Sakuma Y. 2009b, II 358 emended GAL IGI.MUŠEN, but should we accept this spelling of the title ‘Great Augur’ as correct?

Based on standard formulary.

See obv. II 11.

Three (or four?) small angular wedges; perhaps, to be read pé? Sakuma Y. 2009b, II 360 commented: “= drei Vögel?”.

A vertical wedge?

The reading tar-li was suggested in Haas V. 2008a, 33, and also provided in the edition by Sakuma Y. 2009b, II 360. The reading of this and the following term has led scholars to interpret the drawing as a representation of the augural observation field (e.g. the scheme in Beal 2002f, 73, based on the tablet’s drawing). However, this reading remains dubious, based on the photographs as well as the handcopy by Archi in KUB 49. It must also be pointed out that the spelling is atypical, as this technical oracular term is always spelled tar-li₁₂(-) (see in fact in this tablet obv. I 6). It should also be noted that the script differs from that of the main text and was incised rather cursorily. An alternative reading, at least equally compelling epigraphically, has been proposed by Sakuma (Sakuma Y. 2009b, II 360), NU.ŠE-du – which has the disadvantage of not being compatible with the current interpretations of the drawing as connected to the augural reports. It should be noted that this tablet also records other divination techniques (KIN oracles, obv. I 3–5; the content of obv. II 1–3 remains unclear), and the text itself may not pertain to bird oracles. However, if the drawing does represent the observation field, is it possible that the text is unrelated to the scheme – perhaps written before the drawing was incised?

The reading of this term is also problematic. pé may have an extra horizontal wedge, and the final angular wedges appear more like horizontal ones as well (compare with the potential pé above). SIG₅, written across the vertical column separator and thus partially obscured, also remains uncertain. Particularly problematic is the last wedge of the sign, which is a single vertical rather than a broken or double vertical (cf. those in the following sign, which are compatible with ZA).