• Source: Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions

The Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, also known as Northwest Semitic inscriptions, are the primary extra-Biblical source for understanding of the societies and histories of the ancient Phoenicians, Hebrews and Arameans. Semitic inscriptions may occur on stone slabs, pottery ostraca, ornaments, and range from simple names to full texts.
The older inscriptions form a Canaanite–Aramaic dialect continuum, exemplified by writings which scholars have struggled to fit into either category, such as the Stele of Zakkur and the Deir Alla Inscription.
The Northwest Semitic languages are a language group that contains the Aramaic language, as well as the Canaanite languages including Phoenician and Hebrew.




Languages



The old Aramaic period (850 to 612 BC) saw the production and dispersal of inscriptions due to the rise of the Arameans as a major force in Ancient Near East. Their language was adopted as an international language of diplomacy, particularly during the late stages of the Neo-Assyrian Empire as well as the spread of Aramaic speakers from Egypt to Mesopotamia. The first known Aramaic inscription was the Carpentras Stela, found in southern France in 1704; it was considered to be Phoenician text at the time.
Only 10,000 inscriptions in Phoenician-Punic, a Canaanite language, are known, such that "Phoenician probably remains the worst transmitted and least known of all Semitic languages." The only other substantial source for Phoenician-Punic are the excerpts in Poenulus, a play written by the Roman writer Plautus (see Punic language § Example for an analysis). Within the corpus of inscriptions only 668 words have been attested, including 321 hapax legomena (words only attested a single time), per Wolfgang Röllig's analysis in 1983. This compares to the Bible's 7,000–8,000 words and 1,500 hapax legomena, in Biblical Hebrew. The first published Phoenician-Punic inscription was from the Cippi of Melqart, found in 1694 in Malta; the first published such inscription from the Phoenician "homeland" was the Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II published in 1855.
Fewer than 2,000 inscriptions in Ancient Hebrew, another Canaanite language, are known, of which the vast majority comprise just a single letter or word. The first detailed Ancient Hebrew inscription published was the Royal Steward inscription, found in 1870.




List of notable inscriptions


The inscriptions written in ancient Northwest Semitic script (Canaanite and Aramaic) have been catalogued into multiple corpora (i.e., lists) over the last two centuries. The primary corpora to have been produced are as follows:

Hamaker, Hendrik Arent (1828). Miscellanea Phoenicia, sive Commentarii de rebus Phoenicum, quibus inscriptiones multae lapidum ac nummorum, nominaque propria hominum et locorum explicantur, item Punicae gentis lingua et religiones passim illustrantur. S. et J. Luchtmans.: Hamaker's review assessed 13 inscriptions
Wilhelm Gesenius, Scripturae Linguaeque Phoeniciae. In the 1830s, only approximately 80 inscriptions and 60 coins were known in the entire Phoenicio-Punic corpus
Schröder, Paul [in German] (1869). Die phönizische sprache. Entwurf Einer Grammatik, Nebst Sprach- und Schriftproben. Halle, Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.: The first study of Phoenician grammar, listed 332 texts known at the time
CIS: Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum; the first section is focused on Phoenician-Punic inscriptions (176 "Phoenician" inscriptions and 5982 "Punic" inscriptions)
KAI: Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften, considered the "gold standard" for the last fifty years
NSI: George Albert Cooke, 1903: Text-book of North-Semitic Inscriptions: Moabite, Hebrew, Phoenician, Aramaic, Nabataean, Palmyrene, Jewish
NE: Mark Lidzbarski, 1898: Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik, nebst ausgewählten Inschriften: I Text and II Plates
KI: Lidzbarski, Mark (1907). Kanaanäische Inschriften (moabitisch, althebräisch, phönizisch, punisch). A. Töpelmann.
TSSI: Gibson, J. C. L. (1971). Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions: I. Hebrew and Moabite Inscriptions. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-813159-5. Volume III. Phoenician Inscriptions, Including Inscriptions in the Mixed Dialect of Arslan Tash (Oxford: OUP, 1982; ISBN 978-0-19-813199-1)
TAD: Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni (1986–2000), Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt
Renz, J.; Röllig, W. (1995). Handbuch der althebräischen Epigraphik (in German). Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. ISBN 978-3-534-12297-4.
Jongeling, K. (2008). Handbook of Neo-Punic Inscriptions. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 978-3-16-149303-4.
Sass, Benjamin; Finkelstein, Israel (2013). "The West Semitic Alphabetic Inscriptions, Late Bronze II to Iron IIA: Archeological Context, Distribution and Chronology". Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel. 2 (2): 149. doi:10.1628/219222713X13757034787838.
The inscriptions listed below include those which are mentioned in multiple editions of the corpora above (the numbers in the concordance column cross-refer to the works above), as well as newer inscriptions which have been published since the corpora above were published (references provided individually). They are ordered chronologically by date of their modern discovery, illustrating the development of the study of ancient Semitic epigraphy.




Bibliography


Röllig, Wolfgang [in German] (1983). "The Phoenician Language: Remarks on the Present State of Research". Atti del I Congresso Internazionale di Studi Fenici e Punici. Vol. 2. Rome. pp. 375–385. doi:10.11588/propylaeumdok.00001074.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)




See also


List of inscriptions in biblical archaeology
Carthaginian tombstones
Epigraphy
Ancient Hebrew writings




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Abjad Proto-Sinai
• Rumpun bahasa Semit Barat Laut
• Klasifikasi bahasa Arab
• Allah
• Bahasa Filistin
• Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions
• Canaanite languages
• Phoenician alphabet
• Canaan
• Paleo-Hebrew alphabet
• Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften
• Proto-Canaanite alphabet
• Deir Alla inscription
• List of inscriptions in biblical archaeology
• Moabite language