šapartara-

This lexeme is a hapax in Cuneiform Luwian contexts (see more attestations under Luwian in Hittite transmission) and appears in a ritual text.

[O.B.]

nom. pl.

ša-pá[r-ta-ra-an-zi]

KUB 35.108, 4´

(CTH 765, MS)

All forms have been checked against the photographs in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).

[O.B.]

See the entry for Luwian in Hittite transmission. The attestation is fragmentary, CLuw. šapartara- being preceded by ḫwist(i)- ‘(unknown)’ as is true for all other instances of the word in Hittite transmission.

[O.B.]

CLuw. šapartara- is a common gender a-stem noun (see the entry for Luwian in Hittite transmission).

[O.B.]

This lexeme is attested in a Hittite ritual text with Luwian elements (CTH 767) and perhaps also in a Hittite ritual fragment (CTH 760, see forms).

[O.B.]

nom. pl.	[ša-pár-d]a-ra-an-zi	KUB 35.143, 9´	(CTH 767, NS)
	ša-pá[r-t]a-ra-an-zi	KUB 35.145 ii 1´	(CTH 767, NS)
acc. pl.	ša-pár-ta-ra-an-za	KUB 35.145 ii 14´	(CTH 767, NS)

A further Glossenkeil attestation may possibly be found on KBo 13.138, 5´ (CTH 760, NS), a fragmentary line which reads […GÍR.ZAB]AR ^LÚMUḪALDIM ša-pár-[ (HEG Š/1:847).

[O.B.]

All forms have been checked against the photographs in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).

[O.B.]

In every attestation, Luw. šapartara- is preceded by ḫwist(i)- ‘(unknown)’. It occurs as subject to the Hitt. verb uranta ‘burn’ and object to kištanunun ‘I extinguished’ (KI.MIN, referring back to an earlier kištanunun). Consequently, šaparatara- may be both burned or extinguished. However, given the nature of the text, the sense may be metaphorical and these colloquations may thus not provide solid grounds for any semantic assignment.

Oettinger 1998a:97f. assumes a connection with Hitt. šappara- and šiparta- ‘knife (?)’ and provides a translation ‘Kleingeschnittenes’ (from a substantivized adjective meaning ‘mit dem Messer geschnitten’). A connection to knives may be gleamed from the possible fragmentary Glossenkeil occurrence with [GÍR.ZAB]AR (see forms) and the occurrence of GÍR.ZABAR^ḪI.A as the subject of ˹ú˺-[ra-an-ta] on line 5´ of KUB 35.143. With this connection, it is not immediately apparent whether šapartara- refers to the object cut by a knife (as in Oettinger’s view) or to the knife itself. Contextually, ‘knives’ in the metaphorical sense of ‘pains’ would be a possible interpretation (cf. Swe. magknivar ‘stomach ache’, lit. ‘stomach knives’). 

The tentative and unverifiable translation ‘(class of underworld demon?)’ is provided in CHD Š/1:204.

[O.B.]

Luw. šapartara- is a common gender a-stem noun.

[O.B.]

The Luwian provenance of šapartara- is confirmed by the strictly Luwian endings -nzi and -nza for the nom. pl. and acc. pl. respectively, as well as its probable attestation in a Luwian context (see the corresponding Cuneiform Luwian lemma, cf. also CLL:188 and van den Hout 2006a:254).

[O.B.]