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The Greek word for haematite (1)

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Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list)
Haematite
02 Religious and ideological symbols and iconographic motifs
02.03 Mineral symbols
02.03.02 Stones
02.03.02.05 Haematite
Mesopotamian loanwords in Greek
11 Language, communication, libraries and education
11.01 Imperial languages
11.01.05 Shared linguistic items and features
11.01.05.05 Mesopotamian loanwords
11.01.05.05.02 Mesopotamian loanwords in Greek
Abnu šikinšu
05 Scientific knowledge and scholarly lore
05.05 Medicine and pharmacology
05.05.05 Minerological handbooks
05.05.05.01 Abnu šikinšu

Keywords
Greek language
minerals
naming

Period
No period specified

Channel
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Text
The Akkadian stone name šadānu “haematite” most likely simply refers to the ore’s ‘(coming) from the mountain’, from Akkadian šadû ‘mountain’. The word recurs in Greek as oreitēs, from oros ‘mountain’, and Greek ἔμψυχον ὀρείτης reflects Akkadian šadānu balṭu.

Bibliography

Reiner 1995, 122

Reiner, Erica. “Astral Magic in Babylonia.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 85.4 (1995) 1-150. [JSTOR (requires subscription)]

Links (external links will open in a new browser window)
Cf. Magical properties of haematite (1)
Cf. Magnetite and haematite (1)

Amar Annus

URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0001340.php

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