ARMENIA. [.]arotēn, son of Mkrtich, 1879. Stamp Seal (Bronze, 25x15 mm, 4.19 g). نيشان ('NĪSHĀN' in Arabic) / [.]ԱՐՈԹԷՆ / ՄՂՐՏԻՃԷՆ ('[.]AROTʿĒN / MĠRTIČʿĒN' in Armenian) / 1879. A highly interesting trilingual stamp seal. About extremely fine.



This remarkable stamp seal displays three distinct scripts: Arabic, Armenian, and Latin. The first line features the Arabic inscription نِيشَان (Nīshān), meaning 'sign' or 'seal'. The Armenian text identifies the owner of the seal - we read [.]arotēn, (son of) Mkrtich, though the initial letter remains uncertain. Notably, the date appears not in Arabic script, as is typical for such stamp seals, but in Latin numerals: 1879. As such, this stamp seal serves as a striking example of multilingual expression within a multicultural context.