mrbbẽ(n)-

This lexeme is found on the inscribed pillar of Xanthos, dated contextually to shortly after the ascension of Artaxerxes II in 405-404 BCE and stylistically to around 400 BCE (Borchhardt & Eichner 1997-1999a:19f.).

[D.S.]

abl./instr.	mrbbẽnedi	TL 44a.38 (Xanthos)
		TL 44b.5 (Xanthos)

Shevoroshkin 1968a:168 unconvincingly reconstructs *mrbb(a)- ‘word, speech’ and compares Lyd. mruwa- ‘stele’ as well as Av. mrav- ‚speak’. More promising is his later comparison with CLuw. maruwai- (Shevoroshkin 2000a:208), but he quotes the outdated meaning ‘smash’. Instead, CLuw. maruwāi- is translated with ‘to blacken, darken’; see under lemma.

It is plausible that Lyc. A mrbbẽ(n)- signifies a dark color, considering that the Luwian cognate. If this meaning is correct, it can be assumed that the following passage (TL 44a.34-38) describes an ornament of the pillar of Xanthos, on which it is written. In other words, Lyc. A mrbbẽ(n)- would denote the color the Lycians used to adorn the letters of their inscriptions. This practice is also found among the Greeks, who share many cultural traits with the Lycians. The Greek epigram on said pillar bears witness to their cultural contact. Unfortunately, the modern cleaning of inscriptions has often removed traces of the paints, although the 19^th century travel document reports a wide range of colors used, namely yellow and green, and most often red and blue (see Duggan 2016a). Thus, the passage can be tentatively translated as follows:

me=ti=p[rz]ze axã : trm͂mile : izredi : pededi : ñterez[e] xubase : tupa : esbedi : hẽmenedi : trm͂mil[i]jedi : se= medezedi … se=mrbbẽnedi : tupelijã : trm͂mili (TL 44a.34–38)

‘For the first Lycian (citizens), I made in ñtereze xubase with hands and feet (i.e. with full devotion) a tablet with Lycian and Median horses combined … and a Lycian inscription(?) with dark color(s)(?).’

The context of the second attestation (TL 44b.4–5) is partly destroyed (cp. Eichner 2005a:25f.). But it is apparent that several towns (acc. pl. τeτeris) are rewarded with ḥiked[i] and mrbbẽnedi. It is possible that the towns or rather their aristocracy received the pigment or ready-made paint or the substance that yields the pigment to adorn their inscriptions. The word hike(/i)- could mean ‘fig’ if it is indeed a cognate with Hitt. ^GIŠšigga- ‘fig’ (see under lemma). The Anatolian words for ‘fig’ could be one of the Wanderwörter (cf. Gk. σῦκον ‘Feige’, Beot. τῦκον ‘id.’, Lat. fīcus ‘id.’ und Arm. t’owz ‘id.’ (EDLIL:218). If the figs are dried, their keepability is enhanced considerably, making figs suitable gifts, especially if they can be used to produce pigment. If this hypothesis is correct, it could also be possible that mrbbẽ(n)- denotes a fruit, from which pigment can be produced. Nonetheless, further evidence is needed.

[D.S.]

The noun mrbbẽ(n)- most likely represents a neuter (or less likely) a common gender n-stem. Melchert 1999e:371 analyzes the underlying *mrbbanada- in the personal name mrbbanada[hñ], TL 28.3) as a collective formation, which would be derived from the n-stem mrbbẽ(n)- with the suffix -ada. Melchert’s hypothesis is plausible, but the interpretation of the attestation must be corrected: Tekoğlu 2017a:64f. restores mrbbanada[hñ] because of a newly found inscription from Tlos and claims that it must be a personal name. This emendation demands that the collective *mrbbanada- was used as a personal name. This is plausible since people are sometimes named after the color of their hair or skin; cf. ON blámaðr.

[D.S.]

1. PN mrbbanada- (see under Stem)

This lemma was written together with the intern Jonas Döll.

For the lemma head see Lyc. *mruwe-.