Considering some Monthnames and their meanings


by koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil, ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer Avondale College

Australia

6 May 2009


Ezen-an-na  The origin of the word is possibly from the Hurrian root an-za-a-an-nu (The word is mentioned by E. Speiser 17A).


Ezen = feast and in Hittite the similar root is kuzzi (Friedrich 92)

dÉ = Babylonian god (Friedrich 116)

Ebirtum  At Mari we have the root ebērum meaning "from the border" H. Limet 12(d).


ekina = Alalakh word may be originally a Hittite word from the root ekuna which means "cold". The same Akkadian word is kaṣu (see Friedrich II: 84).


du'ūzu = Is this word from the word at Adab Du6 + Ku which is in Hittite Du  + aiš. Is Du aiš the same as du'ūzu? For the Hittite word see E. LaRoche, "Sur Le Vocabulaire De L' Haruspicine Hittte" RA 64 (1970): 134.


Du6-kù can be found at Adab and is Sumerian (see R. Labat, Manuel 1963: 459). Du6-kù = tašrítu which is the month Tešrit (September/October).


Du6 = tillu which is war armor (socle (dans une cella)".


di-wi-jo-jo is used in Mycenaen Greek (Samuel 65). There is a Hittite root tiia- is to place oneself or to enter. In Akkadian the word is nazāzu "beginning of time" (see Friedrich 101). The Hurrian word ti-we means "word" and is used as ti-we-e-e (see Speiser 22).


de-u-ki-jo-jo is used in Mycenaen Greek (Samuel 65). In Hittite there is a word tāiuga which means "bi-annually" and which the ideogram is MU.2.KAM.


Ajāru may be derived from a root at Ebla NI.DU = ia'-du = ja-du = ja-ru = ajaru (Pettinato Cat.: 268 passim).


AMAR may be sometimes the god Marduk and sometimes a young animal (R. Labat 1963: 197, 437). One can find the root also at Nuzi in Huca vol. 44 (1975): 14 footnote 38 as ÉdAMAR.UTU "the temple of Marduk".


dA-dam-ma-um is used at Ebla (G. Pettinato, Ebla p. 272 and 142, contra is I.J. Gelb). In Afo 25 at p. 28f it is said to be Hurrian. Also in E. LaRoche, "Sur Le Vocabulaire De L' Haruspicine Hittte" RA 64 (1970): 137 is the word adamtaḫi = Hurrian. W. Hallo said that the word adam means "pasture" (Hallo, "Antedeluvian Studies" JCS 23 [1970]:58).


Aš-ta-ka-mu   At Alalakh it means a Hurrian ring. It is a Hurrian gloss at Alalakh (A. Goetze 36). Compare the New Ebla monthname NIDBA dAŠ-TÁ-BI5. Astb = dAštabi which is a Hurrian word (Speiser 38). See also E. Massun 607 for the word as a Hittite word.