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 wedg ...

giš sign, (also common for is, iṣ, and iz), is a common, multi-use sign, in the ''

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 wit ...

'', the Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. It also has a major usage as 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 or Hittite. Sumerograms are no ...

, GIŠ, (capital letter (

majuscule Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writi ...

)) 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 t ...

''"wood"'', and is used as a

determinative A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they ma ...

at the beginning of words, for items made of wood. The 12 Chapters (Tablets) of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' lists 16 named items beginning with ''"GIŠ"''. For ''giš''/(''is/iz/iṣ'') in the construction of words it is used syllabically for ''giš'', and syllabically for the three other constructs; also for ''eṣ/ez''. Besides "giš", it can alphabetically be used for: ''e'', ''i'', ''s'', ''ṣ'', or ''z''.

''Epic of Gilgamesh'' sign usage

The usage numbers for ''giš'' in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' are as follows: ''eṣ''-(2) times, ''ez'', (3), ''giš'', (1), ''is'', (46), ''iṣ'', (77), ''iz'', (17), and ''GIŠ'' (355) times.

Epic words with
determinative A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they ma ...
''GIŠ''

The following list of

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 ...

words are from the

s used in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. *--GIŠ.APIN, ''epinnu'' ("plow") *--GIŠ.BAN, ''qaštu'' (?) *--GIŠ.BANŠUR, ''paššūru'' ("table") *--GIŠ.ERIN, ''erēnu'' ("cedar") *--GIŠ.GAG, ''sikkatu'' ("flask (of perfume)") *--GIŠ.GIGIR, ''mugirru'' (?) *--GIŠ.GU. ZA, ''kussû'' ("throne", "seat") *--GIŠ.IG, ''daltu'' ("door") *--GIŠ.

MÁ The cuneiform sign MÁ denotes a ship or boat. It is used in Sumerian and as a Sumerogram for the Akkadian word ''eleppu'' (also 'ship'/'boat'). MÁ is usually preceded by the determinative for items made of wood, namely GIŠ: GIŠ.MÁ, or GI� ...

, ''eleppu'' ("boat, ship") *--GIŠ.NIM, ''baltu'' ("thornbush") *--GIŠ.SAR, ''kirû'' ("garden", "orchard") *--GIŠ.ŠEM.GIR, ''asu'' ("myrtle") *--GIŠ.ŠUR.MÌN, ''šurmenu'' ("cypress") *--GIŠ.TIR, ''qištu'' ("forest") *--GIŠ.TUKUL, ''kakku'' ("weapon") *--GIŠ.Ú.GIR, ''ašagu'' ("thistle", "thorn bush")

References

Moran, William L. William Lambert Moran (August 11, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American Assyriologist. He was born in Chicago, United States. In 1939, Moran joined the Jesuit order. He then attended Loyola University in Chicago, where he received his ...

1987, 1992. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. 393 pages.(softcover, ) * Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

'', Parpola, Simo, Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gis Cuneiform signs

''Epic of Gilgamesh'' sign usage

Epic words with determinative A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they ma ... ''GIŠ''

References

Epic words with
determinative A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they ma ...
''GIŠ''