The Word (mny) in the Context of Trading in Semitic Sources

Abstract

This article examines the root “mny” and its derivatives in ancient Semitic: the Akkadian, Northwest Semitic and South Semitic. The root is used frequently in East Semitic, is present in Northwest Semitic, but is rarely attested in South Semitic. Arabic used the form “al-minā”, the same as was known earlier. Ancient North Arabian inscriptions (the inscriptions of the badiyah) provide us with very little data about buying and selling or the use of weights or coins or words referring to them. In Safaitic inscriptions lexemes such as “ʾmny” and “mny” were recorded as names referring to the price of goods, and the inscriptions mentioned the lexeme “mn” as a verb in a meaning “count” or a noun referring to the profession of the head of the treasury. The article discusses “ʾmny”, “mny” and “mn”, attested in Safaitic inscriptions, through etymological analysis, presenting the origins of the term within the Semitic languages, in the light of Arabic derivations.