ܕܰܘܺܝܬܕܳܪܳܐ dwytdʾrʾ dawiṯdārā keeper of the ink-stand, chief of the scribes, a minister of the caliphs
NP davē-dār (probably Arab. form for an unattested NP davēt-dār) one who carries an ink-stand (Steingass 547). The term designates the title of the scribe whose office was to write down the edicts of the caliph. As regards the first element of the compound, cf. NP davēt an ink-holder, pen-case (Steingass 547), davāt id. (ibid. 539), and also Syr. dywtʾ black ink; dywtnyʾ inky, which however, according to LS, are pure Semitic words, perhaps of Egyptian origin. On the contrary, Horn 119, s.v. debīr, seems to relate Talm. Aram. dbyr book, Gr. δαβείρ (LXX) with dwʾt, dywʾt (Ezech. 9, 2, 11), namely he considers the Semitic forms as loanwords from Iranian: in fact, MP dibīr writer (Arm. LW dpir writer: see Bolognesi 1960, 57; Hübschmann AG 145, no. 205) probably comes from OIr. *dipīra- or *diwira- (and not from *dipiβara-, as supposed by Benveniste 1932b, 246 n. 1: see Mayrhofer EWA 3, 444 and 266), whose first element occurs in OP dipfi- writing, probable contamination between Sum. dup- and an Iranian form *ripi- = OInd. lipi- smearing, writing (Kent 1953, 191; Pisani 1934, 320; Mayrhofer, cit.). On the suffixoid -dār see § 9.3.2 ● Bh chr 1 527 = 2 503u; 504, 3 ◆ LS 152a; PS Comp. 85; Durkin-Meisterernst 2004, 136 f.