niššullu
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Variant: nimšullu, niššulu
Meanings:
fish roe (?)
de:German: Deutsch Fischrogen (?)
fr:French: Français des œufs de poisson (?)
ar:Arabic: العربية بطارخ (?)
Distribution: OBOB: Old Babylonian (ca. 2000–1600 BCE), SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE)
Domain: Animal products; parts of animals, cuts of meat; fish and aquatic animals
Grammar:
pos: subst.Substantivenumber: pl. fem.Plural feminine niššullātupattern: PiRRuSSin niššullu
Etymology: Inherited (?) Kogan 2025, 5 suggests a connection with Arabic nasl “progeny, whether of man or beast” (Lane 1867, 3032) and Sabaic ns₁l “offspring of animal ” (Beeston et al. 1982, 98). However, if the word is of Semitic origin, one has to contend with an otherwise unattested nominal pattern PiRRuSS.
3Attestations
OBOB: Old Babylonian (ca. 2000–1600 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) ar-⸢ki-ka⸣-a ni-iš-šu-ul-la-tum īlīʾānim MSCT 17, 110: 20 ARCHIBAB “after your (departure), the fish roe arrived”. Instead of -ka-a, the edition reads -⸢ka⸣ 0.3.0, i.e., 3(n). The sign is, however, A. Cf. also [ni-i]š-šu-ul-la-tim (ibid.: 19). new
OB-LitOB-Lit: Old Babylonian literary texts — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) ni-iš-šu-la-at t[a-...] BAM 12, 113: 31 eBL “fish roe of ...” new
SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) bāʾeru būnu nūnīšu [… ni]š?-šu-la .[..] ZOrA 14, 55 ii 9 eBL “the fisher [showed off] his the good sides of his fish […] fish roe(?) […]”. Among professions presenting their work. new