# RO-KE (rōqēaḥ)

> perfumer (title); rival rōkēl 'trader, merchant'

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

- Reading: rōqēaḥ
- Confidence: Speculative. A proposed reading on a word too rare to test. Most occur only once.
- Root: [\*rVḳVḥ-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/S15/index.md>) 'to mix aromatics, compound ointment' 1, 'perfumer, ointment-mixer' 2
- Kind: Personnel
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: RO (ro) · KE (ke)

## Compared forms

- Eblaite: *rāqiḥ* — rāqiḥ 'oil-perfumer', lexical list (Sanmartín GlOS 2, 165)
- Ugaritic: 𐎗𐎖𐎈 *rqḥ* — rqḥ (I) 'perfumer' (DULAT 734)
- Hebrew (rival): *rōkēl* — rōkēl 'trader': hā-rōkĕlîm beside the goldsmiths (Neh 3:31–32); ʾabqat rôkēl 'the merchant's powders' (Song 3:6)

## Attestations

- [HT 98a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT98a/index.md>): RO-KE ¹⁄₂ — the trader, recipient of ½; rival rōqēaḥ 'perfumer'

## Commentary

HT 98a .4 RO-KE ½, whole and undotted, between TE-*301 ¾ and KA-RI-*310-I ¼, in a list of fractional issues with TA-NA-TI; wine on face b (GORILA I 161). The qōṭēl participle with Canaanite ō, as RO-E rōʿē; KE writes q, the final ḥ unwritten. Ebla rāqiḥ 'oil-perfumer' (GlOS 2, 165) and Ugarit rqḥ 'perfumer, druggist' (DULAT 734) attest the title. Rival: rōkēl 'trader', with KE at k and the final l unwritten, as Linear B drops a word-final liquid (ma-te mātēr, PY An 607); unattested in the Bronze Age. See RO-QA and *401.

## Same root

- [\*401](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/*401/index.md>) (ruqqû)
- [\*401+RU](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/*401~2BRU/index.md>)
- [OLE+RI](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/OLE~2BRI/index.md>) (riqqu)
- [VIN+RA](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/VIN~2BRA/index.md>) (raqḥ)
- [RO-QA](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/RO-QA/index.md>) (rōqaḥ)

## In the onomasticon

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

## References

- Reading: di Mino; DULAT; GlOS 2
- 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
- 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

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/RO-KE/
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.