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Image:Amarna_letter-_Royal_Letter_from_Ashur-uballit,_the_king_of_Assyria,_to_the_king_of_Egypt_MET_DP-211-142.jpg, Cuneiform sign ZA, 13 line, 3rd character from line end, EA 15, Obverse
(A short letter from the King of
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Cuneiform signs
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 ...
sign za is a common use sign in the Amarna letters and 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 ...
.'' It is used syllabically for ''ṣa'', ''za'', and ''ZA'' (ZA as parts of personal names, places, or common words, etc.), and alphabetically for "ṣ" (s), "z", or "a". (All the 4 vowels, ''a, e, i, o'' are interchangeable.)
In the 14th century BC Amarna letters, "za" is used in the spelling of the word for "mayor" (city, city-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
administrator), Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform, early writing system
* Akkadian myt ...
''hazannu''. For example, in EA 144 (from Zimreddi of Sidon), ''obverse'', line 5: "man-hazzanu", ''Lú''- Ha-za- nu. Za has a fairly high usage in the ''vassal states'' sub-corpus of the ''Amarna letters''.
''Epic of Gilgamesh'' use
For the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', the following usage is found in Tablets I-XII: ''ṣa''-(79 times); ''za''-(32); ''ZA''-(15 times).Symbol
—Cuneiform sign ZA * Borger (2003): 851 * Borger (1981): * HZL: 366 ; phonetic values: * Sumerian: ZA * Akkadian: ''za, sà, ṣa'' * Hittite: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.
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
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 ...
'', 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 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'')
(A short letter from the King of
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the As ...
to Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...
)