take no other negation.

Two negations, one line each

WordWhere it livesYou have read it
lāinside clauses: conditions, relative clauses, prohibitionslā uktīnšu · ana lā ḫabālim
ulflat denial in a main statementšāninam ul išâ

Drill before you go on

  1. Write 𒌌 from memory; say ul.
  2. Turn a verdict into a blessing: what did the l- do to ṭâbum? Say both forms aloud.
  3. lā or ul: “he did not convict him” — “my deeds have no rival” — “so that the strong not wrong the weak.” Answer, then say why.
  4. Recite the six title-lines from Ḫammurapi to anāku, aloud, from the signs.

Next: where you stand, measured — and the last box falls.