If Sumerian were older than Akkadian than Akkadian words should describe older Sumerian words but actually it is the opposite. Sumerian gibberish metaphors describe Akkadian. It means that the scribe wrote Sumerian and Akkadian simultaneously.
mašālu
1) to be alike , to resemble , to equal , to match ; 2) to be(come) smooth ; D : to copy , to make similar , , to imitate , to equalize , to make equal , to compare , to equate , to try to equal , to match , to reflect , to replicate , to reproduce ; Š : to do likewise , to imitate , to do similarly , to emulate , to mime , to mimic , to simulate , to make equal , to use a simile + , to utter parables + ; mašālu ana : to look like , to take after ;
Comparison with other Semitic languages :
Hebrew : mašal "example"
mašālu
to match , to make similar , to proportionate , to equalize
mišlu [BAR :
] (st. abs. mišil ; pl. m. & f.)
[Numbers]
half ; middle, center ; ina mešlāti ša Nisannu
in mid-Nissan, in the middle of the month of Nissan
mišlānū [ŠU.RI.A :
, IGI.2.GÁL.LA.ÀM :
] (n. pl.,
)
[Trade]
half share (of profit, wages) ;
a drainage tile
mišla (adv.,
)
[Science → Mathematics]
in half
tamšīl
equalling , corresponding to / matching () , quasi ;
tamšiltu
[Art]
1) a mold , a matrix , a template; 2) an equation ; 3) a parable , a simile ;
tamšīlu [SAG.ḪU :
] (n.)
1)
: image, resemblance , likeness , like / as ; 2)
: equivalent , equal , peer ; tamšīlu abūbu : "like a flood" , high watre / high tide () ; 3)
: a drinking vessel /a glass () / a cup () ; 4)
: the name of a bird ;
mišlu [BAR :
] (st. abs. mišil ; pl. m. & f.)
[Numbers]
half ; middle, center ; ina mešlāti ša Nisannu
in mid-Nissan, in the middle of the month of Nissan
Sumerian
geštu [60] wr. ge-eš-tu "60"
[1] |
ge-eš-tu |
Akkadian:
šūšu [GÍŠ :
] (st. abs. šūš(i))
[Numbers]
sixty
šešša , šūši : [Measures] sixty
šeššā* : [Numbers] sixty
šūšu : [Numbers] sixty
šeššā* [GÍŠ :
]
[Numbers]
sixty
Cf. šeššet
šeššet [ÀŠ :
] (adj. ; fem. šediš)
[Numbers]
six
Comparison with other Semitic languages :
Proto-Semitic : *šidθ
Arabic : sittat سِتَّة
Syriac : štā ܫܬ݁ܳܐ
Hebrew : šiššā שִשָּה
Ugaritic : θθ
Ge'ez : sǝddǝstū
Sumerian:
aš [SIX] wr. aš3 "six"
[1] |
aš3 |
1. six
aš Homophones
AŠ
aš (aša az3 as3)
dili [SINGLE] (227x: ED IIIa, Lagash II, Ur III, Old Babylonian) wr. dili; di-il5 "(to be) single, unique, sole; (to be) alone" Akk. dēlu; ēdu
[1] |
dili |
|
[2] |
di-il5 |
~ LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [[dili]] = de-e-li = AŠ = we-e-du-[um] OB Aa 100:1; [[dili]] = mi-it-ha-ri-iš OB Aa 100:2; [[dili]] = = = de-e-lu-um OB Aa 100:3. LEX/Old Babylonian/Sippar [[dili]] = =AŠ = we-du-[u2-um] MSL 14, 122-127 09 480; [[dili]] = gi-it-ma#-[lum] MSL 14, 122-127 09 481; [[dili]] = = = iš-ti-en MSL 14, 122-127 09 482. ELA/Ur III/Girsu zi-ga dil-a ITT 5, 06770 2.ELA/Old Babylonian/Nippur dil-dil-bi OB Contracts, pl. C1 no. 14 21. unknown/Old Babylonian/unknown [[dili]] = AŠ = we-e-du MSL 09, 124-137 vii 441. unknown/Ur III/Drehem dil-še3 sag!-bi tibir-a bi2-ra-a MVN 15, 100 7. unknown/Old Babylonian/Nippur u3 a2-da-am dil-dil a-name-a-bi SAOC 44, 01 37. unknown/Old Babylonian/unknown KI.LUGAL.DU hur-sag i7-da dili-diliSAOC 44, 42 35.
See: ĝuruš dili; ĝuruš saĝ dili; illar X dili; kud sila dili; lu dili dam geme; šinig dili; šir dili; šu dili;šum šir dili; uzu sila dili.
2. (to be) alone
Akk. dēlu "unique, single"; ēdu "single, sole; alone".
aš [ONE] ašša, aş3, deš2, diš2, dili, eš18, eš20,
6(DIŠ)
aš3 (aša3)
Also: 6(diš), ašša3, dešax(6(DIŠ)).
aš [SIX] wr. aš3 "six"
[1] |
aš3 |
1. six
entries written with 6(DIŠ)
aš3 (aša3)
aš3 aš [SIX]
TAB.TAB.TAB
Also: aš4.
tab [DOUBLE] (740x: ED IIIa, ED IIIb, Old Akkadian, Lagash II, Ur III, Early Old Babylonian, Old Babylonian, unknown) wr. tab; tab4 "to double; to repeat; companion, partner" Akk. eşēpu; tappû
See igi tab[look at].
[1] |
tab |
|
[2] |
tab4 (niš) |
~ LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur niĝ2-BAD tab-ba Nigga 148. LEX/Old Babylonian/Sippar [[tab]] = = TAB= e-şe-pu-um MSL 14, 122-127 09 489; [[tab]] = šu-ta-aš-nu-um MSL 14, 122-127 09 490.ELA/ED IIIb/Girsu 4(iku@c) GAN2 tab-ba VS 14, 170 o ii 8; 1(eše3@c) 1(iku@c) GAN2 tab-ba VS 14, 170 o ii 12; 1(iku@c) GAN2 3(diš) tab-[ba] VS 14, 170 o v 1; 2(eše3@c) 2(iku@c) 1/4(iku@c)GAN2 tab-ba VS 14, 170 o i 7. ELA/Old Akkadian/Girsu 1(u) 5(diš) pisan tab-ba RTC 229 r i 3.ELA/Ur III/Adab 1(diš) tug2 ba-duh-hu-um tab-ba du MVN 03, 188 2. ELA/Ur III/Drehem še [...]GA2 tab-ba sa2-du11 didli AUCT 3, 312 4; 4(diš) tug2 zi-li-hu-um tab-ba MVN 03, 152 2; zar3tab-ba šu ur3-ra OrSP 47-49, 183 3; zar tab-ba šu-ur3-ra Princeton 2, 187 2. ELA/Ur III/Girsu [a-ša3] 7(bur3) 1(eše3) 2(iku) 1/2(iku) 1/4(iku) GAN2 tab-ba AnOr 45, 308 53 6; [...] GAN2# tab-baAnOr 45, 308 53 7; a-ša3 7(bur3) 4(iku) 1/2(iku) 1/4(iku) GAN2 tab-ba ASJ 04, 125 22 o i 4.ELA/Ur III/Nippur [x] pisan tab-ba sag10 BE 03/1, 165 o i 12; dumu gaba-na a-ab-tab NATN 761 4. ELA/Ur III/Umma zar3 tab-ba a-ša3 gi-apin-ku5-ra2 AAS 028 o i 12; zar3 tab-ba a-ša3 dšara2AAS 028 o i 14; še gurx(ŠE.KIN)-a zar3 tab-ba a-ša3 apin-ku5-ra2 AAS 028 o ii 10. ELA/Ur III/Ur3(diš) guruš tab-ba 4(aš)-ta MVN 10, 120 r i 8; tab!-ba! bi2-in-ge-en UET 3, 0050 r ii 9; 1(diš)dur10 tab-ba 5(diš) TUL2 UET 3, 0521 1. ELA/Ur III/unclear 6(diš) tug2nig2-lam2 tab-ba us2 BRM 3, 153 1; 4(diš) sila3 2(diš) gin2 šeš tab-ba Princeton 2, 263 4. unknown/Ur III/Umma 1(u) šeš tab-ba SNAT 536 o i 14. unknown/Old Babylonian/unknown [[tab]] = = TAB = šu-ta-aš-nu-u2 MSL 09, 124-137 vii 452; [[tab]] = tap-pu-u2 MSL 09, 124-137 vii 459; [[tab]] = = = e-şe2-pu MSL 09, 124-137 vii 460. unknown/ED IIIb/Girsu 1(iku@c) GAN2 tab-ba IM-SU-kam DP 590 r iii 6;1/2(aš@c) eš2 kin tab-ba lugal-pa-e3 DP 625 o ii 3; 4(iku@c) 1/4(iku@c) tab-ba 1/8(iku@c) i3-šub lugal-ušur3-ra RTC 075 o i 4. unknown/Old Akkadian/Adab 1(aš@c) tug2 bar-dul5 tab-ba OIP 014, 181 5. unknown/Ur III/Drehem zar3 tab-ba šu ur3-ra Aleppo 207 6; zar3 tab-ba šu ur3-raAleppo 221 5; zar3 tab-ba šu ur3-ra Aleppo 245 2; zar3 tab-ba šu ur3-ra Aleppo 246 3; zar3 tab-ba a-da gub-ba Aleppo 247 2; zar3 tab-ba Aleppo 248 2; zar3 tab-ba a-ša3 e2-gir-gi4 Aleppo 249 2. unknown/Ur III/Girsu 5(bur3) 2(eše3) 1(iku) 1/2(iku) GAN2 tab-ba ASJ 17, 217 110 o ii 4; 5(bur3)1(eše3) 1/2(iku) 1/4(iku) GAN2 tab-ba ASJ 17, 217 110 o iii 15; zar3 tab-ba u3 ki-be2 ib2-hu-huMVN 15, 292 4. unknown/Ur III/Umma zar3 tab-ba šu ur3-ra ASJ 19, 213 37 4; a2 dumu-gi7 šeštab-ba bala-a gub-ba# CDLJ 2003/1, no. 1 o ii 26; gurx(ŠE.KIN)-a zar3 tab-ba a-ša3 a-u2-da-gu-laa-ša3 a-u2-da-tur u3 a-ša3 ensi2-ka CDLJ 2003/1, no. 1 o iii 5. unknown/Ur III/unclear 7(diš) šeš#[tab-ba] OMRO 66, 50 17 r i 13; 7(diš) šeš tab-ba OMRO 66, 50 17 r iii 8; 3(diš) šeš tab-baOMRO 66, 50 17 r i 7.
2. to repeat
3. companion, partner
Akk. eşēpu "to double"; tappû "to join in partnership with".
min [TWO] (959x: ED IIIb, Old Akkadian, Ur III, Early Old Babylonian, Old Babylonian) wr. min; min3; min6 "two; ditto" Akk. šina
[1] |
min |
|
[2] |
min3 (man) (niš) |
|
[3] |
min6 (tab) |
niš [TWENTY] wr. niš "twenty"
[1] |
niš |
1. twenty
TAB
dab2
min6
tab (dapa2 taba dab2 tap tapa dap2)
Also: ţab, ţap.
[Numbers]
two ; (issēn) ana šinīsu : in two ; šinā šunāia guggalīpi / šinā šunāia karrūni / šinā šunāia ṣēri- : two-humped ; šinip / šittān : two-thirds ; šunu ' īu : two-year old ; šunāia : each year , every year ; šaluššeni : two years ago ; ta ' ' umu : twofold ; ana šinīšu : de deux sortes ; šinā šalāš : a few , some ;
Comparison with other Semitic languages :
Proto-Semitic : *θnā
Arabic : iθnāni اِثْنان
Syriac : treyn ܬ݁ܪܶܝܢ
Hebrew : šnayim שְנָיִם
Ugaritic : θn
4(U)
limmu3
nimin (nimina)
Also: limu3, nin5, nina4, šanabaku2, šanabi2, 4(u).
[1] |
šanabi |
1. two-thirds
Akk. šinipu "two-thirds".
šanabaku2, šanabi2, 4(u) > triangle
ŠANABI
šanabi
Also: šanaba, šanapi, šudaminx?(ŠANABI), 2/3(diš).
tab Homophones
U.U
man (men5 mim3 min3 mina3mam mana)
min3
niš (neš nis)
puzur2 (buzur2)
tab4
Also: amna2, gešx(|U.U|), gišx(|U.U|), mešx(|U.U|), naš, nes, šamaš2, šar4, šarru2, šušana2, šušanaku, utu3, wan.
Number three does not exist in Sumerian. Actually its phonetic value is a reduced number one. A word out of thin air.
DIŠ [one] > aš [one] > EŠ [three]
aš [ONE] (191x: ED IIIb, Old Akkadian, Ur III, Old Babylonian) wr. aš "one" Akk. išten
AŠ.AŠ.AŠ
Also: eš6.
DIŠ.DIŠ.DIŠ
eš5 (eša5)
eš [THREE]
eš [THREE] (16x: ED IIIb, Old Akkadian, Ur III, Old Babylonian) wr. eš5; eš-a-bi; eš10; am3-mu-uš"three; triplets" Akk. takšû; šalāš
[1] |
eš5 |
|
[2] |
eš-a-bi |
|
[3] |
eš10 |
|
[4] |
am3-mu-uš (ES) |
~ LEX/Old Babylonian/Nippur [[eš]] = eš = EŠ = šu-ul-lu-šum OB Aa 168:1. ELA/Ur III/Girsu e2 dba-ba6 eš-a-bi TCTI 2, 03691 4. ELA/Ur III/Umma 3(diš) sila3 eša5 3(diš) sila3 zu2-lum Nik 2, 322 9;2(aš) gur ur-gešgigir eš5 Princeton 2, 379 6. unknown/ED IIIb/Lagash 1(aš@c) lagaš LA eš5-am6BiMes 03, 27 o ii 2. unknown/Ur III/Umma [...] eš5 [...] UTI 4, 2886 o i 1; u3 zubi eš5-am3 a balaUTI 4, 2926 6.
2. triplets
Akk. takšû "triplets"; šalāš "three".
šalāšat [EŠ5 :
] (adj. ; fem. šalāš)
[Numbers]
three
Comparison with other Semitic languages :
Proto-Semitic : *śalāθ
Arabic : θalāθat ثَلَاثَة
Syriac : tlātā ܬ݁ܠܳܬ݂
Hebrew : šlōšā שְלׂשָה
Ugaritic : θlθ
Ge'ez : šalāštū
šalāšā [UŠU3 :
]
[Numbers]
thirty
Cf. šalāšat
Akkadian:
[Numbers]
ten
[Numbers]
ten
Comparison with other Semitic languages :
Proto-Semitic : *ʿaśr
Arabic : ʿašarat عَشَرَة
Syriac : ʿisrā
Hebrew : ʿśārā עֲשָׂרָה
Ugaritic : ʿšr
Ge'ez : ʿaššartū
U
bur3
buru3
burudx(U)
ge14
giguru
puzur (buzur bur3 buru3)
šil3
šu4
šuš (šu4)
u (un2)
umun
Also: a6, barx(U), bu12, gešburx(U), gibiru, giburu, guru12, ha3, hu3, ušur5, utahx(U), utux(U), 1(u).
[1] |
šuš |
1. one sixth
Akk. šuššu "one-sixth".
[1] |
u9 |
|
[2] |
u |
~ ELA/ED IIIb/Girsu sag u9 VS 14, 170 r i 6; GAN2 gaba sag u9 VS 14, 170 r ii 8; GAN2 da tir sag u9 VS 14, 170 r iv 5. unknown/Old Babylonian/unknown [[u]] = U = e-še-ri-it MSL 09, 124-137 vi 399.unknown/ED IIIb/Girsu sag u9-ba-kam DP 528 o ii 1; 1(aš@c) gešu3 u9-u9-da RTC 029 r iii 1.
[1982] M. Civil, OA 21 6.
[1972] M. Powell, ZA 62 208-209.
EZEN×BAD
bad3 (bada3 bat3)
u9
ug5
uĝ5 (ug5 uga5 uk5)
un3
Also: anx(|EZEN×BAD|), ba8, dur8, durum, ubx(|EZEN×BAD|), uq5.
[1] |
geš2 |
|
[2] |
mu-uš |
Three = am3-mu-uš
saĝtak [TRIANGLE] (5x: Old Babylonian) wr. saĝ-KAK; saĝtak; santak3; saĝtak4; santak2 "triangle (math.); wedge" Akk. santakku
[1] |
saĝ-KAK (sag-KAK) |
|
[2] |
saĝtak (santak) (aš) |
|
[3] |
santak3 |
|
[4] |
saĝtak4 (santak4) (diš) |
|
[5] |
santak2 |
[1] |
ĝeš3 (geš3) |
|
[2] |
mu (ES) |
giš Homophones
U = [sixth, ten finger]
4(U)
limmu3
nimin (nimina)
Also: limu3, nin5, nina4, šanabaku2, šanabi2, 4(u).
5(U)
Also: 5(u).
6(U)
Also: 6(u).
7(U)
Also: 7(u).
8(U)
Also: 8(u).
9(U)
Also: 9(u).
[1] |
u2-di-li-ia |
[1] |
u9 |
|
[2] |
u |
Sumerian and Akkadian Numbers
Numbers are of course rarely spelled out, especially in economic or educational texts and the pronuniciation of certain numbers is still subject to debate. Some are not yet attested. The two main languages in Mesopotamia during the period of our concern were Sumerian and Akkadian. Both of these languages had dialects and regional variations, and also varied over time. Additionally, words for numbers conformed to various grammatical rules. The varying forms they could take, and so how they might be written in a particular text, are beyond the scope of this page. Here, we attempt only to give a basic guide.
Number |
Sumerian |
Akkadian |
1 |
diš, aš |
išten |
2 |
min |
šina |
3 |
eš |
šalaš |
4 |
limmu |
erbe |
5 |
ia |
hamiš |
6 |
aš |
šediš |
7 |
imin |
sebe |
8 |
ussu |
samane |
9 |
ilimmu |
tiše |
10 |
u |
ešer |
11 |
u-diš |
ištenšeret |
13 |
|
šalaššer |
17 |
|
sebešer |
20 |
niš |
ešra |
30 |
ušu |
šalaša |
40 |
nimin |
erba |
50 |
ninnu |
hamša |
60 |
giš, geš |
šuši |
100 |
|
me'at |
600 |
gešu |
nerum |
1000 |
lim |
limum |
3600 |
šar |
šarum |
Larger cuneiform numbers
For computation, the Mesopotamians used what is usually referred to as a 'sexagesimal' (i.e., base-60) system. Technically, this is a slightly inaccurate designation as they used only combinations of two symbols bundled together for writing numbers up to 60. For writing numbers greater than 60, they just repeated the symbols in different columns, just as we do, except that where for us a '1' in the 'tens' column means 10, for the Babylonians a
in the 'sixties' column meant 60. Each column increased the value of the number by a factor of 60, and the Babylonians wrote their numbers with the largest values to the left, just as we do. Here are some examples of cuneiform numbers, their transliterations and values in our notation.
Cuneiform |
Transliteration |
Decimal value |
|
1,15 |
75 |
|
1,40 |
100 |
|
16,43 |
1003 |
|
44,26,40 |
160000 |
|
1,24,51,10 |
305470 |
There are a few differences between the way we write our numbers and the way the Babylonians did. First, they had no special way to mark an empty column. We would write a zero to mark the place, they would often leave a space, but not always. For example, it is not always clear if
should mean '2' or '61', or even '3601'. In practice, empty columns don't arise that often in a base-60 system and so this was not such a problem as you may think. Later on, in the Neo-Babylonian and Seleucid times, when astronomers needed to do lots of many-place sexagesimal computations, they did introduce an empty-column marker.
One of the great advantages of a place-value system is that you can use the same symbols to make ever larger numbers. There is no limit to how large a number you can write down. Another advantage is that you can continue writing numbers in places to the right of the units column in order to denote fractions. All that distinguishes the number 1234 from the number 1.234 is the use of a decimal point (or comma in Europe) to mark where the units come. Computations with fractions are just the same as computations with whole numbers. The Babylonians used the same idea, except that they did not bother with a decimal point - that absolute size of a number was 'determined by inspection.' For example, the number
could mean 160000, as noted above, but it could also be 1/81, the reciprocal of 81, which is why it was widely used. In the early days of deciphering Mesopotamian mathematics, people were puzzled as to why they would go to the trouble of writing a 160000-times multiplication table. The last sexagesimal number given in the table above,
, also has a more useful meaning than 305470. I leave it to you to figure out what it is, but the answer is on another page in this site.
Cuneiform numbers
Cuneiform numbers were written using a combination of just two signs: a vertical wedge for '1' and a corner wedge for '10'. Handwriting varied as much in Old Babylonian times as it does now but the basic system of numbers is illustrated below.
|
1 |
|
2 |
|
3 |
|
4 |
|
5 |
|
6 |
|
7 |
|
8 |
|
9 |
|
10 |
|
11 |
|
12 |
|
13 |
|
14 |
|
15 |
|
16 |
|
17 |
|
18 |
|
19 |
|
20 |
|
30 |
|
40 |
|
50 |
|
60 |
Some common variants are
|
for 4 |
|
for 7 |
|
for 8. |
Occasionally, 19 was written as something like
, meaning 20 - 1, although there are a huge number of minor variations in the way this sign is written.
Additionally, there were special signs for some common fractions. These were used when the numbers stood for metrological quantities, such as 1/2 gin.
|
1/2 |
|
1/3 |
|
2/3 |
|
5/6 |