Sumerian Addenda · Signs

𒌓UD · [ud], utu · day; sun

day

Where it comes from

Commonly explained as the sun rising between hills, though the late form keeps only a hint of it. It writes ud, “day” — and by the same picture, utu, the sun and the sun-god Utu. Day, sun, and the god of both: one sunrise does all three.

How to remember it

Day breaks where the sun clears the ridge — a big wedge of light pushing over the horizon line. When the texts want “on that day,” “in those days,” “daylight,” this is the sign that rises.

In the wild

Piece by piece:

• ud — day
• re — that (distant) one
• -a — the locativethe grammatical case meaning "in, on, at" — Sumerian marks it with -a “in”

“In that distant day” is how Sumerian literature says once upon a time — whole poems were filed by this opening. It anchors 102’s chapter 10.