satrapa-

This lexeme is found in an inscription belonging to the reign of Artaxerxes III. (358-338 BCE) and dated exactly to 342-341 BCE (Gusmani & Akkan 2004a:141).

[D.S.]

The lexeme satrapa- has been equated with the Iranian title *xšaθrapā- (cf. Old Persian xšaθrapāvan-; cf. Greek σατράπης/ξατράπης) (Gusmani & Akkan 2004a:148), which refers to a subordinate ruler of the Persian Empire administrating a large province. The identification is also secured, because the word satrapas stands in apposition to the personal name Rašakas, which is a Persian satrap known from Greek sources (‘Ρωσάκης/Ῥοισάκης, Plutarch Cim. 10.8., Diodorus XVI, 47) ruling in the mid-fourth century BCE. In translation, the word ‘satrap’ is kept.

[D.S.]

Gusmani & Akkan 2004a:148 argue convincingly that the lexeme satrapa- has been borrowed directly from Iranian *xšaθrapā- and not intermediately through Greek σατράπης, because the Lydian word shows up as an a-stem and not as an e-stem as opposed to the putative example of Greek Ἄρης → Lyd. are-.

[D.S.]