# SE-TO-I-JA (Ṣētiya)

> the Eastern (place), a central Cretan toponym; rivals the epithet 'she of the East' and a pre-Greek toponym Setoiya

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

- Reading: Ṣētiya
- Confidence: Probable. Fits the word’s contexts and has a close external comparison, without an independent control.
- Root: [\*wVṣ̂Vʾ-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/K0448/index.md>) 'leave' 1, 'exit, issue' 2
- Kind: Toponym
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: SE (se) · TO (to) · I (i) · JA (ja)
- Rank: #71 of the top 100

## Compared forms

- Akkadian: ṣītum / ṣīt šamšim 'sunrise, east' (Huehnergard 1997, glossary); ṣītān 'at sunrise' (ORACC CAMS/GKAB); Ebla balri ṣīt šamši 'on the east bank' (EDA I, P0477)
- Hebrew: צֵאת *ṣēʾt* — ṣēʾt (צֵאת) 'going out', kə-ṣēʾt ha-šemeš (Judg 5:31); gentilic of 'east': haq-Qadmōnî (Gen 15:19), hay-yām haq-qadmônî 'the eastern sea' (Ezek 47:18)

## Attestations

- [PR Za 1](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/PRZa1/index.md>): SE-TO-I-JA — the Eastern (one), of the East

## Commentary

PR Za 1, formula slot 2, the site-specific slot (cf. TU-RU-SA at Kophinas, O-SU-QA-RE at Tylissos, I-DA-MI at Syme): 'at Ṣētiya', the place. Linear B writes the same spelling, se-to-i-ja, a Knossos toponym on 17 tablets (As 40+5093, As 1516, Dc 5687+, Lc 525, Le 654, Mc 4464+, Sd 4407+ and others; DMic II 288). √y-ṣ-ʾ (PS *wVṣ̂Vʾ-): ṣēt 'the East' with the gentilic -iya of SU-KI-RI-TE-I-JA; SE writes the ē of Hebrew ṣēʾt (Judg 5:31), SI-TE Ṣīt the ī. East with a gentilic names a people in haq-Qadmōnî 'the Kadmonites' (Gen 15:19) and a sea in hay-yām haq-qadmônî 'the eastern sea' (Ezek 47:18). Rivals: an epithet 'she of the East'; a pre-Greek toponym Setoiya.

## Same root

- [SI-JA-SE](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/SI-JA-SE/index.md>) (šī-yāṣē)
- [SI-TE](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/SI-TE/index.md>) (Ṣīt)
- [A-MA-WA-SI](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/A-MA-WA-SI/index.md>) (ʿAmma-wāṣiʾ)
- [JA-PA-RA-JA-SE](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/JA-PA-RA-JA-SE/index.md>) (yapʾara yāṣē)
- [JA-SE](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/JA-SE/index.md>) (yāṣē)

## In the onomasticon

- [SE-TO-I-JA](<https://linear-a.ai/names/SE-TO-I-JA/index.md>): Place, Semitic

## References

- Reading: di Mino; DMic II
- DMic II: Aura Jorro, Francisco, Diccionario Micénico, vol. II (CSIC 1993). 
- Huehnergard, John (1997), A Grammar of Akkadian. Scholars Press (Harvard Semitic Studies 45)
- ORACC CAMS/GKAB: ORACC Project (2024), ORACC CAMS/GKAB Glossary (Akkadian Literary Lexicon). oracc.museum.upenn.edu

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/SE-TO-I-JA/
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.