2015, Vol. 1, No. 1

©2015 Jordan Center for Persian Studies DABIR 2015 1(1)University of California, Irvine http://www.dabirjournal.org/

www.dabirjournal.org

Editor-in-ChiefTouraj Daryaee

Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and CultureUniversity of California, Irvine1st Floor Humanities Gateway

Irvine, CA 92697-3370e-mail: tdaryaee@uci.edu

EditorsParsa Daneshmand (Oxford University)

Arash Zeini (Independent scholar)

Book Review EditorShervin Farridnejad (Freie Universität Berlin)

Editorial AssistantsAni Honarchian (UCLA)Sara Mashayekh (UCI)

Advisory BoardSamra Azarnouche (École pratique des hautes études)

Dominic P. Brookshaw (Oxford University)Matthew Canepa (University of Minnesota)

Ashk Dahlén (Uppsala University)Peyvand Firouzeh (Cambridge University)Leonardo Gregoratti (Durham University)

Frantz Grenet (Collège de France)Wouter F.M. Henkelman (École Pratique des Hautes Études)

Rasoul Jafarian (Tehran University)Nasir al-Ka‘abi (University of Kufa)Andromache Karanika (UC Irvine)

Agnes Korn (Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main)Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (University of Edinburgh)

Jason Mokhtarain (University of Indiana)Ali Mousavi (UC Irvine)

Mahmoud Omidsalar (CSU Los Angeles)Antonio Panaino (University of Bologna)

Alka Patel (UC Irvine)Richard Payne (University of Chicago)

Khodadad Rezakhani (Freie Universität Berlin)Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis (British Museum)

M. Rahim Shayegan (UCLA)Rolf Strootman (Utrecht University)

Giusto Traina (University of Paris-Sorbonne)Mohsen Zakeri (University of Göttingen)

Logo design by Charles LiLayout and typesetting by Arash Zeini

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xšnaoθrahe ahurahe mazdåDetail from above the entrance of Tehran’s fire temple, 1286š/1917–18. Photo by © Shervin Farridnejad

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Contents

I Articles 1

1 A re-examination of two terms in the Elamite version of the Behistun inscriptionSaber Amiri Pariyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Alexander and the Arsacids in the manuscript MU29Touraj Daryaee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3 Take care of the xrafstars! A note on Nēr. 7.5Shervin Farridnejad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 The kings of Parthia and Persia: Some considerations on the ‘Iranic’ identity in the ParthianEmpireLeonardo Gregoratti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5 Brief comments on the so-called Xorde Avesta (1)Götz König . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

6 Some thoughts on the rock-reliefs of ancient IranAli Mousavi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

7 A note on the Alkhan coin type 39 and its legendKhodadad Rezakhani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

8 Relieving monthly sexual needs: On Pahlavi daštān-māh wizārdanShai Secunda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

9 Preliminary observations on word order correspondence in the ZandArash Zeini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

II Reviews 36

10 Smith, Kyle. 2014. The Martyrdom and History of Blessed Simeon bar Sabba’eSajad Amiri Bavandpoor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

11 Mayor, Adrienne. 2014. The Amazons. Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the An-cient WorldLloyd Llewellyn-Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

12 Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd & James Robson. 2010. CTESIAS’ History of Persia: Tales of the OrientYazdan Safaee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

III Special Issue 43

13 Of dirt, diet, and religious others: A theme in Zoroastrian thoughtBruce Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

iii

List of Tables

1 Sequence of instructions in V 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Sequence of instructions in Yt 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Ritual instruction in Ny 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Aməṣ̌a Spəṇtas in Yt 3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 fradaiϑīš(a) in Yt 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Yt 1.24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Yazišn in PYt 1.24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 iϑā in the Gāϑās . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 Homology of judgement of the dead and digestion, following Greater Bundahišn 28.10 . . . . . . . 4810 Homologic relations implied by Farbag-Srōš’s opinion on whether Zoroastrians can buy prepared

foods from their non-Zoroastrian neighbors (Rivāyat of Farnbag-Srōš 25) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

List of Figures

1 Cuneiform text of DB 8:18 in KT’s report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 KT’s comments on unread signs in DB 8:18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Cuneiform text of DB 10:26 in KT’s report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Column I from line 18 to line 28. Note the erosion in lines 18 & 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 The eroded signs of ˹v.hal-la-ma˺-ir (DB 8:18) in sun light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 The eroded signs of ˹v.hal-la-ma˺-ir (DB 8:18) in the shade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 The restored signs of DB 8:18 on a scale of one-quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 The eroded signs of ˹mi-ul(?)-ka4˺-iš (DB 10:26) in sun light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 The eroded signs of ˹mi-ul(?)-ka4˺-iš (DB 10:26) in the shade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610 The restored signs of DB 10:26 on a scale of one-quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611 Photoshop reconstruction of DB 10:26 by the present author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712 Coin type 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2413 The legend on coin type 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2414 The Alkhan tamgha S1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Part I

Articles

A note on the Alkhan coin type 39 and its legend

Khodadad Rezakhani

Freie Universität Berlinkhodadad@zedat.fu-berlin.de

In the classification of the Hunnic coinage issuedby “Alkhan” authorities, Robert Göbl recognizes atype 39 that bears an obverse bust with a crown re-

sembling that of Shapur II (Göbl 1967: 43-44). KlausVondrovec, in his update to Göbl’s work, considers thetype 39 as part of the “Anonymous Clan Rulers” of theAlkhans series (Vondrovec 2014: 178) and stylisticallylinks it to the type 43, “as well as by the obverse legendswhich are corrupted” (Vondrovec 2014: 170).

In their 2010 article, Michael Alram and MatthiasPfisterer summarized the previous attempts at readingthe legends as: “Humbach (1966) thought it might bea corruption of Alxanno šauo, Göbl (1967) read xmoidoboiono, while Davary (1982) offers no reading at all”(Alram & Pfisterer, 2010: 16). In his 2013 publica-tion, Pfisterer states that “… die in meinen Augen im-mer noch überzeugendste Variante is die von Göbl, derxmoido boiono liest” (Pfisterer, 2013: 33).

Neither Göbl, nor Pfisterer following him, offer anymeaning for this reading, which seems by all measuresbizarre. In fact, it might be most sensible to dismissthe legend, as in the related type 43, completely cor-rupt. The difficulty arises from the fact that unlike thetype 43 legend where the individual letter shapes seemto have been corrupted, either incorrectly written orgarbled by the die cutter, the Bactrian letters on thetype 39 coin seem rather perfectly preserved, exceptthat they make no particular sense.

Figure 12: Coin type 39

In the specimen of the coin inspected by me, the in-scription appears to makemore sense than the one pre-sented by Göbl or Vondrovec. The legend of the coin,kept at the Cabinet des Medailles in Paris under the

catalogue number 1965.418, seems rather clear. On thereverse, the coin has the bust of a king, looking right,with a crown imitated from that of Shapur II. There isan Alkhan “tamgha” S1 in front of the bust, and a cres-cent moon at 11h behind the bust (Pfisterer 2013: 33).The hair bale and the upward turning ribbons start-ing from the shoulder are among the reasons this typeis connected to the later type 43 coins of the “EarlyAnonymousAlkhan” coin series (Vondrovec 2014: 179-180). The coin itself is significant since it is the begin-ning of a stage of Alkhan production when “all issueswere no longer struck frommodified old Sasanian dies,but were completely engraved by the Alkhan them-selves” (Vondrovec 2014: 178).

Figure 13: The legend on coin type 39

Here, I propose to read the inscription, reading from1h, r.o. as:

χιδαρο βαιανο

I cannot quite see the μ as read by Göbl in the first partof the word (i.e. χμιοδο). Instead, it appears to me tobe precisely χιδαρο. The second part I tend to largelyagree with Göbl, modifying it to βαιανο, providing areading for the whole legend as χιδαρο βαιανο.1 Asparallel for the reading βαι- I like to bring attentionto the gold denar type of Kidara, type 84 (Vondrovec2014:184), where the reading Βοιο Κιδαρο2 has beenproposed with the meaning “Lord Kidara.”

1Nicholas Sims-Williams, whose kind advice on this matter Iwould like to happily acknowledge here, suggests the reading as oneword, thus χιδαροβαιονο (personal communication). I take full re-sponsibility for my choice of treating the legend as two words andany possible ensuing mistakes.

2I cannot see how Vondrovec has read κιδαρο on the coin, adoubt shared also by Nicholas Sims-Williams (personal communica-

A note on the Alkhan coin type 39 and its legend Khodadad Rezakhani

Bay meaning “god, lord” (MacKenzie1971: 17) is ofcourse a Middle Persian borrowing into Bactrian andthus by extension, the meaning of it as lord should bespeculated to have also been fully borrowed fromMid-dle Persian. In this sense, the plural form βαιανο fromMiddle Persian bayān should carry the same meaningof “lord” that has been used as a royal title (Panaino2009: 209-256). In fact, as Mary Boyce has suggested,the plural form Bayān, when put in the postposition,comes to mean a royal title (Boyce 1981-1982: 64-66;Panaino 2003: 285). Considering this, I propose totranslate the second part of the inscription as “King,Majesty” following the originalMiddle Persian version.

The first part, however, would be a problematic mat-ter. Normally, the name of the Kidarite authority Ki-dara is written as Kedara on the Brahmi legends ofhis various issues (Vondrovec type 11, p. 60) and asκιδαριτο in the combination of “Huns known as Ki-darites” in the fragmentary history of Priscus (fr. 33Exc. De Leg. Rom., Blockley translation 1983: 337).In Bactrian, the name is attested as Kidiro and Kēddiro(Grenet 2005; Sims-Williams 2010: 78, no. 213). In allthese instances the name starts with a /k/ which leavesvery little doubt about the pronunciation of the name.This would then cause problems with identifying theχιδαρο on our coin Type 39 as Kidara since the initialletter is quite clearly a χ (kh) and cannot be read as a κ.

However, in the Islamic sources referring to the Ab-basid general Al-Afshin, a descendant of the traditionalrulers of Ustrushana, his name is given as Khydhr یذر(al-Tabari IX.11; Mas’udi 169) which was sometimeswritten wrongly as (Arabic) Haydar یدر (Dinawari 203;Baladhuri 211), but was specified as Khydhar by laterwriters as well (Ibn Khallakhan, V.123) while at leastone source has the form kydr یدر (Qudama, Al-Kharaj,380). The name Kydr seems to have indeed been a pop-ular name among the people of Ustrushana, as sev-eral characters, including a certain Kydr b. Abdul-lah al-Ustrushani are mentioned in the Islamic sources(al-Tabari IX.259; Yaghubi II.495). I cannot at presentsuggest a precise connection between kydr and xydrand will leave it to my better equipped philologist col-leagues, but would like to propose that the χιδαροmentioned on our coin is indeed referring to the samepersonality as Kidara, this coin possibly showing oneof the earliest instances of kyδr/khyr correspondenceprior to its mention in the Islamic sources.

The numismatic complications for this can be man-ifold and beyond the concern of the present paper.Close association and correspondence between Ki-

tion). What I see on type 84 and in its variants presented by Von-drovec on pages 148-149 is a βοιο followed by what appears to beeither κοο (84, 84-1, 84-2) or κρορο/κοοϸο (most clearly on variant84-4). I am not able at this time to provide a meaning or a possiblealternative reading for this coin, but would posit that the possibil-ity of the second word being κηδαρο (the expected Bactrian form:Sims-Williams 2010: 78, no. 213) is quite slim.

darite and Alkhan coinage are not unknown. It is al-ready noted that the Kidarite type 18b (Pfisterer 2013:3.2; Vondrovec 2014: 35-36) might bear a Brahmilegend khigi, connecting it to the Alkhan authorityKhingila. The same coin also has a symbol S3 (acakra) otherwise exclusively attested on type 66 of theAlkhan, with Brahmi Khigi and Bactrian αλχα legends(Attributed by Cribb 2010 to its “mint D”; Vondrovec2014: 36). In the Begram hoard of Hunnic coins col-lected by Masson, two copper issues include a tamgha,which is a combination of the Kidarite and Alkhantamghas (Errington 2010: 149).

Consequently, at present, I can see the followingpossibilities if we entertain the idea that this coin, type39 of the “Anonymous Clan Rulers” of the Alkhan, isissued by Kidara, the founder of the Kidarite dynasty.The first would be demonstrating a closer relationshipbetween the coin issues of the Kidarites and that of theAlkhans, possibly even a case of joint-minting of thecoins, as the tamgha S1 betrays the coin as a genuineAlkhan issue (Errington 2010: 149). In this sense, thefamous and well published Swat bowl would serve toshow not only a correspondence between the two au-thorities in the later period of their existence, 450-460as Marshak dates the bowl (Marschak 1986: 29-34), butalso in the initial phase of their existence south of theHindu-Kush.3

Figure 14: The Alkhan tamgha S14

A second possibility is that this series of early Alkhancoinage, the second stage of their Anonymous ClanRulers, should indeed be associated with the Kidaritesand not the Alkhans themselves. This would bring theissue of Alkhan tamgha S1, as the characteristic of theAlkhan coinage (Alram and Pfisterer 2010: 15) to fore.Also important is the attribution of this stage of Alkhancoinage to the “Kabul” mint and the suggestion thatthis mint passed directly from the Sasanians, issuingcoins of Shapur II and Shapur III to the Alkhans (Von-drovec 2014: 45; Schindel 2004: 282-284). Consideringthe position of the Type 39 in the range of coins asso-

3I like to present an extra support from another scholar on theuse of the bowl as a reflection of a contemporary reality of the co-existence, and even co-operation, of the Kidarites and the Alkhans:“… although it has been disputed that the bowl indicates that theKidarites and Alkhon were contemporaries, I still think it reflectsa social reality of the period, i.e. one of co-existence between thetwo groups, who may have been in control of different areas at inthe same period. Such a reality is one moreover which the coin andtextual evidence reinforces.” (Errington 2010: 149).

4Image from http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase6.

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A note on the Alkhan coin type 39 and its legend Khodadad Rezakhani

ciated with the “Kabul” mint, it is obvious that it wasissued by the same mint and consequently, that theχιδαρο βαιανο authority was indeed in charge of thismint. If indeed the case, we might speculate that thetamgha S1 was in fact a sign of the mint of Kabul itself,passing from the Kidarites to the Alkhans when thelatter took over the mint, and subsequently becomingcanonical on the coinage of the Alkhans themselves,even when minting coins outside Kabul. This mightalso explain the presence of the tamgha on some laterNezak issues (Vondrovec 2014: type 219a) which areissued in Kabul (Vondrovec 2014: 389).

While issues of continuity in style and relations be-tween stylistic types admittedly play a more crucialrole in explaining the relationship between variouscoinage authorities, the decipherment of the legends ofthe coins can up to a point be useful for understandingtheir placement in the historical setting. By proposinga new reading of the coin type 39 of the Alkhan andsuggesting a relationship between this coin and thatof a Kidarite authority, I hope to have brought aboutthe possibility of rethinking the pattern of coin issuesin the earliest stages of the Kidarite and Alkhan issuesand provided a way of redefining their history.

Bibliography

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