ḫaršandanaḫi(t)-

The only attestation of the word is found in the Song of Ullikummi, a mythological text.

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Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv. – The sequence -na-ḫi- is far from clear on the photograph, but judging by the handcopy, Otten obviously saw the signs.

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Since Güterbock 1952a:40 (following Laroche 1951b:97), ^GIŠḫaršandanaḫi(t)- had been understood as a designation for a part of the wheel or wagon (DLL:43, HW:44, Güterbock 1956a:121, Starke 1990a:174, CLL:60, HEG A-K:184, Ünal 2007a:185, HHw:s.v.). In contrast, HW 2nd ed. Ḫ:344 interprets ^GIŠḫaršandanaḫi(t)- as the word for the wagon itself and, more specifically, for a wagon used to strike thunderbolts. Cf. the context at KUB 36.12 iii 4’-9’ (cf. Rieken et al. 2009q, with references):

            ^(4’)nu ša ^GU4še-ri-šu ⸢si^ḪI.A-ar⸣ iš-ki-i[a-a]n-⸢du⸣

            ^(5’)⸢ša⸣ ^GU4ti-el-la-⸢ma⸣ kun-an iš-tu guš[kin] ḫa-liš-ši-an-du

            ^(6’)GIŠ!bu^!-bu-tù-ma wa-aḫ-nu-wa-an-du nu-uš-ma-aš da-aš-ša-u-wa

            ^(7’)an-dur-za ar-nu-wa-an-du a-ra-aḫ-za-ma ^GIŠḫar-ša-an-da-⸢na-ḫi-ti⸣

            ^(8’)kalag.ga-uš na₄^ḪI.A-uš tar-na-an-du ḫar-ši-ḫar-ši-ma pa-ra-a

            ^(9’)ḫal-zi-ia-an-du

“Let them anoint the horns of (the bull) Šerišu. Let them plate the tail of (the bull) Tiella with go[ld]. Let them turn the axle. Let them bring to them the weighty/important (things) inside, but outside, in the ^GIŠḫaršandanaḫi(t)-, let them release the mighty stones. Let them evoke the thunderstorm.”

The idea is that, provided Laroche’s emendation of ^GIŠ!bu^!-bu-tù ‘axle’ is correct, the following two clauses report what is done inside and outside the wagon to which the axle belongs and which is explicitly mentioned in line 13’. However, this conclusion may not be correct, since ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ need not refer to the wheel (which would be strange anyway) or even to the wagon as a whole. As already noticed by Starke 1990a:174, another problem exists in the concretization of the -aḫi(t)- abstract noun otherwise unparalleled, but indicated by the determinative GIŠ for wooden objects. Nevertheless, HW 2nd ed. Ḫ:344 suggests that the ḫaršandanaḫi(t)- is the designation for a ‘Gewittergefährt, Gewitterwagen’.

Although to a certain degree speculative, the analysis of the word formation may help. If ḫaršant- really means ‘ploughing animal’ (for which see under Lemma), *ḫaršand-ann(i)- could be a wooden implement for ploughing, either the wooden shaft of the plough, causing the use of the determinative, or more probably, the whole plough (cf. ^GIŠgír ‘knife’). The suffix -aḫi(t)- then has its usual function to build abstract nouns from adjectives of property, i.e. ‘in the manner of a plough (?), in a ploughing manner (?)’. Consequently, the following scenario seems possible: the bulls are prepared for their task ‘to turn the axle’, i.e. to draw a wagon. Important things shall be transported. Additionally, they shall tear up the sky in the manner of a plough and thus release the mighty stones.The homophonous root ḫarš- in ḫaršiḫarši- ‘lightning, thunderstorm’ was certainly welcome to the composers of the text.

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The attribution of the lexeme to the class of -aḫi(t)- nouns is obvious (see Starke 1990a:174), but regarding its base, it is unnecessary to resort to the rare stems in -an- (thus CLL:60), which, moreover, are derived from roots in contrast to the alleged **ḫarš-ant-an-. Also, the assumption of an abstract noun in Hitt. -ātar/-ann- as the base of another abstract noun in Luw. -aḫi(t)- (HW 2nd ed. Ḫ:344) must be regarded as implausible. Instead, a suffix sequence -ann(i)- plus -aḫi(t)- presents a likely option (see under Meaning) and is paralleled by CLuw. war-ann-aḫi(t)- ‘capacity of speaking’.

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For the lemma head see ḫaršant-.