“A Votive Sword with Old Assyrian Inscription,”
Assyriological Studies 16, pp. 197-198.
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The present author publishes in this paper a bronze sword kept in a private collection in Europe (anonymous owner), said to come from the vicinity of Diyarbakir.
The sword is intact (1.09 m in length) and carries an inscription in Old Assyrian cuneiform (thus, dating before ca. 1800 BC), with a dedication made by Luluanum, son of Azizum, to a god defined as be-lim ša ḫu-te-ša. Güterbock analyses the names, recognizing Azizum, as attested also at Kültepe, suggesting for Luluanum and the name of the city where the god is worshipped a possible Hurrian influence.
A comparison is then established between the actual sword and the depiction of the Sword-god at Yazılıkaya and some magic ritual texts written in Hittite, concerning the ritual ‘burning’ of a bronze sword in honour of Nergal.
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