Sumerian Addenda · Signs
exalted
| Name | MAH |
|---|---|
| Reads | [mah] |
| Means | great, exalted |
| Taught in | 07 · I am king |
Where it comes from
The majesty word: mah is “great, exalted” — not the everyday big of GAL but the ceremonial rank above it. Combine it with the abstraction-maker and you get nam-mah, “majesty, greatness” — a word the hymns cannot do without.
How to remember it
Exalted stands on a platform: where gal just measures, mah bows. Keep the pair straight by register — a big jar is gal; a great god is mah.
In the wild
urn:nabu:cdli:p010059:reverse:3:10 ·
license: attribution.
Piece by piece:
- nam- — the abstraction-maker
- mah — exalted: greatness, bottled
Majesty as a single word on an Early Dynastic tablet. The compound is read in 102’s chapter 07.