# JA-SU-MA-TU (yā Šumāt)

> O Šumāt! (vocative yā + divine name, plural of \*šum- 'name')

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

- Reading: yā Šumāt
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*(ʾi-)šim-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/621/index.md>) 'name'
- Kind: Personal name
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: JA (ja) · SU (su) · MA (ma) · TU (tu)
- Rank: Amorite-linked appendix

## Compared forms

- : Amorite Šumat-Yaraḥ, Šumat-ʾIlī, Šumatān, and Šumatānum (Gelb 1980, AS 21, nos. 5581–5582, 5588–5589); Common Semitic *šum-/šim- ‘name’ and Amorite sum- ‘name (> posterity)’ (Huffmon 1965, pp. 247–249, 252).

## Attestations

- [SY Za 2](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/SYZa2/index.md>): A-TA-I-\*301-WA-JA JA-SU-MA-TU-OLIV 1

## Commentary

JA SU-MA-TU: JA is the vocative yā, as JA-DI-KI-TU /yā Diktu/ in the same formula position. Huffmon lists Amorite sumat- as an unexplained name element and reports Birot's proposal that it is a plural of sum- ‘name (> posterity)’: *šum- with *-āt gives Šumāt. SU-MA-TU writes /šu-mā-t/, TU carrying a dead vowel after final /t/ and the long vowel unmarked. Amorite has the element in Šumat-Yaraḥ, Šumat-ʾIlī, Šumatān and Šumatānum (Gelb 1980, nos. 5581–5582, 5588–5589; Huffmon 1965, 57, 247–249, 252). GORILA V 64–65 and Davis read the next sign as OLIV, giving yā Šumāt | OLIV 1; Metaxa-Muhly 1984 and Finkelberg 1990 read syllabic RE, which would lengthen the name. The slot names the deity addressed, and Phoenician makes 'Name' divine in Astarte-Šembaal, Ug. ʿṯtrt šm bʿl (Krahmalkov 2000, 392), and Šem-ʾIl 'Il is the Name' (468). Weak point: no held form names a deity Šumāt; the element stands only in Amorite personal names. See SI-MA.

## Same root

- [SI-MA](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/SI-MA/index.md>) (šima)
- [JA-DA-SU](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/JA-DA-SU/index.md>) (Yadaʿ-Šum)

## In the onomasticon

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

## References

- Reading: di Mino; Birot, TEM III, p. 29, apud Huffmon 1965, p. 252; Gelb 1980
- Metaxa-Muhly, Polymnia (1984), Linear A inscriptions from the Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Kato Syme. Kadmos,23,124–135
- Krahmalkov: Krahmalkov, Charles R. (2000), A Phoenician-Punic Dictionary. Peeters (Leuven)
- AS 21: Gelb, Ignace J. (1980), Computer-aided Analysis of Amorite. Assyriological Studies 21,The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
- APNM: Huffmon, Herbert B. (1965), Amorite Personal Names in the Mari Texts: A Structural and Lexical Study. The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore
- Finkelberg, Margalit (1990), Minoan Inscriptions on Libation Vessels. Minos,25,Universidad de Salamanca,43–85
- GORILA V: Godart, Louis; Olivier, Jean-Pierre (1985), Recueil des inscriptions en linéaire A, volume 5: Addenda, corrigenda, concordances, index et planches des signes (GORILA V). École française d'Athènes (Études crétoises XXI, 5); Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/JA-SU-MA-TU/
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.