Ancient Mesopotamia, Near East and Greater Iran: Indo-Iranian origin of Kassite (2nd millennium BC)

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

Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: Regional History or Period History
Forum Name: Ancient Mesopotamia, Near East and Greater Iran
Forum Discription: Babylon, Egypt, Persia and other civilizations of the Near East from ancient times to 600s AD
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=37934
Printed Date: 23-Apr-2024 at 14:28
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.56a - http://www.webwizforums.com

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

Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Subject: Indo-Iranian origin of Kassite (2nd millennium BC)
Date 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 - 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.

-------------

Replies:

Posted By: Sharrukin
Date 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.