Perhaps borrowed from Sum. dal.dal, which, however, does not seem to be attested beyond the lexical list Hh III 406 as an equivalent of the Akkadian word. Landsberger 1967b, 19 further hypothesizes an eventual derivation from dal(.dal) “to fly”, presumably referring to particles of pollen “flying” in the air. It seems resonable to agree with Landsberger 1967b, 1 that Akk. taltallu and Hbr. taltallīm (HALOT 1741, hapex in Canticle 5:11) are etymologically unrelated (see the discussion in EDA II). More promising is Arb. taltalat- 'a drinking-vessel that is made of the envelope of the spadix of a palm tree', for which the connection to the date palm is explicitly preserved in the tradition. If indeed related to the Akkadian word, the Arabic term might point to an eventual Semitic origin of the latter, in which case Sum. dal.dal must be an Akkadism.