Sumerian Addenda · Signs

oil

Name	NI
Reads	[ni], i₃
Means	[ni]; oil, butter as i₃
Taught in	11 · Decipherment

Where it comes from

Commonly connected with an oil jar — a fat-bellied vessel, the account books’ favorite commodity after grain. As i₃ it IS oil, butter, fat; as ni it is a plain syllable; and at the head of a verb chain i₃- is a neutral little starter that just says the verb begins here.

How to remember it

An oil jar tips forward, ready to pour. Oil slicks into everything — food, lamps, offerings, and half the verb chains you will read, where the jar quietly primes the verb.

In the wild

𒃻 𒀝 𒍪 𒀀 𒁀 𒉌 𒍪 𒍪niŋ₂ ak-zu a-ba i₃-zu-zu"the things you do — who can know them?"

Gudea's temple hymn. urn:nabu:etcsl:2.1.7:28 · license: ETCSL · non-commercial.

Piece by piece:

niŋ₂ ak-zu — the things you do: thing, do, your
a-ba — who?
i₃-zu-zu — can know them: this sign starting the chain, zu doubled for “ever really know”

Awe before a god, and the oil jar starts the final verb. The line is read in 102’s chapter 09.