Cuneiform Sign Uz3

In an animal word, 𒍚 can write uzud, “female goat.” Cuneiform is a writing system of signs pressed into clay. A sign can stand for different words or values in different settings, so an isolated 𒍚 identifies the sign but cannot translate a passage by itself.

A lexical tablet—a word list used to teach scribes—from Shuruppak, an ancient Mesopotamian city, preserves 𒍚 among animal entries. It belongs to the Early Dynastic IIIa (ca. 2600–2500 BCE) period, showing the sign was in use by then, not when it began. Cuneiform signs developed from drawn record marks into wedge-shaped impressions made with a cut reed.

Why does 𒍚 appear in a constellation name?

The star marker 𒀯 makes it part of a constellation name. In scholarly Latin-letter transcription, 𒀯 is written MUL, the marker for a star or constellation; MUL UZ₃ names the Goat constellation in the region of modern Lyra. The label appears in lexical, religious and astrological writing. In omen texts, UZ₃ KASKAL links the Goat with the Sun’s Path.

The Goat and Dog were separate constellation names at the end of the third and beginning of the second millennium BCE. Gula, a Mesopotamian goddess, became linked to the Goat in the second half of the second millennium BCE. In the Neo-Assyrian period, a human depiction of Gula could stand for the Goat constellation.

What if someone sends 𒍚 to me?

A lone 𒍚 needs surrounding words to show what its sender means. It could refer to the ancient sign, its goat reading or its constellation use. Read the rest of the message or ask what reference they have in mind.

Cuneiform fonts can draw the same encoded sign with different period-inspired outlines. A change in outline can be a font’s style choice rather than a different sign.