--- In cybalist@... s.com, "Joao S. Lopes" <josimo70@.. .>
wrote:
> Is there any common source for Kassite god Shumaliya and Indian
> rakshasa Sumali, grandfather of Ravana?
Although the hypothesis that the Kassite language had an Indo-
Aryan / Indo-Iranian adstratum (or superstratum? ) is still unproved
to date, the linguistic comparison you suggest might be in part a
viable one. It is discussed by M. Mayrhofer and J.W. de Jong in a
review article of K. Balkan's _Kassitenstudien 1: Die Sprache der
Kassiten_ (New Haven, 1954) on the _Indo-Iranian Journal_, Vol. 2,
No. 1, March 1958. The review can be downloaded from SpringerLink at
http://www.springer link.com/ content/v67n7t16 344x7u66/
The crucial passage ("stolen" via google!) is the following:
<< S^umaliya: aus ai. *su-ma:la 'eine. schönen Kranz habend' ab
(belegt ist nm. Suma:la als Volksname, Mahabh.), aber mit der
unrichtig formulierten Begründung... >>
My rough English translation:
<< [Kassite goddess' name] S^umaliya: from Old Indo-Aryan *su-
mala 'having beautiful wreath' (the name is attested, as Suma:la, as
a people's name in the Mahabharata) , but with the incorrectly
formulated reason... >>
Of course, Mayrhofer and de Jong are here discussing (or criticizing)
the Indo-Aryan etymologies of Kassite theonyms provided by Balkan. I
will see to procure myself their review article at the library to
check if they agree with or reject the derivation of Kassite
S^umaliya from Old Indo-Aryan *suma:la.
The Kassite goddess in question was worshipped as the mistress of
snow-capped mountains (the Zagros, the homeland of the Kassites), on
whose summits she was said to dwell. Were those mountains conceived
as her "beautiful wreath" (Old Indo-Aryan *su-ma:la), as the
proposed etymology suggests?
Suma:li 'Well-garlanded' , attested as the name of a male rakshasa
(demon) in the much later Ramayana, is hardly to be connected with
the name of the Kassite goddess.
Regards,
Francesco