kasû II
4Attestations
OBOB: Old Babylonian (ca. 2000–1600 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) 1 GUR ka-si-i FM 2, 25 no. 4: 7 “1 kor of k.” (in list of vegetables and spices). new
OB-LitOB-Lit: Old Babylonian literary texts — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) kīma ṭābtim u ka-sí-im elī muštemīja lū ṭabāku AML, 98: 17 SEAL “may I be pleasant to my listener like salt and k.” new
SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) šumma šīnātūšu kīma A GAZI! Sakikkû XIV 116 “if his urine is like k .-extract(?)”. Diff. Geller 2005, 250f.: 18′ (reading GIM ESIR “is like pitch”). new
LBLB: Late Babylonian (ca. 626 BCE – 100 CE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) ka-si-iá dubsar 3, 170: 3. (Aram. pl.) new
Discussion
The identification of both kasû and kasûtu II is a matter of debate. Formerly, it has been understood as mustard (Sinapis nigra) in AHw following Landsberger 1958, 337f. The plant was also used in beer brewing, for which see Stol 1994, 175ff.. Stol's identification of the plant with cuscuta is uncertain as is the identification with Sinapis nigra, as, unlike cuscuta and Sinapis nigra, k. was also used to achieve a red-purple color in wool. See the discussion in Thavapalan 2020, 350-352 (“safflower”); Choukassizian Eypper 2019 (“tamarind”); Da Riva 2002, 89, 92f. (a turnip-like plant sparely cultivated in Mesopotamia in the NB and LB periods; acc. to BM 114803: 5, the plant had to be dug up, which would would fit neither of the proposed identifications).
The identification of the plant with safflower in Thavapalan 2020, 350f. seems promising given the use of kasû in dyeing as well as medicine, usages well known for safflower, which is also native to the Near East and used in classical Chinese and Indian medicine. Note, however, that kasû is said to be used also as spice, but safflower is described as tasting mild and neutral. Another alternative might be Rhus coriaria (Gerbersumach). It is used as spice (called sumac) as well as for dyeing (usually even the hues red and purple are reached by cooking in water although this would require an iron post-bath modifier). Its hairy, dark-red drupe fruits (beginning as panicles of bright-yellow/green flowers, the seed looks dark-red, a trait leading to the traditional Arab. name for the spice summāq “dark red”) might fit into the description of dark-spotted carnelian being “kasû-spotted” (cf. Abnu šikinšu 7f.). The plant has been used for medicinal reasons as well since antiquity (cf. El-Saber Batiha et al. 2022 = 10.3390/molecules27165179). If Rhus coriaria is indeed described by the term, the logogram KU might refer rather to a powder (also sīktu) than crushings. However, it would be curious, why the characteristic berries would not have been described more explicitly in the texts; note that the term always appears in pl. The expression A GAZIsar seems to refer to extracts (suggested in CAD K sub kasû b 3′ since it could be used from roasted or boiled kasû).