The cuneiform sign ba, is a common-use sign of the Amarna letters, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and other cuneiform texts (for example Hittite texts).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/B014vellst.png)
(digitized form ba, and other meanings)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Amarna_letter-_Royal_Letter_from_Ashur-uballit%2C_the_king_of_Assyria%2C_to_the_king_of_Egypt_MET_24.2.11_EGDP021806.jpg/350px-Amarna_letter-_Royal_Letter_from_Ashur-uballit%2C_the_king_of_Assyria%2C_to_the_king_of_Egypt_MET_24.2.11_EGDP021806.jpg)
A common Amarna letter that uses cuneiform ba.
(Third from last cuneiform sign, line 9.)
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ba (cuneiform).
Linguistically, it has the alphabetical usage in texts for b, a, or syllabically for ba, and also a replacement for "b", by "p". The a is replaceable in word formation by any of the 4 vowels: a, e, i, or u.
Epic of Gilgamesh usage
editThe ba sign usage in the Epic of Gilgamesh is as follows: ba-(282 times); BA-(7).[1]
References
edit- ^ Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Sign List, pp. 155-165, no. 062, p. 155, "ba".
- Moran, William L. 1987, 1992. The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. 393 pages.(softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0)
- Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Parpola, Simo, Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages.
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line drawing, Obverse
Amarna letter EA 15-(titled: "Assyria joins the International Scene").
A common Amarna letter that uses cuneiform ba.
(Third from last cuneiform sign, line 9.) -
line drawing, Reverse