AŠBANAKKUŠ (Elamite áš-ba-na-ak-ku-iš), name of an Iranian in the Persepolis Fortification Tablets (ed. R. T. Hallock, Chicago, 1969, p. 485, no. 1782) who received 9 BAR of grain supplied by Mu-iz-ri-ya. The name clearly contains Iranian aspa- “horse” but the second part has not yet been satisfactorily explained. E. Benveniste (Titres et noms propres en iranien ancien, Paris, 1966, p. 78) suggested *naxva- (cf. Arm. nax “forward, in front” and NPers. noxost “first,” etc.), translating the name as “he who is at the head of the horses.” This interpretation was doubted by M. Mayrhofer, Onomastica Persepolitana, Vienna, 1973, pp. 129, 8.117.
Bibliography:
See also W. Hinz, Altiranisches Sprachgut der Nebenüberlieferungen, Wiesbaden 1975, p. 44.
(M. Mayrhofer)
Originally Published: December 15, 1987
Last Updated: August 16, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. II, Fasc. 7, p. 737
M. Mayrhofer, “ĀŠBANAKKUŠ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, II/7, p. 737, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/asbanakkus-elamite-s-ba-na-ak-ku-is-name-of-an-iranian-in-the-persepolis-fortification-tablets-ed (accessed on 30 December 2012).
