The

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...

sign tu, and for TU-(the

Sumerogram A Sumerogram is the use of a Sumerian cuneiform character or group of characters as an ideogram or logogram rather than a syllabogram in the graphic representation of a language other than Sumerian, such as Akkadian or Hittite. Sumerograms are n ...

, capital letter ( majuscule), in the

Hittite language Hittite (natively / "the language of Neša", or ''nešumnili'' / "the language of the people of Neša"), also known as Nesite (''Nešite'' / Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a peopl ...

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. The Sumerian-language version is similar to the usage in the Amarna letters, with the three horizontal strokes connecting the four angled wedges on the left, and connected to the vertical horizontal single stroke, at right. Varieties exist: for example, Amarna letter EA 271 shows four horizontal long strokes, with two short strokes, between the two long ones, (see here, 2nd line from bottom (tablet Obverse)

The

version of ''tu'', (and

ideogram An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek "idea" and "to write") is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by famili ...

''TU'') is identical in common form to the Sumerian. The composition of the sign is effectively the four-wedge strokes at left, (being še (cuneiform)) connected to the rest of the cuneiform sign. Cuneiform še is also a common-use syllabic sign, with few subvarieties. (Two example angled wedges: ).

''Epic of Gilgamesh'' use

For the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', the following usage is found in Tablets I-XII: ''tu'' (193), ''tú'' (2), and ''TU'' (9) times. ''TU'' is used for the name of the king of Shuruppak (father of

Utnapishtim Ut-napishtim or Uta-na’ishtim (in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''), Atra-Hasis, Ziusudra ( Sumerian), Xisuthros (''Ξίσουθρος'', in Berossus) ( akk, ) is a character in ancient Mesopotamian mythology. He is tasked by the god Enki (Akkadian: ...

), Ubara-Tutu, and it is spelled: ^mUBARA-^dTU.TU. Two other uses of ''TU'' in the Epic are as follows: ''TU'' is also the

Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language th ...

verb, , for

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

'to enter', 'to set', used in Tablet III and VII. For the

''TU. MUŠEN'', for Akkadian , the English 'dove', it is used twice in the Gilgamesh flood myth, Tablet XI.

References

*Held, Schmalstieg, Gertz, 1987. ''Beginning Hittite''. Warren H. Held, Jr, William R. Schmalstieg, Janet E. Gertz, c. 1987, Slavica Publishers, Inc. w/ Glossaries, Sign List, Indexes, etc., 218 pages. * Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. 393 pages.(softcover, ) * Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with ...

'', Parpola, Simo, Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, c 1997, Tablet I through Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages.

External links

EA 271">Amarna letter EA 271, EA 271
Obverse, ''"tu"'', 2nd row from bottom ---- File:BM 90937 Simbar-Shihu kudurru.jpg, Cuneiform ''tu'', 3rd row, 2nd cuneiform sign. Cuneiform signs