Ir (cuneiform)
Cuneiform sign / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The cuneiform ir (more common usage), or er sign is a sign used in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Amarna letters. It is in a small group that have smaller, 3-verticals, as well as 2- and 1-vertical strokes, sitting on a lower horizontal cuneiform stroke.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/B437ellst.png)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/B172ellst.png)
The sign is similar to the sa (cuneiform) sign, but sa's upper horizontal stroke is shorter than the lower anchored horizontal stroke. In the Amarna letters, it can also be confused with specific usages of ú-(the alphabetic u (by usage), Ú-1st prime–Ù-2nd prime is a complex, two-part large cuneiform sign, ="and", "but", or other conjunction meanings), as in Amarna letter EA 362, (Biridiya to Pharaoh).