U+103AF "𐎯" Old Persian Sign Du Unicode Character

U+103AF "𐎯" Old Persian Sign Du is a character from the Old Persian cuneiform script, which was used to write the Old Persian language of the Achaemenid Empire (circa 6th to 4th centuries BCE). This specific sign represents the syllable "du" as part of a predominantly syllabic writing system, where each character typically denotes a consonant-vowel combination, though some signs also represent just a consonant. The Old Persian cuneiform script was developed under Darius the Great and is a key tool for modern scholars to decipher royal inscriptions, such as the famous Behistun Inscription. The character "𐎯" belongs to a set of 36 phonetic signs and 8 logograms that form the core of this historic script, which was added to the Unicode Standard in version 4.1.0 to enable digital preservation and study of ancient Near Eastern texts.