Sumerian Addenda · Signs
storm
| Name | IM |
|---|---|
| Reads | [im] |
| Means | clay; rain, storm |
| Taught in | 01 · Clay and reed |
Where it comes from
Debated, but commonly taken as a rain-cloud or storm sign. The meanings hang together the way weather does: im is rain and storm — and it is also clay, because clay is what rain and river make of the land. The scribes’ own word for their writing medium is this sign: a tablet is a piece of weathered sky.
How to remember it
A storm front: one long wedge of cloud with the slanting strokes of rain driving off it. What the storm leaves behind is mud — and mud, in Sumer, is what you write on.
In the wild
urn:nabu:etcsl:6.1.07:C.7.73.8 · license: ETCSL ·
non-commercial.
Piece by piece:
- ur — the dog
- i-im-di — wanders about: the verb chain warmed up by i-im-, with this sign as the second step
A loose dog in a proverb, and the storm-sign serving as a plain syllable inside its verb. The proverb row is read in 102’s chapter 14; clay itself opens 101’s chapter 01.