Aramaic (Arameographic) Inscriptions on Silver and Golden Objects from Armazi and Bagineti (II-IIIcc.AD)
Résumé
Old Aramaic and its script are mostly important for the culture of pre-Christian Georgia. On the territory of contemporary Georgia, a number of original Aramaic (Arameographic) inscriptions were found. These ancient Aramaic inscriptions were discovered in Mtskheta, the capital of Ancient Georgia (Iberia) as well as its outskirts and other different locations of Central and Western Georgia.
They were made on different objects and most of them are kept at different funds of the Georgian National Museum.
It is widely accepted for the present, that Aramaic inscriptions of Georgia are executed in a variety of the North-Mesopotamian type of Aramaic script, one of the outgrowths of the Imperial (Official) Aramaic writing and known as “Armazian”.
In this respect, Aramaic (Arameographic) inscriptions incised on silver bowls, dishes as well as on golden items (such as royal plates, rings, bracelets) found in Armazi and Bagineti are particularly interesting. Some of them are quite extensive, such as a number of dedicational inscriptions dated by III c AD, found on golden bracelets from Armazi burials.
But the rest of these inscriptions are rather short, consisting of one or two words, denoting a proper name, or a title, they also frequently have an attributive meaning.
The “Armazian” writing of these inscriptions clearly reflects a type of Aramaic cursive and is characterized by certain specific paleographic features.
The paper presents a systematic paleographic analysis of these inscriptions offering some new interpretations.
Domaines
Sciences de l'Homme et Société
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)