Ia (cuneiform)

Cuneiform sign for ia.
(reading left-to-right)
line 1, 2nd sign ia, line 2, 1st sign, LUGAL,
line 3, 1st sign "and"-(Ù), 3rd sign, a.
(high resolution, expandible photo)
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The cuneiform ia sign 𒅀, is a combined sign, containing i (cuneiform) ligatured with a (cuneiform); it has the common meaning in the suffix form -ia, for the meaning of "-mine". In the Amarna letters, the letters written to the Pharaoh of Egypt (Mizri/Misri in the letters), the Pharaoh is often referenced as "Lord-mine", or especially: King-Lord-mine: "My King, My Lord". In Akkadian, the form is "Šarru-Bēlu-ia"-(King-Lord-mine), since the spelling in some Amarna letters is sometimes ŠÁR-RI for Šarru, (LUGAL = ŠÁR).

Ia is also used in the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is listed in Parpola's Glossary (Parpola, 1971), for Akkadian language words: meaning "mine", "(to) me", and "me", and one usage for the word "battering ram", iašubů.[1]

  1. ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Glossary, pp. 119-145, ia words, p. 127, iašubů, p. 127.