# ZE (zēru) > seed-grain (agricultural category marker for planting stock allocations) A Linear A word in the Linear A Lexicon. The reading is a proposal and carries its tier. - Reading: zēru - Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare. - Root: [\*ʒVry/ʾ/ʕ- ~ \*ǯVry/ʾ/ʕ 1, \*ʒry/wʾ/ʕ ~ \*ǯry/w/ʾ/ʕ 2]() 'seed, sowing, sown field' 1, 'to sow, cultivate' 2 - Kind: Administrative - Language: Semitic - Signs: ZE (ze) ## Compared forms - Akkadian: *zēru* — zēru 'seed, acreage, semen, descendants' (CAD Z 89) - Ugaritic: *d/ḏrʕ* — d/ḏrʕ 'seed, seed-grain, sowing' (DULAT 278) - Hebrew: *zeraʿ* — zeraʿ 'seed, offspring' (HALOT 282) - Phoenician: 𐤆𐤓𐤏 *zrʿ* — zrʿ 'seed, offspring' (Krahmalkov 174) - Amorite: ḎRʿ 'sow, seed': jaḏraʿ, ḏarʿum (Gelb AS 21, 18) ## Attestations - [HT 16](): SA-PO ZE ¹⁄₁₆ - [HT Wa 1282](): ZE - [HT Wa 1283](): ZE - [HT Wa 1284](): ZE - [HT Wa 1285](): ZE - [HT Wa 1286](): ZE - [HT Wa 1287](): ZE - [HT Wa 1288](): ZE - [HT Wa 1289](): ZE - [HT Wa 1290](): ZE - [HT Wa 1291](): ZE - [HT Wa 1292](): ZE - [HT Wa 1293](): ZE - [HT Wa 1294](): ZE - [HT Wa 1295](): ZE - [HT Wa 1296](): ZE - [HT Wa 1297](): ZE - [HT Wa 1298](): ZE - [HT Wa 1299](): ZE - [HT Wa 1300](): ZE - [HT Wa 1301](): ZE - [HT Wa 1302](): ZE - [HT Wa 1303](): ZE - [HT Wa 1304](): ZE - [HT Wa 1305](): ZE - [HT Wa 1306](): ZE - [HT Wa 1307](): ZE - [HT Wa 1308](): ZE - [HT Wa 1309](): ZE - [HT Wa 1310](): ZE - [HT Wa 1311](): ZE - [HT Wa 1312](): ZE - [HT Wa 1313](): ZE - [HT Wa 1314](): ZE - [HT Wa 1315](): ZE - [HT Wa 1316](): ZE - [HT Wa 1317](): ZE - [HT Wa 1318](): ZE - [HT Wa 1319](): ZE - [HT Wa 1320](): ZE - [HT Wa 1321](): ZE - [KH Wa 1005](): ZE - [KH Wa 1006](): ZE - [KH Wa 1007](): ZE - [KH Wa 1008](): ZE - [KH Wa 1009](): ZE - [KH Wa 1010](): ZE ## Commentary HT 16, under KA-KU-PA: SA-PO ZE ¹⁄₁₆, the smallest quantity on the tablet. ZE alone marks 40 HT nodules (HT Wa 1282–1321) and six Khania nodules (KH Wa 1005–1010), a seed-grain category beside GRA. zēru 'seed': Akk. zēru 'seed (of cereals and of other plants), acreage' (CAD Z 89), Heb. zeraʿ 'seed' (HALOT 282), Ph. zrʿ, Aram. zəraʿ. Ebla has ðerʕ 'seed' with the same e (zi-ir-ḫu; GlOS 1, 167). Weak point: ZE stands alone, and only its context ties it to seed. See *305-RU. ## Same root - [\*305-RU]() (ḏarʿ(u)) ## References - Reading: di Mino; CAD Z; HALOT; DULAT; Krahmalkov 2000; Gelb 1980 - Krahmalkov: Krahmalkov, Charles R. (2000), A Phoenician-Punic Dictionary. Peeters (Leuven) - AS 21: Gelb, Ignace J. (1980), Computer-aided Analysis of Amorite. Assyriological Studies 21,The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago - HALOT: Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob; Richardson, M. E. J. (trans. and ed.) (1994), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vols. I–IV. E. J. Brill, Leiden · New York · Köln - 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 - CAD Z: Oriental Institute (A. Leo Oppenheim, ed.) (1961), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, vol. 21, Z. The Oriental Institute, Chicago; J. J. Augustin, Glückstadt - GlOS 1: Sanmartín, Joaquín (2019), A Glossary of Old Syrian, Volume 1: ʔ – ḳ. Languages of the Ancient Near East 8/1,Eisenbrauns (Pennsylvania State University Press), University Park --- Page: https://linear-a.ai/lexicon/ZE/ 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.