šamšum

Akkadian

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *śamš- (sun). Cognate with Arabic شَمْس (šams) and Biblical Hebrew שֶׁמֶשׁ (šɛ́mɛš).

Pronunciation

Noun

šamšum m (construct state šamaš, plural šamšānu) (from Old Assyrian/Old Babylonian on)

  1. sun
    𒍢𒄿𒀉 𒀭𒌓𒅆𒅎 [ṣīt šamšim]ṣi-i-it dUTU-ši-imsunrise, east
    𒂊𒊑𒅁 𒀭𒌓𒅎 [ereb šamšim]e-re-eb dUTU-imsunset, west
    𒄿𒈾 𒌓𒈪𒅎 𒋗𒀀𒋾 𒄿𒈾𒉌 𒌓 𒌑𒌌 𒄿𒌅𒆷
    [ina ūmim šuāti īnāni šamšam ul iṭṭulā]
    i-na UD-mi-im šu-a-ti i-na-ni UD u₃-ul i-ṭu-la
    On that day our eyes did not see the sun.
  2. sunlight
  3. day
  4. sun disk

Alternative forms

Cuneiform spellings
Logograms Phonetic
  • 𒌓 (UTU, UD)
  • 𒀭𒌓 (dUTU, dUD)
  • (astronomy) 𒎙 (MAN, 20)
  • (astronomy) 𒀸𒈨 (AŠ.ME)
  • 𒊭𒄠𒋗𒌝 (ša-am-šu-um)
  • 𒊭𒄠𒋗 (ša-am-šu)
  • 𒌑𒋳 (šam-šum)
  • 𒌑𒋗 (šam-šu)
  • (Old Akkadian) 𒊓𒄠𒋢𒌝 (śa-am-śu-um)

Derived terms

References