dingo
dubsartur (junior scribe)
Posts: 21
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Post by dingo on Sept 5, 2011 8:51:35 GMT -5
Hi Enkur, I've always found the Gišgal sign quite difficult to understand. According to the sign-lists there actually are two forms for this sign both found from the proto-cuneifrom era. I've made a few quick sketches of their earliest forms and attached it as a word doc. The sign based on URU is generally known as URUxA (ie the URU sign with an inscribed A) but it isn't usually listed as 'Gišgal' except by Labat. From the Old Babylonian period onwards this sign seems to take precedence for Gišgal. As you will see the inscribed sign is usually A but can also be MIN and even ZA. The other sign is more varied, but is typically called Gišgal throughout its history. Its very difficult to say what may be depicted here. Its closest parallels as a design could be KALA meaning 'strong' etc - but that is a subjective judgment. Dingo Attachments:
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Post by enkur on Sept 7, 2011 5:31:24 GMT -5
Thank you very much, Dingo! Now while the signs for the east wind could be directly associated with the mountain and the sign for the north wind makes an allusion to the axe's property ( in Wiggermann's study the north wind holds a cutting blade too), the sign for the turbulent south wind remains uclear as a symbolism. I'm taking into account your subjective association with KAL as a closest parallel but I will write to you a PM about a purely occult key to understanding the meaning of unknown symbols. On the other hand, the west wind, (im/tumu) martu suggests some interesting associations when analysed. The sign MAR: has these ePSD meanings: louse; worm; parasite shovel to smear wagon to winnow Its archaic form suggest something penetrating - were it a parasite which eats through the wood (or an intruding nomadic wagon through the land?). I don't know Sumerian but with TU I would read martu as a parasite-bearing wind. TU's archaic form suggests something really detrimental - the effect of MAR. Some illness striking down the heart? TU is also tur5 - illness, disease; (to be) ill.
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dingo
dubsartur (junior scribe)
Posts: 21
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Post by dingo on Sept 7, 2011 11:46:40 GMT -5
Hi Enkur, the commonest way of writing north wind is IM/TUMU SI-SA2 which means something like the 'straight and true' wind. Personally I do like the idea of the north wind being associated with an axe (via the less common writing IM/TUMU MER) - that makes sense to me on a symbolic level - though I don't know of any other data that compliments or confirms it. I had a couple of thoughts on the south wind (IM/TUMU ULU3 etc) - a bit vague admittedly - perhaps its written form is alluding to its position as the first wind in all early lists of the winds (the north wind did eventually take on 'first place' but that was much later). I read somewhere that the south wind could be considered female and the mother of the other 3 winds who were then considered her male offspring. Which again suggests a certain primacy about the south wind. Another factor could be that the direction south is easiest to determine accurately - with a simple gnomon - and this may explain why south is the primary direction and thus the ~base/position~ from which the other directions are determined. Another potential avenue for further exploration is to look at other lexical instances where ULU is used - the one that springs to mind is LU2-ULU meaning 'primordial man'. It is used to refer to 'man' as created by the gods. My intuition tells me there could be something here but as usual my intellect can't quite articulate the thought - I will look into my ePSD notes again and see if anything comes up. As to the west wind (IM/TUMU MAR-TU) this is another syllabic writing for the Amorites or the Amurru as they were known in Akkadian. This tribal confederacy entered Mesopotamia from the west and thus gave their name to this quarter. This writing should be compared to the writing of Marduk's name - AMAR-UD - you can see that the consonant pattern of the writings do indeed approximate the respective god-name and regional name. Even if the combo MAR-TU is just a syllabic spelling there is no good reason why it cannot be put through the 'lexical interpretation mill' and just as Marduk can be the ~calf of the sun~ so further meanings can potentially be derived from the signs MAR-TU. Thus your reading of MAR-TU as a "parasite-bearing wind" although not derived from any etymology is strangely appropriate. It can be compared to the Sumerian notion that invaders/colonizers are typically described as a "destructive storm" that devastates the land. Concerning the signs MAR & TU. The MAR-sign is meant to depict a winnowing shovel which would immediately explain two of the sign's meanings. According to what I have read, the TU-sign actually depicts a cattle-pen adorned with a sacred ring-post. It is very similar to the TUR3-sign (note the similar sound value) which gives a clearer picture of its origins. Some of the meanings attributed to the TU-sign can be understood in this context - 'to give birth to', 'to become ill' etc both refer to animals/men being ~enclosed within a protective environment~. A closely related sign (also depicting a cattle-pen) known as KUR9 also means 'to enter'. Regards, Dingo
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Post by enkur on Sept 8, 2011 4:03:12 GMT -5
Hi Dingo, My main Sumerian textual sources are from the ETCSL where I have attested the use of tumu MIR for the north wind in the following texts: Inana and Šu-kale-tuda: c.1.3.3 - line 253Ninurta's exploits: a šir-sud (?) to Ninurta: c.1.6.2 - line 277The building of Ninĝirsu's temple (Gudea, cylinders A and B): c.2.1.7 - lines 296 and 298A praise poem of Šulgi (Šulgi A): c.2.4.2.01 - line 63A šir-namerima (?) for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan D): c.2.5.3.4 - line 60A praise poem of Išme-Dagan (Išme-Dagan A + V): c.2.5.4.01 - line 244A šir-gida to Ninisina (Ninisina A): c.4.22.1 - line 134The debate between Hoe and Plough: c.5.3.1 - line 75The debate between Grain and Sheep: c.5.3.2 - line 153etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?simplesearchword=north&simplesearch=translation&searchword=&charenc=gcirc&lists=In fact, the only ETCSL source where tumu si-sa2 is used for the north wind is in the Proverbs: collection 4: c.6.1.04 - line 11. I've found also the north wind as MIR in the ED incantation published by Niek Velhuis. Yes, I know tumu si-sa2's meaning like straight and true wind and when you say it's the commonest way of writing north wind, do you mean some administrative or other kind of textual sources? As for the female nature of the south wind, yes, Wiggermann's study on the 4 winds attests it though he investigates imageries from the OB period onward. The association of the west wind im/tumu MAR-TU with the nomadic Amorite tribes from the western Syrian steppe is obvious. Texts like The marriage of Martu: c.1.7.1 - lines 127 - 140 Enki and the world order: c.1.1.3 - lines 132; 249Lugalbanda and the Anzud bird: c.1.8.2.2 - lines 304; 370The cursing of Agade: c.2.1.5 - line 46etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?simplesearchword=martu&simplesearch=translation&searchword=&charenc=gcirc&lists= show what the Sumerians thought about the Amorites - uncivilized barbarians in the best case. The proverb from the above-quoted collection (line 12) the west wind is greater than those who live there also shows a definite attitude. The correspondences between rulers of Ur III and Isin, and their warlords witness the problem with the Amorite intruders: Letter from Aradĝu to Šulgi about irrigation work: c.3.1.03 Letter from Išbi-Erra to Ibbi-Suen about the purchase of grain: c.3.1.17 Letter from Ibbi-Suen to Puzur-Šulgi hoping for Išbi-Erra's downfall: c.3.1.20Letter from Šarrum-bāni to Šu-Suen about keeping the Martu at bay: c.3.1.15Letter from Ibbi-Suen to Išbi-Erra about his bad conduct: c.3.1.18 Letter from Sîn-illat to Iddin-Dagan about confronting the Martu: c.3.2.01Well for me Marduk is a composite archetype wherein both Enki's son Asarluhi and the Amorite hero Martu participate. Unfortunately I have no idea about when certain ETCSL texts are dated but the fact that there were hymns to Martu in Sumerian shows that in the beginning of the second millennium BCE some Amorite peoples got civilized while others stayed nomades The OB greatest king Hammurabi (1792 - 1750 BCE) still respected the old Sumerian pantheon, so the state cult to Marduk as well as Enuma Elish were later inventions - yet before the Hittite conquest and the Kassite dynasty in 1595 BCE. Regards Enkur
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Post by enkur on Sept 8, 2011 8:38:19 GMT -5
By the way, I do strongly agree with Af's older posting in this thread that the traditional 4 winds may not coincide with the geographic directions of the world. I would like to share here something of my own observations as a field sorcerer (the non-occultists may omit it) Well I have worked for a period as a meteorologist but prefer to live in an animistic world. There are in fact 3 main winds which blow where I live. The south wind blows actually from the south-west, it's the Mediterranean cyclone which as a turbulent character approaches my notion of the Sumerian south wind which should in fact blow from the south-east, from the Indian Ocean. It's of female nature - it's warm and moist, violent, sporadic and gustly, able to overthrow big objects and break windows by a single blow. It makes the air somehow transparent and the colours contrasting, it makes the horizons seem very near and inspires some strange mad longing for something indefinite. It causes short rainstorms with lightnings but sometimes raining for a couple of days. The west wind blows actually from the north-west - it's the Atlantic cyclone who is of male nature, strong, constant, moist and cool, normally cold in the winter. It brings forth awesome thunderstorms and raining for several days. In the winter it turns the rain into snow. The north wind blows actually from the north-east. It's of male nature, a great cutter able to freeze one's breath and exstinguish even one's will of life, it's cold and dry, constant and strong, quietly murderous rather than violent. It makes the snow preferable before its clear weather of icy blue sky and biting winter sun. Some fellow-countrymen joke it's caused by the Russians via mighty ventilators installed in Siberia. In fact it's caused by the south-westward motion of the Siberian anti-cyclone. The most awful property of the north wind is to make the winter to return in the spring and thus to destroy any flowering. When the wind stops the icy cold air lies down heavily on the big cities condensing all the dirt and thus causing flu epidemics in the winter. Actually there is no east wind where I live except the sea breezes.
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dingo
dubsartur (junior scribe)
Posts: 21
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Post by dingo on Sept 9, 2011 0:44:58 GMT -5
Hi Enkur, your right regarding IM-MIR being by far the commonest way of writing 'north & north wind' - in Sumerian literature that is. In the Babylonian era and especially in omen collections, astrology and cosmology, the writing IM-SI-SA2 is far commoner. This is not reflected in the ePSD. The CDA gives the Babylonian word ištānu for 'north & north wind' the sole logographic writing IM-SI-SA2. I dont know anywhere near enough about it but I'd guess it is a Sumerian/Akkadian thing! Dingo
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