Sumerian Addenda · Signs
eye
| Name | IGI |
|---|---|
| Reads | [igi] |
| Means | eye; face; before — igi PN, "witnessed by" |
| Taught in | 06 · Names that are sentences |
Where it comes from
Another honest picture: an eye, turned on its side by the script’s rotation. Igi is eye and face — and by extension “before, in front of”: a witness is named igi PN, “before So-and-so’s eye.” Court records run on this sign.
How to remember it
An eye with its lid and pupil, lying on its side the way all the old pictures ended up. What the eye has seen, the document can prove — “before the eye of” is how the archives say witnessed.
In the wild
urn:nabu:cdli:p010607:reverse:3:8 ·
license: attribution. Name translations are approximate by
nature.
Piece by piece:
- igi — eye: this sign, watching
- kalam — the Land
A person named as the country’s watching eye — the same eye that witnesses documents. The witness formula is taught in 102’s chapter 06.