Siddham seal

[Jonathan Silk]

dear Colleagues,

A colleague, an art historian working on China, has asked me about a seal on
a Tang period document connected to the Taiping princess, daughter of the
legendary Wu Zetian. (The seal may have belonged to Taiping's second
husband, Wu Yanxiu, a nephew of Empress Wu and thus a cousin of Taiping) It
appears to me that the seal is in Siddham, and the last akṣara is ma, the
previous one having a long ī mātra. More than that I am (even more) unsure
of. I am wondering if one of the cyber-gurus can read this. Several Chinese
sources seem to suggest that it might refer to saṁyak-saṁbuddha, but looking
myself at the seal, I don't see how that can possibly be the case. I regret
I do not have a really good photo, but perhaps the attached will enable
someone experienced in such decipherment to help?

very best, jonathan


-- 
J. Silk
Instituut Kern / Universiteit Leiden
Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS
Johan Huizinga Building, Room 1.37
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden
The Netherlands
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