DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36954#0186
ma!e(?) figure bends forward keeping hold of the edge of a big
vessel in front of him. Another naked man about to practise
sexual intercourse is standing behind him. The man(?) bent for-
ward has his hair cut short. The male figure in action has his hair
arranged in a bun at the back of his neck and he is wearing a
mustache. Both of them are wearing earrings. This main scene is
accompanied by two other erotic engravings. On the right side of
the main group a man wearing a coat is depicted. He is indulging
in sexual intercourse with an indeterminate dog-like animal. The
man with the coat is still humblier engraved than the main group.
The last drawing shows a masturbating man drawn in very faint
lines. The graffito looks a bit similar, but clumsier than the main
scene. The three pornographic drawings seem to have been exe-
cuted by different hands. Therefore it is possible that the last two
were additions to the inscribed scene. Professor JETTMAR kind-
ly informed me about two Iranian (Parthian-Median) seals from
the eighth to the seventh century B.C. which show the same
motif (SURIEU 1979: 83). The similarity of the seals and the
main drawing is striking, even the hair-styles of the two persons
correspond. But there is a space of approximately fourteen cen-
turies between the seals and the drawing from "Thor North",
therefore it is not possible to see a direct connection between the
two pictures. As long as the meaning of the seals are obscure, and
the links between the two pictures are missing, it is impos-
sible to think of another interpretation than that given above.
Even the inscription helps little. Although most of the %Ay?7*%s are
clearly readable,
25 A hybrid form of the metathesis of liquids? Normally: <7Wg/7a° for
^rg/?a°. Cf. MORGENSTIERNE 1947/1973: 233. - Cf. v. HINOBER
1980a: 5If., esp. 52 <77?ra7w^4rawatiNa. Cf. also v?yargAya7?? for
uyagZ??ya, a comment to the Vyaghri-Jataka on a rock of Chilas E —
Except the normal meaning 'long-lived', Dr. ROTH kindly informed me
that is sometimes used as a honorific form of address. This
meaning is not codified in the usual Sanskrit dictionaries, including
F. EDGERTON's Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary. Cf. i. a. G. ROTH
1970: 135 (§ 158), 204 (§ 188), 294, note 13.
26 It may be a name, so that the whole inscription may have the meaning:
"The honourable Kacan'^a with Bhadrila"; cf. note 28.
27 /?7?a4n7cMa instr.sg. is to be expected with sa/?a. For names ending with
-i7a cf. v. HINUBER 1980a: 52.
124
vessel in front of him. Another naked man about to practise
sexual intercourse is standing behind him. The man(?) bent for-
ward has his hair cut short. The male figure in action has his hair
arranged in a bun at the back of his neck and he is wearing a
mustache. Both of them are wearing earrings. This main scene is
accompanied by two other erotic engravings. On the right side of
the main group a man wearing a coat is depicted. He is indulging
in sexual intercourse with an indeterminate dog-like animal. The
man with the coat is still humblier engraved than the main group.
The last drawing shows a masturbating man drawn in very faint
lines. The graffito looks a bit similar, but clumsier than the main
scene. The three pornographic drawings seem to have been exe-
cuted by different hands. Therefore it is possible that the last two
were additions to the inscribed scene. Professor JETTMAR kind-
ly informed me about two Iranian (Parthian-Median) seals from
the eighth to the seventh century B.C. which show the same
motif (SURIEU 1979: 83). The similarity of the seals and the
main drawing is striking, even the hair-styles of the two persons
correspond. But there is a space of approximately fourteen cen-
turies between the seals and the drawing from "Thor North",
therefore it is not possible to see a direct connection between the
two pictures. As long as the meaning of the seals are obscure, and
the links between the two pictures are missing, it is impos-
sible to think of another interpretation than that given above.
Even the inscription helps little. Although most of the %Ay?7*%s are
clearly readable,
25 A hybrid form of the metathesis of liquids? Normally: <7Wg/7a° for
^rg/?a°. Cf. MORGENSTIERNE 1947/1973: 233. - Cf. v. HINOBER
1980a: 5If., esp. 52 <77?ra7w^4rawatiNa. Cf. also v?yargAya7?? for
uyagZ??ya, a comment to the Vyaghri-Jataka on a rock of Chilas E —
Except the normal meaning 'long-lived', Dr. ROTH kindly informed me
that is sometimes used as a honorific form of address. This
meaning is not codified in the usual Sanskrit dictionaries, including
F. EDGERTON's Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary. Cf. i. a. G. ROTH
1970: 135 (§ 158), 204 (§ 188), 294, note 13.
26 It may be a name, so that the whole inscription may have the meaning:
"The honourable Kacan'^a with Bhadrila"; cf. note 28.
27 /?7?a4n7cMa instr.sg. is to be expected with sa/?a. For names ending with
-i7a cf. v. HINUBER 1980a: 52.
124