/harmah(i)-/

This lexeme is attested ten times in inscriptions from Karkamiš, Tell Ahmar and Tabal, dating from the 10^th or early 9^th to the mid-8^th century BCE.

[A.P.]

acc. sg.	/harmahin/	(“CAPUT”)ha+ra/i-ma-hi-na	TELL AHMAR 1, §5b (Tell Ahmar)
			TELL AHMAR 6, §14 (Tell Ahmar)
			TELL AHMAR 6, §32 (Tell Ahmar)
		(“CAPUT”)[ha+ra/i]-ma-[hi-na]	KARKAMIŠ A4a, §14 (Karkamiš)
		CAPUT-hi-na	KARKAMIŠ A6, §31 (Karkamiš)
		“CAPUT”(-)h[a...]	TELL AHMAR 2, §23 (Tell Ahmar)
		CAPUT	TELL AHMAR 1, §27 (Tell Ahmar)
dat./loc. sg.	/harmahi/	(CAPUT)ha+ra/i-ma-hi	CEKKE, §18 (Karkamiš)
		CAPUT-hi	BOROWSKI 3, §4 (Telll Ahmar)
poss. adj. acc. sg. c.	/harmahassin/	(CAPUT)ha+ra/i〈-ma〉-ha-si	ÇİFTLİK, §16 (Tabal)

The attestation in ÇİFTLİK, §16 is followed by a string of clitics, 〈-ha-wa/i-tu-u〉 i.e. /=ha=wa=du/ ‘and to him’, causing the case ending /-n/ to be omitted in writing.

[A.P.] [AH.B.]

The semantic interpretation was aided by the pictographic logogram CAPUT, and the meaning was first suggested by Meriggi 1934a:133 and found immediate acceptance, see Laroche 1960c:6 for a list of references.It was subsequently also recognised in CLuw. ḫarmaḫ(i)- ‘head’ by Otten 1953a:76f. In the HLuw. inscriptions, the word appears in several curse formulae when the punishment is laid out for inflicting harm on an installation, e.g. in KARKAMIŠ A6, §31: á-pa-pa-wa/i-a (DEUS)ni-ka+ra/i-wa/i-sá CANIS-ni-i-zi á-pa-si-na CAPUT-hi-na ARHA EDERE-tú, approx. /appan=ppa=wa Nikarawas zuwaninzi abassin harmahin ahha adantu/, translating as ‘afterwards may Nikarawa’s dogs head up his head!’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:125).

[AH.B.]

A common gender noun, the word is subject to i-mutation. While it is generally accepted that the word is cognate with Hittite ḫaršar ‘head’, the formation of the Luwian stem has been often considered opaque (see e.g. HED Ḫ:189, Rieken 1999a:311, and Oettinger 2004c:402).

[AH.B.]

This lexeme occurs in various Luwian ritual texts.

[O.B.]

acc. sg.	ḫar-ma-ḫi-in	KUB 35.107 ii 14’	(CTH 764, MS)
		KBo 29.35, 8’	(CTH 770, NS)
	˹ḫar˺-ma-˹ḫi-in˺	KUB 35.24, 11’	(CTH 761, MS)
	[ḫar-m]a-ḫi-i[n]	KBo 29.35, 13’	(CTH 770, NS)
	SAG.DU-in	KUB 35.107 iii 18’	(CTH 764, MS)
abl./instr.	ḫar-ma-ḫa-a-ti	KUB 35.25, 7’	(CTH 761, MS)
	ḫar-m[a-ḫa-a-ti]	KUB 35.24, 5’	(CTH 761, MS)
	[ḫar-ma]˹-ḫa-a˺-ti	KUB 35.24, 8’	(CTH 761, MS)
	ḫar-ma-ḫa-ti	KUB 35.43 iii 6’	(CTH 761, NS)
	ḫar-ma-ḫ[a-(a-)ti]	KBo 29.22, 6’	(CTH 760, NS)
	ḫar-ma-a-ḫa-ti	KUB 32.8 iii 11’	(CTH 759, NS)
gen. adj. nom. sg. c.	ḫar-ma-ḫa-aš-ši-iš	KUB 35.71 ii 3	(CTH 759, MS)
	˹ḫar˺-ma-ḫa-aš-š[i-iš]	KUB 35.20 obv. 4’	(CTH 761, MS)
	[ḫar-m]a-ḫa-aš-ši-iš	KUB 35.70 ii 23	(CTH 762, NS)
		KBo 29.63, 6’	(CTH 762, NS)
	SAG.DU-aš-ši-iš	KUB 35.107 iii 17’	(CTH 764, MS)
gen. adj. nom./acc. sg. n.	[SAG.D]U-aš-ša-an-za	KUB 35.107 iii 16’	(CTH 764, MS)
	SAG.DU-za	KUB 35.88 iii 15’	(CTH 766, NS)
unknown	SAG.DU	KUB 35.107 ii 6’	(CTH 764, MS)

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

[O.B.]

As demonstrated by Otten 1953a:75-77, CLuw. ḫarmaḫ(i)- means ‘head’. The word occurs in contexts enumerating body-parts. In these enumerations, ḫarmaḫ(i)- occurs in initial position, which agrees with Hittite passages where the order follows from the top to the bottom of the body. Moreover, the semantically unambiguous sumerographic spelling SAG.DU-in on KUB 35.107 iii 18’ takes an i-stem phonetic complement, coherent with the clearly i-mutating stem ḫarmaḫ(i)- known from phonetic spellings. Additional supporting evidence is found in the equation to HLuw. /harmah(i)-/ ‘head’, attested in conjunction with the hieroglyph CAPUT (*10), depicting a head. The etymological comparison to Hitt. ḫaršar/n-, albeit with differing stem formation, is likewise compelling. In summary, it is beyond doubt that the meaning of CLuw. ḫarmaḫ(i)- is ‘head’ (thus also Laroche 1959a:42, Kronasser 1956a:89, HEG:I 184, HED:H 189, CLL:58).

[O.B.]

CLuw. ḫarmaḫ(i)- is a common gender i-mutating stem in -aḫi-, built with a suffixal complex *-eh₂- + -i- (cf. Watkins 1975a:364f., Sasseville 2021a:213).

[O.B.]