The cuneiform ru sign is found in both the 14th century 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 ...

and the '' Epic of Gilgamesh''. As ''ru'' it is used for syllabic ''ru'', and alphabetic 'r', or 'u'. In the I-XII Tablets of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', it has specific uses showing alternate renderings besides ''ru''; as sign no. 068, ''ru'', 250 times, ''šub'', 6, ''šup'', 3, and as Sumerogram ''ŠUB'', 1 time. In the Amarna letters, the sign is mostly used for ''ru'', ''r'', and ''u'' in the spelling of various words. Notably, for "bird", Akkadian language "iṣṣūru", in Amarna letter EA 28, ( Tushratta to Pharaoh), titled ''"Messengers Detained and a Protest"''; the messengers are referenced as "uncaged" birds, and "aren't they free to come and go as birds do?". The scribal rendering of the ru sign is dramatically different in some of the Amarna letters. In Amarna letter EA 15,

Assur-uballit I Ashur-uballit I ''(Aššur-uballiṭ I)'', who reigned between 1363 and 1328 BC, was the first king of the Middle Assyrian Empire. After his father Eriba-Adad I had broken Mitanni influence over Assyria, Ashur-uballit I's defeat of the Mitanni ...

of Assyria to Pharaoh, and

Amarna letter 28 Amarna (; ar, العمارنة, al-ʿamārnah) is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the ...

, (using bird, "iṣṣūru") it appears as the standard, electronic rendition. The alternate rendition of the sign as shown in

Amarna letter EA 364 Amarna letter EA 364, titled ''Justified War,'' is a clay tablet letter from Ayyab, ruler of Aštartu, to Pharaoh Akhenaten (1350s–1330s BC). It is one of the Amarna letters, 382 in total, dating from c. 1360 – c. 1332 BC. The initial corpu ...

is also found twice in the mid-length (to long) 69-line

Amarna letter EA 362 Amarna letter EA 362, titled: ''"A Commissioner Murdered,"'' is a finely-inscribed clay tablet letter from Rib-Haddi, the mayor/'man' of the city of Byblos, (''Gubla'' of the letters). Byblos, being a large coastal seaport Mediterranean city, ...

, Rib-Hadda to Pharaoh, used as "to send" (a letter/message), line 52, "aš-pu-ru", Akkadian "šapāru". Another example letter of usage, is for one line, Line 27 on the obverse of

Amarna letter EA 147 Amarna letter EA 147, titled ''A Hymn to the Pharaoh'', is a moderate length clay tablet Amarna letter (mid 14th century BC) from Abimilku of Tyre-(called ''Ṣurru'' in the Abimilku letters, and an island, until the time of Alexander the Gre ...

, Biridiya to Pharaoh, titled ''"A Hymn to the Pharaoh"'', a letter in pristine condition (minus a missing corner of the clay tablet). Of note, in the Akkadian language, using vowels ''a, e, i,'' and ''u'', there is no "o", (or y as vowel). Any vowels used in a sign, can be interchangeably substituted for a different vowel. Also

u (cuneiform) The cuneiform U sign is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the '' Epic of Gilgamesh''. It can be used for the alphabetic ''u'', instead of the more common 2nd u, (ú). It has two other uses, commonly. It can be used for t ...

has special uses, and is only rarely used for the 'vowel u'. The ú (cuneiform)-(first prime) is the typical alphabetic 'u'.

Aziru, of Amurru

Aziru was allowed to leave Egypt and return to his kingdom of Amurru. Aziru had, however, made secret contacts with the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I, and sometime upon his return to Amurru, he permanently switched his allegiance to the Hittites to whom he remained loyal until his death. Henceforth, Amurru remained firmly in Hittite hands until the reign of the 19th dynasty Pharaohs Seti I and Ramesses II.

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. Cuneiform signs