# SU-PA₃-RA (subāra)

> vessel (pot)

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

- Reading: subāra
- Confidence: Probable. Fits the word’s contexts and has a close external comparison, without an independent control.
- Root: [\*sipVl-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/1103/index.md>) 'bowl, boat'
- Kind: Vessel
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: SU (su) · PA₃ (pa₃) · RA (ra)
- Rank: #36 of the top 100

## Compared forms

- Ugaritic: 𐎒𐎔𐎍 *spl* — spl 'platter, tray' (DULAT 754)
- Old Syrian: sà-ap-lu ZABAR sapl 'platter, bowl, cauldron' (GlOS 2, 202)
- Egyptian: group writing ṯi₂-pa-ra sipl 'large drinking bowl, crater', ra for l (GlOS 2, 203, after Hoch, SWET 364, no. 541)

## Attestations

- [HT 31](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT31/index.md>): \*402-VS-SU-PA₃-RA 300 — pot

## Commentary

HT 31, the vessel tablet, written with the *402-VS vessel sign among QA-PA₃, SU-PU and KA-RO-PA₃; Ventris and Chadwick also take it for a vessel. Gordon read su-pa-ra as Heb. sēpel (ספל) 'bowl' (Gordon 1966 §115), with PA for p and RA for l. PA₃ writes ba, so the spelling is s-b-r: √s-p-l with p voiced to b between u and a, and RA for l. In Gordon's HT 31 set, four of the five vessel names are Semitic (§115). Weak point: PA₃ = ba is a proposed value; Gordon's p gives √s-p-l directly. One attestation.

## References

- Reading: Gordon 1966 §115; di Mino; DULAT; GlOS 2
- Gordon, Cyrus H. (1966), Evidence for the Minoan Language. Ventnor Publishers,68
- 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
- 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/SU-PA~E2~82~83-RA/
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.