§1. a-lu or a udu?

§1.1. We begin this short article^[1] by citing a small text, P212074 Koslova, Hermitage 3, 261 (AS 5 PD IV 6) which states:

2(diš) udu A.LU hur-saĝ, u₄ 6(diš)-kam ki ab-ba-sa₆-ga-ta lu₂-dingir-ra i₃-dab₅, iti ki-siki ^dnin-a-zu, mu en-unu₆-gal-^dinanna-unu^ki ba-huĝ, 2(diš)

“Two sheep A.LU hur-saĝ were, on the sixth day from Abbasaga, received by Ludiĝira, in the month of the wool workshop of the deity Ninazu, in the year when Enunugal-Inanna was installed as (the high-priest of) the goddess Inanna in Uruk. (The total of sheep was) two.”

§1.2. This administrative text from Puzriš-Dagan, the distribution center of animals and other various goods in the neo-Sumerian period (the 21st century BCE), records the transfer of two sheep from one Abbasaga to an individual named Ludiĝira.

§1.3. The sheep (udu) are modified with A.LU and hur-saĝ “mountain”. At least in the neo-Sumerian period, the sign LU is entirely identical to UDU “sheep” in its form. Accordingly, A.LU can be read as either a-lu or a udu according to the context in which it is used. This is why I transliterate the word as A.LU, leaving it untranslated.

§2. Readings and interpretations of the term A.LU in leading dictionaries

§2.1. How is the term A.LU read and interpreted in dictionaries?

§2.1.1. CAD A1 (fourth edition 1998):

p. 374a: alu A (elu) s.; “1. (a fine breed of sheep), 2. (a representation of such a sheep); MA, Akk. lw. in Sum. (in OAkk., Mari, Qatna, Bogh., EA) : 1. (a fine breed of sheep) – a) in Ur III, wr. (UDU.)A.LU and (UDU.)A.LUM: for U₈.A. LUM, see Schneider Or. 22 p. 10f., for UDU.A. LUM, ibid. p. 24, for SILA₄.A.LUM, ibid. p. 36, and see Çığ-Kızılyay-Salonen Puzriš-Dagan-Texte 345: 16ff. ...”

p. 375a: “It has been here assumed that the designation of a breed of sheep as (UDU) A.LUM and (UDU) A.LU in Sumerian texts or as Sumerogram in second millennium peripheral texts is derived from an Akkadian word *alu (see also Gelb, MAD 3 37), and that in the MA refs., due solely to a scribal misunderstanding, alu (once elu) was treated as an Akkadian word. ... The alu-sheep could well have been the maned sheep (see Hilzheimer, SAOC 20 p. 32f.) with its characteristic horns. In the texts from Mari and Bogh., as against Ur III tablets, the designation refers exclusively to the few choice males of a flock used for breeding purposes. ...”

§2.1.2. PSD 106b a-lu A (meaning unknown) in a-lu-hur-sag “mountain …” (said of sheep and goats); Ur III. a-lu has been separated from a-lum A (denoting a fine breed of sheep) on the basis of PDT 345 where both expressions, sila₄-a-lum, sila₄-a-lum-niga, and sila₄-a-lu-hur-sag, sila4-a-lu-hur-sag-niga, are attested indicating that a-lu is not identical with a-lum A.

§2.1.3. ePSD: alu [RAM] N (1x) Old Babylonian wr. a-lu ”ram” Akk. ālu.

§2.1.4. Mark E. Cohen, An Annotated Sumerian Dictionary (hereafter ASD), p. 71b: alu (s) Ia [udu] BASIC WRITTEN FORM: a-lu “(breed or characteristic of sheep)” ... Moreover, unlike a-lum, the lexical references with a-lu all refer to the animal being in the mountains.

§2.2. Thus, the interpretations of the term A.LU^[2] are primarily divided into two groups: (1) a-lu “breed or characteristic of sheep” or “ram,” on the one hand, and (2) “hybrid of the domestic sheep with the mouflon,” on the other.

§2.3. In case we follow a-lu, udu a-lu hur-saĝ may mean “mountain sheep (called as) the alu breed”; but we get no vivid idea of what characteristic this alu breed has, as a-lu, a noun or an adjective, lacks a concrete term such as a pine tree or house.

§2.4. When “a udu” is adopted, it is analyzed into a (“water”) and udu (“sheep”), its literal meaning being “water of sheep” and, to be specific, hybrids of sheep.^[3]

§3. Some similarly composed phrases “(goats)-a-dara_3/4” and “(cattle)-a-am”

§3.1. Aiming to judge which interpretations of a-lu or a udu is proper, we now turn our attention to other terms which are similarly composed: “(goats)-a-dara_3/4” and “(cattle)-a-am.” dara₃ and its variant dara₄ mean “wild goats, ibex”^[4] and am is “wild bull.”^[5] For one more term “(sheep) [udu] a-gukkal” see note 23 below.

§3.1.1. Most of the phrases cited below are modified with such words as: 3/4-kam us₂ (the third/fourth grade quality), amar (young animal), ga (suckling), gaba (semi-weaned animal^[6]), gu₄-e us₂-sa (literally “following the oxen”), ĝiš-du₃ (sexually matured), mu 3/2/1 (three/two/one year(s) old), niga (barley-fed), saga (fine quality), saga us₂ (second fine quality), šu-gid₂ (?).

§3.2. goats: maš₂-gal, maš₂, ud₅ and ^munusaš₂-gar₃

§3.2.1. maš₂-gal “full-grown male goat, billy goat”

maš₂-gal a dara₃ giš-du₃

• P106046 Keiser, BIN 3, 240, iii 10 (ŠS 4 PD IX)
• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, iii 30 (AS 8 PD)

maš₂-gal a dara₃ niga

• P117239 Sigrist, Owen and Young, MVN 13, 466, 4 (AS 8 PD IX)
• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, ii 28 (AS 8 PD)

maš₂-gal a dara₃ niga 3 kam us₂

• P106197 Keiser, BIN 3, 391, 1 (ŠS 8 PD III)
• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, ii 18 (AS 8 PD)

maš₂-gal a dara₃ niga 4 kam us₂

• P106197 Keiser, BIN 3, 391, 2 (ŠS 8 PD III)

maš₂-gal a dara₃ niga gu₄-e us₂-sa

• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, iii 3 (AS 8 PD)

maš₂-gal a dara₃ niga saga us₂

• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, ii 8 (AS 8 PD)

maš₂-gal a dara₄

• P103694 Sigrist, AUCT 1, 849, 3 (AS 4 PD I 4)
• P106111 Keiser, BIN 3, 305, 4 (Š 45 PD XII 21)

maš₂-gal a dara₄ niga

• P104176 Sigrist, AUCT 2, 358, 5 ([ ] PD VII 8)
• P106087 Keiser, BIN 3, 281, 2 (AS 6 PD II 17)

maš₂-gal a dara₄ niga saga us₂

• P129474 Jones and Snyder, SET 64, 9 (AS 7 PD II 21)

maš₂-gal niga a dara₄

• P303689 Sigrist and Ozaki, BPOA 7, 2894, 9 (Š 46 PD V 4)
• P362440 Ozaki, Owen and Notizia, Nisaba 33, 641, 1 (Š 44 PD VIII 14)

§3.2.2. maš₂ “he-goat”

maš₂ a dara₃

• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, rev. i 22’ (AS 8 PD)

maš₂ a dara₃ gaba

• P125942 Salonen, PDT 1, 526, I 20 (ŠS 8 PD I)

maš₂ a dara₃ niga

• P105156 Watson, BCT 1, 54, 1 (AS 9 PD diriXII)

maš₂ a dara₄

• P362518 Ozaki, Owen and Notizia, Nisaba 33, 695, 5 (Š 47 PD V 29)
• P407448 Liu, HSS 68, 485, 2 (AS 9 PD XII 22)

maš₂ a dara₄ ĝiš-du₃

• P125629 Salonen, PDT 1, 213, rev. 3 (AS 7 D X 1)

maš₂ a dara₄ niga

• P515272 Sigrist and Ozaki, CUSAS 40, 488, 2 (ŠS 5 PD III 15)

maš₂ ga a dara₃

• P126373 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1032, 2 (ŠS 3 PD XI 3)

maš₂ ga a dara₄

• P102817 Levy, Atiqot 4, pl. 24, 54, 4 (Š 46 PD II 23)
• P133961 Archi and Pomponio, TCND 343, 5 (AS 5 PD XII 19)
• P145799 Owen and Wasilewska, JCS 52, 34, 5, 4 (Š 46 PD [ ] 15)

§3.2.3. ud₅ “she-goat, nanny goat”

ud₅ a dara₄

• P103694 Sigrist, AUCT 1, 849, 4 (AS 4 PD I 4)
• P106111 Keiser, BIN 3, 305, 2 (Š 45 PD XII 21)

ud₅ a dara₄ ĝiš

• P122595 Sauren, NYPL 59, 2 (AS 1 PD VIII 5)

ud₅ niga a dara₄

• P129436 Jones and Snyder, SET 26, 3 (Š 47 PD XI 7)

§3.2.4. ^munusaš₂-gar₃, ešgar “young she-goat”

^munusaš₂-gar₃ a dara₃

• P142789 Grégoire, AAICAB I/1, pl. 54, 1923-419, 5 (ŠS 3 PD III 15)
• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, rev. i 26’ (AS 8 PD)

^munusaš₂-gar₃ a dara₄

• P103694 Sigrist, AUCT 1, 849, 5 (AS 4 PD I 4)
• P362518 Ozaki, Owen and Notizia, Nisaba 33, 695, 6 (Š 47 PD V 29)

^munusaš₂-gar₃ a dara₃ niga

• P105156 Watson, BCT 1, 54, 2 (AS 9 PD diriXII)
• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, iii 12 (AS 8 PD)

^munusaš₂-gar₃ a dara₄ niga

• P201324 Sigrist, Princeton 2, 325, 3 (AS 9 PD III 14)

^munusaš₂-gar₃ a dara₄ niga saga us₂

• P129474 Jones and Snyder, SET 64, 10 (AS 7 PD II 21)

^munusaš₂-gar₃ ga a dara₄

• P143656 Sigrist, SAT 2, 456, 4 (Š 46 PD II 29)
• P212105 Koslova, Hermitage 3, 171, rev. 2 (Š 47 PD I)

^munusaš₂-gar₃ niga a dara₄

• P116831 Sigrist, Owen and Young, MVN 13, 059, 5 (Š 47 PD V 23)

§3.3. cattle: gu₄, ab₂ and gir (kir)

§3.3.1. gu₄(-d) “domestic bull (intact male); (also castrated male); ox”

amar gu₄ a am ga

• P107683 Fish, CST 171, 2 (Š 47 PD IV 16)
• P123400 Hilgert, OIP 115, 450, 1 (Š 48 PD IX 20)

amar gu₄ a am mu 2/1

• P107749 Fish, CST 235, 1 and 2 (AS 1 PD VIII 17)^[7]

gu₄ a am

• P109707 Gomi, Hirose 236, 1 (AS 6 PD VIII 15)
• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, i 19 (AS 8 PD)

gu₄ a am ĝiš-du₃

• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, i 20 (AS 8 PD)
• P332116 Ozaki and Sigrist, PPAC 4, 197, 5 (ŠS 2 PD XII)

gu₄ a am mu 3/2/1

• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, i 21 and 22 (AS 8 PD)
• P332116 Ozaki and Sigrist, PPAC 4, 197, 6, 7 and 8 (ŠS 2 PD XII)

gu₄ a am niga

• P123779 Hilgert, OIP 121, 49, 17 (AS 4 PD XI 8)
• P332116 Ozaki and Sigrist, PPAC 4, 197, 4 (ŠS 2 PD XII)

§3.3.2. ab₂ “domestic cow”

ab₂ a am

• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, i 23 (AS 8 PD)
• P143105 D’Agostino, MVN 20, 172, 1 (AS 9 PD I 22)

ab₂ a am mu 3/2/1

• P102824 Levy, Atiqot 4, pl. 26, 61, 1 (ŠS 3 PD XI 15)
• P332116 Ozaki and Sigrist, PPAC 4, 197, rev. 2 (ŠS 2 PD XII)

ab₂ a am niga

• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, i 18 (AS 8 PD)
• P129474 Jones and Snyder, SET 64, 4 (AS 7 PD II 21)

ab₂ a am šu-gid₂

• P126392 Yıldız and Gomi, PDT 2, 1052, i 27 (AS 8 PD)

§3.3.3. gir(i), kir(i) “heifer”

amar gir a am ga

• P129474 Jones and Snyder, SET 64, 1 and 5 (AS 7 PD II 21)
• P145437 Everling, BMHBA 90, 10, 3, rev. 2 (Š 47 PD IV 22)

amar gir a am mu 1

• P107946 Fish, CST 431, 1 (ŠS 4 PD VII 26)
• P125570 Salonen, PDT 1, 153, 1 (AS 8 D XII 4)

amar gir a am mu 2 niga

• P273267 Hilgert, OIP 121, 22, 1 (AS 4 PD XI 6)

§3.4. When we remove all modifying words attached to “(animal A) a (animal B),” the basic types of all terms in (3-2) and (3-3) are:

(3-2-1) maš₂-gal a dara₃
(3-2-2) maš₂ a dara₃
(3-2-3) ud₅ a dara₄
(3-2-4) ^munusaš₂-gar₃ a dara₃
(3-3-1) gu₄ a am
(3-3-2) ab₂ a am
(3-3-3) gir a am

§3.4.1. They both have an “a” followed by a species of male wild animal (dara_3/4 or am), while the goat or cattle standing at the head of each formula represents a domesticated animal.

§3.4.2. By comparing these with basic types (3-2) and (3-3), we may safely infer that A.LU hur-saĝ in (1-3) should be read as a udu hur-saĝ, the meaning of which is literally “(water) of a mountain/wild sheep.” Beyond doubt, “water” here means “semen.”

§3.5. If this conclusion is proper, those animals called “A-a-B” (B is either udu hur-saĝ, dara_3/4 or am) must have been hybrids.^[8] Administrative texts from the Ur III period often refer to human raised wild animals (such as am(-gu₄), am ab₂, amar gir am, dara_3/4, šeg₉-bar, lulim, maš-da₃, udu/u₈ hur-saĝ and birds etc.), their carcasses and hides^[9], dairy products^[10] as well as their fodder.^[11] So, it is natural to suppose that Sumerians crossed their domestic animals with wild specimens, as crossbreeds can gain in some cases, qualities such as strength or vitality that would make them more valuable to human owners. But whether these hybrids could leave their offspring remains unknown.

§4. ...-e ak: crossbreeding of domesticated animals with wild ones mentioned in Ur III texts

§4.1. A Sumerian expression ...-e ak probably means crossbreeding of domestic and wild animals^[12]. Some examples are given below.

ab₂-e ak

• P128765 Kang, SACT 1, 8, 2 (Š 44 PD IV)

  2 gu₄-ab₂, ab₂-e ak-de₃ a-ša₃-še₃ mu geme₂-^dnin-lil₂-la₂-še₃ ki ^dšul-gi-a-a-ĝu₁₀-ta nu-hi-ilum sukkal i₃-dab₅

  “2 gu₄-ab₂, to make them mate to cows^[13], to fields, Nuhiilum the messenger received from Šulgiaaĝu for Geme-Ninlilla (loved woman of Šulgi the king).”^[14]

am-e ak

• P125914 Salonen, PDT 1, 498, 4 (Š 33 PD II)

  10 ab₂ mah₂, na-kab^ab-tum uri₅^ki-ma-še₃, am-e ak-de₃, ki en-diĝir-mu-ta igi-an-na-ke₄-zu i₃-dab₅

  “Ten mature cows, for the cattle breeding house of (the city) Ur, to make them mate to wild oxen, Igiannakezu received from Endiĝirĝu.”

dara_3/4-e ak

• P211935 Koslova, Hermitage 3, 384, 3 (ŠS7 PD VI 5)

  135 ud₅ u₂, 63 ^munusaš₂-gar₃, dara₃-e ak-de₃, ĝiri₃ i-din-aš-šur₆^ki lu₂ kiĝ₂-gi₄-a lugal, ki nir-i₃-da-ĝal₂-ta, mu-ku_x(DU) in-ta-e₃-a i₃-dab₅

  “135 grass-fed nanny-goats and 63 young she-goats, to make them mate with wild goats, under the authority of Idin-Aššur royal messenger, Intaea received from Nir-idaĝal (as) the delivery.”

• P107648 Fish, CST 136, 2 (Š 46 PD IX 13)

  150 ud₅-si₄, dara₄-e ak-de₃ uri₅^ki-še₃ ki lugal-ha-ma-ti-še₃, ĝiri₃ lu₂-eridu^ki, iti u₄-13 ba-zal ki lu₂-diĝir-ra-ta na-sa₆ i₃-dab₅

  “150 reddish nanny-goats, to make them mate with wild goats, for Ur to the place of Lu-Eridu, when the thirteenth day had passed, Nasa received from Ludiĝira.”

§4.2. These texts unmistakably indicate that the Sumerians intentionally crossbred their animals. Still, strangely no neo-Sumerian texts suggest what kinds of donkeys were the parents of mules (^anšekunga₂) despite of their existence in that period being widely documented.^[15]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Footnotes

• ^[1] Abbreviations of administrative texts are according to those used by the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Note that text identification by a number preceded by the letter P (e.g., P212074) is a CDLI identification.
• ^[2] For a similar term a-lum which should be distinguished from A.LU, see PSD and M. Cohen, ASD.
• ^[3] For the term a (“water”) with the meaning “semen” in this context, see Cohen, ASD p. 6: a (s) Ib “offspring, semen.” Dr. Masakazu Asahara, associate professor at Aichi Gakuin University (Nagoya, Japan), who is widely known as a scholar of platypuses, kindly gave me general knowledge of hybrids form from unions between domestic animals and their closely related wild species. I express my sincere thanks here.
• ^[4] Cohen, ASD p. 314: durah (s): dara₃ “ibex”.
• ^[5] Cohen, ibid. p. 72: am (s) Ia “wild bull”.
• ^[6] Cohen, ibid. p. 403: B.3: “suckling”.
• ^[7] “(animal)-a-am” is attested almost exclusively in Puzriš-Dagan texts; but three Umma texts, P131742 Genouillac, TCL 5, 5671, iii 17 (Š 45 Umma I-Š 46 IV), P202175 Molina and Such-Gutierrez, Nisaba 9, 288, 2 (S 46 Umma) and P293803 Sigrist and Ozaki, BPOA 7, 2460, 5 (S 45 Umma IV), also mention gu₄ a am(-niga).
• ^[8] Another phrase, this time concerned with gukkal “fat-tailed sheep”, is worthy to be examined. Although this kind of sheep was recorded already early in texts from the ED III period, it was “usually distinguished from ‘native’ sheep (udu-gir₁₅)”. There are three texts which imply this: (i) udu a gukkal in two texts, P100222 Boson, Aegyptus 17, 59, 156 (ŠS 2 PD VIII 6) (republished as Archi and Pomponio, TCND 72) and P145694 Sollberger, TCS 1, 170, 3 (– Ĝirsu?) and (ii) udu a udu gukkal in P515527 Sigrist and Ozaki, CUSAS 40, 743, 6 (IS 2 Irisagriĝ I-XII; 6 ad₃ udu a udu UDU+HUL₂; here the sign UDU was written three times). In view of our deduction that in “A+a+B” A is a hybrid and B is a male wild animal and the father of A, gukkal of “udu+a+(udu) gukkal” corresponds to B. These phrases seem to imply that for Sumerians gukkal was a special breed of foreign origin. For the possible reading gukkan instead of gukkal, see Ozaki and Sigrist, BPOA 1 note to no. 14. Ozaki, AfO 51, p. 271 (review to Hilgert, OIP 121) proposes u₈ gukkan₂ for U₈.HUL₂ and u₈ gukkan for U₈.UDU+HUL₂, respectively.
• ^[9] kuš am: P133728 Virolleaud and Lambert, TEL 214, 2 (– Ĝirsu); kuš amar dara₄ : P454112 Owen, Nisaba 15, 903, 2 (IS 2 Irisagriĝ); kuš dara₃: P101716 Loretz, AOAT 3, 73, rev. 4’ ([ ] Nagar) etc.
• ^[10] i₃-nun am: P125787 Salonen, PDT 1, 371, 1 (AS 2 PD V); P201039 Sigrist, Princeton 2, 41, 1 (AS 4 PD V); i₃-nun dara_3/4: P105954 Keiser, BIN 3, 148, 1 (AS7 PD III); i₃-nun maš-da₃: P117146 Sigrist, Owen and Young, MVN 13, 374, 5 (AS 6-7 PD).
• ^[11] ša₃-gal amar am: P110838 Lafont and Yıldız, TCTI 1, 968, 2 (ŠS 8 Ĝirsu VIII); ša₃-gal amar anše-eden-na: P138179 Loding, UET 9, 48, rev. 2 ([ ] Ur); ša₃-gal ^anšesi₂-si₂: P108393 King, CT 1, pl. 4-5, BM 17744, ii 15 (Š 35 Ĝirsu) etc.
• ^[12] Although I am not sure, -e may be the locative-terminative postposition. No dictionary contains an entry that resembles e ak. But cf. Cohen ASD p. 3a C.1b: a ak “to have intercourse”: a mu-un-ak erhima (PSD A3 116a).
• ^[13] This text distinctly proves that gu₄-ab₂ is male.
• ^[14] According to the seal inscription on P212206 Koslova, Hermitage 3, 143 (Š 46 PD VI).
• ^[15] For ^anšekunga₂ “mule”, no texts mention “anše a so-and-so” or the like. According to Dr. M. Asahara (on him see note 3 above), E. Andrew Bennett et al., “The genetic identity of the earliest human-made hybrid animals, the kungas of Syro-Mesopotamia” Science Advances 8, eabm0218 (2022), concludes that “kungas were F1 hybrids between female domestic donkeys and male hemippes, thus documenting the earliest evidence of hybrid animal breeding.”

Version: 2024-12-18

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	address = {Oxford; Berlin; Los Angeles},
	author = {Ozaki, Tohru},
	journal = {Cuneiform Digital Library Bulletin},
	issn = {1540-8760},
	number = {5},
	year = {2024},
	publisher = {Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative},
	title = {On the {Ur} {III} {Sumerian} {Term} {A}.{LU} in {Puzri}{\v s}-{Dagan} {Texts}},
	url = {https://cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/articles/cdlb/2024-5},
	volume = {2024},
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