Middle Babylonian period yield some trilingual versions, as scribes translated the
foreign Sumerian and Akkadian languages into something more familiar to them.
From Hattusa come Sumerian–Akkadian–Hittite texts, from Syria Sumerian–Akkadian–
Hurrian and sometimes even quadrilingual Sumerian–Akkadian–Hurrian–Ugaritic
texts. Exceptionally other languages are known: there is one fragment of Kassite–
Akkadian and another of Egyptian–Akkadian text.^8 With the trivial exception of
these two fragments, all lists had the Sumerian column on the left, with the Akkadian
column to the right. And until now all lists had been organised according to the text
of the Sumerian column. While tradition dictated that the Sumerian column remain
on the left, lists could now be organised (in part or in whole) according to the text
of the right hand, Akkadian column.^9 Sumerian was by now long since dead, but it
still retained great prestige and new texts were even composed in that language. The
new lists of this period were designed to help with that process, and act as a kind of
index to the older lists.
The new lists include Nabnitu, Erimhush and perhaps already Antagal. Nabnitu
is ordered according to two major principles. It is thematic, containing terms for
body parts and activities relating to them in head-to-foot order. These are then
grouped etymologically (according to the Akkadian column^10 ), with individual entries
then arranged according to phonological shape. It begins:
Sumerian Akkadian meaning
SIG 7 .ALAN nabnı ̄tu ‘appearance’
ALANa-lam.ALAN bunnannû ‘appearance’
na-abnab
4 DITTO
sa-asa
7 DITTO
igi bu ̄nu ‘features, face’
i-bi 2 DITTO EME.SAL ‘same, in the Emesal dialect’
igi-KA DITTO
i-bi 2 -KA DITTO EME.SAL
musˇ 3 -me DITTO
sag-ki DITTO
musˇ 3 -me-sag-ki DITTOErimhush collects small groups of related words. It begins:
Sumerian Akkadian meaning
erim-husˇ anantu ‘battle’
LU 2. ippiru ‘struggle’
LU 2
zag-nu-sa 2 -a adammû ‘onslaught’Antagal is one of the most intriguing of Babylonian lists. Although familiar to us
mostly from Neo-Assyrian sources, one Neo-Babylonian source is known and scribal
colophons inform us that these are copies of ancient clay and wooden tablets from
— Jon Taylor —