# QE-RA₂-U (qelwu)

> parched (roasted) grain

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

- Reading: qelwu
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*ḳVlVw-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/798/index.md>) 'roast'
- Kind: Commodity
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: QE (qe) · RA₂ (ra₂) · U (u)

## Compared forms

- Hebrew: *qālî* — qālî 'roasted grain', Lev 23:14 (HALOT 1102)
- Akkadian: *qalû* — qalû 'roasted' (CAD Q 68); qalītu 'parched grain' (CAD Q 59)
- Arabic: *qalā* — qalā 'he fried wheat, roasted it in a pan' (Lane 2993)

## Attestations

- [HT 1](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT1/index.md>): QE-RA₂-U — parched (roasted) grain
- [HT 95a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT95a/index.md>): QE-RA₂-U 7 — parched (roasted) grain
- [HT 95b](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT95b/index.md>): QE-RA₂-U 10 — parched (roasted) grain

## Commentary

Heads HT1 (KI-RO 197, ZU-SU 70, DI-DI-ZA-KE 52, KU-PA₃-NU 109, A-RA-NA-RE 105), a list with no commodity logogram. Closes the fixed set DA-ME, MI-NU-TE, SA-RU, KU-NI-SU 'emmer', DI-DE-RU on HT95a (under DA-DU-MA-TA · GRA) and HT95b; QA-RA₂-WA closes the same set on HT86a. Hebrew קָלִי 'parched grain', listed with wheat, barley and flour (2 Sam 17:28; Lev 23:14); Syriac qelyātā, Geʿez qēlēw 'roasted' (HALOT s.v. קָלִי); Akkadian qalītu 'parched grain' (CAD Q 59), verb qalû 'burn, roast' (CAD Q 69; OB to NA, Boğazköy and El-Amarna included); Ebla ŠE.GIBIL₄ = ga-a-tum qalwat 'parched grain' (GlOS 1, 346). QE writes the e of qelyātā and qēlēw; RA₂ = /la/; U = /wu/. With KU-NI-SU 'emmer' it is one of two grain products in a set of parties (SA-RU, DI-DE-RU).

## Same root

- [QA-RA₂-WA](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/QA-RA~E2~82~82-WA/index.md>) (qalwa)

## References

- Reading: HALOT s.v. קָלִי; CAD Q 59, s.v. qalītu; Dillmann 1865; GlOS 1; di Mino
- Dillmann, August (1865), Lexicon Linguae Aethiopicae. GitHub (DillmannData)
- 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
- Lane: Lane, Edward William (1863), An Arabic-English Lexicon. Williams and Norgate, London
- CAD Q: Oriental Institute (Erica Reiner, ed.) (1982), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 13, Q. The Oriental Institute, Chicago; J. J. Augustin, Glückstadt
- GlOS 1: Sanmartín, Joaquín (2019), A Glossary of Old Syrian, Volume 1: ʔ – ḳ. Languages of the Ancient Near East 8/1,Eisenbrauns (Pennsylvania State University Press), University Park

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/QE-RA~E2~82~82-U/
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.