# QE-SU-PU (qaššāpu)

> sorcerer, diviner (occupational title or PN)

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

- Reading: qaššāpu
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*kVšVp-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/2815/index.md>) 'bewitch'
- Kind: Personnel
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: QE (qe) · SU (su) · PU (pu)

## Compared forms

- Akkadian: *kaššāpu/qaššāpu* — kaššāpu/qaššāpu 'sorcerer, practitioner of witchcraft' (Maqlû passim); kašāpu 'to bewitch' (CAD K 282)
- Hebrew: *mǝkaššēp* — mǝkaššēp 'sorcerer' (Exod 22:17, 7:11); mǝkaššēfīm = palace cult specialists (Exod 7:11); qōšēp (Deut 18:10)
- Ugaritic: 𐎋𐎌𐎔 *kšp* — kšp 'sorcery' (KTU 1.96)
- Amarna: Not attested as Canaanite gloss; but cf. EA 35:26 kaššāpu in Akkadian matrix
- Hurrian: *kaššapte* — kaššapte 'magie', a transcription of Akkadian kaššaptu (Laroche 1980, 138)

## Attestations

- [HT 87](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT87/index.md>): QE-SU-PU 1 — PN or title: 'sorcerer / diviner'

## Commentary

HT 87, a register of cult personnel: an occupational title in the name slot with an allocation of 1, among Hurrian names (PI-TA-KE-SI, DI-KI-SE) and NWS ones (JA-RE-MI). √k-š-p / √q-š-p 'practise sorcery': Akk. kaššāpu/qaššāpu 'sorcerer', a qattāl agent noun; Heb. məkaššēp (Deut 18:10), fem. məkaššēpāh (Exod 22:17). Š is written S and the geminate šš single. QE writes q, its primary value, which sets the word apart from √k-s-p 'silver' (kaspu), spelled with KA. Exod 7:11 names the məkaššəpîm beside the ḥăkāmîm and ḥarṭummîm, palace specialists of the kind HT 87 lists. One attestation.

## In the onomasticon

- [QE-SU-PU](<https://linear-a.ai/names/QE-SU-PU/index.md>): Title, Semitic

## References

- Reading: di Mino
- 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
- GLH: Laroche, Emmanuel (1980), Glossaire de la langue hourrite. Editions Klincksieck
- 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/QE-SU-PU/
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.