JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES

October-December 2009 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume I., Issue 4.
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virtues; side b. lists the points the jury can give (A-DU) to the kid in question. HT 86 has no real
numbers, since:
10 : TÍZ; TŰZ; TeSZ; T_Z/T_SZ : ten (=tíz) pronounced vith ű: pin, stitch, fire; with e: do, put, place, lay,
make; T_Z/T_SZ
20 : HÚSZ; -HOZ/-HEZ/-HÖZ, HOZZÁ; HOZ; HOSSZ/ú; H_Z/SZ : twenty; to, towards sy; bring, carry;
length/long; H_Z/H_SZ
Tablet HT 86 is about a big and strong, i.e. ox-like (A-KA-RU KU-{NI+ZO}-SU : ÖKöR-KiNéZéSű : with
ox-like apperance) dog (komondor, the Hungarian sheep-dog!), which is given (A-DU) to guards and
rescuers (MI-NU-TE 20 : MeNTő+HöZ : to/for rescuer).
See in details at the end of this article.
Fractions (and what used to be called fractions [D, DD])
• Since ABB occurs (KH 86), is seems logical that A is greater than BB; if B is 1/3, A may be 5/6.
There is no such fraction! A frac = PA!
The ABB group of signs on KH 86 can be and should be read as FA-FA/FA-RO-RO. The conclusion that
“A may be 5/6” is contradicted in summary by 1/6. From A = 1/6 follows ABB = 5/6 and retrograde! For A
= 5/6 and B = 1/3 follows ABB = 1½ = 1J, why bother with ABB than?
On HT 91, there is a list with A frac values: 5/6 (or 1/6?) of an olive or olive tree or a fig make no sense. The
tablet is about trees/woods: FIC PA = FüGe-Fa = fig tree, OLE+MI PA = _L+M_ Fa = aLMa-Fa = apple tree,
OLIV PA is unusual, because in oLiVa Fa “Va” is the Fa altered (oliva < olifa > olajfa > έλαιφα), so lit. it is
oil tree tree.
• B (1/3?). B occurs singly, once as a pair (KE Wc 2b), once as a pair after A (1/6; KH 86.2), once after
E (1/4). Since EB occurs (KH 9.2), it would seem logical that B is less than 1/4 (E is 1/4; see below);
but on KH 9.2, EB occurs after K (1/16?), and it is therefore tempting to read this set of fractions
retrograde (BEK); if so, then a descending sequence could be maintained (1/3, 1/4, 1/16). B occurs
singly and in pairs (ZA 8.2-3, 6, ZAa.2).
“Since ABB occurs (KH 86), is seems logical that A is greater than BB”, to maintain this same “logic” you
have to “read retrograde” the KEB sequence. This is a very arbitrary step for which is not given any
reason.
Let us take a closer look into this KH 86 tablet: this is a good quality picture, which doesn’t show any
fracture in the second vertical line of “ABB” seen on the facsimile drawing.
The next tablet in the series, KH 87 would disprove the whole “fraction” preposition, if transliterated
properly. For the BOSm, which is actually a ligature, [PA+U = BŰ (= big, rich) as BIson] one horizontal
line is missing, therefore it should read “AB”, but there is a big problem with that: “JAB 1” = “1/2 1/6 1/3
1” is a rather strange fraction! Isn’t it?
To make things worst, there is NO KEB sequence on KH 9.2! The sequence is K frac FIC E frac B frac , where
K frac follows and modifies VIR from the first line. Hard to imagine what sequence 1/16 of a man and 7/12
of a fig would make!
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