M234 K iii 7 u 4 -me OV(l) – Possible difference in pro-
JJ iii 3 m]i nunciation.
M235 A iv 1 J iii 3 MUL DIŠ MUL SV(1) – tive DIŠ is lacking in A. The preposition determina-
(^) M236 A iv 1 (^) DIŠ MUL meš šá ziq-pi (^) SV(1) – The relative pronoun is lack-
J iii 3 DIŠ MUL meš ziq-pi ing in J.
(^) M237 A iv 2 (^) šá Not Counted – Though clearly not
J iii 4 šá Q iii 1 š[a (?) ŠÁ, the sign in Q is broken and there-fore ultimately uncertain.
(^) M238 A iv 2 (^) GUB meš-ma (^) SV(1) – Difference in number. (^310)
K iii 8 ]az-ma
JJ ii 5 a]z-ma
M239 J iii 4 K iii 8 ŠÚ ŠÚ-bi OV – K lacks the phonetic comple-ment.
(^310) K and JJ have a singular verb izzazzuma (^) , “it is positioned,” against the plural verb izzazzūma in A. K,
and possibly JJ, could have a singular verb with a phonetic complement but the situation is far from certain.
Much depends on the reading of the context, which is only fully preserved in A: kakkabū ziqpi ša ina
ḫarrān šūt Enlil ina qabal šamê ina meḫret irti ša naṣir šamê izzazzūma mūša napāḫa u rabâ ša kakkabī
ina libbišunu immaru, “The ziqpu stars, which are in the path of Enlil in the middle of the sky, are posi-
tioned opposite the breast of the observer of the sky; nightly the risings and settings of the stars in their
midst he (the observer) sees.” The verb izzazzūma, written with the plural marker in A but without it in K
and JJ, appears to refer to the subject kakkabū ziqpi, “the ziqpu stars.” The question is whether or not K and
JJ treat the subject as singular or plural. While the beginning of the clause, including the noun that refers to
the subject, is missing in K and JJ, the noun plus masculine plural possessive pronominal suffix libbišunu,
“their midst,” is preserved. If one considers this pronominal suffix to refer to the subject, kakkabū ziqpi,
then it seems clear that K refers to a plural noun. Such a reading would require that the variant in K and JJ
“GUB-az-ma” is read as an unmarked form of the plural verb izzazzūma. However, if the noun plus posses-
sive pronominal suffix libbišunu refers to something other than the ziqpu stars (such as šamê, “the heav-
ens”) then the reading of a singular verb in K and JJ is quite feasible.