Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, part II: Inscriptions of the Seleucid and Parthian Periods and of Eastern Iran and Central Asia, vol. 2: Parthian, Parthian Economic Documents from Nisa (Texts I pp. 161-215).

• Author: Weber, Dieter
• Position: Book review

Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, part II: Inscriptions of the Seleucid and Parthian Periods and of Eastern Iran and Central Asia, vol. II: Parthian, Parthian Economic Documents from Nisa (Texts I pp. 161-215). By I. M. DIAKONOFF and V. A. LIVSHITS, edited by D. N. MACKENZIE, A. N. BADER and N. SIMS-WILLIAMS. London: SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, 2001.

This is the third and last fascicle of the edition of the Nisa documents and now makes the whole of the material accessible. It comprises the readings and translations of the ostraca nos. 2324 to 2723 of Old Nisa and some (nos. H-1 to H-VI) from New Nisa (pp. 161-82), a glossary (pp. 184-208), a reverse index (pp. 209-12), and a detailed list of contents of the whole edition (pp. 213-15), which is very helpful, as the arrangement of the ostraca follows an elaborate system of economic specifications. The book is--as is known from other publications of the Corpus--well printed, and misprints or typographical errors seem not to exist. Only a few ostraca have been published outside the Corpus, viz. Morano 1996 and Livshits 2003, though, in the latter article, an ostracon was re-edited (without any reference) that had already been published in Livshits/Nikitin 1994.

Besides the edition of the ostraca, the fascicle contains the long-expected glossary to all documents in this and the two previous fascicles, providing easy access to all the linguistic material of the Nisa ostraca. But, unfortunately, many different readings or interpretations expressed in publications prior to this fascicle are not incorporated, and therefore this part requires some detailed comments and suggestions, though these collected here certainly mark not the beginning, but the continuation of the studies on those ostraca already begun in the fifties of the last century.

[dagger]'ntk Andak p.n. 1486: 7. -- Rather 'ztk, see Schmitt 1999: 119.

[dagger]'nwpsk An(u)pasak (or An(u)pacak?) p.n. 1747: 2. -- Acc. to Schmitt 1999: 119, to be read 'spsk.

'pdn Appadan Palace 1) name of an estate and a village (cf. 'pdnk), 2) name of a vineyard (cf. 'pdnk, 'TYQ'pdn). 'pdnk Appadanak Palace (or: of the Palace) 1) name of an estate (and of a village? cf. 'pdn), 2) name of a vineyard. -- The transcription as Appadan (with -pp-) obviously is due to the Man. Parth. spelling 'pdn; the word is discussed by W. Sundermann, Mitteliranische manichaische Texte kirchengeschichtlichen Inhalts mit einem Appendix von Nicholas Sims-Williams (BTT XI), Berlin 1981: 152 s.v. (with reference to the important note by W. B. Henning, Transactions of the Philological Society 1944: 110 n. 1).

'ptp Aftap (?) name of an estate. -- Why not simply *Aftap 'having seven waters' (like Pandjab)?

'rwmtrk p.n. 1190: 4. -- Scribal error for 'trwmtrk (approved by Schmitt 1999: 119f.).

'spsk Aspicak p.n. 45: 8. -- Also 'spsk instead of [dagger]'nwpsk 1747: 2, [dagger]'wypsk 1109: 7, 1110: 6, 1111: 6, [dagger]'wpsk 1117: 6, acc. to Schmitt 1999: 120.

'spynk Aspenak, p.n., cf. also (h)wspynk H(u)waspenak p.n. 1033: 5. -- It is the standard convention to transcribe names ending in the suffix -yn or -ynk with -en(ak). As for this name, Schmitt (1998: 187) has clearly shown that it must be read /Asp-in-ak/, transmitting an old Iran. *Asp-ina- (not *Aspaina-) also reflected by Elam. As-be-na and Sanskrit Aspina-.

Other names with *-ina- are

bgynk Bagenak p.n. -- /Bag-in-ak/

brzyn Barzen p.n. -- Acc. to Schmitt 1998: 187, a hypochoristic formation

hwrzynk Xwarzenak p.n. 2653:(2), 7. -- /Xwarz-in-ak/, acc. to Schmitt 1998: 187, without any etymology, but connection with Osset. (Iron) xorz, (Digoron) xuarz 'good' (~ Avest, [x.sup.v]ar[partial derivative]za-) seems very possible.

(k)wynk Kawenak p.n. 1337: 4. -- /Kaw-in-ak/, hypochoristic formation of a name with *Kavi- as first element; see Schmitt, 1999: 122.

mhyn Mahen p.n. and mhynk Mahenak p.n. -- Acc. to Schmitt 1998: 188, /Mah-in/, /Mah-in-ak/ is to be traced back, like Middle Pers. m'hn, to *Mah-ina-, belonging to *mah(i)- 'moon'.

rm(yn) Ramen p.n. 1667: 1. -- /Ram-in/

rywyn Rewen p.n. -- /Rew-in/

(tyryn) Tiren p.n. 1903: 3; cf. also tyryn Avroman III 1. -- /Tir-in/; see Schmitt 1998: 188,

'tdt (or 'trt?)(?) p.n. and 'tzt A[theta]izat (?) p.n. -- The interpretations as A[theta]idat, A[theta]zat, and A[theta]izat respectively are unacceptable (see Schmitt 1999: 120) though attempts at another interpretation are futile at present.

'wpsyk upsek 'tax, debt, arrears' (cf. '(p)syk(y?), ptsyk, sygpr). -- Only one occurrence in 1613, may be connected with ptsyk...