Of Sumerian Songs and Spells

Abstract The paper explores the uses of the Sumerian expression ser3-ku3, with a view to clarifying its sense. The paper arises from my study of Babylonian šerkugû, which I argue to have the meaning ‘incantation’ (see fn. 16). This is a loan from Sumerian *ser3-ku3-ga. The form with -ga (arising from the addition of the ‘adjectival a’ to ku3.g ‘holy, pure’) is not currently attested in Sumerian. (I thank Pascal Attinger, pers. comm., for the observation that apparent attestations of ser3-ku3-ga, e.g. in Martu A 58, are in fact locatives in -a). It does however occur in spellings of Babylonian šerkugû (CAD Š/2, 316b). It argues that there are two main uses, ‘incantation’ and ‘hymn’, probably correlating respectively with one-word (‘univerbated’) and two-word incarnations of the expression. This hypothesis finds support in the phrase’s loan and translation into Babylonian.