šamšum

Akkadian

𒌓 (šamšum)

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *śamš- (“sun”). Cognate with Arabic شَمْس (šams) and Biblical Hebrew שֶׁמֶשׁ (šɛ́mɛš).

Pronunciation

• (Old Babylonian) IPA^(key): /ˈʃam.ʃum/

Noun

šamšum m (construct state šamaš, plural šamšānu) (from Old Assyrian/Old Babylonian on)

1. sun

   𒍢𒄿𒀉 𒀭𒌓𒅆𒅎 [ṣīt šamšim] ― ṣi-i-it ^dUTU-ši-im ― sunrise, east

   𒂊𒊑𒅁 𒀭𒌓𒅎 [ereb šamšim] ― e-re-eb ^dUTU-im ― sunset, west

   𒄿𒈾 𒌓𒈪𒅎 𒋗𒀀𒋾 𒄿𒈾𒉌 𒌓 𒌑𒌌 𒄿𒌅𒆷

   [ina ūmim šuāti īnāni šamšam ul iṭṭulā]

   i-na UD-mi-im šu-a-ti i-na-ni UD u₃-ul i-ṭu-la

   On that day our eyes did not see the sun.

2. sunlight
3. day
4. sun disk

Alternative forms

• šamšu (non-mimated)
• śamśum (Old Akkadian)
• šanšu, šaššu

Cuneiform spellings

Logograms	Phonetic
𒌓 (UTU, UD) 𒀭𒌓 (dUTU, dUD) 𒎙 (MAN, 20) (astronomy) 𒀸𒈨 (AŠ.ME) (astronomy)	𒊭𒄠𒋗𒌝 (ša-am-šu-um) 𒊭𒄠𒋗 (ša-am-šu) 𒌑𒋳 (šam-šum) 𒌑𒋗 (šam-šu) 𒊓𒄠𒋢𒌝 (śa-am-śu-um) (Old Akkadian)

Derived terms

• Šamaš

 

References

• “šamšu”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD)‎^[1], Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1956–2011
• Black, Jeremy, George, Andrew, Postgate, Nicholas (2000) “šamšu(m)”, in A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag