Cuneiform Sign Sumash

In Sumerian, it is read sumaš, the name of an oceanic fish.

Cuneiform is an ancient writing system made up of wedge-shaped signs. In an Early Dynastic IIIb fish list, the transliteration sumaš names an oceanic or sea fish. Administrative records use this sign in accounts of fish delivered by sea fishermen. The fish classifier KU₆—a marker used with fish words—can make that category explicit.

From Old Akkadian through Neo-Babylonian records, the fish sense continues; Akkadian uses the related form sumāšu. Sign lists also give this sign the readings ušbar₄ and ušbur₄, so the surrounding text or a scholarly transliteration determines which reading is intended.

What if someone sends me 𒋨?

Alone, it does not identify which reading is intended.

In an edition of a clay tablet or a sign list—a reference list of signs and readings—this glyph is a precise historical sign. In a modern message, the single character gives no language, period, or transliteration context, so “fish” is a documented reading, not a guaranteed message from the sender. Ask what reading they intended if the distinction matters.

Why does 𒋨 look different in fonts?

Cuneiform fonts can show different historical styles.

Unicode assigns this character a stable identity, while historical cuneiform writing varies across regions, periods, and styles. Reference works distinguish carved (“lapidary”) and cursive (quickly written) Old Babylonian forms from Neo-Assyrian forms. A different silhouette is therefore usually a font choice, not a different character.

Hexadecimal Unicode input may let you enter 122E8, but the keystroke varies by app and operating system. Transliteration input may suggest more than one sign for a reading like SUMAŠ, so check the result when the exact sign matters.