--- In cybalist@..., "Glen Gordon" <glengordon01@...> wrote:
> Also, though I'm no expert on Munda, you might be interested in
> Sumerian /urud/ "copper". The "red/copper" word appears to be
> a wanderword originating from Neolithic times.
Thanks for the
...cuneiform texts consistently distinguish refined (urudu-luh-ha)
[cf. loha = red, later metal (Skt.)] from unrefined copper (urudu)
strongly suggests that it was matte (impure mixture of copper and
copper sulphide) and not refined copper that was often imported into
the country. Old Assyrian texts concerned with the import of copper
from Anatolia distinguish urudu from urudu-sig, the latter term
appearing when written phonetically as dammuqum, 'fine, good' (CAD D:
180, s.v. dummuqu), and this suggests that it is not just 'fine
quality' but actually 'refined' copper that is in question...
It appears that a compound term is used: URUDU -LLUHA which means
that URUDU refers to unrefined copper (pyrite?) ore and LLUHA (which
is refined copper or just heated, reddened copper?