# SA (śakaru)

> beer, strong drink—logographic abbreviation of \*śakaru/\*šikaru; commodity logogram, compounded with VIN

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

- Reading: śakaru
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*šakār-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/K0519/index.md>) 'drunk' 1, 'intoxicating drink, beer' 2
- Kind: Commodity
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: SA (sa)

## Compared forms

- Akkadian: *šikaru* — šikaru 'beer; fermented alcoholic beverage' (CAD Š/2 420)
- Hebrew: *šēkār* — šēkār 'intoxicating drink, beer' (HALOT 1501)
- Ugaritic: *š-k-r* — /š-k-r/ (II) 'to become intoxicated' (DULAT 804)

## Attestations

- [HT 56a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT56a/index.md>): SA
- [HT 114b](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT114b/index.md>): SA-VIN 9
- [HT 131b](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT131b/index.md>): VIN+SA
- [ZA 15a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/ZA15a/index.md>): \*47-KU-NA SA-VIN

## Commentary

HT 56a: SA 11½ under the heading *188 (buṭnu). Compound forms: VIN+SA (HT 131b), SA-VIN (HT 114b SA-VIN 9, ZA 15a), a compounded beverage 'wine-beer' (cf. the yayin/šēkār doublet, Num 6:3, Isa 5:11). Akk. šikaru 'beer (made from grain), fermented alcoholic beverage' (CAD Š/2 420), Heb. šēkār 'intoxicating drink' (HALOT 1501), Arab. sakar. On HT 27b SA n pairs with RE m (SA 1 RE 14, SA 4 RE 70[, SA 4 RE ]40), a transaction notation, with no reading there.

## References

- Reading: di Mino; CAD Š/2; HALOT
- 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
- 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
- CAD Š/2: Oriental Institute (Erica Reiner, ed.) (1992), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 17, Š, part 2. The Oriental Institute, Chicago; J. J. Augustin, Glückstadt

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/SA/
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.