# Is this Headstone in Georgian? or Arabic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256 "2010-03-12T16:59:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/1 "2010-03-12T16:59:39Z")
And if either of these, can you read it? [http://www.findagrave.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showpic&id=19235](http://www.findagrave.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showpic&id=19235) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/2 "2010-03-12T17:06:56Z")
Reading left to right, the second word on top is “Boger”, the guys name, in Arabic script. I assume the first word is his first name. The 3rd word on the second line starts with “al”, which makes me think it is Arabic, or at least that word is. Oddly, that word looks like Arabic style, while the other words don’t look to be written in the same style. ETA: The last word is written in Arabic style, too. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/3 "2010-03-12T17:15:21Z")
Well, his first name is Nazim, I think. And that’s as far as my junior-highschool Arabic can take me. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/4 "2010-03-12T17:19:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Well, his first name is Nazim, I think. Yeah, that makes sense. The “N” is sort of stylized and the last letter is definitely “m”. First word on the second line looks something like “M(?)-n.” ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/5 "2010-03-12T17:28:31Z")
It isn’t so much stylised as it is clumsy. Almost as if the stonemason wasn’t a native Arabic speaker. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/6 "2010-03-12T17:30:59Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > First word on the second line looks something like “M(?)-n.” It’s \*“min” \*- “of” or “from.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/7 "2010-03-12T17:32:07Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > It isn’t so much stylised as it is clumsy. Almost as if the stonemason wasn’t a native Arabic speaker. But the last two words look “right”. I’ve seen the “n” in my first name written in a sort of stylized form-- inverted from the usual way an “n” is written, and slanted at a 45 deg angle. That was taught to me by a Persian guy, so maybe it’s not common in Arabic… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/8 "2010-03-12T17:34:55Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s \*“min” \*- “of” or “from.” Then the next word should be the name of a town, right? First letter looks like “r”, and last looks like “d”. It’s a little hard to tell what’s a dot and what’s just a hole in the stone. Maybe the first letter is “z”. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/9 "2010-03-12T17:39:26Z")
Wow. That is some crude Arabic script! There must be a great story behind that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/10 "2010-03-12T17:47:09Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Wow. That is some crude Arabic script! > > There must be a great story behind that. Keep in mind that non-Arabic languages that use Arabic script don’t generally adhere to the same style as Arabic languages. Am I the only one seeing the style difference between the 1st 4 words and the last 2 (especially the 2nd the last of the last two)? The 2nd to last word looks like it could be al-sh-a-h. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/11 "2010-03-12T18:14:03Z")
The first name inscribed in Arabic is _Najm_ meaning ‘star’. Lots of Muslim or Arab people have this for a first name. It can be either a male or female given name. The second line tells where the deceased was from. It appears to say “One of the men of Zahle, al-Sham.” (al-Sham is an old-fashioned name for Syria and the region around it. In the present day, Zahle is in Lebanon). The bottom line gives the modern name of Syria: _Suriya_. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/12 "2010-03-12T18:42:47Z")
Thanks. You folks are good. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/13 "2010-03-12T19:07:14Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Wow. That is some crude Arabic script! > > There must be a great story behind that. Well, it’s in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Salisbury, Rowan Co., North Carolina. Probably not a lot of great Arabic inscribers thereabouts in the 1920s. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/14 "2010-03-12T19:10:26Z")
What made you think it might be Georgian? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/15 "2010-03-12T19:20:57Z")
Hmmm . . . this memorial was added only yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/16 "2010-03-12T19:31:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What made you think it might be Georgian? I don’t read Arabic at all, and it didn’t look like Arabic script to me. Georgian (which I also don’t read at all) was the next closest thing I could think of, though it didn’t really look like Georgian either. Like the man said, ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/17 "2010-03-12T19:33:08Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Hmmm . . . this memorial was added only yesterday. Yes, and the contributor posted an inquiry to the Findagrave message boards. I thought the dope might be more fertile ground. How right I was! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/18 "2010-03-12T19:38:11Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I don’t read Arabic at all, and it didn’t look like Arabic script to me. Georgian (which I also don’t read at all) was the next closest thing I could think of, though it didn’t really look like Georgian either. Like the man said, ignorance fought. Oh. I thought you knew it was Arabic script, but thought maybe someone had written Georgian using that script. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/19 "2010-03-12T19:44:05Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The first name inscribed in Arabic is _Najm_ meaning ‘star’. Lots of Muslim or Arab people have this for a first name. It can be either a male or female given name. The second line tells where the deceased was from. It appears to say “One of the men of Zahle, al-Sham.” (al-Sham is an old-fashioned name for Syria and the region around it. In the present day, Zahle is in Lebanon). > The bottom line gives the modern name of Syria: _Suriya_. Also, the Arabic last name seems to be Bukheer or thereabouts; guess Boger was as close as the guy at Ellis Island could get (or something like that). (As others have said, it’s a bit hard to tell what is a dot and what’s a spot on the stone). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256/20 "2010-03-13T14:04:25Z")
It could easily be read as بوخير _Būkhayr_, a fairly common Lebanese name (a contraction of _Abū khayr_ ‘the father of good’). To correct what I said above, the fourth line should be read simply “_min Zaḥle al-Shām_” ‘from Zahle, Syria’. At first I thought the second word might be the word for ‘man’ (_rajul_ because of uncertainty where the dots were. The same letter shape can be r or z, depending on the dot; the same letter shape can be j or ḥ depending on the dot. It doesn’t actually have the word “man” in it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-headstone-in-georgian-or-arabic/532256.md?page=2)