/sazza-⁽ⁱ⁾/, (SA₄)sá-za-

This hapax legomenon occurs once in an inscription from Tell Ahmar, dating to the late 10^th or early 9^th century BCE.

[AH.B.]

The meaning of the lexeme has so far remained in the dark, as it is attested but once and together with another unknown word. In the context of TELL AHMAR 6, §27, the verb is part of a conditional clause that runs: a-wa/i kwa/i-ia *527-na-ta-ti-i (CURRUS)wa/i+ra/i-za-ní-i-sa (SA₄)sá-za-i, approximately /a=wa kwiya ...-nattadi warzanis sazzai/, translating as ‘When the (military) campaign sazza-s with *527-nattadi’ and followed by the apodosis clause promising a sacrifice of nine oxen to the god Tarhunza of the Army (cf. Hawkins 2006a:17).

Given the fact that the apodosis describes gratefulness to a god for his supportive action, it is reasonable to assume that /sazza-/ either by itself or in collocation with the likewise unknown *527-natta(/i)- denotes military success of some kind, but it does not provide enough information to assign even a broad translation, see Hawkins 2006a:29 and cf. the discussion of the stem below.

[AH.B.]

The attested form of the verb proves that it inflects according to the ḫi-conjugation, highlighting the possibility that it could be formed with the suffix /-zza-⁽ⁱ⁾/, although it does not suffice as proof. If the suffix should be present, possible derivational bases are /sa-⁽ⁱ⁾/ ‘to release’ or the base used in /sann(a)i-^(di)/ ‘to cover, hide’, or indeed the root underlying /sas(a)-/ ‘seal’ and /sasalli(ya)-/ ‘hunting ground’. In fact, /sann(a)i-^(di)/ ‘to cover, hide’ shares a graphemic link with the lexeme under discussion by its near-consistent use of the logogram SA₄ for a determinative, yet it is difficult to see a semantic fit between /sann(a)i-^(di)/ ‘to cover, hide’ and the context of attestation of the present verb, cf. Hawkins 2006a:29. Semantically more likely is a connection with /sas(a)-/ and /sasalli(ya)-/, but this also remains mere speculation in the absence of further evidence.

[AH.B.]