Sumerian Addenda · Signs
pure
| Name | KU3 |
|---|---|
| Reads | [ku] (fuller form kug) |
| Means | pure, holy; precious metal |
| Taught in | 07 · I am king |
Where it comes from
Ku3 is “pure, holy, shining” — and silver is “pure metal” in Sumerian long before it is money, so the same sign prices goods and blesses temples. Royal praise leans on it constantly: pure house, pure hand, pure rites. The fuller spoken shape is kug, its final consonant surfacing before vowels.
How to remember it
Pure is what gleams: five clean wedges, nothing extra — the sign itself kept spotless. Temple or silver ingot, if it glitters without tarnish, the scribes reached for this sign.
In the wild
urn:nabu:cdli:p010644:obverse:3:2 ·
license: attribution.
House plus pure: what makes a temple more than a building is this one adjective. The phrase is read in 102’s chapter 07.