uḫūlu
REVIEW
Variant: LBLB: Late Babylonian (ca. 626 BCE – 100 CE) uḫḫulu
Meanings:
alkali, potash
Distribution: OB onward(s)OB onward(s): Old Babylonian onwards (ca. 2000 BCE onwards)
Domain: Materials and substances
Grammar:
pos: subst.Substantivegender: masc. and fem.Masculine and feminine
Logogram: NAGA
Etymology: Inherited Cf. Aram. and Syr. ʾḥl, ʾḥlʾ “alkali; saltwort”, see Sokoloff 2009, 28; Sokoloff 2002, 85. Cf. the Hurrian lw. uḫḫurri, see Richter 2012, 482.
1In uḫūlu qarnānu “horned alkali, Salicornia (or a similar plant)”
SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) mê* itti* NAGA SI tamaḫḫaṣ Sakikkû XXIX 34′ “you stir water with (horned) alkali-plant”. Corresponds to 76′–80′ in Heeßel 2000. uḫūlu qarnānu (NAGA SI), “horned alkali" is perhaps Salicornia or a similar plant. new
Discussion
As in Aram.-Syr. sources, the term most likely also refers to various plants from which potassium carbonate could be extracted. So far, only the differentiation between these and Salicornia (uḫūlu qarnānu) is attested.