The cuneiform sign ú is a common-use sign of the Amarna letters, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and other cuneiform texts (for example Hittite texts). It has a secondary sub-use in the Epic of Gilgamesh for šam.[1]
Linguistically, it has the alphabetical usage in texts for u, but can replace any of the four vowels, so also used for a, or e, or i.
Epic of Gilgamesh usage
The ú sign usage in the Epic of Gilgamesh is as follows: (šam, 45 times, ú, 493, KÚŠ, 2, and Ú, 4 times).[1] Ú is logogram, for Akkadian "tullal", a soapwort.
šam syllabic use in the Epic of Gilgamesh
The following words use the syllabic šam as the first syllable in the word entries under š in the glossary.[2]
- šamhatu, for English, "harlot".
- šamhiš, "proudly, stoutly",.
- šammmu, "drug, plant, grass".
References
- ^ a b Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Sign List, pp. 155-165, sign no. 318, p. 160.
- ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Glossary, pp. 119-145, šamhatu, šamhiš, and šammmu, p. 140; English, "harlot", "proudly, stoutly", and "drug, plant, grass".
- Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Parpola, Simo, Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List,