In Mesopotamia, the speakers of the two languages, Sumerian and Akkadian, cohabited for several centuries, which resulted in a Sumerian-Akkadian symbiosis. The Akkadian vocabulary has also been enriched by other languages, Semitic or not, such as Hurrian or Elamite. This text presents the hypothesis that relatedness exists between the languages of the Rarámuri in one hand, and this Sumerian-Akkadian symbiosis on the other hand, this despite a great geographical distance between Mesopotamia and North America, and at different historical periods of languages use. It is most often admitted that a comparison between languages in order to detect a link is all the more relevant as this study takes into account the syntax. However, the simple approach chosen here by the author is to take some words from the semantic field which are not part of secular life - where a relatedness can hardly be demonstrated - but which are attached to symbols of sacred science, at the center of the religion. The divine authority would have been maintained there through language, it would have asserted itself in the continuity of speech. It was that the sacred word itself contains the god. Expressing badly is to oppose divine directives, to kill the god or the ancestor, disrespect their intercessors, and therefore to risk reprobation. Express correctly is to solicit benevolence and to foresee the reward. Languages are spoken by humans, who live with their religious feelings and their view of the world. The Rarámuri spoke a sacred language which perhaps could be related to Sumerian and Akkadian, this despite the geographical distance between northern Mexico and the Mesopotamia, and distant historical periods.

1. 1
Hypothesis of relatedness between the language of the Rarámuri on the one
hand, and those of the Sumerians and Akkadians on the other hand
Latest text version: 010/17/23.
Abstract
In Mesopotamia, the speakers of the two languages, Sumerian and Akkadian, cohabited
for several centuries, which resulted in a Sumerian-Akkadian symbiosis. The Akkadian
vocabulary has also been enriched by other languages, Semitic or not, such as Hurrian
or Elamite.
This text presents the hypothesis that relatedness exists between the languages of the
Rarámuri in one hand, and this Sumerian-Akkadian symbiosis on the other hand, this
despite a great geographical distance between Mesopotamia and North America, and at
different historical periods of languages use.
It is most often admitted that a comparison between languages in order to detect a link
is all the more relevant as this study takes into account the syntax. However, the simple
approach chosen here by the author is to take some words from the semantic field which
are not part of secular life - where a relatedness can hardly be demonstrated - but which
are attached to symbols of sacred science, at the center of the religion.
The divine authority would have been maintained there through language, it would have
asserted itself in the continuity of speech. It was that the sacred word itself contains the
god. Expressing badly is to oppose divine directives, to kill the god or the ancestor,
disrespect their intercessors, and therefore to risk reprobation. Express correctly is to
solicit benevolence and to foresee the reward. Languages are spoken by humans, who
live with their religious feelings and their view of the world.
The Rarámuri spoke a sacred language which perhaps could be related to Sumerian and
Akkadian, this despite the geographical distance between northern Mexico and the
Mesopotamia, and distant historical periods.
Keywords
Rarámuri, rarahipa, rarajiparo, naïpa, huaraches, ra’ishara, onorúame, korima,
eki, peyote, konema, kusigameke, telegatigameke, iskiaté, sipuchaka, wisiburka,
pok a tok.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations appear in the text in red:
(AH): Akkadishes Handwörterbuch, Von Soden, Wiesbaden, Germany.
(ME): Manuel d’épigraphie akkadienne, René Labat, Paris, France.
(AD): The Assyrian Dictionary, Oriental Institute, Chicago University, USA.
(SL): Sumerian Lexicon, John A Halloran, Los Angeles, USA.

2. 2
This text presents the hypothesis that relatedness exists between Rarámuri ideographic values, and
Sumerian and Akkadian values.
Most researchers agree that migrants from Asia gradually populated America, crossing the Behring
Strait first. Others have shown that migrants traveled by canoe from Southeast Asia to Melanesia,
Polynesia and South America. The progression of people and languages in Oceania has taken place as
follows:
- 2400 BC: Melanesia, Solomon Islands, by peoples from Sumatra, Cambodia, Thaïland, Borneo,
Sulawesi, Java.
- 1500 BC: from Taiwan and the Philippines to Vanuatu and New Caledonia.
- 1000 BC: Fidgi, Tonga, Samoa, Marshall Islands.
It is by these see routes that descendants of Sumerians or Akkadians may have reached the coasts of
South America before our era. Another possibility would be that Akkadians, Hittites or other peoples
crossed the Atlantic to land in America.
The Tarahumara live in the region of Barranca del Cobre, - "the Ravines of the Copper" -, in the north
of Mexico. According to Luis Verplancken, the Spaniards called them Tarahumara, which is the
Castilian term for Tarámuri, changed to Tarumari. The Indians call themselves Rarámuri.
Rarámuri means according to Norwegian Carl Lumholtz "the man with light feet" in their language of
the Uto-Aztec family. Luis Gonzalez, historian, referring to the oldest tradition of the Tarahumara
which is to run, proposes “runner's sole” (the “sole” of the feet). They competed in teams on the steep
canyon trails.
Semi-nomadic, the Rarámuri are said to originate from the Chihuahua desert. They live in the Sierra
Tarahumara, a volcanic canyon said to be the largest in the world, with ocher and red soil. This canyon
is named by them Naïka, a sort of immense secret and mysterious door.
The Rarámuri called the Spanish conquerors chabochis. It has been said to mean "those with spiders
on their heads", but it seems in reference to Akkadian that this is not a satisfactory interpretation.
Remembering the Spanish conquest, we should rather see a link with the Akkadian sâbu: soldier,
mercenary, and perhaps sabû: (SI) sa-bu- (u), sa-bu-ú: who drink beer (in the fortified area).
“Chabochi” could mean those who have a "spider on the ceiling": who have fads, misdirection due to
alcohol.
The Rarámuri live in wooden or stone houses, or have cave dwellings. They cultivate corn, beans, and
raise goats, sheep and cattle. They have visionary rites and a complex esotericism. They get together in
teams to compete against each other during a game with a wooden ball, called rarahipa, or rarajiparo.
This ball game is “foot throwing”: the ball is thrown with the foot.
The Rarámuri have acquired a reputation as extremely enduring runners who use steep paths, “those
with light feet”. This name comes from a rite in the complicated magical sense of pushing a wooden

3. 3
ball over a long run. Some of these ritual races can reach 300 km in distance, often after a session of
shamanism with the consumption of peyotl.
In 1936, Antonin Artaud went to Mexico and met the Rarámuri. On his return, fascinated by this
people of farmers and hunters who live in small communities in caves, between mountains and
canyons, he writes: “The land of the Tarahumaras is full of signs, forms, natural effigies that cannot be
seem not born of chance, as if the gods, which one feels everywhere here, had wanted to signify their
powers in these strange signatures where it is the figure of the man who is hunted from all sides. (...) It
is over the entire geographical extent of a race that nature wanted to speak".
This canyon is wider than the Grand Canyon of Colorado. It is in fact made up of a succession of 5
faults: Urique, Sinforosa, Cobre, Guaynoja and Batopilas over an area of 25,000 km². The canyon
takes up all the space, in a dizzying landscape. From its cliffs it dominates rivers and valleys where the
echoes of the drums of the Rarámuri can be heard.
The terms rarámuri and rarajiparo:
-Rara means "foot" in rarámuri. In Akkadian: (ME)
.RA mau: use one's feet, trample (RA Sumerian nominal suffix, dative). Sa.te.ra-ra = ma--u.
.RÁ-GAB rakbu : estafette, courrier chargé d’une dépêche :
.R-GAB rakbu: dispatch rider:
.RA ma-hi-is: to border (on a road).
.to hit, to strike an object, to fight repeatedly.
RA = ma--h-u-u ša: si-ig PA: strike (on the way, or as in a canal, a water pipe, a devastated place, in
a cloud of dust). (AD)
-Jiparo is to be compared to Akkadian:
.KIN (-GI 4-A) šapâru, to send: (ME)
This Akkadian sign which designates KIN šapâru also depicts KIN mu’uru: send, which is
reminiscent of what the Rarámuri identify with: "senders" of the ball with the foot. It is built with the
neighboring sign:
denoting DIB ba’u: pass, cross, engagement, from which the pictogram of the classical Sumerian from
which it came depicts ra 4: water pipe, channel, ravine, at the origin of which is god RA or RUD:
In this sense, "sending" is that of a difficult message to send. Šapāru: kin.gi4.a = šá-pa-rum; i-šap-par;
sending royal correspondence: ši-ip-ri, i-ša-pa-ra. (AD)
.same sign also expresses lú KIN-GI 4-A mâr šipri: messenger, šipru: message, sending, work.
.UKKIN šiparu: assembly, gathering, teamwork.

4. 4
-Hipa:
.Akkadian ip: ritual, sacred activity like that of IŠIP âšipu: the exorcist; uššupu: to exorcise, ellu: to go
towards purity. The analysis points to MAN kašâdu: to reach (cf. infra the value kaš: to run, a runner).
The corresponding sign has an origin in classical Sumerian which designates the sun, the One that
unfolds, takes shape in duality:
The same sign corresponds to the MAN-DI-DI mandidû: the surveyor, who measures a distance from
an inaccessible point by aiming it in turn from two points. The ball of the game, by analogy of form, is
comparable to the sun, and the message of men is intended for the sun god. The race of men is perhaps
even assimilated to that of the sun or inspired by it. This game played by the Rarámuri with the foot
seems a cousin of the puk a tuk (or pok a tok) game that the Mayans played with the hips and buttocks,
with astral, agrarian and sexual symbolism. The Mayans played with this part of the body protected
from clothing because the bullet was hard, could hurt. Hipa refers to the Sumerian value ib 2: thigh,
belt; in Akkadian, íp, ÍB-BAL nibittu: ceremonial garment, NÍG-ÍG-LAL: belt for the kidneys, whose
original Sumerian pictogram is: (ME)
The symbolism of play seems to be closely linked among the Rarmuri to their entire cosmogony and
to their individual and collective identity. Indeed, the interpretation attempted above from Akkadian
and Sumerian elements leads to very similar signs, Sumerian pictograms or Akkadian signs which
evoke the thenar of the foot, the action of running, the waist or the hip of the body, the rear or the
buttocks, and also the donkey or the mule capable of climbing steep paths. Note that the Rarámuri call
the horse kawé, and that the root ka (or kaš) expresses in Akkadian the donkey and the idea of running.
And they name the leg kasi: with the same sign in Akkadian as road, expedition.
.Akkadian kas 4: runner-messenger, run fast, gallop, be fast, which refers to the phoneme kas 5, with
the same sign as SUH 6 išdu: leg, base, already depicted in classical Sumerian by foot-shaped
pictograms:
***
The term rarámuri itself refers to man. The woman is called muki, and the female collective igumele.
Rarámuri:
-Ra, or Rará:
.Sumerian rá, re 7: to drive along, to drive away, to lead, to accompany. Adjective ri: far, to break
open, to throw.
.ra-gaba: courier, runner (Akkadian rakâbu, râkibu: to ride, to go, rikbu: step of a staircase or
mountain path, floor; GUR garâru: to run; gaba: mountain slope.
Gaba-ri refers to the idea of facing an equal or a rival, gaba-gi 4: an opponent or an antagonist. The
original pictogram for the Ur period is:

5. 5
The Akkadian sign is from the same family as those which designate KASKAL harranû, or gerru:
route, expedition, collective enterprise; ILLAT illatu: power, like that of military forces; tashazu:
combat, expedition.
.Sumerian ra 2: lead, lead along.
.Akkadian RA rahasu: to trample, rihsu: to trample. RÁ-GAB rakbu: dispatch rider, RÁ alâku: to stir,
to go; LAH 4-(LAH 4) redû: push, drive (here for the Rarámuri: the ball). The original Sumerian
pictogram from the Uruk period depicts the foot:
Historian González's interpretation of "runner's sole" suggests that the Rarámuri not only identified
with talented runners but also established a sacred connection with the sole of the foot:
.Akkadian gab = gùb: to hurry, to squeeze (here: to squeeze the sole of the foot?), húb-sar lasâmu: to
run, húb-šú suhar šêpi: thenar of the foot (protrusion of the outer side of the sole of the foot to the base
of the thumb, the part most used by a man who moves while running). The original Sumerian
pictogram from the Uruk period is the same one that depicts the ideas of squeezing, running:
The thenar of the foot is also ÚR-GÌR suhar sêpi (which refers to the ideas of foot, path, mule),
depicted by the original pictogram (see below: extract from Labat's table):
-Muri:
.Akkadian: wall, as a wall, with the same sign as SIG 4-GÌR lebnat šêpi šêpi: sole of the foot:
The original Sumerian pictogram from the time of Djemdet Nasr depicts an angular, steep path,
difficult as a wall to cross:
The Akkadian sign refers to:

6. 6
which depicts the path, the trace, the strength that it takes to overcome an obstacle; and it is related in
Mesopotamia with the metaphor of the mule or the donkey ANŠE:
animals capable of crossing bad mountain paths and steep slopes.
A variant of Akkadian: mùru, has the same sign:
as IM-PAR (-PAR-RA) gassu: gypsum, which is present as unique and splendid crystals in the soil
and caves of this region. The sign also designates yellow ocher, red clay. These colors are
characteristic of Naïka, the region's canyon-gate, as designated by the Rarámuri (see Naïka below). It
also designates the mountain and the mountain markers.
In Akkadian:
.múru qablu: combat, size.
.muru, same sign as (lú) MAN-DI-DI mandidû: the surveyor, - surveying: striding along -.
.mur’u: istu pilki: LU-MEŠ mur-i: "from the service of…"; LÚ-MEŠ mu-ú: "he will perform the
service of…”; mur’u = LÚ mur-ú = mu-ru, mu-ri ana illak ḫuršēn: "will go to the ordeal", "he will go
to the test".
.ramû: to love, for love.
Sumerian rà, ara 4: to shine, bright, clear, to shine, bright, clear.
The Rarámuri foot race was a sacred one, it involved reaching the summit with an intense effort,
climbing towards the sun, called rayénari in Rarámuri, which could refers to Akkadian:
.ra: foot, to move the foot, expressed by the same sign as sun-god ŠAMAŠ.
.annuharu: white alum, used by the priest for incantations. The Rarámuri also coat themselves in white
for ceremonies (see below page 13: sipuchaka and red color)
Rayenari also leads to Akkadian and Sumerian:
.NA4-NA-RÚ-A, Akkadian narû = na-ru-u: sanctuary, “cella”, monument with laws and regulations
so that it can guide people correctly, monument with laws and regulations so that it may guide the
people correctly, where god-sun was worshiped; na… r 6: instructions from the priest, advice; na-re-e-
ia: boundary stone, boundary stone, founding inscription, foundation inscription.
.Sumérian rí: to lead, to drive or to go, to drive along or away, to lead, to accompany.

7. 7
This intense effort was aimed at crossing, as muru 2 says in Sumerian: the world of "in between", the
space between the bottom and the top, between shadow and sun.
Finally, in Akkadian, walking U 5 rikbu allows U 5 šaqû: to rise, to create. IL šaqû: to be high, strong:
figured in Sumer by:
What comes here for the Rarámuri to, according to the Akkadian IL naklu: to show endurance and
skill, ÍL šaqû: to rise in the sacred, to purify oneself as the priest does. Or LAL šaqû: to rise by
applying oneself, by attaching oneself, by fighting.
Relatedness between Sumerian and Akkadian on the one hand, and Rarámuri on the other hand, seems
at first glance unlikely. Yet would there be a Mesopotamian underpinning to this American language?
A good number of signs that we have just mentioned appear in a sequence on pages 116 to 119 of the
Manual of Akkadian Epigraphy by René LABAT. See the Sumerian pictograms (1st and 2nd columns
in the tables below, framed in red:
. 201: SUU : leg, foundation, base.
. 202: KA 4, GIR 5: fast runner, donkey.
. 203: ÚR-GR: thenar of the foot; ÚR: thigh, hip, foundation.
. 205: IL: to rise, to be high.
. 206: lú DU-E/A: to go, go away, runner; DU (RÁ): to go away; RÁ-GAB: dispatch rider; DU-DU: to
go here and there, wander.
. 206 a: LA 4: push with the foot (a ball).
. 207: B: belt, middle, formal garment; B-L : belt.
. 208: ANE: donkey; ANE-KU-DIN, ANE-GR: mule, animals crossing steep paths.
. 209: EGIR: buttock, posterior.
These two pages below, of René Labat's Manual, represent stylized feet or legs, a human pelvis or
posterior, a belt or a vestment of religious ceremonies. If they are equines, the legs of these
quadrupeds are symbolized by signs containing 4 lines or punches, which are sometimes also found in
the Sumerian signs designating the waistband for the kidneys or the garment.
These are just a few elements of a hypothesis, and it would be useful to expand.
These signs, which are Sumerian pictograms and Akkadian signs, should therefore be seen as
important elements that would allow us to revisit the mythology of the Rarámuri, and probably some
other communities in North, Central and South America.
These signs refer to locomotion, to the difficult progression in steep mountain paths which requires
skill, diligence, perseverance. The followers are for the community of heroes, they are invested with
sacred messaging missions, between priests and kings, under the authority of the gods. The Inca
messengers had a similar reputation as mountain “marathon” runners.
They express endurance, readiness, speed of movement, skill in running while playing a sacred ball
game. Or designate the parts of the body which are used by running, or the animals which are adapted
to these mountain paths.

8. 8

9. 9
***
Some other possible relationships between Rarámuri language and Sumerian-Akkadian symbiosis:
-Unuruamu or Onorúame, god of the Rarámuri, who made and governs the world. Religious concepts
include the concept of soul and its loss. He made and rules the world.
Unuruamu:
.Akkadian:
.ún: same sign as Akkadian U: Lord, god Adad.
.unu : same sign as phonem múru: fight idea, what is in the middle, in the center, NISAG ašaredu: the
one who is the First ; priest.
.ru'amu: = ramu, raamu, ramamu, love, for love, out of love. = ramu II, raamu, ramamu: to love, love
of a person, of a god; KI.AG (GA)] of deity, person love, DN-ra im-kittilzeri / sarri:"loves
justice/king". (AH)
same sign as KI: the earth, KI-A: the shore, the edge, KI-SUR-RA: the border, towards KI-ÁR-RA:
the Totality.

10. 10
.U, UN: god, goddess, a 3: high, anu = Heaven, sky, an-un 3-na: “those above the sky”, designation of
the celestial gods; (te-unu) UNU 2: approaching, like being near the cheek; UN: humans, those of the
land of Sumer, those of the foundations, UNU 5: who approach the celestial bottom, establish a
crossing, a link with the stars, MÚR: by a test, a fight.
.Sumerian: a 3: high, anu = Heaven, sky, an-un 3-na: "those above the sky", designation of the
celestial gods.
Unuruamu is the Rarámuri’god who loves humans and is loved by them.
-Kurima or korima: refers to the food aid that a Rarámuri in dire need (poor harvest, disease) is
entitled to request from another member of the community in better economic circumstances. In this
context of equality, co-responsibility, or mutual dependence, we think of Akkadian:
.ŠUG / KURUM kurummatu: food ration; kurum: to be kind, favor; kurru = kùr-ri: measure of
capacity; ŠUG-dINANNA nindabû: food offering to the goddess.
.ŠUG kurummatu: food offering, food ration; kurum: to be kind, favor; kurru = kùr-ri: measure of
capacity.
.kurû: a rule of short duration, rule of short duration.
.kurmatu, kurummatu: food portion, food allowance, food offering, food allocation obligation to feed;
PAD, PAD-ḪI-A ku-ru-um-ma-ti, ku-ur-ma-at: small meal, small repast, to break-off, various pieces.
(AD)
This traditional Rarámuri economy based on barter, requires redistributing wealth for the benefit of all.
.old Babylonian: field of subsistence, idea of rationing, of being equitable, so that all survive, in the
"sacred enclosure".
.old Babylonian: "field for subsistence"; "bread (ration)": matu (m) II: "sacred precinct". (AH)
-Kunema, konema: Some Rarámuri religious practices have the meaning of kunema (i.e. nurturing
God), the feeling of returning to God a little of what he has given is widespread, a little of the much
that he has given is prevalent.
In Akkadian: (AH)
.kun 8 phoneme is the same sign as that which expresses the beast of offering and the animal of
atonement (kid, lamb, goat); kun 4: lamenting priest, exaltation, reverence; kun 7: sacrifice, libation.
.kunnu: fixed; firmly established, inherited, which cannot be changed; loyal.
.kanu: neat, darling ".
.kanu: to take care of, who is cherished, to treat the divinity with kindness; human praise to god,
honoring the divinity; to heal.
.kunnu: firm, of foundation, according to tradition, to be permanent, firmly established; be reliable;
libbu: to be loyal; reliability of animal sacrifice; gives permanence to reign, to prosperity; in worship:
making the offering to the god, providing it correctly.
.manu: to recite the hymn, the incantation, to deliver the offering to the god.
-Naïka: The gate, the canyon named Naïka by the Rarámuri, is to be understood according to
Sumerian and Akkadian as the “stone gate”: Sumerian NA 4: stone. The canyon formed NA 5 pîtnu:
resonance chamber. He was iku: border, embankment, where water flows as in a ditch, or a ravine; igu:
door. The original Sumerian pictogram is:
-Muki: The Rarámuri woman is named muki:
. the Akkadian múk is of the same sign as lady, sovereign, sister, priestess: (ME)
MUG mukku: cord, like the umbilical cord that appears in the crotch during childbirth:

11. 11
-Igumele: The female collective is named igumele:
Igu:
. Akkadian ikû: acre, with the same sign as: field, plantation. Iku: embankment, edge of a ditch, a
canal. The women of the Rarámuri cultivated in groups on the embankments, on the edge of the
ravine, the canyon?
.Akkadian eqû: apply, with the same sign as an instrument of culture. This agrees with ubi, the
Rarámuri term which also designates women, because the Akkadian sign of ub designating the
universe, interior and exterior, is close to the signs that correspond to ikû: talus, and to AL allu: hoe,
pickax and other cultivation instruments.
. Sumerian ig 3-gu-la, Akkadian eqû: perfumed oil, beauty, desire: women painted men or painted
themselves with ointments or oils on the occasion of a party.
Mele:
Akkadian malû: to be full of, with the same sign as: to be numerous, to run here and there:
According to the interpretation of the Akkadian signs, one can suppose that igumele designates all the
women who work in the cultures and for the festivals, the dance (only the men dance, the women
attend), the rituals around the priest or the priestess, that which is sacred, that which enables one to
rise; what is in relation with melû = elû: height, eminence.
-Kusigame: The Rarámuri stick bearer who symbolically kicks when there has been a violation of
prohibitions, those who wield the stick, kusi: the blows given and received.
Kusi:
.Sumerian KUŠUM: hurt. In Akkadian, GUZ kasâsu: cut (same sign which designates ZALAM that is
to say sun-god, and a sign similar to that corresponding to: sole of the foot); KÚŠ-Ù anâhu: to moan
(sign similar to that which designates RA mahâsu: to strike, RA mihsu: blow, RA-KAB rakbu:
emissary.
Game: The Rarámuri staff bearer, according to Akkadian: GAM: submits, the one who GAM kanâšu:
bends, submits.
In Akkadian:
.gamlis: curved stick to throw, "like a bent (throwing-) stick".
.gamlu: curved stick (as a projectile), throwing stick, as a weapon, in wood; attribute of gods; divine
symbol; bent stick (as projectile), throwing-stick; as weapon, of wood; epithet of gods, attribute of
gods; divine symbol.
-Tesguino: designates for the Rarámuri the main link between families, during gatherings, families
promote encounters between men and women, which will lead to sex and marriage. In Akkadian,
T-BI ištnis: together, jointly, as one group, altogether, in every respect.
TÉŠ baltu: sex, sexual force, ÈŠ eššeššu: day of celebration; teslitu: prayer. In Sumerian, teš-bi: to be
together, sexual bond.
-Huaraches:
The huarache sacred sandals which allow the Rarámuri to do long runs (cf. Naika).
.Sumerian hur: mountain, hill.
.Akkadian urhu 1, and arhu: difficult, distant path, way, path difficult, distant, unopened;
KASKAL urhu : path, same signe as : expedition, collective enterprise, mail.
alik urhi: traveler.
urhu sadi: mountain path.

12. 12
.urhu 1 samê: “heavenly path", "celestial path"; "way of life".
.arhu (m) I: aruhtu: "fast, quick"; "in copper" (Copper Canyon, name given because canyon facades
are copper / green in color). URUDU ar-ḫi: composed of copper to make a bluish glass. NA4.ZA.GÌN;
UD.KA.BAR ar-ḫi-ša (dul) -li: "if you intend to produce arhu compound", "if you intend to produce
arhu."
.arahu I; warahum: to hasten, be urgent, hurry; come quickly, speed up, send speedily; scare away;
urruhu.
.ara II, arba'u (m): do…quickly", hurry very much; arhu I.
.arhu (m) I = arhis; urruhis; murrihu: urgently.
.ara’u II, arba'u (m): "the edges of the world", number 4 (did the Rarámuri run in teams of 4? Relation
to the 4 cardinal points?); do it quickly, "hurry very much".
.warhis: quickly, hastily; arhu I; urruhis; murrihu / erehu: act aggressively.
. = maš ánān sá si-ki: “a pair of sandals…” (with the notion of message bearer).
. ar-ḫa-ti-š-nu, ar-hu-šu-nu: impassable distant mountains, narrow paths, narrow paths, far mountains.
. ša ar-ḫi pašqūte (ittanallakuma) ištam-daḫu šadi: who goes along over narrow paths and marches
across mountains”, "who walks narrow paths and walks through mountains"; ar-ru-uḫ šu: difficult
road; urḫiš: quickly; urḫu: road path, ur-ri šumruṣi ú-ru-uh: on the tortuous road, tortuous road; ina ú-
ru-uḫ šadi: in the mountain roads; ur-ḫa-šu illakma: "who proceed on this way".
-Telegatigameke:
In Rarámuri "El diablo"is the underworld, Father Tellechea is the One.
In Akkadian:
.te, it, u; designated god Enlil, dEN-lil ili, or in the feminine telijatu: goddess Ištar (cf. infra: Ishara).
.tele'u: very competent of gods.
.telitu I, telutu1, teliltu: purification; elelu II telisam; (the) very competent (One), [AN.ZIB] epithet of
the goddess Istar; tele'u telltu.
. gi.sikil.e.dì MIN te.lil.ti; gi.sikil.e.dè, qa.an.te te.lil.ti.
.kamû: ina ka-mi-i KÁ: at the portal, at the door of the underworld, of hell, i: where we cry; mi = gig:
space as a throat, throat, dark, black, enclosed dark chamber, dark room.
.gattu (m) I: physical build of deity, divine statue.
.gamalu: favor of the god, to spare life; to do a favor; spare; be kind to; do favor; give a favor;
consent; of deity, spare life.
-Eki:
Ekur-i: Sumerian name of the underworld, abode of demons; ekurris ekurru: in the Ekur, the
underworld. -KUR-BAD: hell. It was a dark cavern beneath the ground, where the inhabitants were
believed to continue the life they had had on earth.
-Peyote:
Peyote: pe-yutl = peyotl, means in Nahuátl "divine messenger". Peyote is a cactaceae from Mexico,
whose alkaloid, mescaline, widens the field of consciousness, and eventually produces visual
hallucinations. Like datura or mescal, peyote is said to promote mystical union.
. In Akkadian:
.pe, pi, yu: same sign as TÁL hašisu: wisdom, GEŠTU usnu: serenity, represented by the double
crown.
.pé: to speak, under the influence of alcoholic beverages such as beer, pihu, pi 4: speech, joy.
.pihù: EME-ŠID-ZI-DA andulhallatu: gloss after drinking a pot, "cackle" like a harem lady or a
courtesan.
.pé: old SUMUN-DAR plant and its variegated flower. What goes through the inner "crack" produced
by the alkaloid, which comes out of a hole.
.pi 11, pit: same sign as treasure, underground temple, interior.
.pētû KÁ-GAL: great gate-keeper, door-opener; pe-et, pe-tu-ú, pēt ḫasisi: wisdom, vast intelligence,
petutu: disclose the revelation; pītu, pi-it ḫasisi: open-mindedness, pi-it KÁ: opening of the portal, pi-
i-ti: rope, pi-i-te: link; ḫašašu: joy, to rejoice; ḫašāšu: gridgegroom, bride, to be prompt, to do
something with alacrity.

13. 13
The author Arthaud, reported by Régis Hébraud, says that it is from a shaman that the expression for
peyote was ciguri-peyote, or even siri-samê.
Ciguri evokes the Akkadian:
. GIŠ-SAG-KUL sikkūru: bar; bolt, lock, which locks; giš-sa-šu-, ak-a, MIN = (eb-lu) sik-ku-ri: "rope
for a bolt"; the peyote would be what allows the opening of the lock, the joint, the link.
Siri-samê also suggests in Akkadian:
. "Šamaš tepteam sí- (ik-ku-ri) dalāt šamè, tēliam si-mi-la-a (t) uqnîm ellim": Peyote: pe-yotl = pe-yutl
“Ô god Šamaš (sun-god), you have opened the lock (made to jump the lock, of the door from heaven
you have climbed the stairs of pure lapis lazuli"; "Ô god Šamaš, you opened the bolt of heaven's door,
you ascended the stairs of pure lapis lazuli (AD p. 274). And "edlūti sik-kur šamê tupatti": "you
(Šamaš) open the locked bolts of the sky".
. ṣer-ri = ṣerru: door-pivot in copper; hinge, or lock; ṣerret šamê, ṣerretu, (ṣi) r-ri-is-su: nose-rope,
rope to pull the animal, lead-rope, rope to lead it, halter, halter. Example; "Uktimma itmukana d
Marduk rituššu si-ir-rit d Igigi Annunaki markas šamê u erṣeti": "Marduk made firm and took into his
hand the halter of th Igigi (and) Annunaki, the connecting link between heaven and hearth", "Marduk
firmed up and took Igigi's halter in hand ”. Notion of link, guidance, leader of the roped party: “ṣir-ri-it
AN-e rapšûti li-ip-pé-ta-šú”: “the lead-rope of vast heaven shall be opened for him” (AD p. 135).
-Sipûchaka: pleated skirt, kilt: (see: image page 6, and: Huarijio languages).
In Akkadian:
.šīpu = si-ip-pu, TUG ši-pu: garment.
.šippu: red garment, red decoration, qualifying garments, admissible, acceptable, adequate clothing.
.išippu: lustrator, is of the same sign as ME-TE simtu: finery, ME-Z manzû: bagpipe.
.šippu: red clothes (cf. supra annuharu: red clothes in association with white), admissible, acceptable,
adequate.
.šakāku: to thread, to string, to tighten, thread, chain, tighten; kinds of twine or wire.
Examples:
. È-ak: "these nine stones you string on yarn of red wool, blue wool, combed wool, sinew of a dead
cow, sinew of male and female gazelle, male rushes ... which you twist together", "these nine stones
that you thread with red wool, blue wool, combed wool, dead cow tendon, male and female gazelle
tendon ... male rushes, which you weave together ”.
.È-ak: "you take wool from a rutting ram, spin it, string the stones on it", "you take wool from a rutting
ram, you string it and string the stones".
. È: šá-ka-ku: to string, to chain, iš-ša-ak-ka…: to form a row, to weave a row;
In Sumerian: è, ed: to emerge, to lead or bring out, to become visible, to appear as a witness; to lead,
to appear as testimony, to bring out.
-Wisiburka: dress for running; something that fits well with the mentality of the Rarámuri runner.
Akkadian: (AD)
.burku = GÙN-A: loincloth.
1. euphemism for sexual parts. For men: išû bir-ki, ša bur-ki GÙN-A: loincloth, kilt.
.ešû: tangled (said of thread), tangled string. Braided thread, spun. A loin cloth or kilt, a loincloth or a
kilt: e-šu-ú, ma-za- (ḫu): a kind of belt.
.išû: to have, to have, to have, to own. TUK = i-ši, nu-tuk = ul i-ši, nu-an-tuk = ul i-ši: wisi of the
Rarámuri would be “ul i-ši”, nu-an-tuk: garment of light? (nu 11: light, phonetic writing for lú:
human).
In Sumerian the letter A: father, offspring, seminal fluid; GÙN: to sparkle, to decorate with colors,
lines, spots; embellished, brilliant. (SL)
2.irku, bērki: runner, henchman, acolyte, lú.du 10.tuk, be-el bi-ir-ki-im.
Examples:
“My heart beats like that of a murderer who moves about in the swamps alone”; "My heart beats like
that of a murderer who moves alone in the swamps". EN bir-ki iktumušuma: "and whom the runner
have overpowered", "and that the runners have mastered ".
3.knees: (AD)

14. 14
. swiftly running: "lasma bur-ka-ia eli iṣṣurāti": "my knees move more swiftly than a bird (on wings),"
my knees move faster than the wings of a bird in flight".
."Bur-kà-ni itanḫa ina alāki urḫē": "our knees had become tired from walking the trails".
."pika libbaka liwa'ir u libbaka liwa'ir bi-ir-ki-ka": "your mouth should give orders to your heart, and
your heart to your knees".
In Akkadian, it looked like they were going as fast as birku: the lightning.
-Iskiaté: energy drink composed of lime, chia seeds, agave syrup. The Aztecs said that chia was
“oily”.
In Akkadian:
.išku: testicles (cf. wisiburka).
GIBIL-TAB, MAR-GAL iškippu: wormwood.
.chia: leaves of a plant (chih in Arabic, wormwood in English).
-Anayawari Ra’ishara:
Ra’ishara: refers to the language of the Rarámuri people, and the "hidden" words of the ancestors.
Based on the discussion below, it could be the language of the ancestors who worshiped the goddess
Ishara, the secret words reserved for initiates that lead to her.
In Akkadian:
.iš has the same Akkadian sign as KASKAL…: road, forces on an expedition, path, collective
enterprise.
.išaru, i-šá-ra, (i-š) a-ra, sag.si.sá.ak, lu i-ša-ra-a-ti: fair, pure, straight, normal, regular, ordinary,
compliant, authentic. Example: (xx) si.sá ti bal sal.la gù.sum til.la (bi.ì.zu ù); (xx) i-šar-ta i.ni.ta ṣi-li-ta
raq-qa-t (a… t i.di.e): "do you know the normal, the dissimulated, the oblique, and the fine (writing, all
types of cuneiform writing)?” (AD p.225)
.Ra: cf. supra: Ra in Rarámuri.
Akkadian: to impress, stamp, or roll (a seal into clay); denote the animate being towards or in favor
whom an action is done.
Lú = a-me-lu: human being, Eme: language, to speak.
In Sumerian: (SL)
. EME.SI.SÁ: right, legal, straightness + to equal.
. EME.GAL: elder.
. EME.SUKUD.DA: to hold, to be near, to protect, tall, high, close to ancestors.
. EME.TE.NÁ: to approach.
.Ishara:
Goddess Išḫara, later assimilated in Akkad to goddess Ištar, - Ušḫara in Ugarit -, is an ancient deity
from northern modern Syria, of unknown origin. Appeared in Ebla, she and was incorporated into the
Hurrian pantheon, then adopted by the Hittites and the Akkadians. Its cult was of considerable
importance around 2500-2000 BCE.
She is the goddess of love and compassion, of the oath, that is the Hittite word for treaty, binding
promise. Depicted with the akkadogram IŠTAR, + phonetic complement -ra: Ištar-ra. The sign in its
traditional Neo-Assyrian form is: (ME)
Goddess Išḫara quoted in the tablets of the archivist, and venerated in the cloisters of priestesses. The
One for whom we do preparations for sacrifices, we song, we bless.
Išḫara is moreover of the same sign as GALGA malku: to advise, to deliberate, malku: to advise,
which has for neighboring Akkadian sign that of ARU rému: maternal breast, rému: have pity, U
ipu: maternal fruit.
See above: the paragraph on huaraches, arhu, which may suggest that the missionary activity of the
Rarámuri runner was probably linked to this maternal and compassionate figure. Did the Rarámuri
have any idea of this goddess before the arrival of the Spaniards? Did they practice a religion of the

15. 15
original, the veneration and maintenance of the source as a guarantee for their survival? Did they
practice a religion of the original, the veneration and maintenance of the source as a guarantee for their
survival?
.Anayawari:
+ Ana:
In Akkadian,
.ana indicates the start of a sentence, or paragraph.
.ana: means towards, for, from.
.AN: the sky.
+ Yawari:
In Akkadian:
.wa’aru: send (same sign as mr sipri: messenger, and mu’uru: send, cf. supra: Rara-muri).
.warû = arû: represents the wisdom of the god or the goddess, the secret knowledge of heaven and
earth, a-ru-ú; to lead, to lead wisely, in safety.
.warû = arû: represents the wisdom of the god or the goddess, the secret knowledge of heaven and
earth, a-ru-ú; lead, lead wisely, in safety, first in line, leader of the gang.
.KASKAL uru: path (same sign as path, expedition, team enterprise).
.âru: to send a person, a message; (w) u’uru, û-a-wa-ru-ú-ki: to give an order, uwa’aruki.
or: to go, to move with an order, a missive.
.âru: who rules the world. Example: " (mu-ut), Mama ištnam ulidma appam naši ú-WA-ri šarram":
"the mother goddess who gives birth (in her abode?), Who gives birth with wisdom and
understanding" (ri: that, regarding that). Is this the goddess Ishara? (AD)
-Xicuahua is in Nahuatl the name of Chihuahua desert plateau, which has the meaning of dry, sandy,
dusty places.
In Akkadian:
.šikkatu, ši-ik-ka-tum: land of misfortune, desolate, gloomy, miserable, distress, harrowed land, "dog's
life". Example: ".ul ittiq dNIN.KILIM iṣṣuru ul ibā’i": "(over 20 miles in the devastated region of
Elam), not a single mongoose passes, not a single bird flies" (AD p. 433).
.sikku: desolate, arid place: to send a message concerning the copper: "GÚ.UN URUDU i-sí-ki-im
Ninašāium adi...(place)… lēpušam Ninašāium saniq la naṭūma sí-kam la ippaš": "let the man from
(this place) produce 20 talents of copper in the sikku as far as Wašhania ”,“ the man from (this place)
is… so that it is not possible for him to produce copper in the sikku ”.
.sikkû: a mongoose.
assigned as personal name: sí-ik-ku-ú-a.
.u'a: “alas”, “ouch!”.
ua ua: interjection expressing the feeling expressed by alas, and reinforced, of complaint, pain,
misfortune, affliction, helplessness:
itself formed by the sign expressing the messenger, the sending, the mission:
In Sumerian: (SL)
.dNIN.KILIM: mongoose, "divine proprietress", herd of wild animals.
.nig-gilim: sieve, ruining, spoiling, mongoose (thing + to twist).
***

16. 16
Books (Wikipedia)
.Antonin Artaud, Les Tarahumaras, Gallimard, Paris, coll. Folio (Essais), 1971, 157 p.
.Jeff Biggers, Dans la Sierra Madre : une année chez les Tarahumaras (trad. de l'anglais par
Michèle Pressé), Albin Michel, Paris, 2011, 278 p. (ISBN 978-2-226-21504-8)
.Raymonde Carasco, Dans le bleu du ciel : au pays des Tarahumaras (1976-2001), F. Bourin,
Paris, 2014, 525 p. (ISBN 979-10-252-0030-8)
.Carl Sofus Lumholtz, Unknown Mexico: A Record of Five Years' Exploration Among the Tribes of
the Western Sierra Madre; In the Tierra Caliente of Tepic and Jalisco; and Among the Tarascos
of Michoacan, New York, Scribner's and Sons, 1902.
.Fructuoso Irigoyen Rascón and Jesús Manuel Palma, Rarajípari, the Tarahumara Indian Kick-
ball Race, Centro Librero La Prensa, Chihuahua, 1995.
.Fructuoso Irigoyen Rascón, Cerocahui, una Comunidad en la Tarahumara. 40 Años Después,
Don Quixote Editions, 2011.
.Christopher McDougall, Born to Run (né pour courir), éditions Guérin, Chamonix, France 2012,
410 p. (ISBN 978-2-3522-1062-7).
***
Dictionaries
.R. Labat, Manuel d’épigraphie akkadienne, Paris, France.
.The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, USA.
.Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, Wiesbaden, Germany.
.Sumerian Lexicon, John A. Hallowan.
Contact auteur : mleygues@yahoo.fr