Ama-gi

For the city in Japan, see Amagi, Fukuoka.

File:Ama-gi.svg

𒂼𒄄 ama-gi₄ written in Classical Sumerian cuneiform.

Ama-gi is a Sumerian word written 𒂼𒄄 ama-gi₄ or 𒂼𒅈𒄄 ama-ar-gi₄. It has been translated as "freedom", as well as "manumission", "exemption from debts or obligations", and "the restoration of persons and property to their original status" including the remission of debts. Other interpretations include a "reversion to a previous state" and release from debt, slavery, taxation or punishment.

The word originates from the noun ama "mother" (sometimes with the enclitic dative case marker ar), and the present participle gi₄ "return, restore, put back", thus literally meaning "returning to mother". Assyriologist Samuel Noah Kramer has identified it as the first known written reference to the concept of freedom. Referring to its literal meaning "return to the mother", he wrote in 1963 that "we still do not know why this figure of speech came to be used for "freedom.""

The earliest known usage of the word was in the reforms of Urukagina. By the Third Dynasty of Ur, it was used as a legal term for the manumission of individuals.

It is related to the Akkadian word anduraāru(m), meaning "freedom", "exemption" and "release from (debt) slavery".

A number of Libertarian organizations have adopted the cuneiform glyph as a symbol. It is used as a logo by the Instituto Político para la Libertad of Peru, and another version is a trademarked logo of the Libertarian publishing firm, Liberty Fund.

See also

• Libertarianism
• Urukagina