Ud (cuneiform)

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A style of ud/ut (inside ka (cuneiform), KA x UD). B051ellst.png
A style of ud/ut (inside ka (cuneiform), KA x UD).
Inscription at the British Museum
Sign ut/ud, last sign in line 1.
Line 1: im, u, an, sur-(or =AMAR), and ud.
(high resolution expandible photo) Flickr - Nic's events - British Museum with Cory and Mary, 6 Sep 2007 - 163.jpg
Inscription at the British Museum
Sign ut/ud, last sign in line 1.
Line 1: im, u, an, ṣur-(or =AMAR), and ud.
(high resolution expandible photo)

The cuneiform ud sign, also ut, and with numerous other syllabic and Sumerogram uses, is a common sign for the mid 14th-century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh . The sign is constructed upon the single vertical stroke C+B-Persia-Cuneiform1.PNG , with various positionings of two wedge-strokes C+B-Persia-Cuneiform10.PNG at the left, sometimes approximately centered, or often inscribed upwards to the left, the second wedge-stroke (or 'angled line-stroke'), occasionally inscribed/ligatured upon the first. The wedge-strokes can have any size, are often smaller than the vertical, but as an example, Amarna letter EA 256, can be almost as large as the vertical.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, sign ud is listed as used for the following linguistic elements: [1]

  • lah
  • par
  • pir
  • tam
  • ud
  • ut
  • uṭ

Sumerograms

  • BABBAR--"silver"
  • UD--"daily", "day", (2nd "daily"-(no. 2))
  • UTU--"sun"

The usage numbers for each linguistic element in the Epic of Gilgamesh are as follows: [2] lah--(2), par--(5), pir--(4), tam--(32), --(46), ud--(30), ut--(95), uṭ-(7), BABBAR-(1), UD-(75), UTU-(58).

Amarna letters usage

In the Amarna letters, mid 1300s BC, letters written to the King (Pharaoh) of Egypt (or an official at the Egyptian court), many letters (numbered up to EA 382, about 300+ actual letters, or partials) are written by 'governors' of city-states in Canaan.

C+B-Persia-Cuneiform10.PNG C+B-Persia-Cuneiform10.PNG Sumeriaanse1.png

The Canaanite letters are famous for various forms of a prostration formula, following a 'letter Introduction'. The introduction often states accolades such as: "...(of) My-God(s), My Sun-God,....", or continuing, "My Sun, from, Heaven"-(heaven),sa-me. (Akkadian language: an UTU-ia AN UTU-Sa-Me , English: God-Sun-mine, Heaven-Sun-"Sa-Me", for Akkadian heaven, "šamû". [3] ) "Sun" is here used as UTU. Numerous Canaanite letters use this; other letters, for example Amarna letter EA 34 [4] titled: The Pharaoh's Reproach Answered, addresses the Pharaoh as being honored "daily", referring to Sun God Ra's daily appearanceas "the sun" itself; Akkadian language 'daily', is "ūmussu", [5] and EA 34 uses UD (day, daily), ud-mi.


Related Research Articles

NIN-UR.MAH.MEŠ, named the "Lady" of the Lions, was the author of two letters to the pharaoh, the King of Ancient Egypt, in the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Her name is a representation of the original written script characters of Babylonian 'Sumerograms' , "NIN- + UR.MAH + (plural:MEŠ)", and means, "woman–lion–plural", namely: "Lady Lions".. The Amarna letters are mostly written in Akkadian cuneiform, with local words/phrases/etc due to various city-states or countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tur (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform sign for tur is used to denote one syllabic usage, tur, or the sign's Sumerograms; it is used in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the 14th century BC Amarna letters. The sign is based on the i (cuneiform) sign, with the one small added vertical stroke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ne (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform Ne sign, is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Amarna letters, it is especially used in the opening, and introductory paragraph of the clay tablet letter, when addressing the Pharaoh (King), or when sent to another individual who is part of the Pharaoh's correspondence, for the alternate syllabic usage of "bil",. In the Amarna letters, it is used as Bil (cuneiform), for the spelling of speaks, or "says", in the opening statement; the Akkadian language word is "qabû", for to say, tell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform sign 𒀀 for a, and in the Epic of Gilgamesh the sumerogram A, Akkadian for , "water", which is used in the Gilgamesh flood myth, Chapter XI of the Epic, or other passages. The sign is also used extensively in the Amarna letters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ri (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform Ri sign, or Re, is found in both the 14th-century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh; it is in the top 25 most used cuneiform signs for ri, or re, but has other syllabic or alphabetic uses, as well as the Sumerogram usage for RI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform U sign is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. It can be used for the alphabetic u, instead of the more common 2nd u, (ú). It has two other uses, commonly. It can be used for the number 10, but its probable greater use is for the conjunction, u, with any of the conjunction meanings: and, but, else, etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ia (cuneiform)</span>

The cuneiform ia sign 𒅀, is a combined sign, containing i (cuneiform) ligatured with a (cuneiform); it has the common meaning in the suffix form -ia, for the meaning of "-mine". In the Amarna letters, the letters written to the Pharaoh of Egypt, the Pharaoh is often referenced as "Lord-mine", or especially: King-Lord-mine: "My King, My Lord". In Akkadian, the form is "Šarru-Bēlu-ia"-(King-Lord-mine), since the spelling in some Amarna letters is sometimes ŠÁR-RI for Šarru,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DAGAL</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform DAGAL sign, which is a capital letter (majuscule) Sumerogram with the Akkadian language meaning of to be wide, or extensive; also "many", Akkadian "rapāšu", is a minor usage cuneiform sign used in the Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. An equivalent usage sign for DAGAL is used in the Amarna letters, gáb, for Akkadian language "gabbu", and is found in such letters as EA 362, EA 367, and others. Gáb has other syllabic values, which are used for separate Akkadian word components.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nu (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

Cuneiform sign nu is a common use syllabic, or alphabetic. It is restricted to "nu", but in the Epic of Gilgamesh, or elsewhere has a Sumerogram use NU, and probably mostly for a component in personal names (PN), god's names, or specialized names for specific items that use Sumerograms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ù (cuneiform)</span>

The cuneiform ù sign, is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Its use is as a conjunction,, but rarely it is substituted for alphabetic u, but that vowel u is typically represented by 'u, no. 2',, ú; occasionally 'u, no. 1',, ,, is also substituted for the "alphabetic u".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LÚ</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform sign is the sign used for "man"; its complement is the symbol for woman: šal. Cuneiform , is found as a Sumerogram in the Epic of Gilgamesh. It also has a common usage in the 1350 BC Amarna letters as the Sumerogram for "man".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mi (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform mi, sign is a distinctive sign in the wedge-stroke group, and is used as a syllabic for mi, me, and an alphabetic for m, i, or e; it is also a Sumerogram for MI, used for Akkadian language, "mūšu", night. MI, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, is used in (Chapters) Tablets I, II, III, and XII as either MI, or MI.MEŠ, a total of six times; other spellings of mūšu in other sections are alphabetic/syllabic, four times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ŠEŠ</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform ŠEŠ sign, as a capital letter (majuscule), is a Sumerogram for Akkadian language ahu, for "brother". It is the cuneiform sign for ŠEŠ, as it can be used for a variety of lower case syllabic values, using š + vowel + š,. Sumerogram ŠEŠ has a high usage in the mid-14th century BC, ~1350-1330 BC Amarna letters from the brother kingdoms to the Pharaoh's Egypt. The brother kingdoms were Babylon, Alashiya, and Mittanni, where King Tushratta authored 13 El Amarna letters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bi (cuneiform)</span>

The cuneiform bi sign, also , and used for other syllabic forms, as well as a sumerogram, is a common use syllabic and alphabetic cuneiform sign used in both the mid-14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Amarna letters, it is sometimes used for the spelling of the archers, 'pí-t(x)-t(x)', an often requested need from the Pharaoh in the vassal state sub-corpus of the letters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ha (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform ha sign comes in two common varieties in the 1350 BC Amarna letters. It is also found in the large 12-chapter (Tablets I-XII) work of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Cuneiform ha is used as a syllabic for ha, and an alphabetic for h, or a; from the Epic of Gilgamesh it also has two sumerogramic uses (capital letter (majuscule)), for HA (Akkadian language zittu, for "share"), and KU6, for nūnu, "fish".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform bad, bat, be, etc. sign is a common multi-use sign in the mid 14th-century BC Amarna letters, and the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Epic it also has 5 sumerogram uses. From Giorgio Buccellati 'comparative graphemic analysis', of 5 categories of letters, the usage numbers of the bad sign are as follows: Old Babylonian Royal letters (71), OB non-Royal letters (392), Mari letters (2108), Amarna letters (334), Ugarit letters (39).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">An (cuneiform)</span>

The cuneiform an sign, is a common, multi-use sign, a syllabic for an, and an alphabetic sign used for a, or n; it is common in both the Epic of Gilgamesh over hundreds of years, and the 1350 BC Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. It is also used for the designation of a "god", and is sometimes represented as a superscript: d, or capitalized: D, for "dingir", English language, "god". The example photo at right shows, a list of 14 named gods, all with "an"; the first pair on the list AN-UTU, or DUTU, refers to the "sun-god", using Ud (cuneiform), as the sumerogram, namely UTU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tu (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform sign tu, and for TU-(the Sumerogram, capital letter, in the Hittite language and other cuneiform texts, is a common-use syllabic sign for tu, and also with a syllabic use for "t", or "u". It is not a multi-use sign, with other alphabetic sub-varieties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ib (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform sign ib, is a common-use sign in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. Its common usage is syllabic for ib, or alphabetic for i or b/p; the "i" is also exchanged for "e" when spelling specific words in the Akkadian language. Cuneiform ib also can be found as sumerogram URTA,, and for example it is used in the Epic of Gilgamesh for the god's name: Ninurta, spelled DNIN.URTA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Di (cuneiform)</span> Cuneiform sign

The cuneiform di sign, also de, ṭe, ṭi, and sumerograms DI and is a common-use sign of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the 1350 BC Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. In the Akkadian language for forming words, it can be used syllabically for: de, di, ṭe, and ṭi; also alphabetically for letters d, , e, or i. Some consonant-pairs (d/t), are also interchangeable.

References

  1. Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh , Sign List, pp. 155-165, Sign No. 381, p. 162.
  2. Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh , Sign List, pp. 155-165, Sign No. 381, p. 162.
  3. Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh , Glossary, pp. 119-145, šamû, p. 140.
  4. Moran, William L. 1987, 1992, The Amarna Letters, letter EA 34, The Pharaoh's Reproach Answered, pp. 105-107.
  5. Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh , Glossary, pp. 119-145, ūmussu, p. 144.