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 ...

pa sign, (as

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 ...

, PA), 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 ...

''. It is routinely and commonly used to spell the

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 ...

word "pānu", ''face, presence'', and with a preposition (ex. a na pā nu), ''before''. In the photo of the obverse of EA 364, it is used to spell Akkadian "eperu", 'dust', (EA 364, lines 7,8: "...and ( ù dust (IŠ (Sumerogram)=dust)) and ( u)\ dust "-( a-pa- ru). (The two ''"and"''-s are u-(no. 3), then u-(no. 1)-(

u (cuneiform) The cuneiform U sign is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. It can be used for the alphabetic ''u'', instead of the more common 2nd u, (ú). It has two other uses, commonly. It can be used for th ...

)(the bottom half).) The alphabetic/syllabic uses and Sumerograms of the 'pa' sign from the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'': :hat :pa :PA (Sumerogram)s :SÀG Its usage numbers from the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' are as follows: ''hat''-(21), ''pa''-(209), ''PA''-(11), ''SÀG''-(1). In the Amarna letters the start of "messenger Xxxxx" is often spelled in cuneiform characters: "LÚ.PA.X.y.z" (etc.), (LÚ the beginning

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 ...

for ''Man'').

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. ---- File:B157ellst.png, Sign kat, kad, gad, gat, '

Gad (cuneiform) Gad or GAD may refer to: Government and politics * General Administration Department, of Burma's Ministry of Home Affairs * Government Actuary's Department, of the Government of the United Kingdom * Grand Alliance for Democracy, a Philippine p ...

, based on Pa (cuneiform). (For k/g/q–''qat/qad'', for "hand", and Akkadian qātu, cuneiform sign

Šu (cuneiform) The cuneiform šu sign is a common, multi-use syllabic and alphabetic sign for ''šu'', ''š'', and ''u''; it has a subsidiary usage for syllabic ''qat''; it also has a majuscule-(capital letter) Sumerogram usage for ŠU, for Akkadian language ...

is used. (ŠU (hand Sumerogram)=qātu)).
For a listing of trade objects for procuring an entourage of women to Egypt, "...silver, gold, linen garments". (GADA, GAD for Akkadian "tunic",

GAD (tunic Sumerogram) Gad or GAD may refer to: Government and politics * General Administration Department, of Burma's Ministry of Home Affairs * Government Actuary's Department, of the Government of the United Kingdom * Grand Alliance for Democracy, a Philippine p ...

Amarna letter EA 369 Amarna letter EA 369 is a letter written from the pharaoh to Milkilu of Gezer Gezer, or Tel Gezer ( he, גֶּזֶר), in ar, تل الجزر – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari is an archaeological site in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains a ...

, to

Milkilu Milkilu, and more properly Milk-ilu, or Milku-ilu, with an alternate version of Ili-Milku (letter 286, by Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem), was the mayor/ruler of ''Gazru'' ( Gezer) of the 1350–1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. Adda-danu, and Ya ...

of Gazru, titled: ''"From the Pharaoh to a Vassal"''. File:Mesopotamian - Cylinder Seal with Human Headed Winged Bull and Inscription - Walters 42808 - Side G.jpg, Mesopotamian

cylinder seal A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch (2 to 3 cm) in length, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally ...

-(view Side G) with

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

(Lion (with lion tail) and wings (on Side E)).
The columns of inscription contain, at right:

an (cuneiform) The cuneiform an sign (or sumerogram AN, in Akkadian consisting of ASH 𒀸 and MAŠ 𒈦), is a common, multi-use sign, a syllabic for ''an'', and an alphabetic sign used for ''a'', or ''n''; it is common in both the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' over ...

-(for DINGIR, god?), and pa (cuneiform). Cuneiform signs