A Cow of Sīn'A Cow of Sīn' is an Akkadian incantation for a woman in childbirth. It contains a small mythological narrative (about 20 lines) about the moongod and his beloved cow, Geme-Sīn. Sīn falls in love with his cow and impregantes her. When at the end of her pregnancy the birth-pangs begin, Sīn hears her cries in heaven. Two helping spirits descend to earth and perform a ritual to ease the birth. The incantation ends with a supplication: may this woman give birth as easily as Geme-Sīn. Veldhuis presents the various versions of the text and offers a literary analysis which takes into account the poetic and pragmatic aspects of the incantation. This study is meant both for the Assyriologist and for anyone interested in Akkadian literature. |
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Common terms and phrases
adverbial clauses Akkadian alliteration arhu būru comparison concrete reference Cow of Sīn cuneiform daughters of Anu Dijk double entendre dXXX earth ekdu gave birth normally Geme-Sīn GEME2 Gi-Sīn girl in labour grammatical heard her screaming heaven herd boys herdsman i-na ilput šaman pūri iltēt īmuršima incantation A Cow incantational structure išariš išši kīma labour give birth labour pains Lamassus descended Lamaštu Lambert lexeme littu logographic lushest grasses magical ceremony magician manuscript mź hāli usappiha Mesopotamian mounted the cow namru Nannāru narrative našāt Neo-Assyrian Nineveh oil-from-the-jar pangs paradox of birth parallel phonemes phonological present preterit reading repetition ritual ša Sīn screaming in labour sentence šerra sign play Sīn saw šitta sound pattern sprinkled her whole stative Stol story subsection Sumerian supplication tablet texture touched her forehead translation ūmēša ušappala verb phrase verbal forms versions water-of-labour wild bull mounted woman in childbirth woman in labour word