awātum

Akkadian

Etymology

From 𒀀𒉿𒌑𒌝 (awûm, “to argue in court”), attested in Old Assyrian only, from Proto-Semitic *hawata-/*ʔaw-, potentially further from Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔiw- (“to call out, to cry, to clamor”), cognate with Arabic هَوْتَ (hawta)/هَيْتَ (hayta, “come here, I beckon you”), Arabic هَوَتَة (hawata, “a cry”), Ugaritic 𐎅𐎆𐎚 (hwt /⁠huwatu⁠/, “a word, a statement, a matter”), and Egyptian jw (“to complain, to speak against wrongdoing”)/hwt (“speak out, shout, lament, wail”).

Pronunciation

• (Old Babylonian) IPA^(key): /aˈwaː.tum/

Noun

awātum f (plural awâtum)

1. (spoken) word, utterance

   𒊭 𒀀𒉿𒁴 𒀀𒈾𒆪 𒅇 𒀜𒋫

   ša a-wa-tim a-na-ku u₃ at-ta

   /ša awātim anāku u atta/

   you and I are men of (our) word

   1. news, report, message
   2. secret, rumor

      𒀀𒉿𒌓 𒋗𒍪𒌑𒌝 ― a-wa-tam šu-ṣu₂-u₂-um /awātam šūṣûm/ ― to betray a secret

2. wording, text, content, terms (of an agreement)
3. command, order, decision
4. matter, affair, thing, situation, legal case, legal transaction

   𒀀𒉿𒌓/𒀀𒉿𒀀𒁴 𒀀𒈠𒊒𒌝 ― a-wa-tam/a-wa-a-tim a-ma-ru-um /awātam/awâtim amārum/ ― to investigate (literally, “to look into a matter”)

   𒀀𒈾 𒀀𒉿𒁴 𒀭𒉌𒁴 𒆷 𒋫𒈾𒍣𒅅

   a-na a-wa-tim an-ni-tim la ta-na-zi-iq

   /ana awātim annītim lā tanazziq/

   do not worry about this matter

Alternative forms

• awātu (non-mimated)
• amātum, amātu (Standard Babylonian, Middle Babylonian, Neo-Babylonian, Late Babylonian)
• awutum, awutu (Old Assyrian)
• abutu (Middle Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian)

Cuneiform spellings

Logograms	Phonetic
𒅗 (INIM)	𒀀𒉿𒌈 (a-wa-tum) 𒀀𒈠𒌈 (a-ma-tum) 𒀀𒈠𒀀𒌈 (a-ma-a-tum) 𒀀𒉿𒀀𒁴 (a-wa-a-tim) (acc/gen pl) 𒀀𒁍𒌅 (a-bu-tu)

Related terms

• bēl awātim (“litigant”)

References

• “amatu A”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD)‎^[1], volume 1, A, part 2, Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1968
• Black, Jeremy, George, Andrew, Postgate, Nicholas (2000) “awātu(m)”, in A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag