-ḫi in The List of Sheep Presenter Names in Bastam

Year 2024, Issue: 30, 167 - 178, 04.09.2024

Maryam Dara

https://doi.org/10.26650/anar.2024.30.1426381

Abstract

Urartian inscriptions from ca. 900 to 700 BC have been discovered in Iran, Armenia, Turkey, Iraq, and Nakhchivan. ḫi was used in the Urartian language in several cases, but as a suffix, it is challenging for translation as it forms patronymic, genitive, dative, adjective of appurtenance, and locative cases. There are several possibilities for its translation as “of,” “in,” and “from.” But ḫi could also be used to form the names of the cities or a noun or adjective. This suffix is usually used with the names of persons and geographical places or the root and is comparable to the suffix in Hurrian. A very rare example has been detected in a tablet from Bastam, which contains a list of sheep presenters or owners. The above list includes UDU 1-ḫi mX in four damaged lines, and the rest of the inscription is lost. The aim of the author is to detect the suffix function and translation. It seems that the persons were the owners of the sheep or the presenters who were not the owners. In this case, it can be translated as “of” or “from.” It is also possible that this list was a ration or blessing from the bone room to these people.

Keywords

Toprakkale, Urartian, Bastam, Patronymic Names

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