Amarna letter EA 365-(Reverse), by Biridiya of Magiddo, title: "Furnishing Corvee Workers";1
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The cuneiform giš sign, (also common for is, iṣ, and iz), is a common, multi-use sign, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. It also has a major usage as a sumerogram, GIŠ, (capital letter (majuscule)) for English language "wood", and is used as a determinative 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:2 eṣ-(2) times, ez, (3), giš, (1), is, (46), iṣ, (77), iz, (17), and GIŠ (355) times.
Epic words with determinative GIŠ
The following list of Akkadian language words are from the sumerograms used in the Epic of Gilgamesh.3
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References
References
- Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. EA 365, Furnishing Corvee Workers, p. 362.
- Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Sign List, pp. 155-165, Sign No. 296, giš, p. 159.
- Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Glossary and Indices, Logograms and Their Readings, pp. 117-18, p. 117.
- 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.