TU-PI-TA

judge (title)

𐘹TUAB6939 entries𐘢PIAB3925 entries𐘳TAAB5976 entries
clay tagDrag to turn
Reading
ṯāpiṭu
Confidence
Candidate
Root
*ṯVpVṭ- ‘judge (v.)’
Kind
Personnel
Language
Semitic
Rank
—

Compared forms

  • Ugaritic𐎘𐎔𐎉ṯpṭṯpṭ ‘judge, ruler’; epithet of Yamm (DULAT 913)
  • Old SyrianMari šāpiṭumMari šāpiṭum ‘judge, ruler’ (GlOS 2, 327)
  • Hebrewšōpēṭšōpēṭ ‘judge’ (שׁוֹפֵט, with ṯ→š shift)
  • Arabicḍābiṭḍābiṭ ‘one who holds, regulates’

Attestations1 cited

  1. POR Zf 2TU-PI-TA

Commentary

POR Zf 2 (Poros Herakleiou): a single word stamped on a bronze object, an authority token or judicial seal. ṯāpiṭu ‘judge’: Ug. ṯpṭ, Yamm’s epithet ṯpṭ nhr ‘Judge River’; Heb. šōpēṭ ‘judge’ (√š-p-ṭ, ṯ > š); Arb. ṣabiṭ. TU writes ṯ in the T-series, as KA-TA-RE writes it with TA (di Mino, Ya Diktu 16–17 n. 27); TA writes ṭ. One attestation.

Rival readings

  • tōpetsacred precinct / place of judgment (root ṯ-p-ṭ (same root)). Cognates: Heb. תֹּפֶת tōpet (2 Kgs 23:10, Jer 7:31–32); Punic tpt (Carthaginian sacred precinct for votive deposits) tōpet may itself derive from √ṯ-p-ṭ: ‘place of judgment’ where the deity accepts/rejects the offering. If so, ṯāpiṭu and tōpet are cognate derivatives of the same root, and the two readings collapse: ‘judge’ (title) → ‘place of judgment’ (sacred precinct). Both senses fit a metal votive object at a harbor sanctuary.

On the 3D inscriptions

Not written on any of the 82 inscriptions modelled so far.

Linear A Lexicon