Cuneiform Numbers and Punctuation

See also: Cuneiform (Unicode block) and Early Dynastic Cuneiform (Unicode block)

For a list of all numerals encoded in Unicode, see Numerals in Unicode.

In Unicode, the Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform script is covered in three blocks in the Supplementary Multilingual Plane (SMP):

• U+12000–U+123FF Cuneiform
• U+12400–U+1247F Cuneiform Numbers and Punctuation
• U+12480–U+1254F Early Dynastic Cuneiform

Cuneiform Numbers and Punctuation
Range	U+12400..U+1247F (128 code points)
Plane	SMP
Scripts	Cuneiform
Symbol sets	Numeric signs Fractions Punctuation
Assigned	116 code points
Unused	12 reserved code points
Unicode version history
5.0 (2006)	103 (+103)
7.0 (2014)	116 (+13)
Unicode documentation
Code chart ∣ Web page
Note: [1][2]

The sample glyphs in the chart file published by the Unicode Consortium^[3] show the characters in their Classical Sumerian form (Early Dynastic period, mid 3rd millennium BCE). The characters as written during the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE, the era during which the vast majority of cuneiform texts were written, are considered font variants of the same characters.

Organization

The final proposal for Unicode encoding of the script was submitted by two cuneiform scholars working with an experienced Unicode proposal writer in June 2004.^[4] The base character inventory is derived from the list of Ur III signs compiled by the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative of UCLA based on the inventories of Miguel Civil, Rykle Borger (2003), and Robert Englund. Rather than opting for a direct ordering by glyph shape and complexity, according to the numbering of an existing catalogue, the Unicode order of glyphs was based on the Latin alphabetic order of their 'main' Sumerian transliteration as a practical approximation.

Block

Cuneiform Numbers and Punctuation[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1240x

𒐀

𒐁

𒐂

𒐃

𒐄

𒐅

𒐆

𒐇

𒐈

𒐉

𒐊

𒐋

𒐌

𒐍

𒐎

𒐏

U+1241x

𒐐

𒐑

𒐒

𒐓

𒐔

𒐕

𒐖

𒐗

𒐘

𒐙

𒐚

𒐛

𒐜

𒐝

𒐞

𒐟

U+1242x

𒐠

𒐡

𒐢

𒐣

𒐤

𒐥

𒐦

𒐧

𒐨

𒐩

𒐪

𒐫

𒐬

𒐭

𒐮

𒐯

U+1243x

𒐰

𒐱

𒐲

𒐳

𒐴

𒐵

𒐶

𒐷

𒐸

𒐹

𒐺

𒐻

𒐼

𒐽

𒐾

𒐿

U+1244x

𒑀

𒑁

𒑂

𒑃

𒑄

𒑅

𒑆

𒑇

𒑈

𒑉

𒑊

𒑋

𒑌

𒑍

𒑎

𒑏

U+1245x

𒑐

𒑑

𒑒

𒑓

𒑔

𒑕

𒑖

𒑗

𒑘

𒑙

𒑚

𒑛

𒑜

𒑝

𒑞

𒑟

U+1246x

𒑠

𒑡

𒑢

𒑣

𒑤

𒑥

𒑦

𒑧

𒑨

𒑩

𒑪

𒑫

𒑬

𒑭

𒑮

U+1247x

𒑰

𒑱

𒑲

𒑳

𒑴

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Signs

See also list of cuneiform signs.

The following table allows matching of Borger's 1981 and 2003 numbering with Unicode characters ^[5] The "primary" transliteration column has the glyphs' Sumerian values as given by the official glyph name, slightly modified here for legibility by including traditional assyriological symbols such as "x" rather than "TIMES". The exact Unicode names can be unambiguously recovered by prefixing, "CUNEIFORM [NUMERIC] SIGN", replacing "TIMES" for "x", "PLUS" for "+" and "OVER" for "/", "ASTERISK" for "*", "H" for "Ḫ", "SH" for "Š", and switching to uppercase.

Sign	Code point	Name	Borger (2003)	Borger (1981)	Comments
𒀸	U+12038	one AŠ	001		1, from general Cuneiform_(Unicode_block) not this block
𒐀	U+12400	two AŠ	002	2	2, = U+1212C
𒐁	U+12401	three AŠ	004		3, EŠ6
𒐂	U+12402	four AŠ	215	124,42	4, LIMMU2, LIMM2, TAB.TAB
𒐃	U+12403	five AŠ	216		5, IA7, TAB.TAB.AŠ
𒐄	U+12404	six AŠ	217		6, AŠ4, TAB.TAB.TAB
𒐅	U+12405	seven AŠ	218		7, IMIN2, TAB.TAB.TAB.AŠ
𒐆	U+12406	eight AŠ	219		8, USSU2, TAB.TAB.TAB.TAB
𒐇	U+12407	nine AŠ	220		9, ILIMMU2, TAB.TAB.TAB.TAB.AŠ
𒐈	U+12408	three DIŠ	834	593	3, 180, EŠ5
𒐉	U+12409	four DIŠ	851; 852; 853	316	4, 240, ZA, LIMMU5, NIGIDALIMMU, = U+1235D
𒐊	U+1240A	five DIŠ	861	598a	5, 300, IA2
𒐋	U+1240B	six DIŠ	862	598b	6, 360, AŠ3
𒐌	U+1240C	seven DIŠ	863	598c	7, 420
𒐍	U+1240D	eight DIŠ	864	598d	8, 480
𒐎	U+1240E	nine DIŠ			9, 540
𒐏	U+1240F	four U	713	474	40, NIMIN
𒐐	U+12410	five U	714	475	50, NINNU
𒐑	U+12411	six U	715	476	60
𒐒	U+12412	seven U	716	477	70
𒐓	U+12413	eight U	717	478	80
𒐔	U+12414	nine U	718	479	90
𒐕	U+12415	one GEŠ2
𒐖	U+12416	two GEŠ2
𒐗	U+12417	three GEŠ2
𒐘	U+12418	four GEŠ2
𒐙	U+12419	five GEŠ2
𒐚	U+1241A	six GEŠ2
𒐛	U+1241B	seven GEŠ2
𒐜	U+1241C	eight GEŠ2
𒐝	U+1241D	nine GEŠ2
𒐞	U+1241E	one GEŠU	824	534	GEŠ2.U; 600 or 70
𒐟	U+1241F	two GEŠU			1200 or 80
𒐠	U+12420	three GEŠU			1800 or 90
𒐡	U+12421	four GEŠU			2400 or 100
𒐢	U+12422	five GEŠU			3000 or 110
𒐣	U+12423	two ŠAR2
𒐤	U+12424	three ŠAR2
𒐥	U+12425	three ŠAR2 variant form
𒐦	U+12426	four ŠAR2
𒐧	U+12427	five ŠAR2
𒐨	U+12428	six ŠAR2
𒐩	U+12429	seven ŠAR2
𒐪	U+1242A	eight ŠAR2
𒐫	U+1242B	nine ŠAR2
𒐬	U+1242C	one ŠARU	653	409	36,000
𒐭	U+1242D	two ŠARU			72,000
𒐮	U+1242E	three ŠARU			108,000
𒐯	U+1242F	three ŠARU variant form			108,000
𒐰	U+12430	four ŠARU			144,000
𒐱	U+12431	five ŠARU			180,000
𒐲	U+12432	ŠAR2 x GAL.DIŠ	651	408	216,000
𒐳	U+12433	ŠAR2 x GAL.MIN	652	408	432,000
𒐴	U+12434	one BURU	662	350,8	U gunû
𒐵	U+12435	two BURU
𒐶	U+12436	three BURU
𒐷	U+12437	three BURU variant form
𒐸	U+12438	four BURU
𒐹	U+12439	five BURU
𒐺	U+1243A	EŠ16	505		3, = U+1203C
𒐻	U+1243B	EŠ21	210		3
𒐼	U+1243C	LIMMU	859; 860		4, NIG2, GAR, NINDA
𒐽	U+1243D	LIMMU4	506		4
𒐾	U+1243E
𒐿	U+1243F
𒑀	U+12440	AŠ9	536		6, EŠ16.EŠ16
𒑁	U+12441	IMIN3	537		7, UMUN9
𒑂	U+12442	IMIN	863		7
𒑃	U+12443	IMIN variant form	866		7
𒑄	U+12444	USSU	867		8
𒑅	U+12445	USSU3	538		8
𒑆	U+12446	ILIMMU	868		9
𒑇	U+12447	ILIMMU3	539		9, EŠ16.EŠ16.EŠ16
𒑈	U+12448	ILIMMU4	577		9
𒑉	U+12449	DIŠ / DIŠ / DIŠ	865v		9
𒑊	U+1244A	two AŠ tenû	593
𒑋	U+1244B	three AŠ tenû	629
𒑌	U+1244C	four AŠ tenû	854	379; 380	ZA tenû, ERIM tenû
𒑍	U+1244D	five AŠ tenû
𒑎	U+1244E	six AŠ tenû
𒑏	U+1244F	one BAN2	122		= U+12047
𒑐	U+12450	two BAN2
𒑑	U+12451	three BAN2
𒑒	U+12452	four BAN2
𒑓	U+12453	four BAN2 variant form
𒑔	U+12454	five BAN2
𒑕	U+12455	five BAN2 variant form
𒑖	U+12456	NIGIDAMIN	847, 848
𒑗	U+12457	NIGIDAEŠ	850
𒑘	U+12458	one EŠE3			= U+12041, U+12300
𒑙	U+12459	two EŠE3			= U+12049
𒑚	U+1245A	one third	826	571	ŠUŠANA
𒑛	U+1245B	two thirds	832	572
𒑜	U+1245C	five sixths	838	573	KINGUSILA
𒑝	U+1245D	one third variant form
𒑞	U+1245E	two thirds variant form
𒑟	U+1245F	one eighth
𒑠	U+12460	one quarter
𒑡	U+12461	Old Assyrian one sixth	630		Kültepe only
𒑢	U+12462	Old Assyrian one quarter
𒑰	U+12470	Old Assyrian word divider
𒑱	U+12471	vertical colon	592		Glossenkeil
𒑲	U+12472	diagonal colon	592		Glossenkeil
𒑳	U+12473	diagonal tricolon

History

The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Cuneiform Numbers and Punctuation block:

Version	Final code points[a]	Count	L2 ID	WG2 ID	Document
5.0	U+12400..12462, 12470..12473	103	L2/00-128		Bunz, Carl-Martin (2000-03-01), Scripts from the Past in Future Versions of Unicode
			L2/00-153		Bunz, Carl-Martin (2000-04-26), Further comments on historic scripts
			L2/00-398		Snyder, Dean (2000-11-07), Cuneiform: From Clay Tablet to Computer
			L2/00-419	N2297	Everson, Michael (2000-11-20), Legacy cuneiform font implementations and the ICE project
			L2/03-162	N2585	Everson, Michael; Feuerherm, Karljürgen (2003-05-25), Basic principles for the encoding of Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform
			L2/03-415		Snyder, Dean (2003-11-01), Proposal to Encode the Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform Script in the UCS
			L2/03-393R	N2664R	Everson, Michael; Feuerherm, Karljürgen; Tinney, Steve (2003-11-03), Preliminary proposal to encode Cuneiform script in the SMP of the UCS
			L2/03-416		Anderson, Lloyd (2003-11-03), The Cuneiform Encoding Proposal -- a View of its Current Status
			L2/04-080		Tinney, Steve (2004-01-24), Rationale for changes to N2664R
			L2/04-036	N2698	Everson, Michael; Feuerherm, Karljürgen; Tinney, Steve (2004-01-29), Revised proposal to encode Cuneiform script in the SMP of the UCS
			L2/04-041		Anderson, Lloyd (2004-01-29), Fitting Cuneiform Encoding to Cuneiform Script
			L2/04-059		Feuerherm, Karljürgen (2004-01-30), Short Response to L2/04-041 "Fitting Cuneiform Encoding to Cuneiform Script"
			L2/04-063		Gewecke, Tom (2004-01-30), Re: Cuneiform at UTC
			L2/04-056		Veldhuis, Niek (2004-01-31), Letter re "Cuneiform Unicode"
			L2/04-057		Jones, Charles E. (2004-02-01), Letter re "Cuneiform"
			L2/04-058		Michalowski, Piotr (2004-02-01), Letter re "cuneiform unicode"
			L2/04-064		Cooper, Jerry (2004-02-01), Letter re "unicode proposal"
			L2/04-066		Durusau, Patrick (2004-02-02), Letter re "Proposal N2698"
			L2/04-081		Black, Jeremy (2004-02-02), Letter re "cuneiform Unicode proposal"
			L2/04-086		Anderson, Lloyd (2004-02-03), Notes for verbal presentation to UTC meeting, 3 February 2004
			L2/04-099		Anderson, Lloyd (2004-02-09), Unification of cuneiform numbers
			L2/04-225		Anderson, Lloyd (2004-06-07), Proposed modifications to introductory text of N2798 = L204-189 Proposal for Cuneiform Encoding
			L2/04-189	N2786	Everson, Michael; Feuerherm, Karljürgen; Tinney, Steve (2004-06-08), Final proposal to encode Cuneiform script
			L2/04-223R		Anderson, Lloyd (2004-06-11), Proposed modifications to delete and add signs to N2798 = L204-189 Proposal for Cuneiform Encoding
			L2/04-354		McGowan, Rick (2004-09-20), Cuneiform Properties
			L2/05-135		Tinney, Steve (2005-05-10), Corrections to N2786
			L2/05-174		Everson, Michael (2005-07-28), Irish comments on Cuneiform
			L2/05-108R		Moore, Lisa (2005-08-26), "Cuneiform (C.17)", UTC #103 Minutes
				N2953 (pdf, doc)	Umamaheswaran, V. S. (2006-02-16), "M47.12", Unconfirmed minutes of WG 2 meeting 47, Sophia Antipolis, France; 2005-09-12/15
			L2/12-112		Moore, Lisa (2012-05-17), "Consensus 131-C30", UTC #131 / L2 #228 Minutes, Change the numeric values for 1240F..12414 to 40..90, for Unicode 6.2.
			L2/12-240		Davis, Mark (2012-07-20), Property Issues for U6.2
			L2/12-239		Moore, Lisa (2012-08-14), "Consensus 132-C19", UTC #132 Minutes, Give U+12432 and U+12433 the numeric type "numeric" and the numeric values 216,000, and 432,000 respectively. Make U+12456 and 12457 have the numeric type "numeric" and value "-1".
			L2/12-328		Anderson, Deborah (2012-10-16), Numeric value fixes for two cuneiform characters
			L2/12-343R2		Moore, Lisa (2012-12-04), "Consensus 133-C30", UTC #133 Minutes, Change the numeric value of U+12456 to 2 and U+12457 to 3, for Unicode 6.3.
7.0	U+12463..1246E, 12474	13	L2/12-002	N4178R	Everson, Michael; Tinney, Steve (2012-01-16), Proposal for additions and corrections to Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform
			L2/12-207R	N4277R	Everson, Michael; Tinney, Steve (2012-07-31), Proposal for additions and corrections to Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform
			L2/12-239		Moore, Lisa (2012-08-14), "C.3", UTC #132 Minutes
Proposed code points and characters names may differ from final code points and names

See also

• List of cuneiform signs

References

• Rylke Borger, Assyrisch-Babylonische Zeichenliste, 2nd ed., Neukirchen-Vluyn (1981)
• Rylke Borger, Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon, Münster (2003). *Michael Everson, Karljürgen Feuerherm, Steve Tinney, "Final proposal to encode the Cuneiform script in the SMP of the UCS", ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N2786 (2004).

1. "Unicode character database". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
2. "Enumerated Versions of The Unicode Standard". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
3. Cuneiform Unicode.org chart (PDF)
4. Unicode cuneiform
5. (after Anderson's sign list Archived 2010-04-08 at the Wayback Machine)

External links

• cuneiformsigns.org by Lloyd Anderson
• Cuneiform Unicode.org chart (PDF)
• Cuneiform Numbers and Punctuation Unicode.org chart (PDF)

Font packages

• Akkadian Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine (reproduces the Sumerian (3rd millennium BC) glyphs given in the Unicode (reference chart), by George Douros Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine.
• (in German) FreeIdgSerif (branched off FreeSerif), encodes some 390 Old Assyrian (2nd millennium BC) glyphs used in Hittite cuneiform.