saḫaršubbû
21. In symptom descriptions
SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) [šumma ...] ūṣâ SAḪAR.ŠUB.BA [x (x)] Sakikkû XXXIII 71 “[if ...] grows out [...] – s .-skin affliction”. Note also Sakikkû XXXIII 72 (SUḪUŠ SAḪAR.ŠUB.BA “root/foundation(?) of leprosy”). new
SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) [šumma ...]-⸢ su⸣ma damū [... SA]ḪAR.⸢ŠUB !⸣- pi ili ū ištarti [x] Sakikkû XXXIII 73 “[if ...] him and blood [... – s. -skin] affliction (caused by?) a god or a goddess [...]”. new
32. In therapeutic rituals
SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) 3 arī ša SAḪAR.ŠUB.BA-a Sakikkû XXIX 4 “3 (date palm) fronds of someone (afflicted) with saḫaršubbû (?)”. Corresponds to 8–10 in Heeßel 2000. new
SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) [in]a * UD 9kám ina šaršerri ša SAḪAR.ŠUB.BA tulabbaššu Sakikkû XXIX 7 “[a]t the 9th day, you clothe him in red šaršerru -paste of someone (afflicted) with saḫaršubbû (?)”. Corresponds to 15–17 in Heeßel 2000. See also Sakikkû XXIX 8, 14 (18f., 30–33 in Heeßel 2000). Cf. also Schmidtchen 2025, 178. new
SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) [...] šá SAḪAR.ŠUB-bé-e uššab Sakikkû XXIX 23′ “he sits [in/on ...] of someone (afflicted) with saḫaršubbû (?)”. Corresponds to 55′–59′ in Heeßel 2000. new
Discussion
The word has been translated conventionally as “leprosy” in the dictionaries, but it is unclear which skin affliction (or how many) the term refers to. Note the association with epqu (which has also been translated as “leprosy” in older research) and epqēnu.
The logogram is construed parallel to terms like gan-šub-ba (garābu), gag-šub-ba (sikkatu II), gìr-(im-)šub-ba (ziqtu I), níg-(im-)šub-ba (rašûtu, same as rišûtu “itching”?); cf. MSL 9, 106 and seems thus, apart from other attested Sum. spellings, to follow a common pattern.