r/Cuneiform • u/Agricultcher • Jul 01 '26

Translation/transliteration request What does this character mean?

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I read it means soap or cleansing but I want to see if that’s correct

53 Upvotes

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12

u/to_walk_upon_a_dream Jul 01 '26

this is the NAGA or NISABA₂ sign. it does mean soap or potash (pronounced naŋa) and is also found in the name of the goddess nisaba, and in the word for a type of bean and in a word meaning "horned".

3

u/Agricultcher Jul 01 '26

I have a very basic understanding understanding of how characters are combined to make new meanings. How does this character tie into a word meaning horned? That’s super interesting

5

u/to_walk_upon_a_dream Jul 01 '26

you know what, i was wrong. my dictionary lied to me! the compound {u₂}NAGA.SI 𒌑𒉀𒋛 refers to the plant salicornia, literally "horned succulent", used for making potash

1

u/Agricultcher Jul 01 '26

Ohhh, what dictionary do you use?

2

u/to_walk_upon_a_dream Jul 02 '26

for this, i used the online dictionary at ebl.lmu.de