Locusts in Cuneiform Script: On the Interpretation of the Combination BURU₅v.mušen in the Fragment Sm.2073 of an ‘Assyrian Dream-Book’

In the fragment Sm.2073 of an “Assyrian Dream-Book”, a certain animal is mentioned as an ingredient in a list of various soups, written in cuneiform with the combination BURU5v.mušen, using the graphic variant BURU5v (ḪU.ERIM) instead of BURU5 (NAM.ERIM) and the determinative of a bird or flying creature .mušen. Three interpretations of this Sumerogram are possible: Akk. iṣṣūru “(small) bird”, erbu “locust”, or āribu “crow, raven”. The analysis of the contexts in which this combination was used in cuneiform texts of the 1st millennium B.C. shows that the use of one or another graphic variant of the sign or the presence of a determinative does not speak in favor of any of the variants. In this connection, the interpretation of BURU5v.mušen as Akk. erbu “locust” seems to be the most acceptable, since this animal, unlike āribu, is widely attested as a foodstuff, while iṣṣūru in similar contexts is written with another Sumerogram.