Za (cuneiform)


The cuneiform sign za is a common use sign in the Amarna letters and the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is used syllabically for ṣa, za, and ZA, and alphabetically for "ṣ", "z", or "a".
In the 14th century BC Amarna letters, "za" is used in the spelling of the word for "mayor", Akkadian hazannu. For example in EA 144, obverse, line 5: "man-hazzanu", Lú-Ha-za-nu. Za has a fairly high usage in the vassal states sub-corpus of the Amarna letters.

''Epic of Gilgamesh'' use

For the Epic of Gilgamesh, the following usage is found in Tablets I-XII: ṣa-; za-; ZA-.

Symbol

--Cuneiform sign ZA
; phonetic values: