/pihamma/i-/

This lexeme is attested four times in inscriptions from Karkamiš, dating from the 10^th or early 9^th to the late 9^th century BCE. It is also attested as a personal name in ASSUR letter e, §1.

[A.P.]

[A.P.]

The meaning assigned to this word is rather less certain, however, not least because different proposals regarding etymologies have been put forward, cf. e.g. the analyses for the word family in CLuw. and its use in Hittite by Starke 1990a:103-106, and by Puhvel in HEDPE:76. While CLuw. employs the cognates as epithets for the Storm-god, no such mention of deities has been found in the HLuw. contexts so far. Instead, the word is used to underline perceived military achievements by people, thus e.g. in KARKAMIŠ A11b+c, §14: a-wa/i *a-pi-i-na REGIO-ni-ia-ti (FULGUR)pi-ha-mi-sa SUPER+ra/i-a PES-wa/i-i-ha, approx. /a=wa abin wattaniyadi pihammis sarra awiha/, meaning ‘(I devastated those countries and brought in the trophies,) and glorified (?) by those countries I came up/over’ (cf. Hawkins 2000a:103, 106). The usable contexts of attestations (some are too fragmented to provide a suitable basis) permit a range of meanings, stretching from glory to vigour and related fields, and a possible meaning could also be ‘to invigorate’. Further evidence is required to narrow down the choices.

[AH.B.]

The word is only attested as a participle in HLuw. as well as CLuw.,In fact, the CLuw. evidence piḫamma/i- and piḫaimma/i- shows that the language had two verbs at its disposal, see Sasseville 2021a:26. but it is reasonable to assume that the verb was in use as well. The HLuw. attestations point to a verbal stem /piha-^(ti)/, i.e. a factitive deriving from the same stem that has also given rise to the attested HLuw. /pihai(ya)-/ ‘glory (?)’; cf. also Tischler in HEG P:603f.

Probably outdated is the view expressed by Melchert 2014d:207, i.e. that assuming a verb is unnecessary.

[AH.B.]

The divine epithet piḫamma/i- is attested in texts such as in a prayer of Muwattalli II (CTH 381), in cult inventories (CTH 527) and oracle texts (CTH 577), all of which are New Hittite compositions. It is also attested as a personal name, i.e. ^mpiḫami- (KBo 45.69 vi 3’).

[D.S.]

For a possible attestation with plene spelling, see pí-i-ḫa-[ (KBo 56.176, 5’).

[D.S.]

Checked against the photographs in the Konkordanz (Mainzer Fotoarchiv).*

[D.S.]

Based on an attestation in HLuw., in which the same participle is used to modify the victorious king, piḫamma/i- and piḫaimma/i- have been translated as ‘glorified’ when used as the epithets of the Storm-god (thus HEG P:603). Differently, Puhvel (HED PE, PI, PU:74f.) translates it with ‘strong, mighty’, based on the Phoenician bilingual inscription at Karatepe, in which /pihassa/ corresponds to Phoenician ‘powerful strength’ (see under lemma). Melchert (CLL:176) suggests a sense ‘imbued with splendour/might’, which connects the two concepts (followed in CHD P:253 and DCL:187). It is left untranslated by Götze 1951b:72, Laroche 1959a:81, and Cammarosano 2018a:439, 456. The meaning ‘glorified (?)’ seems the best fit considering the HLuw. passage (see under HLuw. /pihamma/i-/), while the Hittite passages permit no semantic assessment.

[D.S.]

The existence of a formation in -aimma/i- next to one in -amma/i- speaks for the existence of two Luwian denominal formations, i.e. piḫā(i)-^(di) and piḫa-^(ti), which are otherwise unattested. A similar approach was suggested by Starke 1990a:314, although he assumed the base of piḫamma/i- to be a root verb of the ḫi-conjugation with an acrostatic paradigm, which would be unique. Sasseville 2021a:26, 121 brings further evidence for parallel formations in -a-^(ti) (factitive) next to -ā(i)-^(di) not only in Luwian, Lycian and Lydian but also in Hittite.

[D.S.]

1. ^mali-piḫame- (KUB 40.96 + KUB 60.1 iii^? 25’/21’)
2. ^m.d30-piḫami- (KUB 57.31 rev. 4, VSNF 12.133 l. col. 6’; HEG P:603)

Due to its morphology and its association with the word family of *piḫa-, the Luwian origin of piḫamma/i- has long been clear (Götze 1951b:72, Laroche 1959a:81, HEG P:603, HED PE, PI, PU:74f., DCL:187).

[D.S.]

*The forms in the table were checked together with Marian Wehrstein.

The Luwian participle piḫamma/i- is likely reflected in the Lycian personal name pixm͂ma- (TL 116.1; Neumann 2007a:270, HED PE, PI, PU:75, Melchert 2014d:207), except that it has further been substantivized with the nominal suffix -a- c., i.e. *pigame/i-, or after the merger of g and x, *pixame/i- → *pixam-a- > (with syncope) pixm͂ma-.

[D.S.]

For the lemma head see Lyc. *piga-.