# TU (ṯawr)

> bull, cattle (logographic abbreviation of ṯawr; administrative commodity category for bovine livestock/products)

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

- Reading: ṯawr
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*ṯawr-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/269/index.md>) 'bull, ox'
- Kind: Animal
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: TU (tu)

## Compared forms

- Hebrew: שׁוֹר *šōr* — šōr (שׁוֹר) 'bull, ox' (Exod 21:28)
- Ugaritic: 𐎘𐎗 *ṯr* — ṯr 'bull' (KTU 1.10 iii:35, 1.12 i:30); epithet of El: ṯr ʾil 'Bull El'
- Akkadian: *šūru* — šūru 'bull' (CAD Š/3 370)
- Arabic: ثَوْر *ṯawr* — ṯawr (ثَوْر) 'bull'

## Attestations

- [HT 49a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT49a/index.md>): TU 4 — cattle (logographic abbreviation), 4
- [KH 91](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/KH91/index.md>): TU ¹⁄₁₆ — cattle (logographic abbreviation)

## Commentary

Two complete witnesses: HT 49a .8 TU 4 (GORILA I 93) and KH 91 .3 TU ¹⁄₁₆ (V 45). The fraction on KH 91 marks a measured commodity, not a person. Every other TU is broken or dotted: HT 55a ]TU 1[ (I 107), HT 79+83 ]TU-[·] 3 (I 127), HT 98a ]TU 1 (I 161), HT 126b ]TU 6 (I 217), KH 2 TU-[ (III 23), KH 51 TU[ (III 75), KH 57 ]TU[ (III 79), ZA 12b ]TỤ[ (III 177), PH(?) 31b TU-[ (I 319). TU is the first syllable of ṯawr 'bull', √ṯ-w-r, writing ṯu as ZU does: Ug. ṯwr /ṯōru/ < *ṯawru 'bull' (Huehnergard 2012, 42), BH šōr 'bull, ox', with ṯ > š. See I-ZU-RI-NI-TA.

## Same root

- [I-ZU-RI-NI-TA](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/I-ZU-RI-NI-TA/index.md>) (ʾi-ṯawrīnīta)
- [ZU-RI-NI-MA](<https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/ZU-RI-NI-MA/index.md>) (Ṯūrinima)

## References

- Reading: di Mino
- KTU: Dietrich, Manfried; Loretz, Oswald; Sanmartín, Joaquín (2013), Die keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani und anderen Orten / The Cuneiform Alphabetic Texts from Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani and Other Places (KTU³). Ugarit-Verlag, Münster (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 360/1); ISBN 978-3-86835-014-2
- Huehnergard, John (2012), An Introduction to Ugaritic. Hendrickson
- CAD Š/3: Oriental Institute (Erica Reiner, ed.) (1992), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 17, Š, part 3. The Oriental Institute, Chicago; J. J. Augustin, Glückstadt
- GORILA I: Godart, Louis; Olivier, Jean-Pierre (1976), Recueil des inscriptions en linéaire A, volume 1: Tablettes éditées avant 1970 (GORILA I). École française d'Athènes (Études crétoises XXI, 1); Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris

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