ARAMAIC PREPOSITION B IN PARTHIAN (PAHLAVICA IV)

GIKYO ITO Prof. Emer. of Kyoto University

As is well known, in inscriptional Parthian, Aramaic preposition B (be-) 'in, through, with' as equivalent of Parthian andar 'in, among' is prefixed to the word it governs, although in the dictionaries B is treated as a separate, independent word. Therefore it is to be recommended that in an edition of the said Parthian, the preposition is represented by B-. For instance, of S KZ(21), line 3: m 'at Misik', l. 4: B-byb'lsy 'at Barbarisos', l. 11: B-kpwtky' 'in Cappadocia', l. 21: B-'ry'n hstr B-p'rs 'in sahr (=Eran-sahr; in MP versionBY= I andar is legible,equivalent to Parthian B-), in Persis'. This Parthian usage of writing, in our opinion, dates back through Aso- kan Inscription from Taxila to the Achaemenid period. In the said inscrip- tion, lines 6-8, is read ZNH (7) ZK(22) Bhwwrd H (8) hwnstwn=zena ZK bihvavarda ha hunistdvana 'This and also other various performance of the Good Order'. The text is an Aramaic translation of Middle Indic eta anam ca bahuvidham dhramacaranam 'This and other many kinds of Dharma-performance'. As I have already noticed(23), an Aramaeo- Iranian compound here to translate Middle Indic bahuvidham 'of many kinds' is bihvavarda'various, of many kinds' which is not a perhaps erroneous transcrip- tion of Middle Indic bahuvidha-(24). This type of formation that Aramaic pre- position B and the succeeding Iranian term (here hva 'self') it governs constitute the first component followed by an Iranian nomen agentis ending in -a (varda), goes back to Achaemenid Official Aramaic or Achaemenid bureaucracy, be- cause on the ritual objects from Persepolis are met with Aramaic inscriptions containing the lexemes of quite the same formation. In Bowman Nos. 13 and 14, the treasurer (ganzabara) is qualified respectively by Bh=beharxvataya <*be-harva-xvataya 'presiding over all' and Bwhstk=be-vahu-staka<*be-vahu-staka 'r esiding amidst goods, residing amidst treasure'. Scholars read be-Haraxvati and be-Vahistaka, taking the last component as place-name, and interpret the 59 whole inscription in such a way: the treasurer came over from Haraxvati ( Arachosia, i.e. Kandahar, Afghanistan) or Vahistaka (of unknown location) to Persepolis to attend the Haoma-ceremony. But it is quite irrelevant that the ceremony in the Persid capital could not have occurred without attendance of a treasurer from Kandahar. In these circumstances, the temptation becomes irresistible to consider both be-compounds as of quite the same formation with bihvavarda which will relieve us of an uncongenial situation. My former ambiguous transcription of Bhwwrd by bihvavard or bihvavard(a) is now to be superseded by bihvavarda ending in -a, just like the both attributes. So also in the Aso- kan Aramaic inscriptions, arzus or arzus(a) by arzusa, nistdvan or nistdvan(a) by nistavana, hvavard or hvavard(a) by hvavarda and dainavar by dainavara. All these forms are nom. sing. masc. like bihvavarda. See Orient, Vol. XII (1976), p. 63; Studia Iranica, Tome 6 (1977), pp. 152, 154-55; St. Ir., T. 8 (1979), pp. 176, 181;

Zoroaster Kenkyu (ゾ ロ ア ス タ ー 研 究), Tokyo 1979, pp. 452, 455-56, 468, 473, 476, 479, 480, 481. These words as well as other Iranian lexemes interlarded in Asokan inscriptions from Afghanistan are tangible proof of the fact that in the mid-third century B. C., the language still flourished in Afghani- stan. Now, let us turn to the Aramaeo-Iranian composita above referred to which are by no means to say all, because in Xerxes' oft-quoted Daiva In- scription is found brazmaniya=be-razmaniya<*be-razma-maniya(25)<*eb-razman- maniya or, if the inscriptional scribe was Aramaean, directly <*be-raz-maniya, adj. (nom. sing masc.) 'staying with the Law, resting on the Law'. The term occurs three times in the Inscription in the phrase Ahurazmazdam yad- 'rt'c' brzmniy 'to worship Ahuramazda--' of which 'it'c' has vari- ously been interpreted: (1) arta-ca, (2) artaca, (3) artac a and (4) arta-ca. (1) arts-ca is instrumental singular of arta- n. 'Justice; Law' with co- ordinating conjunction -ca 'and', but is interpreted in two different ways: (a) one is to take arta-ca as comitative instr. and to translate the phrase 'to wor- ship Ahuramazda and Arta(26)', but one wonders if the name Arta as deity would have been mentioned in one breath with Ahuramazda in Old Persian inscriptions. Even if that may be overlooked, to attain such an interpretation, OP would have yad- Ahuramazdam-ca Artam, Ahuramazdam Arta or Ahuramazdam hada Arta(27). (b) Another interpretation is to take arts as instr. denoting ac- cordance supplied with the so-called 'inverse ca' and to translate the phrase by 'to worship Ahuramazda in accord with justice and-'- an inter- 60 ORIENT ARAMAIC PREPOSITION B IN PARTHIAN (PAHLAVICA IV) pretation, most relevant and congenial to me. (2) is to interpret 'rt'c' artaca 'facing to Arta', instr. sing. of *artanc-< *arta-anc-(28) which would rather signify 'adherent of the Justice', so that the phrase then would mean 'to worship Ahuramazda in company with an ad- herent of the Justice', in other word, 'to worship Ahuramazda in company with another worshipper of Arta'. (3) is to interpret 'rt'c' artaca nom. sing, masc. of *artacan-<*arta-acan- <*arta-hacan- adj. 'following the Arta'(29) which 'is ruled out by the newly- recognized fact that h between two a's does not normally disappear in OP'(30) (4) is to take arta as locative sing. of *artu- (Old Indic rtu-) '(proper, i, e. fixed) time'(31) which requires in Old Persian normally *artau or *artava. To sum up, ingenious proposals seem to have invited a seemingly per- plexing labyrinth which is partly due to the difficulty in the interpretation of the term brzmniy. brzmniy has aroused much more discussions which may be divided into two directions. The one (1) is to connect it to Old Indic brahman- n., what- ever meaning may it imply, and the other (2) is the otherwise theories. But virtually the former may be further subdivided into three: 1a, 1b, 1c and the latter into two: 2a, 2b, so that there are five kinds of arguments. First of all, it should be set forth that in view of Elamite transcription bir-ra-iz-man-nu-ya and Akkadian one bi-ra-za-am-man-ni-i, only three kinds of

reading are possible: (α) brazmaniya, (β) brazmani and (γ) brazmani. (α) is

nom. sing. masc. of brazmaniya- adj., (β) is loc. sing. of *brazman- n. which would rather be expressed usually by *brazmaniya, and (γ) is instr. sing. of *brazmani- which is to be expressed normally in OP by *brazmaniya. In all probability, therefore, only allowable is the reading (a), whereas the other readings brazmani are ruled out, to say nothing of brazmaniya. And my criti- cisms on the theories proposed taking brazmaniya as of purely Iranian forma- tion, lie fundamentally in that the form when taken as nom. sing. masc. of *brazmaniya- adj. can only refer to the worshipper of Ahuramazda (Xerxes and others) and that even if the meaning imposed to be may do full justice to an attribute of the worshipper, the syntactical position occupied by brazmaniya should be parallel to what arises without strain from the preceding arta(-ca) 'in accord with Justice (and)'. According to the theory la above referred to, brazmaniya- is connected to Old Indic, but not attested in the Rig-Veda, brazmanya- 'pious'-provided Vol. XVII 1981 61 it is derivative from brahman- n.-. brazmaniya, nom. sing. masc., then would suit the attribute of a worshipper of the God. And moreover the occurrence of arta- and brazmaniya- in the Daiva Inscription would be quite parallel to the Vedic situation observing the occasional occurrence of brahman- with rta-. But as Mawet rightly pointed out, the connection of brahman- and rta- is not necessarily fundamental(32) and in Old Persian inscriptions no other instances are met with referring to brazmaniya- 'pious', and lastly but not to the least, as I have noticed, brazmaniya, nom. sing. masc. '(as a man) pious' is syntac- tically out of tune with arta(-ca) 'in accord with Justice (and)': brazmaniya signifies by no means 'in piety' denoting the wise and manner.

The theory 1b, though referring to brahman-, connects it to Av. b∂r∂g- (AirWb 957) f. 'rite' and translates brazmaniya by 'according to the rite' which interpretation however is ruled out, because, if it were right, the form would be superseded by *brazmaniya. And moreover the meaning 'rite' imposed to

b∂r∂g- is not probable(33), to which another argument ascribes the meaning

'strength'(34). Thus Av. b∂r∂g- is of ambiguous meaning all the more since in

it is merged 1E *bhergh- (35) which comprises not only Av. 2bar∂z- (AirWb 949) 'high' (cf. Old Indic brhant-, etc.) but Old Indic brh- (brhati 'become strong') and Av.

us-barez- (us……bar∂zayeni) 'to make grow'. From the afmiation of brazmaniya-

with brahman- referring to Av. barag- or 2baraz- would ensue an irrelevant out- come that brazmaniya nom. sing. masc. refers the worshipper (Xerxes and others) to sublime or strong fellow. The theory 1c postulates from Western Middle Iranian brahm (ag) 'form, manner, costume' OP (or rather Old Iranian) *brazman- 'form, rite, style' and refers it to brahman-, thus rendering 'rt'c' brzmniy by arta-ca brazmaniya 'behav- ing (or acting) in the proper ceremonial style in accord with the Rta'(36). The translation escaping ca 'and' is rather a retrogression, to say nothing of the perhaps failure in etymological treatment of brahm(ag) which, as Mawet(37) made it highly probable, came from the base braz- (Old Indic bhraj-) 'to shine'

(as regards braz-, *brazman-, brahm, cf. Av. urvaz- 'to be joyful', urvaz∂man- 'joy', MP urwahm 'j oyful'). But even then, if we take brazmaniya (nom, sing, masc.) as 'brilliant' as is naturally taken to be, the interpretation would make poor sense like the preceding theory 1b. The theory 2a is to take brazmaniya- as a -ya- adjective derived from the compound *braz-- 'sublime-minded'(38), not suitable to an attribute of a worshipper of the god. And moreover this theory is untenable in that (1) 62 ORIENT ARAMAIC PREPOSITION B IN PARTHIAN (PAHLAVICA IV) the first component is not b(a)rzi- (Av. b∂r∂zi-) or *b(a)rza- as rightly pointed out by Mawet(39) and (2), the last component is not -manis- (cf. Haxamanis-, Ardimanis-and yaumanis-)40 which -manis will give *brazmanisiya and not brazma- niya. The theory 2b is to take brazmaniya- as a -(i) ya- adjective derived from *brazman- n. 'sublimity', an expansion with -man- of a root noun *braz- 'sub- limity'(41). The theory is not tenable in that brzmniy is read brazmaniya instr. sing. referring to arta ('sublime Arta') for perhaps avoidance of the irrelevance that the worshipper should be 'sublime'. To sum up, what I have dwelt upon will sanction to translate Ahuramazdam yad- arta-ca brazmaniya by 'to worship Ahuramazda in accord with Justice and in adhesion to the Law'. It is true that brazmaniya is nom. sing. masc. of be- razmaniya- (

Vol. XVII 1981 63 Notes

(1) As for Pahlavica I and II, see Orient, Vols. XV (1979) and XVI (1980) respectively. (2) Abbreviations: KKZ=Karder's Inscription of the Ka'be-ye Zardost; KNRb=that of Naqs-e Rajab; KNRm=that of Naqs-e Rostam; SKZ=Sabuhr's Inscription of the Ka'be-ye Zardost, (MP) version. <> means restoration of text. (()) means the part taken by me as an original commentary. + means emendation. (3) One of the latest achievements is Werner Sundermann, "Parthisch 'BSWDG'N 'Die Taufer'", Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, T. XXV, Fasc. 1-4, 1977 (published 1980), pp. 237-42, who explains quite convincingly mktky (KKZ line 10) as the baptists in Mesopotamia, called mnaqqde by Theodor bar Konai, equivalent to Parthian absodagan. (4) Hu=Helmut Humbach and Prods O. Skjaervo, The Sassanian Inscription of Paikuli, Part 2, Wiesbaden 1980. (5) He=Ernst Herzfeld, Paikuli, Berlin 1924. He2 indicates his supplementary material, see Hu, p. 111. (6) According to Philippe Gignoux, Glossaire des Inscriptions Pehlevies et Parthes, London 1972, p. 24, s. v. HWYTN. (7) Cf. also Franz Rosenthal, A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, Wiesbaden 19744, p. 83, s, v. n i n pa. 'to tell, to inform someone about something'; Fr. Rosenthal (edited by), An Aramaic Handbook, Part 1/2, Glossary (H. L. Ginsberg), Wiesbaden 1967, p. 24, s, v. 'i n pa. 'to tell, to state, to make known'. (8) Gignoux, op. cit., p. 24, s. v. HWYTN. (9) Michael Back, Die sassanidischenStaatsinschriften, Acta Iranica 18 (1978), p. 18 (No. 52) and p. 508, Anm. 254. (10) Christopher J. Brunner, A Syntax of Western Middle Iranian, New York 1977, p. 265. (11) Back, op. cit., pp. 384-85, takes as ppp. (12) Back, op. cit., pp. 26, 385-86; Brunner, op. cit., p. 63. (13) According to the word-order: 'As for these rites too which are performed in the country, for this very (6) reason, how they (i. e. rites) will become in the other world, (then) do you reveal to me, that I may become more confident about it.' (14) 'geschlagen' (MHYTN= I zad), attested not in KKZ. (15) 'd'ly=adal 'fetter'<*a-d∂r∂z(a)- emended unconvincingly to+appar 'geraubt' by Back, op. cit., pp. 176-77 (No. 2).

(16) See my Kenkyu (ゾ ロ ア ス タ ー 研 究), Tokyo 1979, p. 80, n. 200 and p. 421. (17) Henrik Samuel Nyberg, A Manual of Pahlavi, II, Wiesbaden 1974, p. 14 (am), 35 (at), 33 (as), 35 (atan), 34 (asan). (18) Walther Hinz, "Die Inschrift des Hohenpriesters Karder am Turm von Naqsh-e Rostam", ArchaeologischeMitteilungen aus Iran, NF, Bd. 3 (1970), p. 262. (19) Ph. Gignoux, "L'inscription de Kirdir a Naqs-i Rustam", Studia Iranica, Tome 1 (1972), fascicule 2, p. 192. (20) As for my interpretation of the texts, see my "Syenian frataraka and Persid fratatak/New Iranian Elements in Ancient Aramaic (Gathica XIV-XV)", Orient, Vol. XII (1976), n. 46 and my Zoroaster Kenkyu, pp. 425-37. (21) See above, n. (2). (22) ZK is here employed as mask of Old Persian anya 'other', nom. sing. masc. in place of nom. sing. fem. From Pahlavi writing s, j 4f or is to be uzwarised by I an 'that', I have assumed that in Achaemenid Official Aramaic, anya must have been expressed by ZK, ZK'y

64 ORIENT ARAMAIC PREPOSITION B IN PARTHIAN (PAHLAVICA IV)

or ZKy, the first being an abbreviation writing, the second corresponding to the cuneiform spelling 'niy viz, a na i ya and the third representing the pronounciation /anya/ itself. The indifferent or rather free usage of ZK in these expressions seems to live on in the early Middle Persian writing and to invite ZK-n for a-n from whence ZK-m for a-m. See my Gathica XIV- XV, n. 46 (p. 63). (23) G. Ito, loc. cit.; Zoroaster Kenkyu, pp. 455-56. (24) G. Ito, Gathica XIV-XV, n. 46 (p. 63). (25) maniya is derived from the base 2man- 'to stay, to remain' and not from 1man- 'to think' which as transitive verb does not require the preposition be-. A different analysis of berazmaniya into *be-razmaniya 'in attention to the Law' making be- govern *razmaniya is ruled out, because none of the be-composita admits of such an analysis. (26) Roland G. Kent, Old Persian, New Haven 1953, p. 170, s. v. arta-. (27) *Ahura-Arta (*Ahurarta) is impossible. (28) Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin's correspondence to S. H. Taqizadeh "OLD PERSIAN ARTACA BRAZMANIY", Bulletin of the Schoolof Oriental and African Studies, , Vol. XXV (1962), pp. 336-37. (29) 's suggestion, apud H. S. Nyberg, Die Religionendes alten Iran, deutsch von Hans Heinrich Schaeder, Leipzig 1938, p. 478. (30) Duchesne-Guillemin, op, cit., p. 336. (31) Rudiger Schmitt, "Ein altpersisches ghostword and das sog. 'inverse ca'", Orientalia, N. S. t. 32 (1963), pp. 443-45. (32) Fr. Mawet, "VIEUX-PERSE BRAZMANIY(A)- ET LES NOUVELLES DONNEES DE L'ONOMASTIQUE ELAMITE", Studia Iranica, Tome 7 (1978), p. 10, n. 11.

(33) In the Zand, b∂r∂ja (instr. sing.)is translated by lpad arzog 'with the desire(for)'; for further details, see Mawet, op. cit., pp. 11-12. (34) Paul Thieme, "Brahman", Zeltschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, Bd. 102 (1952), p. 129. (35) Differently H. W. Bailey, Dictionary of Khotan , Cambridge 1979, p. 272 who, rejecting 1E *bleghmen- to bel- 'strong, strength' proposed by Walther Wust, PHMA, Heft 8-11, Munchen 1962-65 (=Altpersische Studien. Sprach- und Kulturgeschichtliche Beitrage zum Glossar der Achameniden- Inschriften, Munchen 1966), p. 221, traced Ir. barz- or braz- in OP brazmaniya- or Old Indic brah-: brh- in brahman- to 1E bhlagh-. See also his Indo-Scythian Studies being Khotanese Texts, Vol. VI, Cambridge 1967, p. 230. (36) , "Brahman", Transactions of the Philological Society, London (TPS), 1944 (1945), p. 116. (37) Mawet, op. cit., pp. 17-20. (38) Ernst Herzfeld, New York Times, 9 Febr. 1936, apud Mawet, op, cit., n. 18. (39) Mawet, op. cit., pp. 14-15. (40) yaumanis- 'agile-minded', whose first component may be traced to the base yu- 'to move' in Av. gaoyaoiti-. For gaoyaoiti-, see H. W. Bailey, "Indo-Iranian Studies II", TPS, 1954 (1955), p. 138. (41) Mawet, op, cit., p. 16. (42) G. Ito, loc, cit. (in particular p. 65). My detection of the syntactically indifferent or rather neutral usage irrespective of the grammatical case form is wide-range and contributes to a new interpretation of the OP phrase such as -sam hamaranam k(a)rtam which is to be translated not by 'the battle was fought by them', nor by 'they fought the battle', but by 'it was fought by them'. A starting point for such a construction seems to lie in a phrase such as hamaranam akunavan 'they fought the battle' where, it is true, hamaranam 'battle' constitutes the object governed by the verb akunavan 'they made', but hamaranam akunavan is liable to be taken in particular by Aramaean scribe(s) as one closely-knit compound verb hamaranam-akunavan 'they fought (

Vol. XVII 1981 65 battle)'. In the phrase -sam hamaranam k(a)rtam, hamaranam k(a)rtam may be taken as ppp. of the compound verb hamaranam-kar- 'to fight' and accordingly may be paraphrased by another ppp. such as *p(a)rstam (<*p(a)rt-ta-to*p(a)rt- 'to fight', cf Av. par∂t- [AirWb 868]). The phrase-sam hamaranam k(a)rtam or rather -sam hamaranam-k(a)rtam thus may easily be paraphrased by -sam *p(a)rstam '(it was) fought by them'.

66 ORIENT