The Avroman Parchment III in Parthian

Abstract

In 1913, three ancient parchments found in a cave near Shahr-e Awrāmān (Avroman), were acquired by the British Museum. Two of the documents, dated 225 and 291 of the Seleukid era (88-87 and 22-21 B.C.) are written in Greek (one with a poorly legible Parthian endorsement). The third, dated 300 of the Arsakid era (A.D. 53), written in Parthian, is a deed of sale of a half part of a vineyard. Several witnesses are named. This article presents a number of new readings and etymologies for Parthian terms used in the document.