Anatolia is a vast country with varied climatic, geomorphical and soil conditions-from Mediterranean regions growing olives, vines and citrus, through the semi-arid zones of the central anatolian plateau which yields grains, to the mountainous regions in the east and the north which serve mainly as pasture lands (Singer 1987).

In parallel to Itamar Singer's geographical observation, Hittite texts reveal a rich variety of food plants utilized by the inhabitants of this region in the Late Bronze Age (Hoffner 1974, ch. 4). Of these, oil-bearing plants certainly numbered among the most significant. Singer's article, "Oil in Anatolia according to Hittite Texts," only represents a summarizing of the work of others, yet he has given a clear picture of the main lines of what the Hittite texts reveal about the use of oil.

Previous Research

Güterbock offers (1968) the only systematic discussion of oil and oil-bearing plants in Hittite Anatolia. Güterbock's primary contribution was to demonstrate that GISsamama, which had been supposed by many Hittitologists to be the word for "sesame," was in fact a variety of nut, and that the most probable candidate for "sesame" was sapsama. But along the way Güterbock also signaled other words for oil-producing plants-the Akkadogram GISSERDU "olive" and GISleti. Hoffner's 1974 study mentioned oil, especially olive oil, but did not exploit the textual evidence.

Words for "Oil," "Fat," and Similar Products

Philologists dealing with a dead language are at the mercy of their documentation and the limitations of their writing systems. In the case of Hittite, they are also often at the mercy of Sumerian terminology. Since in most cases Hittite words for "oil," "fat," "lard," "tallow," or "grease" are concealed behind logograms derived from the Sumerian language, philologists cannot be sure that the Hittites themselves used the same word or linguistically related words in their own language to designate types of oil, fat, or grease.

Recently it was my good fortune to discover the Hittite reading of one of the primary terms in the Hittite texts for oil or fat.(1) It is the neuter noun sagan/sagna-. Its occurrences indicate that it can represent either "oil" proper, i.e., a more fluid substance which in the case of an animal source would be the product of rendering its fat, and solid "fat" or adipose tissue. Two other syllabically written Hittite words, UZUappuzzi,(2) and (UZU)kuzzaniyant-,(3) have been suggested as the equivalent of the Sumerogram UZU.Ì and as designations of solid animal fat.

Of the Sumerian words used as ideograms or logograms, the most common is simple ’. It seems to have been the broadest designation, capable of indicating either oil or fat, products of either vegetable or animal source. Vegetable oils of all kinds could also be indicated by the compound Sumerogram Ì.GIS, literally "wood/tree oil." Olive oil is indicated by the compound Ì GISSERDUM and possibly also by simple Ì.GIS. Sweet (i.e., perfumed?) oil was Ì.D™G.GA, and butter (or ghee) was ’.NUN.(4)

The succession of signs UZU + Ì can be read either UZUÌ, with the first sign as a determinative, or UZU.Ì. In either case the initial component UZU "flesh" probably indicates that the substance was more solid than liquid. In at least one passage UZU.Ì clearly denotes human flesh (KBo 16.29 [+] KUB 31.104 ii 19-20). This meaning is clear also in HT1 iii 32-35, the ritual of Ashella (Dinçol 1985.) In law Û80 the UZU.’ is the meat of a dead animal as opposed to its hide (KBo 6.3 iv 9-10 [Friedrich 1959], latest English translation by Hoffner 1995). UZU.Ì can also mean one's own "flesh" in the sense of "one's flesh and blood," i.e., a blood relative (Goetze 1933:112-114 ii 8-13 restoring [UZU.Ì] from ibid. ii 2).

Oil in Hittite texts

Oil was one of the minimal essentials in ancient Near Eastern life. This has been noted in connection with ancient Israel, but it is also true in Hittite Anatolia. That being the case, oil is included among the elementary needs of the poor which compassionate people are enjoined to meet. Several texts whose composition goes back to the Old Hittite period mention this (Archi 1979:40-44): to the hungry give bread, to the thirsty water, to the naked clothes (TÚG), to the dried out/desiccated ([ha-t]i-es-sa-an-ti)(5) give oil (’-an = sagnan). The same situation is reflected in a passage from the new Hurro-Hittite bilingual, where the god Teshub is poor and must be helped by his fellow deities. They give food to the hungry god, clothes to the naked god, and oil to the hurtant- god.(6)

Sources of Oil among the Hittites

Oil in Hittite texts can be from an animal or a vegetable source. Oil from plants includes olive oil, sesame oil, cypress (or juniper) oil/resin, and oil extracted from nuts. Oil from animals includes lard (i.e., oil/fat from pigs) and sheep fat.(7)

Animal Fat and Its Value and Uses

Swine Fat = Lard

That animal fat was valuable is clearly indicated by Û90 of the Hittite law code which specifies that, if a dog eats lard (’ SAH "oil/fat of a pig"), the owner of the lard is justified in killing the animal and retrieving the lard from the dog's stomach. This same law also proves that Ì SAH was solid and durable enough to have value even after having been subjected to partial digestion in the stomach of a dog. Furthermore, according to the wording of the law, the dog does not lap up (Hittite laplipa-) the lard, but eats or devours (karap-) it. In an instructions text in Old Hittite handwriting, "high-quality lard" (Ì SAH DÙG.GA) is mentioned at the head of a list of foodstuffs: cheeses, rennet, wheat flour, and bread.(8) Lard was considered a tasty dish even for gods and humans as can be seen from its inclusion alongside of honey, cheese, rennet, sweet milk, and other foodstuffs in two other Old Hittite rituals specifying offerings to the gods.(9)

Sheep Fat or Tallow

Sheep fat or tallow,(10) is placed in or on a KUSkursa-, which has been interpreted as either a "hunting bag" or a "fleece," which in turn is suspended from an evergreen eya-tree as a symbol of the prosperity given by the gods.(11)

That Ì.UDU was a solid substance is also clear from the fact that it is used alongside wax (DUH.LÀL) to make magic figurines (Goetze 1938:8 i 49-50, 12 ii 14-15). The purpose of making the figurines out of wax and sheep tallow is that they will represent evil and will be destroyed in the course of the subsequent ritual. The exact manner of destroying the symbols is unclear. The verb in the ritual text is arha sallanu-, which probably means "to melt down" (Goetze 1938:74).

Butter/Ghee

Butter or ghee (Ì.NUN) was used in the analogical speeches in the Old Hittite incantations: "As (this) honey is sweet, as (this) butter is soft/mild, so may the mind of Telipinu likewise be sweet and mild!" (KUB 17.10 i 25-27; Hoffner 1990).The relative price of butter or ghee is considered below under "Fine Oil;" while its use is noted under "Anointing/Rubbing Horses" and "Burning Oil."

Oil-bearing Plants

Güterbock enumerated the various oil-bearing plants known to the Hittites, which included the olive, sesame, and several plants which are probably nuts.(12)

Olive Oil

Olive oil did not need to be imported, since a Middle Hittite land grant text mentions vineyards, olive trees, and fig trees on the estate of a man named Purlisari in the town of Sayanuwanda (Riemschneider 1958). Another text describes a certain area in Kizzuwatna as containing thirty IKU of fields, two vineyards, and three hundred olive trees (KUB 40.2 obv. 36; Hoffner 1974:116-118). Much earlier in an Old Hittite incantation, there is an appeal to the analogy of the olive holding oil in its heart, the grape holding wine in its heart, and the god holding goodness in his heart toward the king and his land (KUB 17.10 ii 19-21; Hoffner 1990). Olives, figs, and grapes (or raisins) are often mentioned together among materials for rituals. Olive oil (Ì GISSERDUM) is sometimes described as pittalwan (e.g. KBo 5.2 i 12, ii 8) which Goetze (1962:33; CHD s.v. pittalwa-, pittalwant) determined to mean "plain," that is, without additives. The same adjective "plain, without additive" is used to describe bread, stew (TU7), meat, and hay.13 Ì(GIS)SERDUM pât-tal-wa-an is therefore "plain (i.e., virgin) olive oil"(KBo 5.2 i 12, ii 8).

Olives were trodden or crushed with a large stone and the pulp transferred to wicker baskets and shaken. The baskets acted as strainers, and the oil was collected in jars. The top layer, skimmed off, was called "pure" or "beaten" oil. Pittalwan olive oil is most likely this first, cold extraction, which is lighter, of higher quality. The first extraction is unlike the second and third extractions, which routinely require additives such as salt. For this reason it is called "plain" or "unadulterated." The Hebrew and Ugaritic expression for this first extraction was smn ktt usually translated as "beaten oil." Today "virgin olive oil" is the highest quality and draws the highest price.

When olive oil is mentioned alongside breads on lists, the latter are "thin breads" (i.e., pita; e.g. KBo 9.115+ obv. 10). In some passages a sample (anahi) of "thin bread" is dipped in olive oil and placed on the hearth (KUB 45.47 i 48-50).The same verb (suniya-) for "dipping" the bread in olive oil is used in the Hurro-Hittite bilingual in a passage about a dog who steals a freshly baked loaf of bread from an oven, dips it in oil, sits down, and eats it (Hoffner 1994). In a prayer of Muwatalli II, the cult officiant breaks successively three loaves for the Sun goddess of Arinna, for the Storm god pihassassi, for Hebat, and for the Storm god of the Sky, dips them in honey and ’.D™G.GA, and places them on the offering table of the respective deity (KUB 6.46 i 40-56; cf. Pritchard 1969 and Lebrun 1980). When used in rituals, olive oil is associated with "fine/good oil" (’.D™G.GA) and honey (KBo 5.2 i 12).

Sesame Oil

Sesame oil is written either with the Hittite word sapsama or logographically as SE.GIS.’ or ’ SA-AM-SA-AM-MI, but not, as has been recently claimed, also with ’.GIS.14

Cypress oil/resin

Cypress (or juniper) oil/resin (Ì GISSU.ÚR.MIN) is an ingredient in a medical ritual to cure someone who has been seized by the demon DÌM.NUN.ME (KBo 21.20 i 18; Burde 1974:42-46). Since the demon, the treatment, and the Hurrian words pronounced as a spell point to Syria or Northern Mesopotamia, the particular type of oil/resin may have been chosen for this purpose. "Fine Oil" (Ì.DÙG.GA)

This logogram has generally been taken to represent "fine oil," in the sense of sweet-smelling oil or perfume (Friedrich 1952:277; accepted by Rüster et al. 1989). In general, this interpretation is well supported by references to the cosmetic use of ’.D™G.GA. In the myth "Song of Hedammu," the goddess ISTAR bathes, anoints herself with ’.D™G.GA, and then goes to meet and seduce Hedammu (IBoT 2.135 obv. 5-10; Siegelov½ 1971). In the price lists of the Old Hittite laws (laws Û291) one zipattani of Ì.DÙG.GA costs two shekels of silver, while the same amount of ’ SAH or ’.NUN costs one shekel. This obviously establishes Ì.DÙG.GA as the most expensive of the oils. Two shekels of silver was also the price of two sheep, six goats, or one unweaned calf. Singer 1987 notes that in the same law (Û181) one zipattani of fine oil was equivalent in price to eight minas (= 320 shekels) of copper.

In the new Hurro-Hittite bilingual text, the Hurrian hasari is "translated" in the Hittite column by bothÌ and Ì.DÙG.GA (Neu 1988:18). The latter translates hasari in the passage where Tesub, in dire need, is aided by fellow gods who give him ’.D™G.GA (KBo 32.15 ii 14-15). In some rituals wine and Ì.DÙG.GA are mixed together (KBo 21.34 ii 55-56). Since the Hittite word for "wine" (wiyana-, Sumerogram GESTIN) sometimes denotes a cheap wine or vinegar, we can compare the combination of vinegar and oil even today in the seasoning of salads.

One ritual text informs us that Ì.DÙG.GA was kept in horns. It mentions six small ox horns of Ì.DÙG.GA, three belonging to the king and three to the queen (KUB 42.94 i 9-10).

Two interesting uses of Ì.DÙG.GA are found in the funerary ritual for deceased royalty (Otten 1958:67ff.; Gurney 1977 and Singer 1987). After the deceased's body was burned on the funeral pyre, his bones were collected and placed to soak in a large silver vessel filled with fine oil (Ì.DÙG.GA). After they had soaked in the oil, the bones were removed, wrapped in a fine linen cloth, and placed on a chair or stool. There follow various rites, including animal sacrifices, and then the bones are brought to the mausoleum (called the "Stone House"). It is here that we see the second interesting use of the oil. The text reads: "In the inner room of the mausoleum they spread bedding, take the bones from the chair, and put them on the spread bedding. They place a lamp [weighing ƒ] shekels, filled with fine oil (Ì.DÙG.GA) in front of the bones." This is a rare example of Ì.DÙG.GA used as fuel for a lamp. If it is "perfumed oil," the odor might have been considered appropriate, as would incense, in a funerary setting.

Anointing with Oil

Anointing People

The toilet of the upper classes must be reflected in the treatment of the cult statues of the deities. One text tells how eight representations of the Sun goddess of Arinna-three statues and five solar disks-were bathed and then anointed with oil (KUB 25.14 i,15-16). In a letter of the Hittite king to his mother, he complains that he has no Ì.DÙG.GA for anointing himself (KBo 18.2 rev. 6-7, Hagenbuchner 1989:204f.). In the text of a legal deposition, a man named mdISTAR-LÚ gives testimony in which he mentions that a woman gave him oil and instructed him to anoint himself with it when he worshipped the deity.(15) In a letter from the Pharaoh to the King of Arzawa, written in Hittite, the Egyptian monarch speaks of having his servant anoint with oil the head of the woman chosen to become a wife of the king (VBoT 1 obv. 14). The Hittite king was also anointed with oil as part of the ritual of accession to the throne and the priesthood of the Sun goddess of Arinna (Pontifex Maximus) (KUB 36.90:15-18; see also Goetze 1957:90; Gurney 1979; Güterbock 1954:17). This custom is also reflected in the rite of the substitute king, who consequently is anointed with the "oil of kingship" (Ì.DÙG.GA LUGAL-UTTI; KUB 24.5 obv. 19 + KUB 9.13 obv. 7; Kümmel 1967:10f., 28). Singer (1987) also quotes an Akkadian letter written by Hattusili III to the Assyrian king in which Hattusili complains that the Assyrian monarch failed to send him the traditional coronation gifts, which included ceremonial garments and fine oil for anointing (Goetze 1940:27ff.).

An entry in a tablet catalogue describes a ritual performed by a woman physician named Azzari. On the occasion when a commander was going to lead troops into battle, the physician consecrated ’.D™G.GA by pronouncing a spell over it and then used it to anoint the commander, his horses, his chariot(s), and all his weapons (KUB 30.42 i 8-14; Laroche 1971:162).

In an oracle inquiry, it was determined that the deity was angry because the temple personnel had neglected or omitted to give to the deity ’.GIS and ’.D™G.GA °.GAL huhhas "’.D™G.GA of the palace of the grandfather" (KBo 24.122:20-21).

Anointing/Rubbing Horses

In the first tablet of the Kikkuli horse-training manual, trainers are described as anointing/rubbing (the verb is isk(iya)-) horses with ’.NUN (butter, ghee) on the fifth day, after four days of daily washing (KUB 1.13+ iii 4-9, Kammenhuber 1961). The use of "butter" or "ghee" for this purpose seems strange.

Anointing Horns

In the "Song of Ullikummi," a myth of the Kumarbi cycle, oil (Ì.DÙG.GA) is used to anoint the horns of the bulls which draw the cart of the god Teshub (KUB 36.12 iii 3-4, 19-20; Güterbock 1952 and Hoffner 1990). Apparently the horns of male animals were also anointed with oil prior to sacrificing the animals. This practice is clearly documented in the case of goats (KBo11.32 obv. 22-24) and rams (KBo14.21 i 28-31).

Anointing Objects

Similarly, in a ritual text, oil is brought to the deity so that he may lubricate his chariot with it (HT 1 ii 34-38). In a purification ritual, animal-shaped vessels16 are overturned in the river and washed, then oil is dripped into the river, and finally the washed vessels are anointed (isk-) with oil (KUB 30.38 i 22-27). Applying oil to the vessels after they have been washed is analogous to the practice of humans anointing themselves after bathing. In another text, oil is smeared on a door (KUB 9.31 ii 36).

Oil in Daily Life

Burning Oil

One of the principal uses of oil in ancient times was as a fuel for lamps or torches. The texts, however, offer little evidence for this. Only recently, with the discovery of the syllabic writing of the principal Hittite word for "oil," sagn-, has it become possible to recognize that the meaning of the adjective sakuwant- frequently modifying torches (GISzuppari) is "oil-soaked" (Hoffner 1994). The construction of a Hittite torch is unclear. It might have consisted of a stick with the upper end wrapped in cloth, in which case the cloth would have been soaked in oil as fuel.

Lamps were called (DUG)sasanna-, (Ehelolf 1936:190-194; Friedrich 1952:188), written also with the logograms DUGIZI.GAR and (DUG)NURU. It is possible that the wick was called lappina- (Güterbock and Hoffner 1989). Only two passages give any indication of lamp fuel: 2 NAMMANTU ’.NUN sa-sa-an-na-as "two measuring vessels of butter/ghee for lamps" (KUB 44.4 obv. 3 ; KUB 46.30:11), and sasanna[n?ƒ] / [ƒ] G’N ISTU ’.D™G.GA hastiyas piran tiyanzi (KUB 30.15 + 39.19 + 39.11 obv. 49-50, Otten 1958:68ff. See above, p. 110) "They set out in front of the bones a lamp[ƒ] of [x] shekels (filled) with fine oil."

There are other references to the burning of oil. A mixture of honey and oil was burned to produce a pleasant odor for the gods which by smelling the same they could be said to eat and drink (Otten and SouÙek 1969:ii 7-13). Another ritual text also mentions burning cedar, ’.NUN, honey, and other materials to produce a sweet odor (KBo 11.14 i 17-19; Ünal 1994). In still another passage, honey and olive oil are poured into a clay cup and a tiny chip of wood (GISwarsaman) floating on the surface is ignited and burns, perhaps absorbing the oil in which it floats like a wick (KUB 32.8 iii 20-23).

Oil in the Preparation of Food

Oil was used in the preparation of many foods, especially the breads and pastries (see Hoffner 1974 ch. 4). Among these foods we may mention NINDA.’ and NINDA.’.E.D°.A. The latter was a special delicacy made from a wide spectrum of sweet and oily ingredients: oil, sheep fat, milk, butter, and honey. It has been compared to Turkish helva. A stew or thick soup flavored with oil (TU7.Ì = sagnas parsur, see now Hoffner 1994) was considered a particular delicacy and was often served to the king. Olive oil and honey were also poured on top of roasted mutton as a kind of sauce (KBo 2.3 i 51-55, translated in Pritchard 1969:351). Singer (1987) thinks this was done to make it tender.

Oil Attracts and Appeases the Gods

In a prayer of King Mursili II, the king asks that the sweet cedar oil may "call" or "summon" the god Telipinu (KUB 24.1 i 11-12). As part of this concept that the gods were attracted or "lured" by sweet oil, the rituals sometimes mention sprinkling "paths" of sweet oil (Ì.DÙG.GA) to attract the deities: "See, I have sprinkled your paths, O Telipinu, with sweet oil. So set out, O Telipinu, on the path which has been sprinkled with sweet oil!" (KUB 17.10 ii 28-30). In another ritual, the "seer-exorcist" (LÚHAL) takes oil, honey, thick bread, and libation and goes to appease the mountain gods (KUB 30.36 ii 1-2).

Oil Used as a Payment

In a "wisdom" text originating in Babylonia and translated into Hittite, we read of a prostitute who wears a borrowed garment and anoints herself with oil taken as a wage (KUB 4.3 + KBo 12.20 ii 30-31; Laroche in Schaeffer 1968:273ff., 779ff.). As part of a vow to a deity, a Hittite queen gave three harsiyalli-vessels (large storage vessels, pithoi) containing respectively oil, honey, and fruit (KUB 15.1 iii 14-16; de Roos 1984).

In the "Song of Hedammu," another myth of the Kumarbi cycle, a fragmentary passage describing the creation and raising of the monster Hedammu seems to say: "They place him/it in oil ƒ they place him/it in water."(17) Perhaps this is a method for rendering him invulnerable. One is reminded of the Greek legend of Achilles' heel.

Other uses for Oil

Oil, fat, or grease may also have been used to seal the interstices of baskets to make them waterproof. In the famous story of the Queen of Kanesh who set her seventy infant sons adrift in baskets to float down the river to the Black Sea, where they were recovered by the gods and raised, the queen first prepares the baskets by "filling" them, i.e., their interstices, with oil/grease (sa-gán-da) (Otten 1973:6f., 16-18). Students of the Bible will recall the waterproofing of the basket in which the baby Moses was placed in the shallow water of the Nile according to the story in chapter one of the Book of Exodus.18 Moses' mother smeared the basket with bitumen. Oil or grease (Akkadian samnu) are used to caulk boats (see CAD S s.v. samnu). Since until recently it was not known that the crucial word sa-g½n-da could be interpreted other than a form of sakkar "dung," the passage was thought either 1) to attest the use of dung in waterproofing the baskets (a very implausible procedure), 2) a filling of the baskets with dung as a cushioning bed for the infants, or 3) as a symbolic action implying that the Queen of Kanesh was undoing a curse upon herself manifested by her ominous birth of seventy boys. None of these options seems now as plausible as the possible interpretation given above. Oil, grease, or perhaps even resin (sagn-) was used to caulk the baskets and prevent them from sinking before they could carry their human cargos down the river to their divinely intended destination. This understanding also fits the parallels in the other ancient Near Eastern stories much more closely.

Conclusion

The documentation for vegetable and animal fats from primary textual sources, even when limited to the Hittites, is so voluminous that a treatment such as I have been able to give here hardly scratches the surface. Not until the dictionary articles on all the logograms containing ’ have been published will there be a truly comprehensive presentation of the textual evidence. But the recent discovery of the Hittite syllabic equivalent of Ì, namely sagn-, has opened new possibilities for interpretation. And when the syllabically written vocabulary related to *sag- (in saguwant-) and sagn- are added to the Akkadograms and Sumerograms, it is possible to see new and important uses.

Notes

Peter Neve has made many impressive contributions to Hittitology and the archaeology of ancient Anatolia. This new survey of the evidence for oil among the Hittites is affectionately dedicated to him.

(1) Hoffner 1994. The word's form in the oblique cases is sakn-, but its exact form in the nominative-accusative is uncertain. It could be either *saknan or *sakan.

(2) For this term, see the two dictionaries: Puhvel 1984- and Friedrich and Kammenhuber 1975-1984.

(3) Singer 1983:73 n. 45.

(4) For a listing of Sumerograms beginning with ’ see Rüster and Neu 1989:325f. In addition to the words I have cited the list includes: Ì.SAG (DÙG.GA), Ì.GAB, Ì.GAB SE, UZUÌ.GU4 ("Rinderfett," "beef drippings"). The authors include the element "Schmalz" ("grease") in their translations of many of these terms, e.g., ’.NUN is "Butterschmalz." Ì.GAB is included with neither translation nor text citation.

(5) I would restore KUB 35.157:4 this way. It is transliterated without restoration in Archi 1979:43, whose French translation is "gercÚ" ("chapped").

(6) Perhaps one should emend har (or hur) -ta-an-za ("cursed"?) to har-ga!-an-za "ruined" in the sense of dried out or dessicated?

(7)Olive oil is normally written Ì GISSERDUM. Sesame oil is SE.GIS.Ì, with the Hittite reading perhaps sapsama (Güterbock 1968). Again see Güterbock 1968 on oil extraction from nuts. The word for pig fat Ì SAH occurs for the first time in the Hittite laws Û90. Sheepfat, ’.UDU, is extremely common in the texts.

(8) KBo 22.1 obv. 11-12, (Archi 1979, and see notes in Marazzi 1988). Ì SAH DÙG.GA also occurs in KUB 25.31 + 1142/z obv. 10.

(9) KUB 29.1 iv 4-7, ritual, OH/NS; KUB 2.2+ iv 2, OH/NS.

(10) Usually written ’.UDU, but at least once "resolved" as UDU-as ’-an.

(11) KUB 17.10 iv 29 Telipinu myth, translation Hoffner 1990.

(12) Written with an Akkadogram GISSERDUM, the West Semitic word for olive was *zayt-, reflected in Ugaritic zt and Biblical Hebrew zyt. Although the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary (s.v. samassammu) prefers the translation "flax" rather than sesame, the recent discovery of sesame seeds in Urartu and in 18th Dynasty Egypt together with the impressive arguments of Civil, Powell, and others in favor of the latter translation (Powell 1991) persuade me to retain the translation "sesame" here. One of the words for oil-bearing plants is Hittite GISsamama. Güterbock (1968) concluded that samama was not the Hittite reading of SE.GIS.’ "sesame," but instead a term for a nut. Along with other reasons, he maintained that the determinative GIS "wood" was more appropriate for a fruit encased in a woody shell than for a seed in a pod. (13) E.g. bread: KBo 5.2 i 27-29; stew: KUB 56.45 ii 13-14; meat: UZU pât-tal-þ-[an] ABoT 32 ii 8, 9; and hay: KBo 3.5 i 63.

(14) See KBo 13.248:27: [ƒ] ’.GIS ’ SA-AM-SA-AM-MI ’ [ƒ]. This juxtaposition casts serious doubt on the proposal that ’.GIS is "(Sesam)ûl" (Rüster et al. 1989:127, sign no. 72).

(15) KUB 54.1 i 58-59: Somewhat problematic is the force of EGIR-anda "afterwards" (??), here. If it bears its usual force, the anointing with oil would take place after worshipping the deity, which seems strange.

(16) The term is the Akkadogram BIBRU, often translated "rhyton." On the inappropriateness of this translation, see Güterbock 1983.

(17) Siegelová 1971:40f. and Hoffner 1990. Pecchioli, Daddi, and Polvani (1990:138) mention this as assisting the serpent in some way by bathing it in oil and water.

(18) On the various ancient Near Eastern stories of famous persons set adrift as babies, surviving, and later achieving fame, see Lewis 1980.

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