Pa (cuneiform) in the context of Amarna letter EA 364

⭐ Core Definition: Pa (cuneiform)

The cuneiform pa sign, (as Sumerogram, PA), has many uses in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is routinely and commonly used to spell the Akkadian language word "pānu", face, presence, and with a preposition (ex. a na pānu), before. In the photo of the obverse of EA 364, it is used to spell Akkadian "eperu", 'dust', (EA 364, lines 7,8: "...and (ù dust (IŠ (Sumerogram)=dust)) and (u)\ dust "-(a-pa-ru). (The two "and"-s are u-(no. 3), then u-(no. 1)-(u (cuneiform))(the bottom half).)

The alphabetic/syllabic uses and Sumerograms of the 'pa' sign from the Epic of Gilgamesh:

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Pa (cuneiform) in the context of Ensi (Sumerian)

Ensi (cuneiform: 𒑐𒋼𒋛 pa.te.si Sumerian: ensik, "lord of the plowland"; Emesal dialect: umunsik; Akkadian: iššakkum) was a Sumerian title designating the ruler or prince of a city-state. Originally it may have designated an independent ruler, but in later periods the title presupposed subordinance to a lugal.

For the Early Dynastic Period (about 2800–2350 BC), the meaning of the titles en, ensi and lugal cannot be differentiated clearly: see lugal, ensi and en for details. Ensi may have originally been a designation of the ruler restricted to Lagash and Umma. The ensi was considered a representative of the city-state's patron deity. In later periods, an ensi was normally seen as subordinate to a lugal. Nevertheless, even the powerful rulers of the Second Dynasty of Lagash (c. 2100 BC) such as Gudea were satisfied with the title ensi.

View the full Wikipedia page for Ensi (Sumerian)

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