Sumerian Addenda · Signs
dedicate
| Name | RU |
|---|---|
| Reads | [ru] |
| Means | to dedicate — a mu-na-ru, the votive's closing verb |
| Taught in | 12 · Build it for me |
Where it comes from
The closing verb of the votive genre: a mu-na-ru, “dedicated this to him” — the last words of a thousand gifts to the gods, carved on bowls, statues, and door-sockets. Where the gift ends, this sign stands.
How to remember it
To dedicate is to let go: the sign leans forward like hands releasing an offering onto the altar. When you read …ru at the end of an inscription, the object you are holding was itself the gift.
In the wild
urn:nabu:cdli:p216758 · license:
attribution.
Piece by piece:
- a — the object slot, compressed to a vowel
- mu-na- — did, for him
- ru — dedicate: the genre’s final act
Four signs that end a thousand inscriptions. The formula is completed in 102’s chapter 12.