The

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

giš sign, (also common for is, iṣ, and iz), is a common, multi-use sign, in the ''

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian language, Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of ...

'', the Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. It also has a major usage 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, Eblaite, or Hittite. Th ...

, GIŠ, (capital letter (

majuscule Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally '' majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing syste ...

)) for

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

''"wood"'', and is used as a

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 ...

at the beginning of words, for items made of wood. The 12 Chapters (Tablets) of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' lists 16 named items beginning with ''"GIŠ"''. For ''giš''/(''is/iz/iṣ'') in the construction of words it is used syllabically for ''giš'', and syllabically for the three other constructs; also for ''eṣ/ez''. Besides "giš", it can alphabetically be used for: ''e'', ''i'', ''s'', ''ṣ'', or ''z''.

''Epic of Gilgamesh'' sign usage

The usage numbers for ''giš'' in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' are as follows: ''eṣ''-(2) times, ''ez'', (3), ''giš'', (1), ''is'', (46), ''iṣ'', (77), ''iz'', (17), and ''GIŠ'' (355) times.

Epic words with
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 ...
''GIŠ''

The following list of

Akkadian language 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 was an East Semitic language that is attested ...

words are from the

s used in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. *--GIŠ.APIN, ''epinnu'' ("plow") *--GIŠ.BAN, ''qaštu'' (?) *--GIŠ.BANŠUR, ''paššūru'' ("table") *--GIŠ.ERIN, ''erēnu'' ("cedar") *--GIŠ.GAG, ''sikkatu'' ("flask (of perfume)") *--GIŠ.GIGIR, ''mugirru'' (?) *--GIŠ.GU. ZA, ''kussû'' ("throne", "seat") *--GIŠ.IG, ''daltu'' ("door") *--GIŠ. MÁ, ''eleppu'' ("boat, ship") *--GIŠ.NIM, ''baltu'' ("thornbush") *--GIŠ.SAR, ''kirû'' ("garden", "orchard") *--GIŠ.ŠEM.GIR, ''asu'' ("myrtle") *--GIŠ.ŠUR.MÌN, ''šurmenu'' ("cypress") *--GIŠ.TIR, ''qištu'' ("forest") *--GIŠ.TUKUL, ''kakku'' ("weapon") *--GIŠ.Ú.GIR, ''ašagu'' ("thistle", "thorn bush")

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 of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and studies based on them. Its headquarters are in Helsinki in Finland. State Archives ...

, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gis Cuneiform signs

''Epic of Gilgamesh'' sign usage

Epic words with 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 ... ''GIŠ''

References

Epic words with
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 ...
''GIŠ''