RV. asi - L. ensis < black (metal)?

[Bjarte Kaldhol]

Dear listmembers,

There was a word for iron in Sumerian, AN.BAR, and two words attested in
Akkadian from Old Akkadian times (third millennium):

amu:tum or amuttum, a precious metal, perhaps iron, Sum. KUG.AN
a$ium, (meteoric) iron (I don't know the etymology of a$i- here, -um is an
Akkadian ending).

A somewhat later word is parzillum.

habalgi seems to be a Hattic word, also used in Hurrian. In Amarna Letter
22 a very expensive dagger with iron blade (habalginnu) is described. Also
in the Amarna letters (c. 1350 BC) an iron drinking bottle for horses is
mentioned.

(The h- is the Scottish ch in Loch, and the $ is English sh.)

Iron might have been known in India as a very precious metal in Harappan
times. At Umm al-Marra in Syria, east of Aleppo, a lump of meteoric iron
was found together with silver, gold and lapis lazuli (from Afghanistan) in
a grave from c. 2300 BC.

Best wishes,
Bjarte Kaldhol


----------
> From: Swaminathan Madhuresan <smadhuresan at YAHOO.COM>
> To: INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK
> Subject: Re: RV. asi - L. ensis < black (metal)?
> Date: 22. november 2000 15:23
>
> Dear Indologists,
>
> In Dravidian languages, the word
> for iron (=tam. irumpu) derives from
> words for "night/darkness/black".
>
> DED 2102 Ta. "iravu, ira, irA, rA" night;
> "iru" black; "iruTci, iruTTu, iruNmai, irumai"
> darkness; "iruL" darkness, dark color, ignorance
> ... Ka. "iruL, iraLu, iraTu, irLu" night;
> "iddal, ijjalu" charcoal....
> Te. "irulu" darkness, shades, shadows;
> "irulu konu" to become dark or obscure;
> "rEyi" night
>
> DED 411 Ta. "irumpu" iron, instrument, weapon.
> Ma. "irumpu, irimpu" iron. Te "inumu" iron.
>
> Given that the IA languages use zyaama- or
> kRSNa- ayas when iron gets attested in YV, AV
> etc., and South India has a major role in
> iron technology (eg., steel), Is the name
> of iron as zyaama or krsna coming from the southern
> tradtion?
>
> In other words, zyaama/krishna (OIA) and irumpu (tamil)
> for iron restricted to Indian subcontinent?
>
> What was iron called in Mesopotamia and the Near East?
>
> Thanks for comments,
> SM
>
> --- Periannan Chandrasekaran <perichandra at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
> > It is worth drawing the attention to the family of Dravidian
> > words with the root *ay/*Ay = minute, fine, small, sharp, and iron.
> > And to the word irumpu = iron, weapon and *ir = dark;
> >
> > DEDR #193:
> > Ta. ayil: = javelin, lance, surgical knife, lancet;
> > Ma. ayil: = javelin, lance; ayiri = surgical knife, lancet
> >
> > DEDR #192:
> > Ta. ayil: iron
> > Ma. ayir, ayiram = any ore
> > Ka. aduru = native metal;
> > Tu. ajirda karba = very hard iron
> > Note that DEDR #341 lists Ma. ayiram = iron dust
> >
> > Now we look at the most important entry
> > DEDR #341:
> > [note that the Northen languages have only the as- form]
> > Ta. Acu = minuteness, fineness, acuteness, trifle, anything small or
mean;
> > Ay = to diminish, be reduced;
> > ..acai = to be slender;...
> > ai = minuteness;
> > ayir = subtelty, fineness, fine sand, candied sugar;
> > Ma. asu = thin, slender; ayir, ayiram = iron dust.
> > Ka. asi, asa = thinness, leanness, slenderness, minuteness...
> > asidu = that which is thin;
> > ...
> > Te. asadu = small, slender; asi = slight;
> > Kur. AcA = thin, attenuated, reduced in strength, slender, slim;
> > AcnA = to turn out thin, grow thinner;
> >
> > DEDR #342:
> > Ta. Acu = hilt;
> > Ka. Ayuga =handle of a sword
> >
> > DEDR #191 applies the root *ay to small fish:
> > Ta. ayirai = loach; ayilai = a kind of fish;
> > Ma. ayira = a kind of small fish; loach
> >
> > DEDR #486:
> > Ta. irumpu =iron, instrument, weapon
> > Ma. irumpu, irimpu = iron;
> > Ko. ib = <id>
> > To. ib = needle
> > Kod. irimbi = iron;
> > Te. inumu = <id.>
> > Kol. inum = iron, sword
> > Cf. DEDR 2552 Ta. iravu.
> >
> > DEDR #2552:
> > Ta. iravu, ira, irA, rA, iru,... = night; iru = black;
> > iruTci, iruTTu, irumai = darkness;
> > ...[ and so on in about 13 Dravidian languges including
> > northern ones]
> >
>
>
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