U (cuneiform)


The cuneiform U sign is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. It can be used for the alphabetic u, instead of the more common 2nd u,. It has two other uses, commonly. It can be used for the number 10, but its probable greater use is for the conjunction, u, with any of the conjunction meanings: and, but, else, etc.
Of the three u's, by graphemic analysis, the commonness is as follows:
Both Ù and ú are in the top 25 most used signs, but E and "u " are not; other vowels in the 25 are: a, i, and ia,. Suffix "iYa" is used in the Middle East\Southwest Asia at present day to end placenames, or other names: "My Xxxxx".

Amarna letters uses

The use of u for numeral 10 has been explained above. It is used in the letters from Tushratta, speaking of the ancestral relations with former father kings: ...my father loved your father 10 times more, and I have 10 times more love now. May our relations... be forever "inter-related".
Amarna letter EA 252, Labaya to Pharaoh, titled: Sparing One's Enemies, explains his actions in defending 'his position', after cities have been overtaken. He states in idiomatic iconography: "....my parts are eaten!..And..I am slandered!. He continues in parable form: ".....if an ant is attacked, should it just sit, or bite hand back!?".... He continues to then discuss the men who have taken a city,, and defends his past, and future actions.

Partial list of signs beginning with wedge (u)

Partial list of signs beginning with u, from the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Amarna letters:
Also: