Dear Michael, thank you for those suggestions! You are right, the letter waw is not to be linked to the following letter (which, btw, excludes such readings like dhufoor, pl. of dhafr, girdle, belt). I was well aware of that. Like you, I was pondering about possible readings and sensible meanings.
However, maqarr is not simply a place (makaan), but an established position, like a company's headquarters or a bishop's seat. And dhafr (pl. dhufoor) is a girdle or a belt, not a plectrum (dhafara means to plait or weave, not to pick). Moreover, a plectrum is not to be seen in the drawing. other possible readings are: ssufr al-oudy - brass/money of the oud ssifr al-oudy - null, naught of the oud ssaqr al-oudy - hawk of the oud However, none of them seems to make much sense: Money for the oud, nothing of the oud, hawk of the oud... - hmm. Partially, it depends on whether or not the dots over/besides the first and 2nd letters belong to the word. Taking into account the possible readings, I decided the dots do not belong and what appears to be a connection between waw and ra rather is an upstroke for ra. That's how I came to read it ssuwar, image. And that makes sense, doesn't it. "Michael Stitt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> schrieb: > 2. The Title is ambiguous and could have more than meaning: > > - it could be `Maqr` which means `the place of', and so the title reads: `the place > of ud'. > - it could be `dhufur' which means`plectrum of ' and so the title reads: `the > plectrum of ud' > [Plectrum being a word to mean a pick.] > It is defintely not `ssuwar' becasue the last two letters are joined in this case > and had it been ssuwar the last two letters should be separate. > > The arabic script written on the strings is hard to translate because it is not > clear. not easily to be read, indeed. Should be the names of the strings, though (1st through 5th courses: hhadd, ssir, mathna, mithlath, bam). -- Best wishes, Mathias Mathias Roesel, Grosze Annenstrasze 5, 28199 Bremen, Deutschland/ Germany, T/F +49 - 421 - 165 49 97, Fax +49 1805 060 334 480 67, E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
