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 wedge-sha ...

hi/he sign, (and its

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 ...

s), has many uses 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 The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, 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 ...

''; also other texts, for example Hittite texts. It is also used to form a second usage of the plural HI. A, . The more common plural is

Meš The cuneiform MEŠ, or meš is a plural form attached at the end of Mesopotamian cuneiform words as a suffix. As part of a name (PN, personal name, or other), or major class being referenced, in capital letters (a Sumerogram form), it is typical ...

, found in sub-varieties of the sign, a vertical (left), and a horizontal, with 3 wedges, in various position(right); (a digital form)-. The alphabetic/syllabic uses and Sumerograms of the 'hi' sign from the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'':Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

'', Sign List, pp. 155-165, no. 396, p. 162. :he :hi :DÙG (

)s :HI :ŠÁR, =

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 Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

''šar'',Parpola, 1971. ''The Standard Babylonian

'', Glossary, pp. 119-145, šar, p. 141. (3600), (area of land). Its usage numbers from the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' are as follows: ''he''-(5), ''hi''-(86), ''DǛG''-(3), ''HI''-(6), and ''ŠÁR''-(13).

References

* Moran, William L. 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 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. Cuneiform signs