# VIR+KA (VIR+KA)

> kāribū, intercessory priests (VIR with the KA complement)

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

- Reading: VIR+KA
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*kVrVb-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/1250/index.md>) 'ask, request' 1, 'blessing, prayer' 2
- Kind: Personnel
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: VIR+KA

## Compared forms

- Akkadian: *kāribu* — kāribu 'worshipper'; deity in adoration (CAD K 216); karābu 'prayer, blessing' (CAD K 192)
- Amorite: KRB 'bless, pray': jakrub, kirb(ān)um (Gelb AS 21, 23)

## Attestations

- [HT 28a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT28a/index.md>): VIR+KA-VIN 6
- [HT 88](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT88/index.md>): A-DU VIR+KA 20 — men (VIR+KA)
- [HT 97a](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT97a/index.md>): KA-RU \*307+\*307 VIR+KA 82
- [HT 100](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/HT100/index.md>): VIR+KA 58 — personnel category KA (male workers)
- [KH Wc 2029](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/KHWc2029/index.md>): VIR+KA — temple/sanctuary personnel class
- [KH Wc 2030](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/KHWc2030/index.md>): VIR+KA — temple/sanctuary personnel class
- [KH Wc 2031](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/KHWc2031/index.md>): VIR+KA — temple/sanctuary personnel class
- [KH Wc 2032](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/KHWc2032/index.md>): VIR+KA — temple/sanctuary personnel class
- [KH Wc 2106](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/KHWc2106/index.md>): VIR+KA — temple/sanctuary personnel class

## Commentary

HT 97a VIR+KA 82, HT 100 VIR+KA 58, HT 88 A-DU VIR+KA 20, HT 28a VIR+KA-VIN 6, and VIR+KA alone on five Khania roundels, KH Wc 2029–2032 and 2106. VIR marks personnel, and KA is a written complement: a personnel class. KA writes the initial of Akk. kāribu 'one who prays', designating a priest (CAD K 216): the kāribū. Rival: Akk. kallû 'official, messenger' (CAD K 83). Weak point: no witness spells the word out, and KA is also the initial of the rival kallû. Nine attestations.

## References

- Reading: di Mino; CAD K
- AS 21: Gelb, Ignace J. (1980), Computer-aided Analysis of Amorite. Assyriological Studies 21,The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
- CAD K: Oriental Institute (A. Leo Oppenheim and Erica Reiner, eds.) (1971), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 8, K. The Oriental Institute, Chicago; J. J. Augustin, Glückstadt

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Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/VIR~2BKA/
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.