pišta-

This lexeme is found within an inscription that is datable contextually to the 15^th year of the reign of Artaxerxes, either the first (465-424 BCE), the second (404-359 BCE), or the third (359-338 BCE).

[D.S.]

The word pištaν appears to agree in gender, case and number with the following word taqaλaν; both words occur in the apodosis of a curse formula. Gusmani 1964a:81f. takes them as accusative singular in apposition to the enclitic pronoun =aν ‘him (scil. the potential offender)’, thus assuming that pišta- refers to something negative. A different approach would be to take pištaν taqaλaν as dative plural, but that does not shed any light on the context either, since too many lexemes in the sentence are semantically obscure.

                ak=t=in nãqiš fẽnšλipid fak=at=aν epad [..]ra pištaν taqaλaν šisirors (LW 2.11-12)

                ‘Whoever destroys (it), they šisiro-ed him/it here (to) pištaν taqaλaν.’

The broken off word [..]ra is probably an adverb ending in -a; the presence of a nom./acc. collective is unlikely on account of the enclitic pronoun =aν. What is remarkable is that the verb of the sentence, i.e. šisirors, is in the preterit, which is highly unusual for the apodosis of a curse formula intended to secure the installation remaining undisturbed well into the future.

[D.S.]

The noun pišta- probably represents an abstract noun in -ta- derived from a verbal stem *piš-.

[D.S.]

No etymology possible.

[D.S.]