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Indo-Iranian origin of Kassite (2nd millennium BC)

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Sharrukin View Drop Down
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  Quote Sharrukin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Indo-Iranian origin of Kassite (2nd millennium BC)
    Posted: 05-Sep-2019 at 00:32
While it may be true that some place-names in Iran reflect the presence of the Kassites, the ethno-linguistic origins of the Kassites isn't clear at all.   There may be some agreement that they may have had contact with Indo-European groups, which may be reflected in some proper names, but the majority of the evidence of language seems to point to a Hurrian or Hurrian-parallel background.  The following are a sampling of Kassite words or word-elements which have their equivalents in Hurrian words:

KASSITE              HURRIAN                MEANING

ab-                      abi                         first
ag-                      ag-                         to lead
al-, alb-               al-                          1. to bring near to   2. to speak
amm-                  amm-                     to reach, come close to
ar-                      ar-                          to give
asht-                   asti                         woman
at-                      attai                        father
ba-                     pa-, ba-                   to build
badar                  pedari-                     bull
bur-                    buru                        strong
buri-, ubri-          evri, erbi                  lord
dan-                   tan-                         to do
dup-                   tuppi                        strong
durug-                turuhi                       male, man
en-                     an-                           to rejoice

etc............

Yeah, no two scholars agree on their origins:   one thinks Hurrian, another thinks, Elamite, while a third thinks IE.
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Cyrus Shahmiri View Drop Down
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  Quote Cyrus Shahmiri Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02-Sep-2019 at 09:18
There are many evidences which show Kassites were an Indo-Iranian, or even an early Indo-European, people, first about their name, there are some different IE people who have similar names:


We read about Indian Kashyapa and Kashmir: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashyapa

"Kaśyapa, alternatively kacchapa, means "turtle" in Sanskrit. According to Michael Witzel, it is related to Avestan kasiiapa, Sogdian kyšph, New Persian kašaf, kaš(a)p which mean "tortoise", after which Kashaf Rūd or a river in Turkmenistan and Khorasan is named. Tokarian A kāccap ("turtle", "tortoise")."

Kashmir, the northern Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent got its name from Kashyapa Rishi. The name Kashmir, states Christopher Snedden, may be a shortened form of "Kashyapa Mir" or the "lake of the sage Kashyapa", or alternatively derived from "Kashyapa Meru" or the sacred mountains of Kashyapa.

In ancient texts of Greece, linked to the expedition of Alexander the Great, this land has been called "Kasperia", possibly a contraction of "Kasyapamira". The word "Kaspapyros" appears in Greek geographer Hekataois text, and as "Kaspatyros" in Herodotus who states that Skylax the Karyandian began in Kaspatyros to trace the path of Indus river from the mountains to where it drained in the sea. Kaspatyros may be same as Kaspa-pyrus or Kasyapa-pur (city of Kashyapa) in other texts.

Encyclopedia of Religions, page 420:


Babylonian Kudurru of the late Kassite period found near Baghdad:



Indo-European god-names can be seen in the names of most of Kassite kings, like Nazi-Bugash (compare Slavic Bog and Iranian Baga), Nazi-Maruttash (compare Indian Maruts), Burna-Buriash (compare Greek Boreas and Slavic Buria ), Shagarakti-Shuriash (compare Indian Surya), Karan-Duniash (compare Celtic Danu, Indian Danavas), ...

There is a Kassite-Babylonian vocabulary with 48 entries, most of these words have also Indo-European origin, for example the Kassite word for "king, head of family/clan" is janzi, it has the same origin of English word king and  Old Church Slavonic kŭnęzĭ from proto-IE *ǵénh₁os "kin, clan, race", cognate with Sanskrit janús.


Edited by Cyrus Shahmiri - 02-Sep-2019 at 11:31
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