# No 'oil for the feet/hands' names or terms in later Sumerian > No Early Dynastic or Old Akkadian personal name or lemma combines ì (oil) directly with a body part in the sense 'oil for the feet/hands/head'. The i3 +… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DG361CPFAQP/no-oil-for-the-feet-hands-names-or-terms-in-later-sumerian Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform)Evidence Evidence · Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk # No 'oil for the feet/hands' names or terms in later Sumerian No Early Dynastic or Old Akkadian personal name or lemma combines ì (oil) directly with a body part in the sense 'oil for the feet/hands/head'. The i3 + body-part hits are verbal forms (i3-kuš2, i3-ši-…) or Akkadian syllables. So the commodity reading of NI does not explain the archaic body-part pairing either, although NI as a logogram or designation remains open. Suggestive0 ## What it means Key question[When and how did phonetic spelling begin in Mesopotamian writing?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT8N8Y2GZ/when-and-how-did-phonetic-spelling-begin-in-mesopotamian) No answer ahead yet **Open** unchanged Part of it[Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3) 2 answers, none ahead yet **Open** unchanged Answer this evidence bears on[NI is a logogram; GIR3 NI is a designation](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/answers/ANS0DG2VQ3K4ZY4/ni-is-a-logogram-gir3-ni-is-a-designation) Bears on1 for, 1 against **Still possible** unchanged What it implies 1. Neither a later Sumerian possessive nor an oil compound accounts for NI with body parts; the archaic pattern (5 name types, partly repeats of one name) is best left as an archaic designation of unknown reading.For: Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')? ## Next steps 8 1 Context of counted GIR3 NI entries Could decideGood odds~3 h [On: Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3) **49** score Details Read the five non-name GIR3 NI entries (W 22135,0; IM 074298; MS 2427; MS 2443; MSVO 1, 217) in full context and classify each as person, office or commodity. 2 Specialist collation of the NI names Could decideGood odds~6 h [On: Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3) **39** score Details Collate on photographs the NI names (P006268, P005573, P006053, P006118, P006182 and the SAG/SZU NI names) and the five counted GIR3 NI entries (W 22135,0; IM 074298; MS 2427; MS 2443; MSVO 1, 217): is the sign NI, does it stand inside the name, and are the counted entries persons? 3 Specialist collation of the NI names Could decideGood odds~6 h [On: Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3) **39** score Details Have a specialist check on photographs that NI in P006268, P005573, P006053, P006118, P006182 and the SAG/SZU NI names is the NI sign (not a variant of a similar sign) and stands within the name, and whether the counted GIR3 NI entries at Uruk and Jemdet Nasr are persons. 4 Specialist collation of the NI names Could decideGood odds~6 h [On: Is the archaic designation GIR3 NI the Sumerian name giri3-ni, with NI writing the possessive -ni ('his')?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3) **39** score Details Collate the NI names on photographs with a specialist. Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes[All 8 on the question](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/questions/QST0DG2T53MFHE9/is-the-archaic-designation-gir3-ni-the-sumerian-name-giri3#next) ## How it was found 1 run [NI sign in Early Dynastic and Old Akkadian names: readings, positions, body-part pairing](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/runs/RUN0DG377Z658N0/ni-sign-in-early-dynastic-and-old-akkadian-names-readings) Method [Within-name position test against a shuffle](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH0DFQRKBRYDX3/within-name-position-test-against-a-shuffle) · [Session 9](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/sessions/SES0DG38A190RRC/session-9-brute-force-checks-of-the-candidate-readings-sign) **Result.** In ED IIIa, IIIb and OAkk names, NI goes with body parts at the background rate (13/14%, 18/18%, 13/14%), and -ni after body parts is barely above -ni after other signs (5.0% vs 4.3–4.7%). No ì + body-part ('oil for the feet') names or lemmas exist. In Archaic Ur names NI is already the verbal prefix i3- and final -ni. Share of NI-containing PN types that contain a body-part sign, vs all PN types; NI rate after body-part signs vs after other signs**ED IIIb 0.176 vs 0.175** The archaic NI–body-part pairing has no Sumerian counterpart; it counts against the possessive reading and does not support the oil reading. [Early Dynastic Sumerian personal names, lemmatized (Oracc ePSD2 admin corpora ED I–II, IIIa, IIIb)](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0DFVPZDQBX11/early-dynastic-sumerian-personal-names-lemmatized-oracc)[ni_values_ed.py][ni_after_body.py][2 outputs](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/runs/RUN0DG377Z658N0/ni-sign-in-early-dynastic-and-old-akkadian-names-readings#outputs) ## Sources 1 [A descriptive grammar of Sumerian](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDHRSSNWMQ/a-descriptive-grammar-of-sumerian) Jagersma 2010 SRC ## Cite it ``` Mysteries Department. (2026). No 'oil for the feet/hands' names or terms in later Sumerian [Evidence EVD0DG361CPFAQP]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DG361CPFAQP ``` Key **EVD** 0DG361CPFAQP Kind Evidence Tier Suggestive Found in [Session 9](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/sessions/SES0DG38A190RRC/session-9-brute-force-checks-of-the-candidate-readings-sign) · 3 Nov 2026 Version 1 Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) The record Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history. [JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/EVD0DG361CPFAQP)