Cuneiform Sign Sha

It has no single translation; context determines its reading.

Cuneiform began as a writing system impressed into clay. Signs that represented words also came to represent syllables, and the system was adapted to write Akkadian, used in Babylonian and Assyrian texts. An Old Babylonian school syllabary—a practice list of signs and readings—includes ša among the values students practiced in the 18th century BCE.

In the Neo-Assyrian period, 𒊭 could write the Akkadian preposition ša, roughly “of.” In a longer spelling, it could instead supply the syllable “sha.” Sumerian sign lists also give it other readings, written in scholarly notation as ARA, NA₅, and ZUR₈. Read the language and neighboring signs before choosing a reading.

Someone sent me 𒊭—what is it?

Alone, it identifies a cuneiform sign, not a recoverable word.

Without surrounding signs, you cannot tell whether the sender means the sign’s name or a reading from a text. A digital font gives the sign one representative outline, while tablet impressions vary with scribal hand and period. Across cuneiform traditions, some signs merged, split into variants, or appeared in ligatures, so a font outline is one convention, not a timeless tablet shape.