M279 A iv 21 MUL né-bu-ú HV – A and AA record kakkabu
nebûthe 15, “the bright star,” as visible on th of Du’uzu, against T and R
which record “the faint stars,” as visible on that kakkabū ummulūtu,
date.^322
(^) T iv 9 R 10 u]m-mu-lu-tú m]eš um-mu-lu-tú
AA iii 3 MUL né-b[u
(^) M280 A iv 21 (^) mul ŠU.GI (^) OV – The preposition determinative
O iii 5 R 10 mmúl]ul[ ŠU.GI is written as MÚL in R, against MUL in the other sources.
T iv 9 mu l[
M281 A iv 21 MIN SV(2) – A writes Wiederholungszei-
(^) T iv 10 GA]BA-ka GUB-ma O iii 6 GA]BA-k[a chenother sources. against the full clause in the (^323)
AA iii 4 IGI-it GABA-k[a
M282 A iv 22 UD.15.KAM HV – AA has the date for sighting kakkabū ummulūtu, “the faint stars,”
as the 5th of Abu, recorded as the 15th
of Abu in A and O.
O iii 7 UD.15[ AA iii 5 UD.5.KAM
M283 A iv 22 MUL meš um-mu-lu-tu 4 SV(1) – A has a plural noun, ummulūtu, “the faint stars,” against a kakkabū
singular noun in AA.^324
AA iii 5 MUL um-mu[
(^322) A and AA read: ina Du’ūzi UD 15 (^) kakkabu nebû ša Šībi ina qabal šamê ... ina Abi UD 15 kakkabū um-
mulūtu ša Šībi ina qabal šamê, “on the 15th day of the month Du’uzu the bright star of the Old Man (α
Persei) is positioned in the middle of the sky ... on the 15th day of the month Abu the faint stars of the Old
Man are positioned in the middle of the sky” (A iv 21-22; AA iii 3-5). This is in contrast to R and T which,
though now quite damaged, can be restored to read: ina Du’ūzi UD 15 kakkabū ummulūtu ša Šībi ina qabal
šamê ... ina Abi UD 15 kakkabu nebû ša Šībi ina qabal šamê, “on the 15th day of the month Du’uzu the
faint stars of the Old Man are positioned in the middle of the sky ... on the 15th day of the month Abu the
bright star of the Old Man is positioned in the middle of the sky” (R 10; T iv 9-11). The interchange of
ziqpu stars for the fourth and fifth months is quite possibly an error (see note ), but its effect on the text is
considered as a hermeneutic variation given that alternative stars are referred to. See also M284 below. 323
The sign “MIN” in A iv 21 indicates a repetition of the text from the line above: meḫret irtika izzazma,
“it is positioned opposite your breast.” See the discussion above on the marking of Wiederholungszeichen
in cuneiform in note. 324
AA seems to refer to only one “faint star” in the constellation Perseus while A makes reference to mul-
tiple “faint stars.” This could in truth be an unmarked plural but as the text stands it should be read as a
singular noun. Further, the scribe of AA marks the plural correctly as “MUL meš” in AA ii 17.