The Corpus of Hittite Divinatory Texts (HDivT)

Digital Edition and Cultural Historical Analysis

Andrea Trameri (Hrsg.)

Citatio: Andrea Trameri (Hrsg.), hethiter.net/: CTH 581.21 (TRde 2025-08-04)


CTH 581.21

Fragment(s) of letter with bird oracles concerning ‘daughters’ and other members of a family

translatio



Abschnitt 1ID=1: (Fragment KUB 49.4) obv. §1´

1ID=1 --

[…] … […]

2ID=2 --

[…] … […]

3ID=3 --

[…] … […]

Abschnitt 2ID=2: obv. §2´

4ID=4 --

O[n the second] day […]

5ID=5 --

[… on] the third day […]

6ID=6 --

[…] An eagle […]

7ID=7 --

[…] it seized it outside1 […

8ID=8 --

[…] … back […]

9ID=9 --

[…] up [from the] favor[able side …]

Abschnitt 3ID=3: obv. §3´

10ID=10 --

But also that [matter2 …] about wh[ich] you wrote to me,

11ID=11 --

Two […]

12ID=12 --

I/to me … […]

13ID=13 --

Parmin[assa …]

14ID=14 --

[…] … […]

obv. breaks off

Abschnitt 4ID=4: rev. §4´

15ID=15 --

[…] … […]

16ID=16 --

in … […]

17ID=17 --

[you keep see]ing positively/well […]

18ID=18 --

anywhere run[n- …]

19ID=19 --

the daughters, in the presence of […]

20ID=20 --

let the birds con[firm (it) (by oracle)].

Abschnitt 5ID=5: rev. §5´

21ID=21 --

Moreover, if […]

22ID=22 --

[it was co]nfirmed.

23ID=23 --

[…] … not in the presence of the daughte[rs].

Abschnitt 6ID=6: rev. §6´

24ID=24 --

Moreover, anywhere the gods […]

25ID=25 --

[and …] him/her […]

26ID=26 --

back […]

27ID=27 --

the town of K[i-…]

28ID=28 --

[…]

rev. breaks off

Abschnitt 7ID=7: (Fragment KUB 49.6; indirect join?) §1´

29ID=29 --

[…]

30ID=30 --

[…]

31ID=31 --

[…] taruyalli- [ ].

Abschnitt 8ID=8: §2´

32ID=32 --

[… it was] determi[ned] by oracle as follows:

33ID=33 --

[…] the birds ‘of confirmation’ not […]

34ID=34 --

[If you] gods, for the daughter in the future [see no]3 e[vil …]

35ID=35 --

[…] let the birds confirm (it).

Abschnitt 9ID=9: §3´

36ID=36 --

[…] but [if] for the daughter you keep seeing positively […]

37ID=37 --

[… for] her father and for [her] grandmother […]

38ID=38 --

[…] the Fate goddess, the daughter, the Mother goddess […]

39ID=39 --

[…] (is) given,

40ID=40 --

and (there) the grandchild comes […]

41ID=41 --

[…] shall be put away.

42ID=42 --

Let the [birds] of conc[ern] exclude (it).

Abschnitt 10ID=10: §4´

43ID=43 --

[A … bird (was)] GUN;

44ID=44 --

a ‘wide-win[g’ bird …]

45ID=45 --

An aliya- bird [m]et a ‘wide-win[g’ bird …]4

46ID=46 --

They [came] in the back down [from the unfavorable side]5

47ID=47 --

[A … bird (was)] GUN,

48ID=48 --

and [a … bird came … from the unfavor]able side.

49ID=49 --

A ‘wide-wi[ng’ bird … (was) G]UN,

50ID=50 --

and [… G]UN.

breaks off

The exact meaning or araḫza ep- is unclear. Based on the context of another attestation, it is possible that the bird “grasps, seizes” another one only metaphorically (i.e. “reached”?), and that the sentence is idiomatic (see KUB 18.5+, obv. II 3). This formulation is attested in very few texts (other than KUB 18.5+, the fragment KBo 71.19).
Based on the following lines.
For another analysis, see Sakuma Y. 2009b, II 668, where these are interpreted as two distinct sentences: “An alliya- bird [and] a ‘wide-win[g’ bird …] | [And … it m]et […]”.
Likely content, based on the standard formulary.
Editio ultima: Traductionis 2025-08-04

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