The mirišmarû-Plant: Orthographic Novelties and a Consecratory Spell

Abstract

Summary The author’s main focus is on a cryptic spelling of the Akkadian plant name mirišmarû. Although one of its occurrences has been in the public domain for decades, it has hitherto been overlooked in cuneiform scholarship. In the guise of this arcane spelling, the plant appears to feature most prominently in an as yet unpublished cuneiform tablet inscribed with an incantation for the purpose of mobilizing the plant’s healing potential against the effects of curse and witchcraft; its text is edited here in transliteration and translation. Two further unorthodox notations of the name, recently detected in unpublished sources too, are evaluated for their implications; one of these proves crucial in establishing the correct reading of the name once and for all. To help the reader assess the new findings in their proper context, a chart detailing all currently known attestations of the plant name is included.