# ZU (ṯūm)

> garlic (logographic abbreviation)

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

- Reading: ṯūm
- Confidence: Candidate. A comparison worth testing; the evidence is thin or the word is rare.
- Root: [\*ṯūm-](<https://linear-a.ai/roots/S34/index.md>) 'garlic (Allium sativum)'
- Kind: Commodity
- Language: Semitic
- Signs: ZU (zu)

## Compared forms

- Akkadian: *šūmū* — šūmū 'garlic' (CAD Š/3 298)
- Hebrew: *šûmîm* — šûmîm 'garlic', among the foods of Egypt, Num 11:5 (HALOT 1443)
- Arabic: *ṯūm* — ṯūm 'garlic, Allium sativum' (Lane 365)
- Aramaic: *tūmā* — tūmā 'garlic' (HALOT 1443)

## Attestations

- [KH 91](<https://linear-a.ai/texts/KH91/index.md>): ZU\[ — garlic (logographic abbreviation)

## Commentary

KH 91, a ration list: GRA 1, VIN[, *316 1 13/20, ZU[ ]≈ ⅙, TU ¹⁄₁₆, NI[, *401+RU ¹⁄₁₆, *401+RA[. ZU writes ṯu and abbreviates ṯūm 'garlic': Arab. ṯūm, Heb. šûmîm 'garlic' (Num 11:5; HALOT 1443), Akk. šumû (CAD Š/3 298). In the personnel lists HT 63, HT 66 and HT 97a ZU is a single-sign abbreviation beside DI, JU and KI (Montecchi 2008, 318). Weak point: GORILA marks a break after ZU on KH 91, where SigLA sets the fraction straight after it.

## References

- Reading: di Mino; HALOT; CAD Š/3; Lane
- 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
- Lane: Lane, Edward William (1863), An Arabic-English Lexicon. Williams and Norgate, London
- 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
- Montecchi, Barbara (2008), Note d'analisi testuale delle tavolette in Lineare A di Haghia Triada. Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle Missioni Italiane in Oriente,86, Serie III, 8,Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene (volume dated 2008, printed 2010),313–326

---

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