INTRODUCTIONthe ancient Sumerian term for a bureaucratic scribe, dupsar, survived
in Middle Persian as daptr, which occurs in Syriac texts as dawtr. Its
New Persian form is dabtr, but this is usually translated by the Arabic
term katib ("one who writes") in Arabic texts, and the New Persian
term for chief scribe, dabtrbadh, is translated into Arabic as ra'ts al-
kuttab ("head of the scribes"). The New Persian term shomordeh is
translated by the Arabic dar al-lJisab both of which mean "counting
house." The significance of such accurate Arabic translations of Persian
terms and phrases should not be overlooked. They provide some of
the best evidence that the bilingual Arabs and Persians who were
responsible for these translations really understood what these terms
and phrases meant.
The presence of Arabic loan words in Middle Persian texts is equally
significant. For instance the term a~l was used in early Arabic for the
property equal to the principal that was mortgaged for a loan. This
term occurs as asltk in a Magian apocalyptic text that was written in
Middle Persian shortly after the conquest, in reference to property
mortgaged for tax debts. Since the language of debt was already used
by Persians for taxes owed to the state in the late Sasanian period, the
use of an Arabic term in such a context suggests not only that Arabs
brought certain economic customs and their terminology with them
but also that this had an impact on Magian Persians. The similarity
between Persian and Arab economic practices provided sufficient re-
inforcement to enable a Magian Persian who was hostile to Muslim
Arab rule to apply an Arabic term for principal to tax debts. However,
this is a great deal to infer from a single term and the argument does
not necessarily depend on this kind of analysis. Nevertheless, the pres-
ence and use of loanwords can be significant, and in order to enable
the reader to recognize them, transliterated terms will be identified by
the language to which they belong regardless of the language of the
text in which they occur.
Proper names are also transformed from one language to another.
John is yol).annan in Syriac and Yal).ya in Arabic. The Arabic name
of 'Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, the rival caliph during the second civil
war, is rendered on coins as Apdula-i Zupiran in Pahlavi script, fol-
lowing Middle Persian usage. Theophoric names also occur in different
religious and linguistic traditions. Isho'yahbh (Isadore) means "Jesus
gave" in Syriac, and Dadhisho' means the same thing in New Persian.
Both names were used by local Christians. The New Persian name,