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 ...

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 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 ...

form), it is typically separated from other capital letter Sumerograms with a period. The name of the group can follow, in lower case letters, for example: (men-massu, Amarna letter EA 365), LÚ.MEŠ– ma- as-sà-meš, (and using a secondary suffix meš, not being typical). The MEŠ cuneiform is a vertical stroke, followed by three or four angled smaller wedge-strokes. The strokes can also be "not angled", but 45 degree wedges, smaller, or large. For example,

Amarna letter EA 161 Amarna letter EA 161, titled ''An Absence Explained'', is a tall clay tablet letter of 8 paragraphs, with single paragraphing lines. The surface is somewhat degraded, but most cuneiform signs that remain (undamaged corners, or scrapes contain lo ...

Aziru Aziru was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten. The dealings of Aziru are well-known from the Amarn ...

to Pharaoh, shows a series of six preparation items listed sequentially. The following wedges (on the meš or Sumerogram .MEŠ wedges, are large, and the scribe has a scribing base line, that follows the vertical stroke, a baseline on which the wedges are placed sequentially. EA 161 shows the baseline 'remainder', extending beyond the last 3rd, or 4th wedge. Another common plural in the Amarna letters is HI. A, , found in personal names ( Abdi-Heba), and the plural.

Usage, Amarna letters and Epic of Gilgamesh

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, (Tablets I-XII) the ''meš'' sign is used as follows: as ''meš'', 8 times, as ''MEŠ'', 253 times. In the Amarna letters, the ''meš'' sign is often referencing people, or types of people, but another common usage is KUR.MEŠ, since "land", or regions are often being discussed by the 'governors' of the

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 ...

s (called the 'man' of the city, typically).

Meš, as cuneiform "Me", + cuneiform "Eš"

The ''meš'' sign can be considered to be 1.--

me (cuneiform) The cuneiform me sign is a common multi-use sign of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', the 1350 BC Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. It also has a sumerogrammic usage for ME in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. Because of its extensive syllabic m ...

. .(the horizontal "baseline"), 2.--with 3 vertical wedges., ( eš (cuneiform)). A specific deviation from the standard can be seen in EA 153 (EA 153, Metropolitan Museu

, where five uses of ''meš'', are based on only 1-wedge, (or a ligatured 2-wedges); it looks approximately as follows for one wedge, They are used for ''army^meš'', as ERIM (army Sumerogram), ERIM. MEŠ (EA 153:8, 11), also ''"men"'', LÚ. MEŠ (EA 153:9), ''feet'' (EA 153:3), and ''ships'' (EA 153:10).

Meš, 2-basic styles

Two basic types of ''meš'' signs are either expressed as wedges laid horizontally, following the vertical stroke, or wedges expressed at an angle, at any level of angle, upward, but all of consistent size. As wedges inscribed on a horizontal baseline, the wedges are usually centered, following the large vertical stroke; the horizontal baseline is not always exactly at the midpoint of the vertical stroke. The following wedges are either full-size, (or sometimes oversized); the wedges are also sometimes any percentage less than a full 3/4-wedge, or 1/2-wedge. Angled wedges are often much smaller expressed wedges, from 1/2 to 1/3? size. For space considerations, the angled wedges can be extremely high-angled, towards vertical, thus saving "horizontal text space"; alternatively, the wedges could be spaced out, allowing for the consumption of more 'line-text-space'. One example

Amarna letter 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 ...

is a combination of the two ''horizontal'', and ''angled wedge'' expressions. EA 153 has the "meš" sign built upon the vertical stroke, then ''1-horizontal'', and ''2-angled strokes'', laid across it at approximately 45 degrees. (The horizontal can be '' "an 'unseen', or 'overwritten' base" '' for the angled wedges laid upon it. In EA 153 the base line "head" is used as the first wedge-(non-angled), following by the angled wedge-2 and wedge-3.)

Amarna letter types by letter

Horizontal, w/ 3-, 4-wedges * EA 15 * EA 19 * EA 23 * EA 28 * EA 31 * EA 35 * EA 161 * EA 205 * EA 252 * EA 282 * EA 287 * EA 288 * EA 289 * EA 290 * EA 325 * EA 367 * EA 369 Angled 3-, 4-wedges * EA 86 * EA 144 *

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 Great, ...

* EA 270 * EA 271 * EA 273 * EA 296 * EA 362 * EA 364 * EA 365

References

* Moran, William L. 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 with ...

'', 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.

External links

Special type of "meš"
Image of

Amarna letter EA 153 Amarna letter EA 153, titled ''Ships on Hold,'' is a short-length clay tablet letter from Abimilku of the island (at Amarna letters time) of city-state Tyre. EA 153 is approximately tall x wide, (actually 3 1/16 x 2 1/16 inches), and has a ...

, Metropolitan Museum Cuneiform signs {{DEFAULTSORT:Mes (cuneiform)