Bul (1 Kings 6:38 "in the month Bul, which is the eighth month").
Tropical: Sept. 17-Oct. 15, Gregorian: Oct. 17-Nov. 15, Julian: Oct. 31-Nov. 29.

• Hebrew Buwl, bool, the same as Heb. buwl, bool, for Heb. yebuwl, yeb-ool', from Heb. yabal, yaw-bal', a primary root, properly to flow, to bring; thus produce, i.e. a crop; thus produce (of the earth, etc.), food, stock; thus (in the sense of rain), Bul, the eighth Hebrew month.
• After the Exile, Bul was replaced by Heshvan or Heshwan the second month of the Jewish calendar - Hebrew keswan, short for mar keswan.
  • Hebrew mar, mar from Heb. marar, maw-rar', a primary root properly to trickle, thus in its orig. sense of distillation, a drop, drop.
• Akkadian arahsamnu.
  • Hebrew 'araph, aw-raf', a primary root to droop, hence to drip, drop (down).
  • This is also called the month of Arachsamma.
    • From www.lexiline.com,
      • "On the 5^th of Arachsamma, the scorpion GIR.TAB is visible, [and the Sitting Dog UR.KU].    The star of Eridu NUN.KI sets."
      • "On the 15^th of Arachsamma, the goat UZ and GAB.GIR.TAB are visible, and the Old One SHU.GI and the Shepherd SIPA.ZI.AN.NA begins to set. The rise of the Leopard UD.KA.DUCH.A is 30 days, and its opposite is Erua (Coma Berenices)."
  • Later in the Scorpius constellation name section we will see:
    • Akkadian Agrabu, "seizer-and-stinger."
    • In Assyro-Babylonian Myth we find aqrabuamelu (girtablilu) - scorpion-man.
    • Arabic/Syriac Al Akrab, "Scorpion."
    • Hebrew 'aqrab, ak-rawb'; of uncertain derivation, a scorpion, fig. a scourge or knotted whip, scorpion.
• Canaanite derivation complies with "drop" or "rainy season."
  • The meaning for this month is "rain" or "showers," and complies with the Hebrew Bul which also is in the sense of rain.
    • Drop.
      • Hebrew mar, mar from Heb. marar, maw-rar', a primary root properly to trickle, thus in its orig. sense of distillation, a drop, drop.
      • Hebrew 'araph, aw-raf', a primary root to droop, hence to drip, drop (down).
        • Hebrew 'ra'aph, raw-af', a primary root to drip, distil, drop (down).
      • Hebrew 'egel, eh'-ghel, from an unused root (meaning to flow down or together as drops), a reservoir, drop.
      • Hebrew deleph, deh'-lef, from Heb. dalaph, daw-laf', a primary root to drip, by implication to weep, drop through, melt, pour out, thus a dripping, dropping.
      • Hebrew nataph, naw-taf', a primary root to ooze, i.e. distil gradually, by implcation to fall in drops, drop (-ping), prophesy (-et).
      • Hebrew nathak, naw-thak', a primary root to flow forth (lit. or fig.), by implication to liquefy, drop, gather (together), melt, pour (forth, out).
      • Greek thrombos, throm'-bos, perhaps from Gr. treph, tref'-o, thus (in the sense of thickening), a clot, great drop.
    • Rain and Showers (Rainy).
      • Sumerian šeg_3,7, še₇: rain; to rain.
        • Sumerian šur, sur: to rain; to produce a liquid; to flow, drip; to extract seed oil; to process wine and juices; to flash, gleam.
        • Sumerian imi, im, em: wind; direction; weather; storm; cloud; rain (cf., tumu).
      • Hebrew çagriyd, sag-reed', probably from Heb çagar, saw-gar', a primary root to shut up, surrender; in the sense of sweeping away, a pouring rain, very rainy.
        • Hebrew matar, maw-tar', or matawr', a primary root to rain.
        • Hebrew geshem, ghe'-shem, from Heb. gasham, gaw-sham', a primary root to shower violently, a shower, rain.
        • Hebrew rabiyb, raw-beeb', from Heb. rabab, raw-bab', primary root to cast together, thus a rain (accumulation of drops), shower.
        • Hebrew zerem, zeh'-rem, from Heb. zaram, zaw-ram', a primary root to gush (as water), thus a gush of water, flood, shower, storm.
  
  
• In Bul the rainy season is in full swing.
  • Wheat and barley sowing is finished early in the month to take advantage of the rains.
  • Winter figs are harvested.
  
  
• As seen earlier under Ursa Major and the section on Dumuzi - Ishtar.
  • Sumerian unug, unu₆ [TEMEN-ÈŠ]: elevated shrine, temple.
    • Note: Babylonian lunar mansion #4 is named Temennu and is found under Taurus, whose opposite is Scorpius.
    • Sumerian únu: (cf., únug).
    • Sumerian unu_(2,6)-gal: great dining hall ('elevated shrine, fortress' + 'great').
  • In the Early Dynastic-II period (2700-2500 B.C.), from archeological records the city walls were expanded in Uruk (Sumerian unug, or the Biblical Erech) near modern Warka (the same root consonants *'rk with a different vocalization), during this period.
  • Enmerkar (Emmerkar??) king of Uruk, called en 'lord,' was the first to write on clay tablets and Kullub (Caleb?) has as epithet 'he who build Uruk' known from two epics, with no known inscription or archeological proof of his existence.    The texts refer to commercial and military contacts with a city called Aratta (not yet localized, probably in Iran), where the Sumerian goddess Inanna (later Akkadian Ištar, Ishtar) and (supreme god An) Dumuzi were also worshipped.    Gilgameš (Gilgamesh) is grandson of Enmerkar.    The Assyrian version is in the library of Aššurbanipal (around 650 B.C.) dating to 1700 B.C., and Sumerian fragments dated around 2000 B.C.    The royal dynasty name, Mesannepada, does date to 2600 B.C.

    To return to the Sumerian City of E-ana/Unug (Uruk/Erech/Warka) - First Dynasty in regard to Inanna or to Sumerian INANNA.   Sumerian Dingir', the Sumerian Inanna.

    In the Tablets from pre-Sargonic (before 2334 B.C.) the Calendar of Ur give us nine month names, however their order is not known.    The following is one of those nine names:

• 8) Sumerian itishu-esh-dNanna, which builds into the Sumerian translation in this format
  (iti, month + šu, portion, bundle + eš, much, three, one + ^dNanna, divine Bull/Moon god),
  which could mean "The Month that The Bull/Moon God Pours Much" or "Shares Much."
  • Sumerian itud, itid, itu, iti, id₈; it₄, id₄: moon; month; moonlight (te, 'to approach, meet', + ud, 'sun').
  • Sumerian šu: n., hand; share, portion, bundle; strength; v., to pour.
    • Sumerian šú: (cf., šuš₍₂₎).
    • Sumerian šùde, šùdu, šùd, šu₁₂: n., prayer, blessing; v., to pray, bless (šu, 'hand', + dé, 'to hail').
  • Sumerian eš: much.
    • Sumerian èš: shrine.
    • Sumerian eš_5,6,16,21: three.
    • Sumerian eš_(2,3)-da: ceremony ('shrine' + 'with, near').
    • Sumerian eš_2,3-dam: tavern; brothel ('shrine' + 'spouse').
    • Sumerian èš-èš: a festival (reduplicated 'shrine').
    • Sumerian eš-bar: decision ('much' + 'to divide'; cf., ka-aš-bar).
    • Sumerian éš-gán: surveyor's rope ('rope' + 'surface measure').
    • Sumerian éše, éš: rope; measuring tape/cord (eš, 'much', + eš, 'much').
      • Sumerian aš: one; unique.
        • Sumerian aš₍₅₎: spider.
        • Sumerian áš: n., wish; curse (abbreviated tàš ?, ašte ? [ašte: need; necessity; desirable or beloved object (á, 'side', + šita₄, 'to bind, join').]); v., to desire; to curse.
        • Sumerian aš_3,4,8: six (ía, 'five', + aš, 'one').
        • Sumerian a-na-aš(-am): why ('what' + 'one' + 'to be').
  • Sumerian ^dNanna or ^dnan-na (divine Bull/Moon God or God of the Human Race).
    • Sumerian Nanna, is equal to the Sumerian é-u₄-15: full moon ('house' + 'day 15').
    • Bull god and moon god Nanna in Ur.
      • Ur (modern Tell al-Muqayyar) was a Sumerian city in southern Mesopotamia established early in the Ubaid period (c. 4000 B.C.).    The city was the primary center for the worship of the Moon god, Nanna (Sin), and is home to a magnificent ziggurat built for the purpose of his adoration.
    • This is also used later in the Sixth Month (Elul) - Virgo, we find the Sumerian itiamar-sag-gu₇-^dNanna, and in the Fifth Month (Av, Ab) - Leo, the Sumerian itiezem-mah-^dNanna.
  
  
• Sumerian INANNA - The Goddess Inanna or Ishtar was the most important female deity of ancient Mesopotamia at all periods.    Her Sumerian name Inanna is probably derived from a presumed Nin-ana, 'Lady of Heaven', it also occurs as Innin.    The sign for Innana's name (the ring-post) is found in the earliest written texts.    Inana, "queen of heaven," Sumerian E.AN.NA.
  • Sumerian nan: an-na: tin ('sky' + 'stone').
  • Sumerian na: n., human being; incense; adj., no; modal prefix, emphatic in past tense; prohibitive in present/future tense.
    • Sumerian na₄: pebble, stone; token; hailstone; weight.
    • Sumerian na₅: chest, box.
    • Sumerian ni; na: he, she; that one.
    • Sumerian a-na: what (a,'to', + ni,'he, she', + a,'the').
    • Sumerian a-na-àm: thus ('what' + 'as, like').
    • Sumerian a-na-aš(-am): why ('what' + 'one' + 'to be').
    • Sumerian na-gada: herdsman ('human' + 'linen' ?).
    • Sumerian na-kab-tum: cattle pen (Semitic loanword ?).
  • Sumerian a, e₄: n., water; watercourse, canal; seminal fluid; offspring; father; tears; flood; interj., alas!; prep., locative suffix - where; in; when - denotes movement towards or in favor of a person; def. article, nominalizing suffix for a noun or noun clause, denoting 'the'.

    To return to the Sumerian City of Urim (Ur)- Third Dynasty in regard to Shulgi or to Sumerian ^dShulgi.

    The calendar reformed in the Ur III period by Shulgi, king of Sumer from 2094-2047 BC.    Five of the pre-Sargonic month names survived the transition, and the total number of months rose from nine to twelve.    The following is one of the twelve:

• Sumerian ezem-dShul-gi, which has a simple Sumerian format which looks something like
  (ezem, festivity + ^dShulgi, a king of Sumer or [^dšul, divine young man, warrior + gi, justice])
  which could be "The Festivity of the Divine Warrior of Justice," or "The Festivity of King Shulgi."
• Sumerian ezem: festivity.
  • Sumerian èš-èš: a festival (reduplicated 'shrine').
  • Sumerian ezen-mah: great festival ('feast' + 'great').
    • Sumerian ezen: festival, feast (uzu, 'cut of meat', + en, 'time').
  • Sumerian gišbun: (cultic) feast.
  • Sumerian únu: (cf., únug).
  • Sumerian ùnu: feast; chief cowherd.
• Sumerian dShulgi, which may be associated with the calendar that was reformed in the Ur III period by Shulgi, king of Sumer from 2094-2047 B.C., and seen as (^dšul, young man, warrior + gi_(n), justice), for "A Divine Young Man/Warrior of Justice."
  • Sumerian šul: n., young man; warrior; adj., strong, heroic.
    • Sumerian SHU.GI, Akkadian shibu, "The Old Man," in Perseus.
      • Sumerian šu-gi₄: old ('hand' + 'to return' ?, 'to lock up' ?).
        • Sumerian šu: n., hand; share, portion, bundle; strength; v., to pour.
          • Sumerian šú: (cf., šuš₍₂₎).
          • Sumerian šu₁₂: (cf., šùde).
        • Sumerian gi₍₄₎: to surround, besiege; to lock up.
          • Sumerian gi₄, ge₄: to return, come back; to send (back) (with -ši-); to restore; to answer (person to whom answer is given resumed by dative prefix, and with -ni-).
          • Sumerian gi: reed; length measure.
            • Sumerian gí, gé: reed mat.
          • Sumerian gi(n), ge(n): v., to act justly; to stabilize, strengthen; to confirm; to establish something as the property of someone (dative); adj., just; firm; fixed; reliable.
          • Sumerian gi₍₁₇₎: n., young man; adj., small.
          • Sumerian gi₇: (cf., gir₁₅).
  • Sumerian gi(n), ge(n): v., to act justly; to stabilize, strengthen; to confirm; to establish something as the property of someone (dative); adj., just; firm; fixed; reliable.

    This file was updated on November 20, 2004, June 18, 2005, and June 30, 2010.