Ricerc@Sapienza

In this article I deal with IInd millennium Mesopotamian incantations to sooth a baby. Four Babylonian incantations are hereby analysed and their structure and motives discussed. A translation of the texts is presented in the Appendix. Incantations to soothe a baby are often associated or directly identified with lullabies, with which they share the aim and some motives, but both show fundamental differences. In incantations, the restlessness of the baby is perceived as an element that disturbs human and superhuman beings of the house.

Analysis of the function and the symbolism of the door in the Assyrian rituals of the first millennium

Una civiltà dimenticata da millenni emerge dalla decifrazione dei più antichi documenti scritti. Questo volume guida il lettore alla riscoperta delle culture della Mesopotamia in tutta la loro ricca complessità. Gli elementi che appartengono all'immaginario comune quando si pensa alla Mesopotamia, come l'astrologia, la torre di Babele, l'Eden, sono qui presentati in una sintesi organica.

In this article I will analyse each of the seven animals and their features mentioned in the description of the Seven (the fox, the dog, the raven, the vulture, the wolf, the owl, and the shark), discussing parallels from Sumerian and Akkadian literature in order to highlight how animal symbolism works in ancient Mesopotamia.

In this article I deal with the description of two groups of “seven warriors” in two Sumerian literary compositions: the Hymn to Hendursa?a and Gilgameš and Huwawa. Thus, I discuss the relevant passages of the compositions, analysing the parallels and supporting the hypothesis that these seven warriors may be Sumerian literary forerunners to the hep- tad, later known as the Sebettu. In the conclusion, I discuss the number seven and the Heptad, adding a further parallel (Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave), as well as further comments on demonic descriptions and iconography.

Lo studio della lingua dei Sumeri, la prima a essere messa per iscritto dall’uomo, rappresenta un viaggio affascinante nella Mesopotamia antica. Incisa con caratteri cuneiformi sull’argilla, la lingua sumerica ci accompagna alla scoperta della cultura dei Sumeri, giunta sino a noi su decine di migliaia di tavolette che raccontano di dèi ed eroi, di sovrani e battaglie, di leggi e processi. Ciò ci consente di raccontare la storia dell’umanità nella sua fase più antica e fondante a partire dalla fine del quarto millennio a.C.

Il contributo offre una panoramica sulle attestazioni di legami incestuosi, o supposti tali, all'interno della documentazione cuneiforme di Siria e Mesopotamia

In this article I present an edition of a Neo-Assyrian tablet from Sultantepe two recipes to cure a man who wets his bed. The first recipe comprises a ritual, the second only a potion; both are followed by an invocation to the goddess Ninmah. Through the analysis of parallel texts (BAM 115; STT 239 and VAT 13682), I discuss the diagnostic (), and the two recipes, focusing on the ritual.

La présente contribution propose un survol des différentes occurrences de l’Arc-en-ciel dans la documentation cunéiforme. Deux thématiques principales sont envisagées en fonction des attestations. D’une part, l’arc-en-ciel fait l’objet d’une attention particulière en tant que phénomène atmosphérique à interpréter sur le plan divinatoire : dans les listes de présages du recueil astronomique Enūma Anu Enlil (Ier millénaire av. J.-C.), une seule couleur saillante lui est associée, tandis que sa forme reste la clé d’interprétation prédominante.

25 tablets kept in the collections of the British Museum are published in this article. They belong to the so- called “dossier of the shepherds” of Ĝirsu. To their transliteration and translation an up-dated study of this
dossier follows together with the edition of a balanced account that mentions the same officials of the dossier.