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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
The gilšu is found in both sexes and on both sides of the body. It is followed in the text series by qinnātu (GU.DU.MEŠ) “the buttocks”. This specific anatomical term appears to refer quite clearly to the upper part of the lower limb. Further evidence may be provided by the description of carrying children straddling the hip region, a form of transporting infants which is still widely practised among the more primitive peoples of Africa and Asia at the present time. As it is an obvious landmark, easily recognizable on the surface of the body; it may perhaps be the palpable mass formed by the protrusion of the greater trochanter of the femur. However, this is still open to question.
2 Labat, R., TDP, 128, 1–11; 130, 12–30.Google Scholar
3 Kraus, F. R., AfO, Bhft. 3, 1939, 27 n. 28;Google Scholarvon Soden, W., AHwb, 288;Google ScholarCAD, G, 73.Google Scholar
4 CAD, G, 73, quotes: kî tarīti ina 
giššīa anaššīka, “I carry you on my giššu like a nurse.”Google Scholar
5 TDP, 129 n. 229. See also Labat, R., JA, CCXLII, 1954, 213 n.l.Google Scholar
6 TDP, 128, 9.Google Scholar
7 Thompson, R. C., CT, 23, 11, 38:Google Scholar … iṣ-bat giš-šá kim-ṣa ki-ṣal-la…, “It has seized giššu, shank, and anklebone…”; Kraus, , Texte, 22,1Google Scholar, 23′ 
it-ta-nak-na-an-šu… “If his giššu have cramps…”; idem, 22, I, 24′:?. 
it-te-nin-ṣi-la-šu…, “If his giššu are paralysed… ”; TDP, 130, 16/17: [gi-liš imitti/šumēli-šú nap-hat], “If his right/left gilšu is inflamed”; idem, 19/20: š. [gi-liš imitti/šumēli-šú muq-qu-ta-at], “If his right/left gilšu is weakened”; idem, 30–1: š. ultu gilšē(pl.)-šú adi ubānāt(pl.) šēpē2-šú šer'ānē(pl.)-š[u…] ki-is-sat, “If from his gilšu to his toes, his muscles… a disease of muscles.”
8 Kraus, , Texte, 38a, rev. 13′: š. pi-in-du-ú ka-la GÌR-šú ultu giš-ši-šú adi SIG4.GÍR-šś imitti DIR, “If pindû-lesions are covering all his leg from his giššu to the sole of his right foot…”.Google Scholar
9 CT, 23, 9, 12: … EN tamannu(nu) ina giš-ši-šú GÌR-šú u ki-ṣal-li-šú tarakkas-ma…, “Recite the spell, bind (it) on his giššu, foot, and ankle…”.Google Scholar
10 Synovial bursae are interposed between muscle surfaces which glide upon each other. These small sacs are normally closed and secrete a minute quantity of viscid fluid for lubrication purposes.
11 Handcock, P. S. P., CT, 27, 18, 9; CT, 28, 1, 6Google Scholar: š. Sal Ú.TU-ma Kimin-ma pi-in-di-e ma-li…, “If a woman gives birth and ditto (i.e. the head of the newborn) is full of pindû…” (associated texts have other skin lesions of bubu'tu, ibqu, 
šikṣu, and ṣinnitu); AMT, 22, 1, 17: š. ditto pi-in-du-[ú.]… “If ditto (i.e. at the entrance of the penis) is a pindû-lesion…”;Google ScholarKraus, , Texte, 38a, obv. 1: š. pi-in-du-ú ina qaqqad amëli šakin…, “If there is a pindû-lesion on a man's head…”;Google ScholarCT, 28, 29, 16:Google Scholarš. (ina 
pa-ni-šú) imitti pi-in-du-ú…, “If on the right side of his face is a pindû-lesion…”; Kraus, , Texte, 38a, rev.15′: š. pi-in-du-ú ṣa-ar-pu-ti ka-la pag-ri-š[ú] SA5.MEš ma-lu-u, “If pindû-lesions have a burning sensation, all of his body is full of red (painful) lesions”Google Scholar; idem, 38a, rev. 13′, see n. 8 above.
12 AMT, 84, 4,Google Scholar III, 9: šumma(ma) ina zumur amēli pi-in-du-ú peṣû…, “If a man (has) a white pindû -lesion on the body …”.
13 Holma, H., Ann. Acad. Scient. Fenn., Ser. B. VII, 2, 1911, 16–17.Google ScholarRegöly-Mérei, G., Sudhoffs Arch., L, 1966, 411–17.Google Scholar Note also Langdon, S., UP, XII, No. 1, 17–18, who suggested that the pindû was fiery red in colour.Google Scholar
14 Willis, R. A., Pathology of tumours, 2nd ed., London, 1953, 700, 702, 704, 709.Google Scholar
15 Seen. 12 above.
16 CAD, 
28; AHwb, 308;Google ScholarLabat, , TDP, 23 n. 39.Google Scholar
17 TDP, 22, 46:Google Scholarš. qaqqad-su umma 
… “If his head is very feverish…”; idem, 230, 115: š. lā'û pa-gar-šú umma la 
… qaqqad-su umma iši…, “If the baby, its body does not have a very high fever, its head feels hot…”; idem, 180, 31: š…libba-šú NE ú-kal NE la 
…, “If his belly is feverish (but) the fever is not very high…”; idem, 22, 48–9: š. qaqqad-su umma 
… qātā2-šú u šēpā2-šú emma(ma)…, “If his head is feverish … his hands and feet are hot…”. Cf. also TDP, 24, 51, 52.Google Scholar
18 TDP, 34, 22:Google Scholarš. nakkapta-šú imitti kaṣât(át) šú šumēli emmet(e-et)…, “If his right temple area is cold (and) his left one is warm…”; idem, 34, 20: š. nakkapta-šú rēš libbi-šú kunuk kišādi-šú ṣubbut-su umma la 
u zu'ta la irašši, “If his temple, epigastrium, (and) seventh cervical vertebra are seized, fever is not high and he is not sweating…”; idem, 24, 49: …qātā2-šú u šēpā2-šú emmā(ma) u zu'tu kaṣītu imtanaqut-su…, “His hands and feet are hot and a cold sweat attacks him…”; idem, 218, 10: š. lā'û qaqqad-su umma ú-kal pa-gar-šú umma la 
la i-ši…, “If the baby's head is hot (but) the body is not too feverish (and it is not sweating)…”.
19 TDP 24, 50: š. qaqqad-su umma 
…imim(im) u ikaṣṣa…, “If his head feels quite feverish … he is hot and cold…”;Google Scholaridem, 34, 17: š. nakkapta-šú ṣabtat-su-ma imim ikaṣṣa…, “If his temple area is seized and he is hot and cold…”; idem, 28, 82: š. ina qaqqadi-šú 
MIR.ŠEŠ imtanaqut-su…, “If he is smitten on his head and chills repeatedly attack him…”.
20 TDP 224, 51:Google Scholarš. lā'û um-ma li-'-ba ú-kal u ik-ta-na-aṣ-ṣa…, “If the baby suffers from ummu and li'bu fevers, and (yet) feels constantly cold …”. Note also observations of ummu la 
, emma, and kaṣâ in TDP, 38, 52–3, 56, 59–64.Google Scholar See also TDP, 228, 100, 101.Google Scholar
21 TDP, 156, 4–7, 8–9; 164, 65–6, 77; 218, 6–7, 10–12.Google Scholar
22 TDP, 22, 46, 48.Google Scholarš. qaqqad-su umma 
UD-l-KÁM ezzib-šum-ma UD-2-KÁM ukabbat-su…, “If his head is feverish, and fever leaves him one day and attacks him again on the second day…”.
23 Landsberger, B., Die Fauna des alten Mesopotamien, Leipzig, 1934, 24, 316–17:Google Scholar NIM.MUD/TUR = áš-tu-ri; Herodotus, , 2, 95.Google Scholar Gnats 
infested the Egyptians. Malaria was probably endemic in Asia Minor and Greece: Hippocrates, , Epid., I, 6, 1–26;Google ScholarEpid., I, Case 1, III, VIII;Google ScholarAngel, J. L., Science, 153, 1966, 760–3;CrossRefGoogle ScholarAn. St., XXI, 1971, 77–98.Google Scholar Both Alexander the Great and Hephaestion may have died from primary malaria: Arrian, , Anab., VII, 25, 1–26, 3;Google Scholar Justin, 12,12,11; 12,15,12; Destaing, P., Presse Méd., LXXXVIII, 1970, 2391–3.Google Scholar
24 Angel, ibid.
25 See nn. 18–21 above. Malarial attacks commonly occur between midnight and mid day, instead of in the evening, as frequently found in other intermittent fevers. See TDP, 164, 75–6; 166, 78, 80; and possibly 166, 90, 91, 95–9.Google Scholar
26 Ebbell, B., The Papyrus Ebers, London, 1937:Google Scholar Ebers XLI. For probable cases of chronic malaria in Coptic burials see Ruffer, M. A., J. Path. Bact., XVIII, 1913, 149–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Splenic infarction is a common complication in chronic malaria: YOS, 10, 41,Google Scholar rev. 59: š. ṭulīmum ziqti sāmūtim mali…, “If the spleen is full of red lesions…”.
27 CAD, 
, 28–9; AHwb, 308.Google Scholar
28 AMT, 25, 4, 10:Google Scholar … u A ina irti-šú GUB.MEŠ-su 
irtanaṣṣi(pl), “And water goes in his chest (and) there is a cough”; ibid, 51, 2, 4: 
DIB.MEŠ-su …,“A cough seizes him…”.
29 AHwb, 1052–3.Google ScholarAMT, 81, 8, 15:Google Scholarš. NA su-a-lam 
u ki-ṣir-tu…, “If a man has a cough (and) 
and obstruction…”.
30 CT, 14, 19,Google Scholar I, 3: Ú TÁL. TÁL “fennell”; Köcher, F., BAM, 1, II, 42:Google Scholar ú gānu, unidentified drug; idem, 43: root of šūšu “liquorice”; idem, 44, root of ŠE.NÁ.A “Vitex”; idem, 45: Ú lišān kalbi “Cynoglossum officinale”.
31 AMT, 25, 4, 10; see n. 28 above.Google Scholar
32 CAD, 
34; AHwb, 309.Google ScholarTDP, 184, rev. 21:
“His lungs wheeze.”Google Scholar
33 Possibly in broken text TDP, 184, rev. 21–2.Google Scholar
34 CAD, 
126; AHwb, 330.Google Scholar
35 Lambert, W. G., 79–7–8, 168, 11: [pehj]û 
…, “My ears are clogged…” (quoted CAD, 
126).Google Scholar
36 CAD, 
192; AHwb, 346.Google Scholar
37 
D 54. 
38 CT, 17, 42,Google Scholar II, 16: …ina ap-pi-šú 
uṣ-ṣú-ru…, “In its nose are imprinted 
…”; Assur text V, 35: 
ina KA-šú GAR(in), “He has 
in his mouth”. 
noted on neck of horse“(quoted CAD, 
192). CT, 27, 21, 11, 12:Google Scholar BE U8; 
Ú.TU-ma IGI.MEŠ-šú 
IGI.MES-šú pe-ta-a…, “If a ewe gives birth to a lion and its face is covered with 
but its eyes are open…”.
39 Willis, op. cit., n. 14, see pp. 96, 835, 837–9.
40 CAD, 
195; AHwb, 347.Google Scholar
41 See AMT, 59, 1, 33–8;Google Scholar 60, 1, II, 1–15; 89, 4, obv. 4–7.
42 BAM, 1, II–III, 21: U 
KAŠ NAG ina Ì.GIŠ EŠ (ina) MUD ana UŠ-šú SAR, “Plant for stricture of the ‘bladder’: he drinks it in beer; anoint him with oil; you blow it into his penis with a tube(?).”Google Scholar
43 AMT, 22, 2, 7:Google Scholar [L]u 
mariṣ lu 
KU mariṣ lu 
BÚN, “He is ill with stricture, either of anus or bladder”; idem, 40, 5, 16: NA.BI 
šuburri GIG.GIG…, “That man is continually ill with stricture of the anus…”; idem, 59,1,16: f. š NA 
BUN mariṣ…, “If a man is ill from stricture of the bladder…”.
44 AHwb, 349.Google ScholarAMT, 56, 1, 3:Google Scholar NA.BI 
KU mariṣ…, “That man is ill from stricture/swelling of the anus…”. But note CT, 20, 40,Google Scholar I–II, 25: DIŠ 
ul-lu-uṣ lib-bi, “Inflation: joy of heart”.
45 Only in. AMT, 53, 8, 4Google Scholar and 56, 1, 3, both texts being incomplete.
46 AMT, 40, 5, 16:Google Scholar
KU; idem, 22, 2, 7: 
KU.
47 Ebeling, E., KAR, 73,Google Scholar obv. 2: [lu-u mu]-ṣu lu-u 
…; see also idem, obv. 18–19. But note Wilson, J. V. K. in Brothwell, D. and Sandison, A. T. (eds.), Diseases in antiquity, Springfield, Illinois, 1967, 196.Google Scholar
48 KAR, 26, 42: 
immeri, “sheep stricture”.Google Scholar
49 CAD, 
244; AHwb, 357.Google ScholarScheil, V., RA, XIV, 1917, 130 n. 13.Google Scholar Cf. Labat, , TDP, 151 n. 260.Google Scholar
50 TDP, 150, 43′:Google Scholar š. UD-5-KÁM UD-10-KÁM mariṣ-ma uš-tar-di-ma 
ka-a-a-man-šú imāt, “If he is ill for five days or ten days, and the 
is constantly present, he will die”; Scheil, , HE 110, obv. 18:Google Scholarš. UD-2-KÁM 
iṣṣabat-su ina UD-3-KÁM imât, “If the huqu-symptom seizes him on the second day, on the third day he will die.”
51 TDP, 24, 52–4;Google Scholar see 54: na-pi-is-su ina appi-šú ṣabit-ma ina pī-šú napša uš-ti-ṣi mu-tim ana napišti-šú ú-šú-la-a…, “His breath is seized in his nose, and he has to breath through the mouth, death encroaches upon his life (breath)…”. Note also TDP, 84, 32: š. napišta-šú u-šal-li la iballuṭ, “If it encroaches on his life (breath), he will not live.”Google Scholar
