andrew phillips
@herfst
þe hıne æꞇ ꝼꞃumꞅceaꝼꞇe ꝼoꞃð onꞅenꝺon ǽnne oꝼeꞃ ẏðe
Saturday, [ⲥ]ⲁⲙⲃ[ⲁⲧⲟⲛ] Sunday, [ⲕ]ⲩⲣⲓⲁⲕ[ⲏ] Monday, ⲛⲧⲉⲩⲧⲉⲣⲁ = ⲥⲉⲗⲏⲛⲏⲥ Tuesday, ⲧⲣⲉⲧⲏ = ⲁⲣⲉⲟⲥ Wednesday, ⲧⲉⲧⲣⲁⲥ = ⲉⲣⲙⲟⲩ Thursday, ⲡⲉⲙⲧⲏ = ⲍⲓⲟⲥ Friday, ⲡⲁⲣⲁⲥⲕⲉⲛⲏ = ⲁⲫⲣⲟⲇⲓⲧⲏ
Small clay tablet from Knossos (1470–1330 BC) inscribed in Linear B with the name a-ki-re-u, the Mycenaean form of Achilleus. The dative form of the name (for a different individual), a-ki-re-we, is also attested in a tablet recording grain allotments.
Yes, in the image the list begins from the top right corner (read right-to-left in this orientation), but the sign for scribe 𒋃 (and carpenter 𒉄) are partially damaged. Another example of 𒋃 from the same period
Never forget that European governments severely misjudged the Iranian people and made themselves complicit in the crime.
Ḫꜥ-ḫpr-Rꜥ-snb.w (Khakheperraseneb) says (lines 13–14) jr jb qn m s.t qsn.t ; sn.nw pw n(.j) nb=f ; ḥꜣ n=j jb “As for a heart that is strong in hardship; it is a companion to its owner; if only I had a heart” m rḫ wḫdw “that knew (how) to suffer!”
3,500‐year‐old hieratic copy of the ‘Sayings of Khakheperraseneb’, a 12th-dynasty Egyptian scribe who laments the increasing chaos in his country, the breakdown of societal norms and decadence, his lack of original words to describe what he sees, and wishes he had a heart that could endure it all.
His wife, Ahwere, tells Setne that her husband set out to look for this book because he had no other job than to roam the Memphis desert ‘reading the inscriptions on the tombs of pharaohs (ꜥš n nꜣ sẖꜣ.w ntỉ ẖn nꜣ ḥw.wt n nꜣ pr-ꜥꜣ.w) and the stelae in the House of Life (nꜣ wyt.w n nꜣ sẖꜣ.w-pr-ꜥnḫ)’
I charmed (pẖr=y) the sky (tꜣ pt), the earth (pꜣ tꜣ), Duat (tꜣ dwꜣt), the mountains (nꜣ tww.w), the seas (nꜣ ym.w). I found (gmỉ=y) what the birds in the sky (nꜣ ntỉ.ỉw nꜣ ꜣpd.w n tꜣ pt), the fish in the water (nꜣ rym.w n pꜣ mty) and the beasts say (ỉrm nꜣ tp-n-ỉꜣw.wt ḏd), all of them (n.ỉm=w ḏr=w)
2nd c. BC Demotic papyrus The story of Setne, who searches for a spell book written by the god Thoth in the tomb of prince Naneferkaptah. In it, he encounters the spirits of the prince and his wife, who tells him how her husband found the book, and their eventual demise. One of the spells reads
I'll never not be impressed we can read Demotic Egyptian at all. Here the word 'astronomer' (ỉmỉ.wnwt)
Akkadian idiom (in Old Babylonian legal tablets): 𒅖𒌅 𒁉𒂊 𒀀𒁲 𒆬𒄀 ištu pê adi ḫurāṣim ‘from chaff to gold’, i.e. everything būšûša u warkassa ša Ḫunnubtum mala ibaššû ištu pê adi ḫurāṣim ša Lamassīma Ḫunnubtum, her property and estate, all that there is from chaff to gold, is Lamassi’s [her daughter]
Really quite like the careful layout and neat hand of this Hittite tablet from Hattusa written ca 1500–1100 BC; it describes instructions and incantations needed to perform two different protective rituals. The scribe, Hanikkuili, indicates the words are authored by ‘Anniwiyanni, mother of Armati’.
Sumerian list of professions scribe, carpenter, leatherworker, stonecutter, smith, sealcutter, weaver, harp player, cultic actor singer, architect, ?-architect, barber, farmer, potter, felter, pašeš and gudug priests šimmu priest, maltster, physician, veterinary, ?-doctor, ?-doctor, cloth fuller
𐎰𐎠𐎫𐎡𐎹𐏐𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁𐏐𐎧𐏁𐎠𐎹𐎰𐎡𐎹𐏐𐎬𐎢𐎺𐎶𐏐𐎣𐎠𐏐𐎧𐏁𐎠𐎹𐎰𐎡𐎹𐏐𐏃𐎹𐏐𐎠𐎱𐎼𐎶𐏐𐎠𐏃𐎹𐏐𐎶𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹𐏐𐏃𐎹𐏐𐎭𐎼𐎢𐎩𐎴𐏐𐎠𐏃𐎫𐎡𐎹𐏐𐏃𐎹𐎺𐎠𐏐𐏀𐎢𐎼𐎣𐎼𐏐𐎠𐏃𐎫𐎡𐎹𐏐𐎠𐎺𐎡𐎹𐏐𐎶𐎠𐏐𐎭𐎢𐏁𐎫𐎠𐏐𐎲𐎡𐎹𐎠𐏐𐎢𐎳𐎼𐏁𐎫𐎠𐎮𐎡𐏁𐏐𐎱𐎼𐎿𐎠𐏐 Darius the King says: You who shall be king hereafter, the man who shall be deceitful or who shall be an evil-doer, to them do not be a friend, punish them well. (DB4.67–69)
honey-bee Sumerian, nim lal 𒉏 𒋭; Akkadian, nūbtu 𒉡𒌒𒌓 my good act of the day: helped a tired bee take flight again
One such field was sold for 20 goats, 11 pigs and 1 and a half gur of barley. šaḫ₂ 𒂄, ‘pig’ has been proposed to have been borrowed into Sumerian, and perhaps related distantly to proto-Indo-European suH- (‘sow’)
The tablet of Enḫegal records the transfer of several fields owned by Enḫegal (𒂗𒃶𒅅) king of Lagaš, and one Sidu (𒋛𒆕), to Lugal-kigala (𒈗𒆠𒃲𒆷) a priest, for an amount of grain, copper, goats and pigs for each field. The name Lugalšude (𒈗𒆃𒉈), likely the scribe, was scratched at a later date on one edge
7th-c. BCE Neo-Assyrian tablet from the reign of Sennacherib, held in the British Museum www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o... ...ša KUR.pi-liš-ta-a-[a]... ...of the land Philistia... Israel will never erase Palestine from history.
Arish, rb srsrm, chief of brokers (cf סרסור mediator, middleman) inherited his title from his paternal great-great-great-grandfather, and mentions his maternal great-great-grandfather’s title, rb ḥzʿnm, chief of inspectors/prefects, an office similarly attested in Akkadian sources as ḫazannu ’mayor’
Gudea, ensi of Lagaš ca 2150 BCE, specified that his statues (𒀩 alan) were made out of diorite (𒎎𒆗 esi), not reusable materials like silver (𒆬 kug), lapis lazuli (𒍝𒆳 zagin), copper (𒍏 urud), tin (𒀭𒈾 annak) or bronze (𒌓𒅗𒁇 zabar) to prevent removal from the temple’s place of libations (𒆠𒀀𒅘 kiʾanaŋ)
𒃻 𒀀𒀭𒁕𒌇𒌇 𒅆 𒀀𒀭𒁕𒌶𒂊 niŋ₂ am₃-da-tuku-tuku igi am₃-da-uru₃-e he/she who possesses things always keeps a watchful eye
One of the bricks commemorating Untaš-napiriša’s construction of the ziggurat (zag-ra-tu₄-me) cdli.earth/artifacts/24...
from a Sumerian drinking song kaš naŋ‐e me‐e sig₁₀‐ga‐ŋu₁₀‐ne kurun₂ naŋ‐a ul ti‐a‐ŋu₁₀‐ne šag₄ ḫul₂‐la ur₅ sag₉‐ga‐ŋu₁₀‐ne šag₄‐ŋa₂ šag₄ ḫul₂‐la ŋal₂‐la‐bi while I'm drinking beer (𒁉 kaš) while I'm drinking kurun happily with joy in the heart and a contented liver my heart is a heart full of joy!
Prayer-letter from the priest Kug-Nanna to the god Ninšubur tukum-bi diŋir-ŋu₁₀-ra an-na-kam šag₄ ib₂-ba-zu ga-ab-huŋ-e, ur₅-zu he₂-bur₂-e if it pleases you, my god let me pacify your furious heart (𒊮 šag₄), so that your spirit (𒄯 ur₅, “liver”) will be appeased cdli.earth/artifacts/46...
nirŋal-e (authoritative [one] | ergative) anam (what[ever]) b-i-n-dug (it | about, regarding smth | he/she | to say) nu-zid (not | to be true)
Another timely one nir-ŋal₂-e a-na-am₃ bi₂-in-dug₄ nu-sag₉ “Whatever the authority said, it was not good” (also attested as nu-zid, ‘not true’) cdli.earth/artifacts/22...
Maths exercise from Nippur (ca 2500-2340 BCE), here the short side (𒊕 sag) of a rectangle is calculated when the long side (𒍑 uš) and area (𒃷 gán) are known uš = 𒐕𒐌𒑏𒃻𒁺, 67½ ninda (405 m) gán = 𒁹𒃷, 1 iku (3600 m²) The answer is given as 𒁹𒃻𒁺𒐊𒌑𒈫𒋗𒆕𒀀𒐈𒋗𒋛𒑚𒋗𒋛, 1 ninda 5⅔ cubits 3⅓ fingers (8.89 m)