1918.] Numismatic Supplement No. XXX. 257 
translates it by ‘“‘ the gate of the royal residence’ ; but he does 
not think that we can say with authority whether KVI BBA 
possessed a local value, or whether it applied to all the places 
where the Court of Persia found itself and issued coins. 
Drouin reads the mint-monogram kavi baba on the two 
specimens of the Bartholomaei collection, and remarks that the 
reading appears to be certainly good. De Morgan gives the 
same reading ; but Mordtmann differs by giving it KVN BBA 
kavan baba. He says that the letters KVN are very distinct on 
the specimens in his possession, and that the transcription in 
the illustration of the Bartholomaei collection is doubtful. He 
believes that it is from the Zand word kava “ king”’ that kavan 
royal” is derived. Drouin says that it is for the first time 
we find on the coins the word kavi, which corresponds to the 
Zand kava ‘“‘ king”; and that the word remains in dirafsh- -1 
kaviyani or kavan-i dirafsh ‘“‘ the standard of the kings.” Here 
Drouin is evidently at fault because dirafsh- i kaviyan, the vene- 
rable sacred banner of the Persian empire, which was taken by 
the Arabs at the battle of Kadisiya, was named after the black- 
smith Kave, who raised the standard of revolt against the 
tyrant Dahak (see Néldeke, Tabari, p. 278). The Pahlavi 
word kavi corresponds to gs* (pronounced kat) in modern Per- 
sian, the other word in Pahlavi being kat. The Persian diction- 
ary Burhiin- i Qati says that kat signified formerly * ‘king o 
kings,” and corresponds to the Arabic expression malik al malik. 
The meaning of baba is “ a gate, the residence, the capital,” and 
corresponds to the Arabic word GL. The specimen in my 
cabinet, illustrated in this article, supports Mordtmann’s read - 
ing, but I differ from him in his reading on the aber 
specimens, and am of the same opinion as Drouin. Sot 
even in these seven specimens known there are sonck distinet 
aia agst two with KVI BBA, and five with KVN BB 
ould suggest that the word kavt or uae i - royal ie 
spouse c the fire because we find the word malkai “ royal” 
round about the fire pn the gold coins of Narses (293-303) (see 
Mordtmann, in Z.D.M.G., 1880, p. 43, no. ret Hosmsed I 
