# JA-SI (yašīʿ)

> Salvation—votive exclamation/dedication term

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

- Reading: yašīʿ
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*yṯʿ](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/3332/index.md>) 'to help, save'
- Kind: Ritual
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: JA (ja) · SI (si)

## Compared forms

- Hebrew: *yēšaʿ* — yēšaʿ 'salvation'; yōšīaʿ 'he saves'
- Ugaritic: yṯʿ in PNs
- Amorite: ia-še-ia, ia-ši-iḫ-ìl; Alalakh zu-ia-še-ia; the noun in iš-ḫa, iš-a-ti (GlOS 2, 379); jišʿum 'help' (Gelb 1980, glossary)

## Attestations

- [KN Zb 4](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/KNZb4/index.md>): \]-JU JA-SI SI\[ — Salvation (√y-š-ʿ)
- [PE Zc 4](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/PEZc4/index.md>): A-JA ≈ JA-SI — Salvation (√y-š-ʿ)

## Commentary

KN Zb 4 ]-JU · JA-SI · SI[ and PE Zc 4 A-JA · JA-SI. yašīʿ 'salvation', √y-š-ʿ 'to help, save' (PS *yṯʿ): Heb. yēšaʿ 'help, salvation' (HALOT 449), Amorite yiṯʿu 'salvation' (Buck 2019, 335). SI writes the ṯ as cuneiform writes it in the Amorite names, ia-aš-ḫa (GlOS 2, 379). On KN Zb 4 inside the votive frame JU · JA-SI · SI, l(u) 'for' + yašīʿ + šay 'tribute'; on PE Zc 4 after A-JA: 'Living One!—Salvation!'; JA-SI-E on the lamp KE Zb 4 is its vocative, 'O Salvation!'. Rivals: yāṯiʿ 'saviour', Amorite yāṯiʿa (Buck 2019, 335), and the verb 'he saves', Heb. hôšîaʿ (HALOT 448). Gordon's ya-ne 'wine' (Gordon 1966 §123, his text II,3) is this KN Zb 4 group; its second sign reads SI (Packard 1974, 260; GORILA IV).

## Same root

- [JA-SI-E](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/JA-SI-E/index.md>) (yašīʿ-ē)
- [JA-SA-JA](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/JA-SA-JA/index.md>) (Yašʿaya)

## References

- Reading: di Mino; HALOT; Buck 2019; GlOS 2; Gordon 1966; Packard 1974; GORILA IV
- Gordon, Cyrus H. (1966), Evidence for the Minoan Language. Ventnor Publishers,68
- AS 21: Gelb, Ignace J. (1980), Computer-aided Analysis of Amorite. Assyriological Studies 21,The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
- HALOT: Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob; Richardson, M. E. J. (trans. and ed.) (1994), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vols. I–IV. E. J. Brill, Leiden · New York · Köln
- Packard, David W. (1974), Minoan Linear A. University of California Press, Berkeley / Los Angeles / London
- GORILA IV: Godart, Louis; Olivier, Jean-Pierre (1982), Recueil des inscriptions en linéaire A, volume 4: Autres documents (GORILA IV). École française d'Athènes (Études crétoises XXI, 4); Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris
- GlOS 2: Sanmartín, Joaquín (2024), A Glossary of Old Syrian, Volume 2: l – z. Languages of the Ancient Near East 8/2,Eisenbrauns (Pennsylvania State University Press), University Park
- Buck, Mary E. (2019), The Amorite Dynasty of Ugarit: Historical Implications of Linguistic and Archaeological Parallels. Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Levant 8,Brill, Leiden

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/JA-SI/
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 50525edd.