Number: 2440
Proto-Semitic: *ḥimār-
Meaning: donkey
Akkadian: imēru 'donkey, male donkey' OAkk. on [CAD i 110], [AHw. 375]. In OAkk. (outside proper names) only as the logogram ANS̆E, the earliest syllabic attestations belong to the OA letters. Note that in the MA text LKA 62:2,5 imēru denotes a wild ass (i-me-ri šadî). In lexical lists imēru is used to denote a mechanical device of a ship (GIS̆.ANS̆E.MÁ = imēri elippi) as well as a part of a battering ram (GIS̆.ANS̆E.GUD.SI.AS̆ = imēri MIN; cf. WS parallels below). As name of a measure (homer) i. is found in Mari, MA, NA and Nuzi (apparently northern Mesopotamian usage no doubt connected with or influenced by the WS practice for which see elsewhere below).
Ugaritic: ḥmr 'asno' [DLU 177]. Widely used in administrative texts but almost never found in literary passages (the only exception seems to be 1.14 III 17: lḳl nhḳt ḥmrh 'because of the braying of his asses'). As name of a measure thought to occur in 5.3 (ḥmr w ʔizml ʔaḥt 'ḥ. and one sack') and, with a derived meaning 'heap, pile', in 1.5 I 19 (npš blt ḥmr 'my throat consumes [food] in heaps', so e.g. [Tropper UG 789, 808]; on p. 559, however, Tropper perfers the faunal meaning 'ass': "Oder verzehrt mein Rachen etwa nicht wahrlich einen (ganzen) Esel (?)").
Hebrew: ḥămōr 'he-ass' [KB 327], pB. [Ja. 476] (also f. ḥămōrā [Ja. 476]). The name of a measure ḥōmär [ibid. 330] is usually thought to be derived from this noun (note that differently from Akk. imēru the Hbr. faunal term itself is not used with this meaning).
Aramaic: Off. ḥmr 'donkey, ass; f. she-ass' [HJ 383] (cf. [PY XXXV], [Kott. 203]). Plm. ḥmr 'donkey, ass' [HJ 383] (cf. [PAT 365]).
Judaic Aramaic: ḥămārā (f. ḥămārtā) 'ass' [Ja. 480], ḥămār 'donkey; a mechanical contrivance' [Sok. 207], ḥmrh (det. ḥmrh, det. ḥmrth) 'she-ass' [ibid. 208], ḥmwrh 'herd of donkeys' [Sok. 205].
Syrian Aramaic: ḥmārā 'asinus', ḥmārtā 'asina' [Brock. 241], [PS 1309].
Mandaic Aramaic: hamara 'pack-animal, ass, donkey' [DM 122], also humar 'jackass' [ibid. 135], himara 'ass' [ibid. 145].
Arabic: ḥimār- 'âne; âne sauvage, onagre', ḥimārat- 'ânesse' [BK 1 491], [Lane 641], [LA IV 212] (cf. [Hommel 117-121]). Also taḥmūr- 'onagre' [BK 1 491], yaḥmūr (= ḥimāru l-waḥši) [LA IV 215].
Epigraphic South Arabian: Sab. ḥmr 'ass; wild ass, onager' [SD 68]. Min. ḥmr 'âne; âne sauvage' [LM 48]. Both ESA terms are extensively treated in [Sima 96-99]. In most passages ḥ. denotes a domesticated ass (e.g., R 3943/2: t_ll ḳnyhmw ʔʔblm wbḳrm wḥmrm wḳnym 'he took their cattle as boo- ty: camels, large cattle, asses and small cattle'). The meaning 'wild ass' is present in one Sab. inscription (BR-Yanbuq 47/7: wṣydw ʕly ms1bʔhmw s1bʕt wʕs2ry wʔḥdy mʔtm ḥmrm 'during their journey they hunted down 127 wild asses'. Since the Min. ins- cription B. Int 42/3 where ḥ. is attested with this meaning ac- cording to [LM 48] is unpublished, it is impossible to check the valitity of this translation.
Gurage: Cha. Eža Muh. Msq. Gog. ǝmar, Gyt. ǝm_ā̃r, Enm. ǝ̃m_ār, Sod. ämar, Wol. Zwy. umar, Sel. umār, End. äwãn 'donkey' [LGur. 51]. According to Leslau, all the Gur. forms are Arabisms which is difficult to prove.
Notes: Cf. the MSA verbal root ḥmr 'to tame a riding beast': Mhr. ḥǝmūr 'to tame, break (a horse)' [JM 181], Hrs. ḥemōr 'to tame, break (a riding beast)' [JH 60], Jib. ḥõr 'to tame, break, do- mesticate (an animal)' [JJ 111] (compared to the present root in [Kott. 203]). As often assumed, ESA ḥmr 'kind of alliance, treaty' (Sab. [SD 68], [Biella 181], Min. [LM 49]) is derived from the present root (cf. [Höfner 82-3] as well as [Noth], a special study dea- ling with the sacrifice of an ass as a ritual act accompanying treaty ceremonies in Mari). The widespread opinion according to which the present term is derived from the verbal root *ḥmr 'to be red' (cf., e.g., [Hommel 136], [Sima 96]) cannot be regarded but as a popular etymology. The animal name is extremely widespread throughout Semitic whereas the PS status of the colour term is very doubt- ful since its clear attestation is limited almost entirely to Arabic ḥmr (for possible Ethiopian cognates see [LGz. 234]; for a detailed study of several homonymous roots ḥmr in Semitic see now [Bulakh 66ff.]). On the other hand, there are serious doubts that 'red' is indeed a colour specific of the wild or the domes- tic ass (cf. cautious remarks in [Nagel-Bollweg 161]). СТОИТ ПОСМОТРЕТЬ VEENHOF TRADE P. 8 [Fron. 31]: *ḥimār- 'asino' (ESA, Arb., Syr., Hbr., Ugr., Akk.); [KB 327]: Hbr., Arm., Arb., Ugr., Arb., ESA, Akk.; [DLU 177]: Ugr., Hbr., Arm., Arb., Akk.; [Firmage 1152]: Akk., Hbr., Ugr., Arm., ESA, Arb.; [Hommel 117]: *ḥimāru (Arb., Hbr., Arm., Akk.).
semet-proto,semet-prnum,semet-meaning,semet-akk,semet-uga,semet-hbr,semet-arm,semet-jud,semet-syr,semet-mnd,semet-ara,semet-sar,semet-gur,semet-notes,
