zapurši-

This word is found on a small fragment to be possibly attributed to a Palaic scene of the myth for the disappearing deity (CTH 752).

[D.S.]

Checked against the photograph in the Konkordanz.

[D.S.]

The fragmentary state of the context renders any analysis tentative. However, the sentence in which zapurši- is found goes as follows: [ ... ši]-˹i^?˺-ta-ri-an za-pur-ši-iš [š]ītari=an zapuršiš ´The zapurši presses him.´ For the restoration of the verb šī- ´to press´, one can adduce the same form ši-i-ta-ri occurring one line earlier in the same passage of the fragment. Furthermore, the use of the same Palaic verb is known from the mythical scene of the disppearing deity, in which the eagle tries to rouse the sleeping deity (see KUB 32.18 i 8´-13´). If the contextual analysis of the passage is correct, the zapurši would be an agent (comparable to the eagle) capable of pressing the sleeping deity. Based on the Hittite versions of the myth, especially the ones of Telipinu, the bee is also known as the insect, which successfully finds and rouses the deity. Whether zapurši- is the Palaic word for ´bee´ cannot be proven until further fragments of the context are retrieved.

[D.S.]

No etymology possible.

[D.S.]