The cuneiform sign LÚ () is the sign used for "man"; its complement is the symbol for woman: '' šal'' (). Cuneiform ''LÚ'', (or ''lú'' as rendered in some texts) is found as a Sumerogram in the '' Epic of Gilgamesh''. It also has a common usage in the 1350 BC

Amarna letters The Amarna letters (; sometimes referred to as the Amarna correspondence or Amarna tablets, and cited with the abbreviation EA, for "El Amarna") are an archive, written on clay tablets, primarily consisting of diplomatic correspondence between t ...

as the Sumerogram for "man". In the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', ''LÚ'' is only used as the Sumerogram, ''LÚ''-(58 times). Both ''lú'', for "man", and ''šal'' for "woman" are also considered as determinatives. In the Amarna letters' Rainey's glossary (Rainey 1970) which is the glossary for Akkadian language words, Sumerograms, etc., for Amarna letters EA 359–379, uses for both ''LÚ'' and ''lú'' are recorded. For the Amarna letters in Rainey's glossary, "LÚ" as the Sumerogram becomes Akkadian ''amēlu'', for "man".

Two styles of "LÚ" sign

The digitized version of the ''LÚ'' sign (Parpola 1971) is a member of the "3-horizontals" section (listed sign nos. 326-349 in the '' Epic of Gilgamesh'', Parpola 1971). Notably the digitized version contains the 3-verticals along the horizontal base; the 3-upper-large-wedges (actually strokes) are digitized with a 4th, at the top of the digital cuneiform representation. The alternate, abbreviated version of ''LÚ'' (as seen in the chart above), shows an upward angled base horizontal; the 3-wedges (strokes) are attached to it at approximately a right angle (approximating 90 degrees). Some of the Amarna letters (for example EA 34), show ''LÚ'' in compacted use, and with a high angle for the horizontal-base stroke. The result is that the entire sign appears triangular, much like the triangular 1+3 stroke sign, triangular, the hi (cuneiform). (Cuneiform ''hi'' is also used for ''he'', and three Sumerograms, in Tablets I-XII of the ''Epic of Giglamesh'').

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 Epic of Gilgamesh'', 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 and studies based on them. Its headquarters are in Helsinki in Finland. State Archives of Assyria State Archives ...

, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages. * Rainey, 1970. ''El Amarna Tablets, 359-379,'' Anson F. Rainey, (AOAT 8, ''Alter Orient Altes Testament 8'', Kevelaer and Neukirchen -Vluyen), 1970, 107 pages. File:Amarna letter mp3h8879.jpg, EA 365, ''Reverse, bottom half''.
Use of LÚ in 5th and 3rd lines from bottom. (with meš, "LÚ.MEŠ") File:MLC 1805.jpg, Line art showing use of abbreviated form of LÚ, one use, line 11. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lu (man Sumerogram) Cuneiform signs Sumerograms