# PI-KU-ZU (bi-kuṯ)

> in flasks (preposition bi- + kuṯ 'flask, jar'; heading of an oil section)

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

- Reading: bi-kuṯ
- Confidence: Speculative. A proposed reading on a word too rare to test. Most occur only once.
- Root: [\*bV--](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/K0007/index.md>) 'in' + [\*kVṯ-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/3866/index.md>) 'flask, jar (a container and a measure)'
- Kind: Vessel
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: PI (pi) · KU (ku) · ZU (zu)

## Compared forms

- Ugaritic: 𐎋𐎘 *kṯ* — kṯ 'a measure and a container ("flask, bottle, jar")': kṯm ššmn 'two flasks(?) of (cream of) sesame', KTU 4.60:8; kṯ ẓrw kṯ nbt 'a flask(?) of balsam (and) a flask(?) of honey', KTU 1.148:22; ʕšr kṯt, KTU 6.12:2 (DULAT 466)
- Akkadian: *kišu* — kišu B '(a metal bowl)': 1 ki-iš kaspi, between bīt šamni 'oil lamp' and ḫubunnu, EA 14 i 37 (CAD K 463)

## Attestations

- [TY 3b](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/TY3b/index.md>): PI-KU-ZU OLE+KI 4 — in flasks (heading of an oil section); oil-KI 4, oil-MI 11, oil-NE 2

## Commentary

TY 3b .2–.4 PI-KU-ZU OLE+KI 4, OLE+MI 11, OLE+NE 2, the ruled section after KI-RI-SI OLE+MI 6 (GORILA I 329); KU and ZU drawn whole on the worn surface of the facsimile. PI the proclitic bi- 'in', as PA₃-E bē; KU-ZU kuṯ, ZU for ṯ as in KU-ZU-NI Kuṯinu: three oils counted in kṯ-flasks, the Ugaritic flask for sesame, balsam and cumin (DULAT 466). Weak points: PI for the proclitic bi- has no second witness; the vowel of kṯ is unknown. One attestation.

## Same root

- [PA₃](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/PA~E2~82~83/index.md>) (bi=)
- [PA₃-E](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/PA~E2~82~83-E/index.md>) (bē)
- [\*333-DI-NA-SU-KA](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/*333-DI-NA-SU-KA/index.md>) (bīdi Našūka)
- [\*333-DI-SU-KA](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/*333-DI-SU-KA/index.md>) (bīdi Sūka)
- [PI-MI-NA-TE](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/PI-MI-NA-TE/index.md>) (bi-mināti)

## References

- Reading: di Mino; DULAT; CAD K
- KTU: Dietrich, Manfried; Loretz, Oswald; Sanmartín, Joaquín (2013), Die keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani und anderen Orten / The Cuneiform Alphabetic Texts from Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani and Other Places (KTU³). Ugarit-Verlag, Münster (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 360/1); ISBN 978-3-86835-014-2
- EA: Moran, William L. (1992), The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press
- 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
- DULAT: del Olmo Lete, Gregorio; Sanmartín, Joaquín (2015), A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition. Brill, Leiden/Boston (Handbook of Oriental Studies 1/112); Third Revised Edition, tr. and ed. Wilfred G.E. Watson; 2 parts
- GORILA I: Godart, Louis; Olivier, Jean-Pierre (1976), Recueil des inscriptions en linéaire A, volume 1: Tablettes éditées avant 1970 (GORILA I). École française d'Athènes (Études crétoises XXI, 1); Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/PI-KU-ZU/
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.