As in the Meissner fragment, the chief hero is invariably designated
as dGish in both the Pennsylvania and Yale tablets; and we may
therefore conclude that this was the common form in the Hammurabi
period, as against the writing dGish-g?(n)-mash [34] in the Assyrian
version. Similarly, as in the Meissner fragment, the second hero's
name is always written En-ki-du [35] (abbreviated from d?g) as
against En-ki-d? in the Assyrian version. Finally, we encounter in
the Yale tablet for the first time the writing Hu-wa-wa as the name
of the guardian of the cedar forest, as against Hum-ba-ba in the
Assyrian version, though in the latter case, as we may now conclude
from the Yale tablet, the name should rather be read Hu-ba-ba. [36]
The variation in the writing of the latter name is interesting
as pointing to the aspirate pronunciation of the labial in both
instances. The name would thus present a complete parallel to the
Hebrew name Howawa (or Hobab) who appears as the brother-in-law
of Moses in the P document, Numbers 10, 29. [37] Since the name
also occurs, written precisely as in the Yale tablet, among the
"Amoritic" names in the important lists published by Dr. Chiera,
[38] there can be no doubt that Huwawa or Hubaba is a West Semitic
name.
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