Cuneiform Sign Munsub

“Hair” is one recorded reading, not a full translation of 𒈰 alone.

𒈰 is the Sumerian cuneiform sign MUNSUB. Sign lists give it the reading munsub, “hair,” alongside sub₅ (“to rub”), sumur₃ (“roof”), and šub₄, linked to “rush” in one marked spelling. These Latin-letter forms are scholarly spellings of Sumerian values, not English words. A tablet’s transliteration—the scholarly spelling of its cuneiform signs—and neighboring signs help determine which reading fits.

The earliest complete cuneiform system is attested at Uruk in the late fourth millennium BCE, when growing cities needed records for administration. Scribes pressed cut reeds into clay; wedge-shaped strokes developed from earlier picture-like marks, and the script came to represent both words and syllables. A syllabary from the ancient city of Ebla—a list pairing signs with syllable readings—records munšub and distinguishes it from ušₓ.

Is 𒈰 the shepherd sign?

No. “Shepherd” is linked to a distinct cuneiform sign.

GU₂×NUN 𒄛 carries the Sumerian value munsub₃, “shepherd” or “herdsman.” The shared reading links the sign-list entries, but 𒄛 is a separate sign, not another shape of MUNSUB.