Abstract
The Ilkhan Hulegu, Mongol ruler of Iran, sent from Maragha a letter in Latin (10 April 1262) to the King of France, Louis IX, proposing a military alliance against the Mamluk sultanate. The Latin text was most probably written by «Richardus notarius ac interpres latinorum [to Hulegu]». In the salutation to the addressee, an exotic word is found: «Barachmar», which scholars considered a mistakenly written, shortened form of some Perso-Arabic expression. Here we suggest instead that it originates from the Syriac greeting formula barrek mār! (brk mry), «O Lord, bless me» (lit. «Bless, my Lord!»), which according to Bar ‘Ebroyo (1225/6-1286) had been borrowed by the Mongols already at the time of Guyuk Khan reign (1246-1248). It is noteworthy that comparative evidence is lacking, greetings being usually absent from the letters (in Mongolian and in Persian language) sent by Mongol rulers in the thirteenth-fourteenth century. pier.giorgio.borbone@unipi.it
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