Giš



The cuneiform giš sign, (also common for is, iṣ, and iz), is a common, multi-use sign, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. It also has a major usage as a sumerogram, GIŠ, (capital letter (majuscule)) for English language "wood", and is used as a determinative at the beginning of words, for items made of wood. The 12 Chapters (Tablets) of the Epic of Gilgamesh lists 16 named items beginning with "GIŠ".

For giš/(is/iz/iṣ) in the construction of words it is used syllabically for giš, and syllabically for the three other constructs; also for eṣ/ez. Besides "giš", it can alphabetically be used for: e, i, s, ṣ, or z.

Epic of Gilgamesh sign usage
The usage numbers for giš in the Epic of Gilgamesh are as follows: eṣ-(2) times, ez, (3), giš, (1), is, (46), iṣ, (77), iz, (17), and GIŠ (355) times.

Epic words with determinative GIŠ
The following list of Akkadian language words are from the sumerograms used in the Epic of Gilgamesh.


 * --GIŠ.APIN, epinnu ("plow")
 * --GIŠ.BAN, qaštu (?)
 * --GIŠ.BANŠUR, paššūru ("table")
 * --GIŠ.ERIN, erēnu ("cedar")
 * --GIŠ.GAG, sikkatu ("flask (of perfume)")
 * --GIŠ.GIGIR, mugirru (?)
 * --GIŠ.GU.ZA, kussû ("throne", "seat")
 * --GIŠ.IG, daltu ("door")


 * --GIŠ.MÁ, eleppu ("boat, ship")
 * --GIŠ.NIM, baltu ("thornbush")
 * --GIŠ.SAR, kirû ("garden", "orchard")
 * --GIŠ.ŠEM.GIR, asu ("myrtle")
 * --GIŠ.ŠUR.MÌN, šurmenu ("cypress")
 * --GIŠ.TIR, qištu ("forest")
 * --GIŠ.TUKUL, kakku ("weapon")
 * --GIŠ.Ú.GIR, ašagu ("thistle", "thorn bush")

<!--The ša sign is identical to the ka signexcept the two-horizontal strokes,

Cuneiform "ka" is nearly identical to a similar 'mid-size' to larger cuneiform sign, ša (cuneiform); because both ka, and ša have two separate specific uses, once these usage sites are identified on a specific Amarna letter, for example, the difference between the two can be followed.

Cuneiform ka has a secondary use as the pronoun suffix, -yours. For Ayyab's letter, EA 364 (pictured), after addressing the Pharaoh, part of the Introduction, is to state "...Servant-yours, ...." Specifically, Ayyab is from one of the vassal states/city-states/towns in Canaan, thus the relationship to the Pharaoh in the Amarna letters often state a relationship of being the Pharaoh's servant. This is dramatically juxtaposed against the Amarna letters from Tushratta of Mitanni, (letters EA 19, EA 23, EA 26, EA 28, EA 30-(only a passport-type, short letter), etc.), or from Babylon, or the King of Alashiya. The letter's from those kings have long lists, as part of the Introduction stating: May you (King, pharaoh) ''have peace (health), ... for, wives-yours, for sons-yours, for magnates-yours-("sa-meš"), etc.''

For cuneiform ša, its specific sub-usage (besides as a syllabic, or alphabetic), is as a segue form of a conjunction typically at the beginning of a statement, ==Ka, and Ša, the stroke differences== The difference in the construction of the signs ka and ša are as follows: "ka" when scribed in the Amarna letters often shows the distinctiveness of the right section of the sign, versus the left section. For ša, the right section is constructed with two wedge strokes (one scribed above the other), between the two verticals, at right. For ka, the right side mostly, in the Amarna letters has two verticals, with two horizontals  that cross both of them; (the right side is like a two-step ladder shape&mdash;(for Hittite ka:&mdash;)).translated as: "which...", "what...", etc., with the rest of text to follow.

Usage numbers
The usage numbers for ka in the Epic of Gilgamesh are as follows: ka-(372), and sumerograms: DUG4-(18), KA-(9), ZÚ-(4).

Multiple "ka" listing usage, the Brother-King letters


In contrast to the vassal Amarna letters from the Canaanite city-states, or equivalent, which use the subservient prostration formula in its many variations, the letters from the brother-kings, namely the King of Babylon, Burna-Buriash, Tushratta, the King of Mitanni, and the "King of Alashiya", (Assyria had only EA 15, and EA 16, with very short introductions), sometimes had very long lists of "good wishes for 'possessions' of the Pharaoh". Each item, (often), when addressing the Pharaoh ended with the suffix -yours (ka). The list often ended with ...for chariots-yours, for army-yours, for land-yours, and for everything-yours...." An example of the usage can be seen in EA 19, with a focus on the beginning of the last line (no. 8) of Paragraph I, (high res, extremely high res ). The beginning of line 8, Para I is as follows:


 * a-na KUR-ka ..(space) ("for LAND-yours..(segue)..")

and continues:


 * ù a-na mim-mu-ka ''...(segue)...." ("and for Everything-yours..(space)....")

The cuneiform characters being:

--, __-- (...for Land-yours ..)

and continues:

--((~)And)(--)--, __(--)-- (..."And"--for "EveryThing"-yours ....!) -->