Note 17 — The Thirteenth New Year’s Feast

The text has dar zīr-i-ān (“under it”) in mentioning the position of the letters, but the I.O. MS. No. 181, has dar zabar (“above” or “on it.”). The words khaṭṭ-i-muḥarraf might mean “inverted or slanting letters,” and Mr. Rogers has taken the passage to mean that two of the letters were on a line with one another, and that the third was inverted and below the other two. But muḥrif, as the word may also be read, has the meaning of “handsome,” and I think this is the meaning here. Possibly the meaning is that there was a letter or mark above—viz., the tas͟hdīd. Another meaning may be that all three letters were equal in size, and in a slanting position on the stone. ↑