Assyrian Lexicographical Notes

This Semitic root occurs regularly in Hebrew, Phœnician, and Aramaic in the form r-š-p, although Syriac agrees with Assyrian in having the metathesis š-r-b. The regular Semitic form of this root exists in Assyrian in the word raššubatu, flame, conflagration, brilliancy, terror, and is the cognate of Hebrew réšeph. The root rašābu, blaze, has been entered in the lexicons with the meaning “be powerful, terrible”, and the error still persists, although Jensen indicated the correct root of rašābu, rašbu, and rašubbu, blazing, in his Mythen und Epen, 580. A passage which finally disposes of the old error is CT. 19, 22, 11, izi ú-gug-ga = rà-šub-bat īšāti, Syn. of kibbat īšāti, flame of fire. The syllable ra is written with the sign UD, which has the value ra, RA. 10, 74, 18. But it is a rare value and consequently the passage was never understood. The Sumerian word ugug is a derivative of the root gug, to burn.