# A-JA (ḥayyā)

> 'the Living One', title of the Goddess (√ḥ-y-y)

A Linear A word in the Linear A Lexicon. The reading is a proposal and carries its tier.

- Reading: ḥayyā
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*ḥayy-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/2760/index.md>) 'to live, be alive; life'
- Kind: Ritual
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: A (a) · JA (ja)
- Rank: #97 of the top 100

## Compared forms

- : חַי *Hebrew ḥay* — Hebrew חַי ḥay "alive", חַיִּים ḥayyīm "life"; Ugaritic ḥyw "to live"; Mari West Semitic ḥaya "lives" is written both ha-ia- and a-ia-; Late Old Babylonian Alalakh likewise alternates ha-ia- and a-ia- in the same name (Weeden 2009, 96–100). The Mesopotamian god Haya is written dḫa-ià; Aya is an independently attested goddess.

## Attestations

- [PE Zc 4](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/PEZc4/index.md>): A-JA ≈ JA-SI — 'the Living One', title of the Goddess (√ḥ-y-y)
- [SY Za 2](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/SYZa2/index.md>): A-JA — possible divine name or liturgical predicate; untranslated

## Commentary

PE Zc 4 A-JA ≈ JA-SI, inked, and SY Za 2, the last group of the formula, after U-NA-KA-NA-SI-OLE; MA 4b A-[?]-[?]-[?]-JA is a longer word. A for ḥ has its control at Old Babylonian Mari, where West Semitic ḥaya 'lives' is written both ha-ia- and a-ia-, and at Alalakh VII, where a-ia- and ha-ia- alternate in one name, a-ia- on Weeden's account reproducing an unrepresented /ḥ/ (Weeden 2009, 96–100). /ḥayyā/ 'the Living One', as Amorite Ḥajja, a divine name (Gelb 1980, 19), in Milki-Ḥayya (Gelb 1980, no. 4724). Rivals: the god Haya, dḫa-ià from Early Dynastic Fara on, whom the Old Babylonian Hymn to Haia for Rim-Sin calls the god who loves the petition 'Give me life!' (line 59; ORACC AMGG, 'Haya'; ETCSL 2.6.9.2.59); the goddess Aya; Davis's 'much', modifying the oil (Davis 2013, 41). Two attestations.

## Same root

- [JA-JA-\[…\]](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/JA-JA-~5B~E2~80~A6~5D/index.md>) (ḥayyā)
- [JA-WI](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/JA-WI/index.md>) (Yawī)
- [A-JU](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/A-JU/index.md>) (Ḥayyu)

## In the onomasticon

- [A-JA](<https://linear-a.ai/names/A-JA/index.md>): God or goddess, Semitic

## References

- Reading: di Mino; Weeden 2009; Gelb 1980; Davis 2013
- ORACC: Oracc Steering Committee, Oracc: The Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus. University of Pennsylvania Museum; CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise stated
- AS 21: Gelb, Ignace J. (1980), Computer-aided Analysis of Amorite. Assyriological Studies 21,The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
- Davis, Brent (2013), Syntax in Linear A: The Word-Order of the ‘Libation Formula’. Kadmos,52,35–52
- Weeden, Mark (2009), The Akkadian Words for ‘Grain’ and the God Haya. Die Welt des Orients,39.1,77–107

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/A-JA/
Licence: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Cite as: di Mino, Tom. 2026. Linear A Lexicon. Plasma AI. https://linear-a.ai/. Data: kaphtor, commit add28e94.