mantalli(ya)- (maltalli(ya)-)

The word (probably a substantivized adjective) occurs several times in a handful of texts, mostly oracles.

[E.R.]

nom./acc. sg. n.	ma-an-tal-li-ia-an-za	KUB 22.35 iii 7’	(CTH 569, NS)
nom./acc. pl. n.	ma-an-ta-al-li-ia	KUB 21.33 iv 19’	(CTH 79, NS)
	ma-an-tal-li-ia	KUB 5.6 iii 25	(CTH 570, NS)
	ma-an-tal-li-ia	KUB 8.27 obv. 11’	(CTH 569, NS)
	ma-an-tal-li-ia	KUB 16.32 ii 9	(CTH 569, NS)
	ma-an-ta[l-li-ia]	KUB 16.32 ii 14	(CTH 569, NS)
	ma-an-tal-li	KUB 16.32 ii 17	(CTH 569, NS)
	ma-an-tal-l[i]-ia	KUB 16.32 ii 19	(CTH 569, NS)
	ma-an-tal-li-ia	KUB 16.32 ii 23	(CTH 569, NS)
	ma-an-tal-<li>-ia	KUB 22.35 iii 11’	(CTH 569, NS)
	ma-an-tal-li-ia	KBo 2.6 iii 21	(CTH 577, NS)
	ma-al-t[a-l]i-ia	KUB 5.6 iii 36	(CTH 570, NS)
dat./loc. pl. (Hitt.)	ma-an-tal-li-ia-aš	KBo 2.6 iii 30	(CTH 577, NS)

The word is always preceded by SISKUR, which was considered a determinative by CHD L-N:178, but its nature as a determinative is doubted by Starke 1986a:161, Neu apud HEG L-N:126, CLL:138 and DCL:s.v., followed here. In a single instance (KUB 16.32 ii 14), the Glossenkeil precedes SISKUR. – With DCL:s.v. against CHD L-N:177, ma-an-tal-li-ia-aš is the correct reading at KBo 2.6 iii 30.

[E.R.]

Checked against the photographs in the Mainzer Fotoarchiv.

[E.R.]

The meaning of the lexeme can be quite easily grasped thanks to the contexts and the derivational link to the adjective mantalla/i- ‘related to slander (vel sim.)’. The word describes a ritual whose aim was to end personal disputes and controversies, one of the two parties involved usually already deceased (hence the early erroneous interpretation of the ritual as a funeral one or a sacrifice for the dead). To the specific translation ‘(ritual) for a mantalla/i- person’ (thus CLL:138 and DCL:s.v.) or ‘mant-directed ritual’ (HED M:59), we can perhaps add slightly different translations on the basis of the meaning of the adjective mantalla/i- ‘related to slander (vel sim.)’; thus CHD:177-179, followed by EDHIL:555f. (‘a ritual pertaining to rancor(ous words)’), Ünal 2007a:427 (‘a ritual pertaining to rancorous words?; an offering to spirit of dead persons who were victims of conspiracy and assassinations’), HED M:59 (‘rancor-abatement, conciliation-rite, peace offering (vel sim.)’. However, since the meaning of mantalla/i- is still not fully understood, the translation ‘(ritual) for a mantalla/i- person’ is favored here.Outdated HW:136.

[E.R.]

Contra CHD L-N:177-179, the stem is mantalli(ya)-, consequently, we are dealing with a relational adjective in -i(ya)- built from the substantivized base of the adjective mantalla/i-.

[E.R.]

The word is certainly Luwian, as is shown by the Luwian inflectional form in KUB 22.35 iii 7, the Luwian suffix -alla/i- in the derivational base and, additionally, the Glossenkeil occurring at least once in mantalla/i-. The word is considered Luwian by Melchert 2005a:450 and van den Hout 2006a:250. For further references, see also mantalla/i-.

[E.R.]

*This lemma was written together with the trainee Marco Ammazzini.

For the lemma head see CLuw. *mant-.