# TU-PI-TA (ṯāpiṭu)

> judge (title)

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

- Reading: ṯāpiṭu
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*ṯVpVṭ-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/987/index.md>) 'judge (v.)'
- Kind: Personnel
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: TU (tu) · PI (pi) · TA (ta)

## Compared forms

- Ugaritic: 𐎘𐎔𐎉 *ṯpṭ* — ṯpṭ 'judge, ruler'; epithet of Yamm (DULAT 913)
- Old Syrian: *Mari šāpiṭum* — Mari šāpiṭum 'judge, ruler' (GlOS 2, 327)
- Hebrew: *šōpēṭ* — šōpēṭ 'judge' (שׁוֹפֵט, with ṯ→š shift)
- Arabic: *ḍābiṭ* — ḍābiṭ 'one who holds, regulates'

## Attestations

- [POR Zf 2](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/PORZf2/index.md>): TU-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

- tōpet: sacred 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.

## In the onomasticon

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

## References

- Reading: di Mino
- 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
- Ya Diktu: di Mino, Tom (2026), Ya Diktu: Grammar of the Minoan Peak Sanctuary Libation Formula. Minoan Mystery, online,46 pp.

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/TU-PI-TA/
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.