iṭṭû
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Variant: ittû, iddû
Meanings:
bitumen
de:German: Deutsch Bitumen
fr:French: Français bitume
Distribution: OB onward(s)OB onward(s): Old Babylonian onwards (ca. 2000 BCE onwards), NANA: Neo Assyrian (ca. 1000–600 BCE)
Grammar:
pos: subst.Substantivesuffix: -ī(t)Nisba suffix -ī(t) (?)
Logogram: ESIR, ÉSIR
Etymology: Inherited Acc. to M. Stol in RlA 13, 499, the term is derived from the toponym Ḥīṭ. Note also similar (Middle) Hebr. ṭjṭ “wet loam, mud”, see HALOT 374; Aram./Syr. ṭnj “clay, mud”, see Sokoloff 2002, 502; Sokoloff 2009, 527; Drower/Macúch 1963, 179; Arab. ṭjn “clay, mud, soil”, see Lane 1906.
1Attestations
OB-LitOB-Lit: Old Babylonian literary texts 60 ESIR kīdātiša aprus 60 ESIR qerebša aprus 60 ESIR ana ḫinnīša aštapak uštarkib ŠÁR x 8 ⸢ESIR.UD.DU.A⸣ [in]a kīrātija u ŠÁR ESIR ana libbi ašpuk ESIR ul iqr[i]bamma Finkel 2014, 360f: 18–23 SEAL “I apportioned 60 (kor of) bitumen regarding her (the ship’s) outsides. I apportioned 60 (kor of) bitumen regarding her interior. I poured out 60 (kor of) bitumen onto her cabins. I loaded 28800 (measures of) dry bitumen into my kilns and poured 3600 (measures of) bitumen within. The bitumen did not come near (the surface).”
Discussion
Cf. also the overview in the textual sources for (and kinds of) bitumen in Stol 2012 and RlA 13.