Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 8:51 AM, Ishinan Ishibashi wrote:

> * (2) Amarna Tablet 286:
>
> Knudtzon, J. A. Die El-Amarna-Tafeln. Vorderasiatische Bibliotek, vol. 2.
> Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1907-1915 (repr. Aalen: O. Zeller, 1964).
>
> Transliteration:
> 1- um-ma m Abdi-H.eba ardu-ka-ma
> 2- 7-ta-a-an ù 7-ta-a-an am-qut-mi
> 3- ma-an-na ip-Sá-ti a-na Sarri bêli-ia
>
> Translated from the Akkadian as :
>
> 1- Message of Abdi-H.eba, your servant:
> 2- seven times and seven times I fall down.
> 3- What have I done to the king, my lord?
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Ishinan,

EA 286 does not say "Abdi".  It says IR.  This is a logogram originally
from Sumerian meaning "servant."  We therefore do not know the
language of the name and it could just as well be the word for
"servant" in Hurrian.

Also, I don't know about the Egyptian god but the Abdi-Heba's theophoric
name *IS* usually associated with the Hurrian goddess Hepa.  This might
be a question to raise on the ANE-2 list (whether Abdi-Heba's theophoric
name refers to the Egyptian god).

Yitzhak Sapir