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flummoxed by these marks

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:47 am
by bob wells
The box has a picture of a city on the top with an Arabic word which my Iraqi friend reads as WAN.
The same mark on the inside with another that he can't read.
The box looks Persian or Mughal or something like that to me but I don't know really.
I'd be very grateful for any help . . . . .
Here's the pics: Image

Re: flummoxed by these marks

Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:12 pm
by Damon
This is Van, a city in eastern Turkey. Ottoman Turkish script is much like Arabic. The other script is likely Armenian. Van had a significant Armenian population in the 1800s.

Regards

Damon

Re: flummoxed by these marks

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 4:26 am
by bob wells
Damon
Thank you for the info. Of course VAN. It's also a W. Didn't know that.
I'll look up the Armenian script and see if I can transliterate the other cartouche.
Bob