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 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, Eblaite, or Hittite. Th ...

, capital letter (

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

), in the

Hittite language Hittite (, or ), also known as Nesite (Nešite/Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a people of Bronze Age Anatolia who created an empire centred on Hattusa, as well as parts of the northern ...

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 Amarna letter EA 271, titled: ''"The Power of the 'Apiru,"'' is a moderately short, tallish, rectangular clay tablet letter, approximately 3 in wide x 4 in tall, from Milkilu the mayor/ruler of Gazru (Gezer), of the mid 14th century BC Amarna l ...

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 Ancient Greek, Greek 'idea' + 'to write') is a symbol that is used within a given writing system to represent an idea or concept in a given language. (Ideograms are contrasted with phonogram (linguistics), phono ...

''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: Babylonian digit 0

). File:BM 90937 Simbar-Shihu kudurru.jpg, Cuneiform ''tu'', 3rd row, 2nd cuneiform sign.

''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 Shuruppak ( , SU.KUR.RUki, "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur and 30 kilometers north of ancient Uruk on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-Qādisiy ...

(father of

Utnapishtim Uta-napishtim or Utnapishtim (, "he has found life") was a legendary king of the ancient city of Shuruppak in southern Iraq, who, according to the Gilgamesh flood myth, one of several similar narratives, survived the Flood by making and occupyi ...

), 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 ( ; )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 was an East Semitic language that is attested ...

verb, , for

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

'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 The Gilgamesh flood myth is a partial narrative of the Gilgamesh Epic. It is one of three Mesopotamian Flood Myths alongside the one included in the Eridu Genesis, and an episode from the Atra-Hasis Epic. Many scholars believe that the Gilgam ...

, 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, {{ISBN, 0-8018-6715-0) * 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 through Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages.
EA 271 Obverse, ''"tu"'', 2nd row from bottom
*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, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0) * Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. ''The Amarna Letters.'' EA 147, ''A Hymn to the Pharaoh'', pp. 233-235. * Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

'', Parpola, Simo,

, c 1997, Tablet I through 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. *Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

'', Sign List, pp. 155-165, no. 068, p. 156. *Rainey, 1970. ''El Amarna Tablets, 359-379,'' Glossary:Vocabulary, pp. 55-87, p. 24. * Rainey, 1970. ''El Amarna Tablets, 359-379,'' ''EA 365,

Biridiya Biridiya was the ruler of Megiddo, northern part of the southern Levant, in the 14th century BC. At the time Megiddo was a city-state submitting to the Egyptian Empire. He is part of the intrigues surrounding the rebel Labaya of Shechem. History ...

Megiddo Megiddo may refer to: Places and sites in Israel * Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley * Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel * Megiddo church (Israel) * Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel * Megiddo Juncti ...

to the King,'' pp. 24-27. *Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

'', Glossary, pp. 119-145, aššum, p. 122. * Rainey, 1970. ''El Amarna Tablets, 359-379'', ''Glossary:Vocabulary'', saparu, pp. 55-87, p. 81. * Buccellatti, Giorgio, (Ugarit-Forschungen 11, 1979). ''Comparative Graphemic Analysis of

Old Babylonian Old Babylonian may refer to: *the period of the First Babylonian dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC) *the historical stage of the Akkadian language Akkadian ( ; )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Enc ...

and Western Akkadian'', pp. 95-100. *Ugarit Forschungen (Neukirchen-Vluyn). UF-11 (1979) honors

Claude Schaeffer Claude may refer to: People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Callegari (1962–2021), English Arsenal supporter * Claude Debussy (1862–1918) ...

, with about 100 articles in 900 pages. pp 95, ff, "Comparative Graphemic Analysis of

and Western Akkadian", ( i.e. Ugarit and

Amarna Amarna (; ) is an extensive ancient Egyptian archaeological site containing the ruins of Akhetaten, the capital city during the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and a ...

(letters), three others, Mari, OB,Royal, OB,non-Royal letters). See above, in text. * Buccellatti, Giorgio. ''Comparative Graphemic Analysis of Old Babylonian and Western Akkadian'', from ''Ugarit-Forschungen 8'', (Neukirchen-Vluyen). * Rainey, 1970. ''El Amarna Tablets, 359-379,'' Anson F. Rainey, (AOAT 8, ''Alter Orient Altes Testament 8'', Kevelaer and Neukirchen -Vluyen), 1970, 107 pages. *Held, Schmalstieg, Gertz, 1987. ''Beginning Hittite'', Sign List, page 194, page 200. * Rainey, 1970. ''El Amarna Tablets, 359-379,'' Anson F. Rainey, (AOAT 8, ''Alter Orient Altes Testament 8'', Kevelaer and Neukirchen -Vluyen), 1970, 107 pages. * Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. ''The Amarna Letters.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. 393 pages.(softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0)) * Rainey, 1970. ''El Amarna Tablets, 359-379,'' ''EA 365,

to the King,'' pp. 24-27. ---- Cuneiform signs

''Epic of Gilgamesh'' use

References

Further reading