On 2008-11-21 22:46, Rick McCallister wrote:
> I came across something that suggests Persian pharnas "glorious" as one
> of the roots. it mentions the name Olopharnes, Oropharnes as royal names
> in Cappadocia c. IV c BCE
The name definitely sounds Persian (*X-farnah- 'X-glory' in OPer. terms,
cf. Av. xVar&nah-). According to many Bible critics the "Nebuchadnezzar"
of the Book of Judith was actually a cover name for Artaxerxes III of
Persia (there are some obvious Persian elements in the book). I'm not
sure about the protheme, which was certainly mangled in the
transmission. Perhaps *Aurafarna: = *a(h)ura-farnah- 'having
glory/fortune given by the lord' (which I think is at least a likely
interpretation of Oropharnes of Cappadocia's name).
Piotr