RE: http://www.lostlanguages.com/parthian.htm WEBSITEParthian Language of the Ancient Turkish culture!!!?? Beverly Burris has kindly drawn our attention to the above in connection with Parthian language and related matters. I have had a glance at its content and realized that it is fraught with EXTREMELY MISLEADING information about the subject. I have no idea who the organizer/curator of this site is but have no hesitation to say that based on what I have discovered, he/she can only be an over-zealous individual attempting to distort the existing plain historical facts and present the unwary readers with no more than fabricated information. To back my claim I would like to draw my fellow members' attention to the following case: At the end of his/her "Case 2 - [TUTUK-TARI (Ttktr) INSCRIPTION" the reader would find the following comment: "From its content, we suspect that the above inscription belongs to a King named Tutuk-tari (Ttktr) which is the "Hezarvaresh" of King Vonones II (A.D. 51), son of Vonones I (r. A.D. 7-12) and grandson of Phraates". It goes without saying that this is plainly nonsensical and quiteinadmissible; the Parthians NEVER had a king whose name would even resemble such a typical "Turkish" phrase! Most disturbing, however, is his/her transliteration and translation of the facsimile of Avroman Parchment III that has probably been scan-copied from the following monumental work: PAIKULI - Monument and Inscription of the Early History of the SasanianEmpire, in 2 Volumes (Berlin, 1924), vol. 1, Chapter VI, p. 83, Fig. 38[Parchment from Awraman (Awr.)], by : Ernst Herzfeld. I have no way of presenting here Herzfeld's transliteration of the text due to a multitude of letters with diacritical marks. However, I will offer his English translation which reads: 1. (In the) year 300, month Arvatat, the seller (is) Pataspak, son of Tirin 2. ZZ MNY.YRY the vineyard Asmak (of) which the half belongs to Abirashkan3. and the buyer (is) Avil, son of Bashnin. I have given (?) wholesale 45 dirham,4. what by the landlord AT.XRV together they swear5. before the witnesses Terak, son of Apin, ...g, son of Rashnu, Arashtat,6. son of Abnu, Garipanahi, son of Mitrafarri, Senak, son of MatBVG,7. ...... the vineyard, the Asmakan vineyard is bought (by) Avil from8. Pataspak wholesale (for) 45 dirham. There is, of course, a more detailed analysis of the same text by Professor H. S. Nyberg in the following: "The Pahlavi Documents from Avroman", Le Monde Oriental, 17 (1923), pp.182-230. Again I am unable to give the transliteration of the text for the abovereasons but the translation is as follows: 1. (In the) year 300, (in the) month Aromat (?). Pataspak, son of Tirensells2. a vineyard called Datbakan, (belonging to) the tilled ground (the open country) at Ganjakan, half the garden3. which Avil (?), son of Bsh(ch)nen, buys, (the price) being, in total, 54 drachmae.4. To the end of the fixed time the landlord (the tenant) together with his descendants, shal enjoy (it). In the presence of5. (the following) witnesses: Tirak, son of Apen, .... -bogh, son of Rashnu, Arshtat,6. son of Abzan, Farrepanah, son of Midrbokht, Sinak, son of Matbogh,7. The vineyard (called Datbakan), the vineyard belonging to the tilledground, is bought by Avil (?) from8. Pataspak (for), in total, 54 drachmae. Now, compare the above two versions which concur nicely with the load of nonsensical and irrelevant words, phrases and sentences by the "curator" of the above site. He/She doesn't even mention the names of the above two scholars let alone credit them with the TRUE and CORRECT transliteration and translation of all those difficult Parthian words in their Aramaic rendering: 1 Years of wonders : much : I have been cleansed, rejoicing, : Tutuk-tari: (a) statue : I made.2 : Me (acc.) : you loved : my father who (is named) : Ahamen : (a)princely king! : from spell and sorcery being cleansed : remaining : happy.3 While (all) racing to line up : the statue having (a) throne : the king: erect! : properly (rightfully); : let come : love (to me); much of it (thestatue) rising up.4 I, who is the leader (head) of this (undertaking), : saying that itcannot be attached together : while (only) attaining (physical) power; : thesacrificial gift (food) : choosing the best : (that which) my God takes5 unto (towards) Himself : He (then) stood as a protector over : thestatue : while casting: hope(s) : (on) the statue. : Standing up, : wepraised6 the statue, : the two mates. : we decorate (adorn) the statue, : the statue : we veil (our) hopes. : set the statue : while bowing in reverence7 to my father. : Ahamen : who is my father : have rejoiced. : I hold the throne,8 Tutuk-tari, : let it come : love (to me); much of it (the statue) is (now) raised up. or in clearer English as: 1 In the past amazing years, much I have been cleansed; rejoicing, I Vonones have made a statue.2 You had loved me my father who (is named) Ahamen, (a) princely king, (and who) being cleansed from spell and sorcery, (now) remaining happy (in heaven).3 While (all) racing to line up the statue having (a) throne, erect! (the statue of) the king properly; I say that, let (your) love rightfully come to me, as much of the monument (statue) now rising up.4 I, who is the head (expert) in this (undertaking), say that it is not enough to put this together, with only our physical powers; we choose the best of the sacrificial gift (food), which my God takes5 for Himself. He (God) has (then) stood as a protector over the statue, casting hope(s) at the statue. Standing up, we praised6 the statue, the two mates (statue of the king and its base-throne). We adorn the statue, the statue that we veil our hopes on. Now set the statue and bow in reverence Sadly this is just one of the serious drawbacks of Internet. Apparentlythese days anybody can put up any sort of information, be it correct orincorrect, and there is no regulatory body to disallow uncorroborated and therefore inadmissible entries. The above stands as a testament to this sad situation. G. R. F. Assar(Edinburgh - Scotland)