šawwasτa-^(d)

This lexeme is found in an inscription mentioning the Persian priest Mitridaštas, whose activities in Sardis have been recently dated to the second half of the 6th century BCE (Euler & Sasseville 2019a:135 n. 34).

[D.S.]

The action of šawwasτal is to be performed by a priest upon the goods of the chief of the temenos, which have been handed over to him. On contextual grounds, Meriggi 1935a:74 n. 8 and Gusmani 1964a:193f. suggest the meaning ‘to preserve’ (tentatively followed by Gérard 2005a:113). Differently, Gusmani 1969a:139f. translates ‘to inherit’. Sasseville 2021a:111f. equates the base of the denominative verb, i.e. *wasτa- c., with Luw. wašḫazza- c. and Lyc. wasaza- c., both religious titles of unclear meaning debated by scholars. In any case, the comparison receives further support from the fact that the person who is supposed to perform this function is a priest. Considering the element šaw- in the compound and the underlying agent noun *wasτa- ‘the one taking care of the wašḫa’, the meaning ‘to oversee the w.’ is suggested by Sasseville ibid. A more accurate meaning for the Lydian verb can only be obtained by the elucidation of the Luwian word wašḫa-.

[D.S.]

The word šawwasτal has always been recognized as a compound made of šaw- and wasτa- (Meriggi 1935a:74 n. 8, Melchert 1994a:355, Sh. Hawkins 2013a:161). Sasseville 2021a:111f. explains the second part more explicitly as a denominative verb in -a-^(d) derived from an agent noun in -τa- c. (for Lydian agent nouns in -τa-, see also Sasseville 2017a:137 n. 13 and Schürr 2006b:1577).

[D.S.]

For the first member of the compound, see šawν, and the second member, see Lyd. *wasτa-.