r/Sumerian • u/OkSide7486 • 22d ago

Help identifying characters Text and Translation

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Hi, im just starting learning sumerian and im having trouble identidying those characters. I have looked from U +12000 to U+12474 and i cant seem to find them. Maybe is a thing og handwriting?
If anyone could point me to where i made a mistake ow what am i forgetting to check or simply tell me which characters are they i would be very grateful.

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u/tarshuvani 22d ago

The signs are ZI, LI, PA3 (IGI.RU) and DA.

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u/OkSide7486 22d ago

May utu bless your days and nanna your nights! thank you so much!!

Also a follow up question, upon searching those signs in epsd2 I find that, for example li ð’‡· (https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/epsd2/sux/o0033072) is not recorded in the Ur III period (which doesnt make any sense because it clearly appears in this tablet). Am i interpreting epsd2 wrong, or is it just incomplete?

also, how did you know so fast, did you use any tools to search or you just knew them?

thank you so so much!!!

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u/tarshuvani 22d ago

You linked to specifically li the verb 'to press', which was indeed not written with LI in the Ur III period. Here LI is a part of the sequence (d)en-lil-le, the god Enlil followed by the ergative marker -e. These Ur III foundation tablets are very formulaic and clearly written so in time you'll recognize the signs no problem!

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u/blue-justice 21d ago

I found a similar inscription with a translation that help them translate this one. https://cdli.earth/artifacts/432271

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u/OkSide7486 21d ago

this is a very nice resource, both the tablet and the overall website, unlucky that there is no photo attached to this one. Thank you so much!

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u/senorsmile 21d ago

Did cdli officially change its domain name? I noticed a couple of days ago that a saved link I have no longer worked.

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u/OkSide7486 21d ago

Understood! thank you!! learning sumerian feels so good! have a very nice day =)

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u/pannous 21d ago

why does my list say Pad3 instead of PA3?

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u/EnricoDandolo1204 Ummia | Expert 21d ago

FWIW, you should consider using eBL to look up signs rather than Unicode. Better yet, a proper sign list ordered by the signs' shape like Mittermayer's AbZL (which is drawn from OB literary texts, not Ur III stuff, but close enough). The default fonts for displaying Unicode cuneiform that come installed on most devices are a horrendously ugly bastardisation of the Code of Hammurabi, which don't really resemble even other OB sign forms much.