As (cuneiform)

(digitized)-Cuneiform sign for as, aṣ, az
Amarna letter EA 365, "Furnishing Corvée Workers", Biridiya to Pharaoh, reverse (lines 15–30, (31)).
5th line from bottom, (line 23), "LÚ-MEŠ–ma-as-sà-meš (and)". Line 25, 3rd from bottom, repeats the long name. (high resolution, expandible photo)

The cuneiform as sign, also aṣ, and az, is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. As as and az in the Amarna letters it appears identical in form in both Amarna letters EA 365, and EA 362. In the photo of the bottom half of Amarna letter EA 365 (subject corvée farm work), it is used to name the workers as: LÚ-MEŠ-(plural)–ma-as-sà-meš-(plural), (amēlu-massu)[1][2]

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, (Tablets I-XII) it is used as follows: as, 26 times, aṣ, 25, and az, 21.[3]

  1. ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Glossary, pp. 119-145, amēlu, p. 120.
  2. ^ Rainey, 1970. El Amarna Tablets, 359-379, Glossary:Vocabulary, pp. 55-87, massu, p. 71.
  3. ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Sign List, pp. 155-165, sign no. 131, p. 158.