# Some ottoman letters from an old ottoman pocket watch



## perisae

Hello from Thessaloniki, Greece. Someone friend gave me a dial from an old ottoman pocket watch, as a gift. I am a collector of these pocket watches, and I am interested mainly for historic reasons to know what it says. I will be very happy if someone helps. Thanks,
Perikles


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## cherine

Are you sure this is Ottoman, as in from Ottoman Turkey, or just that it dates back to the Ottoman times, so it can be from anywhere that was ruled by the Ottomans?

I'm asking because I believe this is Arabic, not Turkish. The words are
عبد الباقي محمد Abdul-Baqi Muhammad (a man's name)
بجامع سلطان باسكندريه (in/at Sultan mosque in Alexandria) The last word could be باسكندربه, possibly baskandarbeh?

Is there any further text?


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## perisae

First of all, thank you very much.
I really don't know nothing about the Ottoman language except the Arabic/Ottoman numerals and the old date system. I just -because Thessaloniki was part of Ottoman Empire- supposed the object had Ottoman origin.

No, there is nothing other script more.


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## cherine

perisae said:


> First of all, thank you very much.


You're most welcome.


> I just -because the Thessaloniki was part of Ottoman Empire- supposed the object had Ottoman origin.


Oh, in this case don't forget that Greece and Alexandria were always connected, to one degree or another, even many centuries before the Ottoman empire itself was founded. 
Let's wait for more opinions. If no one corrects me on the last word باسكندريه/باسكندربه, then I think we can safely conclude that the writing is purely Arabic and only means what I translated.


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## perisae

can you please tell me more about the word "baskandarbeh" (what means)?
And yes it is very possible your scenario, also because in the previous century, many Greek-Egyptian people left Alexandria for Greece(mainly Athens and Thessaloniki)


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## cherine

perisae said:


> can you please tell me more about the word "baskandarbeh" (what means)?


_If_ it is a word, I don't know what it means. This is why we need the opinion of someone who knows other languages, Turkish or Persian.


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## Muttaki

cherine said:


> Are you sure this is Ottoman, as in from Ottoman Turkey, or just that it dates back to the Ottoman times, so it can be from anywhere that was ruled by the Ottomans?
> 
> I'm asking because I believe this is Arabic, not Turkish. The words are
> عبد الباقي محمد Abdul-Baqi Muhammad (a man's name)
> بجامع سلطان باسكندريه (in/at Sultan mosque in Alexandria) The last word could be باسكندربه, possibly baskandarbeh?
> 
> Is there any further text?


I believe your you read it correct, although we see only one dot on ي but there is no reason to think it is not Turkish. It is indeed and using ب in the beginning of the words in that sense like in Arabic is totally common in books. Another indication is the letter ی in باقی, wouldn't we add two dots under ی in Arabic? But that's how it is written in Turkish.

I am not quite sure about that but also wouldn't we also have ال before سلطان if it were Arabic?

A text in Quranic letters found in Thessaloniki? No doubt that it is Turkish.


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## cherine

In Egypt, we don't put the two dots under the yaa2 ى, so باقى is totally fine in texts written in Egpt.
As for سلطان it could be a name not at title, so an ال wouldn't be necessary.

I'm not saying that the text can not be Turkish, I'm just wondering whether it could be Arabic because all the words are Arabic. Unless there is a Turkish word باسكندربه. Does such a word exist? I'm asking because I don't speak Turkish, so I don't know. But I do find Ottoman texts fascinating.


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## Muttaki

Them being Arabic words gives no clue on whether it is Turkish or Arabic.

اسكندربه or باسكندربه doesn't exist in dictionaries, it must be اسكندریه.


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## cherine

In this case, it's Arabic. There are not Turkish words in this sentence.
And their being Arabic doesn't mean they can't be found in a Turkish text. It's just that these few words are 100% Arabic.


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## Muttaki

They are also 100% Turkish. That's what Turkish is about. So there are Turkish words there.

Similarly many words passed from French to English, but they are now English as well.


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## perisae

Thank you both for your answers!


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