In these four texts the ceremonial Sumerian names of Babylonian temples are listed each with an Akkadian explanation rather than with their everyday Akkadian counterparts, as seen, for example, in Tintir 4.
The explanation is made either by employing a word for word translation, by paraphrasing, or by speculative etymology. A single ceremonial Sumerian name can be given several or many Akkadian interpretations, taking advantage of the flexibility of the cuneiform syllabary and the number of phonetic and semantic associations in Sumerian vocabulary.
These lists belong to a well-established scribal tradition of speculative scholarship with theological and cosmological purposes, particularly popular in the Kassite period. The best-known product of such a scholarship is the list of the fifty names of Marduk in Tablet VII of the Creation Epic.
The bilingual format which juxtaposes Sumerian and Akkadian in complementary columns shows the reliance on the lexical tradition.
Similar lists with explanations of temples names also exist for other Mesopotamian cities, such as Nippur (Nippur Compendium and Nippur Temple List), Aššur (Götteradressbuch of Ashur) and Kish (List of Temples in Kish).
Explanation of Temples Names in Babylon A
This text is attested by an exemplar which is held by the British Museum and is one of the Babylonian tablets that Rassam purchased from Marini in 1877. The small fragment preserves only the sub-column with the Akkadian exegesis, but thanks to its colophon it can be dated to the Seleucid or to the Parthian period. The order of the temples listed is based on Tintir 4.
Explanation of Temples Names in Babylon B
This text is attested by a tablet from the second Spartali collection, held by the British Museum. Most likely originally from Babylon, the tablet preserves two sub-columns with the ceremonial Sumerian temple names on the right and their Akkadian explanations on the left. The list, whose order depends on Tintir 4, attests the Sumerian name of the most important Babylonian temples, each provided with multiple interpretations.
Explanation of Temples Names in Babylon C
As for Explanation of Temple Names in Babylon Bthis text is attested by a tablet in the British Museum's second Spartali collection and it probably originated in Babylon. Unlike the other lists with explanations of temple names, this tablet preserves three sub-columns: the first two correspond to the text of Tintir 4 with the ceremonial Sumerian names and their Akkadian counterparts; the third constitutes an expansion containing the Akkadian commentaries.
Explanation of Temple Names in Babylon D
This text is attested by a tablet excavated at Babylon in Haus VII of the Merkes area in 1909 and now held by the Vorderasiatisches Museum. The tablet, probably datable to the Neo-Babylonian period, is known as the Esagil Commentary. The text, in fact, with the usual arrangement into two sub-columns for the Sumerian names and their Akkadian interpretations, is entirely dedicated to the explanation of the name of the great cult-center of Marduk at Babylon.
Further Reading
Giulia Lentini
Giulia Lentini, 'Explanations of Temple Names', Babylonian Topographical Texts online (BTTo), BTTo, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2024 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/btto/Babylon/TextsrelatedtoTintir/ExplanationsofTempleNames/]