The cuneiformMEŠ, or meš is a plural form attached at the end of Mesopotamian cuneiform words as a suffix. As part of a name, or major class being referenced, in capital letters, it is typically separated from other capital letter Sumerograms with a period. The name of the group can follow, in lower case letters, for example:, LÚ.MEŠ-ma-as-sà-meš,. The MEŠ cuneiform is a vertical stroke, followed by three or four angled smaller wedge-strokes. The strokes can also be "not angled", but 45 degree wedges, smaller, or large. For example, Amarna letter EA 161, Aziru to Pharaoh, shows a series of six preparation items listed sequentially. The following wedges.jpg|100x24px, found in personal names, and the plural.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the meš sign is used as follows: as meš, 8 times, as MEŠ, 253 times. In the Amarna letters, the meš sign is often referencing people, or types of people, but another common usage is KUR.MEŠ, since "land", or regions are often being discussed by the 'governors' of the city-states.
Meš, as cuneiform "Me", + cuneiform "Eš"
The meš sign can be considered to be 1.--me.., 2.--with 3 vertical wedges.,. A specific deviation from the standard can be seen in EA 153, where five uses of meš, are based on only 1-wedge, ; it looks approximately as follows for one wedge, They are used for armymeš, as ERIM.MEŠ, also "men", LÚ.MEŠ, feet, and ships.
Meš, 2-basic styles
Two basic types of mešsigns are either expressed as wedges laid horizontally, following the vertical stroke, or wedges expressed at an angle, at any level of angle, upward, but all of consistent size. As wedges inscribed on a horizontal baseline, the wedges are usually centered, following the large vertical stroke; the horizontal baseline is not always exactly at the midpoint of the vertical stroke. The following wedges are either full-size, ; the wedges are also sometimes any percentage less than a full 3/4-wedge, or 1/2-wedge. Angled wedges are often much smaller expressed wedges, from 1/2 to 1/3? size. For space considerations, the angled wedges can be extremely high-angled, towards vertical, thus saving "horizontal text space"; alternatively, the wedges could be spaced out, allowing for the consumption of more 'line-text-space'. One example Amarna letter is a combination of the two horizontal, and angled wedge expressions. EA 153 has the "meš" sign built upon the vertical stroke, then 1-horizontal, and 2-angled strokes, laid across it at approximately 45 degrees.
