Sumerian Addenda · Signs
name
| Name | MU |
|---|---|
| Reads | [mu] |
| Means | name; year |
| Taught in | 06 · Reading real cuneiform: seals and bricks |
Where it comes from
Origin debated — an old suggestion sees a plant, but nothing worth teaching as fact. What is certain is the double meaning: mu is both “name” and “year,” because Mesopotamian years WERE names — each year named after a royal deed, and thousands of documents dated by opening with this sign.
How to remember it
Your name, written down, is what survives of you — and in Sumer, each year’s name was the one deed that survived of it. One sign for both: what a thing is called is what it was.
In the wild
urn:nabu:cdli:p010063:obverse:7:11 ·
license: attribution. Name translations are approximate by
nature.
Piece by piece:
- lu2 — man
- diŋir — of the god
- -mu — my: the name-sign lending its sound to the possessive
The very name whose -mu is unpacked in 101’s chapter 07 — “name” and “my,” one sound apart; the year-name formula this sign opens is taught in chapter 06.