# KU-RU-KU (kurkū)

> saffron, crocus (PN from plant term)

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

- Reading: kurkū
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*kurkum-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/2657/index.md>) 'saffron'
- Kind: Personal name
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: KU (ku) · RU (ru) · KU (ku)

## Compared forms

- Hebrew: *karkōm* — karkōm 'saffron', Song 4:14 (HALOT 498)
- Aramaic: Jewish Aramaic and Syriac kurkəmā 'saffron' (HALOT 498)

## Attestations

- [HT 87](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT87/index.md>): KU-RU-KU 1 — saffron (or saffron-worker PN)

## Commentary

HT 87: KU-RU-KU 1, fifth of six men at one unit each under the heading *21F-TU-NE · MA-KA-RI-TE ·, Scribe 9: a personal name from the plant word. kurkū 'saffron, crocus': Akk. kurkānû, an aromatic plant (CAD K 560), Heb. כַּרְכֹּם karkōm 'saffron' (Song 4:14; HALOT 497); Greek κρόκος is a Semitic loan. One attestation. See *21F-TU-NE.

## In the onomasticon

- [KU-RU-KU](<https://linear-a.ai/names/KU-RU-KU/index.md>): Personal name, Semitic

## References

- Reading: di Mino
- 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
- CAD K: Oriental Institute (A. Leo Oppenheim and Erica Reiner, eds.) (1971), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 8, K. The Oriental Institute, Chicago; J. J. Augustin, Glückstadt

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/KU-RU-KU/
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.