Page:Babylonian Letters of the Hammurapi Period.djvu/26

ARTHUR UNGNAD - BABYLONIAN LETTERS OF THE HAMMURAPI PERIOD 23

PRIVATE LETTERS

Like all old-Babylonian letters the letters referring to private affairs are very important from the linguistic point of view. Rare words and forms occur which can not be found in any historical or religious texts. The Babylonian Grammar especially benefits by the great number of verbal forms of the second person of which those of the plural are the most interesting ones. The rule, established by the present writer,^[1] that the ending of the second person of the plural is a and not u, even when it is masculine, is confirmed throughout these letters. There is also a new example of a letter addressed to two women giving a number of those exceedingly rare forms of the second person of the feminine plural. As only one letter so far is known, ^[2] besides that in our collection (No. 51), we will give this specimen here in transcription and, as far as it is possible, in translation, too.

(5. No. 51)^[3]

O. a-na ka-ka-a u mi-ir-si-ia
ki- bi- ma
um- ma ^ilasin-ma-gir-ma
^ilušamaš li-ba-al-li-iṯ-ki-na-ti
5. na-tu ...... an-nu-um
šá warḫam I^kam .... ma-ma a-na SU.KAZKAL še-e libbim
a-na šú-ul-mi-ia la ta-áš-pu-ra-nim

1. OLZ. 1906. p. 585 ff.
2. Thureau-Dangin. Lettres et Contrats, No. 231 cf, BB, 139.
3. Cf. the photographic reproduction on pl. XCVIII.