The
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...
gi sign is a common multi-use sign of the ''
Epic of Gilgamesh
The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian language, Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of ...
'', the 1350 BC
Amarna letters, and other
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...
texts. It also has a
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, Eblaite, or Hittite. Th ...
mic usage for GI in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. The structure of the
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...
sign is like its twin,
Zi (cuneiform), .
The "gi" sign has the syllabic usage for ''ge'' and ''gi'', and a
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, Eblaite, or Hittite. Th ...
usage for ''GI''. Alphabetically "gi" can be used for ''g'' ("g" can be interchanged with "k", or "q"); and "gi"/"ge" can be used for ''i,'' or ''e''. In
Akkadian, all 4 vowels, ''a, e, i, u'' are interchangeable with each other.
''Epic of Gilgamesh'' usage
The ''gi'' sign usage in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' is as follows: ''ge''-(4 times); ''gi''-(17), ''GI''-(20 times).
[Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian ]Epic of Gilgamesh
The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian language, Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of ...
'', Sign List, pp. 155-165, no. 085, p. 156, "gi".
References
*
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 poetry, epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian language, Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of ...
'',
Parpola, Simo,
Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project
The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project is an international scholarly project aimed at collecting and publishing ancient Assyrian texts of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and studies based on them. Its headquarters are in Helsinki in Finland.
State Archives ...
, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages.
Cuneiform signs