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-sh ...

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 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 n ...

in 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 with ...

''. It also has a common usage in the 1350 BC Amarna letters 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

determinative A determinative, also known as a taxogram or semagram, is an ideogram used to mark semantic categories of words in logographic scripts which helps to disambiguate interpretation. They have no direct counterpart in spoken language, though they may ...

s. In the Amarna letters' Rainey's glossary (Rainey 1970) which is the glossary for

Akkadian language Akkadian (, 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 is an extinct East Semitic language th ...

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 ''

'', 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) The cuneiform hi/he sign, (and its Sumerograms), has many uses in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''; also other texts, for example Hittite language, Hittite texts. It is also used to form a second usage o ...

. (Cuneiform ''hi'' is also used for ''he'', and three

s, in Tablets I-XII of the ''Epic of Giglamesh'').

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, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages. *

Rainey Rainey is a name of British-Irish origin. People with the surname * Bobby Rainey (born 1987), American National Football League player * Chuck Rainey (born 1940), American bassist * David "Puck" Rainey (born 1968), American reality TV personalit ...

, 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