# RI-SU-MA (rīšum(a))

> head, chief quality; first quality

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

- Reading: rīšum(a)
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*raʾ(i)š-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/2000/index.md>) 'head'
- Kind: Administrative
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: RI (ri) · SU (su) · MA (ma)

## Compared forms

- Eblaite: SAG.KI.TÚM = rí-še₆ KI.TÚM, rīš 'head, chief' (GlOS 2, 149)
- Ugaritic: *rỉš* — rỉš 'head, chief, top, first(fruit)' (GlOS 2, 149)

## Attestations

- [HT 81](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT81/index.md>): RI-SU-MA 𐝋
- [HT 115a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT115a/index.md>): RI-SU-MA — head, first quality

## Commentary

HT 115a, a GRA+BOSm list: RI-SU-MA, then SU 2 ⅕, after KA-PO-RU 1; HT 81: RI-SU-MA with the fraction L4, after A-SE · MI+JA+RU ≈ ⅙. rīšum 'head, first quality', with the nominative mimation -um: Ug. rỉš /raʾšu/ 'head' (Huehnergard 2012, 41–42), Heb. rōʾš, Akk. rēšum. Cf. RE-SU (HT 37) and A-RI-SU (HT 118, in a list summing to KU-RO 30). Two attestations. See RO.

## Same root

- [RO](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/RO/index.md>) (rōš)

## References

- Reading: di Mino; GlOS 2; Huehnergard 2012
- Huehnergard, John (2012), An Introduction to Ugaritic. Hendrickson
- GlOS 2: Sanmartín, Joaquín (2024), A Glossary of Old Syrian, Volume 2: l – z. Languages of the Ancient Near East 8/2,Eisenbrauns (Pennsylvania State University Press), University Park

---

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