The Lands by the Waters – An Ucaptian Myth (2)
(previous stanza)
To Knowing Ptahh(1), Merciful Shamaak sent(2) an ibis. And the ibis told him, “Perfectly thou art formed, Former, the only one (who is thus). Therefore, only thou wilt survive the coming flood(3). Thou wilt live, Ptahh, thou Builder with Cedar, if only thou buildst it of cedar.(4)
Original:
r ptaħ phal s.kehʔ.n.f.f ʃmak s.jhah hbaj
ħnaʕ jerɟ.ɣ.f.f p hbaj
tʃaw petħ.k ptaħ p wʕa mwat
ew.s ʔenx.ɣ.s.t ptaħ p wʕa mwat p ejw.t sjaw
ʔenx.k.t ptaħ s.thal ħnaʕ s.tehl.ɣ.s.t
Footnotes:
(1) <ptaħ>, literally “the Creator,” “the Shaper,” “the Former.”
(2) <s.kehʔ.n.f.f>, literally “someone made him fly.” (ibises were evidently considered masculine)
(3) <p ejw.t sjaw>, literally “the flood that will flood.”
(4) the root <thl> (ultimately from Hurrian tali) gives us <thal> (“cedar tree, cedar wood”), <s.thal> (“a Builder with Cedar,” “a carpenter,” one of the epithets of Ptahh), and <s.tehl.ɣ.s.t> (“will cause it to be built of cedar wood”).
You can see all of the Ucaptian vocabulary I’ve got so far here.
