/asta-/

This noun is attested once in one of the letters found in Assur, but likely originating from elsewhere. The text is dated to the late 8^th century BCE.

[AH.B.]

For the form 〈*460-t[i]-zi〉 attested in TELL TAYINAT 2, 3§i, see /asti(ya)-/ under Derivatives.

[AH.B.]

The meaning of this word remained in the dark for a long time. Melchert 1987a:185f. suggested ‘hunger’, which is plausible in the only context of attestation, but far from assured. Instead, the possible connection with CLuw. āšta- ‘(an act of witchcraft)’ reveals a more convincing interpretation. The relevant clause in ASSUR letter e, §10 is: (COR)na-hu-ti-zi-wa/i-mu za-zi INFANS-ni-zi kwa/i-i (“*460”)á-sa-ta-ri+i (“COR”)ta-wa/i-sà-ta-ti-ha su-ti-ri+i-ti ha+ra/i-ta-ti-ha PRAE-na ARHA-a (MORI)wa/i-wa/i-ri+i-ta-ti, approx. /nahhuttinzi=wa=mu zanzi niwaranninzi kwi astadi tawastadi=ha suTiridi harattadi=ha parran ahha wawalintari/, which may mean ‘All the while these cursed children will waste away on me from an act of witchcraft(?) and the evil eye, from avarice(?) and offense’. The context shows clearly that /asta(/i)-/ denotes a negative condition.

[AH.B.]

Contrary to earlier views (e.g. Melchert 1988a:40), the common gender assumed for the present lemma is not a given, because the adduced form /astinzi/ is very likely an adjective, see under lemma. Instead, the sole attestation for /asta(/i)-/ does not provide any proof regarding its grammatical gender. Similarly uninformative is its likely cognate CLuw. āšta- ‘(an act of witchcraft)’, because that is only attested as a gen. sg.

[AH.B.]

1. /asti(ya)-/

All attestations come from a single text of the state cult of the Tutelary Deity, transmitted in several NS manuscripts.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

The word occurs together with rhyming wašta- ‘sin’ as the epithet of ^Dkal, the tutelary deity, and of his consort ^DĀla- (gen. sg. aštaš waštaš). While DLL, Archi 1975a:102, StBoT 1990a:186 with n. 613, and McMahon 1991a:101 n. 79 do not offer a translation for ašta-, the meaning ‘evil spell, charm’ is assumed in CLL:37, HHw:27, and Ünal 2007a:74. It is based on its co-occurrence with wašta- ‘sin’, an abstract noun with negative religious semantics, and on the meanings posited for its derivative āštayarattar-/-t(ta)n- assumed to be ‘spell’ and/or ‘charm’ as well as for the alleged derivative aštaniyawar-/-un- translated as ‘recitation of spells/charms’ by Melchert and Tischler. Since the latter is assigned to a different word family here and the former is interpreted in a more generic sense as an unspecified act of witchcraft, āšta- cannot be given a more precise translation either.Outdated is the translation ‘deceit, guile, trickery, fraudulence’ in HED A, E, I:219, where āšta- is identified wrongly as the second member of an alleged compound marš/zaštarr(i)- ‘sacrilege, desecration’. Instead, this lexeme contains the suffix -aštar-; cf. Starke 1990a:339-396.

[E.R.]

Although the etymology is disputed (see under Reconstruction), it is generally agreed that aš- represents the root, which is derived with a suffix -ta- (Neumann apud Tischler HEG A-K:86, HED A, E, I:219, Szemerényi 1979b:616-619). More precisely, Melchert 2003b:196 specifies the suffix as -ta- forming common gender abstracts, which finds support in the derivative āštayarattar-/-t(ta)n- based on the -ai(ya)- adjective aštai(ya)- (with preservation of the -a- before -i(ya)-).

[E.R.]

1. āštaiya-^(ti)

2. āštayarattar-/-t(ta)n-

The Luwian origin of āšta- was first proposed by Starke 1990a:613, who concluded that a rhyme-word of the Luwian borrowing wašta- should also have been taken from the same language. It is accepted in CLL:37 and Melchert 2005a:452 as well as here, since, in addition, āšta- is the member of the word Luwian family of āštayarattar-/-t(ta)n-.

[E.R.]