Editing Resheph (section)

==Name==
===Etymology===
The etymology of Resheph's name is uncertain.{{sfn|Xella|1999|p=701}}{{sfn|Münnich|2013|p=8}} According to Michael P. Streck, it is derived from the [[Root (linguistics)|root]] ''ršp'', and its cognates include [[Amorite language|Amorite]] ''yarśap'' (“to flame”), an element of personal names attested in texts from the [[Old Babylonian period]], and the [[Nominal (linguistics)|nominal]] ''rišp-'', “flame” or “fever”, present in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic]].{{sfn|Streck|2008|p=252}} This possibility is the most commonly proposed explanation in scholarship, though it did not find universal support, and Maciej M. Münnich notes that it rests on [[biblical]] evidence, which comes at most from the sixth century BCE, in contrast with the oldest attestations of Resheph, which date back to the twenty-fourth century BCE, with no sources supporting this derivation from within the nearly two thousand year period separating them.{{sfn|Münnich|2013|p=8}} Streck, despite his support for this proposal, acknowledges the nature of the connection between the presumed meaning of Resheph's name and his character is not fully clear.{{sfn|Streck|2008|p=252}} A second proposal is to link his name with [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''rašābu(m)'', “to destroy”, and ''rašbu(m)'', “terrifying, horrible”{{sfn|Münnich|2013|p=8}} This view is supported by authors such as [[Jean-Marie Durand]], but it similarly did not find universal support.{{sfn|Streck|2008|p=252}} Paolo Xella notes that all of the proposed etymologies might be the result of [[circular reasoning]], as they depend on the available information about Resheph's character.{{sfn|Xella|1999|p=701}}

===Spellings===
[[Cuneiform]] texts from [[Ebla]] render Resheph's name as ''Ra-sa-ap'' ({{cuneiform|𒊏𒊓𒀊}}).{{sfn|Streck|2008|p=252}} No further variants are attested in text from this city, and in most cases the name is preceded by the “divine [[determinative]]”, ''[[dingir]]'' ({{cuneiform|𒀭𒊏𒊓𒀊}}).{{sfn|Münnich|2013|p=42}} The same spelling is also attested in sources from [[Mesopotamia]] and from [[Emar]], though texts from this city also use variants such as ''Ra-ša-ap'', ''Ra-šap'' and ''Ra-šap-pa''.{{sfn|Streck|2008|p=252}} 

In [[Ugarit]], Resheph's name was written as ''ršp'' ({{cuneiform|𐎗𐎌𐎔}}) in the [[Ugaritic alphabet|alphabetic script]],{{sfn|Streck|2008|p=252}}  and it is variously vocalized by Ugartiologists as Rašp,{{sfn|Krebernik|2013|p=198}} Rašap{{sfn|Pardee|2002|p=21}} or Resheph.{{sfn|Smith|2014|p=38}} The writings ''Ra-ši-ip'' and ''Re-ša-ip'' appear in texts in standard syllabic cuneiform.{{sfn|Streck|2008|p=252}} Logographic ones are also attested, many of them derived from the various forms of the [[theonym]] [[Nergal]]: <sup>d</sup>GÌR.UNU.GAL(.LA), <sup>d</sup>MAŠ.MAŠ and <sup>d</sup>KAL (=<sup>d</sup>[[Lamassu|LAMMA]]), though it is sometimes questioned if Resheph was necessarily meant in every case when they were used.{{sfn|Münnich|2013|p=146}} The use of logograms originally linked to Nergal to represent Resheph is also well attested in texts from [[Mumbaqat|Ekalte]], with identified examples including <sup>d</sup>GÌR, <sup>d</sup>IGI and <sup>d</sup>MAŠ.TAB.BA.{{sfn|Torrecilla|2017|p=11}}

The [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]] form of the name had a [[Prothesis (linguistics)|prothetic vowel]] affixed to it, resulting in spellings Aršappa and Iršappa,{{sfn|Archi|2013|p=14}} sometimes shortened to Iršap or Irša.{{sfn|Streck|2008|p=252}} The Hurrian variant is also attested in Ugarit as ''eršp''.{{sfn|Archi|2013|p=14}} It has also been proposed that the variant name ''<sup>d</sup>Ra-sa-pa-an'' developed through Hurrian influence too, but this view is not universally accepted.{{sfn|Münnich|2013|p=73}}

Two forms of the name are attested in texts from [[ancient Egypt]], ''ršp'' and ''ršpw'', which might indicate a change in pronunciation occurred at some point, with the former writing reflecting Rashap, Rashp or Reshp and the latter - Rashpu or Reshpu, with a final u making the name easier to pronounce for speakers of [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]].{{sfn|Münnich|2013|p=109}} 

===Resheph and Rushpan===
Maciej M. Münnich argues that the theonym Rushpan should be identified as a form of Resheph's name used in the Middle [[Euphrates]] area.{{sfn|Münnich|2013|p=76}} A pre-[[Akkadian Empire|Sargonic]] tablet from [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] mentions the offering of cereal to various deities, including ''<sup>d</sup>Ra-sa-pá-an''.{{sfn|Münnich|2013|p=73}} A [[É (temple)|temple]] dedicated to him is mentioned in Mariote texts from the reigns of [[Shamshi-Adad I]] and [[Yahdun-Lim]].{{sfn|Münnich|2013|pp=73-74}} {{ill|Manfred Krebernik|de}} accepts that the names were likely [[cognates]], but does not consider it certain that the two were identical, pointing out a long tradition of using the logogram <sup>d</sup>GU<sub>4</sub> (“bull”) to represent the name Rushpan, as attested in [[lexical lists]] and the god list ''[[An = Anum]]'' (tablet VI, line 206).{{sfn|Krebernik|2008|p=470}}