Nov.5] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY. [1S89.eachother,I had no difficulty in recognising the Accadian tinin
the Chinese fun," the breath " ; cp. fun, " to swallow " (old sound
t'un;Amoytun,t'ui);t'ien, "thesky," "theair"(oldsound t'in,
t'im,din,dim). With tu, "the wind,"cp. fui, "a rapid gustof
wind," "a whirlwind." Dub in Accadian is a tablet for writing
upon,or a written document(= Assyrian duppu, a loan-word, of
course),anddub-saris the scribe whowritessuchtablets(Assyrian
dupsarru, IDEtO)- Thewordrevealsitselfat once in Chinese as
tie, " tablets for writing on " ; " records of families " ; " official
despatches,"etc. ; old sound, dip ; the Cantonese tip. WithSwatow
andAmoyHap,cp. Tal. K*f. (Sar,sata.ru,to write " = Chinese sie,
"to write.")
In the syllabary the sign t^Uiy, with the sound dub,is repeated
six times, with the Assyyian meaningstuppu, "tablet"(the/ is
interestingin the light of the Chinese tie, lip) ; Sapdku, " to pour
out," " heap up earth," used of raising moundsand earthworks;
tabaku,"to pour a libation," " saraqu, "to empty,"sibu, "to dip,"
and /am//," to surround " (a city with a wall, or an investing force).
It is surely very remarkable thatin Chinese we have tie (tip),
"a high hillock,"tieh,"jutting," "anythingabovethe surface," tie,
"to surroundwith a parapet or breastwork," and, as sapdku is
also usedof buildings fallingintoheapsof ruin (iisapikH/aniSI);
tii, " to fall down." All these Chinese termsare grouped under
tieh (old sounds, dit, dip, and tip), along with tie, "tablets
for writing on." (Cp. Ezek. xxvi, 8; "^Dtt? aggessit aggerem,
aufschiitten; Isa. lvii, 6, effudit libamen; Psalm lxxiii,2, effusus =
lapsusest.) Finally,we have lien, "tosinkinto," "overwhelmed
in," answering to dub = sibii, "to dip," and lien, "to offer libations,"
" pour out (a libation "), as equivalent of tabdku, and saraqu(old
soundstin, tim, dien). For the remaining ^JJIf, pronounceddig'
(di-ih)= abnu, I will account presently.
I have spokenof tin, "to live,""life." Thewellknownname
of Babylon, tin-tir-ki, " Living + seat + place " = abode of life ;
containsalsothe element tir. Thisis not "wood,"gi5-tir,but is
definedsubtu(Subatbalati); and we may compare lien, " a palace,"
or if the literal ideaof " seat " be insisted upon,Hen,a cushion "
(for sitting on),lien "a fine bamboo mat"; tun,"a heap," "a block
of stone or wood " ; "low," "squat,"e.g.,"lowcushions,to sit on."
Cp. also fun," to dwell " (old sound,tun).
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