The tug₂guz-za/tug₂guz.za at Ḫattuša and Beyond

Abstract

Abstract The tug₂guz-za/tug₂guz.za is a cloth attested in different spellings from the 3rd to 1st millennia BCE that has received diverse translations. Evidence from Ur III textile production texts, reconstructions based on experimental data, and lexical lists now converge to suggest that the cloth was defined by its thick weft. Although the tug₂guz-za/tug₂guz.za has traditionally been connected to the Zottenrock of Mesopotamian visual media via the adjective guz(-za) ‘bristly, wire-haired,’ no independent evidence of shagginess has been found for the textile. Instead, this contribution demonstrates that there is another guz-za meaning ‘bright red’ that was applied to textiles and wool in the lexical lists of the 2nd millennium BCE, suggesting that the tug₂guz-za/tug₂guz.za was conceived of as a red cloth at least in some periods.