Ir (cuneiform)

The cuneiform ir (more common usage), or er sign is a sign used in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Amarna letters.

The sign is similar to the sa (cuneiform) sign, but sa's upper horizontal stroke is shorter than the lower anchored horizontal stroke.

In the Amarna letters, it can also be confused with specific usages of ú-(the alphabetic u (by usage), Ú-1st prime–Ù-2nd prime is a complex, two-part large cuneiform sign, ="and", "but", or other conjunction meanings), as in Amarna letter EA 362, (Biridiya to Pharaoh).

The twelve tablet (I-XII) Epic of Gilgamesh uses the er, and ir signs, 22 and 72 times.

For example, on the reverse of EA 365, subject of corvee labor, "harvesting"-(line 20), lines 15 and following translate as follows:[2] The verb "cultivating" (harvesting) is from "erēšu",[3] which is from "harāšu", Ugaritic ḥrț.

Cuneiform ir , or er sign
Cuneiform sa sign
Amarna letter 365 (reverse, top half), Biridiya to Pharaoh, (subject corvee labor, and townsites: Shunama, Yapu, and Nuribta ).
The "alphabetic" er sign is used in the 6th line (Line 20), second character from left.
(text reads left-to-right, with a common signature of the right side of some characters ending in vertical single, or multiple strokes). (high resolution, expandible photo)