Number: 2471
Proto-Semitic: *labVʔ-
Meaning: lion(ess)
Akkadian: labbu (labʔu, lābu) 'lion' OAkk. on [CAD l 24], [AHw. 526], labbatu (lābatu) 'lioness' OAkk. on [CAD l 23], [AHw. 524]. An literary term, poetic synonym of nēšu according to [CAD]. The earliest attestations are the OA incantation BIN 4 126:21 (šerʔān lá-ab-i-im turammi 'she (Lamaštu) makes slack the mus- cles of a lion') and OB versions of Gilgamesh and Zû. The Assy- rian form spelling -ab-i- reflects an -ʔ- which is lost - or, rather, assimilated to b? - in Babylonian). In OAkk., as PN only. Accoring to [Durand 1993 50-51], in Mari Akkadian labʔu probably was one of the current terms for lion (thus, the "Lion's gate", logographically KÁ.UR.MAH_, was called bāb labʔim). The fem. form labbatu is known exclusively as an epithet of Ištar. The earliest attestations are in OB literary texts (inūḫ ipšaḫ libbaša la-ba-tu Ištar 'Ištar the lioness calmed down, her heart became quiet' RA 15 181 VI 24, Enlil pâšu īpušamma izzakkar ana la-ba-tim Ištar 'Enlil opened his mouth and spoke to Ištar the lioness' CT 15 6 VII 5). In OAkk., in PN's only.
Eblaitic: ab-ba-um = PIRIG [MEE 4 96 V 4]. Identified with the present root in [Civil Ebla 90] and [Sanmartín 192] (with a comprehensive discussion about possible ways of normalization: labʔum is considered the most probable one while labwum and labīʔum are admitted as possible; a reading labbum identical to the later Babylonian form is rightly thought to be unlikely).
Ugaritic: lbʔu 'león' [DLU 241]. The only reliably attested Ugr. term for lion. Found in the mythological text 1.5 I 14-15 (pnpš npš lbʔim thw // hm brlt ʔanḫr bym 'as my appetite is like that of lions in the desert // or [like] the greedness of a whale in the sea') and the in- cantation 1.169.4 (wtṣʔu ... k lbʔim skh 'let them go out ... like lions to the den (?)'). The form lbʔit quoted with the mea- ning 'lioness' in earlier sources ([Aist. 167], [Gordon 426]) and secondary literature is actually attested only in the PN ʕbdlbʔit [DLU 70].
Hebrew: lābī(ʔ) 'lioness' [KB 517], lǝbiyyā id. [ibid.], libʔā id. [ibid. 515], läbä(ʔ) 'lion' [ibid.]. An exlusively poetic term, usually in parallelism with ʔaryē and other terms for lion. Already in [BDB 522] it was doubted that l. meant specifically 'lioness' and not just 'lion' (cf. the categoric statement in [Sima 111]: "die Uebersetzung "Löwin" ... ist schwerlich korrekt"). For the present authors, it seems pretty certain that at least in some passages the meaning 'lio- ness' is beyond doubt. See first of all Jb 38.39 where l., to- gether with the whelps, is described as the object of the male lion's care (hătāṣūd lǝlābī(ʔ) ṭāräp // wǝḥayyat kǝpīrīm tǝmallē(ʔ) 'do you provide the lioness with food? // do you sa- tisfy the appetite of the whelps?'). The same can be said about Na 2.13 (ʔaryē ṭōrēp bǝdē gōrōtāw // ūmǝḥannēḳ lǝlibʔōtāw 'a lion providing his whelps with food // strangling [prey] for his lionesses'). In post-Biblical Hebrew, lābī(ʔ) does denote male lion while a special fem. form lǝbīʔā, lǝbīyā is used for 'lioness' (cf. byn lbyʔ wlbyʔh 'between lion and lioness' [Ja. 689]). This fem. formation seems to be attested already in the Bible (Ez 19.2, Qǝrē): mā ʔimmǝkā lǝbiyyā (lbyʔ) // bēn ʔărāyōt // rābǝṣā bǝtōk kǝpīrīm // ribbǝtā gūrǟhā 'Who is your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among the young lions, brought up her whelps'.
Aramaic: lbʔ "uncertain, probably 'lion'" [HJ 562]. While the meaning of lbʔ in the difficult passage Aḥiq 110 is indeed somewhat unclear (cf. [Kott. 212]), the meaning 'lion' is certain for lbʕʔ in Frah XXX 14 (= šagr), see [Nyberg 109]. In [Kott. 212] a fem. formation lbʔh 'Löwin' is also postulated (very uncertain, not in [PY]). Sam. lbyh 'lioness' [Tal 424] (cf. [Talshir 156]).
Arabic: lubaʔat-, labuʔat-, labwat-, libwat-, labuwat-, labawat-, labāt- 'lionne' [BK 2 956], [WKAS l 97], [Fr. IV 79], [Lane 2644], [LA I 151]. See further [Hommel 288-]. The masculine proper name al-labuʔu preserved in Arab lexicons is usually interpreted as a relic of an earlier apellative labuʔ- '(male) lion' [Sima 111] (cf. also [Lane 2644]).
Epigraphic South Arabian: Sab. lbʔ 'lion, lioness' [SD 81]. Abundantly attested in passsages dealing with lion hunt and votive statuettes of lions (see [Sima 110-6] for a comprehensive textual analysis). Sima agrees with [SD] in assuming that the term denoted both lion and lioness.
Notes: Of interest may be Mhr. ǝwbīt 'female animal in season' [JM 251] (listed under lby by Johnstone). Relationship to Indo-European terms for lion is commony as- sumed as possible or likely (e.g. [Gamkrelidze-Ivanov 510]), but see sceptical remarks in [Masson 85] (under Gr. léōn). [Fron. 293]: *labiʔ- 'leonessa' (Arb., Hbr., Ugr., Akk.); [Hommel 288]: *labiʔatu 'Löwin' (Arb., Hbr.); [Sima 111]: Sab., Akk., Ugr., Hbr., Arb.; [KB 517]: Hbr., Arm., Pho., Akk., Arb., Sab.; [DLU 241]: Ugr., Akk., Ebl., Arm., Pho., Hbr., Arb., Sab.; [Firmage 1154]: Hbr., Akk., Ugr., Arb.
