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Ama-gi

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Ama-gi is a Sumerian cuneiform inscription believed to be the first instance of the concept of freedom. Its earliest attested usage is in the reforms of the 24th century BCE king Uru-ka-gina. Its literal meaning is "return to mother". Although noted Assyriologist Samuel Noah Kramer wrote in 1963 that "we still do not know why this figure of speech came to be used for 'freedom'", since ama-gi was used to refer to manumission, i.e., the freeing of slaves, and similar concepts such as exemption from debts or obligations, it is logically consistent that a freed individual would "return to home or mother".

The ama-gi symbol is used as a logo by the Liberty Fund and was the title of the London School of Economics Hayek Society journal.

Web Pages

Our Amagi Logo, LibertyFund.org
Short history of the cuneiform symbol that serves as the Fund's logo, including a reproduction of the larger plaque where it was found

The cuneiform inscription ... is taken from a clay document written about 2300 B.C. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash. According to Samuel Noah Kramer ..., Lagash was the site of the first recorded social reform movement ... On the tablets is found the first written reference to the concept of liberty (amagi or amargi, literally, "return to the mother"), used in reference to the process of reform. [This] reflects Sumerian matrilineal family practices. To be returned to the line of your mother was to be set free of all obligations of labor, debt, or taxes and to be restored to your liberty.

Articles

Editorial, by Hector Birchwood, ama-gi, 1996
Volume 1, Issue 1 of the LSE Hayek Society journal

The name of the Hayek Society's journal, AMA-GI, comes from a cuneiform inscription ... found in the ancient Sumerian city-state of Lagash, to symbolise 'freedom' (ama-gi). The clay tablet on which it was found dates back to 2300 BC and it is the earliest example of the concept of liberty being expressed in a written language.

Freedom vs. Liberty, by Joseph R. Stromberg, LewRockwell.com, 10 Jul 2001
Delves into the etymology and semantics of the English words "freedom" and "liberty"

I begin on the ground of etymology: "Liberty" derives from Latin libertas, from liber, "free." ... Turning to our Germanic (Old English) words, "free" and "freedom," we find their source in Indo-European *priyos, meaning "dear" or "one's own." ... It is said that Chinese has no word, as such, for freedom. That would be interesting, if true, but I am more than ready to be set right on this point, if not. Ancient Sumerian had ama-gi, the cuneiform script for which you will find all over the endpapers of any book published by Liberty Fund.

Related Topics: Liberty, Society, J. R. R. Tolkien

Poetry

Anthem for the Ama-Gi, by Jim Davidson, 2000
Poem of 20 stanzas which first appeared in the Yahoo Group for the Ama-gi; includes an image of the symbol

We are the tribe of freedom you see.
In cuneiform writing they say "Ama-Gi"
The most ancient way of writing we're free,
In wedges of clay before 2000 BC.

For four thousand years now people have known
That freedom is greatest when each is left alone.
No central planners, no central plan
Can make as much difference as one single man
...
We are the Tribe of the Free: Ama-Gi,
Whatever we do, we always live free.