Mu (cuneiform)
(digitized form mu, and other meanings)
A common Amarna letter that uses cuneiform mu.
(Last cuneiform sign, line 6.)
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The cuneiform sign mu, is a common-use sign of the Amarna letters, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and other cuneiform texts (for example Hittite texts). It is also used as MU in which case it is a Sumerogram meaning "name," "year" or "life."[1]
Linguistically, it has the alphabetical usage in texts for m, or u, or syllabically for mu. The u is replaceable in word formation by any of the 4 vowels: a, e, i, or u.
One reason for the high usage of mu in the Amarna letters is for the word: "peace", or "be safe", Akkadian language šalāmu,[2] for "to be sound, whole, safe". It is used especially between the Great King letters.
Epic of Gilgamesh usage
[edit]The mu sign usage in the Epic of Gilgamesh is as follows: mu-(266 times); MU-(87).[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Crisostomo, J. (2019:170). Translation as Scholarship: Language, Writing, and Bilingual Education in Ancient Babylonia. Germany: De Gruyter.
- ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Glossary, pp. 119-145, šalāmu, p. 140, "to be sound, whole, safe".
- ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Sign List, pp. 155-165, no. 061, p. 156, "mu".
- Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. 393 pages.(softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0)
- Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, 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.
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line drawing, Obverse
Amarna letter EA 15-(titled: "Assyria joins the International Scene").
A common Amarna letter that uses cuneiform mu.
(line 19, Reverse.) -
line drawing, Reverse
