Bad (cuneiform)

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Digitized cuneiform sign for bad, bat, be, etc., and 5 sumerograms in Epic of Gilgamesh. (see text)
Near Eastern cylinder seal
(Walters 42699; see clay impression below)
signs read down from top: column left (line no. 1), 3rd sign is the bad sign.
Note line no. 1 appears as "line 3", until printed in the clay, and then appearing as "line no. 1".

The cuneiform bad, bat, be, etc. sign is a common multi-use sign in the mid 14th-century BC Amarna letters, and the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Epic it also has 5 sumerogram uses (capital letter (majuscule)). From Giorgio Buccellati (Buccellati 1979) 'comparative graphemic analysis' (about 360 cuneiform signs, nos. 1 through no. 598E), of 5 categories of letters, the usage numbers of the bad sign are as follows: Old Babylonian Royal letters (71), OB non-Royal letters (392), Mari letters (2108), Amarna letters (334), Ugarit letters (39).[1]

The following linguistic elements are used for the bad sign in the 12 chapter (Tablets I-Tablet XII) Epic of Gilgamesh:[2]

bad (not in Epic)
bat
be
mid
mit
sun
til
ziz

sumerograms:

BE
IDIM
TIL
ÚŠ
ZIZ

The following usage numbers for the linguistic elements of sign bad in the Epic are as follows: bad, (0 times), bat, (61), be, (16), mid, (7), mit, (8), sun, (1), til, (11), ziz, (8), BE, (2), IDIM, (2), TIL, (1), ÚŠ, (2), ZIZ, (1).[3]

Instead of a large horizontal, as seen in the (digitized form, but one type of "bad") , the sign is seen in the Amarna letters as composed of two opposite facing (triangles), the wedges. It can be seen here [1], Amarna letter EA 153-(lines 153:4, 11), for "King-Lord-mine", "LUGAL, Be-li-ia", or Be-lí-ia", where "bēlu" is Akkadian for "lord".[4]

Literature examples[edit]

Amarna letters[edit]

Amarna letter EA 362-(Reverse, lines 31–65), Rib-Haddi to Pharaoh, titled "A Commissioner Murdered".[5]

The vassal city-state letters to the Pharaoh often reference the King (Pharaoh), as: "King, Lord-mine", where king is represented by LUGAL (king Sumerogram), for Akkadian language šarru-(sometimes LUGAL-ri, represented as "ŠÁR-ri", for king, ŠÁR=LUGAL). For the reverse of EA 362, Rib-Hadda to Pharaoh (plus lines 66–69 on clay tablet side), cuneiform sign be is used for "lord", Akkadian "bēlu".[6] In EA 362, be is only used for the spelling of "lord".

The entire topic of EA 362 is developed on the reverse side, (starting halfway on obverse). The listing of be uses, 10-times, on the reverse (and side lines of 66–69), are as follows:[7]

For "King, Lord-mine" (and partials):

(line 32)--LUGAL
(39)--LUGAL be-li-ia
(40)--be-li
(42)--be-li
(46)--LUGAL
(48)--LUGAL be-li

line 51

(51)--ù be-li i-di i-nu-ma

line 51

"And..Lord know, ..now ("now at this time")..."
"And..Lord know, ..[that] "now at this time"..." (a segue to the letter's ending!)
(53)--be-li-ia
(60)--LUGAL be-li-ia
(64)--LUGAL be-li-ia
(65)--LUGAL
(66)--LUGAL be-li
(68)--LUGAL be-li-ia

Besides be in EA 362, bat is used on the letter's obverse (two adjacent lines).

Form of BAD used in other signs[edit]

The BAD/BAT sign has been used in other signs:

  • With a Gesh2 sign going through it 𒐕: for the Neo-Assyrian Cuneiform sign in Sumerian called MUŠEN, Akkadian: iṣṣūrum meaning bird, and giving the sound of ḪU.[8]
  • 𒑙 as numeric value 2: A double BAD (also called double BAT, double ESHE3, or double UŠ2)
  • 𒀫 AMAR (unicode 1202B) meaning calf or Mar (the Akkadian word for "son")[9] This sign is the base for many derivatives.
  • 𒍘 UŠUMX (unicode u+12358)
  • 𒍙 UTUKI, in the suffix, again with a Gesh2 sign going through it.
  • 𒆰 KUL
  • 𒉄 NAGAR
  • 𒑧, 𒑨 Elamite numerical 40 and 50
  • Inside various letters like 𒄓, 𒄰, 𒇀

External links[edit]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bad (cuneiform).
  1. ^ Buccellati, Giorgio, (Ugarit-Forschungen 11, 1979). Comparative Graphemic Analysis of Old Babylonian and Western Akkadian, pp. 95-100, Graph, p. 96.
  2. ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Sign List, pp. 155-165, sign no. 069, p. 156.
  3. ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Sign List, pp. 155-165, sign no. 069, p. 156.
  4. ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Glossary, pp. 119-145, bēlu, for lord, owner, p. 122.
  5. ^ Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. EA 362, A Commissioner Murdered, pp. 359-361.
  6. ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Glossary, pp. 119-145, bēlu, p. 122.
  7. ^ Rainey, 1970. El Amarna Tablets, 359-379, Anson F. Rainey, EA 362, Rib-haddi to the King, (AOAT 8, Alter Orient Altes Testament 8)
  8. ^ See Old Babylonean 𒄷 where the U is separate and below.
  9. ^ See Wiktionary 𒀫
  • Buccellati, Giorgio. Comparative Graphemic Analysis of Old Babylonian and Western Akkadian, from Ugarit-Forschungen 8, (Neukirchen-Vluyen).
  • 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.(softcover, ISBN 951-45-7760-4)-(Volume 1)
  • Rainey, 1970. El Amarna Tablets, 359-379, Anson F. Rainey, (AOAT 8, Alter Orient Altes Testament 8, Kevelaer and Neukirchen -Vluyen), 1970, 107 pages.
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