Zi (cuneiform)
.jpg)
_of_Egypt,_matching_fragment_in_British_Museum_-_Oriental_Institute_Museum,_University_of_Chicago_-_DSC07018.JPG)
(high-resolution expandable photo)
(Last flat-surface 5-lines on fragment (Para IV), lines 30–34.
(An Amarna letter that uses zi.)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zi (cuneiform).
The cuneiform zi sign is a common multi-use sign of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the 1350 BC Amarna letters, and other cuneiform texts. It also has a sumerogrammic usage for ZI in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The structure of the cuneiform sign is like its twin, Gi (cuneiform), 
.
The "zi" sign has the syllabic usage for ze and zi, and a Sumerogram usage for ZI. Alphabetically "zi" can be used for z ("z" can be interchanged with any "s"); and "zi"/"ze" can be used for i, or e. In Akkadian, all 4 vowels, a, e, i, u are interchangeable with each other.
Epic of Gilgamesh usage
The zi sign usage in the Epic of Gilgamesh is as follows: ze-(6 times); gi-(46), ZI-(32 times).
References
- ↑ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Sign List, pp. 155-165, no. 084, p. 156, "zi".
- Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. 393 pages.(softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0)
- Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Parpola, Simo, Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, c 1997, Tablet I through Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages.