Ecole franc. Ext. Orient,
XII., No. 1, 1912.
XV., p. 28 n. Of the Khitan but one inscription was known and no key.
Prof. Pelliot remarks, Bul. Ecole franc. Ext. Orient, IV., July-Sept.,
1904: "In fact a Chinese work has preserved but five k'i-tan characters,
however with the Chinese translation." He writes to me that we do not know
any k'itan inscription, but half a dozen characters reproduced in a work
of the second half of the fourteenth century. The Uighur alphabet is of
Aramean origin through Sogdian; from this point of view, it is not
necessary to call for Estranghelo, nor Nestorian propaganda. On the other
hand we have to-day documents in Uighur writing older than the Kudatku
Bilik.
BOOK FIRST.
ACCOUNT OF REGIONS VISITED OR HEARD OF ON THE JOURNEY FROM THE LESSER
ARMENIA TO THE COURT OF THE GREAT KAAN AT CHANDU.
BOOK I.
VI., p. 63. "There is also on the river, as you go from Baudas to Kisi, a
great city called Bastra, surrounded by woods, in which grow the best
dates in the world."
"The products of the country are camels, sheep and dates." (At Pi-ssi-lo,
Basra. CHAU JU-KWA, p. 137.)
VI., pp. 63, 65. "In Baudas they weave many different kinds of silk stuffs
and gold brocades, such as nasich, and nac, and cramoisy, and many
other beautiful tissue richly wrought with figures of beasts and birds."
In the French text we have nassit and nac.
"S'il faut en croire M. Defremery, au lieu de nassit, il faut evidemment
lire nassij (necidj), ce qui signifie un tissu, en general, et designe
particulierement une etoffe de soie de la meme espece que le nekh. Quant
aux etoffes sur lesquelles etaient figures des animaux et des oiseaux, le
meme orientaliste croit qu'il faut y reconnaitre le thardwehch, sorte
d'etoffe de soie qui, comme son nom l'indique, representait des scenes de
chasse. On sait que l'usage de ces representations est tres ancien en
Orient, comme on le voit dans des passages de Philostrate et de
Quinte-Curce rapportes par Mongez." (FRANCISQUE-MICHEL, Recherches sur le
Commerce, I., p. 262.)
VI., p. 67.
DEATH OF MOSTAS'IM.
According to Al-Fakhri, translated by E. Amar (Archives marocaines XVI.,
p. 579), Mostas'im was put to death with his two eldest sons on the 4th of
safar, 656 (3rd February, 1258).
XI., p. 75. "The [the men of Tauris] weave many kinds of beautiful and
valuable stuffs of silk and gold."
Francisque-Michel (I., p. 316) remarks: "De ce que Marco Polo se borne a
nommer Tauris comme la ville de Perse ou il se fabriquait maints draps
d'or et de soie, il ne faudrait pas en conclure que cette industrie
n'existat pas sur d'autres points du meme royaume. Pour n'en citer qu'un
seul, la ville d'Arsacie, ancienne capitale des Parthes, connue
aujourd'hui sous le nom de Caswin, possedait vraisemblablement deja cette
industrie des beaux draps d'or et de soie qui existait encore au temps de
Huet, c'est-a-dire au XVII'e siecle."
XIII., p. 78.
