Posted by Kelvin_Webb on 12-24-2002 03:41 PM:

Exception that proves the rule ??





Double niche Karachop small rug (about 2 feet x 4 feet).
Dated 1290 which is about 1879.

Could someone please translate the Arabic?

Kelvin Webb

Posted by R._John_Howe on 12-25-2002 04:39 PM:

Hi Kelly -

Do you have a way of giving us a very close look at the calligraphy only?

It may be hard to read, even for someone who can read the language in which it is written?

Thanks,

R. John Howe

Posted by Kelvin Webb on 12-27-2002 11:02 AM:

arabic

John,
The rug is in cold storage. Some colleagues(Arabic speaking) told
me it was difficult to translate(not correct Arabic) but the content
was religious and possibly prayer related.
Kelly

Posted by Filiberto Boncompagni on 12-29-2002 04:51 AM:

Hi Kelvin,

I’m told here that this is not Arabic - I mean, the alphabet is Arabic, the language is not. Someone suggests Farsi but I think this must be one of the many Caucasian languages/dialects.

I quote an interesting article "MUSLIM NATIONALISM IN THE POST-SOVIET CAUCASUS: THE DAGESTANI CASE" from a website called "Caucasian Regional Studies":

The patois of ethnic minorities have no alphabet and cannot be used in written form. As for the 'national' tongues, all of them have a unified script: Arabic, used before the revolution (the so-called 'Ajam script' in the Mountains, 'Turki' in the Lowlands and the Foothills) was changed into Latin between 1928 and 1937, and then into a modified Cyrillic alphabet in 1937.
Best regards,

Filiberto