Questions etc. On the Revisions on Sisig thread

[us4-he2-gal2]

Thread Orientation: I had to re-order some of my posts on the Revisions to Sisig thread so that the material made good progressive order - for further clarity I hope here to repost questions and comments which are supplementary/ conversational. Cheers.

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Posted Feb 26./ Saharda:


The sisig discussion just won't quit. It has seen us through the entire life of this board, and was with us even before this community formed.

For my part I can see the word being a gentle breeze and a dream at the same time without trouble if the Sumerians had vents in the same way that the Greeks did. This would seem to forward the idea that Enkidu was simply a hallucination at this point, or at best a vision of a ghost. When one notes the concept of the breath of life and that this is mythology that may or may not be a mythologised view of a physical event, then we have Enkidu returning physically to the world of the living through this gateway / fissure formed after all by a god.

[us4-he2-gal2]

us4-he2-gal/Feb 25:

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You know I never quit anything Saharda heh. yes. Just beginning, I assure you.

[us4-he2-gal2]

xuchilpaba - Feb. 26:

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So.. Is there more than one word to describe a spirit? I mean for example 'lil' can be 'wind' but could it refer to a haunting spirit, where as other words are used for a human spirit?

[us4-he2-gal2]

Saharda Mar. 5:

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More than one word to describe a spirit? There's a virtual rainbow of words and word combinations. I could link you to a Sumerian Lexicon and you could search the page for the words Ghost, demon, spirit, essence, and entity. Even then, the author is rather conservative in what he decides to put in. Most god names aren't listed for example even though the word components are the most interesting in my opinion.

[us4-he2-gal2]

us4-he2-gal2 Mar. 6:

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Certainly as we've seen at various points -and sometimes depending on the genre of literature lamentation/incantation etc- terms such as lil2, sisig or zaqiqu may imply ghost. A more common or substantiated term for ghost is gidim Akk. eţemmu a common feature of Old Babylonian and later incantations. Katz 2002 refers to a funerary ritual referred to as "Lulil and his sister", where lú-lil (katz gives no acute acent or subscript number for lil) is interpreted as "man-spirit". In this particular use, the term man spirit is an appellation of the dying fertility god, whose spirit is sent on its way in this ritual, by his sister.

pg.205:
"40. The brother answered his sister:
41. Release me my sister, release me.
42. Egime release me, my sister release me,
43. Sister, do not reprach me, I am not a man who can see,
44. Egime, do not reproach me, I am not a man who can see,
45. My mother the exalted lady, do not reproach me, I am not
a man who can see."

[us4-he2-gal2]

Saharda Mar. 7:

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Sisig needs his own thread at this point. Heck Sisig needs his own modern ritual following considering how much attention he is getting. Not that I really mind, but it's just stunning how such a minor point is so major a discussion point.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Saharda March 7:

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What I meant by own thread is that it needs it's own folder.