1/ Lord Owen is profoundly misguided on @ChiefMI6 in #Iran. As #ForeignSecretary, he could've been more activist then by urging the @bbcworldservice to dial down #Khomeini's coverage which made this obscure #cleric #headlinenews. rb.gy/xm94u2/ #Khomeini's move to #France, after #Saddam ejected him at the #Shah's myopic behest, marked a turning point in the political fortunes of this exiled troublemaker, a grim #IranianStudies point in fact. @FCDOHistorians, #DavidOwen not once intervened,
1. My #SamarkandSummit orientalist🧵on its toponym and etymology. Incorrect is #Wikipedia's #Samarkand etymon entry and false analogy to #Tashkent. Both #Samarkand, like neighbouring #Bukhara, remain extensively debated in eastern #MiddleIranian#philology.
2. #Samarkand, contra #Wikipedia, is not 'stone city'. The first element /sm’r/ remains unexplained. On #Sogdian sm’rknδh [Ancient Letters], cf. Chin. Samojian 颯秣建 Gr. Μαρακάνδοι, scholarly consensus exists only on second compound, #Sogdian 'town, city'.