The text “The Pahlavi Lapidary” is difficult for translation and interpretation because different properties are attributed to stones of the same colour and the same properties to stones of different colours. Correct translation of Pahl. sāyišn as a concrete noun ‘a powder’ appears to explain the lapidary and to show that it is not only a question of stones of different colours, but of different coloured powders of these stones. Pahl. muhrag used not in its meaning of ‘a seal’, but in the meaning ‘a stone’ appears to suggest that this text may have been translated from a language in which there is one noun for these two meanings.
The 5th International Academic Conference "The Written Heritage of the Orient" will be held on April 20‒22, 2026. The conference program is now available.
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