Sumerian Addenda · Signs
dog
| Name | UR |
|---|---|
| Reads | [ur] |
| Means | dog; in names, "hound of" a god or king |
| Taught in | 00 · Orientation: the long march |
Where it comes from
The stated identity is the dog — the working animal of the streets and the proverbs. In names it turns respectful: ur- plus a god or a king means roughly “servant (hound) of” — Ur-Nanše, Ur-Namma, half the rosters of Ur III — the loyal dog of someone worth following.
How to remember it
A dog at heel: compact, alert, five quick wedges. In a proverb it wanders and steals; at the front of a name it sits obediently before its master — same dog, two moods.
In the wild
urn:nabu:etcsl:6.1.07:C.7.73.8 · license: ETCSL ·
non-commercial.
Piece by piece:
- ur — the dog
- i-im-di — wanders about, the verb chain doing the strolling
A loose dog with no master’s name to sit in front of. The proverb row is read in 102’s chapter 14.