MAGNUS.SACERDOS2
‘high priest’
- Language
- Hieroglyphic Luwian
- Grammar
- subst
- ID
- 2875
1. Individual Anatolian Languages
1.1 Hieroglyphic Luwian
MAGNUS.SACERDOS2
‘high priest’1.1.1Transmission
This hapax is attested in a single inscription from Aleppo, dating to the 13th century BCE.
[A.P.]
1.1.2Forms
| gen. sg. | /…/ | MAGNUS.SACERDOS2 | ALEPPO 1, §1 (Aleppo) |
The reading of the second sign is not universally agreed. Werner 1991a:50f. and Payne 2015a:80 both read 〈SACERDOS〉, although the drawings by both authors show 〈SACERDOS2〉.
[A.P.]
1.1.3Graphic Features
1.1.3.1Phonological Interpretation
The phonological interpretation of this word is unclear. It may constitute one of the compounded titles with /ura(/i)-/ as a second member as e.g. MAGNUS.REX /hantawattura-/ ‘Great King’, cf. Yakubovich 2017a:41f., as the volute-shaped MAGNUS (sign *368) is consistently placed above signs it occurs with. The use of SACERDOS2 (*372) probably signifies a direct relationship with SACERDOS-l(i)- ‘priest’, spelt with SACERDOS (*355),Sign *355 was identified as representing ‘priest’ only later, cf. Laroche 1960c:185 and 198. although the two signs are not identical and also face in opposite directions; it is therefore likely, but not a given that they represent the same word.
[AH.B.]
1.1.4Meaning
This word occurs in an inscription that is generally considered the oldest in hieroglyphics (see Payne 2015a:80). The beginning of the dedication at ALEPPO 1, §1 reads: za/i-i(a) (DEUS)ha-pa-SARMA DEUS.DOMUS tala/i-mi-SARMA REX TONITRUS.HALPA.PA(URBS) TELIPINU MAGNUS.SACERDOS2 FILUS AEDIFICARE, translating as ‘Talmisarruma, king of the city Aleppo, son of the high priest Telipinu, built these temples for (the gods) Hepat and Sarruma’ (cf. Werner 1991a:50f., Sasseville 2021a:367).Since the first word, a demonstrative, is the only overtly inflected word in the entire clause, the syntactic relationships between the individual words can only be guessed at. Thus, the translation provided here represents the most likely solution, but others are possible, too. Titles with MAGNUS usually denote the highest-ranking position within their respective group, which led Meriggi 1975a:330 (followed by Hawkins & Morpurgo Davies 1978a:776 and Werner 1991a:51) to suggest the assigned meaning (“gran sacerdote”).
[AH.B.]
1.1.5Stem
If it should represent a compound with /ura(/i)-/, it would constitute the second member and hence form the stem, cf. Yakubovich 2017a:41f. Since the word most probably refers to an animate entity, it can be hypothesised to be a common gender. The first member of the compound is likely the same word or related to HLuw. SACERDOS-l(i)- ‘priest’, but that lexeme has not yet been fixed with a full interpretation, either.
[AH.B.]