Number: 2515
Proto-Semitic: *ŝaw-
Meaning: head of small cattle
Akkadian: šuʔu (šû) 'sheep' OB on [CAD š3 417], [AHw. 1255], šuātu 'ewe' OB [CAD š3 168], [AHw. 1256]. Exlusively literary terms, always in sacrificial contexs. The earliest attestation is in RA 38 87 2 (našiākkunūšim ša-a-am māri ša-a-ti ellam 'I bring you a pure lamb, son of a ewe'). In Malku šu-ʔ-ú = immeru (V 32), šu-a-tu = laḫru (ibid. 34).
Ugaritic: š 'carnero, res ovina' [DLU 424]. Only in cultic texts, mostly in lists of sacrifices.
Phoenician: š 'sheep, one of a flock' [T 309], [Krah. 452]. In KAI 24:8,11 (ʕlmt ytn bš 'a girl used to be given for a sheep', wmy bl ḥz pn š 'and one who did not see the face of a sheep', v. further [Tropper Zincirli 37-8, 42] and [Gibson 37- 8]) and KAI 26 A III 2 (wb[ʕt ḥ]rš š 1 wbʕt ḳṣr š 1 'for the ploughing-time, [a sacrifice of] one sheep, and for the harvest, [a sacrifice of] one sheep').
Hebrew: ŝǟ 'small livestock beast' [KB 1310], pB. [Ja. 1526]. Used both of sheep and goats (cf. Nu 15.11: ŝǟ bakkǝbāŝīm ʔō bāʕizzīm 'ŝ. from sheep or from goats'). More details on the use of this term see in [TWAT VII 718ff.].
Arabic: šāʔ- 'brebis' [BK 1 1178], šāt- 'brebis, mouton, espèce ovine; buffle (mâle)', šiyat- (pl.) 'brebis, moutons', šawan (coll.) 'brebis, moutons, espèce ovine' [ibid. 1292], šiyāt- 'brebis, moutons' [ibid. 1301] (cf. also [Fr. II 468], [Lane 1623-4], [LA XIII 509] for these and other variant forms). See also [Hommel 223].
Epigraphic South Arabian: Sab. s2h 'sheep' [SD 132]. In C 694/1-2 (md_bḥt s2hw 'an altar for sheep') and J 720/16-7 (lms2w mʕrbtm ... wzʔk s2hn 'let him approach the altar ... and sacrifice a sheep'). Both passages are critically analy- zed in [Sima 142-3]. According to Sima, s2hw in the first pas- sage is a proper name whereas s2hn is a result of an incorrect reading by the publisher.
Notes: Since this term is not reflected in later Arm. dialects (Jud. ŝētā 'ewe' [Ja. 1570], ŝē 'lamb' [ibid. 1556] and Sam. šh 'sheep' [Tal 875] are almost certainly Hebraisms), there are good reasons to relate Sam. šʔh and Anc. šʔt 'sheep, ewe' [HJ 1094] to No. ... rather than to the present root. The same may be true about Akk. šuʔu, šuʔātu. Special relationship with sacrificial cult attested in most of the ancient textual traditions is hardly accidental (cf. [Sasson 446] and [Del Olmo Sheep 188]: "Are we in the presence of a technical cultic term?"). [KB 1310]: Hbr., Pho., Ugr., Akk., Arb., Sab. (also the Arm. forms quoted above as well as Off. tʔtʔ which obviously does not belong here); [T 309]: Pho., Hbr., Ugr., Akk., Arb., Sab.; [Fir- mage 1153]: Akk., Hbr., Ugr., Arb.; [DLU 424]: Ugr., Hbr., Pho., Akk., Sab., Arb.
