V71 C:r42 GÁL.ME OV – C has the plural marker ME, against
M:r14 ]MEŠ MEŠ in M.
Discussion of the Variants
Orthographic Variants
There are some common orthographic phenomena that persist across the different
sources, and also a few nuances that appear to be more narrowly represented. Common
variations include the use of logographic forms that are spelled syllabically in parallel
documents, and variation between signs used to represent commonly occurring mor-
phemes such as plural markers. We may also mention the presence or absence of pho-
netic complements. While some variations appear to cluster in sources of a given prove-
nience, other variants occur relatively frequently in any two parallel sources, indeed even
within the one document. This might be said to be a natural result of the flexibility inher-
ent in the cuneiform writing system. A brief survey of the orthographic variants will illus-
trate this point.
A common term appearing in two forms is the word ḫarāmu, literally meaning “to cover
up,” which in the present context describes the heliacal setting and subsequent disappear-
ance of a planet that has entered either inferior or superior conjunction with the sun. The
term is written syllabically as “uḫ-ḫa-ram” but it also appears often as the logogram
“ZAL.”^196 It is written syllabically 50 times and logographically 18 times.A preference for one form or the other in different sources is identifiable, but some
sources use both terms. A+M always writes this word syllabically, 15 times in the sec-
tions of text examined here. The source F+H+J shows almost completely the opposite
practice with five out of six occurrences of this term employing the logogram ZAL.(^196) In every instance the emphatic particle is added to the syllabic form and the logographic form, so that in
the text the term appears as “uḫ-ḫa-ram-ma” and “ZAL-ma” respectively.