June3] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY. [189a.
identical, bothin the characterand the sound, withthe Chinese
sing,shing ("bright"),"star,"whichwas originallyidentical with
shing,Pekingesesluing, "light,"shdng, "wise," "holy,"for which
additionalcharacterswerenaturallyinventedat a later period.
Theline,E.I.H.,iv, 30, which I left unrendered, is to be read,
sa-kinalamshingina tenia, "(SamaS)whoputtestthe goodthought
(or desire) in my mind." alam, "image," "thought" (salrnu),
recalls &Sov, <<■'„.e'SwXov, and may be compared with Ian, lam,
to desire, Ian, lam, to see. Elsewherein Nebuchadrezzar's inscrip
tions,as I have beforepointedout,we have the similar MuSaikin
anna klnimina tirtia, "Puttingthe right desire (annu, pn,pro-
pensus fuit, ^r*-* desiderioaffectusest) in my mind." Theidea
of looking or gazingat is connected withthatof desiring, longingfor,
thinkingof, in other Chineseand Accadian terms(see kin-gad, infra).
I suppose that salmuwas selectedby the Babylonian scribe to
explainthe Accadian termalam,becauseof the similar sound.The Ideogram (If.
Thissign is read Suku,witha phonetic complement{^f £|,
5ukum-ma, and rendered kurmatu, kurummatu, "food" (field or
gardenproduce,DID). Whenjoinedwiththe ideogram <—^f «-VJ>
ninni,the goddess Ishtar,it is rendered nindabu,taklimu, "offer
ing";for offerings are the food of gods.
Suku= sukum = sukkum = sug-kum; and sug is "grain,"
"seed,"^, as we see in ^ >-(£, sukkul(sug-kul),scru,"seed."
With the Accadian kul,"seed,"cp. the Chinese ku, "grain, corn,
the seeds of cereals," in Cantonese kbk ( = ka-ka, fruit); with
Sug, "grain," the 202nd radical shu, "the panicled millet,"
" sorghum,"and shu, oldershok," edible pulseof any kind." kur
andKULare not far apart in Accadian ; and the Chinese character
ku, "grain," meansalso"good" and "lucky,"muchas in Accadian
kuris "to eat" (akalu)and kur is "lucky" (damku).* kum,the
secondelementin Su-kum, is kurig (§1), "to place before,offer,"
"to supply," "to give," "grainfor troops or revenue in kind" (cp.
gun,biltu); and, witha different tone," to nourish," " to support " ;
"offerings,""presents." In Cantonese the character means"to* The precedingku, "a ravine, a porge," whenjoinedwithflng,"the
wind,"gives iu-f&ng, " the east " ; cp. Accadian KIR (kur) in kik-rc i>.
" ravine,"and KUR, "theeast."
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