Lat. raudus Old Slav. ruda metal O. N. rauđi red iron ore Pehlevi rôd Persian roi Sk. lohá copper; and Sumerian balag Babyl.-Assyrian pilakku axe Sk. parasú Gr. πέλεκυς. Both words could have their origin in an Aryan language only and would prove that the borrowing must have been on the Sumerian side. Parasú is the same word as pársu and meant originally a rib-bone. As such bones were used for knives parsu came to mean a bent knife and then any kind of weapon¹. The word had therefore a history of its own among the Âryas before it could have been adopted by the Sumerians. As to loha its etymology is more doubtful. It has been traced back to an original *raudho and compared with ἐ-ρυθ-ρός. If the similarity to Sumerian urud is more than accidental the borrowing again must have been on the Sumerian side. The Bask word for copper is urraida².