Cuneiform sign Lum

It has several readings; the surrounding text decides. In Sumerian, the scholarly value lum can write words for fruitfulness, fullness, growth, thriving, or shining; the same sign also writes a noun for excrement. These are readings in words, not one fixed picture-like meaning.

In Akkadian, it can work as a Sumerogram—a Sumerian sign used inside Akkadian writing—or stand for the phonetic values conventionally transcribed lum and num₂. The language and surrounding signs decide which function fits.

When is 𒈝 attested?

The fruitfulness value is attested from Early Dynastic IIIa through Hellenistic records. Early Dynastic IIIa is an early Mesopotamian period; Hellenistic records come much later.

Cuneiform writing began in Uruk about 3400–3300 BCE as a way to record goods and services. That marks the start of the writing system, not a date for this individual sign. A separately catalogued Proto-Cuneiform sign named LUM belongs to an earlier stage of cuneiform; its shared name does not make it an alternate spelling of 𒈝.

How can I type and display 𒈝?

Use 𒈝 for the encoded sign; LUM is transliteration. A cuneiform-aware input method can map the sign to Unicode; typing Latin LUM alone produces those letters, not 𒈝.

Fonts can show different historical styles for the same sign. A missing Cuneiform font may show a box or fallback glyph; the encoded character has not changed.