# Ne (cuneiform)

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The [cuneiform](/source/Cuneiform) **Ne** sign,[1] is found in both the 14th century BC [Amarna letters](/source/Amarna_letters) and the *[Epic of Gilgamesh](/source/Epic_of_Gilgamesh)*. In the Amarna letters, it is especially used in the opening, and introductory paragraph of the [clay tablet](/source/Clay_tablet) letter, when addressing the Pharaoh (King), or when sent to another individual who is part of the Pharaoh's correspondence, for the alternate syllabic usage of *"bil"*, (used for the 'b'). In the Amarna letters, it is used as **Bil** (cuneiform), for the spelling of *speaks*, or *"says"*, in the opening statement; the [Akkadian language](/source/Akkadian_language) word is "qabû", for *to say, tell*.[2] (There is a wide range of sign usage in the 300+ Amarna letters for spelling "qabû" in the introduction, or in the texts; some of the Amarna letters are texts other than actual 'letters'.)

The **ne (cuneiform)** sign has the following uses, besides "ne", in the *Epic of Gilgamesh*:[3]

- **bil**-(=bí (bi2))
- **kúm**
- **ne**
- **pil**
- **ṭè**
- **BIL** ([Sumerogram](/source/Sumerogram) usage)
- **NE**

The sign is a "two-part" compound sign. The center and left is the sign for *[am (cuneiform)](/source/Am_(cuneiform))*, and the right is the sign for *[is (cuneiform)](/source/Is_(cuneiform))*, , (and listed as [Giš (cuneiform)](/source/Gi%C5%A1_(cuneiform)),[4] cuneiform "GIŠ" (the "is" sign) being the use for [GIŠ (wood Sumerogram)](/source/GI%C5%A0_(wood_Sumerogram))).

The specific usage numbers for the sign's meaning in the *Epic of Gilgamesh* is as follows: *bil*-(9), *kúm*-(5), *ne*-(1), *pil*-(2), *ṭè*-(13), *BIL*-(3), *NE*-(1).[5]

In the Amarna letters, the sign is used for spelling *qabû* in the introduction for letters: [EA 9](/source/Amarna_letter_EA_9), [EA 19](/source/Amarna_letter_EA_19), [EA 141](/source/Amarna_letter_EA_141), [EA 144](/source/Amarna_letter_EA_144), [EA 205](/source/Amarna_letter_EA_205), [EA 254](/source/Amarna_letter_254), [EA 270](/source/Amarna_letter_EA_270), [EA 271](/source/Amarna_letter_EA_271), and [EA 367](/source/Amarna_letter_EA_367), as well as some others.

## Gallery

## References

1. [Buccellati, Giorgio](/source/Giorgio_Buccellati), (Ugarit-Forschungen 11, 1979). *Comparative Graphemic Analysis of [Old Babylonian](/source/Akkadian_language) and Western Akkadian*, pp. 95-100.

1. Parpola, 1971. *The Standard Babylonian [Epic of Gilgamesh](/source/Epic_of_Gilgamesh)*, Glossary, pp. 119-145, **qabû**, p. 136.

1. Parpola, 1971. *The Standard Babylonian [Epic of Gilgamesh](/source/Epic_of_Gilgamesh)*, Sign List, pp. 155-165, no. 172, p. 158.

1. [Buccellati, Giorgio](/source/Giorgio_Buccellati), (Ugarit-Forschungen 11, 1979), p. 98.

1. Parpola, 1971. *The Standard Babylonian [Epic of Gilgamesh](/source/Epic_of_Gilgamesh)*, Sign List, pp. 155-165, no. 172, p. 158.

- [Moran, William L.](/source/William_L._Moran) 1987, 1992. *The Amarna Letters.* Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. 393 pages.(softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0)
- Parpola, 1971. *The Standard Babylonian [Epic of Gilgamesh](/source/Epic_of_Gilgamesh)*, [Parpola, Simo](/source/Simo_Parpola), [Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project](/source/Neo-Assyrian_Text_Corpus_Project), c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages.
- Ugarit Forschungen (Neukirchen-Vluyn). UF-11 (1979) honors [Claude Schaeffer](/source/Claude_Schaeffer), with about 100 articles in 900 pages. pp 95, ff, "Comparative Graphemic Analysis of [Old Babylonian](/source/Akkadian_language) and Western Akkadian", author Giorgio Buccellati, ( i.e. Ugarit and [Amarna](/source/Amarna_letters) (letters), three others, [Mari](/source/Mari,_Syria), OB,Royal, OB,non-Royal letters).

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