Sumerian Addenda · Signs
tally
| Name | DIŠ |
|---|---|
| Reads | [diš] |
| Means | one (counting); item marker |
| Taught in | 05 · Counting like a Sumerian |
Where it comes from
The atomic vertical wedge — like AŠ it depicts nothing, because a counting stroke needs no picture. This is the wedge of discrete things: one sheep, one worker, one jar, repeated up to nine times in tidy rows. Later scribes also set it silently before personal names, a little flag saying a person follows.
How to remember it
A tally mark, standing upright like the person it counts. Every culture that ever counted on a doorpost or a prison wall drew exactly this stroke; the scribes simply pressed theirs into clay. One stands, one is counted.
In the wild
urn:nabu:cdli:p010519:obverse:1:4 ·
license: attribution.
Five tallies and the grain they count — in this scribe’s tight hand the five verticals press into one cluster 𒐊, exactly as the counting chapter shows. The system is taught in 101’s chapter 05.