bāṣum

Akkadian

𒁀𒀀𒍮 (bāṣum)

Etymology

Unknown, but compare Biblical Hebrew בֹּץ (boṣ, “mud, silt”), a hapax legomenon in the Bible.

Pronunciation

• (Old Babylonian) IPA^(key): /ˈbaː.sˤum/

Noun

bāṣum m (from Old Babylonian on, Babylonian, Old Assyrian)

1. sand

Alternative forms

• bāṣu (non-mimated)
• baṣṣu (later)

Cuneiform spellings

Phonetic
𒁀𒀀𒍮 (ba-a-ṣu) 𒁀𒍪 (ba-ṣu₂) 𒁀𒍮 (ba-ṣu) 𒁀𒊍𒍮 (ba-aṣ-ṣu) (accusative) 𒁀𒍝𒄠 (ba-ṣa-am) (accusative) 𒁀𒊍𒍝 (ba-aṣ-ṣa) (genitive) 𒁀𒍣𒅎 (ba-ṣi₂-im) (genitive) 𒁀𒊍𒍢 (ba-aṣ-ṣi) (genitive) 𒁀𒍢 (ba-ṣi) (construct state) 𒁀𒊍 (ba-aṣ)

Derived terms

• bāṣiš (“like sand”)

References

• “baṣṣu”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD)‎^[1], Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1956–2011
• Black, Jeremy, George, Andrew, Postgate, Nicholas (2000) “bāṣu(m)”, in A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, via the electronic Babylonian Library