tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-305083112024-03-26T23:35:42.371-07:00CRYPTCRACKERA bull-tin dedicated to deciphering ancient scripts, cracking codes, solving puzzles, demystifying mysteries, unraveling revelations, unriddling riddles, debunking bunkum, blasting bombast, and abolishing bosh.Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-12649864201885942782023-12-08T01:29:00.000-08:002024-02-08T18:15:44.024-08:00Ebal curse tablet<p> </p><p>
</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""Lato",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">THE MOUNT
EBAL LEADEN CURSE TABLET<br />
<br />
AND THE CRISIS IN ALPHABET RESEARCH </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""Lato",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Brian Edric
Colless </span></b><b><span face=""Lato",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;">MA BD PhD ThD</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: center;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9HNtjEMkcND5ijoLlPdOPvR_kusy-zmbQ3Eg0dWhj20_u-2bp2jXaNEkc7oOdFldeYWxDDtK3mGfVhpummZXd7pfwBCtQkGeBH_RhLZ3fjrerpFFTAGKxTSoOAngxc5d55AKhGAiNNs_lUIbZ6T9QSUg_oFRJHjKb5Wc9i5scvtWlDdU-Qu3CHw/s822/494709.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="822" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9HNtjEMkcND5ijoLlPdOPvR_kusy-zmbQ3Eg0dWhj20_u-2bp2jXaNEkc7oOdFldeYWxDDtK3mGfVhpummZXd7pfwBCtQkGeBH_RhLZ3fjrerpFFTAGKxTSoOAngxc5d55AKhGAiNNs_lUIbZ6T9QSUg_oFRJHjKb5Wc9i5scvtWlDdU-Qu3CHw/s320/494709.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">This
remarkable little artefact (a mere 2 </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;">x</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> 2
centimetres), resting on the hand of the archaeologist Scott Stripling, is believed
(by Stripling and some other scholars) to be an imprecation and execration tablet, a curse document, technically
known as a <i>defixio</i>. It was discovered in December 2019, on Mount Ebal
(near modern Nablus, ancient Shekem, on the "West Bank" of the Jordan
River), in the course of an expedition of the Associates for Biblical Research,
led by Scott Stripling. It has now appeared officially in a preliminary
publication:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><br />
</span><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">"You are Cursed by the God YHW:" an early Hebrew
inscription from Mt. Ebal<br />
</span></b><a href="https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9?fbclid=IwAR3G9ih5D98ZCB7t1Wk7fIXfVerZzXAdu2Uiw4yqP8KYDCDEvFbnh3Qs7LM"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9?fbclid=IwAR3G9ih5D98ZCB7t1Wk7fIXfVerZzXAdu2Uiw4yqP8KYDCDEvFbnh3Qs7LM<br />
</span></a><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">The story of its discovery and its decipherment is told here:<br />
</span><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">A Tsunami from Mt. Ebal: Cursed by the God Yahu<br />
</span></b><a href="https://www.academia.edu/104014709/A_Tsunami_from_Mt_Ebal_BAS_Spring_2023"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">https://www.academia.edu/104014709/A_Tsunami_from_Mt_Ebal_BAS_Spring_2023
<br />
</span></a><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></u><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">Scott Stripling, Abigail Leavitt,
Pieter Gert van der Veen, <i>Bible and Spade, </i>36.2 (2023) <br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>My tentative opinion is that the
editors have largely succeeded in deciphering the two inscriptions (interior
and exterior), clearly discerning the presence of the roots for "die" (MWT) and
"curse" ('RR); but some of their interpretations
may be slightly awry.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Certainly, the diminutive letters are a handicap to attaining certainty
with regard to the intended meaning of the texts, but the microscopic
inscription on the tiny<a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2022/11/lakish-lice-comb.html"> lice comb</a> from Lakish has been successfully read,
according to my interpretation. Some of the inscriptions that are coming to
light from early Israel show that a syllabic form of the proto-alphabet was
being employed in the period of the Judges,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and this may also be the case in this defixio.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span>
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{page:WordSection</style> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For my part, I will suggest some other possibilities.<br />
Instead of the indicative mood, I will propose the imperative
mood for some of the verbs: "Die!" (MT). "Be cursed!" (HT`R).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
</p><p align="center" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">"You are Cursed by the God YHW:" <br />
an early Hebrew inscription from Mt. Ebal<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><a href="https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9?fbclid=IwAR3G9ih5D98ZCB7t1Wk7fIXfVerZzXAdu2Uiw4yqP8KYDCDEvFbnh3Qs7LM#auth-Scott-Stripling"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Scott Stripling</span></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><a href="https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9?fbclid=IwAR3G9ih5D98ZCB7t1Wk7fIXfVerZzXAdu2Uiw4yqP8KYDCDEvFbnh3Qs7LM#auth-Gershon-Galil"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Gershon Galil</span></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><a href="https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9?fbclid=IwAR3G9ih5D98ZCB7t1Wk7fIXfVerZzXAdu2Uiw4yqP8KYDCDEvFbnh3Qs7LM#auth-Pieter_Gert-Veen"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Pieter Gert van der
Veen</span></a><span face=""Lato",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">,<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9?fbclid=IwAR3G9ih5D98ZCB7t1Wk7fIXfVerZzXAdu2Uiw4yqP8KYDCDEvFbnh3Qs7LM#auth-Ivana-Kumpova"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Ivana Kumpova</span></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><a href="https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9?fbclid=IwAR3G9ih5D98ZCB7t1Wk7fIXfVerZzXAdu2Uiw4yqP8KYDCDEvFbnh3Qs7LM#auth-Jaroslav-Valach"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Jaroslav Valach</span></a><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">, </span><a href="https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-023-00920-9?fbclid=IwAR3G9ih5D98ZCB7t1Wk7fIXfVerZzXAdu2Uiw4yqP8KYDCDEvFbnh3Qs7LM#auth-Daniel-Vavrik"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">Daniel Vavrik</span></a><span face=""Lato",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"></span></p>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> The
contributors to this publication have worked diligently to complete the
laborious task, endeavouring to release their results promptly, for the benefit
of other scholars. "Ik kijk enorm uit naar het artikel", someone said
on the Peter van der Veen Facebook page, when Pieter had announced some time
ago that he was producing an article about the leaden tablet, in collaboration
with five others; and this eager expectation was shared by myself. The
chief interpreters of the inscriptions were Gershon Galil and Pieter Gert van
der Veen, known as Peter on Facebook; his page is where the news was released
in May 2023, and where an academic storm raged. I am truly grateful for this
preliminary communication, although the work is not quite finished. Only one of
the two curse-inscriptions has been published, and surprisingly it is the
almost inaccessible "Inner B", the interior "cursary"
(<i>-ary </i>as in syllabary and consonantary, two concepts I will discuss
here) or malediction, if you shun neologisms</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">; but it certainly requires much more than a mere cursory glance</span><style>@font-face
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this communiqué freely accessible on our desktops (literal and electronical).
Unfortunately, there seems to be a curse embedded in it, against anyone who
dares to make a printed copy of the essay (and likewise in the
"Tsunami" article). In my printout, every initial <b>A</b> (countless
in number) was replaced by a<b> 7</b>, and had to be corrected with a sharp
pencil; and every <b>n</b> unaccountably and uncountably became a colon (:); it
is not a pretty sight. These things are sent to test our patience and
perseverance, without which we would not achieve success in our decipherment
labours.</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxQKGKmf2TblxySFsuq7VU92VtqDbS4J9roKzi-ZHtthDmAbcRKpEN-lQjNh10I_WMB48PUGI3_sy8SGgNEBU7ItMricRfdbp7UoVcHYgyRvdPF4Czx5UHJtjCI0949My09cGWg8-Au9AV-8TgcT03Nvr1WVyKy584InHMD-HAOIqSkI7Z-Z7ZQ/s550/unnamed-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="550" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxQKGKmf2TblxySFsuq7VU92VtqDbS4J9roKzi-ZHtthDmAbcRKpEN-lQjNh10I_WMB48PUGI3_sy8SGgNEBU7ItMricRfdbp7UoVcHYgyRvdPF4Czx5UHJtjCI0949My09cGWg8-Au9AV-8TgcT03Nvr1WVyKy584InHMD-HAOIqSkI7Z-Z7ZQ/s320/unnamed-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Bottom</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">: the folded leaden tablet,
unopened.<br />
<b>Top right</b>: the exterior inscription,"Outer A".<br />
<b>Top left</b>: traces ("bulges") of the "Inner B" text on
the outside .<br />
The red spot indicates the broken corner of the object; apparently it should be
positioned as the top right corner when reading the <i>Outer A </i>text.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> The engraver had written an
elaborate "cursary" (my word for a collection of curses, in the sense
of invocations of doom upon an offender, incantations of death, involving a
deity, and therefore not magic spells but imprecations). Yahwe (rather than
Yahu), the god named in this conjuration, would be the agent of the curses,
analogous to ancient treaties, in which the gods named in the covenant
administer the curses and blessings written in the document.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">This was the procedure, perhaps: a small strip of lead was prepared, and on
one half of its face the cursary was inscribed with a stylus; the unmarked part
of the document was then folded over as an envelope, and the elaborate curse
was repeated in tiny writing on the outside; thus the imprecation was recorded
in duplicate, and even in triplicate, as the imprint of the first impression
was bulging on the rear side to some extent. Alternatively, both inscriptions may have been written before the metal was folded over. Yet another possibility is that there is only one inscription, Outer A, which made indentations right through to the back of the folded piece; in this case, the object used was already folded, and possibly intended for some other purpose, but the scribe adapted it as a vehicle for his curses. <br />
I will work with the hypothesis that there are two inscriptions, an outer and an inner text. How was the concealed inscription read? Surprisingly,
against our preconceptions about the metal lead (<i>plumbum</i>) being
impenetrable to X-rays, the results were achieved by employing
"X-ray computed tomography and advanced data processing", producing
and analysing the photographs of 46 "slices". <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> See the moving picture of the detecting
process:<br />
</span><a href="https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1186%2Fs40494-023-00920-9/MediaObjects/40494_2023_920_MOESM1_ESM.gif"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1186%2Fs40494-023-00920-9/MediaObjects/40494_2023_920_MOESM1_ESM.gif<br />
</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> As is my
custom, I will ponder whether the revealed letters belong to a <a href="https://www.academia.edu/42283185/The_Lost_Link_The_Alphabet_in_the_Hands_of_the_Early_Israelites">syllabary</a>, and
thus represent syllables (consonant plus vowel, syllabograms), not simply
consonants (consonantograms).<br />
</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">By the way, there<b> is</b> a
word "leaden" (like "golden") which helps in decoding the
multi-purpose 'lead" (liid or led?); I have just seen it in action in a
Father Brown story of G. K. Chesterton.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_u6LvooBJXcHjbPEOBQ3FO_VtECFoEETB-5FE5bJkZtECY1KabfFC0pE7BG-ES2sPYCUdKmtLg_q2rho1Bu3Mt7PlmDICLHwYylH-og5IKdgF_HST5COot-Tt4qgpnT9fp8Hgs01JPG1aws0cvt3F5VJRYeaEfR-jddvwQOGvtbsOdTIsrC4tw/s516/unnamed-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="516" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_u6LvooBJXcHjbPEOBQ3FO_VtECFoEETB-5FE5bJkZtECY1KabfFC0pE7BG-ES2sPYCUdKmtLg_q2rho1Bu3Mt7PlmDICLHwYylH-og5IKdgF_HST5COot-Tt4qgpnT9fp8Hgs01JPG1aws0cvt3F5VJRYeaEfR-jddvwQOGvtbsOdTIsrC4tw/w444-h378/unnamed-2.jpg" width="444" /></a></div><p></p>
<p><style id="dynCom" type="text/css"></style><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;</style><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> Sketch of the interior text ("<b>Inner B</b>"), after Pieter
van der Veen:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161143436379948&set=a.10153844636149948"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;"> <br /></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161143436379948&set=a.10153844636149948<br /><br /></span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><b> Presentation<br /></b> This drawing is based on his painstaking examination of the photographs (Tables 2-9),
and it agrees substantially with the published drawing of Gershon Galil
(reproduced further below).<br />
Notice the divine name, with letters highlighted and annotated by
myself: LYHW ("by Yahweh"), and around it various occurrences
of the passive participle 'RR ("cursed"), not `RWR (the reading
proposed by Galil).<br />
Tentatively, we can affirm that there are two large stick
figures of a jubilating person, one above the other, representing the consonant
/h/ or a syllable (h with a vowel). The same pattern is observable on the
exterior text,(<b>Outer A</b>). Gershon interprets each figure as YHW.<br />
Gershon and Pieter also detect two smaller versions of this
letter H, next to the highlighted L of LYHW. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A reproduction of Galil’s drawing
(adapted by Brian Donnelly-Lewis) is viewable below.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For
the interior inscription (<b>Inner B</b>) Gershon Galil has:<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[A] <i>You are cursed by the god Yhw,
cursed.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>[B] <i>You will die, cursed :<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>[B] <i>cursed, you will surely die.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>[A] <i>Cursed you are by Yhw , cursed.<br />
</i>Gershon suspects that the text is chiasmic (A B B A): thus the first two
statements are repeated in reverse order, in his interpretation, and this is an
elegant proposal.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> However, perhaps there is only
one instance of LYHW, situated at the centre, and all the curse
participles in the text are relating to it: "cursed by YHW" ('RR
LYHW).<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> Where is the starting
point of this jumble of letters?<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Galil has numbered the characters that
he has detected, 48 in total, and has divided them into three groups or
"clusters": <br />
[1] (A=1-17) beginning low down with ' TH, "thou", and meandering to
the top.<br />
[2] (BB=18-33) beginning at the top, near the H-sign, with TMT 'RR, "You
will die accursed", then running down the opposite side, with "cursed
you will surely die".<br />
[3] (A=34-48) beginning at the bottom with "cursed" and circling
around the large H of YHW.<br />
This is an elegant reconstruction, but it may contain flaws.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"> I will now outline my own case for reading the
hidden inscription, on the assumption that Gershon and Pieter have
correctly
identified the characters in the recovered text, though I will offer
alternative
interpretations for a few of them. My basic principle in such endeavours
is to
recognize that the person who inscribed these marks on the leaden tablet
knew
what the intended meaning is, but it will probably be difficult for us
to
decipher the significance of the signs. Here is my tentative
transcription and
translation, employing the numbers assigned to the characters by Gershon
Galil, beginning with his yellow 1 and 2, but not adhering to the
connecting lines.<br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Gershon Galil’s drawing
of the interior inscription with the characters numbered, and with coloured
lines added by Brian Donnelly-Lewis. This is a mirror-image of the other
drawing reproduced above.</span></p><p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOWTSbyK7LAM5FCf4CX8GSbnOm0AVwBCGZmhFFa5jxwOrCsQPUMceXYvoRkbSUgGzmjkwLxoOOAX5FRUv3KyhtJxWD526lc3b8EcNktL9FyS0tQUbX190Y8kZaeHqTZLlkOcJnCY-taN-OAI_dcYeJKd67f12sr14SIWyLZ4N4VdcPSAUb4Itag/s419/2-f4d4c226da-1.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="350" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOWTSbyK7LAM5FCf4CX8GSbnOm0AVwBCGZmhFFa5jxwOrCsQPUMceXYvoRkbSUgGzmjkwLxoOOAX5FRUv3KyhtJxWD526lc3b8EcNktL9FyS0tQUbX190Y8kZaeHqTZLlkOcJnCY-taN-OAI_dcYeJKd67f12sr14SIWyLZ4N4VdcPSAUb4Itag/w351-h420/2-f4d4c226da-1.webp" width="351" />
</a><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">1 2 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3 39 38 37 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>41 40<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>42 43 16 45 23 24<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />’ T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>L<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Be thou (<i>’t</i>) cursed (<i>ht’r</i>) by (<i>l</i>)
YHW himself (<i>h</i>),<br /> accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
25 26 27<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>28 29 30<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>44 31 32 33 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">45 46 48 </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>34 36
35<br />
’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> ’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">An accursed one (<i>’rr</i>) he puts to death (<i>ymt</i>),<br />
and so (<i>w</i>) thou shalt die (<i>tmt</i>) accursed </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(<i>’rr</i>)</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">, <br />accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).</span> <br />
20 21 22 10 11 12 17 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>9 8<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>13
19 18<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>14 15 7<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">4 5 6 </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br /> T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>L<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H W<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>L<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> ’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R R ’ R R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Thou art cursed (<i>t’r</i>) by (<i>l</i>) YHW God (<i>’l</i>),
<br />and so (<i>w</i>) die (<i>mt</i>) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">accursed (<i>’rr</i>), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;">accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).<br /></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This arrangement into three parts would demolish
the fourfold chiastic structure of Gershon Galil (ABBA, described above), though
he himself divides the text into three “clusters” (7). <br /></span></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b><i>Modification</i></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><b><i>
</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here I will point out the
differences between Gershon’s reading of the inscription, and explain my modified arrangement of
the meandering letters; but I fear that my presentation will be painfully
abstruse. I have already signaled above that I would tentatively change some
of the verbs from indicative mood to imperative. Thus, Gershon’s <i>’th ’rwr </i>(1-7:
“Thou art cursed”) becomes <i>’t ht’r </i>(1 2 3 39 38 37: “Be thou cursed”);
his version has the passive participle of the root <i>’rr, </i>“curse”, and
mine has the imperative singular masculine, on the pattern of the reflexive and
passive <i>hitqattel</i>; and my reading <i>ht’r </i>is based on the
presumption that the double R is not repeated, on the analogy of <i>hw’r</i>,
the <i>hoqtal</i> form, attested as <i>yw’r, </i>“he is under a curse” (he is
caused to be cursed!).<br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice my understanding of three instances
of <i>’rr</i>, not as emphasising the curse, but as addressing the accused as
“accursed one”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This choice raises the question of the identity of the addressee, the
“thou” in the curse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The editors report
(1b) that ancient mass-produced curse tablets had blank spaces where names
could be added; but our leaden defixio apparently has a general reference (To
whom it may concern). It was discovered on the mountain of cursing (Deuteronomy
27:13), and it might be directed against covenant-breakers, as defined by the
twelve curses stipulated by Moses (27:15-26); or it could apply to a person who
desecrated the altar, since this is where the tablet was found.<br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason I have moved away from Gershon’s
approach is the final <i>h</i> on his reading of <i>’th </i>(= ’attâ); this is
a convention for indicating the long vowel <i>â</i>, which came later, and was presumably
not available in the Bronze Age for this very old </span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">inscription.
Similarly, Gershon’s <i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’rwr </i>(’arûr,
“cursed”) has a <i>waw</i> representing <i>û</i>, and again it is doubtful that
this system was operating in West Semitic writing at this early stage. The
consonants W and H and Y, when they are standing for vowels, are known as <i>matres
lectionis, </i>“mothers of reading”, aids to pronouncing words in a text. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gershon sees six examples of <i>’rwr </i>(’arûr,
“cursed”) in the interior inscription; my total is five instances of <i>’rr</i>,
without <i>w; </i>but I also have <i>ht’r</i>, “Be cursed”, perhaps twice, and
in one case (bottom left on Gershon’s drawing, and bottom right on Pieter’s
sketch) it is accompanied by <i>’t</i> (“thou”), hence “Be thou cursed”. In the
other occurrence of <i>ht’r</i>, at the top, there is no “thou”, but Pieter has
an additional Alep there, and perchance a T is lurking undetected. At this
point, Gershon finds a sequence L’L YHW, “by (<i>l</i>) YHW God (<i>’l</i>)”,
and I have provisionally accepted this, although the first four of the six letters
(excepting HW) are “ghosts”, and may have been intentionally erased by the
scribe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even so, to achieve my
construction HT’R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>L YHW<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’ L<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>M T (“Be cursed by YHW God, and die”) I would have
to use the stick figure H (12) in a double role; and if I wanted to write the
Divine Name in its customary four-letter form, the Tetragrammaton YHWH, I would
need to call sign number 12 into service for a third time. However, the editors
seem to concur on reading YHW, without the final H, as the form YHWH is presumably a
later use of a <i>mater lectionis</i>. Consequently, I now propose, tentatively, to use
the H-figure only once, and reduce HT’R to T`R, “Thou art cursed” (Qal passive,
or <i>Niqtal</i>, or <i>Hoqtal</i>?).<br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Confronted by a host of such evil demons
and accursed gremlins, we now descend into the depths of the slough of despond,
and my premonition of “abstruseness” is upon us. You will be lost in the forest
of numbers, and be drowned in the sea of letters, unless you have copies of the
two drawings close at hand.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In passing, on a cautionary note, as
we proceed through our analysis we need to explore the possibility of scribal
errors in the text, and confront the problem of seemingly superfluous signs
(H40, W47). I know that some people would say I am wasting my time, and
frittering away my life chasing phantoms, but this is an important task.<br /></span>
<br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Identification</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">First, Gershon Galil
has miraculously found enough Waws for his six ’RWRs, and although I have
reduced those half-dozen ’RWRs to five ’RRs, I still have one long-stem Waw
(47) left dangling in the air, together with R46 and R48; Gershon has
constructed his sixth ’RWR from this cluster (45-48), and this seems to be
credible, with the Waw as an indicator of the vowel <i>û</i>. However, Footnote
9 states that two instances of ’Alep are faint, and their “existence and form
could not be established with certainty”, and therefore they “appear in square
brackets” in the transcriptions; and these two weak instances are in the central
[45]-48 cluster, a vertical sequence of signs, which we are examining here, and
the [34]-37 group, which runs horizontally in <i>boustrophedon </i>fashion at
the bottom. Both these examples are part of Gershon’s third curse, beginning
and ending the sentence (“Cursed art thou by Yhw, cursed.”). Each ’Alep is an
unmistakable bovine head, as drawn by Gershon and by Pieter; each Waw is a
small circle on a long stem, in contrast to W16, a larger circle on a short
stem; each Resh has the typical angular (“rhomboid” or diamond-shaped) head on
a neck, with one possible instance of the more conventional triangular head
(<|) at position 22.<br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Although<b> </b>Gershon has<b> </b>decided that
the Resh has an angular head, and the Waw has a circular top, he does not
adhere strictly to this rule, and he must sometimes be assuming that an error
has been made by the scribe. Thus, in identifying the letters in another of his
’RWR sequences (4-7, centre-left on his drawing, sinistrograde, moving from
right to left, but dextrograde on Pieter’s mirror-image), where all three
standing figures have a pointed top (on his drawing, but Pieter’s trio is more
ambiguous), he accepts the middle one as Waw, followed by a large Resh (7),
which seems to belong to another group. In this regard, I propose for
consideration two adjoining sets of three-letter “cursed” words (but ’RR, not
’RWR): 4-5-6 , 14-15-7; Gershon’s versions of these, with Waw included, are: 4-5-6-7,
14-15-16-17. The Galil numbers seem to fit together nicely, but he is the one
who numbered the signs! On closer inspection each of them falls under
suspicion: 4-7 is slightly tricky, as already noted; but 14-17 is problematic; it
begins with an ox-head, moves to a tiny inverted R located next to it, then to
a Waw with a short stem below the Alep and next to the head of the central
figure with upraised forearms, and finally to a small inverted R between the
legs of the upper exulting figure.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My misgiving about this 14-17 group is the
Waw (16), which seems unnecessary in ’RR (“cursed”) but necessary in the divine
name YHW. Having snapped up W16 for this curse-group, Gershon has to find an
alternative, and so he contrarily crosses over to the cluster R46 W47 W44, and
chooses W44, the furthest letter away from Y42 H43; he rejects W47, because it
is needed for his 45-48 group, which I have mentioned previously; and I want
W44 to be a copula, “<i>and </i>thou shalt die”. Note carefully that W47 (which
I could not fit into my reconstruction of the text), with a small circular top
and a long stem, is quite unlike any of the other instances of Waw; and W48 is
a smaller version of W13 (with an oblique stem), both of which I interpret as <i>wa</i>,
“and”, preceding a verb: 44-31-32-33, WTMT, “and thou shalt die”; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and 13-19-18, WMT, “and die!”.<br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, with one eye on the right side of Gershon’s
drawing (with the helpful coloured lines added by Brian Donnelly-Lewis), and the
other on the left side of Pieter’s (my copies are pasted side by side on a
piece of cardboard, Pieter right, Gershon left, and these two sections of the
inscription are adjacent to each other), we perceive some startling differences.
So, when I say that there may be scribal errors, this could apply to the original
scribe, and also to the two recent copyists. <br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the top, Pieter has four ’Aleps: <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1) no counterpart in Gershon’s
scheme, but might be part of ’T, “thou”, if a Taw could be found as a companion
for it;<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(2) corresponding to Gershon’s A9 (in
his yellow line), a ghost letter, intertwined with my WMT, “and die!”, and
taken with a ghostly L8 to say ’L, “God”, to be linked with YHW, 11-12-17;<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(3) A21 (in the blue-green line),
which Gershon includes in another ’RWR (21-24), running vertically downwards;<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(4) A25 (also blue-green), near
Pieter’s unique Alep (Number 1, above); in a highly dubious ’RWR (25-28); this demands a
detailed examination; the Alep (25) is a large ox-head, in an oblique stance,
with a long cross-bar, like the <i>’alep</i> in the standardized consonantary
of Iron Age II; in Gershon’s drawing it has two R-letters (26 27) next to it,
each with a pointed, not rounded, head; then comes a vertical letter (28), with
a long stem that has two oblique prongs at the end of it, and for my eyes
(looking at the photograph of the letter, 3A on Table 8) it is a Yod, but the
accompanying drawing (3B on Table 8) has it as a triangle on a stem, thus
making it possibly equivalent to R22, situated between the horns of the Alep
(25), but inverted and with a longer stem; surprisingly, Pieter’s account of
this sequence is different, in that his R27 or W27 is separated from its
partner, and its head is resting on the head of R28, and in this stance it
could indeed be Waw, like W13 and W44; but my preference is to read this
sequence as ’RR YMT WTMT ’RR: “An accursed one he puts to death, and thou shalt
die, accursed one”.<br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that I am prompt to propose
problems but slow to supply solutions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
view of all the uncertainties involved here, occasioned by the ancient scribe
with his minuscule marks, and also by the recent copyists in their attempts to
decipher them as writing, it might be better to stay silent, and join the
defeatists, who have withdrawn from the struggle before victory is won, even
though the end is in sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately,
there is no<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>complete photograph of the
Inner B inscription, but we have miniature images of all the recoverable signs,
and the drawings are proving to be fairly reliable. However, when there are
discrepancies between the presentations of Gershon and Pieter, as we have just
seen with the hypothetical ’RWR (25-28), our confidence is slightly shaken, but
the ARR form is preferable to ARWR, on the whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I write this ramble I am trying to
follow the trail of the meandering letters, and in the process I have
experimented with various combinations, and have now managed to add a sixth
case of ’RR to my second sentence of three, producing: “thou shalt die accursed
(45 46 47), accursed one (34 36 35)”; but to achieve this I have also employed
Alep 45 in the ’RR at the end of the first sentence (45 23 24). My
rationalisation for this is Gershon’s square brackets around two instances of
Alep, and Pieter’s extra Alep at the top of the text! Apparently, neither
drawing gives an entirely accurate picture of the inscription. Perhaps the
outer version of the curse will clarify the matter, or it may increase the
confusion.</span>
<br /><style>
</style><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">1 2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3 39
38 37<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>41 40<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>42 43 16<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>4<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5 6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>L<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>W<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">Be thou (<i>’t</i>)
cursed (<i>ht’r</i>) by (<i>l</i>) YHW himself (<i>h</i>), <br />
accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">25 26 27<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>28 29 30<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>44 31 32 33<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>34 36 35<br />
’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">The
accursed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i>’rr</i>) he puts to death (<i>ymt</i>),
and (<i>w</i>) thou shalt die (<i>tmt</i>), <br />
accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;"></span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">20 21 22<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>10 11 12 17<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>9 8<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>13 19 18<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>14 15 7 45 23 24<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>L <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H W<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>L<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Thou art <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cursed (<i>t’r</i>) by (<i>l</i>) YHW God (<i>’l</i>),
and so (<i>w</i>) die (<i>mt</i>) accursed (<i>’rr</i>) ,<br />
accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).</span> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><style><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /> </span></span>
<style>
</style><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, I have tentatively accepted that the
inscription does indeed include the statement “You are cursed by the God YHW”, but this is not my final decision.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time now to confront the problem of
YHW(H), starting with a seemingly superfluous H (40), which could have been
attached to YHW to produce YHWH. At present I have proposed <i>lahu </i>(41
40), “by him, YHW”, or “by YHW himself”; but this is not tidy, and may not be
idiomatic; H40 could fit at the end of the circle of signs producing LYHW(H)
(41 42 43 16 40). Notice that H3, H43, and H12 are all standing persons, while
H40 is apparently seated. If this is true, is it significant? Could it be that
the two forms represent different syllables of H? </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, is<i> hawaha </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the original form of the root of Yahweh (He
causes to be, or He is)? Allowing H40 to create the full tetragrammaton YHWH,
are we then obliged to admit Gershon Galil’s ’T<b>H</b> (1 2 3) instead of ’T
(“thou”), and ’R<b>W</b>R (“cursed”)? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What shall we then say about the LYHW’L
(“Yahwe ’El”) in the third sentence? One thing is that it has only one H; and
also it makes the line too long, as indicated by comparison with the other two
(the translations should be ignored in this exercise). One detail to note is
that Gershon has declared (7b) that the exterior inscription (“Outer A")
is “very similar to” the interior text (‘Inner B”), or “the inner and outer
texts are almost identical” (22b), except that ’L (“God”) is absent. Actually,
the letters ’A9 and L8 for El, are among the ghost characters in the top
sector, the other two being L10 and Y11, which produce “by Yhw “El” with H12
and W13. However, on the assumption that these four faint signs are meant to be
omitted, I can employ H12 in the verb HT’R, “Be cursed”, as in line 1:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>12 20 21 22<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>13 19 18<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>14 15 7 45 23 24<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">Be <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cursed (<i>ht’r</i>) and (<i>w</i>) die (<i>mt</i>)
accursed (<i>’rr</i>) ,<br />
accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With thirteen consonants it now has the
same length as line 2, while line 1 has fourteen. The order I have chosen for
the three curses seems logical: (1) the offender is addressed (not by name but
by pronoun, <i>atta</i>, “Thou”), and the curse is placed on them in the name
of Yahweh; (2) those under his curse are sentenced to death, and so you must
die; (3) the curse is reaffirmed, and the offender is ordered to die.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I have two signs (47 48) left over, and also the extra
Alep provided by Pieter (*49). I will propose that W47 is not a letter but a
dividing line, separating the WTMT line (</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">44 31 32 33</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">) from the 45 46 48 ’RR; this
prevents Gershon from incorporating the remote W44 into his reading of YHW (42
43 44), instead of W16, which is right next to the head of H42. I could quietly
move on from here, hoping that you would not notice that “45 46 48 ’RR” does
not appear in my solution; “</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">45 23 24” is my combination at that point, but <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this needs to be reconsidered. Gershon has six
cases of “cursed” (’R<b>W</b>R) in his rendition of the text; my version, which
is patently imperfect, has five instances of “cursed” (’RR without W) and two
imperative verbs, “Be cursed” (HT’R), but I need to incorporate </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“45 46 48 ’RR”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>into my scheme.<br /></span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This presentation of the data is tedious to the
reader and taxing to my brain, but perhaps the solution will eventually emerge.
Remember, only the person who wrote this inscription (that is, composed it, and
possibly also engraved it) knew what its intended meaning is, and also the
points where each sequence begins and ends. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we have seen, Gershon tentatively
identified 48 letters, and divided them into three clusters, forming a chiasmus
literary structure: <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1) yellow (1-17), winding up the
lefthand side on his drawing to El YHW at the top; my first line starts at the
same point, but finds YHW and the cursing in the central part, where
Gershon’s white cluster sits. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>You are cursed by the god YHW,
cursed.</i>”<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(2) green (18-33), moving from top
left (TMT, “you will die”), across to the righthand side and then down to
another TMT, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>passing MT along the way,
taken to be an infinitive verb, strengthening the finite verb, hence MT TMT
(“you will surely die”). <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>You will die, cursed : cursed you
will surely die.</i>”<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(3) white (34-48), beginning at the
bottom and moving around the central part, incorporating the prominent YHW (Y42
H43 and a great leap sideways to grasp W44).<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>Cursed you are by YHW, cursed.</i>”<br /></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"> This certainly gives the gist of the text, but it is
not exact, since it manages to construct six instances of ’RWR, two in each of
the lines, when there are not enough instances of W to allow this, in my view. <br />
(1) 4 5 6 7 & 14 15 16 17 <br />(2) 21 22 23 24 & 25 26 27 28 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />(3) 34 35 36 37 & 45 46 47 48<br />
The consonant-sign W is presumed to be representing the vowel sound U in a word<i>
’ârûr</i> (“accursed”); but Gershon has produced the six cases of ’RWR by
sleight of hand; he finds a first R to go with the initial ’Alep, then he reads
an obvious R in the same sequence as W, and another R is commandeered from
elsewhere to complete the quartet. An instructive example is observable in the top
right area of Gershon’s drawing, with green numbering (*’RWR 25-28, in line 2):
the ’Alep is a large ox-head with a long diagonal crossbar; next to it are two
identical R-letters, but for consistency the second one is given the honorary
role of W (=U); the next letter in line (28) is necessarily R, but it in no way
resembles the previous R, which has a short stem with a “rhomboid” (or diamond-shaped)
head on top, but it has a long downward stroke with a hand (side view of thumb
and fingers) at the bottom, obviously a Yod, as the photograph shows (Table 8:
3A), contrary to the drawings of Gershon and Pieter. In this regard, it is
surprising that Gershon has not noticed this, since he has recognized a similar
form on the Qeiyafa Ostracon (line 2), and recreated two of them on the sherds
of the Jerusalem Ophel Pithos to fill the gap before N, and to produce a word
YYN (wine), though I would prefer the upright version found on the Ostracon
(line 4) to offer YN. Here on the defixio this Yod could be linked to the M and
T below it to make a finite verb, whereas Gershon has the MT as an infinitive
emphasizing the following TMT, hence “you will surely die, cursed”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, my suggested reading is:<br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">25 26 27<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>28 29 30<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>44 31 32 33<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>34 36 35<br />
’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">"The accursed one
(<i>’rr</i>) he puts to death (<i>ymt</i>), and (<i>w</i>) thou shalt die (<i>tmt</i>),
<br />
accursed one (<i>’rr</i>)".<br /></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">Incidentally, Gershon’s interpretation begins with ’TH ’RWR, “Thou
art cursed”; this phrase is attested in the Bible as ’RWR ’TH (Genesis
3:14. 4:11. Deuteronomy 28:16); and he begins his third sequence with ’RWR ’TH.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here now is
my renewed attempt to unravel the tangle, while wondering whether the apparent chaos
was intentional, making it difficult for anyone (except God) to decipher it,
and pronounce an antidote or countermeasure to neutralize the curse:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">1 2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3 39
38 37<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>41 40<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>42 43 16<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>4<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5 6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>L<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>W<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">Be thou (<i>’t</i>)
cursed (<i>ht’r</i>) by (<i>l</i>) YHW himself (<i>h</i>), <br />
accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">25 26 27<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>28 29 30<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>44 31 32 33<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>34 36 35<br />
’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">The
accursed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i>’rr</i>) he puts to death (<i>ymt</i>),
<br />and (<i>w</i>) thou shalt die (<i>tmt</i>), <br />
accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;"></span></p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt; margin: 12pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>12 20 21 22<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>13 19 18<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>14 15 7 45 23 24<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>H<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>W M<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>T<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>R<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;">Be <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cursed (<i>ht’r</i>) and (<i>w</i>) die (<i>mt</i>)
accursed (<i>’rr</i>) ,<br />
accursed one (<i>’rr</i>).</span></p></div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><img alt="" 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panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
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mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0cm;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}.MsoChpDefault
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</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Syllabification<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</i></b>All letters represent a
variety of forms and stances” (7b-8a), we are told, and this raises the
suspicion that we are in the presence of a syllabary, perhaps an early example
of the <a href=" http://www.asor.org/anetoday/2014/02/the-lost-link-the-alphabet-in-the-hands-of-the-early-israelites/">Neo-syllabary</a>.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it is also said, regarding
this variation: “The scribe who wrote the inscription used a stylus to form
tiny letters on a small malleable surface. As a result the font is sometimes
sloppy, with overlapping letters, and lacking in uniformity” (2a).<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Taw has three variant forms of a
cross, suggesting TU, TA, TI; thus YAMIT(I) (28 29 30) with diagonal M, as
causative of <i>mwt</i>, “he puts to death”, is suitably different from <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TAMUT(U) (31 32 33) with horizontal M, “you
shall die”, and this accounts for the three forms of Taw; but when we look at
YHW (42 43 16), fully expecting to confirm its original vowels (perhaps YAHIWI
for Yahwe) the Yod for the anticipated YA is not the same as the one in YAMITI;
the fingers of Y28 point leftwards, Y42 rightwards (with a shorter arm); possibly
we should read YIMITI, instead of the normal yâ<i> </i>of Hip`il imperfect (3
p. m.); but if not, we are confronted by <b>YI</b>H(I)WI, and this is
surprising; the unanswered question is whether *Yahweh is an archaic word
meaning “He is”, or “He causes to be”, that is “He creates”. A disturbing
detail is that the Yod of YHW on the outside has its fingers at the top of the
sign!<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ox-head (’Alep, still pictorial) and
the human head (Rosh) are fairly consistent in all the cases of ’ARUR(U); but
there is one oblique ’Alep (25), perhaps ’I, and a divergent R (<| 22),
possibly RI. </p>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Classification<br />
</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According
to my theory of the </span><b>Quadrinity</b><style><b>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</b></style><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, there are four standard West Semitic scripts in
the Bronze Age (with the<b> Cuneoconsonantary</b>, the cuneiform alphabetic and
partly syllabic system, as an outlier). <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The writing on this leaden document<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is certainly not (1) the <b>Protosyllabary</b>,
the progenetrix of all the subsequent scripts; it exhibits none of the unique syllabograms
of that system. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is probably not (2) the <b>Protoconsonantary</b>
(the long Protoalphabet), even though its characters have surprisingly archaic
forms; it is not classifiable as protoconsonantal, because it does not display
any of the letters that were discarded in the short Protoalphabet, the <b>Neoconsonantary</b>.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently, it might be either (3) the
<b>Neoconsonantary</b> or (4) the <b>Neosyllabary</b>, but, as we have seen, its </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>syllabic nature
seems probable but problematic. <br /></span><span data-slate-node="text"><span data-slate-leaf="true"><span data-slate-string="true"> Let
me add that some of the characters in the books of the Bible were
present when changes were made in the development of the Quadrinity (the
fourfold "early alphabet", E=2M+2C squared), and they were
well-educated scholars: Joseph and his two sons were in positions of
authority in Egypt (a great seat of learning) when the West Semitic
Protosyllabary was modified into the Proto-consonantary and started to
be used in Egypt; Moses was (undeniably!) on the scene when Israel's
proto-history and constitutional law were written down, presumably
employing the Protoalphabet (the Protoconsonantary or the
Neoconsonantary); but Moses may have decided to turn the consonantal
proto-alphabet back into a syllabary, the Neosyllabary (so that he could
show the vowels in the name YHW?!) and this is what Joshua used when
the covenant was renewed at Shekem, and Joshua wrote the words in a "spr
twrt 'lhym" (Joshua 24:25-26). This is speculation, but the four
scripts of the Quadrinity were real, and their existence must now be
acknowledged, as also those personages named in the Bible and attested
outside the Scriptures (Moshe is still in hiding, though, but his
foster-mother may have been Princess Hatshepsut, or her daughter!).</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mystification<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Against whom was this multiple curse
directed? It was discovered near the altar on Mount Ebal, and thus it might be
concerned with any attempt to damage or destroy that sacred object; in this
case the offence was sacrilege. A later example of desecration of an altar of
Yahweh was by Antiokhos IV with his “abomination of desolation” on the
burnt-offering altar in the temple<i> </i>of YHWH in Jerusalem, in the 2nd
century BCE (1 Maccabees 1:54, 4:36-48).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b><i>Reaction<br /></i></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> There are three types of reaction to an archaeological discovery that purports to be epigraphical:<br /> (1) MAXIMALISM (2) MINIMALISM (3) NIHILISM<br /> <b>Maximalism<i> </i></b>has two subtypes: (a) seeing more characters than are actually present in the assumed inscription; (b) observing accurately what is written. <br /> The three editors of the first published edition of the tablet have (ostensibly) taken a maximalist stance; drawings of each of the assumed characters have been made, accompanied by individual photographs, and a composite line-drawing of the tomographically retrieved "Inner B" text. These results seem quite plausible to my mind, and over many months of detailed analysis I have endeavoured to extract coherent meaning from them, as recorded above<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><b><i><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></b>Immediately after its publication, and even before, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Christopher
Rollston was cautiously pessimistic, but </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Brian Donnelly-Lewis
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>expressed hostility towards the piece of
lead and its markings, as not being an inscription at all (a sad case of defeatism).</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span>
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{page:WordSection</style><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://www.academia.edu/101971691/Final_Thoughts_on_the_Piece_of_Lead_from_Mt_Ebal_Supposed_to_be_an_Inscription"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">https://www.academia.edu/101971691/Final_Thoughts_on_the_Piece_of_Lead_from_Mt_Ebal_Supposed_to_be_an_Inscription</span></a></span><span class="a"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: x-small; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: x-small; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><i>As someone who works heavily in the field of Iron age inscriptions, and
especially with early inscriptions, I find the work to be exciting, full of
boundless possibility, giving forth new data and new insights with each
excavation year. Considering only the material from Lachish and its
surroundings in recent years, our knowledge is growing, and our focus deserves
to be elsewhere, solving the existing problems of epigraphy, improving
readings, and designing new interpretations based </i></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: x-small; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><i>on newer data. I’m sure every
other epigrapher (and scholar) would agree with me here.”</i></span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: x-small; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">
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{page:WordSection1;}</style><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /> </span>Speaking for myself, I have to say that this is an
unsteady judgement, after the mess he has made (<i>BASOR</i> 388, 2022, 181-210)
of the<a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2"> Qeiyafa
ostracon</a> and its "David and Goliath" inscription; he has not proved that he is capable of discerning letters in inscriptions, whether they are distinct or indistinct, and fails to recognize the different types of writing systems in "Early Alphabetic" documents; his "knowledge" has much "growing" to do.<br /></span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">More recently, in the midst of violent
warfare in the Levant, denialists published peer-reviewed articles in the <i>Israel
Exploration Journal</i>, and their opinions were reported in the local
newspapers.</span>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://www.jpost.com/author/judy-siegel-itzkovich" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH</span></a></b><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b> </b>NOVEMBER 29, 2023. <a href="https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-775715?fbclid=IwAR1FKbmwWfywA3kzsCr05qZmI5X8gaA13D7sdf1v81RMFD50nVb4wS8iCe0">The
Jerusalem Post</a></span><br />
Experts question claims that there is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>writing on the lead object from Mount Ebal, and their doubts about it
cover some 21 pages in the <i>Israel Exploration Journal</i>.</p>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Ariel David, New Studies Debunk Controversial
Biblical ‘Curse Tablet’ From Mt. Ebal<br />
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2023-11-30/ty-article/new-studies-debunk-controversial-biblical-curse-tablet-from-mt-ebal/0000018c-20b6-d21c-abae-76bee75f0000?fbclid=IwAR3KBlKnkSYtjO06mDYgnmck7C1fRcW3o5tHEVH9sxDIiXSYd8_CJaKK2Zs">Haaretz</a>
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Nov 30, 2023<b><br />
</b>The lead surface displays “random scratches, striations, pitting, and
indentions,” which are consistent with the nature of lead and the processes or
erosion and weathering the artifact may have undergone over the centuries, they
add. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus spake Ariel, the harshest and
fiercest doom-prophet of them all. My restrained retort brands these “new
studies” as merely “opinions”; and his word “debunk” implies sarcastic ridicule,
but my reaction will be sincere satire, what I call “lampooning”, which means
shining a bright light on their criticisms and highlighting their foibles and
failings.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speaking<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for myself (though my opinions are generally
judged to be ingenuously ingenious, or vice versa) <b>I think it would be the undeniable
writing on the outside that was being damaged from that corrosion and erosion,
and the interior text was comparatively free of that weathering, and therefore
it should be examined first,</b> if you don’t mind. Eventually, as with the Qumran Copper
Scroll, a way may be found to release the interior text to our direct gaze, or
we shall see that there is no writing at all, and it is just a blank page. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, according to the theory of
the three scholars who published the piece of lead, the <b>recto (Outer A) </b>has
indentations (that is, impressions, in a technical sense) made with some form
of metal stylus; the presumed and proven interior text <b>(Inner B) </b>lies
directly under the outer text, and was likewise created by indentation; the <b>verso</b>
does not have an inscription, but has bulges, which swell outwards, and they
are indications of the indented letters inside the folded manuscript (unless
they are simply the corresponding marks of the indentations on the other side, the
<b>recto</b>). These are the details that the in-denial critics should have
investigated in their “new studies”, with a view to falsification of the proposed
hypothesis. Maybe they did, or else someone will apply for a research grant to painstakingly
map and compare all the marks on both sides of the artefact, and then prise it
open, since the ultimate outcome of archaeology is destruction.<i><br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</i></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The academic critics
who express sceptical misgivings about the existence of any writing on the
object are (and I respect all three of them, and have had personal contact with
them through electronic media):<br />
<b>Amihai Mazar</b>, who has difficulty reading his own <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2020/10/ancient-rehob-and-its-apiary.html">Rehob
nscriptions</a>, and who identifies the object as a lead fishing weight, and
perhaps he is right, but his denial of writing on it may be wrong;<br />
<b>Aren Maeir</b>, who disagrees with my interpretation of the Qeiyafa
Ostracon, and whose initial attempt to read it himself was wide of the mark;<br />
<b>Christopher Rollston</b>, who is unable to put the three pieces of the <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html">L-YRBB`L
inscription</a> together, and does not recognize its neo-syllabic script, and
for whom every new inscription is a forgery or merely “putative” till he has
authenticated it; in this regard he has published a useful article on <a href="https://www.academia.edu/472284/Non_Provenanced_Epigraphs_I_Pillaged_Antiquities_Northwest_Semitic_Forgeries_and_Protocols_for_Laboratory_Tests?email_work_card=title&li=0">NW
Semitic forgeries</a>; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but he is
incapable of <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/classifying-inscriptions">classifying</a>
West Semitic inscriptions into their correct categories.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Here is a more positive suggestion from the
critics:</span>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">“Since any <b>putative writing</b> on the outside would
not need to be tomographically reconstructed, but instead, could be read with
the naked eye or the naked eye assisted by a stereo-microscope, we suggest it
would have been methodologically useful for the authors to have first ascertained
the morphology and ductus of the <b>putative letters</b> on the outside of this
inscription, and then to have used that knowledge of the script’s morphology
and ductus to assist in the more complex process of attempting to read any <b>putative
letters</b> on the inside of the lead.”<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fair enough! However, my mother used
to say to me, “Choose the most difficult task first”.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">2<sup>nd</sup> December
2023. In response to this renewed onslaught, Pieter van der Veen pondered solemnly (on
Facebook):</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">“The 40 letters are Galil's claim. At the moment I would suggest that we
have no more than 10 letters for the <b>inside</b> and even here most of them
are not completely certain. I find much fault with Galil's extreme
interpretation, and I always have. I unfortunately could not change much about
it, although I was one of his fiercest critics from the start leading to a
complete separation between us. I see a diagonal proto-alphabetic <b>mem</b> on
the inside (upper right, upper left on Galil's questionable drawing of the
inside inscription). This is perhaps the clearest letter, which I do not doubt
for a minute. But there is also a <b>taw</b> with terminal hooks just like at
Serabit el-Khadim. Unfortunately, it is not so clearly visible, except for on
some scans. There is also an inverted <b>yod</b> and if you compared it with
another upright yod on the inside and outside (!), then indeed we would be
dealing with the same form. Then we have a <b>stick-figure</b> on the inside as
well as on the outside, suggesting a possible proto-alphabetic <b>he</b>. This
already suggests one or two words containing a mem and a taw (depending on
which direction we are reading, this could perhaps read either tm or mt). In
addition, we may have a <b>yod</b> and a<b> he</b> near each, either reading yh
(from left to right) or hy (from right to left). We also have a diagonally
oriented tail-like figure with a nearly square or oval head (this icon
reappears on the in- and outside). Whether or not this icon is the letter <b>waw</b>,
remains uncertain, but it does resemble waw as written in proto-alphabetic
inscriptions. So, if read from left to right, we would have <b>yhw</b>. Which
remains a possibility, but it will need further study. As for the inside
inscription, everything else is much too speculative to go into here and even
(except for mem!) none of the characters are certain, except that mem,
"yod” and part of "he” (or whatever they might be) appear to be
visible on the verso as dents. But as there are many more dents on the outside,
this again is not certain. </span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /></span></span>
<span class="x193iq5w"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“As
for the <b>recto</b>, we have the letter <b>aleph</b> in the lower left corner
(this seems clear from the best available photographs), a <b>mem</b> (again a
diagonal watery sign, just like the one we have on the inside) and a <b>taw</b>
(although we have an extra dent, which makes the reading uncertain. We also
have a <b>stick-figure</b>, but here it seems to be tumbling backwards, so that
it may be something else than a <b>he</b> (this was also our initial
interpretation before the Czech people sent us the better images). But all this
needs more study. The upright <b>yod</b> is again relatively obvious. If we
abstain from a speculative interpretation, it is noteworthy that we do seem to
have similar characters as on the inside (mem, taw, he and possibly a waw),
which is striking, at least this is my personal opinion. Inside these
characters on the recto we appear to have incisions, which seem to be tooling
marks. Some of the characters have raised edges, just like on other lead
inscriptions, where the lead has been pushed to the side by a sharp implement
or styles. To ignore all this, would simply not be right and therefore all this
deserves further study".</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span class="x193iq5w"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reply to all their dubiety and negativity,
I propose the power of positive putation. Their word “putative” is not in my
private vocabulary, but as an erstwhile Latin scholar I can associate it in my
mind with <i>puto, </i>which means “I think”, I think (not <i>puteo</i>, “I
stink”), and I ponder why we do not say <i>puto ergo sum</i>, or the more
pungent <i>puteo ergo sum, </i>instead of always cogitating;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>so then, <b>putative writing</b> is “thought-to-be
writing”. Similarly, I presumed that Latin <i>putatio</i> would signify
“thinking”, but I thought wrong. The primary meaning of <i>puto </i>is “prune”,
and my neoverbum (or neologism) <i>putation</i> would denote only “pruning”.
So, I put on my severest “prune” face, and apply the secateurs for some drastic
<i>amputation</i>, in order to promote the growth of the defoliated leaden
tabletette as a genuine <i>defixio, and its curse be on anyone who seeks to
deflower it. </i>Being a very cautious person, I am not inclined to engage in
such a parlous parlay, which bespeaks doom. <br /></span></span>
<span class="x193iq5w"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, we suddenly find ourselves facing
up to a tiny leaden “sinker” (I have known that word since my boyhood fishing
failures and their sinking feelings); it is not a document at all. I might have
applied the term “sinker” to that suggestion, but it could well be a correct
answer, though my lead sinker was rounded, not flattened. The mocker will
retort that this was no place for piscatorial practices, on top of a barren
mountain, far from the Great Green Sea, and quite distant from that inland sea
in Galilee, where Shimon Kepha (alias Petros) and his merry band of “fishers of
men” would labour with their nets all night; and even if the sky sometimes
rained schools of fish (as in the epic of Gilgamesh, and in whirlwinds),
buckets and baskets were of rigour as rigging, not nets, hooks, lines, and
sinkers. Swinging the lead refers to making up excuses, and in the present
circumstances there is no excuse for denying the possibility that the priestly
scribe saw in a fishing implement the ideal vehicle for conveying an
imprecation. The crease mark on it might be where a cord was tightened around
it, and this permitted it to be strung on one of the stones of the altar, I
ween. My mistake! Now they can hypothesize that all the indentation marks on
the soft metal of the sinker were made in collisions with the altar’s sharp
(“unhewn”) rocks, as it swayed in the breeze; but that makes it into a mechanical
distractor to shoo flies away from the animal sacrifices (after the Deluge the
Mesopotamian gods swarmed like flies over the sacrifices, we are told).<br /></span></span>
<span class="x193iq5w"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next, after all the nihilistic haggling
over presumptions and putative thinking, Pieter has apparently started to lower
his bargaining price, so to speak; but even if the outside text (the Recto, Outer
A) only has a dozen signs (a defeatist position), this does not mean that the
concealed Inner B curse can not have three dozen miniature characters, though
in cases of sealed clay envelopes, the message on the outside was the same as
the one on the inside. For that reason, I would argue that in this case, the
Outer A inscription has the same message as the Inner B, comprising three
imprecatory sentences with a logical sequence. <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the outer recto I see in the
centre (viewing the tablet with Pieter’s large Alep in the bottom left corner)
the same LYHW as in the interior text. The other signs in the interior are
attested by the revealing rays, and the seven tables of recognizable images of
letters, which were approved by Scott, Pieter, and Gershon at the point of
publication, have been examined by myself over a long period, and I have
identified them with the numbering provided on Gershon’s Table 1 and on his
annotated drawing, and written the numbers at the appropriate positions on the
tables of ’a H W Y L R M T, by which words from the roots ‘RR (curse) and MWT
(die), and the name YHW, are represented in writing.<br /></span></span>
<span class="x193iq5w"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The skeptical reaction to this published
work is an unmerited insult to the professional integrity of the technical team
who made these extraordinary discoveries, and an insolent snub to the marvelous
skill of the ancient scribe who engraved the leaden tablet.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is the object too small (2 cm x 2 cm)
to be a tablet? The little <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2022/11/lakish-lice-comb.html">lice comb</a>
is 2.5 x 3.5 cm, and its scribe found room for <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>two dozen neosyllabic letters, with space remaining
for more.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span>
<span class="x193iq5w"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The marks made on the leaden tablet by the putative inscriber, were intentional, but necessarily miniscule and
imperfect; he was probably myopic and could read fine print. Although its curse
was directed against a sinner, it was not written for that “accursed one” to
read; its main purpose was to establish that YHW God would bring the imprecation
into operation against the offender. </span></span>
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<span class="x193iq5w"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b><i>Prospect</i></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br /> Where do we
go from here? I have just counted (roughly) the number of marks on the exterior
of the tablet, and there are dozens of them, including two large instances of
the Halleluyah figure, one above the other (top half, centre), as detected tomographically in
the interior; and according to the sketches of Gershon and Pieter, there should
be two smaller examples (lower half); and my old brain (which started analysing the world in 1936) can construct a concomitant pair of
them on its mental slate. Gershon Galil claims to have perceived all the signs
on the outside as well as on the inside, and they are almost entirely the same. Yet Pieter
wants to backtrack their train, which has already delivered a full load of
valuable goods, pushing the bulk of them back into the wagon to be carted away to
the nearest dump. <b>He is accepting the distinct letters, and jettisoning the indistinct ones.</b><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, the advice given by
Christopher Rollston should be heeded: a committee should be given
access to the artefact, to examine its exterior microscopically. Today (12/12/2023)
I bought yet another book that describes the amazing intelligence of octopuses,
who solve puzzles by feeling things with their tentacles; this team should
include a blind human (as in “sightless in Gaza”, to make a topical allusion),
someone who is not afraid of lead poisoning, and who will touch and feel the
marks, and actually read them.<span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"> Volunteers?<br /> Be
warned, ye who are messing about with your archaeological digging
around the Ebal altar, though there are indications that it was desacralized in
antiquity, covered over. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Remember
not to put your hand on the Ark of the Covenant or on the Altar of
Consecration, but handling the curse tablet is surely permissible and
necessary for our serious research. </span></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>he case
is already provisionally proven: this tablet is a defixio (a “cursary”) for cursing
an offender and for enacting a death penalty administered by Yahweh, for a sin of desecration. <br /></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">However, c</span>onsider now the thoughts of Mori Michael Bar-Ron on the purpose of the <span></span>controversial curse inscription from Mount Ebal </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">See his "Ebal Curse Tablet" at:</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><span><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x1ejq31n xd10rxx x1sy0etr x17r0tee x972fbf xcfux6l x1qhh985 xm0m39n x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1fey0fg" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Findependent.academia.edu%2FMichaelBarRon6%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0AYdnskjGAcYEBt7Bp6ABUYt73mY-e4LRj_LMBU2p3dbC0W13bwC5VbeY&h=AT0NygM2roG2bg1jnjQ5cvBZfuwouV7ezYub764J_nUai76z08n41DyFQ35_AYbB88xwRCXvGbXkDgZorWhDnYXmdLiXDUDgzM4vDuqyTHolAaS7ogPuv4MqCDiTXAhEaLB5nRs&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT0Bvdno5LYlO41wIfnENL8uxCDTkzyKfHvWkln0TXvATN_O-f5ALmu5b5hzR8MrmtHv3W-wKulBxMr96at5LyZgdTzcIac5EznbJCgnCTYYlLrPuxDWHP3yLf9YU6tz9IEW0ACNhsTkWSqxza3fQ91fJmIXEVP7ags4TO14OI-8Igw56gFyxSS-" rel="nofollow noreferrer" role="link" tabindex="0" target="_blank">https://independent.academia.edu/MichaelBarRon6<br /><br /></a></span></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> I have suggested that the document is indeed a "defixio", imposing a curse (or six) on an offender, and in this case anyone who has desecrated the altar that has been discovered on Mount Ebal, the mountain of cursing. <br /></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> Michael connects it with "the sotah [Sin Tet He, "going astray"] ceremony", "the 'ordeal of the bitter water' by which a woman suspected of adultery is to be tried, per the Book of Numbers, Chapter Five." The priest would dip this "tablet" in a cup of water (like a tea bag) and this drink would cause lead poisoning and induce an abortion. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> I will not try to refute his very good argument, but simply say:</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> The instructions to the priest include the addition of "dust from the floor of the Tabernacle". Was the Mishkan, the movable temple, ever on Mount Ebal?</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> Michael accepts that the leaden tablet includes TMT, which could be "she shall die", or "thou shalt die" (which I prefer, as the text seems to start with 'T, "thou"). There is no mention of death in the Torah instructions, only public shaming, though if the adultery commandment was involved, then "stoning to death" would follow the ordeal, if the woman was found to be guilty.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> No one but myself has considered the possibility that the script on the tablet is syllabic, specifically the Neosyllabary (in my terminology) which prevailed in Israel in the time of the Judges. This would allow us to decide what the vowels of the TMT sequence are (I suggest ta-mu-tu, but there are too many variables, such as unclear letters, and not enough words in the text).</div></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I should have warned prospective readers of this lengthy
essay that it is not an easy ride or read; and it is not written with a broken
reed, but with an adamant pen and caustic ink; the metaphors could be tedious,
too. <br />
Criticisms against the work of persons named herein come with regret
and respect. They are my "learnèd friends" in this court of
judgement, and my esteemed colleagues in this school of
"palaiogrammatology", as I have dubbed it; we are fellow-labourers in
this garden of delights, as we dig up treasured messages from people of the
past. However, I feel like Cassandra weeping over the folly of the citizens of
Ilias, as they erringly venerate their treacherous Trojan horse; in our setting
there is a parlous paradigm that could cause our downfall. Instead of weeping
and wailing like Cassandra, and sinking into deep depression, I have chosen to
play the part of Hamlet's "poor Yorick ... a fellow of infinite
jest", before my skull (created in 1936) becomes bereft of brains. as his
was after exhumation. Kindly picture my rollicking caricatures as satirical
cartoons without drawings.<br />
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;">In truth, there is many a true word spoken in earnest. The bruised
and broken inscriptions that have come to light are portents from the prophets
and preachers of antiquity, to warn this perverse generation of ours that the
retribution for our pollution of planet Earth is now upon us, in the form of
fire and flood. Recently I saw a rainbow in the sky of Aotearoa New Zealand,
said to be a reminder of a divine covenant (Genesis 9:11-17) promising no more
deluges to destroy life on the land; but the earthlings who have followed
Prometheus and worshiped the unclean spirit, the Lord of Fossil Fuels, whose
names are legion (King Coal, Prince Petroleum, Ignition, Incendiary, Combustion,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conflagration) have nullified that
compact. There is a passage in Christian Scripture, where the Flood is
recalled, and destruction by fervent heat and fire is foreshadowed; I have
never heard it read aloud in church, but it is written (2 Peter 3:1-13). <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The origin of the alphabet
must not be our chief concern, when the world is being consumed by wildfires, and
engulfed in floods, largely caused by human pollution of air, land and sea, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">and constantly fueled by widespread warfare. Civil civilization on a peaceful planet must prevail.</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOWTSbyK7LAM5FCf4CX8GSbnOm0AVwBCGZmhFFa5jxwOrCsQPUMceXYvoRkbSUgGzmjkwLxoOOAX5FRUv3KyhtJxWD526lc3b8EcNktL9FyS0tQUbX190Y8kZaeHqTZLlkOcJnCY-taN-OAI_dcYeJKd67f12sr14SIWyLZ4N4VdcPSAUb4Itag/s419/2-f4d4c226da-1.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></a></div></div><p></p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-85877165019617961442022-11-16T01:08:00.361-08:002023-09-01T20:35:30.574-07:00LAKISH LICE COMB<p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s374/Lice%20comb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="374" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s320/Lice%20comb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="dcr-l6t30p">Photograph: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="dcr-l6t30p"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="dcr-l6t30p">We say "Welcome" to this early alphabetic inscription from Lakish (alias Tel Lachish and Tell ed-Duweir), and we are told there is another one waiting patiently to be released, though our wait for it will be measured in degrees of impatience.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="dcr-l6t30p"> <br />My studies on the other early West Semitic inscriptions are outlined here: <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/04/another-lakish-inscription.html">Lakish inscriptions galore</a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="dcr-l6t30p"><br />These are links to articles about the head-lice comb:<br /></span></div><p><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ivory-lice-comb-a-dating-head-scratcher-may-hold-earliest-canaanite-sentence/">https://www.timesofisrael.com/ivory-lice-comb-a-dating-head-scratcher-may-hold-earliest-canaanite-sentence/</a><a href="goog_1763081880"><br /></a><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/science/ivory-comb-beard-lice.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/science/ivory-comb-beard-lice.html<br /></a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/nov/09/oldest-known-written-sentence-discovered-on-a-head-lice-comb">https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/nov/09/oldest-known-written-sentence-discovered-on-a-head-lice-comb</a><br /></p><p><a href="https://jjar.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/jjar/files/jjar2_art4_lachish_p76-119_2022-10-12_01.pdf"> https://jjar.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/jjar/files/jjar2_art4_lachish_p76-119_2022-10-12_01.pdf</a></p><p>The last reference (jjar2) is the important one, as it provides the evidence and opinions of the archaeologists themselves. A variety of photographs and drawings are available at those sites (the <i>NYTimes</i> has a unique photograph), with extensive commentary, not always reliable. According to the <i>Times of Israel</i>, Daniel Vainstub (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) is responsible for the published reading of this remarkable inscription (in the<i> Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology</i> 2, 2022, 76-119), and this is my response to it; in my considered opinion (based on my experience of writing systems over 80 years of my life) his interpretation of the text is basically correct, but with quite a few errors (mostly relating to identification of letters and their sounds). <br /> Vainstub told <i>The Times of Israel </i>that he immediately identified several
clear "proto-Canaanite" letters when he examined the comb. He said he
made relatively quick work of the inscription following the results of
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) in the Jerusalem labs of the
Israel Antiquities Authority, as the RTI photographs brought out the
unseen grooves of the scribe’s etching.<br /> More difficult was finding parallel examples from contemporary inscriptions. A dozen or so inscriptions have been discovered at Lakish, including one incised into a Middle Bronze-era dagger found in a tomb. He feels the most comparable are the proto-Canaanite
inscriptions from Serabiṭ el-Khadem in southern Sinai. </p><p> My own table of signs for the early alphabet is available here, and you will need to make a copy of it to see my point of view (though it does not give all the details of my "quadrinity" theory):<br /><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QATcj_MTlGa5cZzO8sQnzR5lBw8lPTWT/view">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QATcj_MTlGa5cZzO8sQnzR5lBw8lPTWT/view<br /></a><br /> The title of the official JJAR article is: "<b>A Canaanite's wish to eradicate lice on an inscribed ivory comb from Lachish</b>". The writers could have saved themselves from embarrassing ambiguity and inaccuracy by reducing it to the last six words. Apparently the anonymous person's wish was granted: after a diligent scientific search, no lice were found on the comb; well, hardly any; lice remains were detected on one tooth, and this offers a clue to the meaning of the inscription. However, here is their clear statement: "The inscription expresses the wish that the comb on which it is engraved will eradicate the lice from the hair and beard of the owner of the comb" (109). Their actual translation is: "<b>May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard</b>". Quite so, but rather than a wish, this could be a strong affirmation from the maker of this device: it will remove the pests from the user's scalp and chin, that is, advertising, something like this: "<b>It expels every louse from hair and beard</b>". That is my understanding of the inscription, at this point in my "work in progress" (20/11/22), but it could change if I notice any more letters in the text (and the voice of hindsight intervenes to tell me that there will be some drastic alterations). By the way, the mention of "beard" allows us to assume that the possessor was not a woman, but not necessarily so.<br /> My working hypothesis will be (25/11/22): The caption does not express a <b>wish</b> made by the user of the comb for relief from parasites; it is not an <b>aspiration</b> but an<b> affirmation </b>made by the comb itself that it is <i>kosher, </i>fit for purpose, having the proficiency to exterminate every louse in the user's hair and beard.<br /> Here we have yet another West Semitic inscription to add to our growing collection, and once again we express our thanks to Yosef Garfinkel for discovering it at Lakish (or Lachish, as he would write it); it is a pity that he always needs to include superlatives in his press releases (first, earliest, oldest), and they are always falsifiable. For the other documents from Lakish, go here:<br /> <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/04/another-lakish-inscription.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/04/another-lakish-inscription.html</a><br /> Be not deceived: this is a tiny artefact, 3.5 cm x 2.5
cm, with "fine teeth" on one side, for catching lice and their nits (eggs and larvae), and six big teeth on the opposite side, for knots and tangles (Fig. 15, 91). Also, the writing is minuscule (its characters are 1 to 3 mm in width), so much so that it was overlooked for several years; we are studying magnified pictures, and we
have to marvel at the skill of the engraver; but we can imagine the
stylus slipping and leaving unintended marks in amongst the intended
characters of the text; and some significant strokes might be faint, and overlooked by scholars.<br /> As regards the age of the inscription, a
very tentative date around 1700 BCE has been proposed, in the Bronze Age, when the alphabet
(or the proto-alphabet, in my terminology) was young; but the comb was found
in a position belonging to the Iron Age. This could mean that the inscriber was well acquainted with the West Semitic scripts, and chose archaic forms for the letters; in this case he would have been a citizen of Israel, and this comb would belong in the field of Biblical Archaeology; but the object may have already been old when it came to rest in its find-spot, judging by its state of disrepair (though some damage was inflicted in the excavation process).<br /><br /> READING THE WRITING<br /> The editors have decided that the writing starts from the bottom right corner and runs leftwards above the fine teeth of the comb; they think that the text continues from the upper right, but the engraver turned the object around 180 degrees, so that the writing on this line is inverted in relation to the first line. This seems plausible, but it will need to be tested. Possibly the right side was the top, and we are then looking at vertical columns extending downwards; or else the fine teeth are at the top, and the text starts from the top left corner, running from left to right. In this last scenario, the third letter would become <b>/\/\</b> (M) not <b>\/\/</b> (Sh), and this possibility will need to be considered.<br /> The decision to read the bottom line first seems right.<span><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br /> However, I can <i>not</i> find an inscription that has its
lines going upwards; but I would explain it this way: the maker or
the merchant wanted to have the comb speak to the buyer; one line would
be sufficient for the comb to guarantee it would remove lice; then he thought of adding
clarification, "from your hair and from your beard" <span><span style="font-size: medium;">(recognized faultily by Vainstub)</span></span>; and there was nowhere to go except upwards.<br /></span></span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s374/Lice%20comb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="374" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s320/Lice%20comb.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /> This is their proposed reading of the "17 tiny letters" that they see, amounting to "seven words" (90):<br /> YTSh H.T. <u>D</u> LQML S`[R W]ZQT<br /> "May this tusk (H.T. <u>D</u>) root out (YTSh) the lice (L-QML) of the hair (S`R) and (W) the beard (ZQT)." <br /> For my initial response, I am grateful to them for doing the ground work, and finding the words for louse (QML), hair (S`R), and beard (ZQT, actually ZQN, in my view), but this (<u>D</u>/Dh) and tusk (H.T.) are not valid; and YTSh (root out) might be YTM (destroy), or something else. (Indeed, my reading will change all seven of their words, but still say the same thing, only different.)<br /> At the outset, I am compelled to express some harsh criticism: yet again an early West Semitic inscription has been entrusted to scholars who can read Israelian and Phoenician texts from the Iron Age, but have no competence for interpreting proto-alphabetic Canaanian documents from the Bronze Age, since they use the discredited (sic) Albright paradigm when assigning sound-values to the letters they encounter. Its obsolence began in 1988 when I offered a new paradigm, which was refined in 1990 and in 2014. My essay on The Origin of the Alphabet (2014) is actually listed in the vast bibliography of this article, but no attention has been paid to its contents in their debilitated attempt at deciphering this "lousy" inscription. For my part, I will be applying the principles outlined in 2014, and here:<br /><b><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html</a></b>.<br /> Let me say in passing, Daniel Vainstub has my gratitude for replacing the term "Canaanite" (woefully mispronounced by the phonetically crippled Englanders) with "Canaanean", so that "Kana`an" is heard, not the abomination of desolation "Kaynen". That was in another publication of his; unfortunately the Kaynenites are back in full force here. <br /> So then, let's do it my way, as opposed to their way ("they" will refer to the whole team of editors of the comb, and the two approving evaluators, but with particular focus on Daniel Vainstub's contribution). I intend to go through their hairy case with my own fine-tooth-comb, and I remember that when my mother manipulated that instrument of torture on my head, with vinegar and vigour, it hurt; and the results it produced were not a pretty sight. <br /> The first principle of epigraphy is acknowledgement that the only person who really knew the intended meaning of an inscription is the person who composed it, and this will usually be the person who inscribed it. I will now argue that the editors of this text have not fully understood all the ramifications of the text they are attempting to elucidate.<br /> The first atrocity they have committed is the chronic failure to ask the essential question: <b>Is this text syllabic or consonantal?</b> This fault has caused the downfall of many published interpretations of West Semitic inscriptions, reducing them to nonsense, though the perpetrators (and their hapless readers) are blithely unaware of their mistakes. <br /> In my grand unifying theory there are four closely related types of early West Semitic script, but not many scholars recognize this elementary fact; and the constituents of this "quadrinity" constitute an evolutionary system: <br />Protosyllabary > Protoconsonantary > Neoconsonantary > Neosyllabary. <br />These were all in operation till "the Phoenician alphabet" became the standard form of consonantal script in the Levant. These unassailable truths are presented here:<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html<br /></a><a href="https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2014/02/the-lost-link-the-alphabet-in-the-hands-of-the-early-israelites/">https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2014/02/the-lost-link-the-alphabet-in-the-hands-of-the-early-israelites/<br /></a> Apparently Lakish was uninhabited at the time when the Neosyllabary was flourishing (the period of the Judges in Israel) so this may not be a <b>neosyllabic</b> inscription, and also the editors feel that it dates from the Bronze Age (but this opinion needs to be tested). To my mind (with tables of signs at my disposal for both syllabaries), there are no conspicuous indications that this is <b>protosyllabic </b>or <b>neosyllabic</b>, and so it is more likely to be proto-alphabetic, that is, either <b>protoconsonantal</b> (with about 27 consonants) or <b>neoconsonantal</b> (with less than two dozen consonants represented).<br /> For the editors of this inscription it is simply "written in the Canaanite script" (90). However, they show some inkling of distinguishing a long alphabet (protoconsonantary) and a short alphabet (neoconsonantary), when they state that the engraver has made "a clear distinction between <u><i>d</i></u> and <i>z</i>" (107). This is certainly a key indicator of the protoconsonantary (as in <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2008/11/sinai-proto-alphabetic-inscription-375a.html">Sinai 375a</a>, for example, and <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2006/07/alphabet-when-young-above-is.html">Thebes 4</a>) but I think (actually I know) the sign for <u><i>d</i></u> (=) is lacking here. <br /> One other thing must not be overlooked: I have access to a much wider range of examples of inscriptions than they have, including three lists of the consonantograms of the proto-alphabet: two from <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">Thebes</a> and one from <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/10/phoenicians-in-puerto-rico.html">Puerto Rico</a> (sic!). Anyone who professes to be an exponent of ancient West Semitic epigraphy must start here, and examine this shamefully neglected evidence, which is the secret of my success. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyblUIO6L1zvHaixGFKYiVXLKIwA1uEb0TfiC_ffhAOxYSayZbFyMTSlilIDTmiy5i40hyhqJ09GZ_9fHRfJ2QKqX-klNDVCdrVAzgTqBgjkskMm2sMaIglleswPDF6R15-kT9A/s1600-h/Thebes+1+p.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123563293531209762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyblUIO6L1zvHaixGFKYiVXLKIwA1uEb0TfiC_ffhAOxYSayZbFyMTSlilIDTmiy5i40hyhqJ09GZ_9fHRfJ2QKqX-klNDVCdrVAzgTqBgjkskMm2sMaIglleswPDF6R15-kT9A/s400/Thebes+1+p.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwulwn115Bz5zV0GxOUpnJ6PtK54SPOo5v5c0cAUF5LKDnEjLpvkvSqbiSdb7CMNx8Q6UcpJBSh4t5NKd-q9BGmNsGQdxUHSBka9igwQudXSuUx7hkzYwzm-4G92UJpky-y3nzg/s493/Thebes+abt+Petrie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwulwn115Bz5zV0GxOUpnJ6PtK54SPOo5v5c0cAUF5LKDnEjLpvkvSqbiSdb7CMNx8Q6UcpJBSh4t5NKd-q9BGmNsGQdxUHSBka9igwQudXSuUx7hkzYwzm-4G92UJpky-y3nzg/s320/Thebes+abt+Petrie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Thebes inscriptions</div><p>Here are five of the six Thebes documents published by W. M. Flinders Petrie many years ago (1912!), but ignored by
scholars (perhaps because this evidence provides all the answers and spoils the fun
of blindly searching for solutions). <br /> The tablet at the top shows all the letters of the West Semitic
Protoconsonantary, as do the combined two below it. <br /> The tablet on the right (see the clearer photograph below) shows the
distinction between <b>Sh</b> and <b>Th</b>: on the far right is the
sun-sign <b>Sh </b>(<i>shimsh</i>) with uraeus serpent or serpents, but with the sun-disc
omitted; the tablet below it has the glyph (5th from the left) with both
features, in a protosyllabic inscription.<br /> Returning to the alphabet tablet, the breast-sign <b>Th </b>(<i>thad</i>) is
lower central. In the upper central position is a <b>K</b>, for possible
comparison with the K in the latter part of the bottom line of the comb
inscription. <br /> Further to the left, notice the <b>N </b>(snake |/|), and below it the <b>Q </b>(--o<). <b>T</b> is beside <b>Sh</b>, <b>T.</b>et (o-+ <i>t.abu</i>) is next to <b>T</b>; <b>W </b>is in the top left corner. Find the fish (<b>S</b>)
on the other tablet, and above it the other Samek, spinal column
(>-|-|), and below the fish Samek is, apparently, a stylized head (<b>R</b>) for comparison with the presumed <b>R </b>in a similar stance, in the bottom line of the comb inscription. In the top right corner is the tied bag (>o) representing <b>S.</b>adey, not Qop nor a monkey; and beside it a double-triangle, possibly <b>Z</b>, though probably <b>B</b>, and <b>Z</b> (|><|) is below <b>K</b> on the other tablet. <b>H </b>seems to be situated beside three dots on the central left edge of the small tablet, inverted like the <b>H</b> on the comb.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmgbZT08xUPlOSZL-PTXtd5qAXNe1h-fljlqt38fUTnDkpVBulih2xcacJss0PdhxwhTXYLiyg01-CAH-RU4MFv261ubxa4vft72CD2uZGYlbNwFMepBmQraBzhiS-u4EhrIFuQ/s1600-h/Thebes+2+%26+3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126916626153268850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmgbZT08xUPlOSZL-PTXtd5qAXNe1h-fljlqt38fUTnDkpVBulih2xcacJss0PdhxwhTXYLiyg01-CAH-RU4MFv261ubxa4vft72CD2uZGYlbNwFMepBmQraBzhiS-u4EhrIFuQ/s400/Thebes+2+%26+3.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> </p><p>A huge amount of discipline is required to take all this in and retain the details. Remember, it is examined at length and in depth here, as work in progress:<br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html<br /><b><br /></b></a><b> INSCRIPTION</b><br /> At this point we examine the letters on the comb, beginning at the presumed beginning in the lower right hand corner, with the Vainstub numbering; but I can already see that there are more than seventeen letters (at least two dozen).<br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s374/Lice%20comb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="374" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s320/Lice%20comb.jpg" width="320" /><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> Bottom Line </b><br /> (<b>1</b>) [<b>Y] </b>a Yod, hand (side view), with forearm and usually also with elbow, which is vaguely possible here; an additional mark is thought to be a thumb; but to my eyes the character looks like an ox-head with horns, and therefore<b> 'Alep</b>; but its acute angle does not match the rounded heads of the early exemplars from Sinai (Hamilton, 31 and 254, for depictions); the presumed horns seem to have the same abnormal shape as those on the Lakish milk-bowl sherd; did that region have a special breed of cattle?<br /></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> (<b>2</b>) [<b>T] </b> X-shaped Taw, apparently, but it has extra marks, and <b>K</b> is also possible. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">At the moment I am not able to supply an exact match for this form of <b>K</b>, but the X-sign stands for <b>KU</b> in the Protosyllabary, and the syllabogram <b>KI</b> (a palm-branch, <i>kipp</i>) is the same as the K (with an oblique stem) in the Phoenician alphabet, and also <b>KI </b>in
the Neosyllabary; I have to say that this X-type K is an idiosyncratic
form employed by this scribe (perhaps borrowed, as were most of the
letters of the Protoalphabet, from the Protosyllabary, which was known
in his city), and apparently there are four instances of <b>K</b>: 2, 17, 14 (indistinct), and 6, which has a different form.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s374/Lice%20comb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="374" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s320/Lice%20comb.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s374/Lice%20comb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></a><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> (<b>3</b>) <b>[Sh] </b>\/\/ or a less likely /\/\ Mem (if all three lines are inverted!). Note that according to my (tried and true) paradigm the \/\/ character was SHA in the Protosyllabary, acrophonically derived from <i>shad</i> "breast", but in the Protoconsonantary, which recognizes more consonants, it is <b>Th</b> from <i>thad </i>"breast", and it becomes Shin in the short alphabet, the Neoconsonantary, and SHI in the Neo-syllabary; the sun symbol <b>\o/ </b>with two serpents (Sinai, Thebes), or one serpent <b>o_o</b> (Wadi el-Hol), or simply<b> </b>the sun-disc<b> o</b> (Byblos. Gebel Tingar) represents protosyllabic SHI from <i>shimsh </i>"sun", and protoconsonantal <b>Sh</b>; the sun-sign was replaced by the breast-sign in the Neoconsonantry, to cover Shin and Sin and Thad. Now, if this inscription is using the long alphabet (as the editors intimate, with regard to <u>D</u> and Z co-existing in it) then it must be classified as protoconsonantal, and \/\/ will be Th not Sh. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">The editors do not comprehend these fundamental distinctions</span><span style="font-size: medium;">, because of their adherence to the Albright paradigm (1966) as disseminated by Gordon Hamilton's handbook (2006)</span><span style="font-size: medium;">, with the sun-sign Sh misunderstood as a bow and as denoting Th from <i>*thann</i>, and necessarily and erroneously endorsed as the predecessor of Shin and Sigma, because the breast-sign has been overlooked (Hamilton, 231-244); and their chosen Sh has only one attestation [!] as a thorn, <i>*shawt</i> (Hamilton, 123-126). Arabia has the sun as Th and the breast as Sh, and this is a reversal of their roles; this nevertheless verifies my choices (assisted by the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/cuneiformalphabet">cuneiform</a> consonantary of Ugarit, and the </span><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">Thebes</a><span style="font-size: medium;"> tablets published by Flinders Petrie), but it gives no support to the Albright scheme.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Incidentally, Vainstub believes that the \/\/ was always Sh: "</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 536px; top: 3445px; word-spacing: 4px;">We assume that from the beginning, the “w”-shaped </span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 472px; top: 3530px; word-spacing: 3px;">Canaanite letter represented the sound</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 1633px; top: 3532px;"> š"; he accepts it was a bow, but he thinks that the shawt of Albright was really a balance, <u>t</u>ql (shekel), and it survived as a symbol but not as a letter. My view is that the unique sign in Sinai 357 is a Dalet (in the word <i>kd </i>"water vessel"), depicting a tent-door (the flap familiar to the tent-dwelling workers in the turquoise mines; note the word MShKNT "dwellings, tents" in Sinai 365, from a camp-site), and possibly the origin of triangular D, culminating in the letter Delta. <br /></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 540px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 1449px; word-spacing: -4px;">THE CANAANEAN LETTERS</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 1563px; top: 1435px;"> Š </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 1601px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 1449px; word-spacing: -1px;">AND</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 1807px; top: 1449px;"> Ṯ </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
<span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 1849px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 1449px;">AND </span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 602px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 1541px; word-spacing: -4px;">THE ORIGIN OF THE SHEKEL SYMBOL (in Hebrew), available on his Academia page (<a href="https://bgu.academia.edu/DanielVainstub">https://bgu.academia.edu/DanielVainstub</a>)<br /></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> (<b>3a</b> ) <b>[R] </b>an angle below the \/\/, but it seems to be a rough square with a horizontal stem, perhaps representing a head, <b>R. </b>Fortuitously, a dozen counterparts to this form of Resh have turned up in the Mount Ebal leaden curse-tablet, which is an equally minute (mainyuut) object (2x2 cm).<br /> (<b>4</b>) [<b>H]</b> rather than their H.et; they make an unsteady case for finding a counterpart for this letter in the various forms of H. in the Arabian scripts, which are reminiscent of a bow and arrow, and so they conjecture an acrophonic connection with <i>h.z./h.s. </i>"arrow"; Arabia is usually helpful in this respect, as we have just seen (with Sh and Th), and it will certainly aid us in recognizing Qop further along the line; but this sign actually has a counterpart in the Sinai turquoise mines. The editors are heavily reliant on Gordon Hamilton's <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">manual</a> of alphabet origins, which has a dozen or more errors of identification; Hamilton has depicted an equivalent letter on <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/death-of-asa-asa-semitic-smith-was.html">Sinai 358</a>, but he and Vainstub do not realize that it is an inverted form of the rejoicing person </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(matching hieroglyph A29)</span><span style="font-size: medium;">, </span><span style="font-size: medium;">perhaps somersaulting (or simply standing on their hands) rather than dancing, and </span><span style="font-size: medium;">acrophonically denoting H (from <i>hll</i> "exult"). Notice the tick (/|) at the leg end of the figure in each case; it is absent from their drawings of the letter (Fig. 15, 18, Table 4). This is H, and it would be worthwhile to consider the rest of this Sinai 358, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> as it shares a number of letters with the comb text; it is </span><span style="font-size: medium;">an obituary for a literate metal-worker, not one of <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html">Orly Goldwasser's</a> illiterate miners, who are incredibly credited with inventing the alphabet at the turquoise mines.</span></p><div class="goog-inline-block" style="margin-top: 204px;"><img class="CSS_LIGHTBOX_SCALED_IMAGE_IMG" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkn6asDFDFSiFUTibqOocjiLF5tiEtPejxryk8h3wcP1rbS436PoSw1B5FJj9bvnivyFVE674jrX29RTVAluxefZXWMOdPiESiK8MFshddZML2oFnRZErlzzjEZUH0zWb0Iy3iA/w330-h284/S358=35+draw.jpg" style="height: 306px; width: 356px;" width="330" /></div><p><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> "Asa (<b><i>'s</i></b>: ox <i>'alp</i>, fish <i>samk</i>) has done (<b><i>p`l</i></b>: mouth <i>pu</i>, eye <i>`ayn</i>, crook <i>l</i>) his work (<b><i>mlkth</i></b>: water <i>maym</i>, crook <i>l</i>, hand <i>k</i>, taw <i>t, H</i>)"<br /> If we also consider <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/asa-sinai-smith-photograph-and-my.html">Sinai 376</a>, in which Asa the smith records the sickness that will cause his death, we can find examples of W, Q, S., and R to compare with possible counterparts on the comb.</span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s374/Lice%20comb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="374" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s320/Lice%20comb.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">( ? )<b> [M] </b>to the right of the top of the <b>H</b> there is an oblique stroke which seems to be joined to a sequence of waves; on the other side of the <b>H </b>there are two vertical wavy lines, the second possibly ending with <b>+</b> Taw<b>. </b>None of this is recorded in the drawing.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> (<b>5</b>) <b>[W] </b> a large circle on an oblique stem, difficult to discern, possibly an illusion; letters that fit this prescription (</span><span style="font-size: medium;">none of them recognized in the Albright paradigm</span><span style="font-size: medium;">) are:<br /> <b>Z.</b> (<i>z.l/s.l, </i>shade, </span><span style="font-size: medium;">parasol, </span><span style="font-size: medium;">known from lists but not yet seen in a text); <b><br /> Q</b> (--o- and --o<) see letter 8; <br /><b> T. </b>(T.et, o-+, originally the Egyptian <i>nfr </i>hieroglyph, Semitic <i>t.ab</i>, good, attested in <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.htm">Sinai 351</a> and in lists, and as T.A in the Protosyllabary); Vainstub tries to make this a distorted attempt to write the other form of T.et, where the cross is inside the circle; but if this is Tet the cross would be exterior, and there is indeed a black line crossing the stem on Fig. 17, and that photograph seems to show a smaller circle than depicted on the drawing (Fig. 18); a <i>nfr </i>T.et is thus faintly possible, but <b>W </b>(<i>waw</i> nail) might be a suitable companion for the preceding H, making the pronoun <i>hw </i>(<i>huwa</i>, he or it), but this view would exclude the three Mems. Further consideration must be given to this murky section of the text. But I think this could be</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>R</b>, human head with neck, eye, and hair, P-shaped, and Albright has such a Resh on his table; this would mean two different forms of Resh in proximity, and this then raises the possibility that we are looking at syllabic writing.<br /> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(<b>6</b>)<b> [K] </b>a hand (<i>kap</i>) with fingers, or else a palm branch (<i>kipp</i>), but in any case this is a letter K; we have seen (on a Thebes tablet, reproduced above) a possible counterpart for this glyph, as it appears in the Vainstub drawing (Fig. 18) and on the main photograph (Fig. 14); the K in the inventory of letters on the Izbet Sartah ostracon is the same as this, but different from its trident K at the beginning of line 2 of its text (neosyllabic KI); </span><span style="font-size: medium;">this reminds me of the K in <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html">Sinai 351</a>, which has three strokes, but is in a horizontal stance; </span><span style="font-size: medium;">the <b>K</b> on the comb (letter <b>6</b>) is not a cross (X) with an extra mark, like the other three instances of <b>K</b>; in the second line of the Qeiyafa ostracon (also neosyllabic) I see a faint K, which is apparently </span><span style="font-size: medium;">an exact </span><span style="font-size: medium;">equivalent to the Greco-Roman form, in the word <i>shapat.aka</i>, "he has judged you"; the X form of K on the comb could be an idiosyncratic variant of that type of K; and if the scribe is using two forms of K, we must ask whether this could be a syllabic script. There is no reason for detaching two of the strokes from the K here (|=) to make Dh (=), as Vainstub does (95).</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> I feel I must record here the fact that the stimulus I have experienced from examining types of K on this comb has enabled me </span><span style="font-size: medium;">at long last</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> to identify definitively the K on Sinai 351 and thereby refute the T that Albright (1966) and Butin (1932) proposed; </span><span style="font-size: medium;">it is unmistakably K, as the initial consonant in the recurring word KBShN "furnace"; </span><span style="font-size: medium;">more on this below. So, two different forms of K in the same line. The plot thickens.<br /> (<b>7</b>)<b> [L] </b>an arc with a curl at the top (see Fig. 17); it is perhaps too rounded to be a crook; it is more like a coil, but the editors deny this.<br /> (<b>8</b>) <b>[Q] </b> identified as a monkey (<i>qop</i>) by the editors, based on the erroneous view (promoted by Hamilton, 209-221) that the sign for Q is the Sadey character of the proto-alphabet, which is actually a tied bag (<i>s.rr</i>) (o<, compare Arabian S., and Phoenician S.adey, which has one side of the bag removed, as P has one lip of the mouth missing), but the sack is remoulded by Hamilton, and now by Vainstub and his team, to represent an ape; they even add a tail to this one; the true Q/q is a cord (Hebrew <i>qaw</i>) wound on a stick (--o- or --o< with the end of the string shown); the Arabian scripts attest --o- unanimously! It stands unobserved in Sinai 345, 363, 376, all Asa inscriptions. The main photograph (Fig. 14) seems to show a short stem; 16, also apparently Q, has a stem at the top, with the two projections at bottom right.<br /> (<b>9</b>) <b>[M</b><b> L] </b>not N (snake) but it is depicted thus ( </span><span style="font-size: medium;">\/\ </span><span style="font-size: medium;">) on the drawing (Fig. 18) and subjected to special pleading, dubiously characterizing it as "a reduced <i>mem</i>" (97) with only one wave remaining of the water sign (/\/\/\/\); but if we focus on the preceding wavy line that can be compared with the neosyllabic MA, then we have a Mem, and this gives us the L (with its curl at the bottom) that we need to create the word QML, "louse".<br /></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s374/Lice%20comb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="374" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s320/Lice%20comb.jpg" width="320" /> </a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> Middle Line</b><br /> ( ) Here at the top right corner there is a missing piece of the ivory, on which a letter may have been engraved.<br /> (<b>10</b>)<b> [L] </b>a C-shaped character, apparently, but I think it has a stem and a loop, like 7 and 9 (according to my interpretation of them).<br /> ( ) <b>[M] </b>a vertical wavy line, which could be a water-sign, Mem, or a meaningless scratch.<br /> (<b>11</b>) <b>[S] </b>"This letter shows no resemblance to any letter known so far in the corpus of Canaanite inscriptions", and this incorrect assertion is followed by four pages of fruitless speculation to make the unidentified sign represent a sibilant (98-101); they search for "an animal with a slightly triangular head", and they propose (among other animal and vegetable improbabilities) a snake (<i>srp</i>, with Sin as its sibilant); of course, the serpent (adder and cobra) is in the proto-syllabary and the proto-alphabet as NA and N, and I will identify one in the top line, far left; the simple solution to the present problem is that this is the head of a fish, and its body (with a triangular tail, and scales?) is detectable, lying obliquely leftwards. Experts on the Phoenician and Hebraic alphabets can not see the fish on the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/abgadary">Izbet Sartah ostracon</a>, in the 'abagadary of the bottom line, roughly in the position of Samek, but obviously Samek, which would be acrophonically derived from <i>samk </i>"fish", not <i>dag </i>"fish", representing D (a fishy tale spread by Hamilton, 66 -75); the fish in the fourth line of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">Qeiyafa ostracon</a> is likewise left uncaught; incidentally, the script on these two ostraca is the Neo-syllabary. Our friend Asa the Smith of Sinai has the fish-sign for the Samek in his name (see above, the drawing of Sinai 385}.<br /> (<b>12</b>) <b>[`ayn] </b>an eye, with two confusing dots, as on the fish head; it is situated above H (4).<br /> (<b>13</b>) <b> [R] (</b>a human head) is expected here, to provide the word S`R "hair"; this "location" is described as "completely damaged"; the main photograph (Fig. 14) seems to depict a head with hairs standing on end (showing nits?), or it represents the comb in action on the head; another possible head is a ghostly image above this spot. Imagination creates from the two black holes a pair of eyes, with a nose and a mouth below them, although the early cases of R were usually showing the side of the head, in profile. <br /> (<b>14</b>) <b>[K</b>] Vainstaub presumes <b>W</b>, but I suspect another X-shaped letter is lurking in this damaged area (where fingers manipulating the comb pressed heavily?)<b>;</b> this counterpart to 17 stands immediately above the <b>K</b> in the bottom line (letter 6) , and almost seems to be joined to it, by the long vertical line that Vainstub (95) excludes from the inscription<b>, </b>in order to construct a <u>D</u>/Dh (oblique =).<br /><b> (14a ) [W] </b>I detect a vertical --o on Fig. 17 and also Fig. 14.<br /> (<b>14b</b>) <b>[ L] </b>a vertical stroke with a round end.<br /> (<b>15</b>) <b>[Z] </b>a clear "bow-tie", or (plausibly) a double ax-head to Hamilton; I have proposed manacles (<i>ziqq</i>); Hamilton and Vainstub only know of two other instances: <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2008/11/sinai-proto-alphabetic-inscription-375a.html">Sinai 375a</a> (but they do not realize that it says <i>mpkt zkt </i>"pure turquoise"), and the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/abgadary">Izbet Sartah ostracon</a> (where it represents neosyllabic ZA), but other examples are recorded <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">here</a>.<br /> (<b>16</b>) [<b>Q] </b>the two projections (end of stick and end of cord) do not meet to form a semicircle (Fig. 17), and rightly so; the same applies on letter 8; one stroke is the top of the stick, the other is the end of the cord wound on the stick. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> Upper Line</b><i><br /></i> ( ) <b> [N] </b>needed for<b> </b>the word ZQN "beard", and a cobra </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> is visible
on Fig. 17.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> (<b>17</b>) <b> [K] </b>another X-shaped sign, with an additional line at the bottom; we might think it represented a person celebrating and therefore H, but K is a preferable identification.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b> INTERPRETATION</b><br /> The title of the <i>editio princeps </i>article runs: "<b>A Canaanite's wish to eradicate lice on an inscribed ivory comb from Lachish</b>". The implications of this could be: the language of the inscription is West Semitic, and the text allegedlycontains words for eradicate, lice, ivory, and comb. The editors add an apt quotation from the Babylonian Talmud (<i>Niddah</i> 20b):<br />WShDR LH SRYQWT' DMQT.L' KLMY<br />"He sent to her a comb that kills lice"<br />This is Aramaic, a West Semitic language closely related to the "Canaanic" and "Hebraic" tongues. The final word in the sentence, KLMY, "lice" turns up on the comb as QML (with the original Q, and before metathesis changed ML to LM), but I regard it as singular "louse", as also QML, "a louse", on the ancient Aramaic Sefire inscription (105-106, a summary of the various Semitic forms of the term); but it might be used as a collective noun here. The "ivory" is discovered as H.T., a rare word for an animal tooth, translated here as "tusk"; but that reading is quite wrong, and the accompanying Dh for "this" is an unfortunate fabrication. The word corresponding to "kill" is construed as YTSh, from the root NTSh, meaning "expel", or "root out" in their translation, equivalent to "eradicate" in the title of their article; but the Yod is actually 'Alep, and the Taw is K. There is no word for comb in their reading, but it is covered by their non-existent "tusk", a tooth term. In my interpretation the text is a statement made by the comb itself.<br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> As
we are now at the point of making decisions, determining whether the
upper lines are inverted is still up in the air; for the time being I
will assume that all three lines have the same orientation as the bottom
line.</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> Here is my preliminary tentative analysis of the inscription, which apparently runs thus:<br />' K Sh R H M T K L Q M L<br />L S ` R K W L Z Q<br />N K<br /> Literally (agonizingly so!): <br />"I will cause to succeed the putting to death of every louse<br />from your hair and from your beard"</span><br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s374/Lice%20comb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="374" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s320/Lice%20comb.jpg" width="320" /></a> <br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> LINE A<br /> 'KShR</b>: I am taking the V-shaped consonant as <b>'alep</b>, the X-shaped letter as <b>K</b>, the W-shaped sign as <b>Sh</b> or <b>Th</b>, and the neglected fourth letter as <b>R</b>, a stylized human head with a short neck (horizontal stance). This would produce a verb, first person singular imperfect, from the root KShR (as in <i>kosher!</i>). This root was originally KThR (<i>k<u>t</u>r</i>), and if this text is using the Protoconsonantary we would have to read the word as 'KThR. The root is known in the name KThR-W-KhSS ("skilful and intelligent"), the god of arts and crafts in Ugaritic myths; and it is found as Akkadian <i>kasharu </i>"succeed". It is not much attested in Biblical Hebrew, but its semantic range covers "be right, fitting, successful" and "do successfully"; The Hip`il causative form is found in Ecclesiates/Qohelet 10:10, "cause to succeed": "wisdom gives success". I think that is what we have here: "I cause to succeed", or perhaps "I do successfully".<br /><b> HMT:</b> <b>H </b>for <i>hillulu </i>"exultation", <b>M</b> a vertical wavy line, <b>T </b>a small + cross. This would be the grammatical object of the preceding verb; it could be a verbal noun (infinitive) from the root MWT "die", again a Hip'il form, but with its initial H intact, "causing to die", or "putting to death"; the result is perhaps "I will successfully put to death", and lice will be the object of this combination. If there is indeed a Waw floating around in that space, it might produce HMWT, showing all the consonants of the root MWT; or as a T.et it might be a logogram for "good" or "well", "exterminate for good", as it were. However, I have earlier pointed to a possible water-sign, a horizontal Mem, to the right of H; a Mem would suggest a participle; but the sequence MHMT suggests the root HWM/HMM, "discomfit"; for example, Deuteronomy 7:23, <i>whmm mhwmh gdlh, </i>"and he will destroy them with a great destruction"; this would fit admirably in the comb's account of its eradication qualities; or 1 Samuel 5:11, <i>mhwmt mwt</i>, perhaps "the discomfiture of death", referring to the plague in Philistia that accompanied their seizure of the Ark of the Covenant; but that extra Mem might be imaginary, after all. So, I am not clear about this section of the line; I am doubtful about Vainstaub's Tet (letter 5); if it exists it would be Waw; I can see a small Tet there (o+), but only on Fig. 17, and this might be Waw if the cross-bar is ignored, functioning as "and", or in verbal noun HMWT, "kill", root <i>mwt</i> "die". More needs to be said on this section of the text.<br /><b> KL</b>: definitely <b>K</b>, not Dh, and clearly <b>L</b>, together producing the Semitic word for "all" or "every". <br /><b> QML</b>: a word for louse (Arabic <i>qaml</i>), which takes many forms, as stated above and noted by the editors (105-106), hence "every louse". QML is not in the Bible (so this is not Hebrew?), but <i>kén</i> is possibly "louse", or some other pest that moves in swarms, such as "gnat" (Exodus 8:16-21).<br /><b> LINE B - C<br /> QML L</b>: The fairly clear letter at the start of the line is supposed to be <b>L</b>, and Vainstub uses it (unnecessarily) to finish the word QML in the preceding line. If it is <i>l</i> then it could be the preposition meaning <b>to</b>, or <b>for</b>, or (wait for it!) <b>from</b>, as we know from Ugaritic texts, and perhaps <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html">Sinai 357</a>: SK M <b>L </b>'B DhT B ML KD M, "Pour (SK) water (M) <b>from</b> (<b>L</b>) this (DhT) bag ('B) when (B) filling (ML) the jug (KD) with water (M)". I would like this to be the solution ("from your hair"), since there seems to be a sequence <b>WL </b>preceding the next noun, "and from your beard", as stated in my tentative transcription and translation above. On the other hand, I suspect that the word for louse/lice is repeated here, but this time it is plural and perhaps construct state: "the lice of". I have already suggested that a Mem is lurking here, and the presumed <b>L</b> apparently has the horns of <b>Q</b> (as with letters 8 and 16). Then we need to find another <b>L </b>for<b> QML</b>, and possibly yet another <b>L </b>for "from", though a single Lamed could serve both purposes, especially if it had a doubling dot or two with it (I have demonstrated the reality of this practice already, with M'HB.`LT, "beloved of Ba`lat", with a single dot in the Bet, on the <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html">Sinai sphinx</a>, and Q with 2 dots in <i>lzqq</i>, "to refine" on one of the Thebes tablets of Petrie); and this desired entity exists, now that I come to look for it (8/12/2022), near the first two teeth at the top, with a Mem beside it; but we need to refer to the main photograph to view this remarkable phenomenon (Fig. 14), since the other four exclude this section of the comb. Only the inscriber knew what this all means, but I suggest <b>QML L</b>, "lice from", with <i>qml</i> as a collective noun (which is possible) or a plural noun; but this is far from certain. <br /><b> S`RK</b>: "your hair". In Hebrew this common Semitic word has Sin, while Arabic and Akkadian have Sh; here the West Semitic scribe has chosen Samek, the fish-sign (attested on the Qeiyafa ostracon and the Izbet Sartah ostracon, both of which use the neosyllabic script, as already noted).<br /><b> W L ZQNK</b>: "and from your beard"; this takes into account the overlooked snake for <b>N</b>; their complete lack of <i>n</i> is anomalous, as it is frequent in West Semitic languages; and this reading restores the value <i>k</i> to the X-sign with an extra stroke in its lower region, as in all three cases (2, 14, 16).</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>TRANSLATION</b> <br /> The claim of the maker or the merchant, speaking through the comb itself, runs approximately: "<b>I will successfully exterminate every louse: the lice from your hair and from your beard</b>".<br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> The caption does not express a <b>wish</b> for relief from parasites by means of the comb; it is an<b> affirmation </b>made by the comb itself that it is <i>kosher, </i>fit for the purpose of exterminating every louse in the user's hair and beard.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b> CATEGORIZATION</b><br /> The question that must now be asked is: Which of the four categories of the Quadrinity is applicable to this lice-comb inscription? Obviously it has no connection with the cuneiform alphabet (the Cuneo-consonantary), which is not included in the quartet, though it is closely related to them (as Vainstub acknowledges at various points in his exposition). The same applies to the Arabian consonantal script, which was also an early derivative from the proto-alphahbet, as was the Cuneo-consonantary. <br /> (1) <b>Protosyllabary<br /></b>This primary entity is never considered in studies of early West Semitic inscriptions (except when I happen to mention it). It was the predecessor and progenitor of the Protoconsonantary, but suffers from unmerited neglect. Albright did not see a connection between this Byblos pseudohieroglyphic syllabary (as it was known) and the protoalphabet (my term for the early forms of the alphabet), and so his followers (except George Mendenhall and myself) have set it aside. However, their lack of expertise in this script has led them to wrongly identify protosyllabic inscriptions (from other places besides Byblos) as "early alphabetic"; consider the appalling case of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/megiddoring">Megiddo signet ring</a>. However, most of the consonantograms of the protoconsonantary were already in the protosyllabary as syllabograms, and so confusion is understandable but not excusable. In my collection of protosyllabic documents, I have not seen a fish as SA, but it turns up </span><span style="font-size: medium;">as Samek </span><span style="font-size: medium;">in the protoconsonantary (in the name 'Asa', for example). I have netted a fish in this comb text, so it should not be protosyllabic; and I have not seen a single sign that is typically a member of the Protosyllabary (though the syllabogram that is obviously KA here, does resemble protosyllabic BI, originally depicting a weeping eye, <i>bikitu</i>). <br /> (2) <b>Protoconsonantary<br /></b>This writing system recognizes more consonants than the other three in the qauadrinity; thus the presence of these additional letters is a clear indicator of an inscription as protoconsonantal. The Sinai documents from the turquoise mines comply with this prescription by their frequent use of the consonant <u>D</u> (=) as <u><i>d</i></u>, "this", as noted by Vainstub (95, 104); but his claim that it occurs on the comb is groundless, as pointed out above, in my account of letter 6 as <b>K</b> not <u><b>D</b></u>. The glyph for <b>Z (|><|) </b>does appear as letter 15 (see my note on this above, with references to places where the two are differentiated), but the engraver does <i>not</i> make "a clear distinction between <u><i>d</i></u><i> </i>and<i> z" </i>(107); actually, the word <i>zqnk</i>, "your beard" shows that he did not distinguish these consonants in his "language" and "alphabet", since <i>zqn</i> is properly <i><u>d</u>qn, </i>and therefore this can <i>not </i>be the protoconsonantary, even if it has the fish-sign. Vainstaub (106-107), attempting to justify his reading <i>zqt, </i>posits two Semitic roots, <u><i>d</i></u><i>qn </i>"beard" and <i>zqt </i>"chin"; in that case perhaps he should have translated it as "chin". The evidence so far shows that the comb inscription is not (1) <b>protosyllabic </b>or (2) <b>protoconsonantal, </b>and so it can hardly be the oldest readable sentence in the first alphabet. </span><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;"> (3) <b>Neoconsonantary<br /></b>In this reduced script we have the same 22 consonants (or 23 if we include Sin) as in the Phoenician and Hebraic consonantal alphabet. By my calculations we have none of the additional letters of the protoconsonantary, and only 12 of the others are present: 'A W Z K L M N S Q R Sh and possibly T (no H. T. Y Sin, as claimed in the Vainstub transcription). Strange to say, I have recognized 11 or 12 consonants, but possibly 17 different signs. Something else that surprises me is I only know one instance of a fish in a neoconsonantal text (<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2016/08/byblos-bowl-inscription.html">Byblos bowl</a>); and it disappears from the standardized Phoenician alphabet; but the fish (<i>samk</i>) had a place in the neosyllabary, and there is a suspicion that this comb has syllabic writing. <br /> (4) <b>Neosyllabary<br /></b>My first deliberations on the idea of a syllabic alphabet were reported in 2014:<br /><a href="https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2014/02/the-lost-link-the-alphabet-in-the-hands-of-the-early-israelites/">https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2014/02/the-lost-link-the-alphabet-in-the-hands-of-the-early-israelites/</a><br /> With regard to the lice-comb, in spite of my hesitation at the outset, I am now in a position to suggest that its inscription exhibits a version of the West Semitic <b>Neosyllabary</b>; my doubts were aroused on account of the unusual forms of some of the letters. The distinctive L (7, 9) has two different stances; the K, not T (17), is apparently unmatchable elsewhere. <br /> There is only one fish in the comb inscription, and this is understandable, as Samek is a rare letter (Colless 1991: 28-29), and the piscatorial form of its representation is found only here in the Lakish collection of inscriptions (Colless 1991: 35-42); the other two Lakish examples of Samek employ the Egyptian <i>djed</i> pillar (spinal column): the<a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/death-dagger"> Lakish Dagger</a> (--|-|) (Colless 1991:35-36) and the <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/12/lakish-jar-inscription-new.html">Lakish Jar </a>sherd (|-|-|). The fish for Samek is known in two vertical positions: on the Qeiyafa ostracon the head is at the top (SU?), and on the Izbet Sartah ostracon the head is at the bottom (SA?); that is the case here on the comb, where the tail is at the top, but SA does not seem to fit in the word <i>si`ar</i> "hair"; the eye-sign, a circle with a dot (`A) does suit <i>si`ar</i>; without the dot it is `I; at this point I might be tempted to turn the handle on the "special pleading" machine; the word has a prefix <i>la</i>, and a suffix <i>ka</i>; if it became <i>las`arka</i>, by the rules of syllabic writing the syllables with no vowel adopt the vowel of an adjacent syllable, hence <i>la<b>sa</b>`a<b>ra</b>ka, </i>but these are treated as "dead vowels" and they are not pronounced, that is, not sounded when the text is recited.<br /> Consider now the syllabogram KA; the clearest example is in the top left area (17); it has five limbs, two above and three below; the KA for "your hair" (14) has to be constructed with the mind, but it is not a figment; I assume the second letter of the first word of the bottom line (2) is also KA, as it has marks between its lower limbs; the consonants I have proposed are 'KShR, and if this is Hip`il, it would say <i>'akshir </i>(after the pattern <i>'aqtil</i>) and written syllabically it would perhaps be <i>'akashiri</i>, or with final -<i>u</i>, as in Arabic; I am unable to assign a vowel to the letter I have identified as R (3a). The syllabogram \/\/ has proved itself to be SHI on the Qeiyafa ostracon.<br /> The other K-letter (6) is KU (in <i>kulu</i>, "every"), and is my main support here for my syllabary hypothesis; it is not recognized by Vainstub (he manufactures = <u>D</u> out of it by wilfully discarding its upright stem), and the KA functions as Taw in his interpretation. All this leaves the inscription with no instance of K, which is a strange situation, since that letter is among the most frequently occurring in West Semitic writing.<br /> At the same time, I think I can find two or three examples of Q here, which seems an oddity for one of the least frequent letters (but it is in two different words, QML "louse", and ZQN "beard"). In QML the sign is upright, in ZQN it is inverted; if this is significant, it means that they represent two different syllables; the Arabic louse is <i>qaml(u), </i>so the syllabogram could be QA; the Hebrew beard is<i> zâqân</i>, and "your beard" is attested as <i>zqâneka; </i><i>z </i>with shwa might be written as ZU; and <i>qâ </i>might be <i>qo, </i>but necessarily rendered as QU. As I have said, the table of neosyllabic signs I have constructed on the evidence from other sites is not clear; it seems that some places and some scribes had variant systems. With regard to Q-syllabograms, or consonantograms, cases of --o= with two projections at the top have surfaced only at Lakish, on this comb, though the forms --o< and --o- are found on the tablets from Thebes and in the Asa inscriptions of Sinai.<br /> A provisional hypothesis is offered here: This inscription seems to be an early example of the West Semitic <b>Neosyllabary</b>, which flourished in the Levant in the first part of the Iron Age, that is, the period of the Judges in ancient Israel. Lakish was a centre of literacy, and so it is not unreasonable to suppose that this new writing system was invented there; it was then transmitted to the other cities of the land, and the Philistian and Israelian immigrants also adopted it. Regional variation in the shape and stance of letters arose in the process. The ivory comb may have come from Egypt (82), and it is possible that it was inscribed there, and </span><span style="font-size: medium;">even</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> that the neosyllabic script was invented there (as the Protoconsonantary was). Of the many ivory combs found in the region, this is the only one that bears an inscription, though some have scenic decoration (82). The other three Lakish examples of bone-combs, and those from Gezer and Megiddo, belong to the Late Bronze Age and the 12th Century BCE (82), and this one would fit nicely into that time.<br /><br /> Accordingly, this <b>neosyllabic</b> document fills a gap in the <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html">Lakish collection</a>: all four types of the quadrinity are now attested there, if we accept that the four pictorial letters of the Lakish Dagger are<b> protoconsonantal</b>, and the two ostraca are <b>protosyllabic</b>, and all the others are <b>neoconsonantal</b>.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>DEFICIENCIES</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> The editors of the article describing the Lakish
comb inscription, and the previewers (so-called peer-reviewers) who
approved its publication, were at fault on a number of points. The many claims that are made involve superlatives, such as "first", and are debatable and ultimately falsifiable.</span><br /></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Failure to consider a new paradigm <br /></b>The one place where my essay on the origin of the alphabet is cited (as Colless 2014, together with Rollston 2010) is in relation to the inventors of the protoalphabet being "members of the Canaanite elite", as opposed to Orly Goldwasser's (highly improbable) "illiterate workers in the mines". <br /> If I may clarify my present position (December 2022): West Semitic educated <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/gebel-tingar-statue">high-ranking persons</a> resident in Egypt in the time of the Middle Kingdom created the West Semitic consonantal script (the "<b>Protoconsonantary </b>is my technical term); it was a logo-consonantary, like the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing system; influenced by the Egyptian model, they converted their own logo-syllabary (the West Semitic "<b>Protosyllabary</b>") into a protoalphabet, where vowels were not represented, only consonants; selected syllabograms of their protosyllabary were turned into consonantograms; thus the symbol for a house (<i>bayt</i>) originally said the syllable <i>ba</i>, but was now pronounced <i>b</i> (and the relevant vowel would be supplied in the mind of the reciter); but in each case the symbol could also stand for the thing it represented, "house", and the sounds of the word (<i>bt</i>) could be used independently in the construction of other words; this means that the various stages of the evolution of writing were retained; a pictorial word-sign ("logogram") is used as a rebus ("morphogram") to form other words; by a modification of the rebus principle, acrophony was invented, so that the door-sign (<i>dalt</i>) said <i>da</i> in the Protosyllabary, and then <i>d</i> in the Protoconsonantary. Another change was prompted by close acquaintance with the Egyptian system: the WS syllabary had only 22 consonants, like the Phoenician alphabet, its distant descendant; the Egyptian inventory of consonants had more than that, and the creators of the protoalphabet decided to expand their number likewise; thus SHA \/\/ (from <i>shad</i> "breast") became consonantal Th (from the original <i>thad</i> "breast"), while SHI \o/ (<i>shimsh</i> "sun") became Sh; but in other cases a new sign had to be found for the consonant, such as >ooo for <u>H</u>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Statement of purpose<br /></b>"<i>This is the first discovery in the region of an inscription referring to the purpose of the object, on which it was written, as opposed to dedicatory or ownership inscriptions on objects</i>" (109). Please note that the very ancient fragment of a <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/gezer">cult-stand </a>from Gezer says <i>kn B</i>, "temple stand" (Colless 1991: 31-32). The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestor%27s_Cup_(Pithekoussai)">Nestor Cup</a> from ancient Pithekoussai (8th Century BCE) is adduced as one of the rare examples; unfortunately its vital word <i>e[im]i </i>("I am") has to be reconstructed, and it is not certain whether it was Nestor's cup, or one like it, but it certainly states its purpose as a vessel for </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> wine-</span><span style="font-size: medium;">drinking (<i>poterion</i>). My interpretation of the lice comb is in the first person, with the comb itself proclaiming its use and usefulness. An example from Sinai (356) has a mine affirming its own identity on a small stela near Mine L: <i>'nk s.rh. m'hb`lt</i>, " I am an excavation-gallery beloved of Baalat" (Colless 1990: 36). The Sinai sphinx statuette (<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html">345</a>) declares its purpose, though this is "dedicatory": <u><i>d</i></u><i> nqy lb`l[t]</i>, "This is my offering to Baalat", the giver being our friend Asa. However, these two texts illustrate the next confusion suffered by Vainstaub: in the former case the word <i>s.rh. </i>could not be deciphered, as the sign Oo is deemed to be Qop not Sadey, and the K is thought to be Sadey; in the other case the --o< on the sphinx is not recognized as Q. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Confusing Qof and S.adey<br /></b>The following questionable statement was tacitly approved by all those involved in the publication:<b><br />" </b><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid880"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 190.022px; transform: scaleX(0.945266);">The original</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid881"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 511.886px; top: 190.022px;"> </span><i><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 515.855px; top: 190.022px; transform: scaleX(0.8415);">qof</span></i></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid882"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 538.295px; top: 190.022px;"> </span><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 542.254px; top: 190.022px; transform: scaleX(0.92126);">was inspired by the</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid883"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 214.189px; transform: scaleX(0.892052);"> schematic figure of a monkey composed of a small circle representing the animal’s</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid884"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 238.355px; transform: scaleX(0.905913);"> head, a larger circle representing its body, and a line representing its tail. The</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid885"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 652.47px; top: 238.355px;"> </span><i><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 655.7px; top: 238.355px; transform: scaleX(0.8415);">qof</span></i></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid886"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 678.14px; top: 238.355px;">s</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid887"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 262.522px; transform: scaleX(0.969773);"> in our inscription are the most complete found so far, as they clearly contain</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid888"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 286.689px; transform: scaleX(0.939223);"> all three elements. Most examples of</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid889"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 370.964px; top: 286.689px;"> </span><i><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 376.01px; top: 286.689px; transform: scaleX(0.8415);">qof</span></i></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid890"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 398.45px; top: 286.689px;"> </span><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 403.529px; top: 286.689px; transform: scaleX(0.936004);">in Sinai lack the tail, and only Serabi</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid891"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 680.038px; top: 288.939px;">ṭ</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid893"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 310.855px; transform: scaleX(0.939446);"> el-Khadem 349 possibly includes it (Hamilton 2006: 214–220). Unfortunately,</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid894"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 335.022px; transform: scaleX(0.958107);"> after Sinai there are no further occurrences of the letter until the</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid895"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 583.506px; top: 335.022px;"> </span><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 588.598px; top: 337.272px;">ʿ</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid896"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 594.592px; top: 335.022px; transform: scaleX(0.944894);">Izbet</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid897"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 632.372px; top: 335.022px;"> </span><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 637.508px; top: 337.272px;">Ṣ</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid898"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 647.519px; top: 335.022px; transform: scaleX(0.932476);">ar</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid899"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 662.019px; top: 337.272px;">ṭ</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid900"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 667.02px; top: 335.022px; transform: scaleX(0.954281);">ah</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid901"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 359.189px; transform: scaleX(0.90551);"> ostracon of the Iron Age, in which it has a highly developed shape composed of a</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid902"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 383.355px; transform: scaleX(0.914678);"> vertical axis with a circle at its top, the type that gave birth to the</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid903"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 569.45px; top: 383.355px;"> </span><i><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 573.194px; top: 383.355px; transform: scaleX(0.8415);">qof</span></i></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid904"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 595.634px; top: 383.355px; transform: scaleX(0.919595);">s of the Iron</span></span><span class="markedContent" id="page102R_mcid905"><span dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="left: 94.4882px; top: 407.522px; transform: scaleX(0.902334);"> Age scripts<b>.</b></span></span><b>"(</b>97<b>)<br /> </b> This might be called an elaborate piece of "monkey business", but their monkeying with the facts is not based on deceit but on nescience. In response, the Hebrew name for the letter Q is Qop, which does mean monkey, and so at some points in its history it may have been represented in this way (I think I can see an ape among the letters on a tablet from </span></span><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/10/phoenicians-in-puerto-rico.html">Puerto Rico</a><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">, and on another from <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2015/11/h-l-h-m-order-of-alphabet-letters.html">Thebes</a>). The lamentable error, professed by W.F. Albright and propagated by Gordon Hamilton, is that the original sign for Sadey {<i>s.}, </i>a tied bag (<i>s.rr</i>), which is sometimes given an 8-shaped form, but also o< and once ||O (on the Lakish Dagger), is to be read as <i>/q/ </i>instead of<i> /s.</i>/; the true letter Q (I will have to say it again for the innumerableth time) is a cord (<i>qaw</i>) wound on a stick (--o< or --o-) and there are several unnoticed examples in the Sinai inscriptions, and from Thebes. The comical irony in the present instance is that they are applying the characteristics of their simian interpretation of the tied bag to actual cases of the true Q; and the lament for the missing examples in the Late Bronze Age is unwarranted, given the comparative wealth of attestation of these two rare letters in inscriptions that they ignore. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Lamed</b></i><b> introducing a direct object<br /></b>They claim to have discovered an early (nay rather, the earliest) occurrence of "<i>Lamed </i>as a <i>nota objectivi </i>introducing a direct object", which is "generally considered characteristic of Aramaic" (104-105); and they wrongfully declare, "The use of <i>l</i> to express the subordination of the object to the verb is attested here for the first time" (108). An interesting example is cited: Yoab and his brother slew (<i>hrgw l) </i>Abner (2 Samuel 3:30). However, Vainstub's result is achieved by removing the <i>k </i>from <i>kl</i> ('all, every") and substituting <i><u>d</u></i>, thus fabricating <i>yt<u>s</u> h.t. <u>d</u> l qml</i> (letters 1-10), "This tusk will root out <b>the lice</b>", as opposed to<i> kl qml </i>, "<b>every</b> <b>louse</b>". Incidentally, their reading is incorrect on a number of accounts. The verb, they say, "is clearly a verbal volitive expressing the wish that the lice will be rooted out", and therefore it should be parsed as jussive or cohortative, as in Biblical Hebrew (107-108). This seems to be an unnecessary leap, and my reading is obviously "indicative mood", with the comb itself making an assertive statement.<br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Chronological conclusions<br /></b>"<i>Since the comb was found in a late Iron Age II context that is clearly later than its original date by hundreds of years, it must be dated by paleographic analysis.</i>" (102) That is correct, since two attempts to obtain a radiometric dating for the comb were unsuccessful. (103) . Of course, "<i>we cannot use non-diagnostic letters like shin, mem, or tav, which did not change over centuries</i>". (102) However, their two cases of <b>T</b> become KA (3x) in my interpretation, and that leaves no T (a worry, given the frequent occurrence of that sound in Semitic languages), and I myself have only found one problematical instance (4b), which I will evetually discount. Their <b>M</b> (1x, a false reading of letter 9) sits alongside my two or three, and again this is a frequent sound. I accept their <b>Sh</b>, though it would be <b>Th</b> if this inscription was in fact from the Middle Bronze Age (the period of my <b>Protoconsonantary</b>, as in the Sinai turquoise-mine inscriptions); the angularity of the breasts (\/\/) as here, is not an indication of date; this form could place it among the Lakish <b>neoconsonantal</b> inscriptions of the Late Bronze Age (3 bowls, Colless 1991:36-40), and with the <b>neosyllabic</b> <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">Qeiyafa ostracon</a> (line 2), where it is SHI (and a reading <i>shi</i> would be acceptable to me here on the comb); and \/\/ is the standard shape for Shin in the Phoenician alphabet; but it has sharp points in a vertical stance as <i>th </i>on the very ancient Wadi el-Hol horizontal inscription (<b>protoconsonantal</b>); and \/\/ covered SHA/THA in the <b>Protosyllabary</b>; actually, it is only found in one Sinai inscription (<a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/08/sinai-food-rations-sinai-inscriptions.html">375</a> in Mine M), in the word <i><u>t</u>l<u>t</u>t</i> "three", and there it is inverted; a more rounded shape, in vertical stance, is observable as SHA on the Izbet Sartah and Qeiyafa ostraca. <br /> "<i>Letters that appear in the inscription for the first time and have no parallels in other inscriptions cannot be used either</i>."(102) No examples are given, but letter 4 as H.et would unjustly come under this ban, although it actually has a parallel as H in Sinai 358, as noted above, and there are several examples of it as HI on the bronze spatulas of Byblos (Colless 1995:18-21). </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Letter 11 </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is misidentified (or not identified at all), but it is the fish Samek, and it kept its shape (with variants) throughout the Protoconsonantary, the Neoconsonantary, and the Neosyllabary; it vanished from the standardised consonantary. Letter 5 as a Q-shaped Tet (imagined to be an unusual form of the cross inside a circle) is non-existent; and my supposed o+ is also to be rejected. The unique letter (a syllabogram, to be precise) is the KA (2, 14, 17), and my presumption is that it was invented for the Neosyllabary.<br /> "<i>Thus, we are left with the letters yod, lamed, zayin, and qof, and these letters share the epigraphic horizon of the inscriptions from </i></span></span><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[the Sinai mines at] </span></span></i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Serabit el-Khadem at least. All of them preserve their original properties and lack developments known from inscriptions dated to the 13th or 12th century BCE</i>." (102) In response I must remind them that there is no <i>yod</i>; the first letter in the inscription is not <i>yod</i> but <i>'alep</i>, a narrow bovine head with peculiar horns; it bears no resemblance to the round heads from Sinai, but its acute angle is matched by the example on Sinai 375c from Mine M (Hamilton, 377-378); I am chided by Hamilton for misidentifying it as Sinai 381 (I gave it that number, as it had no official numbering when it was published), and for offering an inaccurate drawing; I will now abandon my reading <i>'lt</i> ('Ilat, "Goddess"), and my idea that this could have been in a storage area for skin-bags of water from the "spring of the Mother-goddess" (<a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html">Sinai 357</a>); the new photograph of West Semitic Reasearch (<i>Maarav</i> 14.1, 2007, Plate VIII) positions the the text vertically (against the horizontal stance of the original publication, followed by myself in 1990); clearly my presumed L is N (a cobra) in a sequence Y'NT<u>D</u>; <i>'nt </i>means "equipment" in Sinai 349 and 357, and I suspect this area circled by stones, four metres in diameter, was the place for storing the tools for the work in Mine M (New Kingdom), and previously in the adjoining Mine L (Middle Kingdom). The Yod is not certain, but we are agreed on the 'Alep; it is typical of the Iron Age (an acute angle with a cross bar projecting on both sides, as on the Qeiyafa ostracon, on the way to A, Alpha); Hamilton proposes a late date of c. 1250 BCE, which would give comfort to the wayward opinion of Benjamin Sass, that all the Sinai inscriptions belong to the 13th century BCE (noted by Vainstub, 102); as I have intimated above, I would simply say that it belongs in the New Kingdom period.<br /> With regard to <i>zayin</i>, Sinai 375c has the only example of |><| in the inscriptions from the turquoise mines, and it actually bears the word for turquoise (<i>mpkt</i>) together with the adjective "pure" (<i>zkt</i>). In Canaan it appears on the Beth-Shemesh ostracon and the Izbet Sartah ostracon, both of which are neosyllabic; and in the region of Thebes in Upper Egypt, it has a place in the two lists of letters, and on this companion piece (Thebes , where Z is joined by Dh (proving it is protosyllabic), and the true Q (Qaw "line") demonstrates the doubling of consonants by a single dot inside or two dots outside, here producing <i>zqq</i> "refine"; notice the mouth representing P, a letter that does not exist in the warped world of Hamilton (notes 227, 230, 232), here forming the word <i>p<u>d</u></i> (Hebrew <i>paz</i>) "pure gold"; there is a crook for Lamed, a nail for Waw, and a K that may have developed into the KA on our comb, by the addition of a stroke to form its X-shape; it looks just like Vainstub's drawing of the H (Fig. 18, letter 4, lacking the tick at the top).<br /><br /> </span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IFWl1pCo2sgwc4t2-vqTc30xTKfmPQVD_KuvFjZCQaQuJP4kW-4Hp72siLlyCghKxbZ5RHvzHE0iZ4xwJdICTkkXjryB1-VL0pbG7yEqEJYYH44R6wmrLVEeybXG38kJwmjYVw/s390/Thebes+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IFWl1pCo2sgwc4t2-vqTc30xTKfmPQVD_KuvFjZCQaQuJP4kW-4Hp72siLlyCghKxbZ5RHvzHE0iZ4xwJdICTkkXjryB1-VL0pbG7yEqEJYYH44R6wmrLVEeybXG38kJwmjYVw/s320/Thebes+6.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">|<br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Thebes inscription, proto-consoantal script<br /></span><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2006/07/alphabet-when-young-above-is.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2006/07/alphabet-when-young-above-is.html</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTBgQcC3aXvXWHNYVL_SVMams_dhEkIXSZS_-A5gRtHixLRuls1uS6TSMacqbdTqQFc2dp8IzayGUUlh5s6wlSPM_-9-2g9Z8iTXljp_wDhII-6H2ULLT2udN4K-n9I9kfVbgSw/s1600-h/EBA+el-Marra.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5043811443447689586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTBgQcC3aXvXWHNYVL_SVMams_dhEkIXSZS_-A5gRtHixLRuls1uS6TSMacqbdTqQFc2dp8IzayGUUlh5s6wlSPM_-9-2g9Z8iTXljp_wDhII-6H2ULLT2udN4K-n9I9kfVbgSw/s320/EBA+el-Marra.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> </p><p> Tubular amulets from Tuba (Tell Umm el-Marra), with West Semitic proto-syllabic writing</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>Oldest legible sentence using first alphabet found<br />(</b>Colin Barras,<b> <i>New Scientist, </i></b>19th November 2022, 24)<b><br /></b>"<i>This is the earliest sentence we have in the alphabet</i>" (Yosef Garfinkel)<br />This is sensationalist nonsense, meriting the paradoxical statement "This sentence is false" (but this proposition is meant to apply to itself, of course). If the text of the comb belongs to the category "Neosyllabary", as I have proposed above, then I would allow it to be "the earliest neosyllabic inscription known to us" (so it is not strictly alphabetic). As for its date, the reporter presents the case for its place in the history of the alphabet thus: the origin of the alphabet "<i>is mysterious because of a lack of archaeological evidence</i>"; actually there is ample evidence but it is being ignored by the establishment; "<i>It isn't clear when it was invented: many researchers argue for a date around 3800 years ago</i>"; yes, that was in the 19th Century BCE, and I include myself among his "many researchers", though I have a very different approach to all the others in the group; "<i>but there is some evidence the alphabet was in use as early as 4300 years ago</i>"; not really, it was the West Semitic syllabary that was functioning at that time, what I call the Protosyllabary, which spawned the Protoconsonantary (the Protoalphabet); Barras is unstatedly referring to an earlier article of his (<i>New Scientist</i>, 24 April 2021, 15) about the Tell Umm el-Marra inscriptions from Syria, which I have reported <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html">here</a>; the experts he interviewed all belong to the school of scholarship which fails to recognize the difference between West Semitic syllabaries (Protosyllabary, Neosyllabary) and consonantaries (Protoconsonantary, Neoconsonantary); "<i>It came from a level of the site dating back roughly 2700 years, but from the style of the writing on the comb, Garfinkel's team argues it is about 1000 years older</i>"; indeed they do, but their reasoning is fallacious, since they are arguing from a wrong premiss (consonantal instead of syllabic). <br /> The writing system displayed on the comb is not consonantal but syllabic, I suggest; but if we categorize it as "protoalphabetic", it is still not "<i>the oldest readable sentence written using the first alphabet</i>" (<i>New Scientist</i>, 17/24 December 2022, 84, Quiz of the year). There are numerous sentences in the protoalphabetic inscriptions of ancient Egypt and Sinai </span><span style="font-size: medium;">that are "unreadable" to establishmentarian scholars, not because they are "illegible" but because a faulty paradigm is being appplied to them; some begin with the word "This" (<u><i>d</i></u>), as on the sphinx stauette (Sinai 345) "This is my offering (<i>nqy</i>) to Baalat"; and an object may speak, as with the comb, saying "I am an excavation (<i>s.rh.</i>) beloved of Baalat" (Sinai 356). An earlier readable sentence from Lakish is an inscription mentioned in the article on the comb (102-103), namely the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/death-dagger">Lakish dagger</a>; when interpreted with the aid of my table of protoalphabetic signs it says: "Foe flee!" (<i>s.r ns</i>).</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> These errors are being disseminated widely in the public media; my daughter Laurel Colless, an author in Helsinki, was the first person who alerted me to news of this discovery, and I approached the matter sanguinely, as is my wont, but soon the blood-redness in my face came to signify displeasure. <br /><br />In conclusion I have to declaim: <br />Such epigraphical false news keeps flooding the field, but it will exterminate itself in its own inundation. Never fear, a great awakening is imminent. The evidence presented in this essay demands it.<br /><br /><b>THE ART OF SCIENCE</b><br />"<i>I hate to say this, but this reluctance to consider a new idea in the face of strong evidence is one reason why I think people should worry about science</i>." <br />Roger Penrose, <i>New Scientist</i>, 19 November 2022, 48.<br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"<i>Of all the services that can be rendered to science the introduction of new ideas is the greatest</i>." J. J. Thomson, on the occasion of Ernest Rutherford's Nobel Prize for his work on <b>Alpha and Beta particles</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">"<i>In New Zealand we don't have money, so we have to think.</i>" Ernest Rutherford<br />"<i>I think that a strong claim can be made that the process of scientific discovery may be regarded as a form of art... The theory of relativity by Einstein quite apart from any question of its validity, cannot but be regarded as a magnificent work of art.</i>" </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937)<br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"<i>The field in which I work, and play, is known as <b>articultural science</b>.</i> <i>My theory of the origin and evolution of the <b>Alphabet</b> is providentially, providently, and provisionally called the Quadrinity (cross out whichever does not apply)</i>." Brian Edric Colless (1936 to infinity and beyond as stardust)<br />"<i>There is always the possibility of proving any definite theory wrong, but notice that we can never prove it right." </i>Richard Feynman<br />"<i>The whole idea you started with is gone! That's the exciting thing that happens from time to time</i>." Richard Feynman<br />"<i>Then a way of avoiding the disease </i>[of passing on mistaken ideas]<i> was discovered. This is to doubt that what is being passed from the past is in fact true, and to try to find out </i>ab initio<i>, again from experience, what the situation is.</i>" Richard Feynman<br /><i>"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts." </i>Richaard Feynman<br />"<i>All human knowledge, created in the wondrous and fantastic human brain, is tentative, temporary, transitional, subject to alteration.</i>" Brian Colless<br />"<i>A scientific theory must be paradoxical, contrary to common sense, and seemingly self-contradictory, a thesis in search of an antithesis, to form a synthesis, a new thesis, and so on, for ever and ever, in saecula saeculorum. Amen</i><i>." </i>Brian Colless<br />Sources: <br />Richard Reeves, <i>A Force of Nature:The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford </i>(2008)<br />Michelle Feynman, <i>The Quotable Feynman</i> (2015)<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>SUMMATION</b> (1.1.2023)<br /> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">A new year has begun, and it is time do my sums and start summing up. <br /> The whole case will be re-examined, and tentative decisions that I have already made may be overthrown. (My buddy Dr Hindsight tells me I will certainly see things I had not noticed in 2022, and again I say that I am grateful to Dr Vainstub for motivating me to think about this expanding field of West Semitic epigraphy.)<br /> Note that I refrain from offering a drawing (like the defective Fig. 18), but we will constantly refer to the helpful photographs.<br /> Examining some essential quotations:<br /> "<i>The inscription contains 17 tiny letters</i>" (90)<br /> I think I can find 24 or more.<br /> "<i>The letters form seven words</i> <i>that for the first time provide us with a complete reliable sentence in a Canaanite dialect, written in the Canaanite script.</i>"<br /> Allowing that the preposition <i>l</i> and the conjunction <i>w </i>count as separate words, I detect ten words, or more, and all my words are different from their seven. <br /> As for their "<i>reliable sentence</i>", my judgement is that every word in it is a misreading of what is written.<br /> The claim of primacy ("<i>for the first time</i>") is baseless, as no dating has been scientifically achieved for the artefact, and their paleographical conjectures are faulty: "<i>As the comb's inscription is written in the style that characterized the very earliest stage of the alphabet's development, it is clear that it was in a secondary deposition, found in a context dating from about one millennium after the inscription was incised.</i>" (80) The comb was found in a pit near the Lakish palace of the kings of Judah, along with vessels from the 7th Century BCE, and it may have been quite old when it was deposited there; but its script is not predominantly pictorial, and the arguments I have already presented identify it as the West Semitic Neosyllabary, not just "<i>the Canaanite script</i>", and its date might therefore be around 1200 BCE, not 1700 BCE; in that case many readable West Semitic sentences from earlier times have preceded this inscription.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s374/Lice%20comb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="374" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34-SEq85WMfq6Rh1KAAWbBm5G3pSn0pL8XphtXa-UQtAIwBYTVvDxRVlJT7ogPMCuCbOwxMeYi-cD6YfCvNE7JuW_EgfqRviD9I8TBtp1u4Nm0HC0xKxxcqTCKSlyw8YH5o9dTucrCQK_nIoIFQUxEdX12ROhHGjYbrJNZDjoLKTJ4_nAd20/s320/Lice%20comb.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> The script is syllabic, not consonantal alphabetic. It comprises more than one form of glyph for these five consonants:<br /> <b>[Q] </b>Letter <b>8</b> (cord wound on a stick, not a monkey with a tail) has its two projections on the right side of the glyph (clearly visible on Fig, 14 and 16A, but apparently the scribe did not know what the syllabogram represented); Letter <b>16</b> is an inversion of this, but it still has its two extensions on its right side; if we accepted the proposal that the whole middle line of writing is inverted (91) then these strokes would be on the left side, and thus the form of <b>16 </b>would still be different; but this line is neither upside down nor in boustrophedon style, though the two letters NA KA (sic, not one) of the top row are tucked in at the end, and the sinistrograde direction (L < R) is retained in all three lines.<br /> <b>[R]</b> Letter <b>3a</b> (unrecognized on the drawing, Fig. 18, but clear on Fig. 14) is a stylized head, while <b>5a</b> and <b>13</b> are more lifelike (with hair), though unclear.<br /> <b>[L] </b>Letter <b>9</b>, at the end of the bottom line, is not an N-shaped M (97, "a reduced <i>mem</i>"!) but L, with a downstroke and a curl on the right side at the bottom (Fig. 14); Letter <b>7</b> has a curved upstroke with its curl on the right side at the top (Fig. 14, not as on the drawing, Fig. 18); I now prefer to see that Letter <b>10</b> is actually two closely knit syllabograms, almost cut off in the damage done to the object in the excavation process (Fig. 14); <b>10a</b> is Waw (oblique stroke with circle above), and <b>10b </b>is L (a stroke with curl below, like Letter <b>9</b>); the same combination occurs as Letters <b>14a </b>and <b>14b </b>(Fig, 14 and 17, but not shown on the drawing); this is the pattern <i>w...w</i>, "both ... and" (noticed 3.1.2023).<br /> <b>[M]</b> Letter <b>5b </b>(neosyllabic<b> MI</b>) has more waves than <b>8b</b> <b>(</b>neosyllabic <b>MA</b> or <b>MU</b>); possibly add <b>9b</b> (<b>MA</b> or <b>MU</b>) to this set (noticed 28.1.2023).<br /> <b>[K] </b>The syllabogram <b>KA </b>(<b>3 14 16</b>) is so different from <b>KU</b> (<b>6</b>) that they both demonstrate that this is a syllabary, and in fact it is the Neosyllabary, even though <b>16</b> resembles protosyllabic BI, and has no counterpart in other neosyllabic texts available at present.<br /> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">In assigning vowels to the various syllabograms of the text, I am assisted by the results obtained from studying other neosyllabic inscriptions, but the corpus of neosyllabic documents is limited and the table of signs and sounds that I am constructing has apparent anomalies, suggesting variations in regions and in the handwriting style of individual scribes. The Waw with a round head --o is attested here, but not in other neosyllabic inscriptions, where variations on a Y-shape are found; the HI on the comb is more pictorial than the E with its back-line extended below, and it may be the original form. This new system of syllabic writing lasted for at least two centuries, perhaps 1200 - 1000 BCE, so changes would be inevitable.<br /> At this point in the discussion the question needs to be raised whether the direction of writing can be an indicator of date. Accepting that the lice-comb has the earliest neosyllabic </span><span style="font-size: medium;">inscription, and granting that the Yerubba`al sherds belong in the first half of the period of the Judges, while the Qeiyafa ostracon is at the beginning of the era of the Monarchy in Israel (but obviously from the reign of King Saul, not King David), then it may be significant that the texts of the comb and the Yerubba`al sherds both run from right to left, but the Qeiyafa neosyllabic writing moves from left to right, as also the inscriptions on the Izbet Sartah ostracon and the Qubur el-Walayda bowl, so it could be that the former documents are early and the latter are late. Possibly the early texts using the new syllabary simply followed the customary direction of West Semitic writng, sinistrograde, right to left (for both consonantal and syllabic scripts; Colless 2014: 81-82); later, I suggest, the orientation was changed to dextrograde, left to right, so that the syllabic </span><span style="font-size: medium;">inscriptions could be differentiated from the consonantal. Thus, the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">Qeiyafa</a> neosyllabic ostracon, which mentions "Dawid" and "Guliyut", is dextrograde (L > R), and the other Qeiyafa inscription, referring to Ishba`al, the son of Saul, employing a version of the neoconsonantary, is sinistrograde (L < R). </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> The words that I have reconstructed may not correspond exactly to the scribe's intentions, but I think they are closer to the original than the interpretation of Daniel Vainstub. However, the vowels allotted to the consonants are tentative.<br /> 'KShR: "I will do successfully", Hip'il imperfect, 1st person singular, of root <i>k<u>t</u>r/k<u>s</u>r</i>; judging from Biblical Hebrew, we would expect <i>'ak<u>s</u>ir</i>, written syllabically as <i>'aka<u>s</u>iru.<br /> </i>HRM: "remove", or "raise", Hip'il infinitive, root <i>rwm</i>, "rise"; I have tried other readings, such as HMT "kill", HMMT "discomfit", but the space between H and M should hold another letter (<b>4a</b>), and apparently there is a human head with two lines for a neck, and prominent hair, like the equally obscure <b>13</b> above it; <i>hérîm </i>is expected, and written <i>hirimi</i>; if the presumed T (+) is ignored it means that the most frequently occurring consonant of West Semitic writing of the Bronze Age is missing; but in the languages of Israel and Moab in the Iron Age it is not so numerous; perhaps this gives support to the date of the comb-inscription as c. 1200 BCE; if it is a T.et, then it could be a logogram, <i>t.ab </i>"well", perhaps even with a B formed by vague marks near the following K.<br /> KL: "every" or "all"; <i>kulu</i>, Hebraic <i>kol. </i>There are two dots between the two letters, which could indicate doubling, as with ZQQ in theThebes inscription, pictured earlier); hence <i>kullu</i>, as in Arabic.<i><br /> </i>QML: "louse", <i>qamala, </i>or "lice"<i>, qamali</i>; comparison with other neo-syllabic inscriptions favours <i>li </i>for this syllabogram: the Qeiyafa ostracon has three forms, and its <i>la </i>is round with no stem; its <i>li</i> has a stem with a round base (like Letter <b>9</b>), and its <i>lu </i>has a round top (like </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>7</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">). </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Accordingly, it says "all lice", rather than "every louse". </span><span style="font-size: medium;">The question arises whether the case endings are present, as indicators of early and late; here -<i>a</i> for accusative case singular, or -<i>i </i>acusative plural? The problem whether this noun is singular or plural may be solved by the hitherto unnoticed (28.1.2023) M- below the LI: it would be <i>ma</i> or <i>mu</i>, though not <i>mi; </i>MU could be <i>-m</i> with shwa; thus we have </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>qamalim </i>with </span><span style="font-size: medium;">plural <i>-im</i>, as in Hebrew. Three differnt forms of M indicate syllabic writing. <br /> W: <i>wa</i> "and", in the combination <i>wa </i>... <i>wa </i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"both ,,, and" </span><span style="font-size: medium;">.<br /> L: <i>l-</i> "(with regard) to" or "from"; it may be <i>li</i>, or <i>lu</i> as on the Qeiyafa ostracon (refer to the note on QML above); the difficulty is deciding whether the stem-stroke is above or below the round part of the letter.<br /> S`RK: "your hair"; <i>sa`araka</i>; the circular eye with a dot stands for `A in the Neosyllabary, undotted it is `I; the fish with head below and tail above is SA.<br /> W: <i>wa </i>"and (also)".<br /> L: <i>la </i>"from"; but this form is <i>li </i>in the Qeiyafa ostracon inscription,and .<br /> ZQNK: "your beard"; <i>zuqunika; </i>|><| seems to be <i>zu</i> on the Beth-Shemesh ostracon, here perhaps for <i>z </i>with shwa. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>TENTATIVE TRANSLATION </b>(28.1.2023)<br /><b>"I will effectively remove all the lice from your hair and also from your beard"</b> </span><br /><i>'akshir hérîm kull qamalim walisa`araka walizuqunaka</i><br /></p><b>ORIGINS OF NEOSYLLABIC LETTERS</b><br />Returning to the two inventories of protoconsonantl signs from Thebes (Petrie 1912), I will endeavour to trace the origins of some of the syllabograms on the lice-comb. Usually I say that the neosyllabary came out of the neoconsonantry, but the available lists of the consonantary of the Iron Age (the Phoenician or Hebrew alphabet) are too late for this exercise. <br /> Starting with <b>K</b>, the KU has a counterpart (reversed) on the right-hand (grey) Tablet C, top centre; and I have also found an example on Sinai 351 (horizontal); and it occurs in the abagadary of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/abgadary">Izbet Sartah </a>ostracon. The KA, an X-figure, seems to be unique, but the proto-alphabetic Tablet A, bottom left, may offer a comparison: I have always described this glyph as a K on top of an `ayin (eye), but I now think that the eye-sign with its pupil may be above the Q, to the right of the P (mouth), and below the D (door); accordingly, the K has to be considered as a unit, and it may have been simplified into the KU of the Lakish neosyllabary. However, another instance of K appears in Sinai 361, in the same word as in 351, namely KBShN, "furnace"; it is generally taken to be T, but it is not simply +, as it has an additional line \, resembling >|< (viewed obliquely).<br /> The<b> R </b>in <i>'akashi<b>ru</b></i> is a rough square on a stem (horizontal stance); it is similar to the one on the Thebes Tablet A, left centre; Tablet B, bottom left has a triangular head; the <b>RU</b> in the Yerubba`al inscription is P-shaped, with a square head, but its stance is vertical.<br /> The <b>Samek-fish is </b>different in all three cases (left of centre on A and B) showing that there was no fixed pattern for this letter, consonantal or syllabic. Incidentally, the discussion of Letter 11 (98-101) and the characters on Table 7, is actually about the (unrecognized) fish-sign!<br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyblUIO6L1zvHaixGFKYiVXLKIwA1uEb0TfiC_ffhAOxYSayZbFyMTSlilIDTmiy5i40hyhqJ09GZ_9fHRfJ2QKqX-klNDVCdrVAzgTqBgjkskMm2sMaIglleswPDF6R15-kT9A/s1600-h/Thebes+1+p.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123563293531209762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyblUIO6L1zvHaixGFKYiVXLKIwA1uEb0TfiC_ffhAOxYSayZbFyMTSlilIDTmiy5i40hyhqJ09GZ_9fHRfJ2QKqX-klNDVCdrVAzgTqBgjkskMm2sMaIglleswPDF6R15-kT9A/s400/Thebes+1+p.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a></p><p><a class="rslides1_s5" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ivory-lice-comb-a-dating-head-scratcher-may-hold-earliest-canaanite-sentence/#"></a>
</p><p style="text-align: center;">Above: Thebes Tablet A <br />Below: Thebes Tablets B and C<br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmgbZT08xUPlOSZL-PTXtd5qAXNe1h-fljlqt38fUTnDkpVBulih2xcacJss0PdhxwhTXYLiyg01-CAH-RU4MFv261ubxa4vft72CD2uZGYlbNwFMepBmQraBzhiS-u4EhrIFuQ/s1600-h/Thebes+2+%26+3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126916626153268850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmgbZT08xUPlOSZL-PTXtd5qAXNe1h-fljlqt38fUTnDkpVBulih2xcacJss0PdhxwhTXYLiyg01-CAH-RU4MFv261ubxa4vft72CD2uZGYlbNwFMepBmQraBzhiS-u4EhrIFuQ/s400/Thebes+2+%26+3.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a></p><p></p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-16518832688626436112022-10-21T00:47:00.004-07:002023-10-03T17:11:02.380-07:00KAPTAR (CRETE) REVISITED<p> In the past, over many years, I have thought about the languages and writing systems of Crete and Cyprus (all the scripts belonged to a family, but there was a variety of tongues), and my musings have ended up as essays and tables on my websites (Cryptcracker and Collesseum). This one will be something like "Ancient Kaptar (Crete) revisited". The main reason for this return visit is that I have discovered, at long last, a mention of Kaptar (alias Keftiu and Kaphtor) in a Linear A inscription. <br /></p><p><b>The name KAPTAR</b><br /><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">Kaptar</span></i></b><span lang=""> was a name applied to Crete in the Bronze Age; it was <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kaphtor</i></b> in the Bible (Kaphtorim were
from Kaphtor, Deuteronomy 2:23; Philistines came from Kaphtor, Amos 9:7; ditto,
Jeremiah 47:4); <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /><b>Kptr</b> </i>in Ugaritic
texts; and <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Keftiu</i> </b>in Egypt.<br /></span>Kaptar is attested in the 18th Century BCE in a document of Zimri-Lim in the palace of Mari (on the Euphrates River): a measure of tin (in minas) "to the Kaptarian (<i>a-na kap-ta-ra-i-im</i>)", and also "to the interpreter (targaman, dragoman) of the chief merchant of the Kaptarians in Ugarit" (Davis, 182). Notice the need for an interpreter for the merchants of Kaptar in the West Semitic (Amorian, Amorite) kingdoms of Mari and Ugarit. So the Kaptarians might be Anatolian or Grecian (Danaian), according to the choices I see for the ethnic types in Bronze Age Crete, but others are possible.</p><p> I have now turned my gaze towards the Keftiu incantation in the London Medical Papyrus (14th Century BCE); firstly because I wanted to look at the subject again; and secondly because I had I have experienced difficulties: getting copies of the incantations, <br /><br />Resources from my own vast library (every room in the house has books, and the spacious garage has 15 bookcases, and an electric bike, but no car):<br /> Richard C. Steiner, Northwest Semitic incantations in an Egyptian medical papyrus of the fourteenth century B.C.E., Journal of Near Eastern Studies 51. 3 (1992) 191-200.<br /> Brent Davis, Minoan stone vessels with Linear A inscriptions (2014) 182-189 (ancient sources of information on Minoan language).<br /> <br />The Keftiu incantation is embedded in a set of Northwest Semitic magical spells transcribed into Egyptian hieratic syllabic script ("group writing"), in the section numbered 27 to 33; modern scholarship has discovered their Semiticness.<br /><br />No 32 is said to be in the language of Keftiu. One implication of this statement might be that even though Spell 32 is embedded in a series of Semitic utterances it is in a different language. On the other hand, it might mean that this spell is in the Cretan Semitic dialect. An assumption is sometimes made that the next spell in the series (33) is also Keftian, and it is clearly Semitic; but the scribe has not told us this, and so we should not assume it.<br /> <br />Richard Steiner has had extensive experience in reading Semitic texts written in Egyptian scripts, and he gives alphabetic transcriptions of these incantation texts, but passes over No 32, on the assumption that it would be non-Semitic (196).<br /><br />As a prelude to our examination of No 32, we should perhaps look at some examples from the collection. <br />The first three (27-29) are fragmentary, but No 30 ("incantation against the fnt [snake]", a kind of worm?) is clear enough; but it seems to have at least one error (a b omitted in the second sbkn); Steiner's interpretation is:<br /> sbkn 'mr s(b)kn (twice) 'mrnu hrsn<br /> Leave us, I say, Leave us. We have said our incantation.<br />The verb sbk is taken as cognate with Aramaic ShBQ, as in the cry from the cross, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me? (sabakhthani in Greek transcription, Mark 15:34). However, if we refrain from emending the skn, we might invoke ShKN, and hence "Submit" or "Settle" (take up your abode elsewhere); but the determinative "twice" demands that we repeat it as sbkn, "Leave us" (Begone from us). Further, hrsn needs to be modified metathetically to give us LHSh, "whispering", used in the Bible for snake-charming (Is 3:3, Jer 8:17, Qo/Eccl 10:11). As always, my epigraphic principle applies: Only the writer of the words knew their intended meaning, and in this case the Egyptian scribe may have had no idea what they meant; I also find myself groping about in the dark. <br /> <br />No 33 is against smun (disease), Akkadian samânu. Steiner interprets this portion of it: <br /> ... yd (walking legs) h.mktu (seated person) rpy (deity) ...<br /> ... let the strangulation demon(s) go out, my Healer ... <br /><br />Brent Davis (Fig. 110) provides a beautiful hieroglyphic transcription of Spell 32, but only an English translation of the introductory statement<br />"Spell for the Asiatic illness in the language of the Keftiu".<br />I would like to know whether "the" is with Keftiu in the Egyptian text; Davis (n. 1048) has it also as 'the "language of Keftiu"'. In another 14th C. inscription (mortuary temple of Amenhotep III) Crete is named k-f-ti-u, with the hill-country determinative for foreign land, although mainland Greece.is ta-na-yu without a determinative, for which Davis (182) proposes Danaoi.<br /><br />Following Brent Davis (186) I would transcribe No 32 thus (V = vowel):<br />sa an ta ka pV pi wa ya 'a ya mV Vn ta r ku ka ra<br /><br />The term "Asiatic" in the introduction to the spell means Semitic, and looking at the text Semitically, kukara resembles kikkar (disc-shaped "talent", or round loaf of bread, kakkaru in Akkadian), and santaka conjures up "your (-ka) sleep", or "your hatred" (used for the supposed animosity of Yahweh towards his people Israel, Deuteronomy 1:27), or "your teeth"; but in each of my suggestions the first vowel is different from the Egyptian, though samânu is written s-mu-n in No 33, I notice.<br /> Next, p piwaya could be "in my mouth", and this invites "your teeth" and the "bread" to form a picture; -ntar might imply the root nt.r "guard, keep", or ntr "leap" or 'tear apart". Does the patient have difficulty in making his food stay in his stomach?<br /> Finally, 'ayam, and a word aya appears in Linear A as possibly "indeed", or it is h.ayyam "alive" or "life" (Lekhayim! To Life!), and the problem is staying alive in defiance of this sickness.<br />(Maybe it will be clearer to me tomorrow morning, but a Semitic text seems possible here.)<br /><br />Louise Hitchcock expressed the thought that we might expect a bit of Greek at this stage of Cretan history, with Akhaians (Mykenians) in control.<br /><br />Some scholars would like it to be Anatolic, and I am ever on the lookout for something in an indigenous language of Crete; and so the Anatolian deities Sandas and Kubaba have been proposed for the opening sequence (reported in Davis n. 1052); this seems likely. Shanta is an Anatolian god in plague spells.<br /></p><p>This interpretation of No 32 has been shared with me:<br />sa an ta ka pV pi wa ya 'a ya mV Vn ta r ku ka ra<br />"Shanta, Kupapa come! Perform the mantillya anointing ritual"<br />The sequence sa-ta occurs on Hagia Triada tablet 117a.7;<br />and ku-pa-pa on HT 88.4; but there may not be any connection.<br /><br />Brent Davis observes that No 32 has 9 of the 12 consonants in the Linear A inventory (q z d absent), and none of the "distinctively Afroasiatic consonants" (Davis, 186), as compared with No 33 (h.) and No 30 (h); this would appear to exclude Semitic, which would struggle to fit its more than two dozen consonants into a system that apparently catered only for a dozen.<br /><br />However, as I have attempted to demonstrate heretofore in this forum, I am certain that most of the religious inscriptions written in Linear A (the stylized Knossos script) are West Semitic, and I am now about to add another one to my list, one which I had hoped was Anatolic or Hellenic, but is arguably Semitic, and apparently includes the name Kaptar.<br /><br />Do you know the one I mean?<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Knossos Zf 13 Gold Ring</b></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpGMtw0GOi4256YHridSfKCstS8vfM2Sx_vlBXNHQx5wT_cB4FBXSHcnOu0edhqCP-q3y2O7zMZH7OP9oCgbMs0fITsqMk3JjxqK8TrFA_pf2WHHWr9KaZt6-a83W7fqrTzvW-Q/s351/Kn+Zf+13+gold+ring.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpGMtw0GOi4256YHridSfKCstS8vfM2Sx_vlBXNHQx5wT_cB4FBXSHcnOu0edhqCP-q3y2O7zMZH7OP9oCgbMs0fITsqMk3JjxqK8TrFA_pf2WHHWr9KaZt6-a83W7fqrTzvW-Q/s320/Kn+Zf+13+gold+ring.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A RE NE SI DI SO PI KE PA YA TA RI<br /> I TE RI ME A YA U </b><br /></div><div><p>If this is a Semitic inscription, we need to remind ourselves that more than two dozen consonants have to be accommodated in the Linear A inventory with one dozen consonants.<br /> Thus, R syllabograms cover R and L, while S serves for a range of sibilant sounds (S S. Sh Th), and the gutturals have to be ignored in transcription; P includes B, K embraces G, and so on. Here am I trying to prove that most Linear A inscriptions are West Semitic, and there are so many variables that my readings look illusory, like confidence tricks. The words are not separated by spaces or marks, but here is an attempt to find some, and make a coherent statement out of them. <br /><b>ARE</b><i> `al </i>(The `ayin guttural is ignored, the L is represented by R, and the final -e should be treated as a "dead" vowel) "upon, about, by"<br /><b>NESI </b>(Hebrew <i>nasi'</i>) "prince, leader, ruler"<br /><b>DI </b>(WS <u><i>d</i></u>) "of"<br /><b>SOPI </b>(Hbr. <i>s.aba'</i>) "host, army"<br /><b>KEPAYATARI</b> (apparently lurking here is one of the names of Crete, that is, <b>Kaptara</b>, Egyptian Keftiu, Hebrew Kaphtor, named in the Bible as the previous home of the Philistians, and presumably also of the Kaptorians and Keretians; the YA in the middle is disconcerting; if it were misplaced from the end of the word it would produce an adjective, Kaptarian)</p><p><b>"By order of the leader of the army of Kaptar"</b></p><p>For the rest, ITE could be <i>'et</i> "with" or "the". MEA might be "100". RIME, perhaps from the root <i>rwm</i>, "be high". The final letter is probably U, though it may be AB34, which I transcribe as KRA, and here perhaps standing for QRA, the root <i>qr'</i> "call, summon, decree". I would like to get something like "supreme command" out of all this. YAKRA <br /><b>YAU </b>could be a transcription of <b>YAHU,</b> a variant of <b>YAHWEH</b>, the name of the God of Israel. Life is full of surprises causing astonishment.<br />See now the additions made to this study of the gold ring, at the end of <br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2016/09/semitic-crete.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2016/09/semitic-crete.html</a><br /></p><p>The Anatolic language of Crete has been detected in personal names, and in inscriptions that I can not decipher (!). Who is working on them? Call up the hittitologists!<br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Shalom/ Shelama/ Salaam<br /><br />Brian Edric Colless PhD ThD<br /><br /> </p></div>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-42326129571025947862021-12-15T21:52:00.030-08:002024-01-28T19:11:42.204-08:00LAKISH INSCRIPTIONS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfB-Jpm-AMf2nomAyIUIkzHkur7DmrzKrDt0gCLnbaxVXN9agY2B5frykk7BmMRzgVjYZr0_5r3z8nIL4oZKK-VftWG1IxcV1j7Yd64Yf5WnhmdgrIDZwPINQcn4k4U_o_02W58Q/s400/Lakish2021+inscription.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="400" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfB-Jpm-AMf2nomAyIUIkzHkur7DmrzKrDt0gCLnbaxVXN9agY2B5frykk7BmMRzgVjYZr0_5r3z8nIL4oZKK-VftWG1IxcV1j7Yd64Yf5WnhmdgrIDZwPINQcn4k4U_o_02W58Q/w320-h194/Lakish2021+inscription.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Photograph [<b>1</b>] Rectangular Lakish Sherd<br /><i>Credit: Felix Höflmayer et al., 2021 </i><i>(figure by J. Dye, <br />which is clearer in its original setting, see below for the link)<br /></i><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">THE NEW LAKISH INSCRIPTION: SYLLABIC OR CONSONANTAL?<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the first part of a series on <b><br />West Semitic Syllabic and Consonantal Scripts </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html</a><br /></b><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html</a><b><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html"><br /></a></b><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html<br />https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2022/11/lakish-lice-comb.html<br /></a><br /></div><div><p><span style="font-size: small;">The first thing I must say is this: many scholars are named in this exposition, and I am not meaning <span>to
make personal attacks on any of them; they are respected colleagues. My
criticism is directed at the flawed tradition they are upholding, and
the errors that they and I commit with our damaged implements, when we
are studying ancient West Semitic inscriptions. If the reader detects
lampooning in this exposé, please keep in mind that I personally use the
word "lampoon" to signify "shining a lamp on a thing to show up its
silliness". However, I am still free to satirize my own self and its
failings.<br /> This is work in progress; I am posting it at this
constructional stage so that you can see where I am coming from, and
where I am going to, and how I arrive at my destinations, and reach my
provisional conclusions; I want to set up <b>sign-posts</b> (an apt
metaphor under the circumstances of surveying significant signs) to show
others the right paths to proceed along, and also offer a <b>compass</b> to guide us in the right directions; accordingly, a <b>typology of categories</b> is being presented here to encompass the corpus of early West Semitic scripts and inscriptions.<br /> I hope I will not spoil your search for truth if I tell you now that I am trying to demonstrate ("prove" and end with QED, <i>quod erat demonstrandun</i>)
that the script on this sherd is not consonantal alphabetic, as is
widely and unthinkingly claimed, but syllabic; and the same applies to
the talismanic </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">cylinders from </span><span style="font-size: small;">Tuba (Tell Umm el-Marra in Syria), which have also been given warranted publicity, but unwarranted interpretation.</span> <br /> <span style="font-size: small;">If
you have fallen into the trap of "pan-alphabeticism", an obsessive
compulsion disorder, and you can only see "Early Alphabetic" in ancient
West Semitic syllabic and consonantal texts alike, then I am here to
help you out of this pandemic affliction; with your compunction and our
shared compassion, this ailment can be cured, and the masks concealing
shamefaced countenances can be removed. However, this journey is a long
and arduous trek, tortuous and torturous, with a profusion of details
to be absorbed, and so you may prefer to just look at the pictures and
try to recognize some of the scary characters: logograms, syllabograms,
consonantograms, acropictophonograms, rebograms. Or perhaps you will be
happy to take my word for it: practitioners in this field are blithely
and blissfully unaware of the disgrace they are heaping upon themselves
by blindly disregarding the presence of the early West Semitic <b>proto-syllabary</b> as the constant companion of </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span> its own offspring, </span>the <b>proto-consonantary</b> (</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span>that is, the proto-alphabet</span>).
This is an opportunity for me to give an overall summary of my system,
and enshrine my ideas on the Worldwide Web, allowing them to hover over
the closed dark grottoes where the early alphabet ìnvalids feed on the
fetid flesh of </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> inválid </span><span style="font-size: small;">fallacies
and fantasies; and when I have departed to even higher realms, in my
original form as stardust, the rock ceilings may collapse under the
weight of this knowledge, and the healing waters may cleanse the sick,
and the illuminating light restore them to the health of truth;
meanwhile, methinks I need a remedy for my hyperbolic colic. <br />
Confession: I have been working on this project since April 2021, and I
still can not say that I have definitively deciphered the message in
this inscription; I would be disappointed if I had to conclude that the
scribe was merely practising random letters. However, on the 14th of
June 2021 I came to a tentative conclusion that the message on the sherd
contains the verb `BD (work, transitive) and the noun GANNAT (garden),
and it says: "<b>I am cultivating a garden</b>" (exactly as in Genesis 2:15). <br /> More news: on my 85th
birtthday anniversary, 12th of July (shared with the Battle of the
Boyne) I received another "(Proto-)Canaanite" inscription, from Khirbet
al-Ra`i, which is situated near Tel Lachish.; apparently it bears the
name YRB`L, an alias of Judge Gid`on in the Bible (Judges 6-9); and it
is also being hailed as a "missing link"; but I am still waiting for the
"unmissing links" to be discovered by scholars other than myself.</span><br /></span>
Pass through the turnstile here, and embark on the lechery cruiser for
your voyage of uncovery (a printer's devil or diabolical gremlin has
interfered with this pious ejaculation, I fear).<br /> This is your ticket, your worker's pass permitting you to labour in a particular garden.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></span><br /></p><p>Here we go again: from the ruin-mound of ancient Lakish (Tel
Lachish in Israel, Arabic name Tell ed-Duweir) a sherd with yet another antique West Semitic inscription has been brought to
light, and published aptly in the journal <i>Antiquity</i>, and also conveniently put on open internet access by Cambridge University Press. (15 April 2021)<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/early-alphabetic-writing-in-the-ancient-near-east-the-missing-link-from-tel-lachish/C73F769B7CF3A7E4E2607958A096B7D8 ">https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/early-alphabetic-writing-in-the-ancient-near-east-the-missing-link-from-tel-lachish/C73F769B7CF3A7E4E2607958A096B7D8
</a><br /></p><p><a href=" <https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-canaanite-inscription-found-in-israel-is-missing-link-in-alphabet-s-history-1.9712097> "> <https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-canaanite-inscription-found-in-israel-is-missing-link-in-alphabet-s-history-1.9712097> </a></p><p>We
can see from these two titles that the four authors are promoting it as
"the missing link" in the early development of the alphabet; I think
that it might be a piece from a different series, and not the alphabetic
chain they have in mind. However, they argue that the Carbon 14 method
of dating is now more reliable, and so they can assert: "Dating to the
fifteenth century BC, this inscription is currently <b>the
oldest securely dated alphabetic inscription</b> from the Southern Levant,
and may therefore be regarded as the ‘missing link’."<br /> Regrettably,
from my viewing point, some "fake news" and "alternate facts" are
lurking here, although this was not the intention of the authors; what I
mean is that the epigraphist Haggai Misgav and the rest of the team
(Felix Höflmayer, Lyndelle Webster, Katharina Streit) have jumped to the
incorrect conclusion; in football terms, Misgav has scored an own goal,
by mistakenly kicking the ball into the wrong net, and losing a point
for his side; in plain language, they have not asked the crucial
question: Is this text syllabic or consonantal? Complying with the
deplorable practice in the infertile field of West Semitic epigraphy,
they have simply assumed that it is alphabetical, that is, consonantal,
where each letter represents a consonant; but it might be a syllabic
text, in which each character is a syllabogram, representing a syllable
(consonant plus one of three vowels: BU, BA, BI). Consequently, their
identifications for its letters could be entirely erroneous, and their
attempt to determine its place in the early history of the alphabet will
be replete with alternative facts, in the sense of irrelevant data,
including a swarm of speculations, causing them to gamble recklessly,
and back the wrong horse on the wrong course; pardon my coarse language.
Needless to say, no mention is made of any published research results
with the name Colless attached to them; this is a regrettable oversight,
but the times are changing. It is still my mission to speak out when
academics inadvertently cross the line between truth and error, and to
tell them that they are innocently guilty of a serious transgression:
promulgating incorrect information about the four early West Semitic
scripts.<br /> On the scale of merit, in their review of "other
potential early alphabetic examples from the area" ("Historical
context") they do not include any syllabic inscriptions; in contrast,
Christopher Rollston's survey of the evidence (in his essay cited
immediately below) is heavily on the demerit side, unable to distinguish
syllabic from consonantal, and it will be my task to arrange his
monomial list of plants (an unhealthy monocultural crop) into four
separate garden-beds (this metaphor is appropriate, because Semitic
words for garden will have an important part to play in my discussion of
the data).<br /><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/classifying-inscriptions">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/classifying-inscriptions</a><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Coincidentally, a claim has also been made for
some inscribed clay objects from a tomb in ancient Tuba (Tell Umm el-Marra in
Syria, east of the antediluvian but still newsworthy city </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Aleppo</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">): these tiny artefacts allegedly have the oldest examples of
alphabetic writing known to us. This is a stupendous claim, or perhaps a stupid
idea, if the writing is actually syllabic. I can see the mother (<i>umm</i>) of
all alphabets in these specimens of writing, but not the proto-alphabet itself.
This Arabic word for “mother” reminds me to tell you that I will be using the term
West Semitic (covering the scripts and languages of the region that extends
from Syria down to the Arabian peninsula, but excluding East Semitic
Mesopotamia), rather than North-West Semitic (referring only to Syria-Palestine,
also known as the Levant), and this is because Arabia was also involved in the development of the early
alphabet.</span> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTBgQcC3aXvXWHNYVL_SVMams_dhEkIXSZS_-A5gRtHixLRuls1uS6TSMacqbdTqQFc2dp8IzayGUUlh5s6wlSPM_-9-2g9Z8iTXljp_wDhII-6H2ULLT2udN4K-n9I9kfVbgSw/s1600-h/EBA+el-Marra.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5043811443447689586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTBgQcC3aXvXWHNYVL_SVMams_dhEkIXSZS_-A5gRtHixLRuls1uS6TSMacqbdTqQFc2dp8IzayGUUlh5s6wlSPM_-9-2g9Z8iTXljp_wDhII-6H2ULLT2udN4K-n9I9kfVbgSw/s320/EBA+el-Marra.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <b>[2] </b>Tuba tubular amulets, with West Semitic proto-syllabic writing<br /></p><p>"Tell Umm el-Marra (Syria) and Early Alphabetic in the Third
Millennium: Four Inscribed Clay Cylinders as a Potential Game Changer" (Christopher Rollston, George Washington University)<br /><a href="http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?p=921">http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?p=921</a></p><p><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2274831-the-alphabet-may-have-been-invented-500-years-earlier-than-we-thought/">https://www.newscientist.com/article/2274831-the-alphabet-may-have-been-invented-500-years-earlier-than-we-thought/ <br /></a>This article by Colin Barras has been published in <i>New Scientist</i>
(24 April 2021) page 15 (and that is where I studied it, not being a
subscriber with access to their website, although I buy this magazine at
my local shop every week). Three scholars were asked for their opinion:
Aaron Koller (Yeshiva University, New York) was doubtful, as he could
not fit this evidence into "our current theories about the invention of
the alphabet" (but the current theories are faulty, and it has a primary
place in my theory; I thought he knew that from our past
correspondence); Benjamin Sass (Tel Aviv University) does not know what
the script is, but these objects do not challenge his ideas of the
alphabet's invention (in fact they do affect his ideas, which are
constantly moving further away from reality); John Darnell (Yale
University) was more open, suggesting that these signs could represent
"a proto-history" of the alphabet (and he is right, but he would not
know why, even though we have discussed his discovery of really early
alphabetic writing in the Wadi el-Hol in Egypt, and he has responded
favourably to my interpretation).<br /> Glenn Schwartz, one of the
archaeologists who found these objects, is Professor of Archaeology at
Johns Hopkins University; his colleague P. Kyle McCarter, now W. F.
Albright Professor Emeritus, is listed as one of his consultants;
McCarter works in the field of West Semitic epigraphy and is reputedly
an expert on the origin of the alphabet; he should have been able to
assist Schwartz in identifying this writing system, but he is a member
of the American school of thought that only countenances an "early
alphabetic" category, and (on pain of loss of tenure and reputation)
they ignore the parallel line of "early syllabic", even though this is
fundamental to the other. Their university was formerly the base of the
great William Foxwell Albright (1891-1971), the polymath who practised
Biblical Archaeology alongside philology. Albright was an unashamed
orientalist, and he is my guru for Ancient Near Eastern studies.
Albright certainly recognized the significance of the inscriptions from
Byblos ("the Canaanites had invented a syllabary of their own, clearly
modeled to some extent after the Egyptian hieroglyphic system"); he
thought that this would have happened before the end of the 3rd
millennium BCE, in the time of "the Old Empire" (1961, 334); the writing
on the Tuba cylinders could fit into this framework. Disappointingly,
although Albright acknowledged that the proto-alphabet was "the direct
progenitor" of the later Phoenician alphabet, he averred that "there is
little reason to believe that it was directly influenced by the earlier
syllabic script of Byblos" (1961, 339f) . Unfortunately, Albright's
opinion on the syllabary, and his defective detective work on the early
alphabetic inscriptions, culminating in
his faulty table of signs and values, have severely corrupted
"archaeological
research", in its wider sense. <br /> In his book on <i>Archaeology and the Religion of Israel</i>
(1942, 1968, p.
36) Albright states that he is using the term "archaeology" in its
inclusive
sense, covering all written documents and unwritten materials; but
occasionally he restricts it to its narrower meaning, which excludes
"philological investigation". Glenn Schwartz, the archaeologist,
certainly has a philological side encompassing languages and literature,
having studied Assyriology with Benjamin R. Foster, and he was probably
expecting to find cuneiform texts on clay tablets in his excavations,
but instead he discovered linear markings on little clay cylinders.
Glenn has been mulling over the script for years, and has now plumped
(in an injuriously heavy fall) for earliest alphabetic, even though I
told him long ago (when the fragments were first publicised on the
expedition's website) that it was the West Semitic syllabary (or
Canaanite syllabary, or Byblos script), which I now call the <i>West Semitic proto-syllabary,</i> and I maintain that it was the predecessor and progenitor and companion of the early alphabet. <br />
In his "Potential Game Changer" essay (cited above), Rollston supports
Schwartz, and in so doing he has become another of the epigraphists who
can not differentiate the proto-syllabary from the proto-alphabet, a
benighted band who will never be knighted (well, they are nearly all US
Americans). On the other hand, we could admit that Rollston and Schwartz
are approximately one-third right, since most of the letters of the
Phoenician consonantal alphabet (which has no signs to represent vowels)
and the subsequent Greco-Roman vocalic alphabet (with vowel-letters)
were originally in the West-Semitic syllabary; they were borrowed from
the proto-syllabary for the new consonantal writing system, and
continued on into the European alphabets. So a mistake like this would
seem to be excusable. However, an examination mark of 33% is a D-grade,
and in the realm of failure. As you can see, I am trying to write this
so that university students can understand, since my hopes are invested
in them, that they will understand this elementary (LMN-T) theory, which
has already been verified by experiments, but is incomprehensible to
established academics, because (1) they did not think of it, so it must
be wrong, and (2) it is not what their teacher taught them, and (3) it
is propagated by three marginal scholars (Colless, Mendenhall, Hoch),
who are dying or dead. For my part (alone and the one in the dying
category), desperation could be creeping in; but inconstant continents
were eventually but reluctantly allowed to drift, by hidebound
scientists; and syllablic-consonantal paradigms can shift, too, if
scholars take their blindfolds and blinkers off. By the way, the
considerable number of shared signs in the syllabary and the
consonantary will be an important aspect of our interpretation of the
new Lakish inscription.<br /> I would like to clarify this matter here
and now, at the very outset. By rehearsing all the background details, I
will strengthen my own case in my own mind, and hopefully teach the
reader how to interpret early West Semitic writing. For those outside
this subject area, my presentation may be funny ha-ha (take note, there
is our first syllabogram, and HA is represented by the ground-plan of a
temple when you are looking for it); for those professionally involved
in this area it may possibly be funny-peculiar and offensive to boot. <br />
Here beginneth the first lesson. George Mendenhall and myself each
compiled tables of sound-values for the syllabograms in the collection
of inscriptions from Gubla/ Gebal/ Byblos; mine was based on his, and I
have been applying it to many other texts, such as these Tuba examples. <br /> <a href="http://collesseum.googlepages.com/westsemiticsyllabary">http://collesseum.googlepages.com/westsemiticsyllabary</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6iQFnQBX7eY9A0a4hlDXx2CMAe7DbDcPk9MZcUTRluRQYNPhAa9TeekWO9Zge8Zq0SD_TS4SqS9xI5U6Dn8MR7AtDLu8YJMTwI9YHFrUzuf7asDDt4q3S52w9lgVzyv_eocNGvg/s371/2wfQbD_TvVpszfphW3Qs1V3OFf9WOdMeDgQeyV0RqZCR-S3rcPEr0T7ucGeuT79yeFVOA303QEpcdpFJVJ4LcCVE_oFu7xIywOVh0nZ075i3LuzL%253Dw1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6iQFnQBX7eY9A0a4hlDXx2CMAe7DbDcPk9MZcUTRluRQYNPhAa9TeekWO9Zge8Zq0SD_TS4SqS9xI5U6Dn8MR7AtDLu8YJMTwI9YHFrUzuf7asDDt4q3S52w9lgVzyv_eocNGvg/s320/2wfQbD_TvVpszfphW3Qs1V3OFf9WOdMeDgQeyV0RqZCR-S3rcPEr0T7ucGeuT79yeFVOA303QEpcdpFJVJ4LcCVE_oFu7xIywOVh0nZ075i3LuzL%253Dw1280.jpg" width="269" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A better view possible at:<br /> <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/megiddoring">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/megiddoring<br /></a><a href="https://massey.academia.edu/BrianColless">https://massey.academia.edu/BrianColless</a> (The West Semitic Proto-Syllabary)<br />Glenn
Schwartz does not find my views on his cylinders convincing (he
graciously gave me a footnote in 2010: "this interpretation does not
seem persuasive"); but his ideas are based on mystical meditation on the
Indus script (by the way, the lotus position is known in that
civilization), and <i>external</i> inspection of a few samples from Byblos for comparison, without <i>internal</i>
investigation of the proto-syllabic system in all its manifestations
around the ancient world, including Atlantic Europe and Transatlantic
America. He has now dived in deeply out of his depth, suggesting that
the characters are early alphabetic letters; he thinks he can find
versions of A, L, O, and K, but he can not identify any words.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx3rmG5yNVXxPuLAkaVSY4Dzfka7XUHtB8FjLuai-u27SYVbdqSfIgZY8oaquPGSYbyvRuph1YVpHXABrjlt_LFCFaLMER064czi8gUHZ0ssFs07W0fbNcFupNgBhcowY5uAzjA/s356/Tuba+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx3rmG5yNVXxPuLAkaVSY4Dzfka7XUHtB8FjLuai-u27SYVbdqSfIgZY8oaquPGSYbyvRuph1YVpHXABrjlt_LFCFaLMER064czi8gUHZ0ssFs07W0fbNcFupNgBhcowY5uAzjA/s320/Tuba+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><b>[3] </b>Tuba tubular amulets with proto-syllabic writing<br /></div><p><b> A</b> would not be the vowel <i>a</i>,
but rather 'Alep/Alpha (glottal stop in Semitic) and represented by the
head of an ox, still visible to us today if the A is inverted; he must
be referring to the glyph in the middle of the second piece; in his 2010
drawing he omitted the clear vertical stroke, and included the faint
horizontal line at the top, to produce a vaguely bovine head; no, it is
not a short-horned bull, but probably <b><i>WA</i> </b>(waw, a hook or
nail) and that is certainly carried over from the proto-syllabary into
the the proto-consonantary (the early alphabet) as <b>W</b>.<br /> <b>O </b>would
be `Ayin, an eye, which certainly appeared in the Phoenician alphabet
as a circle (sometimes with a central dot), in the Iron Age, and went
vocalic as O in the international alphabet; but the circle (with or
without the dot that is present here) was the sun in the Bronze Age,
standing for the syllable <i><b>SHI</b></i> and the consonant <b>Sh</b> (from <i>shimsh </i>"sun"). <br /> <b>L </b>must be at the right end of the top piece, but I take that to be <i><b>`U</b></i>, `Ayin plus U; or else the curved line at the left end of the bottom fragment, but that is <i><b>NI</b></i>, a tusk, which was surplus to requirements in the proto-alphabet, and the snake that was <i><b>NA</b></i> and which became simple <b>N</b> is at the end of the lower piece; at the start of the top fragment is a bee (<i>nubtu > </i><b><i>NU</i>) </b>every
scribe struggled with drawing this character, and there was no standard
form; and when the consonantal alphabet was constructed, the snake (NA)
told the bee (NU) to buzz off, and take the tusked elephant (NI) with
her. Hey, it's a jungle out there, and a jungle book in here. This
knowledge is for children, too, so I am reaching out to them, trusting
them to pass it on to their elders.<br /> <b>K. </b>Yes. OK. That tripodic figure is <i><b>KA </b></i>(actually
three fingers of a hand, apparently, or think of it as a thumb with the
four fingers in a V-form, or the three main fingers shown with the
thumb and fourth finger embracing behind), and by sleight of hand it
slipped into the alphabet as <b>K</b>; we will meet it again in an early alphabetic inscription from Thebes; but the story of the letter K is complicated.<br />
In case you have missed my point, I am arguing that Schwartz has no
idea how he should interpret these early examples of West Semitic
writing; but you may also detect uncertainty in my identifications for
the characters.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx3rmG5yNVXxPuLAkaVSY4Dzfka7XUHtB8FjLuai-u27SYVbdqSfIgZY8oaquPGSYbyvRuph1YVpHXABrjlt_LFCFaLMER064czi8gUHZ0ssFs07W0fbNcFupNgBhcowY5uAzjA/s356/Tuba+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx3rmG5yNVXxPuLAkaVSY4Dzfka7XUHtB8FjLuai-u27SYVbdqSfIgZY8oaquPGSYbyvRuph1YVpHXABrjlt_LFCFaLMER064czi8gUHZ0ssFs07W0fbNcFupNgBhcowY5uAzjA/s320/Tuba+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><b>[3] </b>Tuba tubular amulets</div><p>
What have we overlooked? There is one more letter awaiting our
attention at the end of fragment 1, and a portion of something at the
broken end of fragment 2. The latter sign is difficult to discern<br /> <b><i>HI</i></b>
could easily go unnoticed (to my eternal shame I overlooked it in my
early research on these texts); we focus on the end of the top piece and
see a reversed E; this syllabogram is indeed the ultimate origin of E
(Epsilon not Eta); the middle stroke has a short extension that might
well be complemented by the short stroke on the small piece, pictured
below, on the recapitulation of Photo <b>2</b>; in any case, the other
end of this stem seems to have a circle, for a head, and the whole
character represents a person in jubilation (<i>hillul, </i>as in Halleluyah).<br /> The other mysterious marking may in fact be complete; thus a curved line with two crossbars can be GU (<i>gupnu</i> "vine"); the word <i>gu</i>
means "voice", which would be reminiscent of the term "true of voice"
for deceased persons who have passed the judgement of the heart and
gained entry to the realm of Osiris, the god of resurrection. A circle
with one crossbar at the top of the stem would be Egyptian `Ankh, a
symbol of life (the top vertebra of a bull) and produce H.I (<i>h.iwatu </i>"life"). A circle with two crossbars on its stem is the <i>nefer</i> symbol of goodness and beauty, which combines with Semitic <i>t.abu</i>
("good") to render syllabic T.A and alphabetic T. (and finally Theta).
We could break our bee (NU) into two pieces, and discover `Ankh. It so
happens that these two logograms denoting "good" and "life" appear in
another proto-syllabic inscription (mistakenly published as early
alphabetic) on an amulet against sickness, from Egypt.<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2011/09/from-deir-rifa-gordon-hamilton-has.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2011/09/from-deir-rifa-gordon-hamilton-has.html</a><br /> <i><b>NA. </b></i>We
now need to scrutinize the two serpents at the end of each NIKAWANA
sequence (see the photographs below). There is no doubt that the snake
(NA) passed into the alphabet to act as the letter N (note that the head
is on the right side in Roman N); in the proto-alphabet the snake for N
could be a reposing cobra (Egyptian hieroglyph I10) or a prone viper
(I9), but the syllabary preferred the erect cobra (I12); and that is
what we are looking at here; examining the tail of each serpent, we see
that it is not flat on the ground but has a curve or an angle (as in
the hieroglyph); this feature occurs consistently in the Byblos syllabic
texts
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">(though I have not made this detail clear on my
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>. We need to grasp this
rearing reptile by the tail and hold on to it till the very end; this is
the key component in my argumentation. Of course, you can steer off
course and look fore or aft at the Lakish sherd and see my sneaky snaky
point, and expend no more energy on this journey.<br /> Here I need to
say that my readings are tentative, according to the Colless principle
that the only person who knows the intended meaning of an inscription is
the person who wrote it. Accordingly we can commiserate with Glenn
Schwartz as he attempts to make sense of his great discoveries; but
these texts are early syllabic not earliest alphabetic; he was arguing
from the wrong premiss (like the two women in their respective
apartments shouting at each other across their alley; a passing
philosopher observed that they could never agree because they were
arguing from different premises). I intend to prove to you that my
premiss is the right one in this case. <br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTBgQcC3aXvXWHNYVL_SVMams_dhEkIXSZS_-A5gRtHixLRuls1uS6TSMacqbdTqQFc2dp8IzayGUUlh5s6wlSPM_-9-2g9Z8iTXljp_wDhII-6H2ULLT2udN4K-n9I9kfVbgSw/s1600-h/EBA+el-Marra.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5043811443447689586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTBgQcC3aXvXWHNYVL_SVMams_dhEkIXSZS_-A5gRtHixLRuls1uS6TSMacqbdTqQFc2dp8IzayGUUlh5s6wlSPM_-9-2g9Z8iTXljp_wDhII-6H2ULLT2udN4K-n9I9kfVbgSw/s320/EBA+el-Marra.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>[2] </b>Tuba tubular amulets<br /> Top left: <i>nu-shi-`u</i>, "saved" <br />Bottom left and top right: <i>ni-ka-wa-na</i>, "established"</p><p>Glenn Schwartz could not identify any words in these markings. You want <i>woids</i>?
How about this pleasant plethora of verbose verbiage. Imagine the
triumphant headline: "Oldest missing link for the Semitic root that gave
us the name Jesus found on an ancient lucky charm for salvation and
resurrection in a luxurious élite tomb in war-torn Syria is a potential
game changer". <br /> In this regard, Glenn thinks his artefacts could
be amulets, and I would support this idea; and the two words I have
detected (<i>nu-shi-`u</i>, "saved"and <i>ni-ka-wa-na</i>,
"established") seem appropriate to dead people undergoing judgement
before entering the next world. This could mean that the three occupants
of the tomb were believers in the Egyptian view of the afterlife, and
their minuscule documents were equivalent to the Book of the Dead that
an Egyptian man or woman carried with them into the judgement hall. As I
see it, the man, woman, and child were comfortably installed in their
resting place, with plenty of pots providing sustenance for their
sojourn, and a spear to protect them; subsequently their tomb became a
crime scene: they were victims of posthumous murder! <br /> The grave
was a double square rectangle, with the north and south walls twice as
long as the west and east sides. The male body was centered at the west
wall, right next to a collection of unbroken pots in the northwest
corner. The female bones were in the corner of the west and south walls,
and her jewelry was still there, suggesting that robbery was not the
foremost motive in the mind of the tomb-raider. The child's body was
further down the south wall. This arrangement could imply that they were
all headed westwards, to a paradise. There is a line of three smashed
pots, running SE from the NW corner, and the four cylinder fragments
were found in their vicinity. If these were talismans, threaded on a
string, they could have been on the bodies, and the destroyer tore them
away and shattered them, in the belief that these tickets to eternity
would now be inválid; but they could conceivably have been strung around
the three broken jars, which contained the most important organ of each
person, namely the heart; the placing of the heart in a vessel is in
accordance with Egyptian funeral customs; it was not the brain that
would be judged, but the heart, because it contained the memory, and the
record of the person's actions and experiences in life would be
recorded on the tablets of the heart (learned by heart, as the saying
still goes).<br /> Further discussion on the identification of the
characters is given elsewhere: my 2007 recognition of the script on
these cylindrical objects has now been updated here:<br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/03/oldest-west-semitic-inscriptions-these.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/03/oldest-west-semitic-inscriptions-these.html</a><br />This assessment is reported in my article on "The origin of the alphabet" in <i>Antiguo Oriente</i> 12, 71-104, Colless 2014:78, n. 22), and "The Mediterranean Diet in Ancient West Semitic Inscriptions", <i>Damqatum</i> 12, 3-19, Collesss 2016:4-5); so it has been published in academic journals, and both articles are available at: <a href="https://massey.academia.edu/BrianColless">https://massey.academia.edu/BrianColless</a>.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx3rmG5yNVXxPuLAkaVSY4Dzfka7XUHtB8FjLuai-u27SYVbdqSfIgZY8oaquPGSYbyvRuph1YVpHXABrjlt_LFCFaLMER064czi8gUHZ0ssFs07W0fbNcFupNgBhcowY5uAzjA/s356/Tuba+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx3rmG5yNVXxPuLAkaVSY4Dzfka7XUHtB8FjLuai-u27SYVbdqSfIgZY8oaquPGSYbyvRuph1YVpHXABrjlt_LFCFaLMER064czi8gUHZ0ssFs07W0fbNcFupNgBhcowY5uAzjA/s320/Tuba+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>[3] </b>Tuba tubular amulets</p><p>
Yes, the Umm el-Marra/Tuba texts can be confidently regarded as the
oldest-known West Semitic inscriptions written in a West Semitic script,
but it is the <i>proto-syllabary</i> not the <i>proto-consonantary. </i>Christopher Rollston is quite wrong in asserting that these Tuba inscriptions are "Early Alphabetic". <br />
To bolster his case for widespread employment of the alphabet,
Rollston
presents a list of "Early Alphabetic" inscriptions, which is actually an
unsorted jumble of four different categories of syllabic and
consonantal texts; it is reproduced and rearranged here:<br /><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/classifying-inscriptions">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/classifying-inscriptions</a>. <br />I think it is scandalous that the people who work professionally
in this field can allow themselves to ignore the so-called Byblos
pseudo-hieroglyphic syllabary (the West Semitic proto-syllabary); sadly,
it amounts to an undeclared and unintended conspiracy, and it must be
recognized and remedied.<br /></p><p> Now, before we study the new
Lakish inscription, let me lay down the foundations again. The first
basic thing is that I do not believe anything. Why? because all human <b>knowledge is tentative</b> (merely a messy mass of attempts to make sense of all the phenomena around us), <b>and provisional</b>
(with multiple provisos attached to it, open to alteration by new
evidence and fresh insights). However, I give a large amount of credence
to my theory of the origin of the alphabet; and I am encouraged by the
number of people who are looking at my essay on the subject, in these
two places:</p><p><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html</a><br /><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.academia.edu/12894458/The_origin_of_the_alphabet">https://www.academia.edu/12894458/The_origin_of_the_alphabet</a></span></p><p><span lang="EN-AU"> I weep with Cassandra. "When will they ever learn?" Complicated
writing systems with hundreds of characters (such as Mesopotamian
cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphic) have been successfully deciphered;
but the simple little proto-alphabet is ravaged by all who lay hands on
her; and her mother the proto-syllabary is not difficult to deal with, and yet she is shunned.
Such a state of affairs is disconcerting and disgraceful, and all my
efforts to remedy it have failed, it would seem. My credentials are
derived from eighty years of wrestling with the writing systems of
humankind, starting with the most intractable of them all: English
alphabetic orthography ("right writing", a misnomer for this deplorable system). <br /> This is an opportunity for me to expound
my ideas and discoveries relating to the evolution of the alphabet,
comprehensively but concisely. These are the facts (tentative, but
tenable, not tenuous): </span><span lang="EN-AU">the West Semitic syllabary, alias the<i> <b>proto-syllabary</b></i>,
was the predecessor and progenitor and companion of the consonantal
alphabet; and this non-syllabic pictorial alphabet engendered two more
consonantaries and another </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">syllabary</span>; one outcrop of these, the Phoenician consonantary, provided the resources for the construction of the Greco-Roman alphabet.<br /><br /> <b> </b><i><b>Predecessor</b><br /></i>Rollston
kindly gives us the chronological dates and data: the Tuba script
(recognizable to me as the proto-syllabary) is Early Bronze Age (more
precisely the 24th Century BCE, in the Old Kingdom period of Egypt); and
the early alphabet (Sinai, and Egypt) is Middle Bronze Age (possibly
19th Century BCE, Egyptian Middle Kingdom period). This shows that the<b> <i>proto-syllabary</i></b> preceded the <i><b>proto-consonantary</b></i> (the proto-alphabet); but it did not predecease it.<br /><br /> <i><b>Progenitor</b><br /></i>The
proto-syllabary was not only the predecessor of the alphabet, but also
its procreator; the number of genes or graphemes that they share proves
their common lineage, and even parentage on the part of the forerunner.
First notice that the proto-syllabary (according to my research
calculations) has signs representing slightly less than two dozen (XXIV)
consonants, apparently twenty-two (XXII), which is the same number as
in the later consonantary (the Phoenician alphabet, from which the
Greco-Roman alphabet was fashioned), whereas the proto-alphabet has
slightly more than two dozen consonants (XXVII at least). Focusing on
the Phoenician alphabet (which developed out of the proto-alphabet), we
can see that most of its twenty-two consonantal graphemes
(consonantograms) already functioned as syllabic signs (syllabograms) in
the West Semitic proto-syllabary; additionally, the gestation of the
proto-consonantary (proto-alphabet, with twenty-seven consonants)
involved creation of some new "members" on the body (namely <u>D</u>, <u>H</u>, <u>T</u>, </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> <u>G</u>, </span>Z.).<br /><br /> <b> </b><i><b>Companion</b><br /></i>The
two genetically related systems operated side by side; the syllabary
did not die in giving birth to the consonantary. The mother and the
daughter traveled together over lands and seas, in the 2nd Millennium
BCE (Middle and Late Bronze Ages): they both left their traces in Egypt,
</span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Sinai, </span>Canaan,
and Scandinavia; and also in the ancient trans-Atlantic continent
(Texas, for example) and islands (Jamaica), and notably Puerto Rico,
where we find figurines with proto-syllabic and proto-alphabetic
inscriptions, and a plaque exhibiting the letters of the proto-alphabet.
(Rollston had been consulted about the marks on the figurines, but he
did not notice their significance.)<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/10/phoenicians-in-puerto-rico.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/10/phoenicians-in-puerto-rico.html<br /></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTt7Vqbs78CNCxJYQcxY4HPNSi06-yxs8p1KtHv962YQ3mLKO1J83sSjeYyZD-Kt-FgRX5-8R7omIZMR5gzuaJ72KQJKwLm1zKV5TFC_oGdXptgq7vIfjvbkBn_oiKiuWAVTumVA/s424/img.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="424" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTt7Vqbs78CNCxJYQcxY4HPNSi06-yxs8p1KtHv962YQ3mLKO1J83sSjeYyZD-Kt-FgRX5-8R7omIZMR5gzuaJ72KQJKwLm1zKV5TFC_oGdXptgq7vIfjvbkBn_oiKiuWAVTumVA/w179-h132/img.jpg" width="179" /></a></div><p><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGFjJAEEarAs2bRJydXDWCq9kCfLhWnNBvkz53378py0DV1gk6510Q6ZtYEchEkvFdwRWsrD_x6X5LRuVxEmz-wtqhdWuK5ngo_eMo2SY-FM1M_wXWNKRAXtu-v9KBOWYG7ixHA/s1930/2419658402.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1930" data-original-width="1086" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGFjJAEEarAs2bRJydXDWCq9kCfLhWnNBvkz53378py0DV1gk6510Q6ZtYEchEkvFdwRWsrD_x6X5LRuVxEmz-wtqhdWuK5ngo_eMo2SY-FM1M_wXWNKRAXtu-v9KBOWYG7ixHA/w111-h151/2419658402.jpg" width="111" /></a><span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><b>[4] </b>Puerto Rico figurines<br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU">Left figurine: 9 syllabograms of consonants `Ayin, H, T <br />(note crucifix-cross for a T- syllable, <br />and the 9-shaped HA, temple, which I promised)<br />Right figurine: The sun-sign Sh stands in the centre <br />(2 serpents guarding the disc)<br /></span></p><p><span lang="EN-AU">Incidentally, it has now been proved that Mediteranean ships could have crossed the ocean to the Americas.<br /><a href="https://www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/April-2021/Could-Phoenicians-Have-Crossed-the-Atlantic">https://www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/April-2021/Could-Phoenicians-Have-Crossed-the-Atlantic</a><br />This fellowship of syllabary and consonantary can also be observed at a silver mine in Norway.</span><br /><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2013/09/phoenicians-in-scandinavia.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2013/09/phoenicians-in-scandinavia.html<br /></a> The largest collection of proto-consonantary inscriptions is at the Sinai turquoise mines (Colless 1990).<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html</a><br /></span></p><p><span lang="EN-AU"> <b><i>Mutations</i></b><br />Three
new related systems came into existence, not simply by evolution but
through human intervention; I classify them with these technical terms:<br /> (1) </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><b><i>neo-consonantary</i></b>, a shorter consonantal alphabet; <br />(2) </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><b><i>cuneo-consonantary, </i></b></span></span>a cuneiform alphabet, with characters made up of wedge-shaped components;<br />(3) <i><b>neo-syllabary</b></i>, a syllabary constructed from the letters of the neo-consonantary.<br /><br />(<b>1</b>) First came the <b><i>neo-consonantary</i></b>: the pictorial characters became stylized, and the number of letters was reduced; the resulting short alphabet (<b>neo-consonantary</b>) can be distinguished from the long alphabet (<b>proto-consonantary</b>) by the presence of any of the five additional consonantograms listed above, especially >ooo (<u>H</u>), and = (<u>D</u>); at the same time, if we find in the text </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">a word that originally had <u>H</u> (for instance) but has H</span>.et (example: <i>h.wh. </i>"hole" in Hebrew, but with<i> <u>h</u></i>
in Arabic) then we have an indication of the short alphabet. By the
same token, if any of these three additional proto-alphabet signs </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">(= <u>D</u>, </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">>ooo</span></span><u> H</u>, </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span>--|) Z.) appear in a text, then it could not be proto-syllabic, because those consonants are not recorded in the syllabary;</span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> the breast sign (\/\/) is an exception</span></span>, because it functions as SHA (from <i>thad / shad, </i>"breast") in the proto-syllabary, but it is <u>T</u>
(Th only) in the proto-consonantary, and then it covers Shin (Sh/Th) in
the neo-consonantary (the short alphabet); and the proto-consonantogram
</span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><u>G</u> (<i>ghanab</i>,
"grape") is a vine-stand, but acts as a T- syllabogram in the
proto-syllabary. These are some of the complications of categorizing
West Semitic inscriptions, when a new example comes to our attention.
"Early Alphabet" monomania prevents other practitioners from following
these proper procedures.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">(<b>2</b>) </span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU">The cuneiform alphabet (<b><i>cuneo-consonantary</i></b>)
was invented in the Late Bronze Age, modeled on the characters of the
proto-alphabet, and it likewise had long and short versions. We have
much more evidence of this West Semitic system (most of it from Ugarit),
because its clay tablets were less perishable than parchment and
papyrus.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTIrjeZfnIkh9o9_BRFBXhVLPJrAIyP9Q-igjB3tSjepbg0a-AWLA5TsH41bMKycnZ_YIHGX3f0YVZWyehFMllSx0FaeMDGiJ6K2mjiuyP6OzY-OrqsbAmPhCQrK4gXXHhJ5d8g/s576/M-VeFNrkRDnRd1GBPpk13YayekB40q5659qK0sQa4h255D6DBcFM9ZNJG-hNp-foN4hK8LvAey-g6vpZ9-HRBcMlrixUIheDuBujyPwaZpowLVV5%253Dw1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTIrjeZfnIkh9o9_BRFBXhVLPJrAIyP9Q-igjB3tSjepbg0a-AWLA5TsH41bMKycnZ_YIHGX3f0YVZWyehFMllSx0FaeMDGiJ6K2mjiuyP6OzY-OrqsbAmPhCQrK4gXXHhJ5d8g/s320/M-VeFNrkRDnRd1GBPpk13YayekB40q5659qK0sQa4h255D6DBcFM9ZNJG-hNp-foN4hK8LvAey-g6vpZ9-HRBcMlrixUIheDuBujyPwaZpowLVV5%253Dw1280.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span><b>[5] </b>Cuneiform consonantary </span><span> </span><span> </span><span><br /></span></p><p><span> </span>'A B G Kh D H W Z H. T. Y K Sh L<br /> M Dh N Z. S ` P S. Q R Th<br /> Gh T 'i 'u `S<span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br /><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cuneiformalphabet">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cuneiformalphabet</a> <br /> </span></span>I
have a facsimile of this object, purchased at the museum in Damascus,
many years ago. Let me demonstrate briefly my idea that the inventor of
this partly syllabic cuneiform consonantary (!) tried to represent the
pictophonograms of the proto-consonantary with wedge-shaped (cuneiform)
components: <b>B</b> a square house constructed with four wedges; <b>G</b> a throwstick, and early versions showed the angle at the top clearly; <u><b>H</b></u> (Kh) has the three loops of the hank of thread; <b>D</b> a door, apparently with its post at the bottom; <b>H</b> has the arms and head, but not the body, as with its descendant E; <b>W</b> is a hook; <b>Z</b> has its two triangles represented; <b>H.</b>et, <b>T.</b>et, and <b>Sh</b>
have a small wedge on an angle, denoting a circle, and representing the
round courtyard of H.; the heart in the nfr/t.ab symbol of beauty (+o);
the sun-disc with a serpent or two; <b>Q</b> also has a circle, being a cord wound on a string (--o<); <b>T</b> (+) is a cross, but has only one wedge; the Samek spine-sign (-|-|-|) is clearly represented at the end.<br /><br /> (<b>3</b>) Another innovation was the <b><i>neo-syllabary</i></b>:
the alphabetic letters were used as syllabograms, with three syllables
(-a, -i, -u) for each consonant, as in the proto-syllabary (and there is
a partial analogy in the cuneo-consonantary with its three characters
for 'Alep representing these three vowels); generally speaking, the
various syllables for each consonant were marked by a change in stance
or shape for the usual character. This time the roles have been
reversed: a consonantary engenders a syllabary.<br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5s-hsKQYEjbRAk2INGRNMYr2FjX0yiH057-8FuvrNtqDGolWRr5kftHqTSVhUsi2yC8LEjWwtUWPcW47IFkyOYGiYO0LasIN5U6BEWl-ON0K84c7JYJGMn_WH2_ajWHXXRzYFQA/s594/ZgCKFxPPfcOdcI3fh3SK0eQE7VJWtj_l7qbrTdA2VoLHBrsbrlL-m-Aaf8EGjGGrPTv6Js-XNI_WnMG4l8-qrwrcuImDcRV_lXOlGu29_gTzqO3t%253Dw1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5s-hsKQYEjbRAk2INGRNMYr2FjX0yiH057-8FuvrNtqDGolWRr5kftHqTSVhUsi2yC8LEjWwtUWPcW47IFkyOYGiYO0LasIN5U6BEWl-ON0K84c7JYJGMn_WH2_ajWHXXRzYFQA/s320/ZgCKFxPPfcOdcI3fh3SK0eQE7VJWtj_l7qbrTdA2VoLHBrsbrlL-m-Aaf8EGjGGrPTv6Js-XNI_WnMG4l8-qrwrcuImDcRV_lXOlGu29_gTzqO3t%253Dw1280.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><b>[6] </b>Izbet Sartah (Ebenezer) neo-syllabic ostracon <br /></span></span></p><p><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Pictured
is the amazing ostracon from Izbet Sartah, ancient Ebenezer (1 Samuel
4:1); the scribe is demonstrating how the new syllabary works; the
alphabet at the bottom is apparently intended to exhibit the syllables
with the vowel -a ('a, ba, ga, da etc.); the text shows the letters in
different stances ('Alep in line 1, Taw [+ x] in line 2 and elsewhere);
he uses signs as logograms: example, the `Ayin early in line 2, a dotted
circle, represents the word `ayin, "eye".; the `Ayin at the end of the
first line says "see", as an ideogram. "I am learning the signs; I <b>see</b> that the <b>eye</b> gives the breath of a sign to the ear through a stylus on clay..." See the full presentation at the collesseum website.</span></span><br /><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/abgadary">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/abgadary</a><br />
Again, the new syllabary and the new consonantary operated together.
This is conveniently demonstrated in the two inscriptions from Shaaraim
(Khirbet Qeiyafa, <i>Sha`arayim</i>, 'dual gates", the two-gated
fortress overlooking the Elah Valley, where David confronted Goliath):
the Qeiyafa ostracon is syllabic; it is an oracle from Yahu concerning
David's defeat of the <i>`anaq </i>Guliyut; we finally have
inscriptional evidence for David from his own lifetime, as "the servant
of Elohim", though this is before he became King David; the legend on
the Qeiyafa jar is consonantal; it includes the name Eshbaal, a son of
King Saul; he eventually became King of Israel, but he was presumably
the governor who lived in the palace in this military base. A remarkable
feature of this pair of texts is that the -i syllabograms (examples:
BI, GI, DI) usuually have the same forms as the corresponding
consonantograms in the Phoenician consonantary, but the Eshbaal
inscription does not employ any of these. <br /><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2</a><br />
Examples of all five of these early West Semitic varieties could be
lurking in the ruins of Lakish (Tel Lachish), and we will test this
idea when we come to examine the new sherd from that city.</span> <br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwulwn115Bz5zV0GxOUpnJ6PtK54SPOo5v5c0cAUF5LKDnEjLpvkvSqbiSdb7CMNx8Q6UcpJBSh4t5NKd-q9BGmNsGQdxUHSBka9igwQudXSuUx7hkzYwzm-4G92UJpky-y3nzg/s493/Thebes+abt+Petrie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwulwn115Bz5zV0GxOUpnJ6PtK54SPOo5v5c0cAUF5LKDnEjLpvkvSqbiSdb7CMNx8Q6UcpJBSh4t5NKd-q9BGmNsGQdxUHSBka9igwQudXSuUx7hkzYwzm-4G92UJpky-y3nzg/s320/Thebes+abt+Petrie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: center;">[<b>7</b>] Thebes inscriptions<br /></div></div><div>Meanwhile,
here is another example of the togetherness of the proto-syllabary and
the proto-consonantary: six inscribed pieces of stone from Thebes in
southern Egypt (the top two are only peeping into the picture, but they
will not be overlooked). They were published in a book on <i>The Formation of the Alphabet </i>by
W. M. Flinders Petrie in 1912, and are of immense significance; and yet
they have been ignored by the academicians in this field of endeavour.
The two tablets in the middle and the one above them actually display
all the letters of the proto-alphabet, and they are studied in detail <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">here</a>. <br /> Above left is an important <b>proto-alphabetic inscription</b>,
which has much to teach us; it would be upside down if I had included
it in this photograph, though actually it was the only one of the six
that was right way up in Petrie's published photograph, as the
frontispiece of his book; all the others were unwittingly inverted.<br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2006/07/alphabet-when-young-above-is.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2006/07/alphabet-when-young-above-is.html<br /><br /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IFWl1pCo2sgwc4t2-vqTc30xTKfmPQVD_KuvFjZCQaQuJP4kW-4Hp72siLlyCghKxbZ5RHvzHE0iZ4xwJdICTkkXjryB1-VL0pbG7yEqEJYYH44R6wmrLVEeybXG38kJwmjYVw/s390/Thebes+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IFWl1pCo2sgwc4t2-vqTc30xTKfmPQVD_KuvFjZCQaQuJP4kW-4Hp72siLlyCghKxbZ5RHvzHE0iZ4xwJdICTkkXjryB1-VL0pbG7yEqEJYYH44R6wmrLVEeybXG38kJwmjYVw/s320/Thebes+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1541/3274/1600/Thebes%204dr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1541/3274/1600/Thebes%204dr.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">[<b>8</b>] Thebes proto-consonantal inscription<br /></div><div> Notice the <u>D</u> sign (=) at the end of the line (running from left to right), which indicates that this is the long proto-alphabet (<b>proto-consonantary</b>);
its counterpart Z (which will eventually swallow it up, in the short
alphabet) is the second sign (double triangle with the three strokes of
Greco-Roman Z hiding in them); the mouth-sign above the <u>D</u> is
functioning as P, a truth that is ever denied in favour of an
angle-sign, which is really a boomerang, representing G; the obvious Q
(--o-) is in evidence, but goes unrecognized in other accounts of the
early alphabet, because the bag-sign for Sadey is wrongly identified as
Q. All this may be news to you, but I wish to reassure you that this is
not false information, and it displays the chaos that prevails in "Early
Alphabetic" research. Another major error on the standard alphabetic
charts is the equating of the fish-sign as D (hypothetically from <i>dag </i>"fish") whereas it is S (<i>samk </i>"fish");
the door-signs (for D, which still shows it is a picture of a door) are
wrongly identified as the letter H.et, and the true H.et is mistakenly
classified as a variant of B. The falling domino effect goes even
further than this, and so the upholders of this broken cistern-system
can not flush out its impurities and read the inscriptions. This text
actually speaks of refining metal: LZQQT.KP<u>D</u>; the doubling of the
Q is achieved by the two dots above it; there are other examples of
doubling dots in the proto-alphabetic literature, but you will not read
about this in the academic manuals on the subject; the Q would be
puzzling to the establishmentarians, as it is a discovery I have made,
and they have ignored or dismissed it, even though the South Arabian
alphabet (an obvious descendant of the proto-consonantary, but we will
set it aside for the most part in this discussion) has this same form
for its Q, and our Q/q still shows its origin: it was a cord wound on a
stick, <i>qaw</i>, "line", with its own Egyptian hieroglyph to confirm
that ancient and modern builders alike use this instrument (though in my
lifetime the string is wound on a flat pencil); as already intimated,
the standard (but wrong) sign for Q on charts of the early alphabet is a
tied bag (unrecognized as such) for the letter S.adey (S., emphatic S).
The next letter in the text is the Egyptian <i>nefer</i> symbol, signifying "good and beautiful", and it was amalgamated with Semitic <i>t.abu </i>(good)
for T.A in the proto-syllabary (see the following inscription from the
same bunch) and T. (T.et) in the proto-alphabet; it became Theta,
eventually; here it might be a logogram; the expected crossbar (o-|-) is
not clearly evident; so it could be W. The K is patently obvious, and
we can see how it will develop into the form K. The word P<u>D</u> means "fine gold". My literal interpretation would be: "To (<i>l</i>) refine (<i>zqq</i>) good (<i>t.ab</i>) as (<i>k) </i>gold (<i>p<u>d</u></i>)".<br /> It so happens that a similar statement has been found in a syllabic inscription at a silver mine at Kongsberg in Norway.<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2013/09/phoenicians-in-scandinavia.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2013/09/phoenicians-in-scandinavia.html<br /></a><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBYkPQ7DwOYm5OhQWsWJkJfLjcei0eA4zj_nuDLvn6QLgLyhsbqPJTh_QdvtttNo7hiIDz0bnT0EkwLWh7koJBjLDhE_Smi9s5viFH-D-sP7Fk7FrrIK-deTRX2-dRbYHw6UtZA/s524/Kongsberg+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="524" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBYkPQ7DwOYm5OhQWsWJkJfLjcei0eA4zj_nuDLvn6QLgLyhsbqPJTh_QdvtttNo7hiIDz0bnT0EkwLWh7koJBjLDhE_Smi9s5viFH-D-sP7Fk7FrrIK-deTRX2-dRbYHw6UtZA/w280-h173/Kongsberg+1.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">[<b>9</b>] Kongsberg silver mine proto-syllabic inscription <br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The text runs left to right: LA HU ZA QA QI "To be refined"<br /><br /></div><div> Again we encounter the root <i>zqq</i> "refine" (compare Hebrew nip`al or hop`al infinitive). The last sign is new to me; I am presuming it is a wall, <i>qir</i>, hence QI. The ZA is an animal tail (<i>zanab</i>) which usually has a bend at the end, as we shall see; the HU is from <i>hudmu</i>
"footstool"(also the second sign in the Thebes inscription below). The
first syllabogram is very important; it looks like a snake but it is a
somewhat deformed version of the Egyptian hieroglyph for "night", and
Semitic <i>layl</i> gives the syllable LA; note that it has a horizontal
bar at the top; we can see more examples on two proto-syllabic inscriptions from <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html">Lakish</a>; it is an important
indicator of the syllabary.<br /><p> Let us put my derailed train of thought back on its track. (<span lang="EN-AU">Notice the railway lines that the scribe of this inscription has laid for his train of syllable wagons to run along.)<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/s544/Thebes+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/s320/Thebes+6.jpg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-AU"><br />[<b>10</b>] Thebes proto-syllabic inscription<br /></span></div><p><span lang="EN-AU">In this fabulous collection of a half-dozen gems from southern Egypt, the odd one out is the
<b>proto-syllabic inscription</b> at the bottom of the composite picture
(originally published at the top, and unwittingly inverted, but reproduced here clearly and correctly). </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uqk_i2SiYGWLvfHIH7idsCm-WltP79ATY3nF0VcYI1bLFJlVgoiRVkn4hrQWGKvYoE8IdojNnpFx_5QKFeaWZ2DS2lon73U_TBo8aT-YQNVIw7qGrUIgc63Lsm-c6tcgn1wE-g/s524/Thebes+5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="524" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uqk_i2SiYGWLvfHIH7idsCm-WltP79ATY3nF0VcYI1bLFJlVgoiRVkn4hrQWGKvYoE8IdojNnpFx_5QKFeaWZ2DS2lon73U_TBo8aT-YQNVIw7qGrUIgc63Lsm-c6tcgn1wE-g/w265-h205/Thebes+5.jpg" width="265" /></a></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU">[<b>11</b>] Thebes inscriptions<br /></span></div><span lang="EN-AU"> The small one beside it is apparently <b>consonantal</b>; at its centre, at the end of a line of writing,
it has a door sign (a rectangle with a doorpost, the
same as the letter Dalet on the Lakish sherd) which would say D /d/; the accompanying
syllabic inscription (running from left to right) also has a door-sign,
with two panels, and as a syllabogram it would say DA (from <i>dalt</i> "door"<span lang="EN-AU">, Greek Delta). The alphabetic tablet apparently has (at the start of its "D for door" line) a <u>D</u>
(=); if so. this should indicate that it is neither proto-syllabic nor
neo-consonantal, but proto-consonantal, since that sign was not in the
Byblos repertoire, though I have seen it in one inscription functioning
as ZA; the usual ZA is an animal's tail, as on the Lahun Heddle Jack (see below),
and in the silver-mine inscription (above). If the inscription is
proto-consonantal the 3-shaped letter beneath the door would be Th (<i>thad</i>
"breast"), which becomes Sh in the neo-consonantary, and ultimately
Greek Sigma and Roman S. The consonantal sign for Sh was the sun (<i>shimsh</i>
"sun"), and it represented SHI in the syllabary, while the breast was
SHA. The sun-sign was basically a circle, sometimes with a dot in the
centre, or with one or two protective serpents, as in the accompanying
syllabic inscription. For the alphabet, the widely held origin of Th/Sh
is a "composite bow" (from an imagined word *<u><i>t</i></u><i>ann), </i>a wild guess, but it contrives to shoot arrows of error all over the landscape. Actually, the <i>shimsh</i>-sign (with serpent or serpents but no sun-disc) is probably holding sway in the top right corner. If we go back to Photograph <b>7</b>,
and inspect the middle right tablet, we will find Thad (lower centre)
and Shimsh (far right); they are very similar in appearance, but still
distinguishable.<br /> Incidentally, on the spatula tablet, to the right
of the D is a 3 with an extra peak, representing three water-waves;
this is the letter M. On the bottom line, between a cross and the breast, there is a triangular figure with one or more lines projecting at the top; this could be proto-syllabic DU (a jar) as on the adjacent inscription (see below), or another door-sign as found in <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html">Sinai 357 </a>(a tent-door). I confess I can not read this </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">text,
and I am uncertain about its classification, whether syllabic or
consonantal, but I suspect the D is a logogram for "door" </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">(as also on its accompanying proto-syllabic
tablet, where the Dalt has two door panels).</span>
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An apposite aside: with regard to his tiny artefacts, Glenn Schwartz
observes that “given the small number of sign values attested, it
is difficult to ascertain whether the system was logographic, syllabic,
alphabetic, or a combination of these” (Schwartz 2021, 258). The same
cautionary remark could apply to our new Lakish sherd. However, the
important point is the possibility of "a combination" of functions for
an ancient writing system. The art of writing began with logograms (or
we might say pictologograms for the earliest examples): the character
expressed the word (in any language) that the sign depicted; then the
sounds of the word could be used as syllabograms (single or multiple
syllables) to represent the sounds of other words. When the acrophonic
principle was put into service, in the new and original West Semitic
syllabary and consonantary, the sign would represent the first syllable
of the pictured word, or the first consonant. It is not generally
accepted, but my contention is that the proto-syllabary and the
proto-consonantary retained the older functions alongside their
acrophonic roles; for example, a snake-sign can say NA in the
proto-syllabary, or N in the proto-alphabet, but in either system it can
represent the full word NAKhASh ("snake"), and even stand for a word
with the same sounds, in this case "copper".</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/s544/Thebes+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/s320/Thebes+6.jpg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br />[<b>10</b>] Thebes proto-syllabic inscription</span> <br /><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">
Gazing again at our syllabic inscription from Thebes, I propose that
the door-sign is here acting as a logogram and so it says DALTU ('door")
followed by the sign for HU (<i>hudmu</i> "footstool"), hence "his/its door". </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br />
The next grapheme is possibly WI (apparently a copper ingot, connected
not with the NKhSh word mentioned above, but with East Semitic <i>weru</i>
"copper"); this might be a logogram, and the sentence is stating that
"its door is copper", and it may be referring to a temple or tomb in the
Valley of the Kings; presumably the six inscriptions were produced
there by West Semitic workers in the Late Bronze Age. </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br /> The next syllabogram depicts a rainstorm (Hebrew <i>h.aziz</i>), hence H.A. </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br />
Thereafter, a very important character, a symbol of the sun with two
serpents, standing for ShIMSh "sun", and the syllable ShI; this is also a
feature of the proto-consonantary, as Sh, though the sun-disc is
usually omitted there (as on the spatula and in the Sinai inscriptions); the disc can stand alone, or with one serpent, or
with two (as here). </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br />
A problematic triangular glyph follows: I suggest DU, from DUDU "jar".
The sequence H.AShIDU does not lend itself to an easy resolution; given
that the preceding ingot stands for copper, H.AShI mighr be a phonetic
complement to make it clear that the word for copper (see the sentence
above the illustration) is to be supplied, while DU is a relative
pronoun (also <u>D</u>U and ZU in Semitic languages), resulting in "Its
door is of copper that is orange-coloured (TRG, the next sequence of
signs). However, if we compare </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">H.AShIDU
with Hebrew H.ASID, "pious", and consider its connotations of
"faithful" and "loyal", then we might contemplate "genuine copper"; but
the idea of "solidarity" in Hebrew H.ESED, and the Arabic verb H.AShADA,
"gather together, mass, concentrate" might</span></span> support "solid copper" </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">(rather than timber covered in copper sheeting).
</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /> Then we see a pair
of musical semiquavers, but this is the grapevine Taw (TA or TU?) that
we saw on a Puerto Rico figurine earlier. The next glyph is a bird, a
vulture, RU, which we will meet again at Lakish. Then a throwstick, with
an acute angle, GA (there is one of these on the new Lakish sherd). </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br /> We now have the root <i>trg</i>,
which refers to citrus, and the colour orange. Josephus (Jewish War
5.5.3) likewise describes the gates of the Jerusalem Temple, plated with
gold and silver, and one of Corinthian <i>khalkos</i> (copper, brass). One possible interpretation would thus be: "Its door is solid/genuine orange copper".</span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br />
Moving on to the remaining two letters, whose sequence is unsure, but
the rectangular sign is one of the indicators of the proto-syllabary,
representing an altar, MIZBAH.U, for the syllable MI; the circular
character is apparently the Egyptian <i>nfr </i>glyph (o-||-), used for
Semitic T.ABU (good), and the syllabogram T.A, and the consonantogram
T.; as ever, only the writer knew what it all meant; it might say "a
fine altar" or "the altar is fine" (though the adjective should have a
final <i>t</i> to mark the feminine gender); if <i>t.ami</i> is equivalent to Hebrew <i>t.ame', </i>then
the copper door is "unclean"; or we retain "good" for the copper or the
door, and MI is "from" (as with Corinth in the Josephus text) and
assume that the name of the place has been washed away, and it could
have said Alashiya (Cyprus) or Tarshish (Tartessos in Spain?). If we
allowed the GA to be united with the MI, we would have a word for
papyrus (I have seen an inscription with this combination, GAMI; cp.
Hebrew <i>gome`</i>). Or could Hebrew <i>gam</i> "also" be invoked, saying "also good".</span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br />
Where are we? That was a test for the Mendenhall-Colless decipherment
of the West Semitic syllabic script, with my additional praxis of
looking for logograms; in the absence of the person who wrote the
message long ago I can not verify my multifarious interpretation, but
the characters are certainly recognizable as belonging to the
proto-syllabary.</span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br />
At the same time it was a presentation of my typology of four
categories of (non-cuneiform) West Semitic scripts, and their
developments, in the Bronze Age (before 1200 BCE) and the early Iron Age
(after 1200 BCE):</span></span><br /></div><p><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">[1] PROTO-SYLLABARY (Early Bronze to Early Iron) acro-picto-phonograms > syllabograms; also logograms, rebograms<br />[2] PROTO-CONSONANTARY (Middle Bronze to Late Bronze) </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">acro-picto-phonograms > consonantograms; also logograms, rebograms<br />[3] NEO-CONSONANTARY (Late Bronze to Early Iron) reduced number of consonantograms; also logograms, rebograms</span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br />[4] NEO-SYLLABARY (Early Iron) neo-consonantal signs adapted to produce a syllabary, including the three vowels -u, -a, -i; </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">also logograms, rebograms</span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">My fourfold classification of the evidence<br /> is an evolutionary scheme</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">PROTO-SYLLABARY > PROTO-CONSONANTARY > <br />NEO-CONSONANTARY > NEO-SYLLABARY</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Each species generates (>) the next in this evolutionary process;<br />the basis of evolution is that new species are descended from <br />earlier species, though in the development of writing systems, <br />human invention and intervention are always guiding factors.</span></p><p><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Before
I continue with this presentation of my own system, focusing on the
wealth of material from Lakish, we should consider the failings of my
learned colleagues seated on the other side of the House, and ask what
the loyal opposition in this parliament of unintentional fools is saying
about the same material. Their deficiency is simply that they are all
exponents of "die althebräische (or more grammatically der
althebräischen) Grammatik", oder "Inschriftenkunde", relating to the Iron Age; they innocently
apply the principles that they follow in that field to the complex area
of Bronze-Age West-Semitic scripts; consequently and ineluctably they
experience infelicitous failure; though they are blithely unaware of
their lack of success as they bathe in the bliss of ignorance. I can
speak in this judgemental way because I know I have a considerable
modicum of support for my position, but scepticism towards it is rife,
as befalls every new paradigm in science (in my case we could say
'articultural science').<br /> Gordon Hamilton has been productively
prolific in publishing studies on West Semitic inscriptions of the
Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, notably in his book <i>The Origins of the West Semitic Alphabet in Egyptian Scripts </i>(2006), and in his essay on Reconceptualizing the Periods of Early Alphabetic Scripts, in <i>An Eye For Form </i>(F. M. Cross </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Festschrift, 2014)</span></span>.
Additionally, Gordon has enriched the field by bringing many early West
Semitic inscriptions to light, with photographs, especially of those
that Flinders Petrie published with only drawings (Lahun heddle jack,
Ajjul spouted cup); but he has overlooked the six immensely important
documents from Thebes (highlighted here), which would force him to
rethink some of his erroneous ideas; the two abgadaries in that
collection should have been the starting point and foundation of his
Harvard thesis, but he simply asserts the identity of each
proto-alphabetic letter according to the tradition laid down by W. F.
Albright </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">(which was to some extent based on guesswork</span></span>),
as transmitted by F. M. Cross, supervisor of the thesis, though GJH
insists he had differences of opinion with FMC; but he has certainly
departed from the scheme offered by Romain F. Butin (to whom Hamilton's
book is reverently dedicated), the foundation on which my system is
built. For my part, I can honestly say that Hamilton does cite my
publications scrupulously in his book, though he apparently does not
believe what I am saying; but he has no place for me in his chronology
article, and that is understandable, because I have not yet published my
ideas on dating-criteria for early alphabetic inscriptions.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">
The approximate dates that Hamilton assigns to the Sinai inscriptions
are generally helpful; in his book (Chapter 3.III) he rightly divides
the corpus among three periods; we both agree that it is not a question
of either Middle Kingdom or New Kingdom, but both MK and NK. In his
palaeographical essay, he sets up three </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Early Alphabetic </span></span>periods: <br /> A (c. 1900 - 1400 BCE), B (c. 1400 - 950), C (c. 1050 - after 900).<br />
However, he is unable to recognize syllabic inscriptions and valiantly
jousts with them to unseat them from their rightful status; then he
forces them to falsely confess, consonantally and not syllabically;
three examples of proto-syllabic texts that have been tortured with his
inquisitional instruments are: <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2020/08/lahun-syllabic-heddle-jack.html">Lahun heddle jack</a>, <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2011/09/from-deir-rifa-gordon-hamilton-has.html">Rifeh amulet</a>, <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/megiddoring">Megiddo gold ring.</a> <br /><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_56PwTAz5LAF0-jXIQCDLdP2lRpkTSWdGhvAkqmMkL3-p0WPMF18XSfGY09k6KZmxle1UUrwP1fVAn6TVATV6GIctHoxR00ah_OHg8hHyn0TBsYJ9_l1D1Svj8dUuIZn7YnK6mA/s442/Lahun+A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_56PwTAz5LAF0-jXIQCDLdP2lRpkTSWdGhvAkqmMkL3-p0WPMF18XSfGY09k6KZmxle1UUrwP1fVAn6TVATV6GIctHoxR00ah_OHg8hHyn0TBsYJ9_l1D1Svj8dUuIZn7YnK6mA/s320/Lahun+A.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> [<b>12</b>a] Lahun heddle jack</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">
Here is the heddle jack, from Egypt (Middle Kingdom); it is pictured on
the far left of the drawing (please ignore the oversized letter I have
drawn on it); Hamilton's consonantal reading is at the bottom; the D
seems secure, since we have seen that door elsewhere in Egypt (in a
syllabic inscription, <b>10</b>); the oval sign in the middle is taken
to be an eye, hence `ayin, but I prefer it as a mouth, hence P (or PU),
but Hamilton has formulated a firm law that there is no mouth-sign in
the alphabet (we refuted that earlier, in the Thebes inscriptions); the
character on the far right certainly looks like a bovine head, hence
'alep, but another choice is available. <br /> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></span><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbpieuuTOtIL3HP48inza9U-y-uWyaWvaR2Q5HTFp28hicBhMbcGwuKFeDKQo9vGdtwVoTkzNNAZNy5po0-mDaks7PrlPa6X-JwjUsL_ff8nI5BSKK3ClHxEJOkE031mGJWkyMQ/s513/Lahun+B.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbpieuuTOtIL3HP48inza9U-y-uWyaWvaR2Q5HTFp28hicBhMbcGwuKFeDKQo9vGdtwVoTkzNNAZNy5po0-mDaks7PrlPa6X-JwjUsL_ff8nI5BSKK3ClHxEJOkE031mGJWkyMQ/s320/Lahun+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> [<b>12</b>b] Lahun heddle jack<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> From
this perspective the supposed 'Alep ox-head becomes an eye, viewed from
the side to show the white (LUBNU > LU); the presumed B (a wide-open
house, and closer to the modern Hebrew Bet than any example from the
Bronze Age) is an animal's tail (ZANABU > ZA), and we saw a curtailed
version of that at the silver mine in </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Norway [<b>9]</b></span></span>; the cross (taw) has to be T- (but I am uncertain whether it is TU or TA). As a West Semitic syllabic text, it reads:<br /> ZA TU PU DA LU<br />Using a West Semitic (Hebrew) dictionary I can forcefully extract a meaning such as this: <br /> "This (ZA) is a weaving (DALU) instrument (TUPU)"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Applying vocabulary from an East Semitic lexicon, I can offer:<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> "This (ZA) tiny (TAPU) partner (DALU) (of mine)"<br />Both are attractive interpretations, but it seems that we need to be seeking other possibilities.<br />Further details here: <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2020/08/lahun-syllabic-heddle-jack.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2020/08/lahun-syllabic-heddle-jack.html</a><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">
Analysing the data in this inscription, we see three graphemes that
could be either syllabic or consonantal (door D, mouth P, cross T), and
two distinctly syllabic characters (white of eye LU, tail ZA) which
verify the syllabic nature of the text. <b>When we examine the new Lakish
sherd we will need to employ this kind of analysis</b>. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl7eK6O4mqI4c9TLQw7Vlimlr0bx1jPWcJLDW1w8USrW5QdaUGHvCvTzONrVspWxyxjXu2ArrtH6XjOBuzCAA58NvnFdkAXbkT5pkLhTySDw_zdoFnKcJ9hqIfV3I25HJ0Wcu5ag/s513/Megiddo+ring+ISBE+1988+v4+p197.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="513" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl7eK6O4mqI4c9TLQw7Vlimlr0bx1jPWcJLDW1w8USrW5QdaUGHvCvTzONrVspWxyxjXu2ArrtH6XjOBuzCAA58NvnFdkAXbkT5pkLhTySDw_zdoFnKcJ9hqIfV3I25HJ0Wcu5ag/w389-h175/Megiddo+ring+ISBE+1988+v4+p197.JPG" width="389" /></a></div></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/megiddoring">Megiddo gold ring</a></span></span></span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Megiddo signet ring is one of the “tripods”
(a term used for the documents that confirmed the Ventris decipherment of the Cretan
Linear B syllabic script) that authenticate the Mendenhall-Colless
decipherment of the West Semitic proto-syllabary: <br />
“Sealed (<i>nu-h.u-ta-ma</i>) the sceptre (<i>shubt.u</i>, logogram) of (<i>sha</i>)
Megiddo (<i>magaduda</i>). <br />Of the ten graphemes in this text, only
three (SHA =Th/Sh, GA=G, DA=D) can be construed as consonantal.
Nevertheless, Hamilton twists it out of shape, then melts it in his
fiery crucible,
and turns its syllabic and logographic gold into consonantal dross. </span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> <br /></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> <i><b>Examples of the various types of scripts, from Tel Lachish<br /></b></i></span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><i><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Our new Lakish </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">inscription
may not have enough graphemes for us to classify it definitively, but
the ruin-mound of the city has provided several examples of the script
categories, which may assist us in our quest. </span></span></span></span></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><i><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-size: medium;">The continuation of this expedition to LAKISH is recorded here:<br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html</a></span><br /></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-28026156247423096762021-12-15T20:19:00.031-08:002024-02-08T18:28:21.839-08:00LAKISH INSCRIPTIONS<p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <b>This is the second part of a a series on <br />West Semitic Syllabic and Consonantal Scripts</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html</a><b> <br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html<br /></a></b><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html<br /></a><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2022/11/lakish-lice-comb.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2022/11/lakish-lice-comb.html</a><br /></p><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> <br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> <i><b>Examples of the various types of scripts, <br />from Tel Lachish<br /><br /></b></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><i><b> <br /></b></i></span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><i><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Our new Lakish </span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">inscription
may not have enough graphemes for us to classify it definitively, but
the ruin-mound of the city has provided several examples of the script
categories, which may assist us in our quest. <br /></span></span></span></span></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><i><b><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></span></span></span>(1) The proto-syllabary</b></i></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Here are two more inscriptions on sherds from Lakish (written in ink); they were published in the journal <i>Tel Aviv</i>
3 (1976) 107-108, 109-110, and Plate 5. Both objects were found in
Palace A in 1973. They each include letters that are known to me as
exclusively proto-syllabic, together with signs that could be syllabic
or consonantal. Many years ago my son Michael in Sydney made me a
photocopy of these articles, thinking they might be useful to me, and
they have languished </span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">ever since </span></span></span>in an unstudied state, but have now miraculously and serendipitously revealed themselves at exactly the right time.<br /></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/s366/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/s320/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">[<b>13</b>] A proto-syllabic inscription from Lakish<br />the pentagonal sherd<br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRQgP7anuy2lczRXFX834wRMP52whscy7tkMy-_nd6xojiSAdV0imimArKnXxmDgFyEZIYXknPP113-czqAK7mMCNHzOST6TbGJZWuTNuurA6DaTXNtD9_dbVjHq04Hcn0n8JoA/s358/Scan+1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRQgP7anuy2lczRXFX834wRMP52whscy7tkMy-_nd6xojiSAdV0imimArKnXxmDgFyEZIYXknPP113-czqAK7mMCNHzOST6TbGJZWuTNuurA6DaTXNtD9_dbVjHq04Hcn0n8JoA/s320/Scan+1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU">[<b>14</b>] A second proto-syllabic inscription from Lakish</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU">the triangular sherd <br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><br />
The inscription on the pentagonal bowl-fragment was studied by
Mordechai Gilula, who thought it was "Egyptian hieratic", comparable to
examples from the 19th and 20th Dynasties, and in line with Ramesside
inscriptions found in Lakish. <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/s366/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="366" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/w218-h140/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" width="218" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU">[<b>13</b>] Lakish pentagonal sherd<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU">The
top line was read confidently as "Tenth regnal year"; the supposed
number 10 sign is at the right end of the line; it is a truncated oval
(without a base), but here its right-hand side is admittedly not
complete; it so happens that this symbol has a place in the
proto-syllabary as `U (from <i>`ushru </i>"ten, tithe"); looking closely
at its remains here, it seems to have a crossbar, producing a character
like A, but with the angle rounded or flattened, and thus being an
example of the M used to show mimation (-m without a vowel) at the end
of words; or it is simply a small square, BA (from <i>bayt</i> "house") and it is in contact with the tail of the previous sign; if indeed we have a proto-syllabic text before us, then </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">I
would favour this interpretation, that this square represents the
syllabogram BA; but it could be BU (reed), shaped like Roman F/f, and I
will propose that the faded second sign in the line is also BU. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRQgP7anuy2lczRXFX834wRMP52whscy7tkMy-_nd6xojiSAdV0imimArKnXxmDgFyEZIYXknPP113-czqAK7mMCNHzOST6TbGJZWuTNuurA6DaTXNtD9_dbVjHq04Hcn0n8JoA/s358/Scan+1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="358" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRQgP7anuy2lczRXFX834wRMP52whscy7tkMy-_nd6xojiSAdV0imimArKnXxmDgFyEZIYXknPP113-czqAK7mMCNHzOST6TbGJZWuTNuurA6DaTXNtD9_dbVjHq04Hcn0n8JoA/w220-h160/Scan+1.jpeg" width="220" /></a></span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"> <br />[<b>14</b></span><span lang="EN-AU"><b><span lang="EN-AU">]</span> </b>Lakish triangular sherd<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU">The
triangular sherd was examined by André Lemaire, who thought that the
original pot and the letters belonged to the Iron Age, and he
characterized it as a schoolboy's exercise, using letters of the
alphabet; Y. Aharoni added an editor's
note, questioning Lemaire's interpretation, and suggesting the presence
of hieratic numerals (10+1) at the end of the top line. We can start
with the first sign in the top line, on the left: it is an eye with
three vertical strokes emanating from it, representing tears flowing;
this is known to be the syllabogram BI (<i>bikitu</i>, 'weeping');
another one, apparently, stands at the end (right side) of the third
line; and there is one in the middle of the top line of the pentagonal
sherd.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBYkPQ7DwOYm5OhQWsWJkJfLjcei0eA4zj_nuDLvn6QLgLyhsbqPJTh_QdvtttNo7hiIDz0bnT0EkwLWh7koJBjLDhE_Smi9s5viFH-D-sP7Fk7FrrIK-deTRX2-dRbYHw6UtZA/s524/Kongsberg+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="524" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBYkPQ7DwOYm5OhQWsWJkJfLjcei0eA4zj_nuDLvn6QLgLyhsbqPJTh_QdvtttNo7hiIDz0bnT0EkwLWh7koJBjLDhE_Smi9s5viFH-D-sP7Fk7FrrIK-deTRX2-dRbYHw6UtZA/w280-h173/Kongsberg+1.jpg" width="280" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">[<b>9</b>] Kongsberg proto-syllabic inscription </div><div>Look
again at the proto-syllabic inscription at the Kongsberg silver mine in
Norway: the first letter in the left-to-right text is LA; we can find
it as the first letter in the second line of the Lakish triangular
sherd, and a more angular version in the upper line of the pentagonal
sherd. This seems promising, as the LA-sign is distinctive, and it was
not the prototype for alphabetic Lamed; it is a simplified form of the
Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol (N2) for "night", Semitic <i>layl</i>,
hence LA. The next sign in the Scandinavia mine inscription is probably a
misshapen HU (footstool), and I think it may have an angular
counterpart in the bottom left corner of the square sherd; we also saw
it on the syllabic inscription from Thebes (second on the left,
reversed).<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/s544/Thebes+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="544" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/w246-h115/Thebes+6.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU">[<b>10</b>] Thebes proto-syllabic inscription</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Comparing the signs on the Lakish pentagonal sherd: the bird-sign RU (eagle vulture) occurs<i><b> </b></i>between the grapes and the throw-stick at Thebes, and at the start of the first line of the Lakish inscription (left side). <i><b><br /></b></i><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/s366/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="366" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/w218-h140/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" width="218" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU">[<b>13</b>] Lakish pentagonal sherd</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Staying
with this Lakish five-sided sherd, we may now attempt to read it as
proto-syllabic. On the bottom line in the right-corner, there is a
boomerang (GA from <i>gamlu</i>), as also in the Thebes text, in a
different stance, in the top right corner; incidentally it is also among
the letters on the new sherd from Lakish, but remember it can be GA in
the syllabary and G in the consonantaries (and GI in the neo-syllabary).
I suspect that the direction of writing has changed from dextrograde (L
-> R) to sinistrograde (L <- R), that is, the boustrophedon
(ploughing ox) manner. The next letter is a dotted circle with a
squiggle attached; this might be NU (a bee, nubtu) or NA (a snake, like
the cobra above it in the top line). This is followed by a cross (TU or
TA) though the bar is short on the right-hand side); but it conforms to
the prevailing style whereby the proto-syllabic cross has a long stem
(as seen markedly on the figurine from Puerto Rico, [<b>4</b>]), while
the proto-consonantal T has equal-length strokes (+). Finally, as
mentioned earlier, we have, perchance, a very faint HU (footstool,
hudmu). The sum total is either GAN<b>A</b>TUHU or GAN<b>U</b>TUHU. Setting aside the HU ('his'), the choice before us is between GANAT and GANUT, which seem to correspond to Hebrew <i>gannat </i>('garden') and <i>gannot </i>('garden<b>s</b><i>')</i>; my preference is for <i>gannat </i>('singular number', grammatically speaking). In Bronze Age West Semitic, 'garden' could be <i>gan</i> (masculine gender) or <i>gannah/gannat</i>
(feminine gender); in the proto-alphabetic inscriptions at the Sinai
turquoise mines, the word GN (referring to a vegetable garden) occurs, and GNNT at least once
(<a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/ancient-sinai-horticulture-sinai.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/ancient-sinai-horticulture-sinai.html</a>); <i>gan</i>
appears in association with the name Eden in the second chapter of Genesis (2:8) in the
Hebrew Bible, you will recall, and a vegetable garden is mentioned in
Deuteronomy (11:10); but this obvious entity generally remains unseen in
the Sinai inscriptions, because everybody abandons Butin and follows
Albright in reading P for the boomerang-sign, supposing it to be a
'corner'; this is one of the many fatal errors that lead to the false
claim that the Sinai proto-alphabetic inscriptions are 'undeciphered'.
Notice that the feminine form <i>gannat </i>(Numbers 24:6, plural <i>gannot)</i> has double <i>n;</i>
it is possible that the dot in the head of the snake on this square
sherd has the function of doubling the NA, and NANA would be read as <i>nna</i>,
with the first -a not sounded, according to a rule about 'dead' vowels;
we can see instances of this in consonantal writing in Sinai texts, on
the bilingual sphinx, for example; in the phrase M'HB B`LT ('beloved of
Baalat') only one B is written (as a square, representing a house) but
it has a doubling dot at its centre.<br />(<a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html</a>)<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/s366/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="366" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/w218-h140/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" width="218" /></a><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU">[<b>13</b>] Lakish pentagonal sherd</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now,
for the top line we have tentatively established (reading from the
left) the syllables RU (vulture), BU (reed), LA (night), BI (weeping),
NA (snake, with a head, and an angular tail)<i><b>;</b></i> and PA (not quite the <i>panu </i>'face'
as known hundreds of years previously; at Byblos it was mostly a
conjunction, 'and', and I suspect it has the same reference here); then
BA (a square, clearer on the photocopy I have, but not certain). There
is another faint letter, above the BI and the NA: it is YA, and looks
remarkably like a Y, though it was not in the proto-alphabet; a clearer
example stands in the middle of the second line on the triangular sherd.
Whether the marks leading down to the bottom line are significant or
not, the identified syllables could run in this sequence:<br /> RU BU LA BI NA YA PA BA GA NNA TU HU<br /> Abundance (<i>rubu</i>) for (<i>la</i>) my son (<i>binaya</i>) and (<i>pa</i>) in (<i>ba</i>) his garden (<i>gannatuhu</i>) <i><b><br /></b></i>
This reading, although tentative, provides a clue for the
interpretation of the triangular sherd. Possibly some of the signs have
been misinterpreted in this interpretation, but the important part is <i>gannat</i><i>, </i>"garden"; I think this word also appears on the new Lakish rectangular sherd (notice GNNT in the lower part of the text, on the photograph at the top of this page).<i><b><br /></b></i>
This reminds me of the little pieces of paper with prayers in Hebrew
placed in the interstices of the Western Wall at the site of the
Jerusalem temple; sherds were the equivalent of scrap paper in the olden
days.<br /> Returning now to the triangular sherd, our task is made
difficult by its murkiness. Another impediment is that there may be some
syllabograms that were not attested in the Byblos texts, on which the
Mendenhall-Colless decipherment is based; we certainly need to find such
signs, but it is hard to discern even the characters we already know in
this time-ravaged document.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRQgP7anuy2lczRXFX834wRMP52whscy7tkMy-_nd6xojiSAdV0imimArKnXxmDgFyEZIYXknPP113-czqAK7mMCNHzOST6TbGJZWuTNuurA6DaTXNtD9_dbVjHq04Hcn0n8JoA/s358/Scan+1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="358" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRQgP7anuy2lczRXFX834wRMP52whscy7tkMy-_nd6xojiSAdV0imimArKnXxmDgFyEZIYXknPP113-czqAK7mMCNHzOST6TbGJZWuTNuurA6DaTXNtD9_dbVjHq04Hcn0n8JoA/w220-h160/Scan+1.jpeg" width="220" /></a></span></span></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span lang="EN-AU">[<b>14</b></span><span lang="EN-AU"><b><span lang="EN-AU">]</span> </b>Lakish triangular sherd</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We
begin at the bottom line, which has three faded letters visible; but
the previous lines begin (or end?) close to the left edge, and here the
first presumed letter is barely detectable, though it may be a circle,
SHI; next is a cross, T-; then a snake, with the typical angular tail,
NA; finally the weeping eye, like the one in the top left corner, BI;
this latter combination gives us NABI, and this takes us to Lakish
Letter 3 (Hebrew) in the period of the Babylonian invasion, where HNB'
('the prophet') is mentioned; note the 'Alep (glottal stop) at the end,
and if this is essential we might have 'I (<i>'iratu</i> breast with
nipple) beneath the snake, and below it possibly ZA (tail), thus
producing "this prophet" (NABI' ZA), corresponding to "the prophet" in
the cited military dispatch; above the proposed BI is (in line 2, or 3?)
a possible 'U (a rodent head with ears, for <i>'uznu</i> ear, and apparently also with eyes in this instance). The SHI-TU could be compared to Hebrew <i>sét</i> or <i>s'ét</i>,
with Sin not Shin, from the root NS', "lift", meaning "elevation,
raising, lifting up, exaltation, majesty". The pentagonal sherd seems to
be a prayer, and this may be an oracle delivered by a prophet; the
Qeiyafa Ostracon belongs in this category, as a recorded utterance of a
deity (Yahu Elohim).<br /> Does the second line suit the oracular genre?
LA (night) DA (door) RA (head) YA: "to/for my circle, family,
generation, dwelling"; but if the dot in the head is for doubling
(rather than depicting an eye) , then this could say "for liberation"
(Hebrew <i>dror</i>) with regard to slaves and captives. Another BI
follows the YA, perhaps, and then the 'U (ear); this sequence produces a
possible verb, <i>yabi'u</i>, "brings" (root BW' "come"); the ink blob
at the end of the line looks like a fish, which should not trespass into
the proto-syllabary, but if we allow it, the preceding sign is a
circle, SHI (sun) and with the SA (fish) the root ShSS (plunder)
emrges.<br /> Can the top line reveal a theme we can grasp? The first
letter is the familiar BI, (eye with three tears); next perhaps a
dotted circle, SHI (sun), but it is more like a quadrilateral diamond
figure, and thus H.U (<i>h.udshu</i>, new moon, or month), and this
suggests that a date is being given; then we are confronted by a small
square (BA, house?), but it has an upper part, making it as tall as the
BI, and a door with two panels, denoting DA. At the midpoint of the
line we have a mess of smudged letters requiring long consideration .... Desperation is creeping in.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One line of thought would involve the direction of the writing: the
letters on the pentagonal ostracon run from west to east and then change
to the opposite orientation, and produce a garden (<i>gannat</i>) in the process; if we start from the east side in
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">the SHI T- NA BI </span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>line of this triangular
document, and fill the gap between BI and NAT- with a boomerang (an
obtuse angle of joined dots), we now have another garden (GA-NA-T-); and
leaping ahead, we can also find the sequence G-N-T (likewise from right
to left) on the new Lakish sherd! Moreover, if the presumed circle is a
logogram, giving us "Garden of the Sun", then we have a counterpart for
this on a Sinai stele (Sinai 353), referring to a vegetable garden,
where provisions for the daily rations could be gathered.<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span style="color: blue;">SINAI HORTICULTURE (353)</span></a>
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{margin-bottom:0cm;}</style><br /> On the other hand, if the combination is simply BI-NA-T-, "daughter", parallel to the "son" (<i>bin</i>)
on the other ostracon, then the mysterious garden and the mystical
prophet disappear. However, the possibility still remains that it is a
prayer.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Even if we do not succeed in detecting the writer's intention in this
triangular text, we know that it is using the proto-syllabary by the
presence of the BI syllabogram (weeping eye), as also on the pentagonal
sherd; and both documents have the equally distinctive LA sign (night
symbol). Therefore this syllabic script was definitely employed at
Lakish, and all its inscriptions need to be tested for this benign
virus.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b>(2) The proto-consonantary<br /><br /></b></i><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-R6PoUb purZT-AhqUyc-R6PoUb pSzOP-AhqUyc-R6PoUb JNdkSc"><div class="JNdkSc-SmKAyb"><div><div class="oKdM2c Kzv0Me"><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-R6PoUb purZT-AhqUyc-R6PoUb pSzOP-AhqUyc-R6PoUb jXK9ad D2fZ2 OjCsFc wHaque" id="h.p_ID_24"><div class="jXK9ad-SmKAyb"><div class="tyJCtd baZpAe"><div class="t3iYD"><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-R6PoUb purZT-AhqUyc-R6PoUb pSzOP-AhqUyc-R6PoUb JNdkSc"><div class="JNdkSc-SmKAyb"><div><div class="oKdM2c Kzv0Me"><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-R6PoUb purZT-AhqUyc-R6PoUb pSzOP-AhqUyc-R6PoUb jXK9ad D2fZ2 OjCsFc wHaque" id="h.p_ID_24"><div class="jXK9ad-SmKAyb"><div class="tyJCtd baZpAe"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVw7S31an6T4XCKIH6Z_ulzHNEtZ5AnCy2usS0mH62nvBOC7I3DHaMTB59G2P0Wetdx7Jj3Xb-vo6RZpGBuNEix3FdpJSWY4bhnRMyJk1KuGxe_ahcmSQJrqU25qjy7Ha5XLuTQ/s333/PhLakish+dagger+1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="126" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVw7S31an6T4XCKIH6Z_ulzHNEtZ5AnCy2usS0mH62nvBOC7I3DHaMTB59G2P0Wetdx7Jj3Xb-vo6RZpGBuNEix3FdpJSWY4bhnRMyJk1KuGxe_ahcmSQJrqU25qjy7Ha5XLuTQ/s320/PhLakish+dagger+1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="t3iYD"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pSilXFrL34n1zAHKadE4CVmpkV8CNejqJw1oSSe2LnIpgTRqw-M4gzc2YEZ1qPHie5-aJISdetzxejtfeMX6EXLRVSCikVmKviiuay5l1h9KvvhOPTHtAGrSYw7cEMOq-DhR8A/s231/Lakish+dagger+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pSilXFrL34n1zAHKadE4CVmpkV8CNejqJw1oSSe2LnIpgTRqw-M4gzc2YEZ1qPHie5-aJISdetzxejtfeMX6EXLRVSCikVmKviiuay5l1h9KvvhOPTHtAGrSYw7cEMOq-DhR8A/s0/Lakish+dagger+2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="mYVXT"><div class="LS81yb VICjCf" tabindex="-1"><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-R6PoUb purZT-AhqUyc-R6PoUb pSzOP-AhqUyc-R6PoUb JNdkSc"><div class="JNdkSc-SmKAyb"><div><div class="oKdM2c Kzv0Me"><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-R6PoUb purZT-AhqUyc-R6PoUb pSzOP-AhqUyc-R6PoUb jXK9ad D2fZ2 OjCsFc wHaque" id="h.p_ID_24"><div class="jXK9ad-SmKAyb"><div class="tyJCtd baZpAe"><div class="t3iYD"><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-R6PoUb purZT-AhqUyc-R6PoUb pSzOP-AhqUyc-R6PoUb JNdkSc"><div class="JNdkSc-SmKAyb"><div><div class="oKdM2c Kzv0Me"><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-R6PoUb purZT-AhqUyc-R6PoUb pSzOP-AhqUyc-R6PoUb jXK9ad D2fZ2 OjCsFc wHaque" id="h.p_ID_24"><div class="jXK9ad-SmKAyb"><div class="tyJCtd baZpAe"><div class="t3iYD">[<b>15</b>] Lakish proto-consonantal dagger<br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-ibL1re purZT-AhqUyc-ibL1re pSzOP-AhqUyc-ibL1re JNdkSc"><div class="JNdkSc-SmKAyb"><div><div class="oKdM2c Kzv0Me"><div class="hJDwNd-AhqUyc-ibL1re purZT-AhqUyc-ibL1re pSzOP-AhqUyc-ibL1re jXK9ad D2fZ2 OjCsFc wHaque" id="h.p_ID_32"><div class="jXK9ad-SmKAyb"><div class="tyJCtd baZpAe"><div class="t3iYD">S.R NS Foe flee!<br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><i><b> <br />The Lakish Dagger<br /></b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/death-dagger ">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/death-dagger </a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The
photograph is not helpful (the lines of the letters are lost in the
pockmarks on the metal) but my drawing matches that of Hamilton (2006:
Fig A.59, 390-391), though I reject his reading of the first and last
signs: he divides the first character in two, producing <u>D</u> (||)
and L, but it is a tied bag (S.adey), the letter he usually interprets
as Qop (209-221), and since this instance bears no resemblance to a
monkey, he resorts to desperate and divisive measures; the human head is
certainly R and the snake is N; but the last sign is not T, but a
spinal-column Samek, with only two crossbars, as in the proto-syllabary.
His interpretation is "This is Rnt's"; mine is "Foe flee!" (<i>s.r ns</i>), suitable to
the context of a protective weapon in a tomb, like the spear in the
Tuba tomb (mentioned <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html">here</a>). <br /> Could it be proto-syllabic? R could be RA,
and S could be SA; but the syllabic snake for NA is invariably the
cobra, not the horned viper; and Sadey is not attested in the
proto-syllabic texts at our disposal. On the other hand, the fish is the
normal Samek in the Sinai proto-consonantal inscriptions, and the Samek
with two crossbars is the prevalent form in the Byblos proto-syllabic
texts; only the two monumental inscriptions (A, G) have the three-bar
Samek, in a form that shows its origin in the Egyptian Djed hieroglyph
(R11, spinal column); the three-stroke Samek first emerges on the Lakish
jar sherd (2014), and it is unique in having no protrusion of its stem
at either the bottom or the top (see Photo <b>18</b> below, with
discussion); again it is uncertain whether this jar inscription is
consonantal (neo-consonantary) or syllabic (neo-syllabary), and whether
its Samek is simply S or SI; for the neo-syllabary, SA has been
identified as a vertical fish with head downwards (Izbet Sartah
ostracon), SU is the fish with head upwards (Qeiyafa ostracon, line 4),
and we might expect a horizontal fish for SI, but since the characters
in the standardised Phoenician alphabet usually correspond to their
neo-syllabic -i counterpart, we might presume that --|-|-| (but
vertical) would be SI; of course, if this Lakish jar had a neo-syllabic
text, then we have found the missing SI, but this argument is going
round in circles and that is a prohibited practice.<br /> Nevertheless,
in seeking to solve this mystery of the non-identical Samek twins, we
can point to places where they were together. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTIrjeZfnIkh9o9_BRFBXhVLPJrAIyP9Q-igjB3tSjepbg0a-AWLA5TsH41bMKycnZ_YIHGX3f0YVZWyehFMllSx0FaeMDGiJ6K2mjiuyP6OzY-OrqsbAmPhCQrK4gXXHhJ5d8g/s576/M-VeFNrkRDnRd1GBPpk13YayekB40q5659qK0sQa4h255D6DBcFM9ZNJG-hNp-foN4hK8LvAey-g6vpZ9-HRBcMlrixUIheDuBujyPwaZpowLVV5%253Dw1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTIrjeZfnIkh9o9_BRFBXhVLPJrAIyP9Q-igjB3tSjepbg0a-AWLA5TsH41bMKycnZ_YIHGX3f0YVZWyehFMllSx0FaeMDGiJ6K2mjiuyP6OzY-OrqsbAmPhCQrK4gXXHhJ5d8g/s320/M-VeFNrkRDnRd1GBPpk13YayekB40q5659qK0sQa4h255D6DBcFM9ZNJG-hNp-foN4hK8LvAey-g6vpZ9-HRBcMlrixUIheDuBujyPwaZpowLVV5%253Dw1280.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> [<b>5</b>] Cuneiform consonantary<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In
this long version of the cuneiform consonantary, the Djed-pillar Samek
appears at the end of the last line, and the fish sign (a combination of
three vertical wedges) is above it (to the north-west); presumably they
represent two separate sibilant sounds. On one of the Thebes abgadaries
(see Photo <b>7</b>, the smallest, top left) there is a Djed-Samek (with two cross-strokes), and it has a fish below it.<br /> Returning to the Lakish dagger, if it is in fact proto-syllabic (<i>s.ar nas</i>,
Foe flee) then we have found the syllable S.A (tied bag) to add to the
table of signs, which has nothing to show for that consonant. However,
that lifelike human head is troublesome, since only stylized forms of
heads are found in the Byblos proto-syllabic texts. Short inscriptions
such as this, and the new Lakish sherd, always make our heads spin as we
endeavour to categorize them, and to extract their meaning.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>(3) The neo-consonantary <br /></b></i><br /></div><div><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">As an example of the neo-consonantal category,
this Lakish bowl can serve our purpose, in spite of its obliterations
(Sass Fig. 165; Colless 1991, Fig. 05, and 36-38 for discussion). <br /></span></span></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwPyYYUOxZ2qzge7g-LbVITMBgI0TuwUXqJd4cq463Z4wNo24HmwkxSgxOO-dxo7CzginPqqvh-LwtMl-AhMYeNoI538n-L9080A0hPff8uC2BEdDcJKA4dGPkMZK6DRTGxHzqQ/s558/Lakish+HRHB.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="558" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwPyYYUOxZ2qzge7g-LbVITMBgI0TuwUXqJd4cq463Z4wNo24HmwkxSgxOO-dxo7CzginPqqvh-LwtMl-AhMYeNoI538n-L9080A0hPff8uC2BEdDcJKA4dGPkMZK6DRTGxHzqQ/w320-h224/Lakish+HRHB.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">[<b>16</b>] Lakish bowl <br /></span></span></div><div><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">As
I see it, the upper line runs from left to right (dextrograde), has a B
(house with open entrance) and two instances of H.et (divided
rectangle, but without baseline); in second place is what appears to be
an incomplete dotted circle, to be compared with the undotted example on
the new Lakish sherd; this could be an `Ayin, but a combination H.`H.
is not likely in a Semitic language. However, if it were the
remains of a Rosh (a human head with an eye, which has analogies in
other inscriptions), a sequence H.RH.B would correspond nicely to <u>H</u>R<u>H</u>B,
known at the Sinai turquoise mines as the patron-deity of a vegetable
garden (Sinai 355 at Mine L), and at Ugarit as "king of summer (fruit)";
he may have been the male personification of the sun, since West Semitic
<i>shimsh</i> and Ugaritic <i>shapsh</i> are grammatically feminine.
This hint of solarity for this god is strengthened by my reading of the
lower line, from (right to left. sinistrograde): BYS.'H W ShBH, "at his
going forth and his returning"; this may have been a ritual object for
the rising and setting of the sun. Questions could be asked about the
S.adey (for original Z., but apparently it is S., a collapsed version of
the bag seen on the Lakish Dagger, rather than Z., a sunshade) and the
Shin (for original Th; Hebrew ShWB "return", but Arabic
ThWB), </span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">to confirm (together with the H. for <u>H</u>)
that this text is employing </span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> the <b>short alphabet</b>, that is, the <b>neo-consonantal</b> script.<br /><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBMe5WjEzMjv9LUS33fYJh7Me66m_nIRz0D-RVJNo7WiL0K2i5uH2nO-exj9qSIWfHDRl7svmrOgvdLljmSK0YxpoczNfw2-PgYN-IYBPnFD_FQuscQT0IsPiQ31MStYReqeLHPw/s535/Lakish+bowls.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="535" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBMe5WjEzMjv9LUS33fYJh7Me66m_nIRz0D-RVJNo7WiL0K2i5uH2nO-exj9qSIWfHDRl7svmrOgvdLljmSK0YxpoczNfw2-PgYN-IYBPnFD_FQuscQT0IsPiQ31MStYReqeLHPw/s320/Lakish+bowls.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">[<b>17</b>] Lakish inscriptions<br /></div><div><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> Other examples, from temples:<br /> Lakish ostracon (or Bowl 2, Sass Fig. 258; Colless, Fig. <b>06</b>, 38-39)<br /> <i>sh y ` d r l l l <br /> </i>An offering of the flock to Lel (goddess of night)</span></span></span><br /><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Did the
bowl contain blood from the sacrificed animal?)</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /> Lakish ewer (Sass Fig. 156-160; Colless Fig. <b>07</b>, 39) <br /> <i>m t n : sh y [l r b] t y ' l t </i><br /> A gift (or Mattan) : an offering to my lady Elat <br />
Are they syllabic? No, since they both have the Lamed that does not
have a place in the proto-syllabary; likewise the Yod. So the next
question will be: Is this the longer or shorter consonantary? If we
focus on the word for offering, it is thought to have Th not Sh
originally, though Richard Steiner disputes this; the problem is that in
the neo-consonantary the Thad (breast) consonantogram has replaced the
Shimsh (sun) sign, to represent both Th and Sh, and they look very much
alike (if the solar disc is not included with the serpents); </span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">but in one instance the breast is depicted
vertically (<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">Wadi el-Hol</a>), and in Sinai inscription <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/08/sinai-food-rations-sinai-inscriptions.html">375</a> it is inverted in the word ThLThT, "three" (cp. ShLShT on a Lakish bowl, 08); the four Lakish inscriptions in Fig. <b>17 </b>are apparently
all using the short alphabet, and two have vertical Sh/Th, and two have
a horizontal version. There is much debate over the point in time when
these two sounds coalesced, and the change from long to short alphabet
is brought into the discussion, and fourteenth century BCE (for example)
is proposed;</span></span></span> but we need to remember that in the
proto-syllabary (Early Bronze Age!) Sh and Th were not differentiated,
so the breast said SHA and the sun was SHI; but more work needs to be
done on the sibilants that were represented by Sh and S signs in the
proto-syllabic texts (and we require many more documents to aid us in
this research). <br /> Lakish bowl (Fig. <b>08 </b>above), found in a tomb:<br /> <i>b sh l sh t | y m | y r h.<br /> </i>On the third day of the month<br />
The reading of the first of the three sections (notice the two dividing
strokes) is clear: it is the number 3 (written as a word), originally <i>th l th</i> <i>t</i>, but now <i>sh l sh</i> <i>t</i>,
though it is the original Th sign representing it here, and so the
evidence for long or short alphabet is ambiguous; but in this case the
word <i>yrh.</i> (moon, month) assists us; its final consonant was etymologically <u>H</u>, but here it is H.; this indicates the shorter consonantary.<br /> A more recent sherd arrived in 2014, again from a temple: its inscription had been engraved into the jar before firing;<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/12/lakish-jar-inscription-new.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/12/lakish-jar-inscription-new.html</a><br />This
inscription is not proto-syllabic, though it might be neo-syllabic, but
is probably neo-consonantal. It will be examined in the next section.<br /><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><i><b>(4) The neo-syllabary<br /><br /></b></i></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">As
far as I can see, no example of this form of writing (an offshoot of
the neo-consonantary) has surfaced at Tel Lachish yet; the Izbet Sartah
and Khirbet Qeiyafa ostraca have been mentioned above, as clearly
exemplifying the <b>neo-syllabary</b>, manifested by the variations in stance and shape applied to the letters. <br /> <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html</a><br /> Beth-Shemesh has an interesting and amusing sherd with a local version of this system.<br /> <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/winewhine">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/winewhine<br /></a>
Note that I am constructing a table of signs (not ready for publication
yet) with three columns, one for each of the three vowels (u a i), and
to the right of the -i column another three columns of later examples
of the consonantal alphabet, showing that the -i syllabograms were
usually the same as their consonantal counterparts (</span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">for example, </span></span></span>DI
= D, triangular like Delta). I was able to complete the Shu Sha Shi row
with additional assistance from the Qubur Walayda bowl; that town is
thought to have been a Philistian settlement, and the fact that the
inscription has Baal and El names may indicate that the Philistian
immigrants were Semitic, but other explanations are conceivable.<br /><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></span></span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibK32iw4qVk1DfbFomAzdx0QjMDcaEtXomoBqv0LPzkKc7F0jTMc1KUKzaDqs7xZrMd_aAmblBpRcLLljpd-6w4Dxe51RDcX2jVYnvp6aEyN-zQr0jB8EEH99FJV2o0tcVLPeWng/s1600/Lakish+sherd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibK32iw4qVk1DfbFomAzdx0QjMDcaEtXomoBqv0LPzkKc7F0jTMc1KUKzaDqs7xZrMd_aAmblBpRcLLljpd-6w4Dxe51RDcX2jVYnvp6aEyN-zQr0jB8EEH99FJV2o0tcVLPeWng/s320/Lakish+sherd.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">[<b>18</b>] Lakish jar<br /></span></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/12/lakish-jar-inscription-new.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/12/lakish-jar-inscription-new.html<br /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/12/lakish-jar-inscription-new.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2015/12/lakish-jar-sherd.html</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Some
consideration should be given to this jar from Lakish, to determine its
category in my fourfold scheme. (For discussion of details, go to the
two cited essays.) The jar and its inscription are dated to the 12th
Century BCE, so it was more recent than the new 15th-century sherd; and
the text was incised before the pot was fired, when the clay was
"leather hard"; </span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">it
explains the purpose of the vessel, I think ("for measuring 5 hekat").
Credit must go to Sass who suggested (p. 243b) that the signs in the
bottom line could "stand for a numeral or a measure", and this was
confirmed by William Schniedwind's daughter, and published by him. <br /> If it is interpreted as neo-syllabic, the text could be read thus: </span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> (1) PI KI LI (2) SI PI RI (3) <i>h.q3t</i> (Egyptian logogram) 5<br /> "Jar (<i>pik</i>) for (<i>li</i>) measuring (<i>sipir</i>) 5 hekat (of grain)"</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Note that the word <i>pîk</i> for "jar" is found (by a slight emendation) in Job 33:6 (David Clines, <i>Dictionary of Classical Hebrew</i>); the usual word is <i>pak</i>, "flask". All the supposed syllabograms seem to have the same vowel (<i>-i</i>),
and this makes the syllabic reading suspect; we will encounter a
similar situation when we scrutinize the new Lakish sherd; but it is
strange and unfortunate that these two brief texts have no graphemes in
common; and when we look for comparisons in the other Lakish
inscriptions, the R that we desperately need here is L on Bowl 2 (Fig. <b>06</b> on Photo <b>17 </b>above)
standing next to a human head, which is obviously R; but here the L is
the third letter (6 shaped), which could be neo-syllabic LA; and so on
to infinity and eternity. We must remember that we are trying to
decipher personal (idiosyncratic) handwriting.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><i><b>Third proto-syllabic inscription from Lakish? <br />The oblong sherd</b></i><br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s0/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" /></a></span></span></div><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><b>[1] </b>Lakish rectangular sherd<br /></span></div><div><p>The first question we must ask about the new Lakish inscription is this: Is its script the <b>proto-syllabary</b>, or the <b>proto-consonantary</b>, or the <b>neo-consonantary</b>, or the <b>neo-syllabary</b>? It is obviously not the <b>cuneo-consonantary<i>, </i></b>the cuneiform alphabet, since there are no wedge-shaped (cuneiform) components in its characters (see Photo <b>5 </b>above). <br />
Nobody else thinks this way when confronting a new inscription,
applying this four-pronged research instrument (well, I know one person
in Israel. whose name is Geula, and she has inspired me to see the
proto-syllabary in this particular case); but this is the right way to
go.<br /> Ask the question! Is this inscription <b>syllabic</b> (proto-syllabary or neo-syllabary) or <b>consonantal</b>
(proto-consonantary or neo-consonantary)? In this instance, my
preferred response is to say: It is always difficult to decide, because
the proto-syllabary and the proto-consonantary share so many signs
(since most of the consonantograms are converted syllabograms); but the
neo-syllabary can probably be excluded, as it was a phenomenon of the
early Iron Age, and this (allegedly) securely dated missing link is from
the Late Bronze Age; also the readily recognizable D (a rectangular
door) is not one that matches any of the three D-syllabograms (DU and DA
are rounded, like Roman D; and DI is triangular like Phoenician Dalet
and Grecian Delta).<br /> A significant archaeological detail needs to
be inserted here: Lakish was destroyed by fire (by Egyptians, or
Israelians, or Philistians?) and was unoccupied in the Iron Age I (12th
and 11th centuries BCE). In the history of Israel, that is the period
of the Judges and the reign of King Saul; by my calculations, that was
also the time of the neo-syllabary. Therefore this new Lakish sherd
(15th century), and the later Lakish jar sherd would not fit the
category "neo-syllabic".<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></span><br /></p><p>
The first step is an examination of the interpretation given by the
editors of the text; they accomplish this in a single paragraph, and my
suspicions are immediately aroused. They have not established the
writer's intention, and they can not make sense of this collection of
meandering characters. Their sources for identifying letters and their
Egyptian prototypes are
Sass, Hamilton, Goldwasser, all unreliable guides in this matter, I
have
to say. They discern two lines of writing, each consisting of three
letters; my first choice would be to say two groups of writing, an upper
and a lower, but they note the presence of two more characters to the
right of the top line, and another between the two lines; my second
choice would be to envisage a single line of text circling from the top
right corner to the bottom right, and possibly continuing upwards to
complete a circle of letters, perhaps along a piece of the right-hand
side that has been broken off, though not necessarily, as there seems to
be a faded letter (a serpent?) filling the gap. Looking ahead to my
ultimate decision, my third approach will be to accept two clusters of
letters, separated by a dot
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">(or preceded by a dot in each case), </span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> and read them as two words that make a statement.<br />
Here we shall consider the editors' identifications of the signs: the
letter in the bottom right corner is seen as a snake, hence N, and it
corresponds to the Nun of the Phoenician alphabet, albeit in an
anomalous reversed stance, though this form is more consistent with
Greco-Roman N; they identify three more snakes in the marks between the
upper and lower lines of script; if this is correct, then we are
confronted with three different versions of Nun (snakes in various
poses), and so the script being employed in this document could be the
neo-syllabary, since that is how it works, generally speaking; however,
none of the snake stances visible here (including the faded one that I
have mentioned) matches the N-syllabograms in the later neo-syllabic
texts.
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">However, it seems to me at this juncture that there
are only two N-serpents, both cobras in a different stance, in the bottom line. </span>
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Consider now the door-sign, top left; it is readily recognizable as the
original Dalet ('door') and is accepted unquestionably by Misgav and
his colleagues; but if their reference to Hamilton's pages on this
subject are consulted, we are told that Albright had promoted the
fish-sign as D (<i>dag</i>), though Cross and Hamilton accept both door
and fish as alternatives (allographs) for D; actually others and myself
see the fish (Semitic <i>samk, </i>which is frequent in the Sinai
inscriptions, and in the Samek position on the Izbet Sartah abagadary)
as an allograph of Samek (the spinal column, as on the Lakish dagger),
though I wonder whether they represent exactly the same sound (s versus
tsh?); incidentally, if a fish appears in an inscription it is a
consonantal or neo-syllaic text, since the fish did not swim in the
proto-syllabic pool. <br /> Below the door is their elongated snake; I suggest this is a throwstick, G (<i>gamlu</i>),
and that the dot, which makes it look like a snake with a head, is not
part of the letter; it might be a doubling dot, or an unintentional
blot,<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> or an indicator of a new word (corresponding
to the dot in the top right corner). </span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style><br /> Beside the door, is
a rectangle, open at the bottom right corner; this is unusual, having a
rectangle with an open doorway for B (<i>bayt, </i>house), but it has a square-shaped analogy on the Gezer sherd (hand snake house, <i>kn B</i>,
'temple cult-stand', where the house-sign is a logogram for '[sacred]
house', and the sherd is from such a 'cult-stand', for incense or
offerings); the object was found at the Gezer high place.<br /><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/gezer">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/gezer</a><br />
Their three choices for their bottom line, naming the letters from
right to left, are NPT, which could be a word for 'honey', as they point
out; this idea certainly appeals to me, in this connection:<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2020/10/ancient-rehob-and-its-apiary.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2020/10/ancient-rehob-and-its-apiary.html<br /></a>However,
we must be suspicious about the first letter being N, and their
identification of the second glyph as P is a desperate measure, and
their quest for an Egyptian hieroglyphic prototype (corner, or a
building tool) is fruitless; they do not even mention 'mouth', which is
the real origin of the letter <i>pe</i> (see the PU on the Lahun heddle jack, above; and this character would be<i> </i>a very twisted remnant of a human mouth, with the bottom lip curling the wrong way. <br />
Finally, an obvious T (Taw); but it seems to have a long stem, and this
suggests it is syllabic; we will now follow this clue.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;">
My tentative tally is eight letters, and none of them appears more than
once, it seems; this is more likely to occur if the script is a
syllabary, which would have three times the number of characters as a
consonantary. I am reminded of the daily puzzle in the local newspaper,
in which nine letters are offered in a grid, and the task is to create
as many words as possible; we could take that approach here and see if
some of the words we find can be brought together as a coherent
statement; but we still have the problem of identifying all the letters
correctly, and deciding whether they are syllabic or consonantal. We
have to consider the possibility that the scribe is deliberately teasing
the readers, by using signs that could be syllabic and alphabetic, and
challenging us to decide which are intended.<br /> We begin again at the
top right corner: the pair of snakes could just as well be seen as two
horns on a bovine head, which could actually be complete as it stands,
without invoking a missing piece of the sherd; it would represent 'Alep
(the 'glottal stop' consonant); and we also have Bet (Beta), Gimel
(Gamma), Dalet (Delta); this is starting to look like an abgadary, and
we are thinking that a big part of this ostracon, displaying the rest of
the alphabet, has been lost; but these same letters denote 'A, BA, GA,
DA in the proto-syllabary; and likewise the Taw (a cross), but at
present I am agonizing over its syllabic identity, whether TA or TU. If
this assemblage of letters is merely an exercise, perhaps the scribe is
practising the <i>-a</i> syllabograms; this idea would be supported by
the editors' accepting the circular sign (top, centre) as an eye, hence
`Ayin, representing alphabetic `(ayin), but also possibly syllabic
`A(yin). However, the circle stands for the sun in the proto-syllabary,
and represnts the syllable SHI (from <i>shimshu</i>) rather than SHA (from <i>shad</i>
'breast'); to make the sign clearer one or two serpents can be added to
the sun, as seen on the Thebes proto-syllabic inscription (depicted
several times above, Photo <b>10</b>); the Sinai proto-consonantal
inscriptions invariably have the serpents but not the sun-disc for Sh;
but twice on the vertical section of the Wadi el-Hol proto-consonantal
inscription, we find the sun with a single serpent:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEDh-XNCiLP7nXjwsGU5Hu1wMQu0IZ_x6ENbQ001-0NDcmiS6CZjrEVW3whZTWpEE8rEGhyphenhyphen9LtHqyaL63duJpALr9wjiIC45W_vZKBs4dqgmQdkKM8kNdO4w3mQeu7qQfVFuV-g/s1600-h/Hol+V.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="326" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368197122905762578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEDh-XNCiLP7nXjwsGU5Hu1wMQu0IZ_x6ENbQ001-0NDcmiS6CZjrEVW3whZTWpEE8rEGhyphenhyphen9LtHqyaL63duJpALr9wjiIC45W_vZKBs4dqgmQdkKM8kNdO4w3mQeu7qQfVFuV-g/w362-h326/Hol+V.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 360px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="362" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html</a></p><p style="text-align: left;">
While we have this very old inscription in our sights, we may note that
it concerns a celebration for the goddess `Anat, whose name appears
next to her image. We should also ask (as is now our habitual practice)
whether it is proto-consonantal or proto-syllabic. Running down the
sequence of signs, I am surprised to see that each character could be
consonantal or syllabic: water (M or MU), sun (Sh SHI), cross (T T-),
head (R RA), jubilation (H HI), eye (` `A), snake (N NA), boomerang (G
GA), ox-head ('A), and the last letter is obviously L, but this does
not have a place in the syllabary. We have met LA (night) frequently,
and LU (white of eye) on the heddle jack, and LI is a head-rest; so this
text is not syllabic.<br /> The accompanying horizontal inscription
describes the menu for the feast, including wine and sacrificial meat.
The inscription runs from right to left (sinistrograde), beginning with
RB WN, "plenty of wine".<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6DSnkl4hENiq1Sz4pTVcum7eu-SNvJINx4afWmmKTzmlaaKE3rcIqFAOn1wKvp0gEdu3IUY4jpiYE6V5-iX6ycfMfbX7N98kUwdlTYeEosaKRYxMGqkWo9eq3i7ccQWPrHDF-w/s1600-h/Hol+H.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368295855403557778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6DSnkl4hENiq1Sz4pTVcum7eu-SNvJINx4afWmmKTzmlaaKE3rcIqFAOn1wKvp0gEdu3IUY4jpiYE6V5-iX6ycfMfbX7N98kUwdlTYeEosaKRYxMGqkWo9eq3i7ccQWPrHDF-w/s400/Hol+H.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 187px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>The hank of thread for <u>H</u> is a clear indication that this text is <b>proto-consonantal</b>, since this character does not appear in the prior<b> proto-syllabary</b> or the subsequent <b>neo-consonantary </b>and its offshoot the <b>neo-syllabary</b>;
of course, it has a place in the cuneiform consonantary, which was
modeled on the linear proto-consonantary (see the character of three
vertical wedges on Figure 5 above). Even though the M and N are vertical
on the horizontal line, and horizontal on the vertical line, the bovine
head with the unique feature of a mouth would show the common
authorship and unity of the two inscriptions; it is noticeable that
neither example has a head-line between the horns, as also on our Lakish
sherd, but this particular ox (viewable on the photo below) has an unusual angle for his horns, raising doubts
that the letter is 'Alep/Alpha or syllabic 'A, and that the line on the
left at least is a snake after all (or a Lamed, as suggested by Petrovich 2022); but the analogy of the ox from the
Egyptian desert tempts me to hold on to the Lakish bull by its misshapen
horns. An additional feature pointing to the proto-consonantary is the
vertical breast (No. 10, Th from <i>thad</i> "breast"), with Sh (sun-disc and single serpent, No. 2 and 11) on the vertical line of writing.<br /> Contemplate that sun-sign, and then look closely at the circle on the Lakish sherd.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></span><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">I
have been wondering whether there is a faded line running from the
bottom of the circle, making this letter equal in size with the B and D;
if indeed there is (Eureka!) then the character says Sh or SHI, and not
` or `A. <br /> The resultant Sh B sequence raises the possibility of
"return" (originally ThWB) or "take captive" (ShBY). Here is a possible
combination, involving seven of the letters:<br /> 'A SHI BA DA GA TA<br /> "I catch fish"<br />This would be a sign upon his door, saying ""I am catching fish", equivalent to "Gone fishing, instead of just a-wishing".<br />
Stop the press: there is a problem with the supposed sun-sign. As an
analogy for fading of lines in letters we have the top of the adjacent
B-sign; but there are a number of other faint lines on the sherd; for
example, the diagonal stroke in the top left corner; and there are some
marks in the top right corner. This was a milk bowl, we are told, and
maybe these are stains from liquids it previously contained; or it is a
palimpsest, and other writing has been washed off the surface, to make
space for this inscription.<br /> Most damaging for the sun-and-snake
sign is an arc, actually a full semi-circle, running from the left side
to the right edge, passing through the door, the house, and under the
eye, thereby vitiating the uraeus serpent of the sun, and ending below
the ox-head, where it might have been interpreted as a NI syllabogram,
like the tusks on the Tuba amulets (Photos <b>2</b> and <b>3</b> <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html">here</a>). <br />
Consequently my total is eight letters, and if the `Ayin is correct,
it would support the editors' reading of their proposed top line as `BD;
but rather than a noun "servant" (<i>`bd</i>), I would construct a
verb, '`BD, "I serve", or "I till"; the utterance that emerges, with a
slight rearrangement of letters in the bottom line, is not at all fishy
but admirably horticultural: <br /> 'A `A BA DA GA NA TA<br /> " I cultivate the garden"<br />As Voltaire's Candide would say, gardening is so necessary: <i>il faut cultiver notre jardin.<br /></i>This is a response that Adam (<i>ha-'adam</i>, the human) might have given to his commission to cultivate (<i>`bd</i>) and tend (<i>sh-m-r</i>) the garden (<i>gan</i>) of Eden (Genesis 2:15). <br />"Yea, verily, I will cultivate the garden".<br /> For NA I have called upon the character next to the cross-sign; I have already rejected it as <i>p</i>,
the desperate measure taken by the editors; it is a cobra (Hieroglyph I12), in the pose
that it has in the proto-syllabary, but not in the proto-consonantary;
and this is my main reason for declaring this text to be syllabic, but
it is tentative and fallible.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></span> <br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"> One letter remains to be identified, in the bottom right corner: the editors reasonably saw it as <i>n</i>,
as this is (approximately) the shape of N in the Phoenician alphabet; but it is
reversed (back to front); the only example I know of this form is on the
Jerusalem jar, where I hesitatingly suggest that it represents NU in a
neo-syllabic inscription:<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/05/jerusalem-jar-inscription-2.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/05/jerusalem-jar-inscription-2.html</a><br /> In the proto-syllabary the closest letter to this is MA, from <i>maggalu</i>,
"sickle". If we could read it on our sherd as a logogram, in some kind
of "instrumental" case, it might say: "I cultivate the garden (with) a
sickle". In response to this, I would raise two objections: sickles are
for mowing meadows and reaping grains; sickles have short handles, and
this feature is maintained on the MA characters displayed in the Byblos
inscriptions, though the scribe who engraved the two examples of MA on
the Megiddo ring did not restrain his stylus on this detail; but
they are the reverse of the character on this Lakish sherd
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">(though they will be the right way round when
impressed in clay and reversed).</span><style>@font-face
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</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/megiddoring">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/megiddoring</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/s366/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="366" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7NQuBxS2q5AqD7sUJLH-Ea7bsDuTlmOXQH6YlLJ2wxmekVGJmhIzMQccf4xKjz-JZRoNZQe5wPePBdq_x4oA8yc3aWHayLB4Ib6-9Qn9vKrXnQoZBhees-SF-2V14W6d2lhR69g/w218-h140/Lakish+syllabic+2.jpeg" width="218" /></a><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Pursuing the horticulture theme, </span>
we <style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> encountered the word <i>gannat</i>
(garden) on the Lakish five-sided sherd: the GA is much the same in
both texts; the Taw (TA or TU?) is a cross, somewhat defective on the
pentagon; there the NA snake has a head, with a doubling dot in it,
hence GANNAT; the new sherd has a dot beside the GA and above the Taw,
but this is distant from the NA. I will now propose that the two snake
figures on our sherd, even though they are apparently looking away from
each other, represent double NA (running from right to left). Having
said this, I was immediately struck by a another idea: the scribe is
mixing the syllabic and consonantal systems; so as to achieve the goal
of writing GANNAT, without having to include a "dead vowel", as was the
case on the pentagon inscription, GA N(A) NA T (though the NANA was
effected by a doubling dot in the head of the snake). Presumably the two
snake signs, N and NA, were written back to back to alert the reader to
interpret this sequence as N-NA. No doubt, this will be judged as a
typical bizarre conceit ejected from the Colless brain, but I dare to
say that it first occurred to the mind of the Lakish scribe who wrote
this with his brush and ink.<br /> Is the statement a vow? "I will cultivate the garden".<br />
There remains that dot or blob to the left of the GA: it must be a word
separater; there are only two words, and that is where the division
between them occurs; by the same token, the mark in the top right
corner, above the 'A, indicates the starting point of the text; so it
might be better to say that both markers indicate the beginning of a new
word.<br /> What conclusion can we possibly reach in the presence of this conflicting data?<br /> Is it a <b>consonatal</b> inscription? If it is <b>proto-consonantal</b>, the graphemes for <u>D</u> and <u>H</u> (or the rarer <u>G</u> and Z.) are not there to indicate this identification.<br /> Is it a <b>syllabic</b> text? The <b>neo-syllabary</b>
can probably be excluded from the discussion, as it was a phenomenon
of the early Iron Age (1200-1000), and this object is firmly dated
around 1450 BCE. The D has no counterpart in the neo-syllabary, and
likewise the B. However, the pentagonal sherd and the triangular sherd
show that the <b>proto-syllabary</b> was employed at Lakish, but they both had recognizable proto-syllabic characters; the new sherd has only ambiguous graphemes.<br /> We seem to be driven to choosing between <b>proto-syllabic</b> or <b>early alphabetic</b> (whether long or short alphabet is not determinable). Keeping in mind the fact that three quarters of the letters in the <b>neo-consonantary</b> are derived from the <b>proto-syllabary</b>, and one quarter of the syllabograms in the <b>proto-syllabary</b> are also found as consonantograms in the <b>proto-alphabet</b>,
we are faced with a set of signs that seem to belong to both systems.
If only the author had spoken a few more words, he might have made his
system clear to us, but he might have been deliberately tantalizing his
readers.<br /> We have to start again, examining each of the letters and comparing their form with other Lakish examples.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBMe5WjEzMjv9LUS33fYJh7Me66m_nIRz0D-RVJNo7WiL0K2i5uH2nO-exj9qSIWfHDRl7svmrOgvdLljmSK0YxpoczNfw2-PgYN-IYBPnFD_FQuscQT0IsPiQ31MStYReqeLHPw/s535/Lakish+bowls.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="535" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBMe5WjEzMjv9LUS33fYJh7Me66m_nIRz0D-RVJNo7WiL0K2i5uH2nO-exj9qSIWfHDRl7svmrOgvdLljmSK0YxpoczNfw2-PgYN-IYBPnFD_FQuscQT0IsPiQ31MStYReqeLHPw/s320/Lakish+bowls.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;"> From the top (the point of departure is marked by a blob in the upper right corner): the <b>first</b> letter is assumed to be <b>consonantal 'Alep</b> (glottal stop) or <b>syllabic 'A</b>;
but the anomalous bovine horns (contrast the headless pair above the
number 05 above) and the missing skull-line would drive us to see a pot
(DU) or a bag (S.adey); nevertheless we have seen an analogy for the
gap between the horns in the Theban desert. (Wadi el-Hol, early
proto-consonantal). <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6DSnkl4hENiq1Sz4pTVcum7eu-SNvJINx4afWmmKTzmlaaKE3rcIqFAOn1wKvp0gEdu3IUY4jpiYE6V5-iX6ycfMfbX7N98kUwdlTYeEosaKRYxMGqkWo9eq3i7ccQWPrHDF-w/s1600-h/Hol+H.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="148" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368295855403557778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6DSnkl4hENiq1Sz4pTVcum7eu-SNvJINx4afWmmKTzmlaaKE3rcIqFAOn1wKvp0gEdu3IUY4jpiYE6V5-iX6ycfMfbX7N98kUwdlTYeEosaKRYxMGqkWo9eq3i7ccQWPrHDF-w/w317-h148/Hol+H.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 187px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="317" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Second</b>,
the circular sign on the Lakish sherd (to the left of the ox), which is
sufficiently angular on each side to make it an eye with corners, and
thus representing the <b>consonant</b> <b>`Ayin</b> or the <b>syllable </b>`A. This sequence (added to our prior knowledge of what follows) suggests an exercise in tabulating letters that have <i>-a</i> in the <b>proto-syllabary</b>.
Here we need to remember that the majority of the letters of the early
alphabet were derived from the proto-syllabary, and most of them were <i>-a</i> syllabograms. To demonstrate this, the unmistakably <b>proto-consonantal </b>text from Egypt that is reproduced here in my drawing, may be transcribed as if it were <b>proto-syllabic</b>. <br /> From right to left: RA BA WA NA MI NA HI NA GA THA/SHA HI 'A PU MI (<u>H</u>A) RA<br />The hank of thread (<u>H</u>A)
is not attested in syllabic texts, and is an indication that this
inscription is not proto-syllabic, nor neo-consonantal, but
proto-consonantal.<br /> Pausing for a moment of reflection, we may ask
how the circle sign (whether dotted or not), which originally
represented the sun (<i>shimsh</i>) became a stylized eye (again with
optional dot, presumably for the pupil). I will tell you: I do not know.
God alone knows the truth. However, I could invoke Matahari: the sun in
the Malay language (Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia) is <i>mata hari</i>, "eye of the day"; <i>hari</i>, I presume, would be cognate with the fellow-Austronesian word <i>râ </i>in
the Mâori language, meaning "day" as well as "sun"; and even if we only
know Egyptian Ra` or Re` from crossword puzzles, we are aware of his
solar connection. The reason (I ween Germanically, rather than imagine
Romanically) for this widespread designation for the sun is the greeting
it receives at its morning appearing: <i>Hurrah </i>or <i>Hurray</i> (according to your social class).<br />
Keeping all of this in mind (though drawing a darkening veil over the
latter attempt at illumination and enlightenment), we continue our
analysis of the new Lakish milk-bowl sherd.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/s302/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="302" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ9FwaEX39hFSOkthQ-RolD7YwaRM0Gr8noa3tFOwnVST1XowUcqaREVi3F2BkY_HfmJiClvTvsNjq1UQzNAVW4uqXgmQPejok_YO1DLXyguGdu0ImLl9prEWmA36qhh7qQReqg/w196-h183/Lakish+sherd+2jpg.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></span><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b> </b> The bovine `Alep is weird; and the Bayt (house) is unusual, a tall rectangle instead of a square, but it could function as <b>B</b> or <b>BA</b>. <br /> The Dalet (door) has a counterpart on the Thebes inscriptions, but also the type with two panels (see Photo <b>11</b>); it can be <b>D </b>or<b> DA</b>. Remember, the fish-sign is never D, but always S.<br /> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This collection of signs, if they are
syllabograms, produces a first person singular verb, imperfect tense; it looks
highly suspect as 'A`ABADA, but if "dead vowels" are muted and
suppressed, we have <i>'a`bad</i>, which is reasonable, but still questionable,
and perhaps all the vowels ought to be ignored and the text regarded as
consonantal writing.</span> <style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style><br /> The blob apparently indicates the start of a new sequence, beginning with the throwstick, <b>G </b>or<b> GA</b>.
Here is a new thought: the scribe's intention was to have this long
letter begin a new line of writing, running from right to left. The next
character in his second sequence is the snake in the bottom right
corner, and this should be consonantal N; if it is syllabic, it would be
a misshapen MA (a sickle), but not NA. The normal proto-syllabic NA
comes next: the cobra with a kink in the tail. <br /> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Finally
we see a Taw; there is no doubt about
this identification, since the cross-sign stands for the sound /t/ in
all four
classes of early West Semitic scripts, and beyond. From the outset the
consonantal alphabet had a simple cross-sign for T/t/, consisting of two
equal lines (+ or <span style="font-family: helvetica;">x</span>); but in the proto-syllabary this had not been the case: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">x </span></span>was
the syllabogram for KU, and and the Taw cross had a long stem, and
consistently displayed this feature throughout the ages. Unfortunately
the Tuba tubes do not have any T-syllabograms, but all the early Gubla
(Byblos) texts follow this pattern, with the T- (sometimes on its side).
The verified proto-syllabic inscriptions that we have presented here
testify decisively to this fact: Lahun heddle jack [<b>12</b>], Puerto Rico figurine [<b>4</b>], Lakish pentagonal sherd [<b>13</b>],
and quite clearly on this alleged "missing link", the Lakish rectagonal
sherd (well, it has one right angle, but it is technically a trapezoid
quadrilateral, or vice versa).<br /> Case closed. QED (as promised in
the prologue to this drama). The last two letters of the text (N- T-)
have the forms peculiar to the proto-syllabary, therefore this must be a
proto-syllabic inscription, even though the first five of the eight
letters (' ` B D G) could function as either syllabic or consonantal,
and the sixth is consonantal N. This might need to be classified as "a mixed syllabic and consonantal text". The transcription would thus be:<br /> | 'A`ABADA | GANNATA<br />Affirmative: "I cultivate a garden" <br />Volitive (cohortative): "Let me cultivate the garden" (a wish or a prayer)<br />If this were Biblical Hebrew the verb would be, cohortative form: 'E`EBDÂ. If this is equivalent to the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
'A`ABADA on the sherd (the BA syllable having a "dead" vowel, or the -a
stands for shwa), an explanation would be: in syllabic writing based on
the three vowels (-u, -a, -i), the vowel -e would necessarily be
represented by -a syllabograms; or we may simply say that the
introduction of additional vowels is a later development in Hebrew.
However, the final volitive -a has apparently been recorded in the
inscription, and although it could be ignored, by the rules of syllabic
transcription of speech, and classed unhelpfully as a "dead" vowel, it
may well correspond to the Hebrew volitive inflexion <i>â</i> (which is written with unpronounced <i>-h </i>to represent the a-vowel).<br />
Incidentally, this GANNATA may be the same garden as the GAN(A)NATA in
the prayer on the pentagonal sherd. The question remains whether the
final -a is to be retained as significant or discarded as superfluous.
In the present instance it could be indicating the accusative case, the
garden being the object of the verb.<br /> Finally, and perhaps conclusively, the sherd was found among the charred remains of organic matter, including barley seeds. (See further below)<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">23/3/2022<br /><a href="https://www.academia.edu/s/24b120db88#comment_1089561">https://www.academia.edu/s/24b120db88#comment_1089561</a><br />Another attempt at interpreting this inscription has come to my notice: Douglas Petrovich, The Lachish Milk Bowl Ostracon: A Hebrew Inscription from Joshua's Conquest at Lachish, <i>Bible and Spade</i> 35/1 (2022) 16-22. The title indicates that great claims are being made for this little document: it was dropped inside Lakish by an Israelian invader; the proto-alphabet was not known in Canaan before then; it says, purportedly, "N, servant (<i>`bd</i>) over (<i>`l</i>) honey (<i>npt</i>)"; this reading is invalidated by the P (producing <i>npt</i>) instead of N, and the N (as an abbreviation or rebus of the name Nahash, "snake") instead of G (in my reading, <i>gannat</i>). Petrovich discusses Carbon 14 dating in relation to the sherd, and highlights the charred organic matter, including barley seeds, at the site of the inscription. My response would be: Is this the remains of a vegetable garden?<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">While
he yet spake there came a great multitude, saying: "How judgest thou
the new document from the time of the Judges bearing the name of Judge
Jerubbaal?" <br />He answered them not, saying: "Perverse generation, judge not, lest ye be judged; ye
know the judgements and rules of this contest, which have already been revealed unto you. First ask the question:
<b>Are you syllabic or consonantal</b>?"</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html</a> <br /></span></p></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rEwWvGJMP7HY3jTuuyvpripV-bv0uoRWW1mV6kjoBANQKs-KxE6UEOEqA1NIaJGx3IXPYPdtuDsm1VCxl6NwlMhA0itEEAl1JkhuVCquVnjbQXYPtrbi3hI4TOoWNylML8VLdQ/s480/Yrb%2560l+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rEwWvGJMP7HY3jTuuyvpripV-bv0uoRWW1mV6kjoBANQKs-KxE6UEOEqA1NIaJGx3IXPYPdtuDsm1VCxl6NwlMhA0itEEAl1JkhuVCquVnjbQXYPtrbi3hI4TOoWNylML8VLdQ/s320/Yrb%2560l+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></b> <br /></p><br /><p> </p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-43726708325940706792021-09-04T05:35:00.122-07:002024-02-26T22:04:38.386-08:00KHIRBET AR-RA`I INSCRIPTION (LYRB`L)<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk9_a7ea0Zyug4zu6nDxmwKa4srKdhkqpPKexsDI_XFCOjssDIHYDYe1Ui4G9fasoBrDvZKd5zIfkCeRsnjHyVSTn4ZwZLK_EFWpYEpydbmwWwWlePf2GFjq4DNOci4v0oVsWkQ/s472/Yeruba%2560l+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk9_a7ea0Zyug4zu6nDxmwKa4srKdhkqpPKexsDI_XFCOjssDIHYDYe1Ui4G9fasoBrDvZKd5zIfkCeRsnjHyVSTn4ZwZLK_EFWpYEpydbmwWwWlePf2GFjq4DNOci4v0oVsWkQ/s320/Yeruba%2560l+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style><b>The Khirbet al-Ra`i inscription (</b></b><b><b>LYRBB`L)</b></b></div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">This is the third part of a series on <b>the Quadrinity:<br />West Semitic Syllabic and Consonantal Scripts </b></div><b><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html"><br /></a></b><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html</a><br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html</a><b><br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html</a> <br /></b><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2022/11/lakish-lice-comb.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2022/11/lakish-lice-comb.html</a><b><br /><br /></b></div><div><a href="https://jjar.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/jjar/files/rollston_et_al._2021_jjar_2_1-15.pdf">https://jjar.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/jjar/files/rollston_et_al._2021_jjar_2_1-15.pdf<br /><br />https://www.timesofisrael.com/five-letter-inscription-inked-3100-years-ago-may-be-name-of-biblical-judge/<br /></a><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israeli-archaeologists-find-biblical-name-jerubbaal-inked-on-pot-from-judges-era-1.9990617">https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israeli-archaeologists-find-biblical-name-jerubbaal-inked-on-pot-from-judges-era-1.9990617</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/07/3100-year-old-pottery-fragment.html">https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/07/3100-year-old-pottery-fragment.html</a> <b> </b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Prepare to be shocked as I bring to light more of the unintentional errors that are being committed in the chaotic field of ancient West Semitic epigraphy by its honest labourers; lampooning is my word, in the added sense of shining a smiling lamp on the follies of scholars, and I will indeed be making fun of my ideas and theirs (if I restrained from laughing about them, I would be weeping uncontrollably), but with respect and gratitude for the services my colleagues have rendered to me.<br /> This essay follows on from the one on Lakish inscriptions, and they form a combined statement of my life's work in this research area:<br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.blogger.com/%23&source=gmail&ust=1630126512635000&usg=AFQjCNELcSdJb4vai8Lepi6JFK-jCoLxZA" href="https://www.blogger.com/#" target="_blank">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.<wbr></wbr>com/2021/04/another-lakish-<wbr></wbr>inscription.html</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"> Here
is yet another new inscription, although not from Tel
Lachish but from another ruin-mound in its vicinity, namely Khirbet
al-Ra`i (er-Ra`i).
(Note the variations in spelling; and I prefer Lakish rather than the Anglo-Hebrew Lachish.) Three fragments of an inscribed pot (possibly a jug holding 1 litre)
were rescued from a silo, which had
apparently become a pit for rubbish; these were the only pieces of the
artefact
that could be identified among the debris; this could support a case for these sherds having been brought from elsewhere, as a souvenir of some great event, but ultimately discarded by someone who did not see any significance in them; I am referring to the smashing of pots in Gideon Yerubbaal's battle with tribes from the East (Judges 6:33; 7:10-22); and that name YRB`L is what we seem to have here.<br /> Wherever Yosef Garfinkel
excavates, important ancient inscriptions will turn up, as has
happened at Khirbet Qeiyafa (Sha`arayim) and Tel Lachish (Lakish, LKYSh, Tell ed-Duweir). Yossi is not an epigrapher, he confesed to me when I
told him that his Qeiyafa ostracon mentions a giant (`anaq) named
Guliyut, and a "servant of Elohim" named Dawid; he rejected the counsel
of this "elder" and turned to the "young men" (<i>yladim, "</i>lads") "who had grown up with him" (namely Misgav and Sass), as did King Re<u>h</u>ab`am,
son of Solomon, when he lost the northern tribes to Yerob`am, and was
left with only the territory of Yehuda (Judah) as his kingdom (1 Kings
12:6-17). Actually, this is emblematic of what happened to Yossi Garfinkel, when he made a wrong choice about the significance of his excavation at Khirbet Qeiyafa (Sha`arayim), and he was
left stranded with a fortress and two inscriptions belonging impossibly to a
King David of a kingdom of Yehuda, instead of King Saul (of the tribe of
Binyamin) and his son Eshbaal, reigning over a united kingdom of Israel
(1 Samuel 9-31, 2 Samuel 1-4).<br /> This time Christopher Rollston was
the epigraphist who studied the latest Garfinkel inscription, and,
according to his lights, he has published it efficiently but not
sufficiently, as no
consideration is given to the possibility that it is syllabic rather
than Early Alphabetic (the all-embracing term covering a multitude of
signs, to counterfeit a phrase from Holy Writ). <br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">
Inscriptions are arriving in rapid succession, before I have had time
to successfully settle my interpretation of the previous ones, but I
will drop everything to confront this interesting triptych (notice that
it has three parts, though I can see that a fourth piece of it is missing). It is touted as bearing the name of one of the
Judges (charismatic saviours of early Israel, before kingship was
established). That is true, or half-true, since there is no indication
that this actually belonged to the character we know from the Bible
(Judges 6-9). It apparently has the name YRB`L (Yerubba`al, reading
right to left), but for full identification purposes it would need to
say "YRB`L H' GD`N" (Judges 7:1), "Yerubba`al, that is, Gid`on", and
with his surname added, GD`N BN Y'Sh, Gid`on ben Yo'ash (Judges 6:29,
8:29-30), which is dreadfully anglicized as "Jerubbaal, that is Gideon
son of Joash". His name also occurs in a sanitised form, Yerubbesheth (2
Samuel 11:21), where Ba`al is replaced by a word for "shame" (usually <i>bosheth</i>),
as happened to the son of Saul named 'ShB`L (on the Qeiyafa consonantal
inscription), and 'Eshba`al in 1 Chronicles 8:33, but 'Îsh-Bosheth
(Man of Shame) in 2 Samuel 2-4.<br /> We do not know the original name of the town that is now "The Ra`i ruin" (Khirbet ar-Ra`i); Garfinkel would like it to be Ziklag (<i>s.qlg</i>), the town given to young David when he was working for the Philistian King of Gath (1 Samuel 27:5-6); this suggestion was not congenial to many, on the grounds that it is too close to Gath for David to conceal his underhand guerrila activities from his patron, but Kyle Keimer, one of the contributors to this article, has elsewhere made a strong case for this identification (Palestine Exploration Quarerly. 155, 2, 2023, 115-134). We could have hoped for the name of this place to be written on these sherds, but it seems to be a personal name, or perhaps a prayer extolling Baal.<br /> Let us assume, for argument's sake,
that the hypothetical YRB`L sequence of letters on this pot is
referring to the Judge Yerubba`al Gid`on son of Yo'ash of the tribe of
Manasseh (Judges 6:11, 15, 32); for his achievements in driving out
the Ishmaelite invaders (Judges 8:24), including "Midianites and
Amalekites, and the people of the East" (<i>bny qdm</i>) (6:33), he was offered dynastic
kingship over Israel, but he is said to have declined this honour, affirming that Yahweh was already
the King of Israel (Judges 8:22-23), though he subsequently lived like a
ruler, with a harem of women, and produced dozens of sons, one of whom
he named Abimelek (8:31), possibly meaning "My Father is King"; and this Abimelek
slew all but one of his brothers (Yotam) and seized kingship for three
years, until he was killed by a woman who dropped a millstone on him
(Judges 9; 2 Samuel 11:21).<br /> In support of the hypothesis that
the correct reading of the inscription on the pot is YRB`L, and that this is the Yerubba`al of the Book of Judges, the dating seems to be right
(late 12th C - early 11th C BCE), and the names Gid`on and Yerubba`al are unique, within the Bible. On the other
hand, Yerubba`al
is associated with the town of Oprah (6:11), where he erected
an altar to Yahweh (6:24), and destroyed an altar of Ba`al, and cut down
an Asherah (6:25-32); and it was then that he received his new name
Yerubba`al, said to mean "Let Ba`al (himself) plead (or contend)"
(root <i>ryb</i>) against him (Gid`on) for pulling down the altar (6:32), rather than leave it to the immediate judgement of the lynch mob that confronted Gid`on after this act of sacrilege. However, with regard to the meaning of the name, we could look for a connection with RB, "great" or "much, many", and the
verb for "multiply" in Genesis 1:28 ("Be fruitful and multiply")
producing perhaps "Ba`al is magnificent", or "Ba`al gives increase";
Ba`al was the god of the clouds, who provided the fertilizing rain; his
name was Haddu or Hadad, Thunderer, but he is commonly known by his
title, Ba`al, meaning Lord, and this epithet could conceivably be applied to
Yahweh, who sent the rain in its season to Israel; but the prophets
(particularly Hosea, 2:16-17) ended this confusion, and names with Ba`al
went out of fashion. One might expect <i>yerub ba`al</i> to mean "he opposes Ba`al", of course. In passing, I mention a mysterious word <i>rbybym </i>meaning "showers" (Deuteronomy 32:2), apparently from the "much" root <i>rbb, </i>and so the name YRBB`L could conceivably say that Ba`al gives plenty (<i>rb</i>) of rain (<i>yr</i>),<br /> After his battles with the eastern invaders, "Yerubba`al son of Yo'ash"
settled down in his own city, `Oprah (8:29); and when he died he was
buried in the family tomb at `Oprah (8:32). It would be helpful if
`Oprah could be identified with Tell al-Ra'i (between Gath and Lakish),
but `Oprah (`Ophrah) must be further north, and Khirbet `Awfar, 6 km SW
of Shekem, has been suggested (Rainey, <i>Sacred Bridge</i>, 139-140); Shekem (Shechem) was where Gid`on had a concubine, who gave birth to his wicked son Abimelek (8:31). <br />
The discomfiting of the invaders took place in the Valley of YZR`'L (Jezreel),
in the north, and the strategy that caused the panic in the enemy camp
involved smashing pots containing lighted torches, leaving a mess of
sherds on the ground, presumably. Yerubba`al became a celebrated hero, and a visitor
to the battlefield may have found these three souvenirs and taken them
home; remember, no other piece of this pot could be found in the silo.
This vessel (for one litre of liquid?) was perhaps too small for this purpose. Or, Yerubba`al could have become a favourite name to give to
boys after the hero's victory. Whatever the truth of the matter, this
inscription could refer, in some way or other, to the Warrior-Judge
named Yerubba`al Gid`on.<br /> Conversely, we could turn the text upside
down or downside up; Rollston (page 11) has tried the possibility that
it could be L`BRY, "for `bry", if read backwards, that is, dextrograde
rather than sinistrograde); and with the text inverted, the L and the `ayin are acceptable, the B
looks much more natural, the Yod is passable, and the R is now a door
with its post; hence L`BDY, "for my servant", and with `BD we have an
echo of the Lakish rectangular proto-syllabic sherd (working the
garden), and a pre-echo of the Qeiyafa neo-syllabic ostracon (my
servant, the servant of God, Dawid). Of course, we do not need to invert
the inscription to get that reading; just change the direction of
reading it.<br /> If we are really desperate, we could take `BR as a variant form of `Oprah, and reject any other identification of the place.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk9_a7ea0Zyug4zu6nDxmwKa4srKdhkqpPKexsDI_XFCOjssDIHYDYe1Ui4G9fasoBrDvZKd5zIfkCeRsnjHyVSTn4ZwZLK_EFWpYEpydbmwWwWlePf2GFjq4DNOci4v0oVsWkQ/s472/Yeruba%2560l+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk9_a7ea0Zyug4zu6nDxmwKa4srKdhkqpPKexsDI_XFCOjssDIHYDYe1Ui4G9fasoBrDvZKd5zIfkCeRsnjHyVSTn4ZwZLK_EFWpYEpydbmwWwWlePf2GFjq4DNOci4v0oVsWkQ/s320/Yeruba%2560l+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: left;">
Time now to examine more closely the ink-marks on the three sherds. The two large pieces
have been satisfactorily joined, uniting the two parts of the dotted
circle; the third portion has been left separate, but it seems to be
pleading with us to place it in the gap below the circle-sign, where its
marks could join up with those below the eye-sign; nevertheless
Rollston insists (8): "the third fragment does not form a join". There
are apparently ink marks at the the left end of the united pair, but at that point we we are looking at a coiled Lamed,
and this would tell us that the text is not proto-syllabic, since the proto-syllabary derives its
LA-syllabogram from the mystical night-symbol of Egypt (see Photos 9, 13,
14 in the essay on <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/04/another-lakish-inscription.html">Lakish inscriptions</a>), and, presumably by coincidence, the proto-syllabary sign resembles
the modern square Hebrew Lamed, starting with the vertical stroke at the
top. However, this 6-shaped letter can be LA in the neo-syllabary,
reversed when traveling from left to right, the normal direction for the
neo-syllabary. Therefore we are watching a contest for recognition
between the neo-syllabary and the neo-consonantary. If these "neologies" are new to you, they have been explained at length in my examination of the various inscriptions from Lakish. <br /> In summary, West Semitic writing began with the <b>proto-syllabary</b> (the Byblos/Gubla logo-syllabary), out of which came the <b>proto-consonantary</b> (the long proto-alphabet), which was reduced to the <b>neo-consonantarty </b>(the short proto-alphabet), out of which another syllabic system emerged, the <b>neo-syllabary</b>; after that, the Phoenician alphabet (a short consonantary) held sway, and was remoulded into the Greco-Roman true alphabet, with letters representing the vowels.<br /> Next in our
backward movement comes the dotted circle; the possibility of this being
a sun-symbol and proto-syllabic SHI or proto-consonantal Sh is remote
(though a tiny projection at the top and ink marks at the bottom suggest
a serpent), but if these details are set aside it would be `ayin (eye
with pupil) in the neo-consonantary and `A in the neo-syllabary. <br /> B
for Ba`al is expected, and a house with an open door awaits us; the
diagonal line has lost its ink, but it is discernible, and it
constitutes an unusual Bet, being an inverted form of the B on Lakish
bowl 08, but quite different from the type on Lakish bowl 05 (at the
end of each line). Incidentally, all four of those Lakish texts exhibit a yod (or two), all basically the same (forearm and hand), but different.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBMe5WjEzMjv9LUS33fYJh7Me66m_nIRz0D-RVJNo7WiL0K2i5uH2nO-exj9qSIWfHDRl7svmrOgvdLljmSK0YxpoczNfw2-PgYN-IYBPnFD_FQuscQT0IsPiQ31MStYReqeLHPw/s535/Lakish+bowls.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="535" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBMe5WjEzMjv9LUS33fYJh7Me66m_nIRz0D-RVJNo7WiL0K2i5uH2nO-exj9qSIWfHDRl7svmrOgvdLljmSK0YxpoczNfw2-PgYN-IYBPnFD_FQuscQT0IsPiQ31MStYReqeLHPw/s320/Lakish+bowls.jpg" width="320" /> </a></p><p style="text-align: left;">However,
an exact counterpart of the B (well not exactly exact) is found on the
proto-consonantal abgadary from Thebes (top right), and to its left is a
door (D), looking like the alleged R in the new inscription, but here
the R is situated centre left, horizontal stance, and it has an eye and a
hair-line.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyblUIO6L1zvHaixGFKYiVXLKIwA1uEb0TfiC_ffhAOxYSayZbFyMTSlilIDTmiy5i40hyhqJ09GZ_9fHRfJ2QKqX-klNDVCdrVAzgTqBgjkskMm2sMaIglleswPDF6R15-kT9A/s1600-h/Thebes+1+p.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123563293531209762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyblUIO6L1zvHaixGFKYiVXLKIwA1uEb0TfiC_ffhAOxYSayZbFyMTSlilIDTmiy5i40hyhqJ09GZ_9fHRfJ2QKqX-klNDVCdrVAzgTqBgjkskMm2sMaIglleswPDF6R15-kT9A/s400/Thebes+1+p.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;">Looking
at the faded oblique <b>Q</b> (--o<), lower centre (below the fish, Samek),
I am compelled to re-examine the dotted circle on the pot-fragments,
and consider whether it is Q. It has two protruding matks at the top, which could be the ends of the stick and the cord, and it has ink marks which could be remains of a stem. I have encountered two kinds of doubling dots: a pair of dots above the letter (see the Theban tablet reproduced further below, double Q); one dot inside the letter (examples in the Sinai inscriptions),
and here the dot could produce BQQ, (1) devastate, (2) proliferate. Even more devastating and proliferating is the possibility of seeing a D for dalt (door), instead of R for rosh (head), producing DBQ, "join together", as with the first human couple (Genesis 2:24); if nothing else, this chimes in with our problem of making a unity of our three sherds. In either circumstance, YRB`L drops out of the picture. Without the entire inscription
(though I will eventually contend that the three pieces constitute a
complete text of six letters: LYRB`L) we have to cling (<i>dbq</i>) to Gid`on
Yerubba`al as our judge and saviour from devastation (<i>bqq</i>). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk9_a7ea0Zyug4zu6nDxmwKa4srKdhkqpPKexsDI_XFCOjssDIHYDYe1Ui4G9fasoBrDvZKd5zIfkCeRsnjHyVSTn4ZwZLK_EFWpYEpydbmwWwWlePf2GFjq4DNOci4v0oVsWkQ/s472/Yeruba%2560l+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk9_a7ea0Zyug4zu6nDxmwKa4srKdhkqpPKexsDI_XFCOjssDIHYDYe1Ui4G9fasoBrDvZKd5zIfkCeRsnjHyVSTn4ZwZLK_EFWpYEpydbmwWwWlePf2GFjq4DNOci4v0oVsWkQ/s320/Yeruba%2560l+1.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;"> Before I can complete
the case that is already mapped out in my mind, I have to confront the
nuisance of a variant opinion, which suggests that the first letter in
the name is not Y but Z. <br /> Nevertheless, while this valuable Theban document is here before us, displaying the letters of the <b>proto-consonantary</b>,
we can brush up our expanding knowledge of the consonantograms,
particularly the ones that disappear in the shortened neo-consonantary
(I have to warn you that extreme self-discipline is required for success
in this mental exercise, and you need to refer constantly to my chart
at the end of this essay, and you must contrive to make a printed copy
of it for yourself). <br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyblUIO6L1zvHaixGFKYiVXLKIwA1uEb0TfiC_ffhAOxYSayZbFyMTSlilIDTmiy5i40hyhqJ09GZ_9fHRfJ2QKqX-klNDVCdrVAzgTqBgjkskMm2sMaIglleswPDF6R15-kT9A/s1600-h/Thebes+1+p.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123563293531209762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyblUIO6L1zvHaixGFKYiVXLKIwA1uEb0TfiC_ffhAOxYSayZbFyMTSlilIDTmiy5i40hyhqJ09GZ_9fHRfJ2QKqX-klNDVCdrVAzgTqBgjkskMm2sMaIglleswPDF6R15-kT9A/s400/Thebes+1+p.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br /> The rarest (and here the faintest) graphemes are situated to the right of the <b>Q</b> we have just identified, and they are <b><u>G</u></b> (vine with grapes, eventually to be absorbed in <b>`Ayin,</b> eye, which is in the bottom left area with a <b>K</b> on top of it, or else the more circular version with a pupil, situated above the <b>Q</b> to the right of <b>P</b>, an open mouth) and <b>Z.</b> (sunshade, look for an umbrella) which will yield to <b>S.adey</b>, the tied bag, rejected as such on the establisment's sign-tables, but seen on the Lakish dagger, and here). Incidentally, a tall <b>T.et</b> (o-+ not (+), cross inside circle) is on the other side of the Qaw<b>.<br /> Th</b> <i>(<u>t</u>ad</i> breast, vertical) is to the right of the <b>Q</b>, and <b>Sh</b> (sun-serpent, with or without the sun-disc) is bottom right, below <u><b>H</b></u> (hank); and <b>Sh</b> will coalesce with <b>Th</b> (this human breast will eventually become Greek Sigma and Roman S), and <u><b>H</b></u><b> </b>will be lost in <b>H.et, </b>the mansion with a courtyard (<i>h.z.r</i>), in the opposite corner.<br /> Observe the clear instance of <b><u>D</u></b> (=) in that top left area of the tablet, and then find the large <b>Z</b>
(|><|) in the opposite corner; I admit that it escaped my notice
for years, but it is certainly there; its top triangle is snaller than its triangular base; the problem is that two of its
four lines have lost their ink (as with the Q; and we may have this phenomenon in our YRB`L inscription). On another tablet from Thebes we see the <u>D</u>
and Z together (with an unmistakable P-mouth, and a cord-on-stick Q,
but without the string poking out at the top, and notice the two
doubling dots above it):<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IFWl1pCo2sgwc4t2-vqTc30xTKfmPQVD_KuvFjZCQaQuJP4kW-4Hp72siLlyCghKxbZ5RHvzHE0iZ4xwJdICTkkXjryB1-VL0pbG7yEqEJYYH44R6wmrLVEeybXG38kJwmjYVw/s390/Thebes+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IFWl1pCo2sgwc4t2-vqTc30xTKfmPQVD_KuvFjZCQaQuJP4kW-4Hp72siLlyCghKxbZ5RHvzHE0iZ4xwJdICTkkXjryB1-VL0pbG7yEqEJYYH44R6wmrLVEeybXG38kJwmjYVw/s320/Thebes+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;">
Concerning the name of Q: whereas I maintain that the dominant
sign was Qaw (cord), in all four types of ancient West Semitic writing
(syllabic and consonantal), nevertheless its current name is Qop
(monkey), and I have seen evidence that sometimes a drawing of this
animal was employed for Q; this is not the case in the set of tablets
from Thebes that we are studying here, but this important new document
from a Theban tomb has the monkey, I suspect.<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2015/11/h-l-h-m-order-of-alphabet-letters.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2015/11/h-l-h-m-order-of-alphabet-letters.html</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"> My ongoing preoccupation with identifying the letters is recorded here</p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"> Returning now to Khirbet er-Ra`i, new readings are being offered to its inscription.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/experts-spar-over-what-the-jerubbaal-inscription-really-says-1.10033477">https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/experts-spar-over-what-the-jerubbaal-inscription-really-says-1.10033477<br /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strike><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk9_a7ea0Zyug4zu6nDxmwKa4srKdhkqpPKexsDI_XFCOjssDIHYDYe1Ui4G9fasoBrDvZKd5zIfkCeRsnjHyVSTn4ZwZLK_EFWpYEpydbmwWwWlePf2GFjq4DNOci4v0oVsWkQ/s472/Yeruba%2560l+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIk9_a7ea0Zyug4zu6nDxmwKa4srKdhkqpPKexsDI_XFCOjssDIHYDYe1Ui4G9fasoBrDvZKd5zIfkCeRsnjHyVSTn4ZwZLK_EFWpYEpydbmwWwWlePf2GFjq4DNOci4v0oVsWkQ/s320/Yeruba%2560l+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></strike><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"> It
is not unreasonable to question whether the first letter on the right
is really Y (Yod), since its top part is missing; I have already
considered the possibility that the `ayin is Qaw, and after looking at
that Theban abgadary, I have asked whether the R is a door
(D) rather than a human head. The sparring among experts that the
reporter Ruth Schuster is highlighting (in her newspaper article) does indeed concern the first
letter, and it may have been preceded by other lost letters, everyone
must allow, though I will suggest that half of the missing letter is
there, below the two vertical parallel lines, and the rest of it is on
the third sherd, together with the arm (<i>yad,</i> Yod) that has been separated from its amputated hand.<br />
Howbeit, we must settle this disturbance of our peace. David
Vanderhooft of Boston College admits that the letter in question is
possibly a Yod, but he prefers a Zayin (<b>| |</b>); and Christopher Rollston
responds by conceding this possibility, but he adds authoritatively: "I
work heavily in this script, and so I am very comfortable with the way
we are reading it". Yossi Garfinkel gives his support to Rollston's
reading, judging him to be "the leading epigrapher in this field". Of
course, some of Rollston's failings have been revealed, in the
course of our previous journey through the "Early Alphabetic" inscriptions, and if this text is syllabic he will be perplexed. <br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.blogger.com/%23&source=gmail&ust=1630126512635000&usg=AFQjCNELcSdJb4vai8Lepi6JFK-jCoLxZA" href="https://www.blogger.com/#" target="_blank">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.<wbr></wbr>com/2021/04/another-lakish-<wbr></wbr>inscription.htm<br /></a> In the present instance, the
error that Vanderhooft and Rollston have unwittingly made is asserting
that the pair-of-lines letter (=) is Z, when I have been painstakingly
pointing out that it represents <u>D</u>, and the true Z is a couple of
triangles (|><|), as we saw on two Theban tablets (immediately
above). Albright and Hamilton rightly have = as <u>D</u>, so this is a
serious lapse of concentration. We should not expect to see this
consonantogram in the Iron Age; it is a product and a protagonist of the
proto-consonantary in the Bronze Age; it is not in the neo-consonantary
or the neo-syllabary; the double triangle replaces it, and |><|
eventually becomes |--| (vertical or horizontal). <br /> Once again we see
scholars from the field of Iron Age epigraphy and palaeography (covering
the Phoenician consonantary and its offshoots, the national
alphabets) showing their lack of expertise with regard to the West
Semitic scripts of the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. Here comes
another one into the fray, from Texas, and he is quick on the draw:
"Prof. Doug Petrovich, an expert on ancient Hebrew epigraphy and the
alphabetic script of the second millennium BC"; I would be tempted to add the word "novice" to this testimonial. Notwithstanding, Douglas is standing with me beyond the pale, looking over the fence at
the antics of the consensus contestants on the field of mock battle.
Some time ago he approached me for a crash course on the
proto-alphabet, and in the twinkling of an eye (yes, one eye) he stormed
into the most ancient West Semitic inscriptions from Sinai and Egypt; he also
published an article on the Ophel pithos inscription from Jerusalem (<i>PEQ</i>
147, 2015, 130-145) which involved (as with the Yerubba`l pot)
reconnecting a severed hand with its arm (two arms and hands already) to
restore YYN (wine), an idea first suggested by Gershon Galil, and
provisionally accepted with modifications by myself.<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2013/07/jerusalem-jar-inscription.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2013/07/jerusalem-jar-inscription.html</a><br /> At
that stage, Douglas was happy to publish the current form of my table
of signs (also appended here, below; it has my name on it but not the
copyright symbol, so I am happy to see it freely and widely divulged);
he reproduced it in his article, but then re-produced it in a revised version
in a thoroughly personal account of the origin of the alphabet, for Fox News and other outlets (including a paper delivered at the ASOR annual meeting in
2016, which was received with horror, I am told; the OR in ASOR stood for "Oriental Research", but this had to be changed to indicate "outside America", and "Overseas" was chosen, rather than "Outlandish" in its archaic meaning): "Hebrew as the
world's oldest alphabet" was the enigmatic title of the Petrovich article, explicated as a study
of "the <b>proto-consonantal</b> inscriptions of Egypt's Middle
Kingdom", based on the supposition that Israelites resident in Egypt at
that time turned hieroglyphs into alphabetic letters; and this
intriguing idea was hastily expanded into a book, and this un-infallible and un-inerrant tome is now pleading for funds to be reprinted, though I can see that it needs some revision. Well, I notice that he seems to be
recognizing the <b>proto-consonantary</b>, but he makes a short alphabet
of it. Nevertheless, as I gaze with awe at his table of signs, I feel
gratified that someone has listened to me: the door is D, the fish is S,
the mouth is P, the bag is S. (Sadey), the cord on the stick is Q, the
nefer symbol is T. (+-o); all these are missing in action on the
consensus establishment's honour-roll, but that is a cause for dishonour in their camp. <br /> There are a few anomalies on the Petrovich table that are nonetheless
correct! His dilemma is that he has painted himself into a corner of the
room that he has built for his grand parsimonious scheme: "The number
of original alphabetic letters is 22, which conflicts with the long-held
conjecture that originally there were 27 letters, probably the result
of incorrect extrapolation back from Ugaritic, a Semitic language with
more than 22 consonants". Most readers would be baffled by this dogmatic
declaration of faith, and I happen to know from long experience and
experiment that it is a falsehood. His table of signs (published with an
unfortunate misprint as "Chart of Pro-Sinaitic signs and alphabetic
letter equivalents") belies his unfounded assertion: it has 24 letters!
Incidentally, the later Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters representing 23
consonants (at least), since the penultimate letter has two forms (with a
migrating dot) to indicate Shin or Sin; he takes no account of this in
his counting, but he should have distinguished Shimsh (sun) and Thad
(breast), as we did when we examined the Thebes tablets, which are
conveniently ignored in his presentation; but his gross error is perceiving the
sun-signs as breast-signs, and relating all Shimsh and Thad signs to
Hebrew <i>shadayim, </i>"breasts"; and by sleight of hand he duplicates
(makes double) the Egyptian hieroglyph (D27) so that it is
double-breasted; but there is no corresponding hieroglyph that I can
find for Thad; the alphabetic breasts are simply drawn according to the personal knowledge of each West Semitic writer (\/\/ for example). Douglas
Petrovich is making the same basic error as Gordon Hamilton: insisting
that every alphabet letter was a borrowed Egyptian hieroglyph; my table
has a gap in this department for Waw, Taw, and Thad. Neither of these
otherwise intelligent scholars consider the previous life of the
consonantograms as syllabograms in the West Semitic proto-syllabary, and
this is a grave sin of omission (a religious concept they would both understand). <br /> Never mind, we can still
itemize some more good things about the Petrovich system, which can help
us rehearse the correct identifications: he has two allographs
(alternative consonantograms for a single sound) alternating for H.et:
he has accepted my H.Z.R (court) for <i>h.</i>, but according to his sacred laws every acrophonic source must be represented in the Hebrew Bible, and the consonant Z. (as in <i>z.il, </i>shade, Hebrew <i>s.el</i>) never existed in the holy alphabet, so he has <i>h.as.er </i>(1 Kings 6:36, referring to the Temple); the hank of thread is also <i>h. </i>(as it is when it functions as hieroglyph V28 in Egyptian texts), but it is actually the Semitic consonant <u><i>h</i></u> and the letter <u>H</u>, and another item must be added to the illegitimate tally of 22 that Petrovich has imposed on the data. <br />
When Petrovich says that the number of original alphabetic letters is
22, he must be referring to sounds rather than signs, and even then he
seems to have forgotten about the consonant Sin; he has offered no
letter representing it, and neither have I; it is supposed to be a
Proto-Semitic consonant, but where is it in the early writing systems?
Actually, he has a place for it, though it is located in a fanciful spot
of his own fabrication, in his Samek section (where the name Samek is
strangely avoided). For that sibilant, we both have the same two
letters: fish and -|-|-|; my interpretation of the fish is the Semitic
word <i>samk</i> (best known in Arabic); as there is no Biblical support for such a word, he invokes the rare root <i>sarah. </i>II,
used for putrefaction; and so he chooses "stink" as the characteristic
of the fish; true enough (after three days, guests and fish start to
stink), but deep in a sea of improbability for being what the inventor
of the proto-consonantary had in mind. For the other sign, I lean to the
Egyptian djed pillar, a spinal column, and relate it to <i>smk </i>"support".
Moving from the ocean of improbability into the ethereal realm of impossibility,
he relates -|-|-| to the enigmatic hieroglyph (D3) for hair, which only
has strokes on one side of its stem, and is thus disqualified; for the
acrophonic word he adduces, <i>se`ar </i>(hair), which has initial Samek
in later Hebrew, but Sin in the Bible (and Sh in Ugaritic). This digression allows me to mention in passing
that the word for "field" in Sinai 353 is ShD (sun, door) as in
Ugaritic, but with initial Sin in Biblical Hebrew. Notice also that
Petrovich is apparently retrojecting Massoretic Hebrew across thousands of years to the
Bronze Age, and someone should tell him he is being ridiculous, or tell me that I have got it wrong (I have not seen his description of Bronze Age Hebrew). A
reminder is in order here: the cuneiform alphabet (from Ugarit and
Beth-Shemesh, and elsewhere) has both Samek signs, and one of the Theban abgadaries
has a djed above a fish, and the other (see above) has a space with
faint marks on its right side (which is partly cut off in Petrie's
photograph); we would naturally assume that they originally referred to
separate sounds, perhaps S and "Tsch", or Samek and Sin.<br />
Ultimately, it does not matter what hieroglyphs and Hebrew words
Petrovich has used in his acrophony games; the main thing is the
correctness of the sound-values he has allotted to the signs; and from
my viewing point (with vastly more specimens at my disposal
than has been gathered by anyone else in this field) his system is
basically correct, and could be used to read the inscriptions.
Unfortunately, Petrovich's interpretations of Sinai proto-alphabetic
texts are marred by his dismissal of contextual clues related to mining, metallurgy, and horticulture, which epigraphy and archaeology
have provided (outlined in Colless 1990, and disdainfully disregarded
in the literature); instead, he introduces extraneous scenarios and
characters from the Bible. His results have been critiqued by Aren
Wilson-Wright, who has also propagated non-canonical exegesis of several
of the Sinai scriptures. By good fortune, I have just been sent Wilson-Wright's summary of his attempt
(failed) at reading the writing on Sinai 345, the bilingual sphinx;
yesterday I was sent his full essay (failed again) from the same source
(ACADEMIA, let the reader understand). We will attend to this in due
course, but I want to see what Doug has done with the sun-sign on the
Wadi el-Hol vertical (or oblique) inscription.<br /><a class="u-textDecorationUnderline" href="https://www.academia.edu/keypass/SlBSN1RNMHQ1LzFjWXNKMFdaYXhGeUI5QURnQ0hqRkJRZUZvdktVL1ZxRT0tLTNLN0Q3eVh4dkpUTmZXWEg3SDJvcWc9PQ==--96ff72b7072062ce085bf4d13abeb51f5bc81a2b/t/pcdv-PMs0c4x-VivcC/resource/work/8536309/A_DISCUSSION_OF_GLYPHS_2_2_AND_2_10_FROM_THE_SECOND_WADI_EL_H_OL_ALPHABETIC_INSCRIPTION?email_work_card=reading-history" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #1e88e5; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">A DISCUSSION OF GLYPHS 2.2 AND 2.10 FROM THE SECOND WADI EL-ḤOL ALPHABETIC INSCRIPTION</a><span class="u-tcGrayDark" color="rgb(153, 153, 153) !important" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> - Ryan Davis</span><br />
Waiting in my box is a handy little essay by Ryan Davis, on various
proposals for identifying the two examples of this sign, and he genially
cites my Cryptcracker site and my shimsh acrophone, and he even offers a
reproduction of my drawing. For ready reference, I will convene both
texts to the party (they are in fact about celebration banquets for the
goddess `Anat, who is depicted, and named in letters 6-8).<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEDh-XNCiLP7nXjwsGU5Hu1wMQu0IZ_x6ENbQ001-0NDcmiS6CZjrEVW3whZTWpEE8rEGhyphenhyphen9LtHqyaL63duJpALr9wjiIC45W_vZKBs4dqgmQdkKM8kNdO4w3mQeu7qQfVFuV-g/s1600-h/Hol+V.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="326" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368197122905762578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEDh-XNCiLP7nXjwsGU5Hu1wMQu0IZ_x6ENbQ001-0NDcmiS6CZjrEVW3whZTWpEE8rEGhyphenhyphen9LtHqyaL63duJpALr9wjiIC45W_vZKBs4dqgmQdkKM8kNdO4w3mQeu7qQfVFuV-g/w362-h326/Hol+V.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 360px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="362" /></a> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6DSnkl4hENiq1Sz4pTVcum7eu-SNvJINx4afWmmKTzmlaaKE3rcIqFAOn1wKvp0gEdu3IUY4jpiYE6V5-iX6ycfMfbX7N98kUwdlTYeEosaKRYxMGqkWo9eq3i7ccQWPrHDF-w/s1600-h/Hol+H.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="148" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368295855403557778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6DSnkl4hENiq1Sz4pTVcum7eu-SNvJINx4afWmmKTzmlaaKE3rcIqFAOn1wKvp0gEdu3IUY4jpiYE6V5-iX6ycfMfbX7N98kUwdlTYeEosaKRYxMGqkWo9eq3i7ccQWPrHDF-w/w317-h148/Hol+H.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 187px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="317" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;"> <a class="u-textDecorationUnderline" href="https://www.academia.edu/keypass/SlBSN1RNMHQ1LzFjWXNKMFdaYXhGeUI5QURnQ0hqRkJRZUZvdktVL1ZxRT0tLTNLN0Q3eVh4dkpUTmZXWEg3SDJvcWc9PQ==--96ff72b7072062ce085bf4d13abeb51f5bc81a2b/t/pcdv-PMs0c4x-VivcC/resource/work/4919303/_Wadi_el_%E1%B8%A4%C3%B4l_Inscription_2_and_The_Early_Alphabetic_Graph_%C7%B5_%C7%B5ull_yoke_?email_work_card=reading-history" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #1e88e5; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Wadi el-Ḥôl Inscription 2 and The Early Alphabetic Graph *ǵ, *ǵull-, ‘yoke’</a><span class="u-tcGrayDark" color="rgb(153, 153, 153) !important" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />Our
ongoing sub-theme is David Vanderhooft's reading of the ar-Ra`i
inscription, but he has also made a pronouncement on this letter (2 and
11 on the top diagram, indexed as Sh, using a diacritical mark not
available to me here). Ryan Davis evokes the Eureka ("I have found")
moment that Vanderhooft experienced, when he saw a double ox-yoke, and
plausibly connected it in his mind with this sign, and with the West Semitic word <i>`l</i>
"yoke", which would originally have had initial Ghayin, as in Arabic;
but I have to tell him that he will now find his Ghayin gone. First, each
instance of the sign has a larger circle on the left; but the yoke has
equal-sized rings. Second, Gh has already been identified in those
informative Thebes tablets, from ghinab "grape" (a vinestand with
grapes), which can be matched in the Arabian scripts, and I think I can
find it on the <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/10/phoenicians-in-puerto-rico.html">proto-alphabetic plaque</a> from Puerto Rico, bottom left
corner); but it is not attested in a text yet. In my first published
article on the origin of the Alphabet (<i>Abr-Nahrain</i>, 26, 1988, p. 63) I suggested Ugaritic <u>G</u>NB "grapes", taken together with the South Arabian letter <u>G</u>,
and the Egyptian vine-hieroglyph (M43). On a scale of frequency of
use (measurable in Ugaritic texts) Ghayin is in position 24, as opposed
to 11 and 12 for Sh and Th; therefore the improbability of Ghayin
appearing twice in a short inscription is patent; the two words that are
proposed to justify its presence are suspect, and one of them has the
throwstick as P instead of G. The pair of oxen and their yoke are dead,
and it is pointless to go on goading them. Fortunately a double yolk was
not thrown into the ring, or one could be left with egg on one's face. <br /> My 1988 essay cleared the weeds from the ground, and planted the right
seeds (I had recognized the overlooked garden, <i>gn</i>, in the Sinai
texts); they came to fruition in my 1990 (Sinai) and 1991 (Canaan)
publications; they made no impact on the confounded (not a swearword)
consensus. Then I started sorting out the proto-syllabary and its
relation to the proto-consonantary, working from Mendenhall's published
decipherment (1985). The proto-alphabet was found to be a
logo-morpho-consonantary: as in the Egyptian system the glyphs could be
logograms and ideograms and rebuses (rebograms or morphograms); examples
are lurking in the Hol inscription. <br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html</a><br />
The Hol consonantogram under review corresponds to a Middle Kingdom
symbol of the god Ra`(sun-disc with one serpent); but its South Arabian
counterpart is generally o--o (vertical stance, sometimes with a
curved line resembling the original) and representing Th (<u><i>t</i></u>),
whereas Arabian Sh goes with the breast \/\/ (vertical stance, like its
model, letter 10 on the horizontal Hol inscription); this is obviously a
reversal (perhaps compare Hebrew shalom and Arabic salaam, for another
change of sibilant, and the shibboleth versus sibboleth story, Judges
12:6); but it seems to indicate that the introduction of the
proto-consonantary to Arabia was very early, as this variant of the
sun-symbol was rare; it does occur on an unprovenanced and undated
cylinder seal, together with the breast-sign (Hamilton, <i>Origins</i>,
2006, 397f, though he does not notice this; he sees it as the Sadey
sign, which the consensus misidentifies as Q, a queer case of the
falling domino effect). Hamilton references my article ("Colless 1991: 58-60, fig. .30", sic, but the page number 24 should have been included with Fig. 30). I was in my devout novitiate at that time, and did not recognize the distinction between Th (<u>t</u>ad) and Sh (shimsh), and my suggested reading was ShBL || `RS.Y in 1988, and ShBL || `RNY in 1991, "Shabil the `Eranite", possibly a descendant of `Eran (Numbers 26:36); in 2023, having tried several possibilities along the way, and now identifying every letter correctly, I would now read the seven-letter sequence horizontally, not vertically, so that \/\/ and O-o have their normal stance, with the two bars indicating the start and end of the text, and thus yielding<b> | </b>LB<u>T</u> YShRP <b>|</b>. This could be interpreted literally as: "For (L) the temple (B, logogram for <i>bt</i> "house") an offering (ThY) of burning (ShRP)". The picture on the seal shows a seated person with a head-dress (a god?) facing three human figures, all having the same height, but possibly identifiable as a mother and a father presenting their son to the deity, for premature cremation. (God alone knows the truth.)<br /> I wonder how Petrovich views
this sun-symbol, given that he has Thad but not Shimsh in his reduced
scheme; curiously, we find it on his K-row; with his egyptologist's
mental set, he plumps for the ka (<i>k3</i>, soul) symbol, hieroglyph D28, two arms
with hands reaching upwards or outwards; he relates it implausibly to <i>kap</i>
(palm of hand); but again we have to account for one hand being bigger than the other, and an arc connecting them instead of a straight line; he shares this clearly erroneous idea with Orly
Goldwasser, a Jerusalem professor of Egyptology, whose thoughts on the origin of the alphabet have been
rejected, refuted already, in two dozen aspects, in my own essay (2014)
on "The origin of the Alphabet".<br /> Arrived at last. What is Prof.
Petrovich's response to Associate Prof. David Vanderhooft's
proposition to read Z instead of Y in the YRB`L inscription? He offers
precise but inaccurate statistics from the Middle and New Kingdom of
Egypt for the use of "<i>zayin</i> (originally <i>ze`ah</i>, for
eyebrows)". Pause for refreshment. It is getting hot in here, and I am
transpiring like a horse. I happen to know that Doug uses the word
"transpire" in the American manner, to mean "happen"; I was taught the
Australian meaning "come to light", in the mantra "What transpired did
not happen"; and to win a bet you use "transpire" to mean "sweat", and
when challenged you open your dictionary to them, and then hold out your
bushman's hat, with corks dangling on strings to discourage flies, and
you collect the takings. Doug's word <i>ze`ah </i>means "transpiration";
this takes us back to the primeval garden (Genesis 3:19), where the
sinner-man is told that in future he will make a living by the sweat of
his face, or, as we would say, the sweat of his brow; from here it is a
short but gigantic leap for Man from brow to eyebrows; this is typical
of the Petrovich reasoning process, and the reader will recognize that
it has remarkable affinity with my own mode of thinking. <br /> Well now, if you consult my 1988 article, you will find me arguing for = as <i>zayp</i> (late Hebrew for "bristle" or "eyebrow"), and, because the Aramaic cognate also has <i>z</i> and not <i>d, </i>I had to differ from the majority, and put Z not <u>D</u>
on my first table of signs. I am still caught on this dental-buzz
dilemma, but I am almost certain = is equivalent to the hieroglyph for
"eyebrow" (D13); support for this comes from the Thebes abgadaries: one
has the two strokes not quite parallel (as we have seen), and the other
has an eyebrow above an eye. Even so, Hamilton's ingenious
suggestion for the name Zayin merits mentioning: <u><i>d</i></u><i>ayn</i>, "these two", alongside <i>*zayn</i>,
"weapon", specifically an ax; he gives a (false) instance on Sinai 345,
the bilingual sphinx statuette. For his part, Doug asserts that Z (=)
always has "horizontal pitch", and so he concurs with Chris Rollston
that the letter is Yod on the ar-Ra`i inscription.<br /> Here is part of Sinai 345 displaying a vertical <u>D</u>, I do believe (tentatively, of course). <br />
My unprejudiced decipherment of all this sphinx's inscriptional
utterances is now nettable worldwidely, first published in print in
1990, to universal disclaim and disregard:<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html</a><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxZk41l4ST_ucRXjTIlG_Ln6Q03IVDWc89yE9ZxSRIBYuFtrI_b5BMrAoQRrDeZcq8_8upqCdsU-SV3nVA_pcNbFLBR5n0hK1oxGt4PJ-jMFJ3CqnkE6zS8RSj7hG74Lt8A2Wbg/s279/Sinai+345+NQY.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="279" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxZk41l4ST_ucRXjTIlG_Ln6Q03IVDWc89yE9ZxSRIBYuFtrI_b5BMrAoQRrDeZcq8_8upqCdsU-SV3nVA_pcNbFLBR5n0hK1oxGt4PJ-jMFJ3CqnkE6zS8RSj7hG74Lt8A2Wbg/s0/Sinai+345+NQY.jpg" width="279" /></a></div> <a class="u-textDecorationUnderline" href="https://www.academia.edu/keypass/SlBSN1RNMHQ1LzFjWXNKMFdaYXhGeUI5QURnQ0hqRkJRZUZvdktVL1ZxRT0tLTNLN0Q3eVh4dkpUTmZXWEg3SDJvcWc9PQ==--96ff72b7072062ce085bf4d13abeb51f5bc81a2b/t/pcdv-PMs0c4x-VivcC/resource/work/5350125/2013_Interpreting_the_Sinaitic_Inscriptions_in_Context_A_New_Reading_of_Sinai_345?email_work_card=reading-history" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #1e88e5; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">2013 Interpreting the Sinaitic Inscriptions in Context: A New Reading of Sinai 345</a><span class="u-tcGrayDark" color="rgb(153, 153, 153) !important" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> - <br /></span><div>
Aren Wilson-Wright, as already noted, has published a definitive
reading of this enigmatic line of writing, but it proves to be
indefinite, because he abides by the consensus traditions, as defined
and refined by Hamilton. The second half of the text is no longer a mystery, since
Alan Gardiner decoded it admirably in 1916; it says LB`LT, "to (<i>l</i>) the Lady (<i>b`lt</i>);
Ba`alat is the feminine form of Ba`al, "Lord", and she is also
recognized elsewhere on the statuette as the Egyptian goddess Hat-Hor.
Wilson-Wright constructs the first half thus, starting with a happy
straw man created out of scratches detected by Hamilton: [H]N<u>D</u> WZ. "this inscription" (<i>wz</i>
being a loanword from Egyptian). This does not ring true, I think we
receive a more likely message along these lines: N (snake), <u>D</u> (| |), Q (<i>qaw</i>, cord wound on stick, with the end of the cord projecting to the left, please notice), Y (<i>yad</i>,
arm with thumb and fingers viewed from the side). We are fortunate in
having here the two letters competing for choice ("Pick me!") on the
ar-Ra`i inscription, namely Y (erroneously said to be Zed [zayin, ax] by GJH and
AW-W), and <u>D</u> (Dh, mistakenly called Z by some of the spectators). I
am sorry, but we need to clean up this mess, which is characteristic of
the plethora of excreta that litters this field; so it really will be a
labour of Herakles, a herculean task, like shoveling horse-manure (and I
did a lot of that when I was a boy, in preparation for this moment).
Have I mentioned that I published a nice interpretation of this and the
other Sinai inscriptions. in 1990? Hamilton cites my article, but goes
his own way (333, 410, The Proto-Alphabetic Inscriptions of Sinai. <i>AbrN </i>28:1-52;
he improperly corrects my "Sinai" to "the Sinai", and positions my five articles
quasi-alphabetically after Collon, on ancient dance). All the argumentation I
am engaging in here should be in an appendix, separated from the main
body of the essay; but my appendix is still inside my body, and this is
an important matter, so the contest continues here (the link to the Cryptcracker
post on this subject is provided above, with the photograph of the sphinx).<br /> The Y-shaped glyph
is W for AW-W, and a doubtful snake for GJH (presumably a horned viper
for N, with a cobra N preceding it on the other side of the <u>D</u>).
It is clearly Q (an impossible identification for the consensus cabal,
under the leadership of Frank Moore Cross, Jr; Albright had read NS.B
as NQB, and this belief became set in stone). We keep seeing Q in all
the old familiar places, but Thebes and Sinai are our favourite
rendezvous (plural); and so there are two Q conspiracies in America at
present in the Trump era (let the percipient reader understand). Look at
the letter Q/q as we now delineate it; this form is more likely to have descended
from a character with a stem (--o- or --o<) than a tied bag (Oo or
O<); the Arabian forms of S. and Q sort this out for us (refer to the
Arabia column of my table of signs). It's a cinch! However, we
fervently hope the Arabian Semites did not do another reversal, as with
Th and Sh.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxZk41l4ST_ucRXjTIlG_Ln6Q03IVDWc89yE9ZxSRIBYuFtrI_b5BMrAoQRrDeZcq8_8upqCdsU-SV3nVA_pcNbFLBR5n0hK1oxGt4PJ-jMFJ3CqnkE6zS8RSj7hG74Lt8A2Wbg/s279/Sinai+345+NQY.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="279" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRxZk41l4ST_ucRXjTIlG_Ln6Q03IVDWc89yE9ZxSRIBYuFtrI_b5BMrAoQRrDeZcq8_8upqCdsU-SV3nVA_pcNbFLBR5n0hK1oxGt4PJ-jMFJ3CqnkE6zS8RSj7hG74Lt8A2Wbg/s0/Sinai+345+NQY.jpg" width="279" /></a><br /></div><div> Here on the sphinx, we see the New Kingdom alternative
hieroglyph (V25) which shows the end of the string (or the "spun fibre"
as Douglas Petrovich and James Hoch would have it) projecting leftwards from the small circle that represents the bulk of the cord; this detail helps us date
the inscriptions of <b>Sinai 345</b> (on other grounds, Hamilton rightly puts
it "ca. 1700-1500 B.C."). On our tablets from Thebes we see both forms. Here the reading is surely: Dh NQY LB`LT, "This is my offering to Ba`alat"; "my" (<i>-y</i>) is presumably referring to the person whose name appears in the monogram
above the Q here: I read it as ox-head and fish, 'Asa (found in three
other Sinai inscriptions). </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLk3YNexv8dNWeFbi3hbDFjUuh51v7ERd4hf7M4_ztBnRiUJkzEsdZ0o1jpEuMP8FdeVTQ4R9SAasGbpah3mgFAAiXo8j8SJEEhGSQoobxwhqcvvwliNVRKHLMhRTksgtsAF-0A/s580/Sinai+345+m%2527hb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="580" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLk3YNexv8dNWeFbi3hbDFjUuh51v7ERd4hf7M4_ztBnRiUJkzEsdZ0o1jpEuMP8FdeVTQ4R9SAasGbpah3mgFAAiXo8j8SJEEhGSQoobxwhqcvvwliNVRKHLMhRTksgtsAF-0A/s320/Sinai+345+m%2527hb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div> Incidentally, but relevantly and importantly, on the corresponding area on the opposite side of the sphinx, the recurring expression "beloved of Ba`alat" is engraved, again with reference to 'Asa; but whereas the Middle Kingdom inscriptions had M'HB B`LT, it is here given only one B, but it has a dot in it, to indicate doubling (as also in other Sinai texts from the New Kingdom era). Note that the final T is missing, having disappeared with the piece that was broken off. The other inscription is Egyptian, "Beloved of Hat-Hor" (the Egyptian goddess identified with Semitic Ba`alat).<br /> We should remind ourselves how lucky we are to have these age-old
documents from Egypt and Sinai. The six from Thebes were first published by W. M.
Flinders Petrie in 1912, and left to languish in idleness; it now
transpires (through the sweat of my brow) that the coded information
recorded on them is ruinous to the consensus paradigm that flourished
unfruitfully in the 20th century. We could blame Alan Gardiner for not
relating them to the Sinai inscriptions that were subsequently provided to him by Flinders
Petrie, and for which he offered a set of keys for their decipherment,
in 1915, in a lecture delivered in the presence of Petrie, who was not
convinced; but Petrie himself did not make this connection in his
elaborate theory of the Formation of the Alphabet, the title of the
monograph in which these photographs were included as a frontispiece. <br />
Let us revel in their riches once again. The sound we hear in the
background is the death-knell of the consensus fraud. Verily I say unto
you, this fraudulence, albeit innocent and honest, must come to an
end. <br /> As we have already seen, the Q (cord wound on stick) with two dots for doubling is in the middle of this text, conveniently positioned beside a Waw to assist us in distinguishing each of them (no stroke at the top of its circle), with triangular Z, and = Dh/<u>D</u>, an open-mouth P, apparently a shepherd's crook for Lamed, and a stylized hand for Kap, all possibly adding up to an instruction to a craftsman: "To (<i>l</i>) refine (<i>zqq</i>), and (<i>w</i>) as (<i>k</i>) fine gold (<i>p<u>d</u></i>)". The presence of <u>D</u> (and Z) shows that this is a proto-consonantal text, as might be expected, given that three of its companion tablets are abgadaries displaying the letters of the proto-consonantary (but not in the Alpha, Beta, Gamma order). <br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IFWl1pCo2sgwc4t2-vqTc30xTKfmPQVD_KuvFjZCQaQuJP4kW-4Hp72siLlyCghKxbZ5RHvzHE0iZ4xwJdICTkkXjryB1-VL0pbG7yEqEJYYH44R6wmrLVEeybXG38kJwmjYVw/s390/Thebes+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IFWl1pCo2sgwc4t2-vqTc30xTKfmPQVD_KuvFjZCQaQuJP4kW-4Hp72siLlyCghKxbZ5RHvzHE0iZ4xwJdICTkkXjryB1-VL0pbG7yEqEJYYH44R6wmrLVEeybXG38kJwmjYVw/s320/Thebes+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwulwn115Bz5zV0GxOUpnJ6PtK54SPOo5v5c0cAUF5LKDnEjLpvkvSqbiSdb7CMNx8Q6UcpJBSh4t5NKd-q9BGmNsGQdxUHSBka9igwQudXSuUx7hkzYwzm-4G92UJpky-y3nzg/s493/Thebes+abt+Petrie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwulwn115Bz5zV0GxOUpnJ6PtK54SPOo5v5c0cAUF5LKDnEjLpvkvSqbiSdb7CMNx8Q6UcpJBSh4t5NKd-q9BGmNsGQdxUHSBka9igwQudXSuUx7hkzYwzm-4G92UJpky-y3nzg/s320/Thebes+abt+Petrie.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;">
We are searching for Q, but we will remind ourselves of other
identifications along the way. Focus on the somewhat unfocussed bottom
right corner (the additional photograph below gives a better reproduction of this tablet):
definitely a circle on a stem, but apparently not Q or W, because it has
a cross-stroke (or two?), and so it would be consonantal T.et or syllabic T.A. <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/s544/Thebes+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="544" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/w246-h115/Thebes+6.jpg" width="246" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;">We
now have to answer the compulsory question, whether the text is
syllabic or consonantal. The adjacent glyph represents an altar (<i>mizbah.</i>)
and this can only be proto-syllabic MI. Notice the sun-sign in the middle
of the upper line; it shows the sun-disc with a serpent on each side;
this could be Sh or SHI, but in this context it must be a syllabogram;
the consensus-trained epigraphers would be at a loss to explain this (a
bow should shoot an arrow, not a cannonball), and they are equally
perplexed by the two examples with a single snake on the Hol vertical
inscription (examined above). Remember that the two tablets in the
middle of the sextet display the letters of the proto-consonantary. I
have just noticed, contrary to my expectations, that both have the
djed-pillar (spinal column) for Samek (or Sin?); the smaller tablet has
its djed second from the left, above the fish (also Samek); the other
tablet has a djed in its bottom line, partly faded, below a fractured
double helix (twisted thread); on its right we see Thad (breast) and
Shimsh (sun, without disc). To the left of all these, is a prone Q, with
a dot for the cord, and one end of it projecting; this is the same as
the Q on the sphinx; on the tablet at the top, the Q has a circle for
the cord and no projection (--o-); its two dots are for doubling. <br /><br /> As we proceed further along the line of writing of our new inscription, we could consider this resting place for the third piece of the puzzle.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rEwWvGJMP7HY3jTuuyvpripV-bv0uoRWW1mV6kjoBANQKs-KxE6UEOEqA1NIaJGx3IXPYPdtuDsm1VCxl6NwlMhA0itEEAl1JkhuVCquVnjbQXYPtrbi3hI4TOoWNylML8VLdQ/s480/Yrb%2560l+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rEwWvGJMP7HY3jTuuyvpripV-bv0uoRWW1mV6kjoBANQKs-KxE6UEOEqA1NIaJGx3IXPYPdtuDsm1VCxl6NwlMhA0itEEAl1JkhuVCquVnjbQXYPtrbi3hI4TOoWNylML8VLdQ/s320/Yrb%2560l+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></p><p style="text-align: left;">
If we attach the stray piece to the other end, it fits nicely, and its
top curve completes the Yod (compare the similar Yod on the sphinx, above, and look for this type on the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">Qeiyafa ostracon</a>); its bottom arc produces a Lamed; this
<i>l </i>could be a preposition, "for" or "(belonging) to" the person named. Actually, given that the two short vertical lines of the Yod (thumb and finger of the hand) are not connected to the short curved line below them, this curve could be linked to the semicircle, and allowing that the ink has been washed away along the edge of the larger sherd, we could reconstruct a form of L as on the third sherd (notice the faded diagonal line in the B for an analogy). Try this exercise: gaze at the L on the far left, and then consider the damaged L on the right; notice that the top curved line is broken, but can be neatly joined in your mind; the white line causing this erasure can be followed down to the traces of the curl that completes the letter.<br /> We have seen a doubling dot in a square B on the Sinai sphinx, and a closer inspection of the B here reveals a dot, just like the one in the adjacent `Ayin, but faded like the cross-bar to its left; this supplies the double B for the name Yerubba`al. Of course, in the Hebrew Bible the Bet coincidentally (or even historically connectedly) has a dagesh-dot for doubling. <br /> Next, if you apply your measuring instrument to the clear and whole L at the end, and then to the eviscerated phantom L at the beginning, you will find that they have exactly the same width (or length). However, if there are two different forms of L, then we have a syllabary on our hands, but I would need more of this text to establish this. In any case, we now have LYRBB`L, "<b>For Yrbb`l</b>"; and following that, the ink marks could produce an angular throwstick for <b>G</b>, as in <b>Gid`on</b>, above a triangular <b>D</b>; the names appear in that order in Judges 8:35, <b>Yerubba`al Gid`on</b>. Eureka? Hallelu Yah? Let us be grateful for the things that have been vouchsafed to us in these troubled times.<br /><br /> Despite my hesitance, the categorization of this inscription must be attempted:<br /> <b>Proto-syllabary</b>: the L and the Y disqualify it from this classification; they are not attested as syllabograms.<br /> <b>Proto-consonantary</b>: the only letter-form it shares with the Thebes proto-consonantal abgadary (refer to the photographs above) is the unique inverted B; it does not have any of the distinguishing letters of this category (the recognition of Dh in the <b>|| </b>of the Yod is fallacious, in the light of the new join with the small third fragment).<br /> <b>Neo-consonantary</b>: this is a likely but not demonstrable choice; its letters are different from the Phoenician style, and also the various Lakish forms; not a single one of its five readable letters has a counterpart in the Phoenician alphabet, and this could be because none would have an -i syllable, and this opens the possibility of the script being the neo-syllabary, since its -i syllabograms generally match the Phoenician and the new Israelian consonantary (examples: `Ayin without a dot; L with a straight back; Resh with a triangular head, not square as here)<br /> <b>Neo-syllabary</b>: the shapes and stances of the characters could be matched fairly well with examples on my unpublished table of signs collected from four main neo-syllabic inscriptions; the presumed G and D might be read as GIDI; the L could be LA; the `Ayin as `A; the R as RU; the Y could be YU (with -u as shewa); the B does not have a partner, at present, but it is an attested form. This could produce Yurubba`ala Gidi[`unu], preceded by the preposition <i>la </i>("for", remembering that the inscription was written before the vessel was baked). Against this is the direction of the line of writing; our main <a href="http://www.asor.org/anetoday/2014/02/the-lost-link-the-alphabet-in-the-hands-of-the-early-israelites/">neo-syllabic texts </a>(Izbet Sartah, Qeiyafa, Qubur Walayda) run from left to right, although the Beth-Shemesh ostracon has boustrophedon columns, proceeding from right to left. <br /><br /> LA-YURUBBA`ALA GIDI [..]<br />(or LI-YURUBBA`ALI)<br />"For Yerubba`al"<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"> <b>Yerubba`al Gid`on </b>seems to be a possible candidate for
identification with the slightly uncertain reading on the three ar-Ra`i
sherds, and he is certainly the model for my mission, that is.
exploiting shock tactics: I am overthrowing the false idols that are
blinding the eyes of my collegial community, and smashing the containers
that are concealing the light.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Inscribed spear-head </b><br /></p><p>As a final free-will offering, here is another example of the inscriptions people send me, and ask whether I can read the writing for
them; I have not been told where it is from (so it is "unprovenanced"),
and I do not know for certain what it is; I think it is a spearhead, rather than an
arrowhead; the markings certainly look like early West Semitic writing. Please
understand that the photograph I am working on is better than this
reproduction (at least the upper half is legible here). We will endeavour to
establish which of the four syllabic and consonantal categories it belongs to, and also find its
meaning, and translate it into English.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQfNcXdKLzIRjmghMkY3vsAkgTWnb8NC25sl9QPXMjNFnzcsCdwsOhn8uc2viDs6sVkKYM0WUXbdc7Q8kPXBojg1nHJbomszvO0jDtvYtyDbfoAyZR1J-lugIKhjOv6QQuSWQVg/s435/spearhead.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">s<img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="207" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQfNcXdKLzIRjmghMkY3vsAkgTWnb8NC25sl9QPXMjNFnzcsCdwsOhn8uc2viDs6sVkKYM0WUXbdc7Q8kPXBojg1nHJbomszvO0jDtvYtyDbfoAyZR1J-lugIKhjOv6QQuSWQVg/s320/spearhead.jpg" /></a></div><br /> Reading from the bottom (trusting that the entire inscription is contained in the photograph):<br />H. B T. P K B L ` M SS ` <u>D</u> <br />The
pisces pair (SS) are clear enough, and they vote against the
proto-syllabary, as also the H.et at the bottom (a square house with a
round courtyard), and the Lamed in the middle (a crook); so we can say
immediately that this is "early alphabetic", cashing in on a currency
coin of phrase. If the proposed <u>D</u>, a pair of parallel strokes,
could be separated from the trunk of the enigmatic tree (not a letter
known to me in West Semitic writing, but present in Cretan scripts) it
would indicate the proto-consonantary. On the other hand, if the H.et
was representing an original <u>H</u>, it would confirm the presence of the neo-consonantary; we should keep that in mind.<br />
The only contextual clue that we have is that the artefact is apparently the head
of a spear. We have encountered an ancient example of such a weapon in
the Tuba tomb of a man, woman, and child; it was there for protective
purposes, but it was ineffective under the circumstances, and their
remains were violated. The Lakish dagger in a hero's resting place,
carried a warlike caption: "Foe flee!"(Photo <b>15</b>) <br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.blogger.com/%23&source=gmail&ust=1630126512635000&usg=AFQjCNELcSdJb4vai8Lepi6JFK-jCoLxZA" href="https://www.blogger.com/#" target="_blank">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.<wbr></wbr>com/2021/04/another-lakish-<wbr></wbr>inscription.html</a><br />Speaking from a position of hindsight, I predict that this spear aimed at us has a similar warning inscribed on it.<div>
Gathering the two fishes in our net, we may notice that they are in a
watery environment, swimming synchronisationally over the water (M,
logogram for mayim, water) from a spring (`ayin, logogram, eye or
fount). Incidentally, these selfsame logograms (though they are merely
consonantograms here, I hasten to declare) both function in these
logographic ways in Sinai 357, which is all about watering a garden (<i>gn</i>) <<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html">SINAI IRRIGATION (357)</a>>.<br /> We have seen some ancient West Semitic methods of showing doubled consonants: two dots (Photo <b>8</b>) or one dot (Photo <b>13</b>; and Sinai 345 <<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html">SINAI SPHINX SPEAKS (345)</a>>). Here we put the same graphemes alongside each other: two fishes for SS. <br />
A sequence of significant signs now presents itself for our
consideration: MSS`. In troubled moments like these the Bible is our
ever-present refuge and resource, especially the comforting book of
'Iyyob (Job 41:18/17): an array of weapons is listed as being unable to
pierce the hide of Leviathan, including <i>massa`</i>; this sounds like a missile, and the Greek Septuagint translation has <i>doru</i>,
"spear", though this word basically means tree, then cut timber,
including the shaft of a spear, and ultimately the weapon itself; this
is all by the way, but I am clutching at twigs to explain the tree
depicted on this spearhead; at least we now know what our artefact is;
in the Bible verse our <i>massa`</i> is preceded by the word <i>h.nyt, </i>"spear", LXX <i>longkhe</i>,
"spear-head" or "lance". As regards the SS in this word, the scribes
have inserted into the round body of the Samek a doubling dot (a dagesh,
as it is known in the trade, and appropriately it means "piercing", as
with a sword, but I can only find this root in a Syriac dictionary). <br />
Below this, in a tightly knit group, is a combination of a square
(house), a crook, an eye, producing BL`, "swallow", either past tense
"swallowed", or imperative mood "Swallow!". Next to the square is a
hand, possibly; and below them a mouth (larger than the two eyes we
have seen for `ayin) , providing PK, "your mouth". <br /> The remaining
three letters are H.et (house with rounded courtyard, obscure but detectable), B (simple square
house), T.et (+-o). The verb H.BT. involves applying pressure, and
opening forcibly (Jastrow, 417).<br /> H.BT. PK BL` MSS`<br /> "Open up your mouth and swallow the spear"</div><div>If there is a letter = at the top, and not simply a portion of the drawing of a tree, then we would add <u>D</u>, and say "this spear". That would be an indication that the inscription is <b>proto-consonantal</b>, not neo-consonantal, so this leaves me up in the air, suspended from a spear-point.<br /></div><div> </div><div> "Open up your mouth (and) swallow the spear".<div> Presumably the victim would be expected to read this message as the missile neared him. <br /> Finally, what decision can we make about the script?<br /> B T. P K ` M could be syllabic or consonantal. </div> H. and S are only consonantal.<br /> If <u>D</u>
is there, this would definitely be the proto-consonantal script, otherwise it could be
neo-consonantal or proto-consonantal, but still in the Bronze Age, closer to the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/death-dagger ">Lakish dagger</a>
than the arrowheads from the Levant <<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/inscribed-arrowheads.html">ARROWHEADS</a>>.<br /> As already mentioned, one possibility for the provenance of the artefact is a Bronze-Age tomb of a warrior, as was the typical case of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/death-dagger">Lakish dagger</a>, and the spear in the grave where the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/03/oldest-west-semitic-inscriptions-these.html">Tuba amulets</a> were found. I have also heard of a tomb with a dagger, a spearhead (shaft decomposed?), and a donkey.<br /> The table of signs provided here is proving its worth as a paradigm for interpreting <b>proto-consonantal</b> and <b>neo-consonantal</b> texts; complete tables for the <b>proto-syllabary</b> and <b>neo-syllabary </b>are under construction, as new inscriptions come to light. Tuba, Thebes, and Lakish have added to the <b>proto-syllabic<i> </i></b>treasure-trove from Byblos; and the YRBB`L (Yurubba`ala) inscription has apparently increased the small <b>neo-syllabic </b>hoard. The unsound category "Early Alphabet" must be replaced by "Early West Semitic Scripts", with the proviso that West Semitic texts could also be transmitted in a variety of <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36973107/The_Mediterranean_Diet_in_Ancient_West_Semitic_Inscriptions_Damqatum_12_2016_3_20_Damqatum_The_CEHAO_newsletter_N12_2c_2016_pdf">foreign systems</a>.<br /><div> </div> <b>Alphabet evolution table</b>:<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ga3cK95QEL5IhwXHmbAgOXpaE7drKnBLCWs1QKiBhjZiL2nF9HcStHbMDO5UlfRtH5d3wzk_E8lbBlWvD5AFiZF_L2hUv8Cs4DkQWTriY6uf4phBQ3DrC2jPPBIU6qwqQq3Ocw/s1600-h/ABT+EVN+TBL.jpg"> https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ga3cK95QEL5IhwXHmbAgOXpaE7drKnBLCWs1QKiBhjZiL2nF9HcStHbMDO5UlfRtH5d3wzk_E8lbBlWvD5AFiZF_L2hUv8Cs4DkQWTriY6uf4phBQ3DrC2jPPBIU6qwqQq3Ocw/s1600-h/ABT+EVN+TBL.jpg</a></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div></div><div><b>The following message is, I trust, now obsolete:</b><br /><p> You have arrived, but this site is now too "secure" to be navigated. I could imagine that I am being silenced. <br /><br />If you can help me fix this problem, I am listening.....<br /><br />To
activate the frozen links (in this blog, and in the index) start from
here, where Cryptcracker started, though it will probably not respond,
and will not even allow you to paint it in blue and copy it :<br /></p><p><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2006/07/this-is-cryptcracker-also-known-in.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2006/07/this-is-cryptcracker-also-known-in.html </a></p>Or
google cryptcracker, and you might find a similar link to a specific
site, which would be more cooperative; the older posts seem to be more
amenable than these two new ones.<br /><br />Or retype laboriously the one at the top (as I said, it will probably resist copying).<br /><br />However,
I recommend this one as a simpler port of entry, via Crete (copy it
into the search-slot); at the end it awards you a gold ring, and so it
would be worth while scrolling right through it while you are there, as
it is a very important report on the reign of King Minos and his Semitic
Kaptarians:<br /><br />http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2016/09/semitic-crete.html<br /><br />The
first two essays in the series (this one, on YRB`L, and the next one,
on Lakish inscriptions), in which I state my grand unifying theory, are
available right here (in a frigid and rigid state?), but the one further
down (on syllabic and consonantal inscriptions from Lakish, Tel Lachish)
should be studied first</div></div>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-50024830835929805572021-04-29T01:16:00.771-07:002024-01-26T16:03:19.879-08:00 LAKISH INSCRIPTIONS GALORE<p><b>Lakish inscriptions: syllabic and consonantal</b></p><p>The West Semitic inscriptions from Lakish (Tel Lachish in southern Israel) are presented as examples of: <br /></p><p><b>West Semitic Syllabic and Consonantal Scripts <br /></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>h<a href="ttps://www.academia.edu/12894458/The_origin_of_the_alphabet">ttps://www.academia.edu/12894458/The_origin_of_the_alphabet<br /></a></b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-inscriptions.html</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> <br /></b><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/12/lakish-scripts.html"><br /></a></b><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2022/11/lakish-lice-comb.html"><br />https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2022/11/lakish-lice-comb.html</a><br /></div><p> Lakish (Tel Lachish, Tell ed-Duweir) has yielded examples of the four West Semitic writing systems in the evolutionary scheme that I have dubbed "<b>The Quadrinity</b>" (four in one): <br /><b>Proto-syllabary > <br />Proto-consonantary > <br />Neo-consonantary ><br /> Neo-syllabary.</b></p><p>Its sparklingly original formula is:</p><p>E = 2M + 2C squared</p><p>E is Early Alphabet, M = Monosyllabary, C = Consonantary, and the four components can be neatly fitted into a square box. <span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en">The origin of the alphabet was fourfold (Quadruple and Quadratic).</span></p><p>My detailed response to the publication of the Lakish lice-comb inscription now
appears in the bundle of blogs cited above; as I see it, all the claims made about it are incorrect: "oldest known sentence written in first alphabet"; the Sinai Turquoise mines have numerous sentences inscribed with the proto-alphabet; this comb-inscription is not proto-alphabetic ("first alphabet"); its letters are not
consonantal-alphabetic but syllabic (as shown by different stances or forms for the syllabograms). <br /></p><p>The best available exemplification of the West Semitic neo-syllabic
script is the lengthy inscription on the Qeiyafa ostracon (the David and
Goliath oracle), which mentions
DA-WI-DI and GU-LI-YU-TU:<br /><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2</a></p><p>Likewise the three Yerubbaal shards, which
say, when joined together correctly, LA-YU-RU-BA-`A-LA GI-DI.... , "For Yerubba`al", naming the Judge Gideon who overthrew the invaders from Midian.<br /><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html</a></p><p>Lakish was apparently unoccupied in the time of the Judges in Israel,
when the Neo-syllabary flourished, but its <b>lice-comb inscription </b>is clearly neo-syllabic, and as this city was a centre
of literacy, the Neo-syllabary may have been invented there; and this is possibly our earliest example of that type of writing.</p><p>Briefly, the comb-inscription is widely publicised as saying: <br />Y T Sh H. T. <u>D</u> L Q M L S ` [R W] Z Q T<br /><b>"May this tusk root out the lice of the hai[r and the] beard"</b><br />My neo-syllabic reading finds more letters (some of the vowels are uncertain, so only the consonants are shown):<br />' K Sh R H R M K L Q M L <span style="font-size: medium;">M W L S ` R K W L Z Q N K <b><br />"I will effectively remove all the lice from your hair and also from your beard"</b> </span><br /><i>'akshir hérîm kull qamalim walisa`araka walizuqunaka</i> <br /><br />It is <b>not</b> the user speaking about the comb and its use, <b>but</b> the comb itself speaking to the user about its usefulness.<br /><br /></p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-80011146246031417212021-01-21T20:41:00.001-08:002023-12-01T00:26:22.087-08:00BYBLOS SYLLABIC TEXTS<p>Here are my published attempts to transcribe and translate the mysterious inscriptions from Bronze-Age Gubla (Byblos), a city on the coast of Lebanon, north of Sidon and Tyre, and Beirut.</p><p>An overview of the documents and attempted decipherments of "The Byblos Script", by Juan-Pablo Vita and José-Ángel Zamora, with <b>photographs and drawings</b> of the inscriptions (p. 77-89), and a copy of my <b>table of signs</b> for "the West Semitic Protosyllabary" (p. 95, fig. 27), is available<a href="https://www.academia.edu/37706221/The_Byblos_Script"> here</a>.<br /></p><p>
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</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">GUBLA TEXT D</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Bronze
Tablet) <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Description</i>
: Dunand, 76-78.<br />This document has forty-one lines of script,
reasonably well preserved, but some glyphs were lost when small portions of the
metal fell away.<br /><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Depiction</i>
: Dunand, 77 (drawing); plate X (photographs); Colless 1993, 4; Vita and Zamora 2018, 78<br /><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Interpretation</i>
: Mendenhall, 32-93; Colless 1993, 5-34.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This appears to be a royal proclamation (</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">so </span>Mendenhall, table of contents). A ruler named H.uru-Ba</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">`</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ilu speaks of having brought the "lands" (02 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">matati</i>) to "truth" or “the
constitution (of a new state)” (02 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">la-kiti</i>),
and to "unity" (06 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">la-’ih.idi</i>);
a "covenant" (11 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’ilila,</i> 14
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’ililati</i>) has been made.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Obverse</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>01. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha
</i>[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">w</i>]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>h.u ru ba`i lu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i 'a tu 'u</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">02. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma
ta ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ki ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya tu ha i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hi</i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">du</i> )<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha ki</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>03. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">`a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha
`i la li ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ti sa ta ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>04. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta
h.i ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu la ki<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>05. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ba
'i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba nu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shi tu ya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba nu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>06. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i h.i di<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ya ha tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t.i wa ra ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta </i>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ba?</i>)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>07. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ka</i>
]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba 'u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ni ni ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ka wa</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>08. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">n-?</i>
]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bi
tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t.i wa ra<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>h.u h.a sha<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>09. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">li?</i>
] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ta ka wa na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la hu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ya ha </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>10. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tu
</i>]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">h.u ru ba `i lu </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta/ha</i> ] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">li du<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gu</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>11. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">h.i
</i>[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ti</i> ]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta
li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shi li ta ti ya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i li la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ha ki</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>12.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> mi
'u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ti sa ki ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>li 'i mu hu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>lu h.i </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>13. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sa
ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu ra `a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu ru `i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>shi li ta ti</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>14. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i li la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ti `a shu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya la nu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>lu mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ya</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>15. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">da
sha na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma 'i hu di<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'u ba ru ka wa</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>16. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tu `i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>tu t.i wa 'i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>si t.u </i>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">s.a </i>?)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bu ba ta ta</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>17. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tu
sa ta ru 'i ya `u bu du tu ni ya</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>18. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ba
ti ya tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yi ba mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu na tu `i</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>19. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">t.i
wa</i> ] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'u tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>h.u ru ba `i lu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i 'u</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>20. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta
ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya ru ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'u h.a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>`a ni ya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>21. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ki</i>
]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>`i mu ru </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mu ru?</i>
) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bi `u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">`u ma?</i>) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'a</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>22. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ka?</i>]
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wa na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>`u bu di<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>zi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi
shi li </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Reverse</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>23. [<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ki ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ya tu ha `i hi du<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa ti</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>24. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sa
ta ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>'u ya ta ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la ki ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>25. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">li</i>
] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ti h.a ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tu `i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ki
ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>26. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha
ki `a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>si
ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ti sa ta ru</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>27. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ni
</i>]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">`u ma </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'a</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ka wa na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>`u
bu di<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>28. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">za
ku ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ki ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>za ku ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>zu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>29.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> ru
ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ki ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma na ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>zi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>`u
'u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>30. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">si
du t.u tu 'u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>`u bu du tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ka
wa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta?</i> ]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>31. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bi
ra ki<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t.u wu ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>du ga la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ha bu 'a</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>32. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t.a bu du<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>sa nu bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tu ni bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nu </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>33. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ya
ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sha du da<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>'a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>h.u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sa pa yi</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>34. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mit.ru
</i>]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ba<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>`a ti hu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>zu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma
la ki<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>35. [<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ra<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shi
la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'u ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha h.i tu yi </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>36. [<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha li pi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma ti ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ra ha `a </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>37. [<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'a la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>du 'a 'i ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>yi yi 'i la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'u</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>38.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>yi ki ni wu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hu pi ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ni ta</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>39. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">h.a
wu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta h.u ba m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba wa 'i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ni</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>40. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta
di m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ki
ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>41. [<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">h.u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mi shi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i>[<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
1a]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ha
[w]a tu h.u rub a `i lu</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
words of H.uruba`ilu</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
1b-2a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i 'a
tu 'u</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma ta ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ki ti</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I have the lands come to
me for the constitution.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
2b-3a]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ya
tu ha i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hi</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">du</i>) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha ki `a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha `i la li ni</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">They
pledge themselves submissively in joining me,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
3b-4a] <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">pa
ti sa ta ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni ta h.i ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu la ki |hi| ya</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and
they guard for me the boundary of my empire.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
4b-5] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(hi) ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu ba 'i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ba nu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shi tu ya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ba nu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Those
brought in with us, and drinking with us,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
6-7a] </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i h.i di<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya ha tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>t.i wa ra ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta </i>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ba?</i>)[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ka</i>
]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba 'u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ni ni ta</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">to
unity, that is, they constitute one fold, and come to me as offspring,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
7b-8a]</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ka
wa</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">. [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">n-?</i> ]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bi
tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t.i wa ra<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>h.u h.a sha<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and
the houses (families?) become an admirable flock,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
8b-10a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">li?</i>]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta ka wa na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la hu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya ha </i>[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tu </i>]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">h.u ru ba `i lu</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and
they are dependents of him, namely H.uruba`ilu,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
10b—11a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta/ha</i> ] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">li du<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>guh.i </i>[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ti</i> ]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shi li ta ti ya</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">for
begetting progeny, dependents of my dominion.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
11b-12a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i li la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ha ki mi 'u</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">They
have made a binding covenant,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
12b-14a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ti
sa ki ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>li 'i mu hu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>lu h.i sa ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu ra `a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu ru `i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>shi li ta ti</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and so his people shall
deliver up to me the whisperer and the perpetrator of evil of my dominion.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D 14b] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i li
la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ti `a shu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya la nu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our allies make a
covenant.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
14c-15a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">lu mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya da sha na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma 'i hu di</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My power makes the
peoples strong (?).</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
15b-16a]</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'u ba ru ka wa na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tu `i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>tu t.i wa 'i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>si t.u </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">s.a </i>?)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bu ba ta ta</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After straying and
wandering about, the outsider becomes compliant.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
16b-17] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ta tu sa ta ru 'i ya `u
bu du tu ni ya</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Those who place
themselves under my protection are my obligors (?).<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
18-19a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ba ti ya tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yi ba mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>mu na tu `i</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">t.i wa</i> ] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'u tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>h.u ru ba `i lu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i 'u</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My house (?) … procreate
(?) … straying, wandering … H.uruba`ilu.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
19b-21a]</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> 'i 'u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ya ru ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'u h.a `a ni ya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ki</i>]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha `i mu ru </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mu ru?</i>) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bi `u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I bring (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'i'utati</i>)
the early rains (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yaruni</i>, Hbr. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yoreh</i>) and (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'u</i>) the rainstorm (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">H.A</i>)
of my eyes (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">`A-niya</i>), thus (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">haki</i>) producing abundance (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha`imuru</i>) and (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">-ma</i>) fructifying (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rubi`u</i>,
Hbr. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rb`)</i> waters (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MU</i>).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
21b-23a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">`u ma?</i>)
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'a</i> [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ka?</i>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wa na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>`u
bu di<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>zi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>bi shi li </i>[<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ki ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>shu </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya tu ha `i hi du</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I establish as obligors
the people who are under the dominion of the constitution to which they pledge
themselves;</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
23b-24]</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa ti</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sa ta ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'u ya ta ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>la ki ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and so they observe for
me the sign (agreement?) of the constitution and </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D 25] </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">li</i> ] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta
li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ti h.a ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tu `i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ki ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">to be subject to,
instead of straying from, the constitution, and</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D 26a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ha ki `a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>si ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">submissively and with
dignity;</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
26b-27] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ti sa ta ru </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ni </i>]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">`u ma </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'a</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ka wa na<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>`u
bu di<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and so they protect for
me the people I establish as obligors,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D 28a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">za ku ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ki ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">pure with respect to the
constitution, and</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
28b-29a] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>za ku ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>zu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya ru ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ki
ti</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">pure in revering me with
regard to the constitution. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D 29b] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma na
ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>zi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>`u 'u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">whatever they tithe to
me</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D 30a] </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">si du
t.u tu 'u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(mark out fields?)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D30b]</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>`u bu du
tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ka wa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ta?</i> ]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(tilling for me becomes
…?)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D 31a] </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bi ra
ki<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t.u wu ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>du ga la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(blessings?) (in
weakness?) (great hunger?)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
31b-32] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ha bu 'a </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t.a bu du<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>sa nu bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tu ni bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nu </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">our sickle (</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">MA-nu</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">)
reaps (fruitfully) from the good work of producing produce,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D 33] </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ya ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sha
du da<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>'a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>h.u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sa pa yi</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">on the day of harvest in
the month (</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">H.U</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">) of ingathering (</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">'a
sa pa yi</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D 34a] </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mit.ru</i>]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ba<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>`a ti hu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">rain in its season</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
34b-35a]</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>zu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma
la ki<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mu </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ra<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shi la</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The arm (</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ZU</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">) of the king
(brings a curse?) … (tribute?)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D35b-36]</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> 'u ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha
h.i tu yi </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha li pi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma ti ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ra ha `a </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">whether (smite and beat)
(</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">to
the mouth of Death?)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> when he has done
evil, </b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D37a] </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'a
la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>du 'a 'i ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yi yi 'i la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">is cursed with the curse
of sickness;</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
37b-38]</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'u ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yi ki ni wu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>hu pi ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">or he does not persevere
in fulfilling the obligations to me</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[D
39b-41]</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba wa 'i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ni ta di m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ki
ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">h.u<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mi shi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i>[<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">coming to me … abundance
(</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">di</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">) if for my<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>constitution (</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">pay one-fifth tribute<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">?) </b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Wrestling with this
tablet is like engaging in mortal combat. Some of the suggested meanings I have
offered for various lines are senseless. The text is obviously encoding a West
Semitic language in the ancestry of Phoenician, but very ancient and obscure.
Emendations have been proposed at several points, on the assumption that the
engraver was copying a text from papyrus, and made errors in transferring the
lines of writing.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For details of
emendations and discussions of the meanings of words, refer to Mendenhall 1985,
and Colless 1993.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">No gods are mentioned
(except perhaps Baal in the king’s name, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">H.uruba`ilu</i>,
and possibly though not probably Horus as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">H.uru</i>).
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This is not a typical
covenant document with the names of the parties to the pact, and the gods
acting as witnesses to the oaths taken.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is a royal
proclamation of the constituting of a new kingdom, bringing together a set of
“lands” (possibly various tribal territories), and stating stipulations,
tribute payment, rewards, and penalties (blessings and cursings), as in ancient
treaty documents. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It bears similarities to
Gubla Text A, which lays down requirements for tribute and taxes (Colless
1994).</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For an account of the
decipherment process that produced the above reading:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/westsemiticsyllabary"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/westsemiticsyllabary</span></b></a></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">which includes:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/WSSyllabaryBC.pdf?attredirects=0"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">syllabary document </span></b></a></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(pdf)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "New York"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page; page-break-before: always;" />
</span></b>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">GUBLA TEXT C</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Bronze
Tablet)</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>Description</i> : Dunand, 74-76.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This bronze tablet is inscribed from right to left, in long
lines, with spaces at the end of nine of its fifteen lines. The metal has
suffered severe corrosion, but most of the glyphs are legible. The spaces at
the left side of several lines show the direction of writing (right to left, as
in texts D and A), and boustrophedon writing is not a possibility here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>Depiction</i> : Dunand,75 (drawing);
Dunand, plate IX (photographs); Colless 1994, 60.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>Interpretation</i> : Mendenhall, 94-112; Colless 1994, 60-72.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The document seems to be a marriage contract: a father gives his
daughter Habula (01) to a man named Shutu (06) or Shutun (01), possibly a
prince (<i>saru</i>, 06). The father is apparently unnamed, but he is perhaps
the same king as in text D, namely H.uru-Ba`ilu (since tablets C and D were
found together).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Obverse</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>01. <i>ha bu la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni ni ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ru h.i ma tu shu tu ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba ti mi m</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">02. <i>ba h.i ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta
la </i>[<i>bi?</i>]<i>sa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ka yi na tu m</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">03. <i>ma 'i ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wi
shu ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi hu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'a
ka yi na ma </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>04. <i>ba<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yi li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha ra ra ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ta ka yi na ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba yi ta hu</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">05. <i>pa ma ta ba h.i mu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>t.u li ta ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma li ha m</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">06. <i>shu tu sa ru bi ni hu mu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sa ba ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ka yi na tu m</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">07. <i>`u bu du wu ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>du ga wi ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya ta sa `u bu du
ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni ni</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>08. <i>pa ti ru ni tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>si
t.u bu ba ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta `u bu du<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma mi</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">09. <i>ba ti ya? ma ba yi ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba ri ri<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>za/ni hi ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hi li ni</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">10. <i>ma ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi ni
hu mu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sa ba ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ka yi na tu m</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">11. <i>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha h.i
ni mi t.a bu du 'a ha sa sa nu tu 'a</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">12.<i> bi ma nu ma sha du da<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ra h.i ma ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>'i ba li gu hu</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">13. <i>t.a shi tu m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ma `u ta ma 'i h.i lu ti li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>su pa
h.i </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Reverse</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>14. <i>wa h.i du<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi hu 'i
‘a ba h.i mu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>zu </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">15. [<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>] <i>ba h.i ti </i>[<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>]
1 1 1 1 1 1 1</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">C 1]</b> <i>ha bu la<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ni ni ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ru h.i ma tu shu tu ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba ti mi m</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Habula my daughter is
the beloved of Shutun in perpetuity.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[C 2] </span></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ba h.i
ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ta la </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">[<i>bi?</i>]<i>sa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ka yi na tu m</i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">And for life you will
constantly clothe her (for me?)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[C 3] </span></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ma 'i ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wi shu ni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>bi hu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'a ka yi na ma</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I solemnly bestow what
is mine on him.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[C 4] </span></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ba<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yi li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ha ra ra ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ta ka yi na ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ba yi ta hu</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">With a cherished family
may she establish his house,</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[C 5] </span></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">pa ma ta ba
h.i mu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>t.u li ta ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ma
li ha m</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">and in her fullness
make it great with children.</span></b></p>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "New York"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page; mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span></b>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;">GUBLA
TEXT A </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Stone Monument)</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Description</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"> : Dunand, 71-73.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The stone
is badly worn and broken off on the left side. The original length of the lines
is uncertain; the break is diagonal for the first four lines, and vertical for
the remaining six; only the tenth and last line is complete, apparently,
because it ends before the broken edge. Consequently it is impossible to give a
coherent translation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>Depiction</i>
: Dunand, 72 (drawing); Dunand, plate VIII (photograph); Colless 1994, 73.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i>Interpretation</i>
: Mendenhall, 113-119; Colless 1994, 72-78.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dunand
(119) and Mendenhall (113) surmise that this is a building inscription; my
interpretation is based on the hypothesis that it is a taxation document.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
identified vocabulary seems to indicate that the document is a
"claim" from King "Buhura-Bali" for "income" or
"harvests", stored in "granaries", and also
"fish", the "contributions" being regarded as
"rents".<br /><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>01.
<i>ru tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bu hu ra . . . </i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>02.
<i>h.i sa ni m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'a mi sa m . . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>03.
<i>ka wa na tu m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha ta q- mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa . . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>04.
<i>ti ru ya ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa ni ?</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>? mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>? ? m . . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>05.
<i>pa . . . zi?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>du ti ti ma sha du
ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'a? . . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>06.
<i>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>da ga ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'a tu m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>sha du ti? ?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hu 'i ya ma . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>07.
<i>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wi shu bu ta m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>`u?
ha mi na ta ru wu ma ka wa . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>08.
<i>mi na ru 'i</i><b> </b><i>wu ma 'a sha du ta sa pa da ga ti . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>09.
<i>'a tu m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sha du ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>za? ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ya ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wi shu bu tu m</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>10.
<i>ka wa na ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bu hu ra ba li</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;">[<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A 1] </span></span></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ru tu<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bu hu ra . . . </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;">Claim
from Buhura[-Bali]</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"> . .
. "</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;">[A 2] <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>h.i sa ni m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>'a sa mi m . . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of stores,
of granaries</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> [emended from<i> 'a mi sa m</i>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[A 3] <i>ka
wa na tu m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ha ta q- mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa . . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">constantly
being raised, and</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> …</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[A 4] <i>ti ru ya
ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa ni ?</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>?
mi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>? ? m . . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">offering</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> … [a
fatling <i>miri’um</i>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[A 5] <i>pa . . .
zi?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>du ti ti ma sha du ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'a? . . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">… tax-collection (?)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[A 6]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>da ga ti<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'a tu m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sha du ti? ?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>hu 'i ya ma . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">and
fish, bring the collection</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> ……</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[A7] <i>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wi shu bu ta m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>`u? ha mi na ta ru wu ma ka
wa . .</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">and rent</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> … tithe (10 minas?) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">contribution</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[A 8] <i>mi
na ru 'i</i></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;"> </span></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino;">wu ma 'a sha du ta sa pa da ga ti . .</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>… <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">collection</b>,
a dish (<i>sapa</i>) of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">fish</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[A 9] <i>'a
tu m<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sha du ta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>za? ru<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ya ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>wi shu bu tu m</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Bring the collection</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, seed (?) of the
sea(?), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and rent</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[A 10] <i>ka
wa na ma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>li<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bu hu ra ba li</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">be for Buhura-Bali</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; tab-stops: 13.0pt 431.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span></b></p>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "New York"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page; mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span></b>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Colless, Brian E., 1988, Recent Discoveries Illuminating
the Origin of the Alphabet, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>26: 30-67.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">__, 1990, The Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions of Sinai, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>28:1-52.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">__, 1991, The Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions of Canaan, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>29: 18-66.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">__, 1992, The Byblos Syllabary and the Proto-alphabet, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>30: 55-102.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">__, 1993, The Syllabic Inscriptions of Byblos: Text D, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>31: 1-35.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">__. 1994, The Syllabic Inscriptions of Byblos: Texts C
and A, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>32, 59-79.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Dunand, M., 1945, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Byblia
Grammata: Documents et recherches sur le développement de l'écriture en
Phénicie<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>(Beirut).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mendenhall, George E.,
1985, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Syllabic Inscriptions from
Byblos</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Beirut).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt; tab-stops: 31.0pt 485.95pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Palatino; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> </span></p>
<p> </p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-48018994970574292132020-10-07T03:31:00.025-07:002023-12-10T21:02:50.555-08:00HONEY BEES AT ANCIENT REHOB<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngqvF4IkvWHECHZO5h1axcht-ZV3oWYdEu1q2SBIFkZ7HyNi4pTostpyMXSExtMxlScnDKldfCvPOk0HLyQ3uHJfyRd9qIbQrAVWYJpbp4Vo_ox3c6GUYgazbB-eP76siIBVBKw/s422/Rehob+mongoose.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="184" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngqvF4IkvWHECHZO5h1axcht-ZV3oWYdEu1q2SBIFkZ7HyNi4pTostpyMXSExtMxlScnDKldfCvPOk0HLyQ3uHJfyRd9qIbQrAVWYJpbp4Vo_ox3c6GUYgazbB-eP76siIBVBKw/s320/Rehob+mongoose.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> This mysterious object was excavated on the site of Tell e<u>s</u>-<u>S</u>arem in northern Israel; this ruin-mound (<i>tell </i>in Arabic) is also known as Tel Re<u>h</u>ov </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(in Hebrew)</span>; and I will call it by its original name, Re<u>h</u>ob, which means "broad", and such it certainly was. There is a Canaanian city Re<u>h</u>ob mentioned in the Bible as having resisted Israelian conquest by the tribe of Asher (Judges 1:31), but it is near Akko, north of Mount Carmel, and west of the Sea of Galilee; Tel Re<u>h</u>ov is south of the Galilee Lake, in the Jordan River Valley, and may have resisted the tribe of Manasseh, like its neighbor Beth Shean (Judges 1:27). The unique feature of this particular Rehob is its large apiary, and this scary artefact was associated with Area C, where an industrial centre for the production of honey flourished for a period; of course the industrious busy buzzy bees did the work, but the animal depicted on top of the miniature edifice may have had a part to play. However, the box-house itself comes from Stratum IV in the 9th century </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">BCE</span>, and it was found in a building that had been constructed over the remains of the apiary, which had been destroyed by fire. My questions would be: Did this object also belong to the apiary period, and survive the fire? Also, did the depicted animal have a function in both periods, before and after the destructive blaze? Was this the home of the creature? If the animal was a lion, then it was unlikely to be employed or housed there, though Samson used a dead lion as a bee hive to produce honey </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Judges 14:8-9); and a lion would not fit in a box that is 15" by 11"</span>. <br /> This object seems to belong to a category known as "portable shrines", clay boxes in which gods were housed, as figurines (in human or other animal forms). Formerly, they were called "snake houses", based on a guess that serpents were kept in them; but one was found at Ashkelon with a bronze calf inside it, and in the sanctuary of a Philistian temple at Tell Qasile, at the foot of the altar, a clay temple model contained two naked goddesses (<b>G 2018</b>, 146-159, also with particular reference to examples of empty miniature shrines found at Khirbet Qeiyafa). This motif of two nude goddesses is matched at Rehob, on altars (<b>M 2008</b>: 42-47). However, a striking feature of the Rehob clay house is the presence of two snakes at the entrance </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(see the pictures above, and two more at the end of this essay)</span>. <br /> More details about Area C of Tel Re<u>h</u>ov can be found in this illustrated article by the archaeologists Amihai Mazar and Nava Panitz-Cohen (the photos are by D. Harris); it gives an account of the Rehob excavations, and at present it is available here:</span><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291853946_It_is_the_land_of_honey_Beekeeping_at_Tel_Rehov"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Beekeeping at Tel Rehov</span></a><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> From that helpful source we learn that the surviving beehives are clay cylinders with a lid at one end (for the apiarist to extract the honeycombs) and a small hole at the other end (for the coming and going of the bees). The cylinders each have a volume of fifty-six litres, and they are arranged horizontally in three tiers and three rows. This pattern is still observable in modern Israel, and elsewhere. At first, there was no certainty that these excavated artefacts were beehives, but Dvorah Namdar detected beeswax in the clay walls of the cylinders. Incidentally, and felicitously, Dvorah is the modern Hebrew form of Deborah, which means "bee".<br /> This large city-site has yielded several short inscriptions, on pots and sherds. We will work our way through these West Semitic texts, searching for clues to understanding more about the honey-industry in the complex of buildings in Area C of the ruins; and of course we want to know the purpose of that gaping box, with a seemingly unfriendly animal on top, poking out its tongue and digging its claws into two heads. <br /> Presumably, many of the jars that have been unearthed were for storing honey, but at first glance I can not see the Hebrew words for honey (<i>debash, dvash</i>) or bee (<i>deborah, dvora</i>), nor the Canaanian and Babylonian word NBT. <br /> When studying inscriptions, my first principle is this: only the person who wrote the message knew what the intended meaning was. Moreover, it is hard enough deciphering the handwriting of ancient scribes, even when we have a complete text, but usually the inscription has been damaged in transit or mutilated where it stood.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>Sarem sherd</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(C2:49-50)</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlxDF7r2WmUkTRebgkr1mW01NAAMMLFdLMKk-_4ETGgak6k9ZLgNhl1p1PMjJ3sHZJzDqxCVNuBL00EZfcKzbKZYxA-eVLyaYUDjSAMJHENgG9K10VmMgo4_MF7NmyYe4GRlezg/s200/Sarem+Rehob+sherd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvlxDF7r2WmUkTRebgkr1mW01NAAMMLFdLMKk-_4ETGgak6k9ZLgNhl1p1PMjJ3sHZJzDqxCVNuBL00EZfcKzbKZYxA-eVLyaYUDjSAMJHENgG9K10VmMgo4_MF7NmyYe4GRlezg/s0/Sarem+Rehob+sherd.jpg" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This is a fragment of a fenestrated stand, with a portion of an inscription that was engraved before baking. When I first published my ideas on this text (<b>C</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1991</span>:49-50) I played with the possibility that there were words indicating "incense offerings" in this assortment of letters, as would seem to be appropriate on such a cult stand (the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/gezer">Gezer sherd</a> belongs to this category, and it has the word KN, "stand"); I also noted that the sign for Sh in the centre seemed to have a counterpart to its right, and if that really is a circle at the top, above the M with many waves, then the dotted eye (`Ayin) at the bottom also has a variant counterpart. Since then I have stumbled on what I am calling "<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html">the neo-syllabary</a>", whereby the letters of the protoalphabet were employed to indicate an accompanying vowel as well as a consonant, and this sequence of signs could be showing <i>`i</i> and <i>`a</i> (or possibly <i>`u</i>), and <i>shi</i> and<i> sha</i>. If it really is a syllabic inscription, it joins the illustrious company of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/abgadary">Izbet Sartah Ostracon</a> (a scribe reflects on how this writing system works), and the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">Qeiyafa Ostracon</a> (a prophet delivers an oracle from Yahu, concerning a momentous event: a "servant of God", named "Dawid", has executed divine justice to the "`Anaq", named "Guliyut", who had cursed him). None of the other inscriptions from Rehob will turn out to be syllabic, but they will fit into the pattern of the international consonantal script (in the style of the Phoenician alphabet).<br /> For drawings of the inscriptions from this period, refer to <a href="https://www.academia.edu/5300339/2013_Finkelstein_I_and_Sass_B_The_West_Semitic_alphabetic_inscriptions_Late_Bronze_II_to_Iron_IIA_Archeological_context_distribution_and_chronology_Hebrew_Bible_and_Ancient_Israel_2_2_149_220">Finkelstein and Sass 2013</a>.<br /> With regard to the numbering system that the editors have applied to the Rehob inscriptions, note that they are arranged chronologically from early to late: <br /><b>R 1-4</b> are from the lower <b>Stratum VI</b>; <br /><b>R 5</b> is from <b>Stratum V</b>; <b><br />R 6-11</b> are from the higher level <b>Stratum IV</b>.<br /> My presentation of them will follow a topical scheme, searching for connections.<br /> We first consider some sherds, which have only one or two letters on them. Could they be an ancient form of "flash cards" for learning the alphabet? <b>R3</b> (M 2014:41-42; Fig. 3) has L, but if inverted it could say P; <b>R10</b> (M 2014:50; Fig.1) has B; <b>R1</b> (M 2014:40; Fig. 1) has `Ayin and Yod. Or are these labels with abbreviations? <i>`ay</i> can be a word for a "heap", as possibly in a <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2008/11/sinai-proto-alphabetic-inscription-375a.html">Sinai turquoise inscription</a>, to which we will return at the end of our quest.<br /> Moving on, it would appear that some of the Rehob pots make reference to their contents. <br /><br /><b>Rehob 8 </b>(M 2014:47-48)</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />(M 2003: Fig. 4. Photo by Gabi Laron)</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-Ls87hJVx_qziQxmJyx4E5CqWPtk429tUo11lVxer38_IxTQSl2eQzeKPgmWdi9-71dnZFwqY75z5By6Bmt7FVa-ocrrTWJxJBuL6QkTbKYj7ZH7RQUprirvhuKJkgzs6H03ow/s282/Rehob+8.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-Ls87hJVx_qziQxmJyx4E5CqWPtk429tUo11lVxer38_IxTQSl2eQzeKPgmWdi9-71dnZFwqY75z5By6Bmt7FVa-ocrrTWJxJBuL6QkTbKYj7ZH7RQUprirvhuKJkgzs6H03ow/s0/Rehob+8.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Mind the gap! This damaged clay jar is from what is possibly a cultic building in Stratum IV, and Area E, to the east of Area C, and thus distant from the place where the apiary used to be. What is left of the sequence of letters has a long-tailed M at each end (indicating 9th century BCE or later); we assume that the direction of writing is as normal, from right to left (neosyllabic inscriptions usually run from left to right, as in English alphabetic writing); in the middle there are two strokes that would have been the bottoms of characters with long stems (Q/q for example, or K) or tails (M or N, perhaps); the penultimate letter is `Ayin, though in this period (10th C BCE) we expect a circle to represent the eye from which it is descended, in the pictorial <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html">protoalphabet</a>, but it is actually closer to the original (<o>) in this present form, albeit without the pupil. In the beginning the letter M was a symbol for rippling water, and I would like this message to have been MYM N`M, "lovely water" (for drinking); but <i>mayim </i>is generally understood to be plural (as in English "waters"), and the adjective would need to be N`MM (masculine plural). Apparently the second letter is also `Ayin, and so I offer this restoration, with </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">M as the word for "water" in what old-school grammarians called "the construct state" (<i>mé</i>, not <i>mayim</i>)</span>: M `N N`M, "water of the N`M spring" (<i>`ayin </i>can mean "fountain", as well as "eye", for obvious reasons); hence "water of Naomi's spring"; or "water of the Fountain of Sweetness"; whatever the precise intention, we are probably being told that this is water from a good source, and it is a fact that Rehob had "plentiful water sources", including the Jordan River (<b>M</b> 2007:202); in fact there was a spring quite near Area E (M 2019:165, Fig. 2). I have an analogy for this, in M ` 'M, "water of the spring of the Mother (Goddess)", where the `ayin functions as a logogram, <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html">Sinai 357</a> (<b>C</b> 1990:37-39). However, in the case of this dismembered Rehob 8 inscription, "God alone knows the truth".</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rehob 2 </b>(M 2011:40-41; 190, Fig. 2)<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkVTsgUnZuzHc1BXECmpobrmnLfBP5aKqnblMgnQUjGi8rXiMBlgnJKG5kiuFJG00hiISUdqwqehn_cN134OMJ3RXvx92pR0hnrIZeTwCz1vQx9YGNkXhJ70itRg_IyQu8ci1naQ/s226/Rehob+2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkVTsgUnZuzHc1BXECmpobrmnLfBP5aKqnblMgnQUjGi8rXiMBlgnJKG5kiuFJG00hiISUdqwqehn_cN134OMJ3RXvx92pR0hnrIZeTwCz1vQx9YGNkXhJ70itRg_IyQu8ci1naQ/s0/Rehob+2.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Peering into the gloom to decipher the writing, what we see is a wiggly line on the right, and a straight line on the left; between them is a cross (<span style="font-family: arial;">x</span>) and an Aleph (glottal stop, represented by an ox-head). The same text (damaged) also appears on the other side. The first three signs could constitute a personal name MT'; the editors cite a counterpart for it on an Ammonite seal. However, if it were a label for the jar's contents, and the M was the word for "water" in "the construct state" (<i>mé</i>, not <i>mayim</i>), as in Re<u>h</u>ob 8, and the final stroke was N (with the bends in the snake straightened out), the meaning might be "fig-water", the T'N representing the Hebrew word for "fig" (<i>te'énâ</i>). Accordingly, this might have been a vessel for fig-juice, perhaps pressed figs mixed with water; syrup made from figs and dates is thought to account for many of the uses of the Hebrew "honey" term <i>debash</i> (<b>M</b> 2018:40). If this was syllabic script, it could say <i>mi ti 'i n-</i>, but this is not absolutely decisive, even though <i>mi</i> could represent <i>mé, </i>and <i>ti </i>could be <i>t</i> + shwa, and <i>'i </i>could be <i>'é</i>, but the presumed N has no analogy, either syllabic or consonantal. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">One thing remains certain: the scribe who incised these characters (on the already baked jar) knew what they meant, and would be astonished at our incompetence.<br />28/11/2023<br />New light can be shone on this double inscription, by a fragment of a pithos from Crete (Middle Minoan, Bronze Age), found at Tel Haror in the Negev, connected with the international trading ports of the Gaza coast; it has three signs from the ancient Cretan (Kaptarian) syllabary (at its original pictorial or pictophonetic stage, not Linear A): reading from left to right, MU (a bovine head), TE (a tree), NI (a fig tree, and the symbol for FIG, after Cretan Greek <i>nikuleon</i>), which would be an attempt (within the limits of the system) to write West Semitic MU TE 'E NI ("fig water"). This reading also offers some more confirmation of my decipherment of the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2017/06/aegean-syllabic-signs.html">Creto-Cyprian scripts</a>. The sugar in figs and raisins is low-calorie allulose.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rehob 4 </b>(M 2003:2-3, Fig. 2; M 2014:42-43)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iH3nyVcgjHp7lD2irWckFS-1HC9Sb_HzUl3p3dNBH_qCN7UabaV_ZdRv0jZpfZNb6DZjKWYeMvnkdIAOryFS3cW7MWR3Tl__tivVG1E3TwOai2LTZweCP6olzdk9AJgENfWLww/s345/Rehob+4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="340" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iH3nyVcgjHp7lD2irWckFS-1HC9Sb_HzUl3p3dNBH_qCN7UabaV_ZdRv0jZpfZNb6DZjKWYeMvnkdIAOryFS3cW7MWR3Tl__tivVG1E3TwOai2LTZweCP6olzdk9AJgENfWLww/w197-h200/Rehob+4.jpg" width="197" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> <br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />This sherd from Stratum VI preserves part of an inscription that was incised on a jar after firing. The first two letters are discernible as L and N, but they are followed by an incomplete jumble of characters. (I have highlighted three of the letters [LNB] with a pencil, on the photograph of G. Laron.) It was found in Area B, which was not near the apiary, but if the sequence is LNB... we may have found a reference to honey: by invoking the short stroke, at the end of the sherd, as a cross (Taw) we have L NBT, "for honey"; so this would have been a honey pot. Unfortunately, this word for honey is not used in Hebrew as we know it (though there is an apparently related word, <i>nopet</i>, meaning "runny honey" or "honeycomb honey", in Psalm 19:11, together with <i>debash</i>). NBT ("honey") is attested in the West Semitic language of Ugarit, in the far north, and as <i>nubtu</i> ("honey-bee") in East Semitic Akkadian, in Mesopotamia (Iraq). However, if the inhabitants of Rehob were Canaanian, not Israelian, there would be no problem. Incidentally, in the West Semitic syllabary, the symbol for NU is a bee, as on the </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/megiddoring">Megiddo signet ring</a></span>. <br /> I am happy to stick with the honey (it is indeed sticky stuff) but another suggestion for LNB... (M 2014:42) is "for the prophet", <i>l nb'</i>, and this possibility leads us to the next inscription.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rehob 9</b> (M 2014:48-50; Fig. 10)<br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Drawing by Ada Yardeni </span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEjUmlP0QDGki56dVjcd2TMeY53j35lHRdKGt9hzbU3GjKT1HhvGjpdP2G4SOmkODZ8OB4G7JvzCH0XQ8Rn0cGrYpv2OnyoNeh1TZ_9KKkV4smwCIcL1ucOiFMjm3-hEezEQrvg/s582/Rehob+9.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEjUmlP0QDGki56dVjcd2TMeY53j35lHRdKGt9hzbU3GjKT1HhvGjpdP2G4SOmkODZ8OB4G7JvzCH0XQ8Rn0cGrYpv2OnyoNeh1TZ_9KKkV4smwCIcL1ucOiFMjm3-hEezEQrvg/s320/Rehob+9.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> <br /></span><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />This inscription is written in red ink on what must have been a single sherd from a jar, an </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ostracon, </span>of which only two fragments have been found. It has been reconstructed as L'LYSh`, "for 'Elisha`". This name is known from epigraphic evidence from Israel, Judah, and Ammon, dating from the 8th and 7th centuries BCE (<b>M</b> 2014:49), and it also famously belongs to Elisha` ben Shapat, the 9th century prophet of the Northern Israel Kingdom (1 Kings 19 -2 Kings 13). Like Samuel he was widely recognized as a "man of God" (2 Kings 4:7, 9; 8:7; 1 Samuel 9:6) who moved about the realm (and beyond) for many years, passing judgement on idolaters and kings, and doing good works. He was the successor of Eliyahu (Elijah to the uncouth English): "And YHWH said to Eliyahu: Go ... to the wilderness of Damascus and anoint Hazael to be the King over Aram; and anoint Yehu ben Nimshi to be the King over Israel; and anoint Elisha ben Shapat from Abal-meholah to be the prophet to take your place"(1 Kings 19:15-16). From this we learn that Elisha was indeed a <i>nabi'</i>, but if that word really exists in the Rehob 4 inscription, it could not refer to 9th century Elisha, because the sherd belongs to an earlier level, Stratum VI, whereas this Elisha ostracon is from the later Stratum IV, from the time when King Hazael invaded Israel and wreaked havoc; Elisha is said to have confronted Hazael in Damascus, and predicted that he would ravage Israel, burning its fortresses and slaying its soldiers and its people (2 Kings 8:7-15). This celebrated Elisha could certainly be the man on the ostracon, since his hometown Abal-meholah was situated just south of Rehob. Notice also that the patronymic <i>ben Nimshi, </i>of King Yehu, has the same consonants (NMSh) as appear in Rehob inscriptions 5 and 6 (see below). <br /> But what would this pious prophet be doing in a place like this, "a dwelling that may have been a patrician house" (<b>M</b> 2014:63), in one of three small inner rooms, which had a clay four-horned altar at each of its two entrances, and benches on two of its walls (<b>M</b> 2014:49-50)? In another of the small rooms there was a mold for making female figurines, such as those attached to an altar in the apiary building, though at this time the honey factory had already been destroyed in the previous fire, and this structure would likewise be razed in the general conflagration engulfing Re<u>h</u>ob during the war with Aram. We could imagine "the sons of the prophets" meeting there with Elisha, as they did at Gilgal (2 Kings 4:38); and he was involved when they built a more commodious house for their community, by the Jordan River (6:1-7). The story of the wealthy woman of Shunem, and her husband and son, who regularly gave Elisha hospitality and a guest-room (2 Kings 4:8-10), might provide an analogy for his presence in a secular home. <br /> Elisha was renowned for his acts of healing (2 Kings 4-5), and there could be a hint of therapeutic action in the next text.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rehob 7</b> (M 2014:45-47, Fig. 8)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_9wqftRK1XxJsgVCRvhIQJ8g3bgLJ2xIH-X6Kfyj7hvcAzOSQzvxU2IJaupHtE_E0uwl8uwyZwDzlj0xO5mPgam_qfIQ5lvBu8ibXGE7qESZKvH9ehGPjJ4doqUamJh3JRcMVg/s437/Rehob+7b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_9wqftRK1XxJsgVCRvhIQJ8g3bgLJ2xIH-X6Kfyj7hvcAzOSQzvxU2IJaupHtE_E0uwl8uwyZwDzlj0xO5mPgam_qfIQ5lvBu8ibXGE7qESZKvH9ehGPjJ4doqUamJh3JRcMVg/s320/Rehob+7b.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFYo-wTAqLOaK5qJfyzdqRSXL1BU7vRol3iA2u-6nlihXLbxXctuFaqB_uQDkyMV-cKD10sbgpgO5TGmcgL1wjBBWEEVR9zBcFfExFRigGMpyrQ0zMnRv1-pEzHv-ZVGsKcW39g/s620/Rehob+7.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="620" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgFYo-wTAqLOaK5qJfyzdqRSXL1BU7vRol3iA2u-6nlihXLbxXctuFaqB_uQDkyMV-cKD10sbgpgO5TGmcgL1wjBBWEEVR9zBcFfExFRigGMpyrQ0zMnRv1-pEzHv-ZVGsKcW39g/s320/Rehob+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The provenance of this inscription was an inner room in a small building with three rooms, in Area C. The nine letters were incised on an ovoid storage jar before it was baked, so the purpose of the vessel was already determined. If we are still looking for references to honey, we should keep in mind that we are in Stratum IV, and the apiary no longer exists in Area C; but this house may have had a private beehive or some other source, such as the wild honey that Samson found in the body of a lion (Judges 14:8-9), and the honey dripping from trees that Jonathan picked up in a forest (1 Samuel 14:25-27). The text can be transcribed thus:<br /> ' L <u>S</u> D [Q] Sh <u>H</u> L Y<br />This could be a personal name (son and father) but neither 'L<u>S</u>DQ nor Sh<u>H</u>LY are known in the Bible; nevertheless, the first is attested at Ugarit, for example; and <i>sha<u>h</u>al </i>as a common noun meaning "lion" occurs in a context of overcoming lions and serpents (Psalm 91:13), and this hints at a connection I will make for our mystery object from the Rehob apiary. Meanwhile, this leaves us with an epithet, rather than a patronymic: <br /> "Elisedeq the Lionhearted".<br /> Mention could be made of <i><u>h</u>alla, </i>"cake" of bread used in sacrifices, or it could be dismissed as irrelevant<br /> Notice that the Q is not certain, and, if we ignore the vertical stroke, the letter could be restored as a B. In this case, we would be looking at a sequence DBSh (the Hebrew word for "honey"), and there is a <u>H</u>L root in Arabic that would allow this Rehob 7 <u>H</u>L to mean "sweet".<br /> On the other hand, the pot may well have been a container for honey, but not labeled as such; and this is a statement of its therapeutic properties, as in ancient Egypt, where honey was used in medicine and ointment (<b>M</b> 2018:40); our New Zealand mânuka honey is famous for its supposed benefits, certainly for aid in healing wounds. Accordingly, I offer this tentative interpretation:<br /> "Succour for a righteous person who is unwell".<br /> The first word <i>'l</i> (possibly "God", "a ram", "a deer", "a pillar", "a terebinth", or "unto", et cetera) could be a form of <i>'yl</i>, "help"; in the only Biblical occurrence of this word, in Psalm 88:4 (5), opinion is divided as to whether the person who goes down to the Pit is "without strength" or "lacking help"; certainly in Syriac this word means "aid", "succour".<br /> The L for the preposition "for" is assimilated into the previous word, presumably.<br /> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>S</u>DQ is the "righteousness" root, and here it would be for <i><u>s</u>dyq</i>, "righteous (person)".<br /> Sh is a relative pronoun.<br /> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>H</u>LY may be understood as "is sick", stative verb, or participle, such as Hebrew <u><i>h</i></u><i>olè</i> in Genesis 48:1, where Joseph's father Jacob "is ill"; Hebrew <u><i>h</i></u><i>ly</i> is a noun from this root, meaning "sickness".<br /> Choices and decisions need to be made. If the "sweet honey" solution is chosen, because it is so tempting, we have to find a meaning for the 'L<u>S</u> that precedes it. Speaking of temptation, the only example we can find for this root is in Judges 16:16, where Delilah </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">pressingly "</span>urges" Samson, day after day, to reveal the secret of his strength, and he becomes extremely irritated (root QSR), and he tells her about shaving his head. If `SL means "urge", it would lead us to this solution, perchance:<br /> "Urgent: sweet honey".<br />Yet again, the solution to this conundrum is hidden in the mind of God.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Rehob 5</b> (M 2014:43-44; Fig. 5)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xSGJF1QFbPipw6JxozAA4ZnGdAYFT3BMgdLd_47PYrCP5J8RfXh4XgKCz2bgC1yTtt0kf96PEFkCfkYb6hn_ny085NPtXYbhbrScJEiU0i70xIMbcg7vVTc72wOLuvAnDJskqw/s454/Rehob+5.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xSGJF1QFbPipw6JxozAA4ZnGdAYFT3BMgdLd_47PYrCP5J8RfXh4XgKCz2bgC1yTtt0kf96PEFkCfkYb6hn_ny085NPtXYbhbrScJEiU0i70xIMbcg7vVTc72wOLuvAnDJskqw/s320/Rehob+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> This inscription was incised on its storage jar before firing, so its ownership or its contents were pre-determined. Its provenance is significant: it was found on the floor of the apiary, at the southern end of the eastern row of beehives. It belongs to Stratum V, which may have been attacked in the invasion of Israel by Pharaoh Sheshonq I, known as Shishak in the Bible (1 Kings 11:40, 14:25-26); Sheshonq included Rehob in his list of conquests; but only the beehive area was damaged, and the cause may have been simply local, possibly vandalism, or earthquake (<b>M</b> 2018:47). Stratum IV (above V) would have been ravaged by King Hazael of Aram, from Damascus in his campaigns against Israel and Judah and Philistia (2 Kings 9:14, 10:32-33, 12:17-18, 13:22-25). Hazael is almost certainly the ruler on the Aramaic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Dan_stele">Tel Dan stele </a>who boasts about his victories over the King of Israel and the King of the House of David.<br /> The text comprises four letters of the consonantal alphabet, which was being employed internationally in the ninth century, and which appears on </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">the stele of King Mesha of Moab, and </span>the inscriptions associated with Hazael.<br /> L N M Sh<br />We are already acquainted with the preposition <i>l</i>, meaning "to" or "for", and that is the likely choice for the first letter in the sequence. Usually it shows that the container, and presumably its contents, are the property of the nominee: they belong "to", or are there "for" whoever is named, in the present case, NMSh. However, the "for" sense might indicate the purpose of the object: thus, if Rehob 4 says <i>l nbt</i>, then it might mean that the pot is a container "for honey", though Rehob 2 and 8, simply have labels announcing two kinds of water (or fluids). An example of of a "to" or "for" inscription is on the Lakish Jar Sherd (my discussions are <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/12/lakish-jar-inscription-new.html">here</a>, and <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2015/12/lakish-jar-sherd.html">there</a>). The text reads:<br /> P K L S P R 5 hekat (of grain)<br />This could be: "PKL the scribe (<i>spr</i>)...". <br />My preference is for finding the preposition <i>l </i>embedded there, with <i>pk</i> as the designation of the jar:<br /> "Pot (<i>pk </i>) for (<i>l</i>) measuring (<i>spr</i>) 5 hekat".<br />Or perhaps </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Pot (<i>pk </i>) to (<i>l</i>) the measure (<i>spr</i>) of 5 hekat".</span><br /> With regard to our L N M Sh, do we have a reference to the contents of the jar, or to the dedicatee of the "for"? Classical Hebrew dictionaries have no "nemesh" stuff, nor any NMSh word related to beekeeping. We could analyse NMSh as N (logogram for na<u>h</u>ash "snake", but the original cobra became Nun, meaning "fish", though the fish had in the beginning been Samek, the letter that follows Nun!) and in that combination with MSh we are confronted by a "swamp-snake". This seems unlikely, but further down the line we will need to consider the possibility of snakes in the diet.<br /> So, will NMSh work as a personal name rather than a common noun? Indeed, we can find it applied to people at Ugarit, and in the Hebrew Bible we meet Nimshi. As cited above. the founder of the dynasty that replaced the Omrides in Israel, was Yehu ben Nimshi (1 Kings 19:16); but Elisha refers to him as Yehu ben Yehoshapat ben Nimshi (2 Kings 9:2, and 14). This leads us to believe that Nimshi was the grandfather rather than the father of Yehu, but there may be another explanation. Yehoshapat (Jehoshaphat) was King of Judah (c. 873-849) in the days of Elisha, and contemporary with King Ahab of Israel (c. 869-850); he died a few years before Yehu's seizure of power (842-815); </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Yehoshapat, whose name means "Yahu has judged", was deemed to have done, for the most part, "what was right in the eyes of Yahweh" (1 Kings 22:43); by calling Yehu "a son of Yehoshapat", Elisha may have intended to express the prophetic hope that Yehu would bring the judgement of Yahweh to the Northern Kingdom, as Yehoshapat had done in the Southern Kingdom, and Yehu did achieve that, with immense slaughter of the Omri family and the worshippers of Baal, and he received commendation from Yahweh (2 Kings 10:28-31) But what can we say about the patronymic "ben Nimshi"? Could it be another epithet? In 1928 Martin Noth (<b>M</b> 2014:44) recognized the origin of Nimshi in the cognate Arabic term <i>nims</i>, meaning what the English call (using their ridiculous spelling system) "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongoose">mongoose</a>" (Indian <i>manggûs</i>). (Wikipedia supplies our needs adequately here.) This small mammal is renowned for its ability to kill venomous snakes: it can withstand their venom, and can also move out of range rapidly when attacking them. It can live for twenty years in captivity. This ferocity may have been applied epithetically to Yehu, or to his father, through the name Nimshi.<br /> A Nimshi clan is constructed from all the NMSh occurrences (<b>M</b> 2014:43-44): setting aside the Ugarit evidence, we have Samaria Ostracon 56, two Hebrew seals, and the <i>Nimshi</i> in the ancestry of Yehu; additionally, the sequence is found incised on pottery, namely Rehob 6 (below), and </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Rehob 5 here, and likewise on a jar from Tel `Amal bearing the same letters as Rehob 5 (LNMSh) and with the N and M likewise in a horizontal stance, in contrast to the normal vertical, as displayed in the NMSh of Rehob 6.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>Rehob 6</b> (M 2014:44-45; Fig. 7)<br />(M2003: Fig. 6, photo G. Laron)<br />(M2003: Fig. 5, drawing Rahel Solar)<br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-A0SRM7hZN7jnCd_p6HNFvPNLFyfJr2gietUl0dqxD4De1KrQSRBqbFCuZORrghOJAJeuCPnaXK3YmYdyPGeqGm8IlQHMwu854RBTe1Z1GeE54Y18r40DI_zVXxrkFjWov7m9zg/s373/Rehob+6.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-A0SRM7hZN7jnCd_p6HNFvPNLFyfJr2gietUl0dqxD4De1KrQSRBqbFCuZORrghOJAJeuCPnaXK3YmYdyPGeqGm8IlQHMwu854RBTe1Z1GeE54Y18r40DI_zVXxrkFjWov7m9zg/s320/Rehob+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtipNwXj9W0508sY_SD3Vgpva1MzOKgymOd5BPYdNuaJ5Eo3Xi6_xIngxr6YGWTy0vJ81wdSFeFRpRS7rLuoHXps0J8PpIxb86uSKCuVOfhPw4t2RNrzPKSjbQE1y2h7YAYfqOAw/s433/Rehob+6b.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="137" data-original-width="433" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtipNwXj9W0508sY_SD3Vgpva1MzOKgymOd5BPYdNuaJ5Eo3Xi6_xIngxr6YGWTy0vJ81wdSFeFRpRS7rLuoHXps0J8PpIxb86uSKCuVOfhPw4t2RNrzPKSjbQE1y2h7YAYfqOAw/s320/Rehob+6b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Rehob 6 jar from Area C, with the familiar NMSh at the end of its text, belongs to the top Stratum IV (9th C BCE), whereas the other NMSh pot was from Stratum V in Area C, when the bees were still making honey. We have considered the possibility that NMSh was a personal or family name, and perhaps this hypothetical family owned the apiary, and now also Building F, where this Rehob 6 jar stood. Be that as it may, whatever the NMSh refers to, at Tel Re<u>h</u>ov and Tel `Amal, "it" (the unidentified entity) has survived the destruction of the beehives, apparently.<br /> The text on this jar seems to have seven letters: NMSh at the left end; LShQ on the right (the beginning of the text); and a peculiar sign in the middle, which could well be two signs joined in a ligature, I will suggest. It might be a shorthand sign for <i>ben</i>, and we could try this analysis of the whole sequence:<br /> "For ShQ son of NMSh"<br /> Other options should be explored, though. The sequence LShQ has a possible counterpart in an inscription incised on a storage jar at Ein Gev (M 2014:44-45, Fig. 14), from the same period (9th C BCE):<br /> LShQY'<br /> This is understood as an Aramaic text (the final 'Alep could be the Aramaic version of a suffixed "definite article", equivalent to Hebrew <i>ha-</i> and Arabic <i>'al</i>)<i>.</i> The meaning might be:"for the cupbearer", a title found in Genesis 40:1, in the Hebrew form <i>mashqeh, </i>"one who gives someone something to drink", or "butler" for short, and in this case it is the drink-bearer of the King of Egypt. The basic root is ShQY, and looking again at our Rehob 6 jar, we might accept the middle character as a crooked Yod (<i>y</i>) and try "for the cupbearer". I am suspicious of this Yod, as its tail is too long, and I prefer to see a ligature, two letters bound together.<br /> Earlier in Genesis the ShQ root is used for "watering the ground" (2:6), and for "watering the garden" (2:10). The word for "garden" is <i>gan</i>, and the sequence GN occurs in the inscriptions at the Sinai turquoise mines, and the longest text (<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html">Sinai 357</a>) gives instructions for watering the garden of the West Semitic workers (though the ShQY root is not used), transferring spring-water from a skin-bag to a vessel, for pouring; the word 'B, for the bag, is also found, I suggest, on a jar from Gath (<u>S</u>afi), where L'B could mean "for the waterbag" (Maeir 2012:32).<br /> In the light of all this, if we analyse the middle sign in our Rehob 6 jar as a Gimel joined to a Nun (lying flat, as in Rehob 5, and a reversal of the Nun next to it), then we have the jar as container for water:<br /> LShQ GN NMSh "For watering the Nemesh garden".<br /> However (28/11/2023) I now have another idea:<br /> Rehob 6: </span><span style="font-size: medium;">LShQY NMSh "For the mongoose (NMSh) to drink (ShQY)"<br /> En Gev: </span><span style="font-size: medium;">LShQY ' </span><span style="font-size: medium;">"For the jackal ('i) to drink </span><span style="font-size: medium;">(ShQY)</span><span style="font-size: medium;">" <br />I am having difficulty parsing ShQY; it should be causative (Pi`el or Hip'il), and have final <i>-t</i> in the infinitive form. In Genesis 24:14 it refers to "watering" camels. <br /> A case of '<i>i </i>as "jackal" occurs in <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2008/11/sinai-proto-alphabetic-inscription-375a.html">Sinai 375a (383</a>); a jackal is depicted on the back of the stone, and designated as guardian of the turquoise in Mine M. The golden jackal of this region can be tamed.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /> It is time to consider the clay box and its animal. The tongue from an open mouth is a lion motif (<b>M</b> 2007:210). From the Late Bronze Age period of Rehob comes a female figurine with a Hathor hairstyle and leonine face, and protruding ears, nose, and jaw. It is possibly the goddess Ashtart (Astarte), who has a lioness connection, and in this regard she is reminiscent of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet (<b>M</b> 2019:181-182, Fig. 21). If this is a "house shrine" for Ashtart, a consort of Baal, we can imagine a figurine of the goddess inside it, originally. Notice the two snakes at the entrance, which bring to mind the goddess holding a serpent in each hand. <br /> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uSFkKiqJws_Sim0tBmIxgaBqGSvGd0ut0KYTc7OcsbGKO52VVNPerzdnJTeX-g9uGJFXJo18qnNhJ1n_mWij6l5toVOyh8nTmM0KCxaQxpgLYsGeXksOTjE3qa13v6K_8Xm7xw/s392/Rehob+house+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uSFkKiqJws_Sim0tBmIxgaBqGSvGd0ut0KYTc7OcsbGKO52VVNPerzdnJTeX-g9uGJFXJo18qnNhJ1n_mWij6l5toVOyh8nTmM0KCxaQxpgLYsGeXksOTjE3qa13v6K_8Xm7xw/s320/Rehob+house+1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> The Bible has given us no information about Re<u>h</u>ob, and perhaps we should have ignored its <i>Nimshi</i>, in our quest to find the meaning of NMSh in the inscriptions. If <i>nimsh </i>(Arabic <i>nims</i>) or <i>nemesh</i> was the lost West Semitic word for "mongoose", could this be the creature who is depicted on the roof of the house, and did a mongoose actually live in it?</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> The mongoose and the snake are certainly known as enemies, and the animal here is confronting two of them at the entrance to the house. The two embedded heads that its front paws are touching (whether destructively or protectively) are not identified. Could they be of the same species as the mongoose, or perhaps rats, or some other nuisance animal? Wikipedia informs us thus: Mongooses feed on rodents, reptiles, birds, fishes, insects, fruits, and eggs (they have a technique for opening them). They are not aggressive towards humans. They have a lifespan of twenty years in captivity. Accordingly, a domesticated mongoose might have protected this area against pests before and after the beehives were destroyed</span><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8K7ZNQyIpwOacystUoxvOOEDJ2g_bLuqLDLfp_GxvBgAv4oEDfufk0Vfg6YJP98NQxTxnq9AAfg9E3n6Ij5V5uB_OTE1y4THuA0tBGJV8-9NsK-qV32W1l4JVfQxdebm1IVN7Q/s315/Rehob+house+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8K7ZNQyIpwOacystUoxvOOEDJ2g_bLuqLDLfp_GxvBgAv4oEDfufk0Vfg6YJP98NQxTxnq9AAfg9E3n6Ij5V5uB_OTE1y4THuA0tBGJV8-9NsK-qV32W1l4JVfQxdebm1IVN7Q/s0/Rehob+house+2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfHymps0TJzOIx3F_mbDjEw74MpmF0inTFkge1vw1XLNvzL43iJSwhqzoyLQV26QgAeGiNNc0ZYcDh-yRc-hXAiz8YruqiR2ASssi8hfVyshxoAZZkrGjOVDPJz_8SkaRAjEH9Q/s225/Mongoose.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfHymps0TJzOIx3F_mbDjEw74MpmF0inTFkge1vw1XLNvzL43iJSwhqzoyLQV26QgAeGiNNc0ZYcDh-yRc-hXAiz8YruqiR2ASssi8hfVyshxoAZZkrGjOVDPJz_8SkaRAjEH9Q/s0/Mongoose.png" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1L7OXtXmp-TE_hSYVjxl-jlNaQHVPcIQUdkTEPLykWlPu6vYOr6PLMm0cP3vwGm5w-ecgHCDxOYMTuwcCKiztFpwdVBcvFKitUBtls49RmEAFHBHaOb-4XhlEq8JKENiUJRuZ9Q/s1820/Mongoose+tongue.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1820" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1L7OXtXmp-TE_hSYVjxl-jlNaQHVPcIQUdkTEPLykWlPu6vYOr6PLMm0cP3vwGm5w-ecgHCDxOYMTuwcCKiztFpwdVBcvFKitUBtls49RmEAFHBHaOb-4XhlEq8JKENiUJRuZ9Q/s320/Mongoose+tongue.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p>This photograph shows the tongue (as with the figure on the roof of the house), though the upper and lower teeth are not visible. A multitude of mongooses can be found <a href="https://www.google.com/search?sa=X&sxsrf=ALeKk02S8TZ6O8s7pF13rbZzp4qWw0hvqA:1602397047919&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=Herpestes&client=firefox-b&ved=2ahUKEwiP7dGW8qvsAhUCT30KHfUnAaMQiR56BAgYEBA&biw=1699&bih=887">here,</a> Look for the Egyptian mongoose. None of them are seen in the pose represented on the house shrine. <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Indian mongoose (Marathi <i>mangûs</i>) and cobra</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdg9gkmWsEA "><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdg9gkmWsEA </span></a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We should now review the relevant inscriptional evidence. If we interpret LNMSh (R6) as meaning "for the mongoose", we must also accept that at the place now known as </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Tel `Amal there was likewise a mongoose functioning as a guardian of a house, given that a jar bearing the same text has been found there.<br /> By the way, I am reminded of an inscribed plaque (mentioned above) in one of the Sinai turquoise mines: it has a drawing of a jackal on one side, and on the other side </span><span style="font-size: medium;">a warning that the jackal is guarding the heap of mined turquoise in the cavern. Did they have a real live jackal there, acting like a watchdog? Was it the god Anubis that they were invoking for this task?<br /></span><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2008/11/sinai-proto-alphabetic-inscription-375a.html"><span style="font-size: medium;">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2008/11/sinai-proto-alphabetic-inscription-375a.html<br /></span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> In the case of our Rehob mongoose, was there really an animal living in the box, or only its representation on the roof? Was the mongoose identified with a deity, such as `Athtart or the ferocious `Anat? Near the apiary was a small altar (presumably for burning incense, and perhaps also food offerings): it has an incised palm tree between two nude female figures (<b>M </b>2008: 42-44) and these might represent the three goddesses associated with the storm-god Baal-Hadad, namely 'Athirat (Asherah, connected with trees), `Athtart (Astarte), and `Anat, here functioning as guardians of the bees. Could incense have a calming effect on the bees, as apiarists use smoke for this purpose when disturbing the hives? <br /> My opinion would lean towards a real mongoose in the little house, who required food and drink (hence the storage jars "for the NMSh"), and who survived the destructive fire, and continued to function in a similar capacity in Area F, in Stratum IV. If the animal was female, it could have been identified with one of the West Semitic goddesses, notably `Anat, the huntress.<br /> Nevertheless, the idea that at Re<u>h</u>ob there was a family bearing the name Nimshi can not be excluded; and they might well have kept a mongoose as a mascot or living symbol of their proud lineage. The animal would not simply be a pet, but would also have the role of defending the home against snakes and other pests.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>C 1990</b>: </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">Colless, Brian E., "The proto-alphabetic inscriptions of Sinai", <i>Abr-Nahrain</i> 28, 1-52.<br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>C 1991</b>: Colless, Brian E., "The proto-alphabetic inscriptions of Canaan", <i>Abr-Nahrain</i> 29, 18-66.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>FS 2013</b>: I. Finkelstein and B. Sass, "The West Semitic Alphabetic Inscriptions", HeBAI 2, 149-220.<br />A useful source of reference: includes drawings of the Re<u>h</u>ob inscriptions.</span> <br /></span></p><p><b>G 2018: </b>Garfinkel, Ganor, Hasel, <i>In the Footsteps of King David. </i>London: Thames and Hudson<br /></p><p><b>ME 2003 </b>Maeir, Aren M. and Eshel, Esther .“Four Short Alphabetic Inscriptions from Late Iron Age IIA Tell es-Safi/Gath and Their Implications for the Development of Literacy in Iron Age Philistia and Environs”. Pp. 69 – 88 in the same volume as M 2003.<br /><br /><b>M 2003</b>: Mazar, Amihai.“Three 10th–9th Century B.C.E. Inscriptions from Tel Rehov,” Pp. 171 – 184 in Saxa loquentur: Studien zur Archa ̈ologie Pala ̈stinas/Israels. Festschrift fu ̈r Volkmar Fritz zum 65. Geburtstag Edited by Cornelius G. Den Hertog, Ulrich Hu ̈bner and Stefan Mu ̈nger; (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 302). Mu ̈nster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2003.</p><p> <b>M 2007</b>: Mazar, Amihai and Panitz-Cohen, Nava.<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291853946_It_is_the_land_of_honey_Beekeeping_at_Tel_Rehov"><span>Beekeeping at Tel Rehov</span></a> </span>“It Is the Land of Honey: Beekeeping in Iron Age IIA Tel Rehov – Culture, Cult and Economy.” Near Eastern Archaeology 70:4 (2007): Pp. 202 – 219.</p><p><b>M 2008</b> : Mazar, Amihai and Panitz-Cohen, Nava.“<a href="https://www.academia.edu/2633199/To_What_God_Altars_and_a_house_Shrine_from_Tel_Rehov_Puzzle_Archaeologists_Biblical_Archaeology_Review_34_4_pp_40_47">To What God?</a> Altars and a house Shrine from Tel Rehov Puzzle Archaeologists.” Biblical Archaeology Review 34:4 (2008): Pp. 40 – 47.</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>M 2014</b>:
Shmuel Ahituv and Amihai Mazar "The Inscriptions from Tel Rehov and
their Contribution to the Study of Script and Writing during IronAge
IIA" , 189-</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>M 2016: </b>"Discoveries from the Early Monarchic Period at Tel Reḥov", 9-68, in <i>It is the Land of Honey</i>, edited by Irit Ziffer, catalogue of an exhibition, also in Hebrew with numerous photographs, and an article by Dr Ziffer, "Flight of the bee: myth and art" (including information on Crete). </span> <br /></p><p> <b>M 2018 </b>: Mazar, Amihai, "The Iron Age Apiary at Tel Reh.ov, Israel"<br /></p><p><b>M 2019: </b>Mazar, Amihai and Uri Davidovich. "Canaanite Reh.ob: Tel Reh.ov in the Late Bronze Age." <i>BASOR</i> 381, 163-191</p><p><b>M and P </b>Vols I-V: A. Mazar and N. Panitz-Cohen, <i>The Excavations at Tel Rehov, 1997-2012.<br /></i>I have no access to these volumes, and there may well be lots of relevant information that I need to see.<br />New Publication: The Tel Rehov Excavations<br /><br />Excavations at Tel Reḥov, carried out from 1997 to 2012 under the direction of Amihai Mazar on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, revealed significant remains from the Early Bronze, Late Bronze and Iron Ages. The most prominent period is Iron IIA (10th–9th centuries BCE). Completely exposed buildings, the unique apiary and an open-air sanctuary, as well as other noteworthy contexts from this period, yielded one of the richest and most significant assemblages of finds in the northern part of the Land of Israel to date.<br /><br />Five volumes comprising the final report of these excavations are published in the Qedem Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, written and edited by Amihai Mazar and Nava Panitz-Cohen, with contributions by numerous scholars. The first three volumes are now available; the remaining two will be published towards the end of 2020. These volumes are a trove of data, containing detailed analyses of stratigraphy, architecture, pottery assemblages and many other artifacts, as well as natural-sciences studies, constituting an essential resource for all those who are interested in the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Levant.<br /><br />The volumes are printed in color and contain hundreds of plans, sections, drawings, and photographs.<br /><https://archaeology.huji.ac.il/qedem-0><br />List price: $80 per book; $210 for the three-volume set;<br />Price for Israel Exploration Society members: $60 per book, $158 for the three-volume set.<br /><br />A. Mazar and N. Panitz-Cohen. Tel Reḥov, A Bronze and Iron Age City in the Beth-Shean Valley, Volume I. Introductions, Synthesis and Excavations on the Upper Mound (Qedem 59). Jerusalem: The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2020. (XXIX+415 pp.<br />ISBN 978-965-92825-0-0)<br /><br />A. Mazar and N. Panitz-Cohen. Tel Reḥov, A Bronze and Iron Age City in the Beth-Shean Valley, Volume II. The Lower Mound: Area C and the Apiary (Qedem 60). Jerusalem: The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2020. (XVII+658 pp.<br />ISBN 978-965-92825-1-7)<br /><br />A. Mazar and N. Panitz-Cohen, Tel Reḥov, A Bronze and Iron Age City in the Beth-Shean Valley, Volume III. The Lower Mound: Areas D, E, F and G (Qedem 61). Jerusalem: The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2020. (XVI+465 pp. <br />ISBN978-965-92825-2-4)<br /><br />To order, please contact: <ies@vms.huji.ac.il>.<br /><br /></p><p><br /></p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-16747305192653414722020-08-12T01:20:00.004-07:002021-06-17T01:41:58.537-07:00LAHUN SYLLABIC HEDDLE JACK<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNoAlIbdG21ueOgCz-_Yf2hVYbDoVXVhQ96x9df9eAht8Ia6sJi8oKerVwNpcDeFg4NL3Np333JuFB3IAALQtvkiowI7eYodVBFRWUbVphoNkaEvs7bV5vl_s9h9gym3bhm-JruA/s353/Lahun+Jack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="160" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNoAlIbdG21ueOgCz-_Yf2hVYbDoVXVhQ96x9df9eAht8Ia6sJi8oKerVwNpcDeFg4NL3Np333JuFB3IAALQtvkiowI7eYodVBFRWUbVphoNkaEvs7bV5vl_s9h9gym3bhm-JruA/s320/Lahun+Jack.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbpieuuTOtIL3HP48inza9U-y-uWyaWvaR2Q5HTFp28hicBhMbcGwuKFeDKQo9vGdtwVoTkzNNAZNy5po0-mDaks7PrlPa6X-JwjUsL_ff8nI5BSKK3ClHxEJOkE031mGJWkyMQ/s513/Lahun+B.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbpieuuTOtIL3HP48inza9U-y-uWyaWvaR2Q5HTFp28hicBhMbcGwuKFeDKQo9vGdtwVoTkzNNAZNy5po0-mDaks7PrlPa6X-JwjUsL_ff8nI5BSKK3ClHxEJOkE031mGJWkyMQ/s320/Lahun+B.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br /></i></div>This ancient inscribed object is a "small-scale heddle jack", a wooden instrument used in weaving; a glance at my rough sketch of the side view will clarify the shape, as cylindrical with a notch and a pointed end. It is 8.2 cm (3.25 inches) long, equal to the length of the middle finger of my right hand. It was found in Egypt, though its fir-tree wood is not native to the Nile Valley region, so it must have been brought from elsewhere. The short inscription of five characters is surely West Semitic, and is one of the many discoveries of early Semitic writing made by William Matthew Flinders Petrie in Egypt and the Levant. It is now kept in the British museum (note the date 1912, among other accession numbers, though Petrie first published it in 1890).<br /> Gordon Hamilton has gathered the material needed to put this artefact in its historical and geographical setting, and has provided information to help us determine what is written on it (with 5 new photographs from the British Museum).<br /><i> The Origins of the West Semitic Alphabet in Egyptian Scripts </i>(2006) 330-331.<br /> EA 70881, a small-scale heddle jack from Lahun, Egypt, <i>MAARAV, </i>Vol 14, No 1 (2007) 28-32, and 121-125 (Plates I-V).<br /> This variety of weaving implement ("small-scale") was used on horizontal looms in the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (20th C - 17th C BCE), not the upright vertical looms of the New Kingdom (S. Quirke, British Museum).<br /> The presence of Semites (`Amu, "Asiatics") in Lahun is attested for the period 1850-1700 BCE, approximately (Ulrich Luft). This may have been when the owner of the heddle jack was there, though a Carbon 14 date established for it is 2140-1940 BCE (95% probability!), so it may have passed through many hands through the years, or else it was made from wood that had been serving some other function before it was carved into this form. However, this raises the paradox that this inscription could be older than the invention of the alphabet, and thus be some other script.<br /> The town now known as Al-Lahun (SW of Al-Faiyum) is celebrated for its connection with the mud-brick pyramid of Pharaoh Senusret II (19th C, 12th D), but it goes back to the time of the early dynasties (30th C). (Wikipedia, and Britannica)<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_56PwTAz5LAF0-jXIQCDLdP2lRpkTSWdGhvAkqmMkL3-p0WPMF18XSfGY09k6KZmxle1UUrwP1fVAn6TVATV6GIctHoxR00ah_OHg8hHyn0TBsYJ9_l1D1Svj8dUuIZn7YnK6mA/s442/Lahun+A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_56PwTAz5LAF0-jXIQCDLdP2lRpkTSWdGhvAkqmMkL3-p0WPMF18XSfGY09k6KZmxle1UUrwP1fVAn6TVATV6GIctHoxR00ah_OHg8hHyn0TBsYJ9_l1D1Svj8dUuIZn7YnK6mA/s320/Lahun+A.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"> This is my drawing of the heddle jack (8.2 cm) and its inscription (please ignore the letter on it, obviously too big, not drawn to scale, as all the characters are situated below the notch). This has generally been the preferred stance for interpreting the text, and Hamilton's suggested reading for each letter is transcribed below it. The name of the maker or the owner would be expected, or else an identification of the object as a weaver's instrument. <br /> The assumption is that the letters run from right to left, as was customary though not obligatory in early West Semitic inscriptions known to us (examples: <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html">Sinai 349</a>, <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">Wadi el-Hol</a>, and also syllabic texts, Colless, Origin of the Alphabet, 2012: 81-82).<br /> The first character reminds us of the letter A, in its original pictorial form as an ox-head with horns, the original Aleph and Alpha. <br /> The second sign appears to be Het (<u>H</u> or H.), and for a long time the favoured reading was a name beginning with <i>'ah.i. </i>However, there is a small projection at the top left corner, indicating a doorpost, and defining the character as a door, Dalt, hence D (so Hamilton).<br /> In third position is a sign representing perhaps a bag (which would be <b>Sadey</b> in my view), or a mouth (<b>P</b> on my table of letters of the proto-alphabet), or an eye without a pupil (<b>`Ayin</b>), and this is Hamilton's choice.<br /> The next letter seems to be a cross, either like a plus sign or a crucifix, hence T (Taw). But Hamilton (playing down the projecting line at the top, and accepting the vertical line as long?) wants to see Sadey (S.), which he traces back to the Egyptian hieroglyph M16, in some Hieratic forms (2006: 203); but he has to find a counterpart on the Izbet Sartah ostracon, a thousand years later.<br /> The final letter is taken as B, and it is an even more difficult to document; it looks somewhat similar to the way we write Hebrew Beth nowadays, but to match this character with an ancient identical twin is beyond me; Hamilton cites the three-sided Bet of the Arabian alphabets. <br /> The result of this exercise is a name 'D`S.B (presumably a woman, being a weaver), which can be analysed as "(Divine) Father (<i>'d</i>) has created (<i>`s.b</i>)". The usual word for father is <i>'ab</i>, but <i>'ad </i>is also known. The root <i>`s.b </i>can mean "hurt", but also "fashion an image" (attested in the Bible). Note that Meindert Dijkstra offered a solution along these lines, and I must confess that I had proposed a name <b>'Ah.i`s.b</b> (unpublished, fortunately!) taking the sequence <i>`s.b</i> as a noun (Hebrew and Aramaic) meaning "toil", and the words would describe the tool as "<b>a brother of toil</b>", working together with its owner in his or her laborious task. And two other intriguing inscriptions from Lahun (or Kahun), published with this one by Petrie (<i>Ancient Egypt, </i>VI, 1921, 1-3; reproduced in Sass, <i>Genesis of the Alphabet, </i>Fig. 282-285) seem to have three-sided houses for the letter Bet.<br /> But the Heddle Jack inscription is regularly exhibited irrregularly, to achieve a proto-alphabetic text: it is upside down. The same mistake is applied to the syllabic inscription on the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/megiddoring">Megiddo signet ring</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbpieuuTOtIL3HP48inza9U-y-uWyaWvaR2Q5HTFp28hicBhMbcGwuKFeDKQo9vGdtwVoTkzNNAZNy5po0-mDaks7PrlPa6X-JwjUsL_ff8nI5BSKK3ClHxEJOkE031mGJWkyMQ/s513/Lahun+B.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbpieuuTOtIL3HP48inza9U-y-uWyaWvaR2Q5HTFp28hicBhMbcGwuKFeDKQo9vGdtwVoTkzNNAZNy5po0-mDaks7PrlPa6X-JwjUsL_ff8nI5BSKK3ClHxEJOkE031mGJWkyMQ/s320/Lahun+B.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></i><br /></div> Ah, that's better! Now we can see it in its true state, as a West Semitic proto-syllabic text. Again we will read it from right to left, which was the predominant direction for Egyptian and West Semitic writing.<br /> First take note of the marks above the first letter, though in our earlier topsy-turvy reading they were below the last letter in the sequence. Hamilton (2007: 29) suggests that a probable interpretation of "this deeply incised horizontal line is as a separation mark signaling the end of the owner's name"; but he is at a loss to explain the "three shorter, shallower nicks". Let us suppose that the longer incision at the top serves to indicate the start of the text. The two parallel lines are known to be the letter Dh (<u>D</u>) in the proto-alphabet, and is often found as saying "This (is)" at the beginning of <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html">Sinai inscriptions</a> at the turquoise mines. The fourth horizontal stroke might indicate that the syllabic inscription now begins The first letter in the main text, if understood as belonging to the WS proto-syllabary, which preceded the WS proto-consonantary (the proto-alphabet) would say ZA (as noted in transcription below it) and likewise mean "This (is)". The character is a simplified version of Egyptian hieroglyph F27, the tail of an animal: by the principle of acrophony, the WS term for tail, <i>zanab</i> (or <u><i>d</i></u><i>anab</i>) produces the syllable-sign ZA; the syllabary does not distinguish Z from <u>D</u><i> </i>(compare <i>zis</i> for <i>this</i> in foreign English).<br /> So it is possible that the alphabet was already invented when this syllabic inscription was carved into the wood, if the = sign is proto-alphabetic <u>D</u>. It needs to be recognized that a majority of the letters of the proto-alphabet already had a forerunner in the proto-syllabary. This is not the case with Z or <u>D</u> in the proto-alphabet, but the next letter we meet in the sequence is a cross, which is syllabic TU and alphabetic T; whether the cross has a short or a large stem is not significant in the syllabary; here we might have a double T, if the very light incision near the top of the stem is taken into account (not shown on my drawing; slightly marked by Hamilton, but not considered to be significant). Hamilton decided on alphabetic Sadey for this character.<br /> To add to our ZA TU, we now have PU; and this is a mouth (<i>pu</i>), which also functions as alphabetic P; the example on the <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">Wadi el-Hol</a> horizontal inscription has a diving line to separate the lips [(|)]; from the photograph of this cylinder we could imagine that two internal lines portray parted lips, but these are not deliberate incisions made by the scribe. Remember, Hamilton (who has vehemently denied the P as mouth identification in the alphabet) wants this to be `Ayin, an eye, and this possibility still stands, but the syllabary likes to include the pupil of the eye.<br /> Moving on to the door (<i>dalt</i>, used in the syllabary and the consonantary) our collection is now ZA TU PU DA.<br /> Finally, we can no longer see the ox-head, and I doubt that we can ever find an `Alep or Alpha with a right angle. This is the side view of an eye, showing the white of the eye (<i>lubnu</i>), and hence LU.<br /> ZA TU PU DA LU </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Speaking for myself, I would like it to say: "This is a heddle jack".</div><div style="text-align: left;"> But where can we find an ancient Semitic word for that? In the Bible, at the opposite extreme, the spear of Goliath is compared to a "heddle rod" (<i>manor</i>) or "weaver's beam" (1 Samuel 17:7).</div><div style="text-align: left;"> A heddle is one of small threads between which warp is passed in loom. Looking at the sequence DALU, we are reminded of the the Hebrew root <i>dll </i>"hang down", and the word <i>dallah </i>"thrum", referring to warp, threads stretched lengthwise on loom, to be crossed by weft. Where the little jack fitted into all this is beyond my ken; and it is supposed to belong in the period of horizontal looms, not vertical (which seems to fit "hang down" better).<br /> TUPU is reminiscent of Hebrew <i>top </i>"timbrel", a small drum held in the hand. Can we stretch this word to cover the jack, as a small instrument held in the hand?<br /> "This is a weaving instrument"<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> The mystery still stands, but the fact remains that this is a West Semitic syllabic inscription, and not early alphabetic.<br /> (17/6/2021) I have decided to consult the Akkadian lexicon (at that time West Semitic and East Semitic shared many words, as I have noticed in studying the Gubla proto-syllabic texts and the Sinai proto-consonantal inscriptions), and I have found <i>tappu(m) </i>"companion" or "partner' (in business), and<i> dallu(m) </i>"small, stunted"; this combination could thus say, <br /> "This tiny partner (of mine)".<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/WSSbaryTable1.jpg?attredirects=0" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-image: none 100% / 1 / 0 stretch; border-style: none; border-width: 0pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="420" src="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/_/rsrc/1267605339056/WSSbaryTable1-large.jpg?height=420&width=312" style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-image: none 100% / 1 / 0 stretch; border-style: none; border-width: 0pt;" width="312" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></p><br /></div></div>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-58717533145588969882019-12-12T00:49:00.009-08:002021-06-29T17:28:06.172-07:00LAKISH JAR INSCRIPTION (2)<font size="3"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">12/12/2019</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">William
M. Schniedewind has published a new reading of this brief inscription, found on a shard from Lakish (conventionally Lachish),
and his interpretation of the bottom line is ground-breaking; I will
place my response to his proposed decipherment here in a new
page, for the benefit of the hundreds of visitors who have already perused my lengthy essay, since December 2015; but <span face=""verdana",sans-serif">that</span> will still function as a prologue to the solution I am presenting at this time.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2015/12/lakish-jar-sherd.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2015/12/lakish-jar-sherd.html </a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibK32iw4qVk1DfbFomAzdx0QjMDcaEtXomoBqv0LPzkKc7F0jTMc1KUKzaDqs7xZrMd_aAmblBpRcLLljpd-6w4Dxe51RDcX2jVYnvp6aEyN-zQr0jB8EEH99FJV2o0tcVLPeWng/s1600/Lakish+sherd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibK32iw4qVk1DfbFomAzdx0QjMDcaEtXomoBqv0LPzkKc7F0jTMc1KUKzaDqs7xZrMd_aAmblBpRcLLljpd-6w4Dxe51RDcX2jVYnvp6aEyN-zQr0jB8EEH99FJV2o0tcVLPeWng/s320/Lakish+sherd.jpg" width="320" /></a></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> Here is my drawing of the writing on the shard. Photographs are reproduced further down the page.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">My two previous suggestions for interpreting the text, reading the writing from right to left, are:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">(1) <b>Pikol</b> (<i>pkl</i>) <b>the scribe </b>(<i>spr</i>) ....</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">(2) <b>Pot </b>(<i>pk</i>)<b> </b><b>for </b>(<i>l</i>) <b>the scribe</b> (<i>spr</i>) <b>of the temple </b>(<i>B</i>)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">Even though Flavius Josephus has a reference to "scribes of the Temple", in a<span style="font-family: inherit;"> decree of the Seleucid tyrant </span>Antiokhos III, who reigned from 222<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to </span>187 BCE (<i>Antiquities</i> 12:138-144), <span style="font-family: inherit;">n</span>ow, with the inspiration from Schniedewind's insight into the scribe's intention in line 3, I offer:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">(3) </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><b>Pot </b>(<i>pk</i>) <b>for</b> (<i>l</i>) <b>measuring </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">(<i>spr</i>) <b> 5 hekat </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
</font><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU">Credit
must go to Sass who suggested (p. 243b) that the signs in the bottom
line could "stand for a numeral or a measure", and this was confirmed by Schniedwind's daughter, and published by </span></span></span></span></span></span>WMS himself: the Egyptian accounting system and the Hieratic script are being employed by the scribe. The Egyptian sign for <i>h.q3t </i>("a measure of wheat") is "an oblong circle" in Hieratic, and its hieroglyph (<span face=""verdana",sans-serif">U9, <span face=""verdana",sans-serif">Alan Gardiner, <i>Egyptian Grammar</i>, p. 516, cp. par. 266, 1) is a rectangular grain-measure, with a vertical line at its centre, showing the seed pouring out on the left side. </span>Schniedewind sees</span> the 7-shaped character <span face=""verdana",sans-serif">a</span>s a Hieratic "5"; hence "5 hekat"; and he concludes that the container would be a "storage jar" for wheat. He has published his discovery in<i> The Finger of the Scribe </i>(OUP 2019) 4-5, and notes 12-19 on p.172; and forthcoming in <i>BASOR, </i>The Alphabetic "Scribe" of the Lachish Jar Inscription and the Hieratic Tradition in the Early Iron Age.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> He agrees with those of us who have suggested that the first line could give a personal name, perhaps Pikol. (However, he does not know about my many ideas on this matter.) </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> For the second line he is keen to have <i>spr </i>as "the first example of the title 'Scribe' used in a linear alphabetic inscription" (4), though he acknowledges that other readings are possible, and he gives this example (172, n. 13), which he describes as "plausible": "PN <i>recorded </i>[...] 5 Hekat of wheat". This does not make good sense on a pot that has not been into the kiln yet, as the clay was inscribed before firing; and if <i>spr</i> is a verb it should normally come first in the sentence, but not absolutely necessarily.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> At this point it might
be profitable to remind ourselves that the basic meaning of the root
SPR is "count" or "measure". In a later inscription (Arad 3.6-7) <i>spr </i>occurs in a command to "count the wheat and the bread" (surely not counting the wheat grain by grain, but by measure). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> Another instance of <i>spr</i> in connection with grain is found in Genesis 41:49: </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">"Yosep stored grain in such great abundance that it was like the sand of the sea, so that he ceased to measure it, as it was measureless". The root SPR (count, number, measure) occurs twice in this sentence: in "to measure" and "measureless". Incidentally, there is a possible play on words, with "store" being the root S.BR (heap up, accumulate).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> WMS actually quotes this very verse (p. 71): he notes the the verbal form of <i>spr</i> often refers to accounting, as when "<span face=""verdana",sans-serif">J</span>oseph measures and records amounts of grain" (Gen 41:49). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><b> </b> The Lakish jar inscription gives the capacity of the vessel, and so the <i>spr</i> seems more applicable to measuring<span face=""verdana",sans-serif"> (as a verbal noun)</span> than to a scribe (common noun). Accordingly, we are informed by the scribe who wrote these words, that this vessel is "</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><b><span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><b>for</b> (<i>l</i>) <b>measuring </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">(<i>spr</i>) <b> 5 hekat (of grain)</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">",</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> and possibly it should not be described as a container for "storing" grain, but for "measuring" a particular volume of grain.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> There remains the problem of the word our scribe has (apparently) used for the jar: the Hebrew term <i>pak</i> is found in contexts of anointing with oil, variously translated as "flask" or "phial/vial" (commissioning to kingship: 1 Samuel 10:1, Samuel and Saul; 2 Kings 9:1-3, Elisha's plenipotentiary and Jehu). In Modern Hebrew it is given the meanings "jar" and "jug" (Avraham Zilkha, <i>Modern Hebrew-English Dictionary, </i>Yale UP, 1989, 234). The general impression is that a <i>pak</i> was a small object; Jastrow (<i>Dictionary</i> 1174a) has examples of <i>pak</i> (flask, jar) with the adjective "small" (<i>qt.n</i>); this might imply that there could be large versions of the object; but the Lakish "jar" would have held 20 to 30 liters (Yosef Garfinkel to WMS, n. 19, p. 172), and "5 hekat" would have been "about 20-25 liters" (p. 5); WMS takes this as confirmation of his "suggested reading" of the third line of the text; but it requires acceptance of the usage of <i>pak</i> as wide-ranging, as widely as the words "pot" and "jar" are stretched in the discussion about the Lakish vessel.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> Two speculations may be added to the discussion. First,<i><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"> The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew</span></i><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"> (ed. David J. A. Clines) vol VI, 681a<span face=""verdana",sans-serif">, has a word *<i>pîk, </i>an emendation <span face=""verdana",sans-serif">in Job 33:6</span> that produces "I am like a jar from God", parallel to "I too was f<span face=""verdana",sans-serif">or</span>med from a pi<span face=""verdana",sans-serif">ece of clay". Should we still contemplate the possibility that the neo-syllabary was operating here.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"> Second, suppose that <i><span face=""verdana",sans-serif">pk </span></i><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif">in the Lakish inscription is incomplete, and the correct reading is <i>sh-p-k </i>(pour), hence "Pour to measure 5 hekat". This root is used for pouring m<span face=""verdana",sans-serif">olten metal, and shedding blood, and possibly it could refer to pouring grain.</span></span></span> <br /> A final consideration gives me cause for pause <span style="font-family: inherit;">to ponder how this jar, when it was a mass of wet clay ready for baking and <span style="font-family: inherit;">proudly bearing</span> its inscription, could know <span style="font-family: inherit;">its correct volume. How could that be measured? Simply by modeling it to the same size as another jar of that volume? But how did that jar have its volume established? The potter and the scribe probably knew, but now God <span style="font-family: inherit;">alone</span> knows.</span></span> <br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">Apologies for the tiny print which blogger.com has delivered (relentlessly) for this study; the normal size appears on the version I see, before it is posted to the Web. You have my permission to copy it and paste it in a document where it can be enlarged.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">THE LACHISH JAR SHERD: <br />AN EARLY ALPHABETIC INSCRIPTION DISCOVERED IN 2014</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 481px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: 2px;"><i>Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research</i>, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<font size="2"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 1955px; letter-spacing: -1px; top: 5855px;">BASOR</span></i><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> 374 (2015): 233–45, Benjamin Sass et al.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></font></div><font size="2">
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<font size="2"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">A copy of this article (with these illustrations, and drawings of many more inscriptions) is available on Sass's page at </span></span></span><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><a href="https://www.academia.edu/19611579/2015._Sass_B._Garfinkel_Y._Hasel_M.G._and_Klingbeil_M.G._The_Lachish_jar_sherd_An_early_alphabetic_inscription_discovered_in_2014._BASOR_374_233_245">ACADEMIA</a></span></span></span>. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0VFwUrNjNS1aiJThqJAGxfeREPO9ksSiE1ANOfhp7PomzpM6z7IEWou7cHujnFEa9Dp0_CNF6AWeoIp8EvsvD-BVc88HP02RB6ECkCLhHlZQwc6XekX4bITiiz6EnMpfUay2vA/s1600/3-2a03ede642.jpg"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0VFwUrNjNS1aiJThqJAGxfeREPO9ksSiE1ANOfhp7PomzpM6z7IEWou7cHujnFEa9Dp0_CNF6AWeoIp8EvsvD-BVc88HP02RB6ECkCLhHlZQwc6XekX4bITiiz6EnMpfUay2vA/s320/3-2a03ede642.jpg" width="256" /></a> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">(Photographs by Tal Rogovski; reconstruction and drawings of the vessel by O. Dobovsky; drawing of the inscription by the late Ada Yardeni )</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></font>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""verdana",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></font></div><font size="2">
</font>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-52968325356239364082019-10-15T20:04:00.006-07:002021-12-07T23:06:12.000-08:00PHOENICIANS IN PUERTO RICO<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-6zMv7LO02ByrGdX9YjNfSnGpa_w5mXsYCfDfdpH5KlcTsXJk0vj8j-zCIzsoZN0NTWATRHVCgfi5T0dGnY4bTk8AlVJrKQULqK6TwQiTeAzCmkisR-VoO1USLcG92fhai-DFQ/s1600/DSC_0234+%25282%2529-1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="1140" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-6zMv7LO02ByrGdX9YjNfSnGpa_w5mXsYCfDfdpH5KlcTsXJk0vj8j-zCIzsoZN0NTWATRHVCgfi5T0dGnY4bTk8AlVJrKQULqK6TwQiTeAzCmkisR-VoO1USLcG92fhai-DFQ/s400/DSC_0234+%25282%2529-1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Source: <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article235714732.html">https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article235714732.html</a><br />
This is one sample of a large collection of inscribed stones that were discovered in the mountains in the western end of the island of Puerto Rico; these objects are known as <i>Las</i> <i>Piedras del Padre Nazario, </i>or Father Nazario’s Stones, named after José María Nazario, a priest and amateur archaeologist from Guayanilla on Puerto Rico’s southern coast, who found some 800 of these objects in the 1880s; they were examined sceptically and superficially in the early 1900s by a Harvard-trained scientist (a zoologist interested in anthropology), Dr Jesse Walter Fewkes, and they have ever since been considered to be forgeries or fakes; but local
archeologist Reniel Rodríguez Ramos has been studying them since 2001,
and he hopes to use them as evidence of the ancient (precolumban) history
of the country. <br />
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Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article235714732.html#storylink=cpywho found them in the 1880s; </div>
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Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article235714732.html#storylink=cpy</div>
Another photograph of this particular stone:<br />
<a href="https://www.pressreader.com/puerto-rico/el-nuevo-dia/20160313/281745563492806">https://www.pressreader.com/puerto-rico/el-nuevo-dia/20160313/281745563492806</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbE-V85QW1fkDwTFZyx2wgmhmZUqWyFVBcCp4osPf5ob-F6XsybRojgT2W67U5LIts2xYt63VeaHz7VfRr_kAjQpJDJcQrYh3cyC-GTNs5c5mjFYKWmONz4tYjFGy09ZZvWLQzg/s1600/img.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="424" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPbE-V85QW1fkDwTFZyx2wgmhmZUqWyFVBcCp4osPf5ob-F6XsybRojgT2W67U5LIts2xYt63VeaHz7VfRr_kAjQpJDJcQrYh3cyC-GTNs5c5mjFYKWmONz4tYjFGy09ZZvWLQzg/s320/img.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This has the advantage of showing more of the writing on the right hand side of the stone (actually the top, when the inscribed signs are oriented correctly).<br />
Looking first at the lower section, and reading between the lines, so to speak, we see a character that is like a figure 9; it could be a B of the Phoenician alphabet, but my experience of West Semitic (Phoenician/Canaanian) scripts urges me to view this and all the other signs vertically rather than horizontally, thus:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQypTVb1LazCt-FQBjUM9P4Unn3NsTKasddky9L_hFMWRvo1a7J-DAOOFmpWx7G-pNpzj4nwJBmarQG59panB7PozRYLdfBlXBURCaC5xlw0orcuTx3dAkw6XJj-WHsvpZBjJxA/s1600/DSC_0234+%25282%2529-1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="567" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQypTVb1LazCt-FQBjUM9P4Unn3NsTKasddky9L_hFMWRvo1a7J-DAOOFmpWx7G-pNpzj4nwJBmarQG59panB7PozRYLdfBlXBURCaC5xlw0orcuTx3dAkw6XJj-WHsvpZBjJxA/s320/DSC_0234+%25282%2529-1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
This makes more sense to me, and I am astonished: we have here a selection of letters ("syllabograms") from the <b>West Semitic syllabary</b> of the <b>Bronze Age</b>. After a period of contemplation of this array of characters, I am thinking that the inscriber's intention was not to write words or names, but simply three sets of related syllabograms, nine in total. The West Semitic syllabic script is the forerunner of the <b>West Semitic consonantary</b> (the <b>Phoenician</b> <b>consonantal</b> <b>alphabet</b>, from which all other alphabets are derived, notably the Grecian and the Roman). As I have argued in my essay on <a href="https://www.academia.edu/12894458/The_origin_of_the_alphabet">the origin of the alphabet</a> (2014), most of the letters in the Phoenician alphabet were already in the syllabary, and an example of T (a cross) stands before us, but in an oblique stance; if it had equal strokes like the multiplication sign (X) it would be the syllabogram KU (according to the decipherment of George Mendenhall, published in 1985, and slightly modified by myself in 1992). The syllabary had three signs for each consonant, representing TA, TI, TU, or KA KI KU, and in many cases the sign with the -a vowel was borrowed for the protoalphabet; D was a door (DA from <i>daltu </i>door), but the cross was apparently TU, and the K was KI. Both writing systems (syllabary and consonantary) were constructed by employing the <b>acrophonic</b> ("summit sound") <b>principle</b>, whereby the first sound (syllable or consonant) of the word that described the object in each pictorial sign was pronounced: hence DA (in the syllabary) and D (in the consonantary) came from <i>daltu </i>door, represented by a picture of a door, and the Roman D still shows the original door. <br />
We may begin our quest with the sign at the top in the centre: I see it as an eye, for which the Semitic word is <i>`aynu, </i>and so it is an <i>-a </i>syllable, with a guttural consonant, conventionally transcribed as an inverted or reversed comma, an apostrophe (like a superscript c, or here `a); this symbol had become circular by the time it entered the Hellenic alphabet as the vowel o (Omikron); the Greeks had no use for it as a guttural consonant, and likewise the Romans, so they gave it a vocalic (vowel) function. Here the eye has an appendage, which may identify it as the sacred eye of the god Horus (Egyptian hieroglyph D10 in the classification system of Alan Gardiner, <i>Egyptian Grammar</i>, p. 451); this would distinguish it from the mouth sign (PU, alphabetic P, appearing as () when in vertical stance); there might also be some eyelashes at the top, and a pupil.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQypTVb1LazCt-FQBjUM9P4Unn3NsTKasddky9L_hFMWRvo1a7J-DAOOFmpWx7G-pNpzj4nwJBmarQG59panB7PozRYLdfBlXBURCaC5xlw0orcuTx3dAkw6XJj-WHsvpZBjJxA/s1600/DSC_0234+%25282%2529-1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="567" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQypTVb1LazCt-FQBjUM9P4Unn3NsTKasddky9L_hFMWRvo1a7J-DAOOFmpWx7G-pNpzj4nwJBmarQG59panB7PozRYLdfBlXBURCaC5xlw0orcuTx3dAkw6XJj-WHsvpZBjJxA/s200/DSC_0234+%25282%2529-1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><p> <br />
Next, to the left of `A is a "semi-oval", like an inverted letter U, and by coincidence it represents the syllable `U (from <i>`ushru</i>, tithe, ten) again according to the decipherment of Mendenhall and Colless).<br />
Moving now to the right of the eye-sign (between the double lines) we have another incomplete oval, which Mendenhall recognized as `I, and my suggestion is that it goes with <i><b>`i</b>pipu </i>eyelid.<br />
So, amazingly, we have the three signs that refer to a particular consonant (`ayin) with the three standard vowels (<i>u, a, i,</i> as in Arabic). Is there a similar pattern in the remaining characters?<br />
Below the eye-sign is an object that looks like a throne or a step; Mendenhall and I connected it with <i><b>hu</b>dmu</i> footstool, and identified it as the syllabogram HU.<br />
Further to the right, between the lines and below the eyelid, is a square building with an entrance (viewed from above), a temple (<i><b>ha</b>ykalu</i>) and thus HA.<br />
Finally, outside the trainlines, is a murky version of HI, from<b> </b><i><b>hi</b>llulu</i> jubilation (as in <i>Halleluyah! </i>Celebrate Yahweh!); it is a figure of a person jubilating with arms raised; the alphabetic version of H was used by the Greeks and Romans for the vowel E (note the head and arms, with the body discarded over the centuries of evolution).<br />
Returning now to the large leaning cross: Mendenhall and I felt that the cross was TU. Our choice for TI is found in the serpentine sign below the temple, though it is not a snake but a harp (<i><b>ti</b>bbuttu</i>).<br />
This exercise is giving me the comfort of confirmation that Mendenhall and I got these identifications right.<br />
But where is the sign for TA? The sequence for `ayin and H was, from left to right: -U, -A, -I, and, by the way, these are the case endings for nouns (nominative <i>u</i>, accusative <i>a</i>, genitive <i>i</i>). On our tables, Mendenhall and I have preferred the AIU order, in accordance with the AEIOU pattern in the English alphabet; but strange to say, I had recently thought of changing from AIU to UAI, and suddenly this document popped up and demanded my attention.<br />
Accordingly, we search between the cross and the harp for a character constructed of two vertical parallel lines (which need not be of the same length), joined at the top by a crossbeam, and constituting a grapevine stand; I have suggested that it was associated with <i>tarashu</i>, a word for "new wine". Such a figure could perhaps be construed from the scored marks above the cross and below the `U. The dots might represent grapes, and a counterpart for this can be seen more clearly on this West Semitic syllabic inscription from ancient Thebes in Egypt:</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/s544/Thebes+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhkH_MvLw5I9G0HOsbB7QqAAg_GOreiGlkcCy1rov2EzNbRTODzF3TinUMoEI6gQwnoqIUwNq80jVUGI7ZxJuVJT1Lwf8xGtUv1WaM3SdKKOhrUIp1huoaHqF8zV29TB7RZNEZA/s320/Thebes+6.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /> Here I pause and ponder, if the scribe who engraved those nine syllabograms was consistent in setting each trio in the same order (U A I) then the wine-vine would be TU not TA, and the cross would be TA not TU; but there would be difficulties in the way of accepting this change.<br /> An example of the vine-stand is available on another of the Puerto Rico stones, from the Smithsonian museum:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UDehanFFTV2mC09QvsD7j2v39BuO2Os9gtcscTthR9ipPle-r_VPvqXdkMUxp6hS0fb02yp6UiTjSNC9kqmA4wYY8AbZAcV99e5fTvpa5xpJthftck1efC2ScV-18tejLmvPOA/s1600/deliveryService.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="300" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UDehanFFTV2mC09QvsD7j2v39BuO2Os9gtcscTthR9ipPle-r_VPvqXdkMUxp6hS0fb02yp6UiTjSNC9kqmA4wYY8AbZAcV99e5fTvpa5xpJthftck1efC2ScV-18tejLmvPOA/s320/deliveryService.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhanthropology_8054223">https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhanthropology_8054223</a><br />
The TA (note the post on the right is longer, but they can be equal in length).<br />
The zigzag sign represents waves of water, and was M in the protoalphabet, and MU in the protosyllabary.<br />
TAMU. "perfect" or "Perfection". The name of a worshipper? <br />
Mu Ta (logograms or ideograms) water and new wine? (a mixed drink?)<br />
"Total"? Are the dots numerical? <br />
On the other hand, the VV sign might have only one peak, and thus represent SHA; in the consonant-alphabet it stands for Th, and is the origin of Greek Sigma and Roman S; it is derived from the word <i>shad</i> or <i>thad</i>, meaning "breast". Between the TA and the SHA is a human stick-figure with a prominent head; this could be an unusual way of expressing RA or R (from <i>ra'ish</i>, "head").<br />
This would give us the word <i>t-r-sh, </i>"new wine". Suppose the figurine represents a worshipper, and the wine is his offering, delivered to the shrine of the deity. The Phoenicians always traveled with wine (witness the <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2012/05/phoenician-bronze-cup-in-jamaica-below.html">copper <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">c</span>up</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> from <b>Jamaica</b>, with a syllabic inscription about the pleasant effects of wine); and if they were planning to settle in distant places, they took grapevines with them (as Jews and Christians have done in the present era).<br />
For the record, here is a view of another part of the same stone:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGjEansul9Od8xkOvstPxyYaNp9zg6CINLQf_HUqDLhQvLXx7RQSpmhRbXmbqmwX-ICFba25mPHL3Me3mgZSMMFshu-gVKims_P3lglbMW_A4rH1CJ9m2fvfBjK1YfukMrtM-Kw/s1600/deliveryService-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGjEansul9Od8xkOvstPxyYaNp9zg6CINLQf_HUqDLhQvLXx7RQSpmhRbXmbqmwX-ICFba25mPHL3Me3mgZSMMFshu-gVKims_P3lglbMW_A4rH1CJ9m2fvfBjK1YfukMrtM-Kw/s1600/deliveryService-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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Only the writer of any particular inscription knew the intended meaning, but the vertical sign like a Y, with a small crossbar at the bottom end, could be the Egyptian <i>nefer </i>glyph, signifying "good and beautiful", and it is followed by a possible house-sign (an incomplete square): hence T.ABA, or simply alphabetic T.B, meaning "good".<br />
There is mention of a stone slab covered with such characters, and that is something I would really like to see; it might have a complete table of the West Semitic syllabary. (See below!)<br />
<br />
Statuettes are also part of the collection: this Smithsonian stone seems to be a figurine; and the stone we have already examined, with all the `ayin, H, and T syllable-signs, is in the shape of a human bust (head and chest sculpture), as can be seen in this picture: <br />
<img alt="" height="265" src="https://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.7527753.1563196784%21/image/1635183093.jpg_gen/derivatives/fullscreen_1104xAuto/1635183093.jpg" title="" width="400" /> <br />
Dr. Iris Groman-Yaroslavsky, left, with Prof.
Reniel Rodríguez Ramos<br />
examining some of the Puerto Rican figurines at
Haifa University<br />
<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-ancient-trove-may-attest-to-lost-civilization-in-puerto-rico-1.7501553">https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-ancient-trove-may-attest-to-lost-civilization-in-puerto-rico-1.7501553</a><br />
She is holding our prize object, and he has this other statuette in his hands.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfToH5cybinCGXxHmppmPosNZZBHb70Ptsu1k7mFGWHzEW6qh4yho9fvs-MMRLJxS9tIxUEcUYIb3jL9fzfr4Y3oPzQKNo-FCJCt-uR5xSvms5v1rk-96BTc_sfr9iN_nOlagxsw/s1600/2419658402.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="901" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfToH5cybinCGXxHmppmPosNZZBHb70Ptsu1k7mFGWHzEW6qh4yho9fvs-MMRLJxS9tIxUEcUYIb3jL9fzfr4Y3oPzQKNo-FCJCt-uR5xSvms5v1rk-96BTc_sfr9iN_nOlagxsw/s320/2419658402.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
In the middle line of the inscription on this figurine is the letter Sh of the protoalphabet, as seen on inscriptions from the Sinai turquoise mines: it is based on an Egyptian symbol for the sun, with a serpent on each side; in the known inscriptions the sun-disk could be shown or omitted, and it is tempting to see this as a case where the sun is retained; a similar sign appears on the top line, on the left, but this could represent human breasts (<i>thad</i> or <i>shad</i>), and therefore stand for the sound Th (as in thing); the usual form of this character is more angular (\/\/), resembling the English letter W. To the far left of the central Sh-sign, we can see a snake, the letter N (its serpentine origin is still visible in N). Between them I discern a house-sign, the letter B (from <i>bayt</i> "house"); it has a typical form, whereby the simpler shape of a square (sometimes with a gap for the entrance) has the base line running diagonally and triangularly into the house, as if showing an open door; in the present case it is the top line that runs obliquely (or so it appears to me); this rare inverted version has turned up in the <a href=" https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/09/khirbet-ar-rai-inscription-lyrbl.html">Jerubbaal inscription </a>(YRBB`L) from Khirbet ar-Ra`i in Israel, and that has inspired me to recognize it here (8/12/2021); ShBN could be a personal name (for example, Shebna the scribe in the Bible, 2 Kings 18:18, 37). In the bottom line we can perhaps see an alphabetic L (a herdsman's crook); if so, this would not be a syllabic text. However, the fine details on the baseline are not clear, and I can imagine the letter next to it is a Q (--o-) a cord wound on a stick, or W (--o) a nail; further left a Sadey (emphatic <i>s </i>or <i>ts</i>) a tied bag. But my brain is merely constructing things it already knows, from tricks of light in a photograph. It could also be saying LB`LT, "for the Lady" (crook house eye crook cross), a sequence found at the Sinai turquoise mines, referring to the goddess `Anat).<br />
Here is another view of this object:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QcJGn05IyoHpp-V23bBKYqAglXGNgOwRErGh6N9eQle-uAwLewYhjuPZ6ZshugjF0U9qU_aOI6cJvxKk-lIH7lNNa7VSA8Eh7orgnLkS6uRNoy1HUVQOl9Eg0jIwsPQo54Pr0Q/s1600/1980628406-576x1024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="576" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QcJGn05IyoHpp-V23bBKYqAglXGNgOwRErGh6N9eQle-uAwLewYhjuPZ6ZshugjF0U9qU_aOI6cJvxKk-lIH7lNNa7VSA8Eh7orgnLkS6uRNoy1HUVQOl9Eg0jIwsPQo54Pr0Q/s320/1980628406-576x1024.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
My L is now uncertain; but there is possibly a LA-syllabogram at the bottom. There is a possible bovine head in top left position, which could be syllabic 'A or alphabetic 'Aleph (Alpha). The Sh-sun with its two serpents is still there in the centre, but, as I know from experience, it could be syllabic SHA as well as consonantal Sh. However, it is not known in the Phoenician consonantal alphabet of the Iron Age (after 1200 BCE). Therefore, this West Semitic writing would have been introduced into this island in the Bronze Age. <br />
Note that the West Semitic syllabary and consonantary (the protoalphabet) functioned in tandem in the Bronze Age (before 1200 BCE).<br />
<br />
But for some shock treatment we must now go back to the <a href="https://www.haifa.ac.il/index.php/en/about-top-blue-3/2013-07-01-13-28-00/3767-ancient-and-unknown-pre-columbian-cultural-artifacts-pop-in-for-a-visit-at-the-university-of-haifa.html">University of Haifa</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6C-99BkMuMLdjNrgEjesfcBm01Ecq0zuxMch9OepWVevshZ15Xu2c1TUlKAF7WvQw_m4b_xFl8s1IU8n-5W4aO8hMpzZq9qwSEj3cbw4VVbr_OqWfq7GaI8Goa-Q6p6CWK6MI2A/s1600/D_MT1eXX4AEp7KL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6C-99BkMuMLdjNrgEjesfcBm01Ecq0zuxMch9OepWVevshZ15Xu2c1TUlKAF7WvQw_m4b_xFl8s1IU8n-5W4aO8hMpzZq9qwSEj3cbw4VVbr_OqWfq7GaI8Goa-Q6p6CWK6MI2A/s200/D_MT1eXX4AEp7KL.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;">Dr.
Iris Groman-Yaroslavsky examined the objects in depth at her
laboratory. Her findings confirmed that the objects are not a modern forgery, and she also discovered
evidence showing that some of the objects were coated in gold and in
red paint. “This is definitely one of the strangest and most fascinating
stories I’ve been involved in,” Dr. Groman-Yaroslavsky confessed. “To
date, we have not found any similar carved stone art objects from this
region of America, and this is why many researchers assumed that they
must be fake. However, the microscopic tests we performed show beyond
any doubt that the stones were carved around 600 years ago.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;">What? Where do we go from here?! Well, we read the rest of that article (</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.haifa.ac.il/index.php/en/about-top-blue-3/2013-07-01-13-28-00/3767-ancient-and-unknown-pre-columbian-cultural-artifacts-pop-in-for-a-visit-at-the-university-of-haifa.html">University of Haifa</a>), where we are told that the figurines are "ancient". Reniel assures me that this figure of 600 years ago is not correct, and is a mistake of the writer of the article : he has five radiocarbon dates, </span></span>from <b>1100 BCE</b> to <b>900 CE</b>. <br />
Focusing on the main figurine that we are deciphering, one possibility would have been that these marks were added very recently. I have always told myself that I can safely assume that any West Semitic syllabic inscription that comes to my attention must be genuine, because Mendenhall's decipherment was not published till 1985; but now someone could have taken this accessible object and copied all the `ayin, H, and T signs onto it, using Mendenhall's Table 3 (p. 19). Not expletively likely, I would have to say.<br />
If the marks were carved into this figurine "600 years ago" (a point in time that can not quite be labeled as Precolumban, before Christopher Columbus arrived, in AD 1492 CE) some very ancient document from the Bronze Age must have been available for reference (I would like to see whether the reported slab with a lot of marks on it is a table of the signs of the syllabary); or else this was a copy of a much older artefact. I would prefer to think that this was an original piece from the Mediterranean Bronze Age, and it was inscribed with this West Semitic writing system in that era, since it fell into disuse in its homeland in the Iron Age. <br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"> Returning to our starting point<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">:</span> if we allow that the inscriber actually wanted to make a statement with the set of signs from the syllabary (`ayin, H, T) and that the <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">characters were <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">intended</span> to function not as syllabograms</span> but as logograms or ideograms<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">, then this could be the meaning:</span></span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQypTVb1LazCt-FQBjUM9P4Unn3NsTKasddky9L_hFMWRvo1a7J-DAOOFmpWx7G-pNpzj4nwJBmarQG59panB7PozRYLdfBlXBURCaC5xlw0orcuTx3dAkw6XJj-WHsvpZBjJxA/s1600/DSC_0234+%25282%2529-1.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="567" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQypTVb1LazCt-FQBjUM9P4Unn3NsTKasddky9L_hFMWRvo1a7J-DAOOFmpWx7G-pNpzj4nwJBmarQG59panB7PozRYLdfBlXBURCaC5xlw0orcuTx3dAkw6XJj-WHsvpZBjJxA/s200/DSC_0234+%25282%2529-1.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> The eye of the day <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">(EYELID) has risen and the sun-go<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">d (Horus-eye) is enthroned (FOOTSTOOL) in the sanctuary (TEMPLE)</span></span>; and there is jubilation (HILLUL) with music (HARP), and ten (`USHRU) measures of wine (<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">TARASHU), and sacrifices (CROSS?!).</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> The last detail is suspect, but human sacrifice was a feature of the culture that was established in <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">southern</span> America by the Mediterranean visitors or invaders<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">T</span>here are analogies for this proposed scenario<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">, with reference to <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">worship of a</span> goddess: the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">Wadi el-Hol inscription</a> (Egypt), and an <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2016/08/byblos-bowl-inscription.html">inscription on a bowl</a> (Byblos?)<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">; both have the word "wine" (WN) and they mention animal sacrifice.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> However, while a poem can produce a<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">n interpretation that is</span> unintended by the poet, I may be going too far <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">by</span> forcing this meaning onto this set of significant signs.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> A striking fact to emerge from the microscopic analysis at Haifa University, was the presence of ochr<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">e (for reddening lips) and gold. Metals were what drew the Phoenicians to<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> distant shores, such as Cornwall and Devon for <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/groundbreaking-study-ancient-tin-ingots-found-in-israel-were-mined-in-england/">tin</a>; and they left inscri<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">ptions</span>: a <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2013/09/phoenicians-in-scandinavia.html">silver mine</a> in Scandinavia, a <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2016/05/phoenicians-in-texas.html">gold mine </a>in Texas, <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/huron-stone">copper mines</a> in Michigan<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">. Puerto Rico island has gold mines, and there may be more inscriptions waiting to be discovered there.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> Further westward from Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea, in Jamaica, a <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2012/05/phoenician-bronze-cup-in-jamaica-below.html">copper <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">c</span>up</a> has come to light, and its WS syllabic inscription about wine adds confirmation to the presence of Phoenicians in the same places <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">that</span> Columbus and the Spaniards visited three millennia later. </span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">RRR <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">takes us on a tour of the tables on which his collection is displayed (Spanish Language):</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ung5Kk8r_q4#action=share"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ung5Kk8r_q4#action=share</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">This li<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">n</span>k has some more mysterious inscriptions: </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDL6VK4dQeA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDL6VK4dQeA</a> </span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> Thus, </span> <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">W</span>est Semitic writing <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">o</span>f the Bronze Age, both protosyllabic and protoalphabetic, has been found on Caribbean islands and on the mainland of America. This fact <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">must</span> no longer be ignored.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">20/1/2020</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">Reniel has now sent me a slab, triangular in shape, found <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">at</span> Tecla, Guayani<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">lla, near where the inscribed stones were obtained</span>. It has the West Semitic consonantal proto-alp<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">ha</span>bet </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">inscribed<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> around the edge: it exhibits the long version <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">from</span> the Bronze Age, not the short Phoenician consonantal alphabet with 22 letters, current in the Iron Age. It would be hard for a modern forger to manufacture an object with these characteristics, since very few scholars venture into this field. This artefact and its ancient Semitic writing seems to clinch the matter. The evidence is now overwhelming.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">V</span>isible</span> in the top left corner</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> is <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">t</span>he W-shaped letter (which we met on one of the figurines), originally representing <b>Th</b> (pronounced as in thing) in the proto-alphabet, <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">but</span> ultimately standing for <b>Sh</b> in the Phoenician and Hebr<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">aic alphabet of 22 letters, and </span>employed <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">in the Hellenic alphabet as Sigma. It is precede<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">d by a rounded triangle on a stem, representing a human head and its neck; this is <b>R</b>; so we have R and S together, as in the standard alphabet. However, <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">the Sh (VV) is followed by the letter <b>Samek</b>, looking like a telegraph pole, but actually represe<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">nting a backbone and <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">some </span> ri</span></span>bs, and signifying "support"<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">, and that is what <i>samek</i> means; it is another sibilant, so the trio is R Sh S, but we were expecting T (which is apparently in the middle of the </span>opp<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">osite line, as a cross (+). The R is not preceded on its line by Q, but the <b>Q</b> <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">might</span> be in the top corner, after the Samek; in any case this is my cue (?!) to <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">talk</span> ab<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">out </span></span> the origin of this letter (my own discovery): it is a builder's cord (<i>qaw </i>"line") wound on a stick (--o--)</span>; the ones I have seen in my lifetime are around a flat pencil, but the "line" was certainly used in ancient times; the sign was an Egyptian hiero<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">g</span>lyph that was borrowed for the proto-alphabet, where it has remained to this day, as has its counterpart in<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">the builder's toolbox. The Egyptian hieroglyph <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">of this object <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">could have the end of the string pro<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">j</span>ecting beside the top of the stick (roughly <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">--</span>o<) and this is possibly the <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">sign</span> we see at the start of the right hand line of the triangle.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">The letter for W, named Waw or Vav (a nail or hook<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">)</span> <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">has the form --<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">(</span> or --<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">o<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> and</span></span> may be lurking in the space at the top, after the Samek (<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">s</span>pinal column).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> </span></span> <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">In any case</span></span>, it is obvious that the sequential order of the signs does not correspond to <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">either of the standard systems: <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2015/11/h-l-h-m-order-of-alphabet-letters.html">HLH.M</a> (elucidated at that link) or 'Aleph Beth Gimel Daleth (Alpha Beta Gamma D<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">elta). The <b>'A </b>is on the right-hand side; the <b>B</b> is in the middle of the bottom line (like [/]); the <b>G</b> is next to it<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">, on the left, I think ( |\ )<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">, th<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">e</span> <b>D </b>(a door) is in the middle of the left-hand <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">side of the triangle</span>. The letters <b>H L H.M </b>are likewise scattered.<b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> To prove that this is a long alphabet, I can point to a letter in the top right corner (viewed on an enlargement of the photograph, which I can ac<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">cess </span>by clicking once on the photograph below). Working our way downwards past the presu<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">med <b>Q</b><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">, </span></span>we <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">find</span> a double helix, a thread in the form of a hank (>ooo<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">)</span>, representing a raspy H; its proper place in the long version of the 'ABGD alphabe<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">t is between G and D, but <span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">here it is having a change. Another indicator is the rare letter <b>Gh, </b>which is like the syllabogram TA<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> (</span>which we have e<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">n</span>countered earlier): it is a grapevine stand, with grapes hanging, and it is located (apparently) at the end of the </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> bottom </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>line in the left corner.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> </span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOUAgTkR5oudco8sQogs00j5C8e0EByBCZQcmwPZ68UJ2HVvValJw6HdODsF73E0KRrkSnFoGym6X6V2WpYEp8rSQKjni7-p670osqbTOh8rzYYnrCEgdiWi_4bU_lhj-SJs-oA/s1600/IMG_3231.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOUAgTkR5oudco8sQogs00j5C8e0EByBCZQcmwPZ68UJ2HVvValJw6HdODsF73E0KRrkSnFoGym6X6V2WpYEp8rSQKjni7-p670osqbTOh8rzYYnrCEgdiWi_4bU_lhj-SJs-oA/s400/IMG_3231.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p>
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The rarest letter of the early alphabet is <b>Z.</b>, represented by a sun-shade (<i>z.il</i>), and I think it has a place in this collection, at the end of the right-hand line. Preceding it is the sun-sign, showing the sun-disc protected by a serpent or two, and so we have the <b>Th</b> and the <b>Sh </b>symbols at opposite positions on the triangle. The sun letter <b>Sh </b>(from <i>shimsh </i>"sun") is preceded by the letter <b>S. </b>(Sadey), part of which runs under the sun. Before that comes the cross, the letter <b>T, </b>and then the letter <b>H </b>in its developed form: originally a person exulting with arms raised, but now reduced to E with its back stroke extended, and eventually it will be Greek Epsilon and Roman E. Next we see the ox-head, 'Aleph and Alpha, lying on its side, like the H-sign (E). And so on. This is a marvelous document!<br /> The head with rays seems to be the sun rising from mountains.<br />
For my identification of all the letters of the proto-alphabet, which seem to be confirmed by this artefact, go to this site:<br />
<a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> </span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms","geneva"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"> </span></span></span> </span></p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-65528095564312585452019-06-29T00:47:00.003-07:002024-02-17T22:09:15.135-08:00WEST SEMITIC SYLLABIC CYLINDER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQv8hJ-DIOEmVQXzQ0182Wrk_sj932sEA9BSF75lmdBQkdj-kayOP9FjFbVpHadR_iBm791BWpRmqKYE1pLp99zIXGdY5fOT4bz_MHHfCVptX09Art4S4iIkICE1vtxcPXAWGMrQ/s1600/Byblos+cylinder.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="559" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQv8hJ-DIOEmVQXzQ0182Wrk_sj932sEA9BSF75lmdBQkdj-kayOP9FjFbVpHadR_iBm791BWpRmqKYE1pLp99zIXGdY5fOT4bz_MHHfCVptX09Art4S4iIkICE1vtxcPXAWGMrQ/s320/Byblos+cylinder.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtltPxOuv_W4xLO0SSacJWOl_PjDwOJ5wDN6jVjJm9-vgNGCF7uhgi1qEtJpqfXu1igA_kNRavQF_CzB4MlsXvVGQKXb92SAxjjSr7K_PJTBwqiGR9d74whzgQ9nskaxm4o52wpw/s1600/Akhnaton+abd+co.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="392" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtltPxOuv_W4xLO0SSacJWOl_PjDwOJ5wDN6jVjJm9-vgNGCF7uhgi1qEtJpqfXu1igA_kNRavQF_CzB4MlsXvVGQKXb92SAxjjSr7K_PJTBwqiGR9d74whzgQ9nskaxm4o52wpw/s320/Akhnaton+abd+co.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Garbini, Giovanni; Maria Michela Luiselli & Guido Devoto (2004): "Sigillo di età amarniana da Biblo con iscrizione." Rendiconti dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei 9/15, 377-390.<br />
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The remarkable little object we see at the top is a cylinder stamp or seal (the photograph shows an imprint of its features), apparently emanating from somewhere in Phoenicia, possibly Byblos (Gubla), and published by Giovanni Garbini (now deceased); he recognized two striking features: it imitates the family portrait of Pharaoh Akhenaton and Queen Nefertiti, with their three daughters (Egyptian Museum, Berlin, 14145), and it has inscriptions in the West Semitic syllabic script (whereas the Egyptian counterpart has hieroglyphic writing). Since Akhenaton reigned in the middle of the fourteenth century before the current era (BCE), the Semitic artefact could not be earlier than that. One typical detail in each image is the sun disc (Aton) with its rays having hands to distribute its benefits, which are celebrated in the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/akhetaton">Hymn to the Aton</a>.<br />
Notice that the Phoenician image is reversed: the personage corresponding to Nefertiti (who is holding two children) is on the left side of the photograph, and the father (with one daughter) is on the right. It is not clear that the Semitic couple are meant to be Akhenaton and Nefertiti; the headdresses are not the same as those on the Egyptian royals. On the plaque the names of the Egyptian family members are recorded in hieroglyphs in columns and cartouches: the daughters are Meritaten, Meketaten, and Ankhesenpaaten; Tutankhaten (later King Tutankhamen, not a child of Nefertiti) is not in the picture. One suggestion is that the three columns of Semitic text provide the daughters' names (Michael Mäder), and this would assist us in deciphering this script.<br />
However, this is not the result we get when we apply the system of decipherment proposed by George Mendenhall in 1985, and adopted and adapted by myself as the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/westsemiticsyllabary">West Semitic logo-syllabary</a>.<br />
This exercise will be undertaken with the aid of a model prepared by Mäder.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-z-JelAuuPPBi1DyD09T9H99UA-_XpC-K8ld7mlXKIxNmtl2wj7VbjeHzyk_4JYA_yyWAH_UY1El9dg_DQbAbou4Jnc1nLhb3t2kxRjU2oD-gmA_6Bf2BfIZLbnRizb-9dJSdkw/s1600/r-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-z-JelAuuPPBi1DyD09T9H99UA-_XpC-K8ld7mlXKIxNmtl2wj7VbjeHzyk_4JYA_yyWAH_UY1El9dg_DQbAbou4Jnc1nLhb3t2kxRjU2oD-gmA_6Bf2BfIZLbnRizb-9dJSdkw/s400/r-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="im"><b>Michael Mäder (University of Bern,
personal communication) sets forth a prima facie case of circumstantial evidence, which is very attractive. This is an edited version of his statements (the original is reproduced at the end of this essay).</b></span><br />
<span class="im"> On the Egyptian Familenstele Berlin, 14145 (Krauss 1991) there
are three inscriptions which include the names Meketaton, Meritaton and
Ankhesen-pa-Amun.</span><br />
<span class="im"><span class="im"><b> </b>On the Semitic seal, likewise, there are three short texts in corresponding positions, adjacent to the three daughters.</span></span><br />
<span class="im"><span class="im"><span class="im">The names would be read in Egyptian: Meritaton on the legs of
father, Meketaton on legs of mother, Ankhesen-pa-Amun on shoulder of
mother.</span> </span> </span><br />
<span class="im"> </span><span class="im">They have the same relative extension, i.e. Meketaton and Meritaton short, Ankhesen-pa-Amun
longer.</span><br />
<span class="im"><span class="im">The two shorter ones begin with the same syllable (me) and end with the same (ATON [Egyptogram]).</span> </span><br />
<span class="im"> </span><span class="im">In the longest of the names, Ankhesen-pa-Amun, has the expected
syllable pa in its 4th position.</span><br />
<span class="im"> </span><span class="im">The 4th sign in the Byblos version has
the form of a cross or "bird with outspread wings". This suits the fact
that <i>pa</i> in Egyptian syllabic writing has the form
of a cross (originating from a bird with outspread wings).</span><br />
<span class="im">The sign in the shape of a "2" would be <i>me </i>(in<i> </i></span><span class="im">Meketaton and Meritaton)</span><br />
<div>
The fact that one of the "2"-shaped signs is mirrored fits the
Egyptian names which also are mirrored, see Krauss 1991:11. (It was a
habit of Egyptian scribes to place the signs in the same direction as
the faces of the persons they describe are heading.)</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
This is certainly an impressive set of arguments. <br /><br /></div>
<span class="im">In response, we might first ask: If the names of the personages on the seal were given, would it not be the King (Akhenaton) and the Queen (Nefertiti) who were named, rather than the children? The royal couple were the intermediaries between the Sun-deity and humans. If this was a personal seal, the name of its owner might be present.</span><br />
<span class="im">Second, if the initial signs of the two <i>M...Aton</i> sisters are supposedly mirrored, or rather the signs are facing the depiction of the person who is named, according to the Egyptian convention, I would have to say that these "2" letters are not the same; and the one on the left is actually the second letter in the sequence.</span><br />
<span class="im">And the signs at the bottom of the cartouches are similar but not the same; they are supposed to represent the Aton, the disc of the sun. The sun-sign in this West Semitic syllabary is found in the long text, in second position: a circle with a dot in it (equivalent to Egyptian hieroglyph N5).</span><br />
<span class="im"> </span><span class="im">The proposed form Ankhesen-pa-Amun for the third sister comes as a surprise, but it can be validated: as noted above, Tutankhaten became Tutankhamen, when worship of the Aton was abandoned, and the same principle applies to Ankhesen-pa-aten; but I can not see her name on this cylinder seal. Incidentally, the Egyptian Ankh sign, representing "life", has a place in the West Semitic syllabary, as H.I (<i>h.iwatu</i>, life). It does not appear in these inscriptions, though it could perhaps have been used as logogram in her name.</span><br />
<span class="im"><br /></span>
Hence, I do not see this document as naming the children, but think it might relate to the boat in the upper half: solar barque, ship of the dead? The idea that a justified dead person could travel with the Sun in his ship?.<br />
<br />
<div>
Columns Ra - Rc (vertical downwards)</div>
<div>
[Ra] <b>HU</b> (hudmu footstool) <b>SHI</b> (shimshu sun) <b>LA</b> (laylu night) <b>KU</b> (X) <b>TU</b> (turushu wine) <b>SU </b>(sukkatu booth) </div>
<div>
[Rb] <b>`A</b> (`aynu eye) <b>TI</b> (tibbuttu harp) <b>GA</b>? (gamlu boomerang) <b>DI</b> (bolt) <b>WU</b> (Egyp. hieroglyph) </div>
<div>
[Rc] <b>NA </b>(nah.ashu snake, or RU eagle-vulture) <b>BA</b> (baytu house) <b>ZA</b> (eyebrows or tail) <b>TA</b> (or HA?)</div>
<div>
[Rd] (L-R?) <b>NI</b> (nigh.atu tusk) <b>SA SA</b> (samku support) <b>BU</b> (bunduru reed)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>hu shi la ku</b> saved (passive-causative, root<i> sh-l-k</i> 2, Job 29.17)<br />
<b>tu su `a ti</b> salvation (root Y/W Sh/S `)<br />
<div>
<b>gadi </b> good-fortune (or Gad, prosperity-deity)</div>
<div>
<b>wu</b> and? </div>
<div>
<b>na ba za ta</b> document (cp. shi sa ni ba za ti on Gubla Spatula E; Akkadian nibzu)</div>
<div>
<b>ni sa sa bu </b> stand (Hbr ns.s.b, nip`al of NS.B) </div>
<div>
The seated god resurrects the suppliant?</div>
<div>
Perhaps this is a seal or stamp for making copies of an "indulgence" (Ablass) certificate.</div>
<div>
It has apparent connections with my reading of the cylinders from Tuba<br />
<a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/03/oldest-west-semitic-inscriptions-these.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/03/oldest-west-semitic-inscriptions-these.html</a> </div><p>
<b>NUSHI`U</b> "saved"<br />
<b>HLL</b> "Celebrate" <br />
<b>NIKAWANA</b> "he is established"<br />
This reminds me of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, with the deceased
passing through the hall of judgement and emerging "justified of voice"
(his claim to be innocent has been accepted by the divine judges).<br />
</p><p>Here is the interpretation of Michael Mäder (University of Bern); he is forceful in his presentation, but he does not have a signary for the script (which he considers to be undeciphered, and after rejecting my solution he is determined to crack its code, following possible clues on this cylinder seal):<br />
</p><div>
"- As on the Byblos seal, also on the Familenstele Berlin, 14145, there
are three inscriptions which depict the names Meketaton, Meritaton and
Ankhesen-pa-Amun.</div>
<span face=""calibri" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>
<br />
<div>
- They are positioned at the exact same places respectively.</div>
<span face=""calibri" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>
<br />
<div>
- The names without doubt read in Egyptian: Meritaton on the legs of
father, Meketaton on legs of mother, Ankhesen-pa-Amun on shoulder of
mother. (This is important, because when the Reader reads your blog he
thinks this would be just a theory h-l-k...)</div>
<span face=""calibri" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>
<br />
<div>
- They have the same relative extension, i.e. Meketaton and Meritaton short, Ankhesen-pa-Amun longer.</div>
<span face=""calibri" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>
<br />
<div>
- The two shorter ones begin with the same syllable (me) and end with the same (ATON [Egyptogram])</div>
<span face=""calibri" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>
<br />
<div>
- The longer one is the only one which ends on a different syllable, a fact which would fit to the (later) different ending of Ankhesen-pa-Amun
(AMUN? not Aton? BEC)</div>
<span face=""calibri" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , serif , "emojifont"" style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>
<br />
<div>
- In the longest of the names, Ankhesen-pa-Amun, has the expected
syllable pa in its 4th position.</div>
<div>
- The 4th sign in the Byblos version has
the form of a cross or "bird with outspread wings". This suits the fact
that pa in Egyptian syllabic writing has the form
of a cross (originating from a bird with outspread wings)</div>
<br />
<div>
- Based on these considerations Michael Mäder (University of Bern,
personal information) suggests the reading of the two respective Byblos
signs as me and pa: me is the sign in the shape of a "2", and pa is the
sign in the shape of a cross.</div>
<div>
- The fact that one of the "2"-shaped signs is mirrored fits to the
Egyptian names which also are mirrored, see Krauss 1991:11. (It was a
habit of Egyptian scribes to place the signs in the same direction as
the faces of the persons they describe are heading.)"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Krauss 1991 =</div>
<div>
<div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Krauss, Rolf (1991):</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> Die amarnazeitliche Familienstele Berlin
14145 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Massordnung und Komposition. Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 33, 7-36.</span></div>
</div>
</div><p>
<br />
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIYfFEUuUlKXFA1JFWHxdyDaXc_S-TbfAF4UdI-ipJc3klasm9VxrxqmhFCaXA6IfRSHHZMkNWlVsUVBl38caMCbVFcuj3YSHcZ5ywCjLNrJEJsIBfjiZdXKi4t81rOmGVfyvjrKC9OSDcLIkRKuJ7FsW4E-b0ccWSCOI8pM-QadkVxcgLDO7GA/s640/PICT0138.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="640" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIYfFEUuUlKXFA1JFWHxdyDaXc_S-TbfAF4UdI-ipJc3klasm9VxrxqmhFCaXA6IfRSHHZMkNWlVsUVBl38caMCbVFcuj3YSHcZ5ywCjLNrJEJsIBfjiZdXKi4t81rOmGVfyvjrKC9OSDcLIkRKuJ7FsW4E-b0ccWSCOI8pM-QadkVxcgLDO7GA/s320/PICT0138.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOj0cb-4bCv_uJFVgvkqS9xg6CGCKtZz3Mc5D-W_EHD1PlwP83BZP2pG75GKAkh-mhgrfrrIj2fGtW2WHHmjK_3ImR8oPERIw7-9qJji7fCQBiVd10fmBjgz6G0eNOl168fbhqfGlG_D5Hc_6_l_bLy7ih1FVnayPAMp2A3RMHPE4SR4ciSPjMAg/s2048/PICT4660.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOj0cb-4bCv_uJFVgvkqS9xg6CGCKtZz3Mc5D-W_EHD1PlwP83BZP2pG75GKAkh-mhgrfrrIj2fGtW2WHHmjK_3ImR8oPERIw7-9qJji7fCQBiVd10fmBjgz6G0eNOl168fbhqfGlG_D5Hc_6_l_bLy7ih1FVnayPAMp2A3RMHPE4SR4ciSPjMAg/s320/PICT4660.JPEG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBKQxK5AzHOaz2FlY4p3P5BLBad4hJ_r0Z3603j-fmk4KTKUV_MHfl9nX8kWXpRfp-h8RyTVGPUjo3ZZuvsHB0XbietvrNxLuvm9WuwR54hNK4BLpB1J_EbrhdoGKMr26DCgnmVofexrbyAUY-rO8EfJa8sgGA4h94_6x7b4Sg6eHEtWLgYdLWBQ/s640/IMG_8095.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="481" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBKQxK5AzHOaz2FlY4p3P5BLBad4hJ_r0Z3603j-fmk4KTKUV_MHfl9nX8kWXpRfp-h8RyTVGPUjo3ZZuvsHB0XbietvrNxLuvm9WuwR54hNK4BLpB1J_EbrhdoGKMr26DCgnmVofexrbyAUY-rO8EfJa8sgGA4h94_6x7b4Sg6eHEtWLgYdLWBQ/s320/IMG_8095.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><p></p><p>Photographs by <b>Jane Schwarting</b> of Carthage, NC, from her vast collection of artefacts discovered on her own piece of land.<br /></p><p>For comparison, here are three images from North Carolina, Cape Fear River region, Carthage (Phoenician QRTH.DShT, "new city: !!). Each of them apparently depicts a seated male adult (presumably a deity) holding a child (as on the <i>nbzt </i>cylinder seal, above). The red one (PICT0138) has lost some of its details, but the lower right area has some writing: <b>| Y Sh ` | </b>(arm with thumb and fingers, breast, eye); the two strokes show the beginning and end of the text, presumably, but not which is which; it is a single word, from the same root YSh` (meaning unclear, but basically "be free", I suggest) as in the inscriptions on the two proto-syllabic documents examined above. The same sequence of letters, running from left to right, is observable on the left side of the blue object (PICT4660), viewed on a printout on paper, with the light behind it! The third artefact (IMG8095) bears the same image of two seated persons, and also two standing figures, with the YSh` text on the far right, running downwards; this could perhaps function as a stamp-seal, or as a personal memento.<br /> The YSh` in each case is proto-alphabetic, not proto-syllabic, and the script is probably the short neo-consonantary, not the long proto-consonantary; so no vowels are represented, only consonants. </p><p> <b> YSh` </b>could mean "he saves" (Hip'il, the god being the subject of the verb), or "he (the child) is saved" (passive voice, but necessarily Hop`al, or Nip`al, as on the Tuba cylinders); or simply "salvation" (masculine noun).</p><p> Another mysterious cylinder seal is begging to be brought into this discussion: it was published by A. Goetze in 1953 (<i>BASOR </i>129: 8-11), and has received considerable attention since then, but nobody (including myself in 1991) has succeeded in cracking the code of its seven-letter proto-alphabetic inscription. It is variously known as the Grossman or Saint Louis or Goetze Seal, since it came into the possession of Edwin Grossman and his wife, residents of Saint Louis, MO. In the light of the documents we are examining here, it would not be unreasonable to suppose that this seal was also found in America; but it was purchased from an antiquities dealer in London, UK, and is now preserved in the Harvard Semitic Museum.<br /> The photograph I use is in Benjamin Sass, <i>The Genesis of the Alphabet</i> (1988), fig. 252; and a sketch (a trustworthy tracing from a good photograph of an impression made by the seal) is available in Gordon Hamilton, <i>The Origins of the West Semitic Alphabet</i> (2006), 397, fig. A.66. Sass is skeptical of anything that he is unable to read, and so he dismisses it as a forgery with a pseudo-inscription; but Hamilton reports that the price of the object was 5 English pounds, and a forger would have expected more than that for all his nefarious labour, and so we gladly accept its authenticity. However, our attempts at reading its text have all been wrong.<br /> Now, in 2023, with my long acquaintanceship with early West Semitic writing, and my theory of the <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/04/another-lakish-inscription.html">Quadrinity</a> enabling me to distinguish the four types (Protosyllabary, Protoconsonantary, Neoconsonantary, Neosyllabary), I can see that the script on this seal is the protoconsonantary, since it has Th (\/\/ <i>thad</i> breast) and Sh (O_o <i>shimsh </i>sun), as in the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">Wadi el-Hol</a> protoconsonantal text. It has bars to indicate how the two lines run, as on the red object above:<br /> <b>| L B Th Y Sh R P | <br /> </b>L (For) B (Ba`al?) ThY (an offering) ShRP (of burning)<br /> The <b>B</b> could be a logogram, BAYT, "house", meaning "temple, house of a god, or else it is an abbreviation of the name of a god, probably Ba`al.<br /> So, we are looking at a "burned offering" (sic).<br /> With regard to the depiction on the cylinder, there are three persons standing before a seated dignitary, presumably a deity. Surprisingly, this is the same as the upper level scene on the other cylinder seal, though there is no hint of a boat on the Grossman seal, neither in the picture nor the text. A shared detail is the person immediately in front of the god has one arm up and the other arm down.<br /> The lower scene on the protosyllabic seal is certainly reminiscent of Akhnaton and Nefertiti at home with their daughters, and the Aton sun-disc with its characteristic rays reinforces this interpretation; but rather than a picture of domestic bliss, this may be a sinister portrayal of a god (Baal) and a goddess (Baalat) clutching children that have been offered as a sacrifice by their pious parents, who are present in most of the images shown here (and there are more).<br /> We know that this sort of human sacrifice was typical of West Semitic religion notably in Carthage, Tunisia (offered to the goddess TNT), and apparently also in Carthage, NC.<br /> <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-84720647923964207372019-05-30T17:07:00.002-07:002023-06-27T01:40:42.880-07:00JERUSALEM JAR INSCRIPTION (2)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_em5plUQrKrc_DSvEErcS9nGoK7r6xJ9zXTnGww1sc_x92w0qkt-p0byoroHOu73IEkkSRaEl-x3FWEaUhIldPoUlLX7FGX-q-C91V8uoH1bdhyfTBtJDKWil5gtmiwFVcEsjA/s1600/Jerusalem+jar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_em5plUQrKrc_DSvEErcS9nGoK7r6xJ9zXTnGww1sc_x92w0qkt-p0byoroHOu73IEkkSRaEl-x3FWEaUhIldPoUlLX7FGX-q-C91V8uoH1bdhyfTBtJDKWil5gtmiwFVcEsjA/s320/Jerusalem+jar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The official photograph of the inscription is <a href="http://media.huji.ac.il/new/photos/hu130710_mazar4_hi-res.JPG">here</a>.<br />
The article announcing the discovery of the inscription (<i>IEJ</i> 63: 39-49) is <a href="http://www.foundationstone.org/resources/Ophel-inscription.pdf">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>17 May 2019</b><br />
<b>My latest suggestion </b><br />
<b> </b>Reading syllabically from right to left:<br />
... N [YA] NU H.U LU QU (U?) M ...<br />
"... sour (<i>h.ulqu</i>) wine (<i>yanu</i>) and (<i>u</i>?) water (M...)"<br />
Discussion of this possibility at the end of the essay, under this same date.</div><div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1">This connects with my own practice of drinking water with added cider vinegar (to kill germs and receive other benefits).<br />
<br />
From her excavations at the Temple Mount (more particularly the Ophel) near the southern wall, <a href="http://archaeology.huji.ac.il/depart/BIBLICAL/EILATM/eilatm.asp">Dr Eilat Mazar</a>
has brought to light two pieces of a pithos (a neckless ceramic jar)
bearing a short inscription. The artefact is or was described <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=obf_apomOrA">here</a> (audio-visually) by Eilat Mazar and Shmuel Ahituv.<br />
At one point Eilat reaches for her grandfather's book, and I was
able to take my own treasured copy of it from the shelf right next to
me, and turn the pages with her (Benjamin Mazar, <i>The Early Biblical Period</i>, 1986; King David's scribe, 126-138).<br />
As usual a priority claim is made: it is the "<b>earliest</b>" West
Semitic (or even Hebrew) inscription from Jerusalem (though there is
cautious hinting that it might be in an unknown Jebusite language).<br />
Actually, there is an older <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/10/marks-on-stone-on-temple-mount-charles.html#comments">graffito from the Temple Mount</a>
that appears to belong to the Bronze Age. One suggestion I made for it
was: YSh S.NR P, "There is a water pipe here", including the word used
by David in 2 Sam 5:8, "water shaft". But it might be from the Iron
Age, and the central three letters could be DWD (David).<br />
I was pleased to hear Shmuel Ahituv pronounce "Can<b>aa</b>nite"
(with the stress in the middle instead of the crazy English-speakers'
practice of hitting the first syllable), and glad to see him personally
pointing out with a stylus what he thought to be the direction of
writing (left to right) and giving the identity of each letter:<br />
M, Q or R, P, H.(Het), N, break, L?, N (a reversed form of the previous N).<br />
(The R and Q on the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">Qeiyafa ostracon</a> are also confusing to modern interpreters.)<br />
<i> Allegedly, this combination of letters has no meaning in known West-Semitic languages.</i><br />
We'll see about that. <br />
<a href="http://withmeagrepowers.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/a-new-ceramic-inscription-from-jerusalem/">George Athas</a>
examined the picture and gave out his customary admonition : if you
haven't seen the inscription itself, having only looked at photographs,
you haven't seen the inscription. He proposed: <i> </i><br />
<i>n lmnḥṣrm </i>(note his Sadey for the P/L, which is not probable).<br />
But the second high-resolution <a href="http://media.huji.ac.il/new/photos/hu130710_mazar4_hi-res.JPG">photograph</a> sent out by Dov Smith allows for detailed scrutiny.<br />
George Athas tried reading it from right to left, but Shmuel Ahituv
says that the writing runs from left to right, opposite to the Hebrew
Bible and Hebrew newspapers.<br />
Dextrograde (left to right) seems to have been the prevalent direction at that time.<br />
The <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/01/ancient-abagadary-abecedary-this-is.html">Izbet Sartah ostracon</a> has its abagadary and text dextrograde (sinistrodextral).<br />
The lines of the <a href="http://bonzoz.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/goliath.html">Qeiyafa ostracon</a> (the David and Goliath inscription from Sha`arayim) each start on the left side.<br />
<br />
Here is my first view of the Jerusalem inscription (before I saw the
other readings that have been issued, which are discussed below):<br />
<b>M R P H. N [N [L?]</b> <b> N</b><br />
The first sequence could be divided into three words:<br />
... <b>M RP H.NN</b><br />
"NICE PURE WATER"<br />
M logogram or <i>mu</i> or [M]M 'water'<br />
RP (root<i> rp' </i>"heal') 'pure, purified' (cp 2 Kg 2:21-22, Ezk 47:8-9, 'healed water')<br />
H.NN (root <i>h.nn</i> 'favour') 'nice, favourable'<br />
(LN could be 'for us')<br />
<br />
The characters seem to have been incised on soft clay, before the pot
was fired. If so, the purpose of the vessel must have been known in
advance.<br />
Incidentally, a Halif jar handle has on it (incised before firing) L N S. T ("for firing") (Colless, 1991, 50-51). <br />
Here Colless's cardinal rule of epigraphy must be reiterated: Only
the person who wrote an ancient inscription knew what it means.<br />
And their shorthand system made it hard for us to get their meaning:
there is usually no separation of words; there are no indications of
vowels, only consonants; and this text is (typically) damaged, so we do
not know whether the inscription is complete (there is certainly one
vital piece missing from the text we have). <br />
However, my proposed reading (NICE PURE WATER, subtext: <i>this pot is for clean water only; do not put milk or flour or flesh or fish in it</i>) is almost self-authenticating. (!)<br />
This makes a change from LMLK jars (for or belonging to the king).
Shmuel Ahituv said that the Jerusalem inscription could refer to the
owner, or else the contents.<br />
Examples of such labels on jars are found in the Bronze Age. From
Gezer there are storage vessels with early alphabetic signs on them,
engraved before baking: two of them (9 and 10) have a single M, and
another has two side by side (11-12) (Sass 1988, Fig. 248; Colless 1991,
20, 22; ); this might mean they were water pots. More on this below.<br />
There is a another early "Canaanian" inscription on a potsherd, from <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/winewhine">Beth-Shemesh</a>,
which has the word H.NN meaning gracious, but with reference to a
voice, though there is a liquid connection; the voice is lubricated with
wine (apparently YN, and not YYN, the Biblical Hebrew form).<br />
I have plenty of other suggestions in the bizarre category, for which I am famously infamous:<br />
"Myrrh/bitterness for John" (H.nn) (taking the P as L, like the one on the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">Wadi el-Hol </a>graffito,
and the Aramaic Fekheriye inscription ). On the Hol inscription from
the Egyptian desert, we know it is L, because P appears as a full mouth
on the horizontal line [ (|) ].<br />
<br />
Please note that my approach to Early Iron Age inscriptions is different
from the method of other interpreters: they are working back from the
first millennium forms of letters, while I am looking at the signs in
their evolution from their pictorial beginnings in the second millennium
BCE (see my table of signs below). Thus, P was originally (and
obviously) a human mouth, and the lower lip was gradually lost, as
perhaps we can see happening in the example here (perhaps P, possibly L,
a herdsman's crook). My account of this development, with a chart
showing all the letters, is available<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>[16th of July 2013 onwards]</b><br />
I am now in a position to respond to other suggestions that have been offered.<br />
Douglas Petrovich has collected various interpretations of the letters
(Ahituv, Rollston, Demsky, Galil, himself, myself) and has placed them
at our disposal <a href="http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2013/07/25/New-Find-Jerusalems-Oldest-Hebrew-Inscription.aspx#Article">here</a>. [PS. This has been expanded and published in permanent print in <i>PEQ</i> 147, 2, 2015; my response is recorded below.]<br />
Looking back to get our bearings, here is an extract from the
original announcement (sent by Dov Smith on 10th of July, and widely
disseminated):<br />
"The inscription is engraved on a large pithos, a neckless ceramic jar
found with six others at the Ophel excavation site....The inscription
was <b>engraved</b> near the edge of the jar <b>before it was fired</b>,
and only a fragment of it has been found, along with fragments of six
large jars of the same type. The fragments were used to stabilize the
earth fill under the second floor of the building they were discovered
in, which dates to the Early Iron IIA period (10th century BCE). An
analysis of the jars’ clay composition indicates that they are all of a
similar make, and probably originate in the central hill country near
Jerusalem."<br />
If the inscription was incised into the clay before baking, then the text must have
the same age as the pot itself. <br />
And we may assume that the object must be older than the building under which it was discovered?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_em5plUQrKrc_DSvEErcS9nGoK7r6xJ9zXTnGww1sc_x92w0qkt-p0byoroHOu73IEkkSRaEl-x3FWEaUhIldPoUlLX7FGX-q-C91V8uoH1bdhyfTBtJDKWil5gtmiwFVcEsjA/s1600/Jerusalem+jar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_em5plUQrKrc_DSvEErcS9nGoK7r6xJ9zXTnGww1sc_x92w0qkt-p0byoroHOu73IEkkSRaEl-x3FWEaUhIldPoUlLX7FGX-q-C91V8uoH1bdhyfTBtJDKWil5gtmiwFVcEsjA/s320/Jerusalem+jar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Here is my response to <a href="http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?p=561">Christopher Rollston</a>, who also attempted to read it on the 11th of July, and posted it on his site as <i>The Decipherment of the New ‘Incised Jerusalem Pithos’</i>.<br />
M Q L H. N [R [Sh<br />
For the five complete letters, I think his reading is possible. <br />
QLH. is understood as "pot", and NR as the name of its owner.<br />
If this pot is a pithos (a large storage jar, and note that in
its Greek setting a pithos was usually for wine), what would be the Classical Hebrew
word(s) for such an object?<br />
In any case, if this is not a cooking pot, then Christopher Rollston's
QLH. should not work, as the meanings it has in its Hebrew history are
"cauldron, kettle, pot for cooking".<br />
Also, whether in its original Egyptian setting, or in Coptic, or
Ugaritic, or Hebrew, it has a final -t, and it is difficult to spot a
Taw near the Het, except by deconstructing the Het and making its bottom
right corner a cross (+), thus constituting a unique ligature (not
impossible, I suppose).<br />
Incidentally, that is a strange Het, with <b>two horns</b> and<b> two legs</b>, and <b>only two crossbars</b>
(as I argue, it started as a H.asir, a mansion with a courtyard), and
we need to resort to the 9th-C. Moabite stone of King Mesha` to find a
peculiar counterpart with the three characteristics we encounter here;
but Ahituv shows two other similar examples (Batash and Eshtemoa`) on
his comparative table (viewable <a href="http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2013/07/25/New-Find-Jerusalems-Oldest-Hebrew-Inscription.aspx#Article">here</a>).<br />
I tentatively preferred R to Q, and P to L, producing:<br />
... M R P H. N [N] [ ] N ...<br />
"Nice (<i>h.nn</i>) pure (<i>rp</i>) water (M logogram, or mu, or [M]M) ...."<br />
Contra Chris Rollston's M Q L H. N [R [Sh<br />
He goes to the Fekheriye Aramaic inscription for his Lamed, which is
quite abnormal for its time; elsewhere, so as to distinguish them, P is
upright, while
the hook of the original crook of Lamed is at the bottom. That is the
situation on the Qeiyafa ostracon, though there we find more than one
form for P and for L. <br />
Rollston argues that there is indeed a Resh that can be distinguished from
his Q, but it is a head with a large cleft in its top (a bit wider
than on his drawing), and an unusually long neck. Actually, with these
features it should be Waw, if only one letter is constructed from the
remnants.<br />
In general, Q (a cord wound on a stick) is round at the top, whereas
R (a human head) is angular; but the stem of Q sometimes moves into the
circle.<br />
However, supposing it is W, not R, and the last letter is N, not Sh,
and with a Yod between them, we have WYN "wine"(attested as WN on the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">Wadi el-Hol</a> inscription of the Middle Bronze Age; but in the Iron Age the West Semitic form was YYN (<i>yayin</i>), or YN (<i>yayn</i>) as on the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/winewhine">Beth-Shemesh</a> ostracon. <br />
<a href="http://withmeagrepowers.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/gershon-galils-perspective-on-the-ceramic-inscription-from-jerusalem/">Gershon Galil</a> has a view of it which chimes in with his interpretation of the <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-01/uoh-mah010710.php">Qeiyafa ostracon</a>
(which he interpreted as a set of instructions for social compassion,
regarding oppression of widows, orphans, aliens, slaves, and poor
people). Reading from right to left:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
[<i>nt</i>]<i>n </i>[<i>tt</i>]<i>n ḥlqm</i> Give them their share</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The reference would be to "poor brothers".</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But he issued <a href="http://zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/gershon-galils-alternative-reading-of-the-jerusalem-inscrption/">another</a> conjecture (also recorded with more detail <a href="http://withmeagrepowers.wordpress.com/tag/gershon-galil/">here</a>), again from right to left:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
[…], mem, qop, lamed, ḥet, nun, [yo]d, [yo]d nun </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
... N YYN H.LQ M … spoiled <b>wine</b> from…<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Douglas Petrovich has taken up this idea <a href="http://creation.com/ophel">here</a>,
together with analogies from Egyptian practice in labeling jars of
wine, adduced by Gershon Galil, and with speculation about additional
words at either end. The text would have stipulated a regnal year of a
king, and declared that this "<b>smooth wine</b>" (<i>yyn h.lq</i>) was "<b>from</b>" (<i>m</i>) a particular place.</div>
</div>
</div>
A difficulty with YYN (<i>yayin</i>) is (as noted above) that it has an additional Y, whereas Ugaritic texts and the Beth-Shemesh ostracon (where we see <i>bt yn </i>for <i>byt yyn</i>, "wine house") have simply YN, and so the form <i>yyn</i>
suggests written Hebrew that is later than we would expect in the 10th
Century BCE. However, I have proposed to read BYT in two fragmentary LBA
inscriptions from Lakish (Colless 1991, 40-41). It is a matter of
diphthong contraction (or whatever) rather than use of matres lectionis ;
the second Y is pronounced; it is not there to indicate <i>î</i>.<br />
The two hypothetical Yods are very large on Gershon Galil's drawing
(perhaps on account of the stray line poking out from the gap and
reaching lower than any of the other letters, which might belong to
another letter or could be a mere scratch). The letter Yod began as a
hand with its forearm (<i>yad</i>), and in the Iron Age it looks like a reversed <i>F</i>; the YYN conjecture has them both as an inverted form of this; but the Qeiyafa ostracon has both types, as Galil would know.<br />
(Finally [January 2014], Gershon Galil has put his conclusions into print:<br />
‘<i>yyn ḫlq</i>’ The Oldest Hebrew Inscription from Jerusalem, <i>Strata </i>31 (2013) 11-26.<br />
This seductive solution is discussed below, 25th of January 2014.)<br />
Another immediate attempt to reconstruct and transcribe the
inscription was made by Reinhard Lehmann and Anna Elise Zernecke in <a href="http://www.hebraistik.uni-mainz.de/Dateien/Lehmann_und_Zernecke_Ophel_KUSATU_15.pdf">KUSATU</a>. The missing letters in the gap are possibly M and Sadey, hence:<br />
<b>M Q P H. N M S. N </b> (or N S. M N H. P Q M) <br />
The
sequence S.N looks promising, as the name Siyyon (Zion) preceded by
mi(n) "from"; so this would be the source of the contents of the pot? <br />
Without the missing piece, the right-hand end of the text is a mystery. Can it be found, please? <br />
After our experience with the Tel Dan inscription, are we certain
the join has been made correctly? It looks like a good connection to me.<br />
But there is no indication of word-separation, and so there are too
many variables (including the gaps) for us to be reading this text
completely, or to be dating it to its precise decade.<br />
We cannot tell (unless the missing pieces turn up) whether there
were other letters preceding and following the part that we have. <br />
Thus <a href="http://www.foundationstone.org/mazar/">Aaron Demsky</a> supposes a Het on the left, and produces the word <i>h.mr </i>"fermenting <b>wine</b>"("for Hanan").<br />
But I think that the proverbial COOL CLEAR WATER is a good candidate for the contents of the
vessel, and that this was stated on it when it was first made; it was not for
milk or meat or fish.<br />
It needs to be added (as already intimated above) that I got this
idea from a set of Bronze Age storage jars from Gezer, which were
likewise inscribed before being baked (Colless 1991, 22, depictions; 31,
discussion). Some have M (a vertical wavy water sign), others have MM;
presumably, in both cases "water" is meant.<br />
Other inscriptions in this collection, all single letters, may be abbreviations of the commodities they contained: <br />
Y (<i>yn</i> wine) H. (<i>h.mr</i> fermenting wine) T (<i>trsh</i> new wine) Sh (<i>shkr </i>beer or <i>shmn </i>oil) <u>H</u> (<i><u>h</u>lb </i>milk) S (<i>smk</i> fish).<br />
There are some other Bronze-Age vessels (of the pithos category)
found in a cemetery near Tel Aviv (Colless 1991, 24, depictions; 51-52,
discussion). One pithos has a vertical wavy line between a pair of
strokes, possibly M, indicating that it was a water jar. Another has a
long horizontal wavy line at the top, with a symbol below it: a cross
inside a circle. This is an old form of Tet and Theta, and I presume it
is a development of the Egyptian <i>nfr</i> sign (+o) which is attested
in proto-alphabetic texts; it was used acrophonically for T. and
logographically for T.ABU ("good and beautiful"); hence the Mem and Tet
would say "good water".<br />
<br />
However, the contents of this rediscovered fragmentary Jerusalem jar are still to be ascertained.<br />
Nevertheless, there is another solution (bubbling up from a teeming
source in my seething brain): if we accept the Sadey proposed by Lehmann
and Zernecke, there are other possibilities besides "from Sion".<br />
M S. N [R] "from the spout"<br />
As I said above, an older <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/10/marks-on-stone-on-temple-mount-charles.html#comments">inscription</a> from that area of Jerusalem may have mentioned the "water-pipe" (<i>s.nr</i>),
which features in the capture of Jerusalem by David (2 Sam 5:8); on
this interpretation, water would be collected there in or for this pot. <br />
Or, invoking the root S.NN, denoting coldness (with MS.N as a
participle, or S.N or S.NN as an adjective or noun, and supposing H. N M
S. N or H. N N S. N) we have a very seductive combination of
hypothetical words:<br />
M RP H.N[N] [S.]N[N] <br />
<b>NICE </b>(<i>h.nn</i>) <b>COOL</b> (<i>s.nn</i>) <b>CLEAR</b> (<i>rp</i>) <b>WATER</b> (<i>M</i>) <br />
<br />
In support of this reading, I could make the following case.<br />
There are many analogies for pots with the letter M for water marked
on them (but there are examples of inscribed storage jars with
indications of their contents, besides water).<br />
The direction of writing is not certain, but the general consensus
is that it is dextrograde, though Galil and Petrovich are convinced it
is sinistrograde, and they produce a tempting reconstruction of the
text. For syllabic writing in the Bronze Age and consonantal writing in
the Iron Age, the orientation style in Byblos (and elsewhere in the
north of Canaan) was right to left (sinistrograde). On the other hand,
in the south (including Sinai and Egypt) it is hard to see a consistent
direction, but the few substantial documents we have from southern
Israel in the early Iron Age, namely the Qubur el-Walaydah bowl, the
Izbet Sartah ostracon, and the Qeiyafa ostracon, run their lines of
writing from left to right (dextrograde), but the Beth Shemesh ostracon
has five columns (right to left with the last one running back
horizontally and to the right. Then the Gezer calendar appears, and it
is conforming to the Phoenician style, not only in line orientation but
in the forms of the letters, and this becomes standardized in Israel.<br />
This adoption of the Phoenician form of the alphabetic script could
have arisen from the diplomatic and commercial relations David had with
Phoenicia (2 Samuel 5:11-12), and likewise Solomon (1 Kings 5), which
did not happen in the time of King Saul; that is my working hypothesis,
and I hope it works.<br />
The question is: on which side of the dividing wall is the Jerusalem
pithos inscription standing? We would like to know whether it is an
Israelite inscription like the two five-line ostraca (Izbet Sartah,
Qeiyafa); but even if it is Canaanian or Jebusian, we would still like
to establish its position on the spectrum, to decide whether it is
before King David's capturing of Jerusalem or after; more particularly,
whether it was written before the official changeover to the standard
Phoenician alphabet for writing Hebrew, the language of Israel. We have a
set of clues to assist us.<br />
Here are some of the differences between the characters on the three
ostraca versus the calendar (as a representative of the newly adopted
Phoenician style, observable to some extent on the table appended
below):<br />
<b>`ayin</b> is everywhere a circle in the Iron Age, though it had a
more natural eye-shape in the Bronze Age; it has a distinguishing dot in
its circle on the three ostraca, but this point is lacking in the
calendar, as in the Phoenician inscriptions;<br />
<b>'alep</b> will always have the original ox-head resting on its
side with the snout pointing to the left (Qeiyafa has this, but pointing
to the right, and also the original ox-head, and even the A that will
turn up later as Alpha); the snout of the ox also indicates the
direction of the writing, as does the triangular human head of the Rosh,
and the two and three prongs of the Yod and He respectively;<br />
<b>Shin</b> now consistently has the shape W or VV rather than 3 (Qeiyafa has both in the second line);<br />
<b> Lamed</b> will not have the crook at the top (Beth Shemesh, Izbet Sartah, though not Qeiyafa) but will constantly be <i>L </i>or<i> l</i>;<br />
<b>Pe </b> is a mouth that has lost part of one of its lips; it is
consistently curved or angled at the top, and this should settle the
question whether the Ophel letter is L or P; the early southern examples
of L, whether the crook is at the top or at the bottom of the stem,
generally have the round part curling right in (Walaydah, Beth Shemesh,
Izbet Sartah, and Qeiyafa in most cases); the numerous instances of the
Aramaic L in the long Fekheriye text also curl inwards, and do not
really support reading the Ophel letter as L rather than P; but P occurs
so rarely that there are few instances for comparison, and it has to be
said that no known P bends round as much as this character; still, the
next two letters, certainly identifiable as H. (Het) and N (Nun), are
not conventional, as noted above;<br />
<b>Qop </b>was originally <i>qaw</i>, a cord wound around a stick,
with the stick protruding at the top; in the Iron Age it was reduced to a
circle atop a stem, and on the Gezer text the stem has penetrated right
into the circle, which is a Phoenician feature;<br />
<b>Rosh</b> is indubitably a human head, and it is more triangular
than circular (Q); but with only one of them present, R and Q are hard
to separate in this case;<br />
<b> Samek</b> has a different letter (and here I am pointing out a significant detail that has been overlooked in the past): instead of the <b>fish</b> for S (as in the Sinai inscriptions, Beth Shemesh, and Izbet Sartah) the <b>spinal column </b>(Egyptian
djed) becomes the standard Samek (the Qeiyafa ostracon apparently does
not have this Samek, but I think the fish is in line 4);<br />
<b>Mem</b> will always be vertical (falling water) not horizontal (level water).<br />
The M in the Ophel text is neither vertical nor horizontal, but is
leaning to the right, as also the presumed R (the head is facing
rightwards, and yet all the heads in other inscriptions, except the one
on the Beth Shemesh ostracon, are looking to the left). The first snake
(actually a set of water-waves) is apparently looking where the writing
is heading, even though this position is anomalously unique for the Iron
Age. But the human head and the snake are perchance pointing in the
right direction.<br />
Lacking 'alep, `ayin, shin, and especially samek, and with the Q/R
and L/P confusion, as also the uncertainty over its traveling direction,
this inscription is well and truly concealing its identity from us.<br />
For assistance in the inquest, we could call as witness the Kefar Veradim bowl (<a href="http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=kx9Uke_IfloC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=Kefar+Veradim+bowl&source=bl&ots=6orR5OlMJs&sig=KTek9qjjgFLHnuTiGeiH7JJMuzE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dvsVUvSzAs-ZiAeMv4DQCg&ved=0CGkQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Kefar%20Veradim%20bowl&f=false">Rollston</a>
27-33, with drawings of its inscription, and also the Gezer calendar
and the Tel Zayit abgadary, and a discussion of their
interrelationships). The bowl comes from a burial cave in northern
Israel (between Akko and Hazor), and would date from the 10th C BCE
(Iron Age IIA-B). Its inscription runs round in a circle, so it is hard
to say whether its M is vertical or horizontal; it has the Phoenician
features: Samek as spinal column, not fish; Shin as W not 3; K with no
stem; but, to confuse the issue, its Het has no legs or horns, and
surprisingly its `ayin has a central dot.<br />
<br />
<b>16th of November 2013 </b><br />
Note that the final presumed N on the Ophel pithos inscription is a reversal of the previous one, and
this could help us date the text. As I see it, there was a change in
script in the time of David and/or Solomon, with the Hebrew version of the
alphabet now conforming to the international Phoenician alphabet, which
was a consistent consonantary with only one form for each letter,
whereas in Israel in the era of the Judges and King Saul an inscription
could contain two or three versions of a particular letter; for
example, the Beth-Shemesh ostracon has 'ayin as a circle with and
without a dot in it, and two forms of B; similarly the Qeiyafa ostracon
has three different stances for 'A (also D, W, Y, L, T). We know that the consonantal
alphabet of the 1st millennium BCE did not indicate vowels; but it now
appears possible that Hebrew inscriptions in early Israel (Iron Age I)
used <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html">the alphabet as a syllabary</a>, with forms for ba, bi, bu, and so on.
Hence, with two versions of N (or else M), this inscription might belong to the
time before King David occupied Jerusalem. But it depends on the dating of the pithos, if that is possible.<br />
<br />
<b>25th of January 2014</b><br />
As noted above, Gershon Galil has put his latest ideas into print:<br />
‘<i>yyn ḫlq</i>’ The Oldest Hebrew Inscription from Jerusalem, <i>Strata </i>31 (2013) 11-26.<br />
The wine (<i>yyn</i>) is no longer "spoiled" (or "smooth" as Douglas
Petrovich had it) but "low-grade". A counterpart for Hebrew YYN H.LQ is
found in Ugaritic YN <u>H</u>LQ, which could mean wine that is "lost" or
"perished" or "gone sour", and not fit for the king's table, but good
enough for the workers and the soldiers. As he did with his
interpretation of the Qeiyafa Ostracon, Gershon adds a wealth of
background material, which will remain useful, even if his hypothetical
reconstructions of the inscriptions turn out to be incorrect.<br />
Let us consider his summing up (p 22).<br />
<i>"The inscription also indicates that there were scribes able to write
texts in Jerusalem as early as the second half of the 10th century BCE.
These scribes may have been Canaanites or other non-Israelites since
David and Solomon employed non-Israelites in their government, even in
very senior positions, including the office of the Chief Scribe. David’s
scribe was Shisha </i>[or Shawsha or Shewa, perhaps a Hurrian name or title, and his Hebrew name Seraiah, BEC]<i>, and his sons were appointed as Solomon’s chief scribes (Mazar 1986: 111–138) </i>[read <b>126</b>-138, BEC]<i>.
So it would not be surprising that this inscription was written in the
‘Late Canaanite script’ (as was the Qeiyafa inscription), and that it
indeed reflects the southern Hebrew dialect; but it also uses archaic
technical terms like ḫlq to define this inferior wine. </i><br />
<i>"The forms and stances of the letters in this inscription (as well as
in the Qeiyafa inscription) are not yet fixed – a phenomenon typical of
pictographic scripts. But this inscription is written from right to
left, while the Qeiyafa inscription runs from left to right. This fact
may indicate that it is the beginning of the regulation of the reading
direction."</i><br />
GG sets the pot and its inscription in "the second half of the 10th
century BCE", because this is a Type B pithos, "dated by archaeologists
not earlier than the late 10th–9th century BCE" (p 13). May we ask
whether this is high or low chronology? It is supposed to be Iron Age
IIA (starting around 1000). Can we get clarification on this? How can it
ever be claimed that this is a Jebus inscription, if the pot dates from
the time of Solomon?<br />
GG speaks of "the southern Hebrew dialect" and insists that this always has YYN for wine, not simply YN, overlooking the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/winewhine">Beth-Shemesh Ostracon</a>, which apparently has BT YN for "tavern (wine house)" (Colless 1991, 45-49).<br />
<i>"The similarity between this [Qeiyafa] inscription and the new Ophel
inscription is already well attested. Therefore, the following
discussion will focus on the letter yod." </i>(p 16)<br />
What similarity is meant? The two Yods on his drawing are
hypothetical; the Nun, Het, and Lamed have no counterparts on his
drawing of the Qeiyafa text (<i>UF</i> 41, p 196); and Mem is always a
zigzag. No matching forms are observable on Phoenician inscriptions,
either; nor on Hebrew inscriptions in Phoenician style, such as the
Gezer Calendar and the Tel Zayit Stone. Perhaps this is the work of a
scribe who had his own personal version of the alphabet, or else we are
looking at forms that have not cropped up in extant inscriptions, but
each has its place in a larger scheme, such as a <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html">syllabary</a> with 66 signs, not merely the 22 letters we know from the Phoenician consonantal alphabet.<br />
GG says that the forms and stances of the letters "are not yet
fixed", and he offers an analogy with "pictographic scripts"; true
enough, but we are a long way from that stage of the alphabet (see the
table below). As I have just suggested above, these variations in form
and stance may not be arbitrary but significant: the alphabet was
functioning as a syllabary in that period.<br />
I have already made detailed comparisons of the characters in the
inscriptions from Iron Age I and IIA, and I have a tentative table in my
work-in-progress sheets of paper. I would like to apply these syllabic
values to the signs on this Jerusalem jar, as reconstructed by Gershon
Galil. I do this in the spirit of Rabbinic discourse, where one scholar
will give support to the arguments of his cobber (<i>h.br</i>), even
though he himself is following a different line of reasoning, and, of
course, I have argued here (but only hypothetically and tentatively, and
without conviction) for a water-jar interpretation, rather than a
wine-vessel approach.<br />
Reading from the right (but setting aside the M or N): YA YA NU H.U LU QU.<br />
The two Yods (as plausibly reconstructed) are not really different, and
can indeed be compared with one of the three Qeiyafa forms (the Yod at
the end of line 2, as GG says) the one which I propose as YA. But if the
word is YAYIN, then we would expect the second Yod to be different.
However, in syllabic writing when confronted by a word like YAYN it is
customary to give the vowelless syllable the same vowel as a
neighbouring syllable, and the same will occur in the accompanying word
H.ULQU. The -u vowel on the end of each word signifies the nominative
case (or it is a "dead vowel", if case endings had ceased to be used by
then).<br />
The presumed LU-sign is an inversion of the standard Phoenician L.
The QU with a sloping stem is actually found near the end of Qeiyafa
line 5, but GG has chosen to identify it as R there, and he wants the R
(with an upright stem) in line 4 to be Q. The forms of the two Mems do
not match perfectly with the standard models<br />
Accordingly, the whole line could read: <i>-ma yaynu h.ulqu mi-</i><br />
And it tells us ("formulaicly") that this jar was made in a particular
regnal year of a particular king to contain vinegary wine from a
specified place.<br />
Regarding the direction of the writing, GG suggests "<i>it is the beginning of the regulation of the reading direction"</i>,
and so he apparently recognizes that the turnabout was the result of a
decree. Nevertheless, the writing system in this inscription is still
the old style, which I am inclined to call the Neo-syllabary (distinct
from the original West Semitic syllabary, particularly connected with
Byblos). <br />
My watered down version does not work so well, if RP is actually LQ.<br />
MI QU LU H.U NU . . NI<br />
And forcing the root H.NN (be gracious) to apply to water is not
natural or normal or nice (but "nice" is what I want it to say).<br />
<br />
<b>12th of July 2014</b>. It has occurred to me that if Gershon Galil's
proposed restoration of two yods is right, then we have another
indication that this is before "standardization" (and thus
neo-syllabic): that particular stance is not found in the international
consonantary, but it appears on the Qeiyafa ostracon, and that is where
Gershon got the idea. Also, given the possibility that the letter to the
right of the YY could be N rather than M, a reading YYN is possible
whichever direction the writing is running.<br />
<br />
<b>3rd of August 2014</b>. A reason for the oddness of the letters of
this inscription (when treated as syllabic) is that there are so many -u
syllabograms: QU LU H.U NU, which differ from the a-forms of the Izbet
Sartah abagadary, and the i-forms of the standard consonantary.<br />
<br />
Much ingenuity has been applied by scholars to this bunch of ancient
letters on the Jerusalem jar, but we can not attain certainty, because
of the many variables (not least of which are the many missing letters)
since the writer (who by my first
principle was the only person who knew the meaning) has not obeyed my
fundamental rule, that every early alphabetic inscription should be
accompanied by a copy of the complete alphabet in the scribe's own
handwriting, so that we can tell which letter is which (as in the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/01/ancient-abagadary-abecedary-this-is.html">Izbet Sartah </a>
text, but even there we are still left with puzzles by its author, who
actually says "I am learning the letters" [ ' LMD ' TT ]); and he should
have shown us 44 more versions of the letters, if he was actually using
the alphabet as a syllabary with 66 characters.<br />
However, this is what we have so far: an incomplete collection of
scattered bones from which to construct a dinosaur. But, as I now see
it, these are the clues to work with: the Izbet Sartah alphabet
(abagadary) represents that scribe's set of -a syllable-signs; the
Phoenician consonantal alphabet is using the -i signs to represent all
the vowels (or vice versa); the remaining signs (including four on this
Jerusalem jar) are the -u syllabograms. Those are the new rules for West
Semitic epigraphy with regard to Iron Age I inscriptions. I have said
more about this on the <a href="http://asorblog.org/?p=6692">ASOR site</a>, now being updated <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>15th of July 2015 </b>As noted above (post-scriptually) Douglas Petrovich has published his study of the inscription: <i>Palestine Exploration Quarterly</i> 147, 2 (2015) 130-145.<br />
He is substantially supporting Gershon Galil's reconstruction and
interpretation of the text (but "inferior wine" becomes "pseudo-wine",
which might be going too far in downgrading the liquor):<br />
<b> (L < R)</b> ...N YYN H.LQ M...<br />
"[In the firs]t [(regnal) year]: pseudo-[wi]ne from [the garden of ??]"<br />
This is set out on one of his clever icons (Fig. 4) with transcriptions in Hebrew characters.<br />
For <i>bashana</i> ("in the year") he rightly omits the final -<i>h </i>of the Massoretes as anachronistic, but his inclusion of <i>ha- </i>(definite article, in <i>ha-ri'shona,</i> 'the first') is also premature for this period of the Hebrew language (it is not yet attested at that time).<br />
He assumes the hypothetical "first year" would apply to Solomon's reign.<br />
For a comparative table of signs he reproduces in Fig.2 the chart of Shmuel Ahituv from <i>IEJ. </i>This
is not entirely helpful; as there are only five complete letters, and
two or three incomplete signs, the six consonants offered are
insufficient to distinguish R/Q/ and P/L, and to illustrate the two
reconstructed Yods. It is gratifying to see my own table of the
evolution of the alphabet presented there as Fig. 5, but it lacks the
details needed for this exercise.<br />
He has opted for two forms of Nun, and this suggests to me that the text is syllabic.<br />
He confuses language and script on p. 139, with regard to the terms
Phoenician and late-Canaanite (as applied to types of script, not
language). He insists that the language is Hebrew, as also on the
Qeiyafa ostracon (with its SH-P-T., `BD, and MLK, but Rollston has
questioned this). However, it seems that all these new inscriptions are
in the language of Canaan, which even Philistines (and presumably
Jebusites) were using to communicate. And on p. 142 he emphasizes his
point that the newly-discovered inscriptions "represent an earlier phase
of the Hebrew language". But he includes as evidence the alphabets
(abecedaries) on the Tel Zayit stone and the Izbet Sartah ostracon,
which can not tell us anything about language or dialects. (Not all
texts written in Roman letters are Latin language.)<br />
Douglas admits (p. 141) that "several readings are possible", but
his is "the best option". If I had to make a choice, I would put it
first as the most plausible, but still hold that my own suggestions are
not impossible. This is a nice defense of an attractive hypothesis (with
a good discussion of the dating of the pithos), but the inscription, as
we now have it, is <b>illegible</b> (incomplete letters) and <b>unreadable </b>(no correct interpretation is possible).<br />
<br />
Once again, when a cluster of scholars can not agree on the
interpretation of an ancient text, we seem to have glaring proof that
epigraphy, despite its refined academic jargon and its cautious
technical methodology, is not an exact science. This new inscription has
made fools of us all. Of course, if we had the missing pieces of the
pithos puzzle we might be able to do better, so we live in hope that
they may be found in the searching and sifting.<br />
Under the present circumstances it is absolutely impossible to read
this incomplete inscription; but it is quite possible that my reading of
it was on the wrong track (direction-wise and liquidly). No sour
grapes, and no champagne, but my personal secret is that I drink my
water with a dash of vinegar (apple not grape).<br />
<br />
<b>9th of January 2019</b><br />
Well, here I am, still alive: I have not perished (<u><i>h</i></u><i>lq</i>) in the meantime.<br />
Raz Kletter has published some notes on the Ophel pithos inscription, in <i>PEQ</i> (2018) 265-270.<br />
My first observation is that he misspells my name (as Colles, instead
of Colless) on p.269, in his reference to this cryptcracker essay; that
double S marks our family out distinctively amidst the Coles, Collis,
Colles variants; but he has it right on p.265.<br />
While I am grateful for the mention, he is able to dismiss my
contribution to the discussion, by declaring web-published readings as
'preliminary' (fair enough, mine are certainly tentative, and to be
considered as work in progress); and my suggestion ('nice, cool, clear
water') "finds no parallel in the form of Iron Age wares from Palestine
inscribed with a label 'water' ". This sounds suspiciously like an
argument from silence, and yet I gave two instances (five inscriptions
in total) from the Late Bronze Age: from Gezer (M and MM for 'water')
and Tel Aviv (M for 'water', and M T. as logograms or abbreviations for
'good' and 'water'). Recently I had occasion to read out in church the
story of the wedding at Cana in Galilee, involving water jars having
their contents turned into wine (Gospel of John, 2:7-9).<br />
[problem: singular forms of adjectives with plural noun mayim?]<br />
<br />
This script is not the Phoenician (or international) consonantal
alphabet of the Iron Age (as on the Gezer Calendar and the Zayit Stone,
and the Phoenicia column of my table, below): its letters are anomalous.<br />
First, the <b>Het</b> disqualifies it from that category; its lack of
a third cross-stroke in the middle corresponds to the Het on the
Moabite Stone, but none of the other letters has a counterpart there.<br />
Second, the <b>Nun</b> next to the Het is the wrong way round, though
the incomplete character on the far right could be the standard Nun, or
else a Mem.<br />
Third, the stance of the letter on the left of the Het is the reverse of the standard form of <b>Pe</b>, or else it is an inverted <b>Lamed</b>.<br />
Fourth, the<b> Mem</b> on the far left is almost correct, but it seems to have six strokes instead of five.<br />
Fifth, the two hypothetical <b>Yods</b> are only found on the Qeiyafa Ostracon, as one of three variant forms.<br />
<br />
Although its presumed direction of writing (sinistrograde, right to
left) fits the style of the international consonantal alphabet, its
characters are so unusual that it could well be neo-syllabic.<br />
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<b>17 May 2019</b><br />
<b>My latest suggestion </b><br />
<b> </b>Reading syllabically from right to left (sinistrograde):<br />
... N [ ] [YA] NU H.U LU QU (U?) M ...<br />
"... bad/sour (<i>h.ulqu</i>) wine (<i>yanu</i>) and (<i>u</i>?) water (M...)"<br />
This interpretation follows the line laid down by Gershon Galil and Douglas Petrovich: in their view the pot was a vessel containing inferior wine, possibly for workers on building sites in Jerusalem.<br />
Perhaps the full text contained a word for "jar" or even "pithos"; Ugaritic <i>dn</i>
(also Arabic and Aramaic) was a jar for wine (and vinegar, Yoma 28b,
Jastrow 315a). But Raz Kletter (268) says "Galil's reading does not fit
the Jerusalem pithos, since it is not a wine vessel", and Kletter
maintains that position because it has "a very large, open mouth", and
this would allow the wine to have contact with oxygen and be ruined.
This might support my first idea that it was for storing water, rather
than wine; but if this was intended to be a container for spoiled wine,
which was placed on open access for drinkers to put a ladle or cup into
it, then there can be no objection.<br />
Kletter dismisses my
water-jar solution because I cannot adduce such an inscribed vessel from
the Iron Age, although I can find apparent examples in the Late Bronze
Age (from Gezer, see above).<br />
Similarly, he points out that the term <i>h.lq </i>is
not found with reference to wine in any other inscription in
Palestine/Israel, nor in the Bible. But this could be an isolated and
welcome instance of that usage, already attested at Ugarit; and maybe
the language of Yebus (Yerushalayim) was closer to Ugaritic than to
Israelian Hebrew. At the same time he ridicules the thought that a
container of wine could be labeled as "inferior" or "bad". But that
would only apply if the commodity was for sale, not if it was being
offered gratis. This jar was perhaps made and marked as a receptacle for
such liquid, and so it would probably not have royal references on it.<br />
Precisely what was meant by <i>yn <u>h</u>lq</i> remains unclear. If the primary sense of <u><i>h</i></u><i>lq </i>is 'perish', parallel with <i>mt</i> 'dead', and the opposite of <i>t.b</i> (Cyrus Gordon, <i>Ugaritic Textbook</i>,
Glossary, 969, p. 403) then such wine (a 'perishable' food) would be
'perished', 'gone bad', or 'become rotten', no longer 'good' (sweet) and
thus 'sour' (<i>vin aigre</i>, vinegar). Biblical Hebrew <i>h.lq</i> does not offer obvious assistance, expressing ideas of smoothness or apportioning; but Petrovich leans towards associating the term <i>yyn h.lq</i> with deception (as in smooth-tongued), and proposing the improbable 'pseudo-wine' as the solution. He does mention Ah.ituv's note on <i>h.ms. </i>(vinegar) in Arad Ostracon 2 (<i>Echoes from the Past, </i>98): Roman legionaries drank <i>posca</i>,
"a mixture of vinegar and water, sometimes sweetened with honey". This
reminds me of my own daily beverage of water with apple cider vinegar
and honey. Of course, wine was customarily drunk with water. I am
pondering whether these three ingredients can be found here: water
(which I had first suggested as the contents of this vessel) with
vinegar, and perhaps also honey.<br />
The water could easily be
found in the final sequence M[..], as Hebrew <i>mayim</i>, or simply M as a
logogram, or an abbreviation. It is more difficult to make this a 'honey pot', finding a place for West Semitic <i>dbs (debash)</i> or <i>nbt.</i><br />
But if we are to read the combination "vinegar <i>and</i> water", where is the conjunctive W (or P)?<br />
(The conjunction <i>wa</i> often
seems to be lacking: for example, in the Wadi el-Hol list of
sacrificial foods for the `Anat celebration.) It has occurred to me,
that the missing WA is actually U (which would be expected here before
labial M, in Hebrew) and this could not be represented in consonantal
writing; if <i>'u</i> was written, it would mean 'or'.<br />
I still need to justify the syllabic reading [YA]NU H.ULUQU, as opposed (but not violently so!) to [YY]N H.LQ.<br />
For his YYN, Gershon Galil posits two cases of Yod in the style of a
character that appears three times on the Qeiyafa ostracon (though Yod also has two other stances in that neo-syllabic text): the arm has
the hand (two strokes) pointing downwards, and that would make a total
of four vertical lines, one of which is visible, emerging from the gap.
However, these reconstructed figures are huge in comparison with the
Qeiyafa model; that is not impossible, and its plausibility could be
tested if the missing piece of the pot turns up; but I am proposing the
alternative prototype of Yod with the hand at the top (as apparently on
the Izbet Sartah ostracon, and on the Lakish bowl sherd); the two
strokes of the hand (looking like pincers) are partly discernible above
the empty space, with the end of the arm protruding at the bottom.
However, this leaves a space before the Yod, increasing our frustration
that the missing pieces are not available for inspection. There could
have been another Yod there, as Gershon Galil suggested, indicating the
southern Hebrew form of the word <i>yayin.</i><br />
<i> </i>Regarding the syllabic reading, most of the letters are not the standard forms of the international alphabet, and by my calculation there is a preponderance of <i>-u</i> syllabograms in [YA]NU H.ULUQU.<br />
Cyrus Gordon (<i>Glossary</i> 402b) has an Akkadian form <u><i>h</i></u><i>ulqu </i>(equated with <i>la t.âbu</i>, 'not good'), and H.ULUQU is a correct syllabic transcription of that.<br />
One little defect remains to defeat us: there is a space before the incomplete YA, and it could be another YA, producing [YAYA]NU, <i>yaynu</i>, 'wine' (Judean style). To achieve [YAYI]NI, <i>yayin</i>, the text would have to be read in the opposite direction, but this would annihilate H.ULUQU.<br />
If
the first letter on the right is N, rather than M, and if it is
syllabic and not simply the standard Phoenician Nun, then it possibly
represents NI, having the reverse form of the other N, which I take to
be NU. Could it have been preceded by the syllabic sign HI? Possibilities are: HINI hin measure? hén? hinnè? "Here is" or "This is"?<br />
The
letter He appears twice on the incomplete Beth-Shemesh vertical inscription,
engraved on two shards from a vessel. The second is in a sequence HN, accepted by P. Kyle McCarter as the measure <i>hin</i>. The first H has the form of
Greco-Roman E. The second H seems to be the same, though the photographs
show a projection from the bottom of the spine; this would make it the
same as the standard Phoenician form, though reversed (its three strokes could point in the direction of the writing, to the right or to the left, along a horizontal line).<br />
Kyle McCarter's drawing shows the
projecting line as a surface defect in the clay (although it seems to be
attached to the letter in photographs) (McCarter, 188, Figure 5, and
185, n.2). He favours a meaning <i>hin</i> (measure) for the word, and
this syllabic sign would provide the HI syllable. When there are a few
letters only, it is difficult to establish whether the text is syllabic
or consonantal, and that is likewise the problem with the Ophel pot. <br />
From all the sifting of ancient debris of Jerusalem, the missing pieces
of the puzzle might turn up, but we shall probably never know what the
scribe intended. Meanwhile I am holding onto my guess that this was an
open-mouthed jar for containing water mixed with vinegar, for the
refreshment of troops of soldiers, and/or gangs of workers. If it is
syllabic it is Iron I, like the Qeiyafa ostracon; if it is simply
consonantal, but not conforming to the the standard international
(Phoenician) alphabet, then it is to be classed with the
Eshbaal jar from Khirbet Qeiyafa (Shaarayim), to be dated in late Iron I
rather than Iron II, in the time of King Saul, not King David, nor King
Solomon, and specifically in the Yebus period of Yerushalayim, before
David annexed it to his united kingdom.<br />
For clarification, let me state my present position on Khirbet Qeiyafa and its two inscriptions: the text of the ostracon is neo-syllabic, and its subject is the victory of David (not King David) over the `Anaq named Guliyut; the Eshbaal jar inscription is consonantal, but its letters are not in conformity with the international alphabet used in the Levant, of which the characters tend to be the <i>-i </i>syllabograms in the neo-syllabary. The archaeological evidence from Khirbet Qeiyafa (Shaarayim) shows that its existence as a fortress in the Iron I period was of short duration; the presence of Eshbaal, a son of King Saul, on this site indicates that this town was built by King Saul, not King David, as a bastion against the Philistines of Gath and Ekron; but it was apparently destroyed by them, together with the capital city Gibeah (Tell el-Ful), at the time of the battle of Mount Gilboa (1 Samuel 31:1-7); less probably, it might have been a casualty in the war between the house of Saul and the house of David (2 Samuel 3:1). David chose not to rebuild Shaarayim, but moved further down the road to make Yerushalayim his stronghold.<br />
<br />
My continuing struggle with the Qeiyafa inscriptions is available for inspection:<br />
<a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2</a></p><p><b>27.6.2023<br />Daniel Vainstub </b>has an interesting take on the Ophel jar: he reads the letters as Arabian, which is not impossible, and he finds a reference to incense from Saba.<br /><a href="https://www.academia.edu/99586646/Incense_from_Sheba_for_the_Jerusalem_Temple">https://www.academia.edu/99586646/Incense_from_Sheba_for_the_Jerusalem_Temple</a><br />
<br />
<br />
References:<br />
Benjamin Sass, <i>The Genesis of the Alphabet</i> (1988) <br />
Brian E. Colless, The Proto-alphabetic inscriptions of Canaan, <i>Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) </i>29 (1991) 18-66.<br />
Gershon Galil, ‘<i>yyn ḫlq</i>’ The Oldest Hebrew Inscription from Jerusalem, <i>Strata </i>31 (2013) 11-26.<br />
Douglas Petrovich, The Ophel Pithos Inscription: Its Dating, Language, Translation, and Script, <i>Palestine Exploration Quarterly</i> 147, 2 (2015) 130-145.<br />
Raz Kletter, Notes on the Jerusalem Iron IIA pithos inscription, <i>Palestine Exploration Quarterly </i>150, 4 (2018) 265-270.<br />
P. Kyle McCarter et al, An Archaic <i>Ba`l</i> Inscription from Tel Beth-Shemesh .......<br />
<br />
http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/<br />
https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/<br />
<br />
Brian Colless<br />
School of Humanities, Massey University, NZ<br />
<br />
<br />
(Click on this table of the evolution of the alphabet to view it in enlargement)<br />
<br />
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<span dir="ltr"><a class="avatar-hovercard" href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/14675156868313211762" id="av-4828984765340153645-14675156868313211762" rel="nofollow" target=""><img alt="" class="delayLoad" height="35" longdesc="//lh6.googleusercontent.com/-X1qbNQWLVTc/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAABpA/xwFaPkQ0fME/s35-c/photo.jpg" src="http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-X1qbNQWLVTc/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAABpA/xwFaPkQ0fME/s35-c/photo.jpg" title="Georgeos Diaz-Montexano" width="35" />
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said...
</dt>
<dd class="comment-body" id="Blog1_cmt-4828984765340153645">Mr. Brian Edric Colless: <br />
<br />
I hope that this could be your interest: <a href="https://georgeosdiazmontexano.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/georgeos-diaz-montexano-la-enigmatica-inscripcion-del-templo-de-salomon-el-mas-antiguo-testimonio-de-paleohebreo/" rel="nofollow">(In Spanish: La enigmática inscripción del Templo De Salomón. ¿El más antiguo testimonio de paleohebreo?)</a><br />
<br />
Kind regards,<br />
Georgeos<br />
https://www.facebook.com/georgeos.diazmontexano
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Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-78131636928812735982017-06-07T18:00:00.005-07:002023-09-08T06:22:45.589-07:00AEGEAN SYLLABIC SIGNS<br />
<br />
<style>@font-face {
font-family: "MS 明朝";
}@font-face {
font-family: "MS 明朝";
}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoFootnoteText, li.MsoFootnoteText, div.MsoFootnoteText { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }span.MsoFootnoteReference { vertical-align: super; }span.FootnoteTextChar { }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; }div.WordSection1 { }</style><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">I</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">NVENTORY OF </span><span lang="">C</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">RETAN
AND </span><span lang="">C</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">YPRIAN </span><span lang="">S</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">YLLABOGRAMS</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">P</span></b><span lang="">: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pictophonograms</i>
(“hieroglyphs”) pictorial glyphs.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">PD</span></b><span lang="">: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phaistos Disc script </i>(pictophonic,
and linear)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">A</span></b><span lang="">: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Linear A</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">syllabary</i>.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">B</span></b><span lang="">: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Linear B</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">syllabary.</i><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">AB</span></b><span lang="">: Linear A signs identified with their B
counterparts.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">CA</span></b><span lang="">: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cyprian Archaic</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">syllabary</i> (derived from Linear A).<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">CC</span></b><span lang="">: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cyprian Cuneiform</i>
(Cypro-Minoan).<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">C</span></b><span lang="">: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Linear C</i>, the Cyprian
syllabary.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">P</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">:
</span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Olivier
and Godet 1996 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Corpus</i>): 17, 19, </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">386-429.</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span lang="" style="background: yellow; font-size: 10pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Colless: </span><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/cretanscripts" target="_blank"><span lang="" style="background: yellow; font-size: 10pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/cretanscripts</span></a></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">PD</span></b><span lang="">: </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Evans 1909: 22-28, 273-293, 276 (table of
signs); Duhoux 1977; Fischer 1988; Faucounau 1999: 10 (table), 65-105 (signs). <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Colless:<a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/phaistosscript">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/phaistosscript</a></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">LA</span></b><span lang="">: </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Godart and Olivier 1976-1985 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Recueil</i>) Vol. 5, XXII –LVII.</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span lang="" style="background: yellow; font-size: 10pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Colless:<a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/phaistosscript" target="_blank">
</a><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cretansigns">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/cretansigns</a></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">LB</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">:
Ventris and Chadwick 1973 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Documents</i>):
41, 385.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">AB</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">: </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Godart and Olivier 1976-1985 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Recueil</i>) Vol. 5, XXII.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">CA</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">:</span><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Emilia Masson’s numbering is revised for
citation purposes in Olivier 2007: 412 (Nos 1-21).</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">CC</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">:
E. Masson1974: 12-15, Figures 2-4;</span><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Olivier 2007: 413-415; Ferrara 2012:
255:Table 5:10, “A tentative standardized signs repertoire”; both Olivier and
Ferrara have arbitrarily reduced the number of signs on their tables; but until
we know the sound-value of every sign and can dispense with numbering, Masson’s
full set of numbers must remain in use. </span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span lang="" style="background: yellow; font-size: 10pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Colless, tables and charts:
<a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/cyprusscripts">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/cyprusscripts</a></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">LC</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">:
O. Masson 1983: Figures 1-6.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">A </span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="">(P42, AB8, CA2, CC101, 102, C <b>A</b>) is an ax (<i>axinê</i>), with triangular or curved blades, but these were squared in
the stylization process.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>A/HA </b>(B25)
arrow?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> AI<i> </i></span></b><span lang="">(A306, B43) possibly a goat (<i>aiks</i>) or an eagle (<i>aietos</i>);
cp. <b>QI</b> and <b>ME</b>.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> AU</span></b><span lang=""> (P17 13a, AB85) a pig.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> E </span></b><span lang="">(P28, AB38, CA17, CC38, C <b>E</b>; also PD2) can be related to <i>etheira</i>, “hair” or “horse hair crest on
helmets” (Homer).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> I</span></b><span lang=""> (P31, A28a, AB28, CA21/104, CC104. C <b>I</b>) appears to be an olive branch, hence
<i>‘iketêria (elaia)</i>, a suppliant’s
olive branch, wound around with wool, and the end of the thread is shown on
some of the A28a forms; this causes confusion with the thumb of NO, and these
are both mistakenly catalogued under A28; see NO below.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> O </span></b><span lang="">(P5, AB61, CC64 84 66, C <b>O</b>) is an eye, still detectable in some
Linear A glyphs (HT Wa 1279 shows the pupil and the eyelashes); it has been
confused with the BEER sign (AB123) on TL Za 1a</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> U</span></b><span lang=""> (P95, AB10, CC19 20 79, C <b>U</b>) apparently began as <i>‘ustrix</i>, a porcupine or hedgehog, but
its features were lost, and, like KU (dog), it was wrongly seen as a bird.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>BA/PHA
</b>(AB56) a ladder with 3 or 4 rungs (not <i>klimaks</i>,
but <i>bathron,</i> a set of steps or
ladder).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> BU</span></b><span lang=""> (see <b>PHU</b>)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> DA </span></b><span lang="">(P27, P29, AB1, CA18, CC4, C <b>TA</b>) is a leafy twig (<i>thallos</i>) but reduced to a stick form
(|-).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> DE </span></b><span lang="">(P37, P94c, AB45; CC97, C <b>RO</b>) is a dwelling on legs; its
equivalent character on the Phaistos Disc (PD24) is more detailed, with a
dome-top and a protruding plate; it resembles some of the later tombs in Lykia;
perhaps <i>thêkê</i>, “grave” (or <i>demein</i>, “build”). Because Linear A <b>RO</b> (the + sign) was used for Cyprian <b>LO</b>, a new RO had to be found for the
Cyprian syllabary, and apparently DE was adopted for RO.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> DI </span></b><span lang="">(P39, AB7) seems to be a net, perhaps on a
pole in the present case, and Greek <i>diktuon,
</i>“net” comes to mind; P39 represents network and would be the original sign.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> DO </span></b><span lang="">(P50, A304, B14) looks like a spear, and <i>doru</i> has that meaning.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> DU</span></b><span lang=""> (P59, P60, AB51, CC32 46 47 106, C <b>SU</b>) can be seen as a man with a crook,
though some of its developed shapes are enigmatic; its original pictogram would
be the crook alone (P59, and P60, which has an angle rather than a curve at the
top). The staff could be a symbol of power (Greek <i>dunamis, dunasteia</i>); the man (<i>dunastês</i>,
potentate) must have been added for clarity, but this detail was obscured in
the Linear B version; it reappears in Cyprian <b>SU</b>.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>DWE</b>
(B71, P4?)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> DWO </span></b><span lang="">(AB118) is a pair of scales, symbolizing
“weight”. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> KA</span></b><span lang=""> (P47, AB77, CA9, CC25, C <b>KA</b>) appears regularly as a cross (+)
within a circle, like Tet in the Phoenician alphabet, and Theta; its source
would be P47, a cane basket with a handle, sometimes with elaborate
cross-hatching, but more often with no weaving indicated; the AB form has
omitted the handle and simplified the wickerwork; the corresponding Egyptian
hieroglyph (V31) of a wickerwork basket with a handle is viewed from the side;
it represents <i>k, </i>but the<i> </i>reason is unknown; Kaptarian KA can
readily be connected with Greek <i>kaneon</i>,
“cane basket”. The Alashian KA (CA9) started as the encircled cross but the
lower part of the circle was pruned.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> KE </span></b><span lang="">(P36, AB44, CA19, CC107 105, C <b>KE</b>) is a structure, possibly a booth or
a shrine, or a stage for actors, <i>skênê</i>
(initial <i>s</i> in a consonant cluster
would not be represented in this writing system); the disc above it may be the
sun, suggesting <i>skias</i>, a shady
covering, “pavilion”. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> KI </span></b><span lang="">(P57, AB67, CC70, C <b>KI</b>) is obviously a stringed musical instrument (though it came to
look like a drinking vessel), and thus <i>kithara</i>,
“lyre”,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> KO </span></b><span lang="">(P62, AB70, CA10, CC21, C <b>KO</b>) flat-headed nail, <i>gomphos</i>, equivalent to alphabetic Waw.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> KU </span></b><span lang="">(P18, AB81, CC110, C <b>KU</b>) looks like a bird in flight (in its AB form), but on closer
examination it must be the head of a dog in profile, with an eye and a
protruding tongue (P18); the Greek word for “dog” is <i>kuôn</i>. The Cyprian form is on its side, with the tongue pointing
upwards.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> KRA </span></b><span lang="">(P82, AB34, A308?) represents an eye with its pupil,
Greek <i>glênê</i>.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> KRO </span></b><span lang="">(P63 64, A326? 329? B35) depicts a cord wound on a stick (the origin of
Q in the alphabet, from <i>qaw</i>, a line);
the stick was eventually bent to make B35 (KRO) look like B34 (KRA), but they
have opposite forms; they are usually regarded as unidentified.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>LA</b>
(CC87, from A60 RA).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>LE </b>(CC76,
a new creation; C <b>LE</b> resembles 8).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>LI </b>(CC
9, from A53 RI).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>LO </b>(CC5,
from A2 RO).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>LU</b>
(CC 24, a new formation).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> MA </span></b><span lang="">(AB80, CC43, 49, 52, 53, C <b>MA</b>) is undoubtedly a cat (as also PD29)
and the MA might be the sound of its mewing (mao); ME, MI, and MU apparently
have a similar origin in animal vocalisation); but there are not many
cat-glyphs in the pictophonic inventory (*P97); possibly the ma-syllable was
first represented by a breast-glyph (P34a, see also PE, P34b), <i>mastos </i>or <i>malon</i> (Doric). </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang=""> </span></i><b><span lang="">ME
</span></b><span lang="">(P16, AB13, CC35, C <b>ME</b>) the head of a sheep with horns;
perhaps <i>mêlon</i> “sheep” (or sometimes
goat), or <i>mêkas</i> (<i>mêkaomai</i>,“bleat”, of sheep or goat), as MA (cat), MI (bird), MU
(cow) are apparently derived from animal sounds. The P16 collection of goats
and sheep may include <b>AI</b> and <b>QI</b>.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> MI</span></b><span lang=""> (P13b, AB73, CC91 89 90, C <b>MI</b>) is a bird with its beak open and
vocalising, evoking<i> minurisma</i>,
“warbling”; note that the P13 collection includes some animal heads, notably
pig (P13a, P17, AB85, <b>AU</b>) and some
bovines (P13c, P14).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> MO </span></b><span lang="">(P68,<b>
</b>A321?, B15, CC73, C <b>MO</b>) is
enigmatic; P68 might be a variant of TE (tree), but it could be a spine with
ribs, like the Egyptian <i>djed</i> column,
symbolizing “stability”, and this would match Greek <i>monimos</i>, “stable, steadfast”; the Cyprian forms support this view.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> MU </span></b><span lang="">(P12, AB23, CA5. CC55, 39, 42, 54, C <b>MU</b>) is a bovine head in profile, with
horn and ear, and suggests <i>mukêma</i>,
“bellowing”; the Cyprian forms seem to have moved to a frontal view; see <b>QO</b>.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> NA</span></b><span lang=""> (P78, AB6, CA4, CC8, C <b>NA</b>) represents an eye with a flow (<i>nama</i>) of tears (Sophocles: <i>dakruôn therma nama</i>); the Phaistos Disc
equivalent (PD3) has a man’s head with two tears on his cheek, and it also
appears on PH Wc 45.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> NE</span></b><span lang=""> (P52, AB24, CA20, CC2, 18, 34, 56, C <b>NE</b>) is a libation vessel with handle
and spout; possibly from <i>nektar</i>, the
drink of the gods; on KH 53 it stands beside the BEER mug with strainer. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> NI </span></b><span lang="">(P24, AB30, CA16, CC99, 100, 65, C <b>NI</b>) a fig tree, Cretan Greek <i>nikuleon</i>, “fig”. Perhaps this is an indication that the Aegean writing system originated in Crete, rather than elsewhere, and the language it was based on was a Cretan dialect of "Danaic" (Greek).<br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> NO </span></b><span lang="">(P8, A28b, (A)B52, CC17, C <b>NO</b>) is an upraised hand, showing
fingers and thumb, and this is clear enough in the Linear B forms; but Linear A
<b>NO </b> and <b>I</b>
have been catalogued together in slot 28; they may now be distinguished as AB52
and AB28 respectively; the acrophonic origin may be in <i>nomos</i>, “law”, specifically <i>kheirôn
nomos</i>, “law of force” (<i>kheir</i>,
“hand”, hence the hand-sign for NO). </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> NU</span></b><span lang=""> (P9, AB55, CA12, CC68, 103, C <b>NU</b>) is a pair of vertical lines joined
at the halfway point by a pair of horizontal bars, but also found with curved
strokes; it seems to be derived from a hand pictogram (P9) with thumb but no
fingers shown, and having two horizontal lines at the base, and so it looks
like a mitten (cp. PD8); another example (P83) is closer to the stylized forms
of AB55.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>NWA</b>
(P6, B48) two hands.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>NAU? </b>(AB36).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> PA </span></b><span lang="">(P40, AB3, CC6, C <b>PA</b>) is possibly P40, a ship with its rigging (<i>baris</i>, “an Egyptian boat”?) but it is reduced to a mast with two strokes.
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> PE </span></b><span lang="">(P34b? A305, B72, CC11, C <b>PE</b>) appears to be a fetter (cp. PD14),
Greek <i>pedê</i>; but its features are lost
in transition.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> PI </span></b><span lang="">(P20 21 22 79 90, AB39, CC51, 52, C <b>PI</b>) is a bee (Indo-European *<i>bhi</i>, Latin <i>apis</i>); also PD34. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> PO </span></b><span lang="">(P43, AB11, CC12, 14, C <b>PO</b>) is certainly an ax (cp. <b>A</b> as a double ax, and PD15);<i> pelekus </i>is a word for “ax” that may or
may not be relevant here; likewise <i>bolis</i>,
“missile”.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> PU </span></b><span lang="">(P49, AB50, CC61, 23, C <b>PU</b>) is a stringed musical instrument;
possibly <i>phormingx</i>, a seven-stringed
lyre; or <i>burtê</i>, a rare synonym for <i>lyra</i>,“lyre” (Hesukhios). The Cyprian
sign may be a development of AB29; see <b>PHU.</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> PHU/BU</span></b><span lang=""> (P30? AB29) from <i>phulia</i>, “wild olive’?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>PTE</b>
(P168? B62) <i>pteruks</i>, “wing”?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> QA </span></b><span lang="">(P44, AB16) could be a sauce boat, end
view, with the two handles protruding (also PD44?).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> QE </span></b><span lang="">(P73 74 75, AB78) a circular object, either
a ring or a circle with one or more dots, suggesting a ring, a shield, a
pancake (cp. Luwian glyph 181 PANIS), and it may have a connection with <i>kyklos</i> (kwekwlo) “circle”, with extended
meanings such as ring and shield.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> QI </span></b><span lang="">(AB21) apparently a goat; cp. <b>AI</b> and <b>ME</b>, and also PD30.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> QO </span></b><span lang="">(P11, B32, A345?) frontal view of a bovine
head (cp. <b>MU</b>, profile), from <i>bous</i> (gwou), “ox, bull. cow”.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> QU </span></b><span lang="">(not attested?).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> RA </span></b><span lang="">(P7, AB60, CA1, CC87, 88, C <b>LA</b>) a human arm, with the forearm and
hand horizontal; Greek <i>brakhiôn</i> means
“arm”, but the initial <i>b</i> might block
this as supplying acrophonic RA.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> RE </span></b><span lang="">(P23, AB27, CC33, C RE) a lily (<i>leirion</i>); neither Cyprian LE nor RE looks
like the AB sign.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> RI </span></b><span lang="">(P10, AB53, CC9, C <b>LI</b>) a human leg (cp. PD28, an animal leg).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> RO </span></b><span lang="">(P70, AB2, CA7, CC5, C <b>LO</b>) is a cross; A2 is usually +, but B2 has the centre line
elongated at both ends; P70 is the corresponding pictograph; the acrophonic
source could be <i>rhombos</i>, something
that can twirl, such as a spinning top; B68 (RO</span><span lang="">2</span><span lang="">, <i>ryo</i>) could be the same thing.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> RU</span></b><span lang=""> (P92, AB26) is a lampstand (<i>lukhnia</i>) with two branches. In the
Cyprus syllabary, <b>RU</b> (CA 11, CC 28)
has an umbrella shape (rather than an umbrella blown inside out, in the Cretan form);
Cyprian <b>LU </b>(CC24) is similar, but
apparently a new creation.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>RAI </b>(B76)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> RYA</span></b><span lang=""> (P69, P71, A314, AB76) apparently a
flowing stream, <i>rheô</i> (“flow”). </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>RYO</b>
(B68) see RO.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> SA</span></b><span lang=""> (P19, AB31, CA3, CC82, 57, 16, 48, C <b>SA</b>) is a squid, a cuttle-fish (<i>sêpia</i>).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> SE </span></b><span lang="">(P26, P3?, AB9, CA14, CC44,45, C <b>SE</b>) a plant, perhaps parsley (<i>selinon</i>),
used for a victor’s crown in games (see P3, where it is on a human head).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> SI </span></b><span lang="">(P55, AB41, CC27 58, C <b>SI</b>) a tripod vessel containing a stalk of wheat (<i>sitos</i>).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> SO </span></b><span lang="">(P46. P80, P87, A301, A324, AB12, CC67, 60,
C <b>SO</b>) has long remained
unrecognized, but the adz of the craftsman is detectable; <i>sophia</i> means skill in arts and crafts, as well as wisdom. The Cyprus
sign apparently has the tool turned on its side.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> SU </span></b><span lang="">(P35. AB5) appears to be a pig-sty (<i>supheos</i>). For Cyprian SU, see DU.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>SWA</b>?
(B82)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>SWE? </b>(AB49)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>SWI? </b>(B64)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> TA</span></b><span lang=""> (P56, AB59) is a writing tablet; Greek<i> tabella</i> and<i> tablion</i> are perhaps too late, but <i>trapeza</i> might suffice. For Cyprian TA, see DA.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> TE </span></b><span lang="">(P25, AB4, CA13, CC7 62, C <b>TE</b>) is a tree (as perhaps in <i>terebinthos</i>, turpentine-tree, or
possibly connected to <i>dendron</i>),
originally with branches reaching upwards, but eventually outwards (like a
telegraph pole).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> TI </span></b><span lang="">(P49, P93, AB37, CA15, CC23, C <b>TI</b>) is a pointed instrument, conjuring
up the <i>stig </i>root (<i>stigeus</i>, “brander”, <i>stigma,</i>“puncture mark”<b>, </b><i>stizô</i>, “prick” or “brand”). </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> TO </span></b><span lang="">(P48, AB5, CC13 78, C <b>TO</b>) is a bow (<i>toxon</i>) with
an arrow, but the curve was straightened, and the string was reduced to a small
stroke (cp. PD11, a bow with no arrow).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> TU </span></b><span lang="">(P77, AB69, CC26 30 31 32, C <b>TU</b>) is a depiction of hanging fruit,
ripe and ready for gathering (<i>trugê</i>);
the verb <i>trugaô </i>means “gather in ripe
fruits” (including grapes and grains); but a better acrophonic source might be
found. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> TWE</span></b><span lang=""> (B87)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>TWO</b>
(B91)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>TYA</b>
(P84? AB66)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> <b>WA</b>
(P41, AB54, CA6, CC95, C <b>WA</b>) looks
like cloth on a loom, so a connection with a weave word (root <i>wa</i>-?) seems likely.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> WE </span></b><span lang="">(P61, A319, B75, CC 1, C <b>WE</b>) seems to be a worm or snake (P61)
and Latin <i>vermis </i>has the required WE
(cp. PD42, a caterpillar?); B75 has the shape of a reversed S; and A319 is like
capital I, the form that appears consistently in the Cyprus scripts; both are
derived from an original oblique Z form. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> WI </span></b><span lang="">(P85, AB40, CC41 37, C <b>WI</b>) </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> WO </span></b><span lang="">(P2? AB180, B42, CC29 41, C <b>WO</b>) a razor (cp. PD44)?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> WU </span></b><span lang="">(not found)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> YA</span></b><span lang=""> (P38, AB57, CA8, CC69 71 72?, C <b>YA</b>) is clearly a door, and Latin <i>ianua</i> has to be invoked here for the
ancient root <i>ya </i>(“go”), which occurs
as <i>ienai </i>(“go”) in YE (AB46, a person
walking).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> YE </span></b><span lang="">(P4?, P91?, AB46, CC36) a walker (cp. PD1);
see YA.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> YI </span></b><span lang="">(AB47?, CC40?) a combination of o and X,
with the arms protruding. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> YO</span></b><span lang=""> (P54, A349, B36, CC98, C <b>YO</b>) a vessel with two handles.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> YU</span></b><span lang=""> (uncertain, possibly AB65; no Cyprian
syllabogram); YU is found together with U on tablets HT 117a and 122b.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> ZA </span></b><span lang="">(AB17) the Egyptian symbol of life (<i>‘ankh</i>),
Greek <i>zaô</i>, “live”, <i>zôê</i>, “life”.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> ZE </span></b><span lang="">(P45, AB74, CC88 86 93 92, C <b>ZE</b>) a saw (<i>kseô</i>, “plane”?) or a comb (<i>ksainô</i>,
“card wool”?).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> ZI </span></b><span lang="">(not identified)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> ZO </span></b><span lang="">(P51, A312, AB20) a sculptor’s chisel (<i>ksois</i>)? (CC59 and C <b>ZO </b>are different).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang=""> ZU </span></b><span lang="">(P81? AB79)</span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">P</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">:
</span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Olivier
and Godet 1996 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Corpus</i>): 17, 19, </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">386-429.</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cretanscripts"><span lang="" style="background: yellow; font-size: 10pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Colless:https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cretanscripts</span></a></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">PD</span></b><span lang="">: </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Evans 1909: 22-28, 273-293, 276 (table of
signs); Duhoux 1977; Fischer 1988; Faucounau 1999: 10 (table), 65-105 (signs). <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/phaistosscript"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Colless:https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/phaistosscript</span></a></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">LA</span></b><span lang="">: </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Godart and Olivier 1976-1985 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Recueil</i>) Vol. 5, XXII –LVII.</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span lang="" style="background: yellow; font-size: 10pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Colless:
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cretansigns">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cretansigns</a></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">LB</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">:
Ventris and Chadwick 1973 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Documents</i>):
41, 385.</span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">AB</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">: </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Godart and Olivier 1976-1985 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Recueil</i>) Vol. 5, XXII.</span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">CA</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">:</span><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Emilia Masson’s numbering is revised for
citation purposes in Olivier 2007: 412 (Nos 1-21).</span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">CC</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">:
E. Masson1974: 12-15, Figures 2-4;</span><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Olivier 2007: 413-415; Ferrara 2012:
255:Table 5:10, “A tentative standardized signs repertoire”; both Olivier and
Ferrara have arbitrarily reduced the number of signs on their tables; but until
we know the sound-value of every sign and can dispense with numbering, Masson’s
full set of numbers must remain in use. </span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span lang="" style="background: yellow; font-size: 10pt; mso-highlight: yellow;">Colless, tables and charts:
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cyprusscripts">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cyprusscripts</a></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">LC</span></b><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">:
O. Masson 1983: Figures 1-6.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
My studies on the ancient scripts of the lands in and around the
Mediterranean Sea (West Asia, North Africa, Europe, Cyclades, Crete,
Cyprus) have been life-long, but my first publication on the subject
dates from 1988: it is an attempt to identify the original picture-signs
(pictophonograms, picture-symbols representing a unit of speech,
either a syllable or a single sound) that produced the various letters
of the Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabian) and Greco-Roman <a href="http://collesseum.googlepages.com/alphabetevolution">alphabets</a>. Preceding this simple writing system, which was a <i>consonantary </i>(indicating consonants but not vowels), and which I call the protoalphabet, there was also a pictophonographic <i>syllabary</i>
used in the West Semitic region (notably at Byblos), and this syllabic
system was in use in the 23rd century BCE, before the invention of the
West Semitic protoalphabet and before writing appeared in Crete. My
working hypothesis is that the West Semitic <a href="http://collesseum.googlepages.com/westsemiticsyllabary">syllabary</a>
provided the model for the Aegean systems, and also for the Luwian
script ('hieroglyphic Hittite') of Anatolia, and even the Meso-American
writing systems, including the Mayan logosyllabary.<br />
There were
<b>four syllabic scripts</b> used on <b>Crete</b> in the Bronze Age (before 1200 BCE
approximately). In the subsequent Iron Age, the Phoenician and Greek
alphabets were employed, and the syllabaries were discarded (though in <a href="http://collesseum.googlepages.com/cyprusscripts">Cyprus</a> a syllabary based on the Cretan script, specifically Linear A, continued to flourish).<br />
The three main Cretan systems were related, as a genealogical family.<br />
(1) Pictophonographic syllabary (PA) > (2) Linear A syllabary (LA) > (3) Linear B syllabary (LB).<br />
(4) The fourth script was another pictophonographic syllabary (PB), which is found on the <a href="http://collesseum.googlepages.com/phaistosdisc">Phaistos Disc</a>
and on other documents, and which seems to be related to the other
family (at least to the extent that they have many of their pictorial
characters in common).<br />
We can speak of a northern
pictophonographic script (KnP, particularly connected with the palaces
of Knossos and Mallia) and a southern pictophonographic script (PhP,
connected with the Phaistos palace). When the Linear A syllabary was
established (as a stylized simplified form of the pictophonographic
system) it became universal over the island, and (somewhat
paradoxically) the largest corpus of administrative tablets (that have
so far been discovered) comes from Hagia Triada, near Phaistos.<br />
I
refrain from applying the term 'hieroglyphic' to the pictophonographic
signs; it is a word that should be restricted to Egyptology; it leaves
the Phaistos pictophonographs out of the picture; they are all pictorial
signs, with nothing 'holy' (hieros) about them.<br />
<div style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> It
must also be remembered that the three main systems (northern PG, LA,
LB) are found beyond Crete, and it is not inconceivable that the
original Aegean script was invented on the mainland (Greece) or on
another island. An <a href="http://people.ku.edu/%7Ejyounger/Sphragis/">example</a>
of the northern pictophonographic writing was found in Kea/Keos, an
island east of Athens; it is an impression on a hearth rim; and also
Linear A inscriptions. This fact provides support for my hypothesis that
this system was constructed acrophonically on the basis of a Hellenic
dialect (examples: A axinê 'ax', O ops 'eye', TO toxon 'bow'; NI
nikuleon 'fig', a Cretan word, which might imply that Crete was in fact the locus of the invention of the script).</span></div>
<div style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The
signs in the 'linear' forms (LA, LB, and Linear C in Cyprus) are known
to have functioned as 'syllabograms' (and also as 'logograms' in LA and
LB).</span> </div>
Two tables are offered here: the <b>first</b> (<b>Cretan
Syllabograms</b>) shows my attempt to match up the signs of the three
northern systems (PG, LA , LB, as P, A, B), on the principle that the
pictorial signs become stylized in the Linear A inventory, and even more
so in Linear B; the <b>second</b> table (<b>Cretan Pictosyllabograms</b>) presents
the signs of the northern pictophonographic syllabograms.<br />
The P
standing for pictophonographic is actually KnP (Knossos P) in the
northern context; when it has to be distinguished from the southern
script, KnP and PhP (Phaistos P) will be used. <br />
A paradox is
that although the Linear A script evolved out of the northern
picto-syllabary, the largest collection of Linear A administrative
tablets comes from Hagia Triada, adjacent to Phaistos; while Knossos and
Mallia have yielded only a few fragmentary clay tablets. However, at
Phaistos there are tablets exhibiting the southern script (<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/phaistosscript">Phaistos syllabary</a>) as well as the northern Linear A script.<br />
Notice that I reject the defeatist nonsense that there were not many Consonant+O signs in Linear A; supposedly lacking were <i>so, do, dwo, mo, qo, yo, wo, no, two, ryo, zo</i>, though<i> o, po, to, ko, ro</i>
were grudgingly accepted onto the table; but it is true that they were
not used frequently, and this says something about the language or
languages in the Linear A texts.<br />
<br />
<b>NORTHERN CRETAN SYLLABOGRAMS</b><br />
<br />
A AB8 P42 (ax) [<i>axinê</i>]<br />
AI B43 A306 [<i>aix </i>goat?] (cp ME and QI?) (#016 AI-TA-TI?)<br />
AU AB85 P17 P13b (pig) [<i>hus</i>? <i>autoboulos</i>, self-willed, pig-headed?!]<br />
HA B25 (cp Phaistos 10, arrow?) A368?<br />
E AB38 P28 (hair, crest) [<i>etheira</i>]<br />
I AB28 P31 (olive) [<i>hiketeria elaia </i>suppliant olive branch]<br />
O AB61 P5 (eye) [<i>ops, omma, oculus</i>]<br />
U AB10 P95 (hedgehog) [<i>hustrix</i>]<br />
YA AB57 P38 (door) [Latin <i>ianua</i>, Sanskrit<i> yâ</i> go]<br />
YE AB46 P4? (walking) [<i>ienai</i> going, Sanskrit<i> yâ</i> go]<br />
YI AB47?<br />
YO B36 A349 P54 (amphora)<br />
YU AB65?<br />
WA AB54 P41 (cloth)<br />
WE B75 A319 P61 (worm) [werm] <br />
WI AB40 P85? <br />
WO B42/AB180? A363? A364? P2? (razor) <br />
WU <br />
RA AB60 P7 (arm) [<i>brakhiôn</i> ?] <br />
RYA B76 P69? (water-course) (cp <i>reô </i>flow, <i>roê </i>stream?)<br />
RAI B33 (same as saffron logogram)<br />
RE AB27 P23 (lily) [<i>leirion</i>]<br />
RI AB53 P10 (leg) <br />
RO AB2 P70 (cross) [<i>rhombos</i>?]<br />
RYO AB68 P40 (ship? spinning top?) [<i>rhombos</i>?]<br />
RU AB26 P92 (lamp) [<i>lukhnia</i> menorah]<br />
MA AB80 (cat) P34 (breasts?) [<i>masta</i>, <i>mala</i> breasts] replaced by P97 (cat) [ma, meow]? <br />
ME AB13 P16 (sheep) [<i>mêlon, mêkas </i>bleating]<br />
MI AB73 P13a? (bird-head?) [<i>minurisma </i>bird-warbling] (or P7 [arm] is not RA?) <br />
MO B15 A321 A327 (cp Cyprian MO, and Egyptian djed) P68 (spine?) [<i>monimos </i>stable]<br />
MU AB23 P12 (cow) [<i>mukaomai, mukêma, </i>moo-cow bellowing]<br />
NA AB6 P78 (tearflow) [<i>nama</i>] (<i>dakruôn therma nama</i> Sophokles)<br />
NWA B48 P6 (crossed arms) (neozeuktos newly-yoked, newly-wed?!)<br />
NE AB24 P52 + P53 (libation vessel) [<i>nektar </i>divine drink]<br />
NI AB30 P24 (fig) [<i>nikuleon</i>] (a Cretan word)<br />
NO B52 A28b P8 (hand) [<i>nomos </i>law] (<i>kheirôn nomos</i> law of force)<br />
NU AB55 P9 +83? (glove?) <br />
PA AB3 P40? (ship) [<i>baris</i> Egyptian boat]<br />
PE B72 A305? P34b? (fetter) [<i>pedê</i>]<br />
PI AB39 P20 21 22 79 90 (bee)<br />
PO AB11 P43 (ax) [<i>pelekus?</i>]<br />
PU AB50 A369? P58 (lyre) [<i>burtê</i>] <br />
TA AB59 P56 (tablet) [<i>trapeza, </i>tabula] <br />
TE AB4 P25 (tree) [tere-, as in <i>terebinthos</i>]<br />
TI AB37 P49 +93 (brander) [<i>stigeus </i>puncturing tool]<br />
TO AB5 P48 (bow and arrow) [<i>toxon</i>]<br />
TU B69 P77 (fruit)<br />
DA AB1 P27, 29 (twig) [<i>thalos</i>]<br />
DE AB45 P37, 94? (house/tomb) [<i>demein </i>build; <i>thêkê </i>container, grave]<br />
DI AB7 P39? (= B64?) (netting?) [<i>diktuon</i>]<br />
DO B14 A304? P50 (spear?) [<i>doru</i>]<br />
DU AB51 P59 +60? (crook) [<i>dunastês </i>power-wielder]<br />
KA AB77 P47 (cane basket) [<i>kaneon</i>]<br />
KE AB44 P36 (pavilion) [<i>skênê</i>]<br />
KI AB67 P57 (lyre) [<i>kithara</i>]<br />
KO AB70 P62 P51 (nail) [<i>gomphos</i>, wedge-shaped nail]<br />
KU AB81 P18 (dog) [<i>kuôn</i>] <br />
QA AB16 P44 (bolt-pin for bar of gate? or key?) [<i>balanos, balanagra </i>key]?<br />
QE AB78 P73-75 (circular object) [<i>kuklos, </i>kwekwlo]<br />
QI AB21 P14? P54b? (animal?) <br />
QO B32 B18? A333? A345? A347? P11 (bull) [<i>bous, </i>gwou]<br />
QU<br />
SA AB31 P19 (cuttlefish, kalamari) [<i>sêpia</i>]<br />
SE AB9 P26 +3? (parsley, for victor's crown) [<i>selinon</i>]<br />
SI AB41 P55 (grain in container) [<i>sitos</i>] <br />
SO B12 A301? P46 +80 +87 (adz) [<i>sophia </i>craftsmanship? <i>skeparnon </i>adz?] <br />
SU AB58 P35 (enclosure) [<i>supheos</i> pig-sty] <br />
ZA AB17 B19? (Egyptian `ankh symbol, life) [<i>zaein, zôê</i>]<br />
ZE AB74 P45 (saw? comb?) [<i>xainô</i> comb, card; <i>xeô</i> plane, carve) <br />
ZI <br />
ZO AB20 A312? P51? P85 (WI)? (chisel? sword?) [<i>xois </i>sculptor's chisel] P51=LA36<br />
ZU AB79? P81? (sun with rays?)<br />
RYA B76 P69? P69<br />
RYO B68 P40<br />
NWA B48 006 P6 P6<br />
NAU B86? P40? P40<br />
PA3 AB56 [<i>bathron</i> ladder] P39<br />
PU2 B29 P30? P32? <br />
TYA B66 P84, P72?<br />
KRA B34 P82 [<i>glênê</i> eyeball, pupil]<br />
KRO B35 P63 P64 [<i>klôstêr </i>thread, line] <br />
SWI? B64 P39? DI?<br />
<br />
<b>NORTHERN CRETAN PICTO-SYLLABOGRAMS</b><br />
<br />
CHIC Brian Colless (John Younger)<br />
001 seated human<br />
002 head? (razor? WO cp P88?) <br />
003 head +026 SE (= 026)?<br />
004 upright human YE? DWE? <br />
005 eye <b>O</b> (Rv)<br />
006 *X* 2 arms <b>NWA</b> (NWA)<br />
007 bent arm RA/LA (MI) [MI 013? 057?]<br />
008 hand <b>NO</b> (A3)<br />
009 glove? <b>NU</b> 009 +083? (A2)<br />
010 leg <b>RI</b> (RI)<br />
011 bovine head (front) <b>QO</b> (SI2) [11-16 mixed animals]<br />
012 bovine head (side) <b>MU</b> (MU)<br />
013 bird with open mouth (mixed) <b>MI</b> (MU2) [some 013? +015?]<br />
014 animal head QI? (I)<br />
015 animal head? (1x) +013? (DU?) <br />
016 horned head <b>ME </b> (KI2)<br />
017 pig head +013 <b>AU </b>(AU)<br />
018 dog head + tongue <b>KU</b> (RA) <br />
019 cuttlefish, sepia <b>SA</b> (SA)<br />
020 bee <b>PI </b>(AI) [PI 020-022 +033? 079? 090?]<br />
021 bee <b>PI </b>(PI)<br />
022 bee <b>PI </b><br />
023 lily flower? <b>RE/LE</b> (TO)<br />
024 fig tree? <b>NI</b> (NI) <br />
025 tree? <b>TE</b> (TE)<br />
026 _(_(_(_( <b>SE </b> [SE 026 +003?]<br />
027 |/ (3x) DA? (= 029?)<br />
028 hair crest <b>E </b> (KU2)<br />
029 double twig <b>DA</b> (MA) [DA 27 + 29?]<br />
030 \}/ (1x) DA? PU2 (phu)? (PU2)<br />
031 \|/ <b> I </b>031? +032? (RE) <br />
032 \!/ (9x) PU2 (phu)? (RE2)<br />
033 }.{ (3x) ZU? +81<br />
034 fetters? breasts? PE +ME? (TA)<br />
035 pig-pen? <b>SU</b> (SU) <br />
036 pavilion <b>KE</b> (SA2)<br />
037 house/tomb <b>DE</b> 037 + 094? (Rv) [cp PhDisc 24]<br />
038 door + post <b>YA</b> (JA)<br />
039 netting/trellis <b>DI</b> (PA3) DI 039? (=LinB64?)<br />
040 ship <b>PA</b> (RO2) <br />
041 cloth? <b>WA</b> (WA)<br />
042 double ax <b> A</b> (A)<br />
043 ax <b>PO</b> (SO)<br />
044 metal object <b>QA</b> (KO)<br />
045 saw <b>ZE </b>(ZE)<br />
046 adz <b>SO</b> 046 + 080 + 087 ( )<br />
047 cane basket <b>KA</b> (QE)<br />
048 bow & arrow <b>TO</b> [1x] ( ) <br />
049 /|\ <b>TI</b> (RO3) TI 049 + 093?<br />
050 spear? <b>DO </b>(TI)<br />
051 dagger? chisel? ZO? (KI3)<br />
052 ewer <b>NE</b> (NE) <br />
053 jug NE (KI?)<br />
054 amphora (2 rams?) YO? (DE) YO? +MA? +QI? <br />
055 grain vessel? <b>SI </b> (KE) <br />
056 talent? tablet? <b>TA</b> (KU) <br />
057 V+ kithara <b>KI </b>(KI) <br />
058 lyre <b>PU </b>(PU) <br />
059 crook <b>DU </b> DU 059 +060?<br />
060 |\ DU?<br />
061 snake? worm? WE or = RI 010?<br />
062 ___. <o b="" nbsp="">KO</o></div>
</div>
(NA)<br />
063 _._ KRO?<br />
064 --o-- <b>KRO</b>? (DA)<br />
065 .__. ?<br />
066 || PA?<br />
067 *||* HA?<br />
068 spine? <b>MO</b> (Rv) <br />
069 ZZ RYA?<br />
070 cross + x RO (RO) <br />
071 }}} <b>RYA</b>?<br />
072 triangle TYA?? (KA) <br />
073 circle QE 073? +74 +75<br />
075 circle (dotted) QE 075 (1x) + 074 (1x)<br />
076 ? YU? <br />
077 fruit <b>TU </b> (RU2) MA? ME? NI?<br />
078 eye and tear-flow? <b>NA</b> (DO) <br />
079 bee? PI? (= 020) <br />
080 adz <b>SO</b> (= 046)<br />
081 (1x) ZU?<br />
082 eyeball? KRA?<br />
083 (=009?) (1x) NU?<br />
084 TYA? TWO?<br />
085 /+\ WI? (WI)<br />
086 QO? (= 068?)<br />
087 adz <b> SO </b>(= 046)<br />
088 [razor? WO? RI =002?<br />
089 X YE? PE? RI?<br />
090 bee? PI? (= 020)<br />
091 ^^^ ?<br />
092 lamp? <b>RU </b> (RU)<br />
093 /|\ <b>TI</b> (= 049) (TI)<br />
094 /=\ DE? (= 037)<br />
(097) (cat) <b>MA</b>? (MA)<br />
<br />
<br />
What you see here is a host of hypotheses struggling to become a grand unified theory.<br />
<br />
This
is a revised and expanded version of my release entitled "Table of
Cretan pictoglyphs" (28 July 2003), providing a description or drawing
of the characters, and an attempt to match them with their counterparts
in the Linear B inventory.<br />
<br />
The prefix 'P' stands for 'pictosyllabogram' (or 'pictophonogram'), with the CHIC numbering.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-55573651748554808442016-09-09T04:50:00.015-07:002023-10-20T20:14:48.981-07:00SEMITIC LINEAR A INSCRIPTIONS<br />
This is a supplement to <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/creto-semitica.html">CRETO-SEMITICA</a><br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="">The Kaptarian logo-syllabary of Crete (Linear A)</span></b><span lang=""></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">Kaptar</span></i><span lang=""> was a name applied to Crete in the Bronze Age; it was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kaptor</i> in the Bible (Caphtorim were
from Caphtor, Deuteronomy 2:23; Philistines came from Caphtor, Amos 9:7; ditto,
Jeremiah 47:4), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kptr </i>in Ugaritic
texts, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Keftiu</i> in Egypt.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="">With regard to
the Aegean scripts,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
this is how our present knowledge stands and how it may be extended: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Linear B</b> (a logo-syllabary for Mycenean
Greek)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Linear C</b> (the Cyprus syllabary
for Arcadian Greek)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
offer us known sound-values for most of their glyphs; it is now common
knowledge that both systems developed out of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Linear A</b>,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>which in turn was a stylized version
of the original pictophonic and acrophonic logo-syllabary of Crete.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>
Thus, most of the solutions for decipherment are patent: for example, the cross
+ for RO/LO is obvious in every member of this family of scripts, as also the
twig |- for DA/TA, and the Y-shaped cuttlefish (sepia) for SA.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
can identify North and South systems of writing in Crete: from Knossos in the
north we have seals and inscriptions in the original pictorial script, which
produced Linear A; from Phaistos in the south we have the celebrated Disc, with
a different script, and apparently vestiges of it can also be found in linear
form on some of the administrative clay tablets from Phaistos (for example, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PH 13c</b> has a fish, equivalent to PD33,
but with no counterpart in Linear A). Ironically, the largest collection of
Linear A tablets comes from Hagia Triada, adjacent to Phaistos, and they are
Semitic, it will be argued here. However, it seems that the northern (Knossos)
and southern (Phaistos) scripts were both constructed acrophonically on the
basis of a "Danaic" (Greek, Hellenic) dialect.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[7]<br /><br /></span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><b>Inscriptions on Clay Tablets, Offering Receptacles,
and Vessels</b></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The Kaptarian documents studied here are
available (with photographs and drawings) in the corpus (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Recueil</i>) of Linear A inscriptions; to locate an item, consult the
concordance in the fifth volume of the set.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a>
The inscriptions relating to offerings and libations are conveniently collected
in a book on the subject, which includes a concordance.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the syllabic signs and their interconnections, see the inventory of
Cretan and Cyprian syllabograms:<br /><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2017/06/aegean-syllabic-signs.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2017/06/aegean-syllabic-signs.html</a><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
transpires from the dedicatory inscriptions that this is a give-and-get<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>system of religious exchange (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do ut des</i>, I give that you may give in
return). Examples of the offering formulas are presented below:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">KO Za 1</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> AP Za 1</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">IO Za 8</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZA Zb 3</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TL Za 1</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SY Za 2</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AP Za2</b>.</span></i><span lang=""></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WINE</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The ideogram for wine (P156) is found eight
times in the original pictophonic (“hieroglyphic”) texts and continues into
Linear A and B (AB131). It represents a grapevine-stand, like the corresponding
Egyptian hieroglyph (M43). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HT 40.1</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""> (Hagia Triada
administrative document) </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The first sequence on the clay tablet is:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nudu WAIN </i>(logogram AB131).<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can relate this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nudu</i> to Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">n’od</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nôd</i>, “skin bag” or “leather bottle”, and
understand it as “wineskin” or “bottle of wine”. Young David took a “skin of
wine” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">n’od yayin</i>) to King Saul (1
Samuel 16:20).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ZA 15b </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Zakros administrative
document)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The initial sequence (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">15b.1</b>) is:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kadi. WAIN 3.</i> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">This <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kadi
</i>could be the same word as Hebrew and Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kad</i>, meaning “jar” or “jug”, a container for water, wine, oil, or
flour. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The remainder (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">15b.2</b>) runs: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">kuro
. WAIN 78<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span lang="">(3)
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">RA-WAIN</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">17</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The term <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kuro </i>is found frequently in the Hagia Triada accounting documents,
and here in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZA 15b</b>; it is
acknowledged as meaning “total”; if it is a Semitic word it would be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kull, </i>Hebrew<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> kol, </i>“all” (the Kaptarian script does not distinguish <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">l</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">r</i>). The total for both sides of the tablet is 92; the scribe adds a
RA category of wine with a sub-total 17; this combination also occurs in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZA 6b.2</b>, and on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KE Zb 5</b> (on a fragment of a vessel, and presumably referring to its
contents); possibly the RA is equivalent to the West Semitic use of the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">head-sign </a>(<i>ra'ish, RA, R</i>) to say "top-class" or "excellent" or "superior". A Hebrew example of totalling is the
list of David’s heroes, ending thus: “total (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kol</i>) thirty-seven” (2 Samuel 23:39). Incidentally, in the Linear A
texts we only see numerals not number-words; if these were written we would have an easy road to decipherment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HT 131ab </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Hagia Triada accounting
tablet)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">This document is severely damaged, but
lines 2-4 on side <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">b</b> have the symbols
for FIG, OLIV, and WAIN, with accompanying numbers, and a grand total for both
faces of the tablet is provided, with the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">potokuro</i>; one remote possibility is that the Greek word for “all” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pant-</i>) has been affixed to the Semitic
word; or it could be the Semitic word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bat</i>,
“daughter”, hence “daughter total” as the complete sum of all the numbers.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></a>
This practice is clearer on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT 122ab</b>,
with a sub-total (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kuro</i>) on each side,
and the complete total (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">potokuro</i>) on
side <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">b</b>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ARKH 2</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""> (Arkhanes administrative
document)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">(1)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> sidate
kura</i> (2) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">WAIN 5 asidato</i>(3)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">i 12 mo/zu?sose</i>(4)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">deqidwo 6 </i>(5) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asupuwa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>(6) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">4
rumi</i>[…]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This scribe does not separate words with dots or spaces, and so
“sequencing” is required for reading his account.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sidate: </span></i><span lang="">possibly
“fields” or “farms” (Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>dt</i>,
and Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sdwt</i>, where the S-sign<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is not Shin but Sin (but all the Semitic
sibilants have to be S- in the syllabograms of Kaptarian Linear A); or this may
be related to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>aduta<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
<u>s</u>aduda </i>(“collection, harvest”), in the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/01/byblos-syllabic-texts.html">Gubla Documents </a>A and D; and the root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’sp</i> (“collect, harvest”) may also be
present here as well as there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kura:</i> perhaps not “total” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kuro</i>) as in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZA 15b</b>, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kor</i>, a large
unit of measurement (around 400 litres). <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZA
20</b> is a fragment of a tablet, showing the bottom four lines; the beer-sign
occurs in line 3; the last line has <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kura
130</i>, and this might be a variant of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kuro,
</i>“total”, not “kor”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>qidwo: </span></i><span lang="">this also
occurs<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>at the beginning of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZA 5a</b>, followed by the WAIN sign.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>asupuwa: </span></i><span lang="">the
root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’sp </i>(“gather in”)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>might be present here (used in
Deuteronomy 16:13 for gathering the produce from the threshing floor and the
winepress; see also Document D from Gubla). The WA might be a logogram or abbreviation for wine, and
perhaps should be disconnected from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asupu</i>;
in line 2 the logogram was only half of this form; it is more like WAIN (a vine
stand) than WA (a loom), though it is the same as the Linear B style of WA. All
the numerals would presumably refer to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kor</i>
measures of wine, or juice. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>rumi[ ]: </span></i><span lang="">possibly
“pomegranate (juice)” (Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rimmôn</i>,
Aramaic and Arabic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rummân</i>); in
Canticles 8:2 pomegranate (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rmwn</i>) and
juice (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘asis</i>, root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘ss </i>“crush”) occur together (any
connection with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asi </i>in line 2 here,
or<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> sose </i>in line 3?). In <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT 64.2</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ruma[ ]</i> may be related to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rumi[
]</i>; the Ugaritic form is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lrmn</i> (pomegranate,
pomegranate juice), Akkadian has <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lurmû</i>,
and there is a word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riruma</i> in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">118.4</b>.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">GRAPE
JUICE</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KH 9 </i></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Incomplete clay tablet
from Khania, a palace city)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span lang="">A SI SI PO A </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">Could <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asisi</i>
be grape juice, Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘asis</i>? The
wine sign is in the text.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NEW
WINE</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KO Za 1 </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Base from Kophinas,
inscribed on four sides</span></i><span lang="">)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">This text will serve to introduce us to the
standard formulas that are used for making libations and other offerings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">A TA I SO WA YA || TU RU SA ME RYA RE . NO
DA||A .</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">U NA KA NA SI . I||PI NA MA . SI RU TE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">“I bring my offering, strong fresh wine, a
bottle, and we shall indeed collect abundance.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
the object is an altar, it might not accept libations; and so liquids would be
offered in containers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>atai: </span></i><span lang="">“I bring”;
the verb seems to be<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>common<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Semitic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’t’ </i>or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’ty</i>, “come, go”;
this verb is known to have a transitive force as well, and thus “bring”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a>;
but it might be a causative form, “I cause to come”; the writing system can not
show ’Alep (for Aramaic ’ap‘el causative) or He (for Hebrew hip‘il) or ‘Ayin in
the next word, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sowaya</i>. Another
possibility is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">atai</i> is from the
verb <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ntn</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ytn</i>, “give”, with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">n</i> not
recorded, as happens in Linear B, and presumably also in Linear A. Notice the
later Eteocretan stone fragment from Dreros, with the corresponding word ATAE,
“I bring”. Furthermore, at Knossos, on one of the four faces of a bar (#61), in the pictorial script, the original pictorial signs (42 56 31) for A-TA-I appear, with what looks like the logogram for OLIVE (P159, AB122), as on a Kato Syme offering table (SY Za 2, see below) together with the sign for <i>pu</i> (P32, AB29) which could derive from <i>phulia</i>, "wild olive tree". Incidentally, a Knossos medallion (#031) reads: NE TA TI ME, which could be "I have given" (West Semitic <i>natati,</i> from root <i>ntn</i>), and ME (P34, which looks like breasts, and may be from Greek <i>mêla</i>, "breasts", or "apples") might here stand for <i>mêlon</i>, "sheep"(AB13 <i>me</i> is obscure, but it looks more like a sheep than breasts), and thus the statement being made is: "I have given a sheep".</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sowaya: </i>the suffix <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–ya</i> is for 1. p. sg, “my”; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sowa </i>could be related to Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>t</u>‘</i>,
“offering” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hw<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>t</u>‘ n<u>t</u>‘y</i>, “this is the
offering we offer”, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KTU</b> 1.40.24);
cp. Ethiopic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>awa‘a</i>, “make a
sacrifice” (notice the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">w</i>); and Hebrew
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>ay</i>, “gift” (brought to God); the
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–a </i>indicates that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sowa</i> is the object of the verb
(accusative case singular); in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">souya </i>(<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AP Za 1</b>), the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–u</i> would be the standard Semitic marker of the nominative case
(singular and plural); the vowel for the genitive case (singular and plural) is
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–i</i> (also for plural accusative and
genitive). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""> Additional note: Richard C. Steiner (2016:105-108) has shown that the original root underlying Hebrew </span><span lang=""><span lang=""><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>ay</i></span> is<i> </i></span><span lang=""><i><span lang=""><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u><b>w</b>y</i></span></i><span lang=""> (sh-w-y, not th-`-y), and this would explain the <i>w</i> in <i>sowaya</i> here (The Lachish Ewer, <i>Eretz-Israel</i>, 32, 103*-112*).<br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>turusa: </span></i><span lang="">“new
wine”, Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tîro<u>s</u>, </i>Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tr<u>t</u>;</i> perhaps fermented, possibly
not; cp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ugaritic text <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KTU</b> 1.114:16, “El drank wine (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yn</i>) until he was sated, new wine (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tr<u>t</u></i>) until he was intoxicated (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>kr</i>)”; the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–a</i> of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">turusa </i>would be the
inflection for the accusative case, as also on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sowa</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nodaa</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">meryare: </i>the reading of each letter is
not certain; RE could be the olive logogram; the Semitic root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mrr</i> can mean “bitter” or “strong”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nodaa:</i> this could <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>be the “skin bag” (Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no’d</i>) that we met as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nudu</i>
in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT 40</b> above; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">idaa</i> is the customary transcription, but this is one of the few
documents that allow us to distinguish the syllabograms I (an olive branch) and
NO (a hand); note also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">noda</i> (not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ida</i>) on the fragmentary <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PK Za 17 </b>and<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> 18</b>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>unakanasi</span></i><span lang="">, “and
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">u</i>) we will gather” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">n</i>- as 1 p. pl. prefix), or “and it will
be gathered” (N verbal pattern, reciprocal or passive); but a variant formula
suggests that the “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i> bring” and “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> collect” progression is normal (see <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZA Zb3</b>, wine pithos, below); the root
is KNS, “gather, collect”, as in Hebrew (for example, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kneset</i>, “congregation, assembly”).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ipinama: </i>the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pina</i> sequence suggests <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">panu</i>
(“face”) and being in the presence of the deity (Exodus 23:15-17, “see my
face”, regarding the festivals and appearing at the sanctuary with offerings);
but compare Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">apn</i> (and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ap-pu-na-ma</i>), “and also” or “and even”;
the proposed translation is “indeed”, equivalent to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aya</i> in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SY Za 2</b>.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>sirute: </span></i><span lang="">two Hebrew words offer themselves
for consideration: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>ârêt</i>,
“ritual service”; or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>rh</i>,
“multiply” (apparently referring to oil in Isaiah 57:9), with a noun <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>ârût</i>, “riches” (in Ezekiel
27:25); hence “wealth” or “abundantly” as possible meanings in this context.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>AP Za 1</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""> </span></i><span lang="">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Libation bowl with incomplete
inscription, from Apodoulou</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">YA TA I SO U YA …</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yatai souya: </span></i><span lang="">apparently
says “My offering comes ….”; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ya- </i>indicates
3. p. sg. from the root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’t’</i>, “come”,
as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a- </i>shows 1. p. sg. in<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> atai</i>, the usual word in the offering
formula; as stated above (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sy Za 2</b>),
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–u</i> would mark <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">u</b>ya
</i>as the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">subject</i> of the verb <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yatai</i>, whereas <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sow<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">a</b>ya </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">object</i>
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">atai</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">IO Za
8</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> (Fragment of a circular
libation receptacle from Iouktas)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">]A NA TI SO WA YA[</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">“I give my offering”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
verb seems to be from a “give” root (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ntn</i>
or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ytn</i>).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ZA Zb 3 </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Inscribed pithos)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">WAIN</span></i><span lang=""> 32 DI DI KA SE <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b> A SA MU
NE . A SE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">A TA I SO DE KA<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> .</b> A RE PI RE NA <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b> TI TI
KU</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">atai:</i> “I bring<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">”</i>, according to formula, but with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sodeka</i> instead of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sowaya</i>,
“my offering”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sodeka: </i>possibly<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>“your libation”, root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>dy</i>,
“pour” (Ugaritic, Aramaic).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">arepirena: </i>“for our fruit”; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘al</i> (preposition, “on account of”); <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pr, </i>“fruit” (Ugaritic, Hebrew); <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">-na</i>, 1. p. pl. suffix. This shows a
similar pattern to the usual formula: “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I</b>
bring (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">atai</i>) my offering” and “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">we</b> shall collect” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unakanasi</i>).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ase:</i> “gift” (Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’w<u>s</u>, </i>Arabic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’ws</i>)?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asamune: </i>any connection with<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <u>s</u>mn</i>, “oil”? Or the Phoenician
divinity Eshmun? Or “debt” or “atonement offering” (Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’â<u>s</u>âm</i>, 1 Samuel 6:3, regarding Philistines)? The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a</i>- might be a vocative participle (equivalent
to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ya</i>)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>as in<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PK Za11 </b>(ANIMAL) below; Samune is then
the dedicatee.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">titiku</i>: apparently a personal or divine
name; also in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT 35 </b>at the beginning
of a list which includes wine and oil.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">PH Wc
46 </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Rondelle from Phaistos)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">WE NA<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>(</b>and possibly a part of the WAIN
sign below this, as on PH Wc 43 and 44). The syllabograms are from the southern
system, as exemplified on the Phaistos Disc: NA is the head with an eye and two
tears on the cheek, and the WE is hypothetical, perhaps a grub (according to
the decipherment of Steven Fischer); the language could be Hellenic (or
Anatolic) rather than Semitic.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KN Zb
4 </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Fragment of a pithos from
Knossos) </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">] YU? . YA NE . NE[</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The NE is unusual and might be SI, but the
vertical strokes on the ends of the crossbar should be oblique for SI. If this
is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yain</i>, “wine”, then the West
Semitic sound-shift is in evidence here (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">w
> y</i>). The habitual use of the WAIN logogram (examples: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KN Zb 34. 36, 37, 38</b>) conceals the wine
word from us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">THE
Zb 3</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> (Jug from Thera, the volcano
island)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A NE
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The character NE (a libation vessel) is
more pictorial here than the two in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KN
Zb 4</b>. If this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ane </i>is a word for
“wine” (without initial <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">w </i>or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">y</i>) the question of the identity of the
language arises.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WATER</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HT 89 </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Clay tablet from Hagia
Triada)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">MA I MI <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">24</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">maimi:</span></i><span lang="">this combination
occurs in line 4; it could be the Semitic word for “water” (Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mayim</i>); other entities in the record use
logograms, such as FIG and WAIN in line 6, and there is no known “water” symbol
in the system; the quantity “24” is a puzzle to solve.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BEER</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The ideogram for BEER (P157, AB123) has
hitherto remained unrecognized, I suggest; it is usually said to be a marker for AROMATA,
spice;</span><span lang="" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
reference books do not explain it; the one instance of the original pictogram
(P157) has mesh-lines on the top part;</span><span lang=""> it is thus a
tankard with a strainer, perhaps.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="">There are two
categories of words associated with this logogram: the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>kr </i>group (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sikiri,
suqare</i>), probably barley-beer; and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sb’</i>
set (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">subu, sipu</i>), presumably
wheat-beer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">HT
49a.7 </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Clay<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>tablet fron Hagia Triada)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">BEER
subu</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The beer tankard (P157, AB123) is in
evidence here; </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>subu: </span></i><span lang="">cp. Hbr. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sobe’</i>, “intoxicating drink” (beer?).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KH 53</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""> (Khania administrative
document fragment)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">]ame
BEER. ne[</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HT Zb 161</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Pithos from Hagia Triada</span></i><span lang="">)<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sipu:
</i>presumably<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>“beer”, Akkadian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sibu, </i>“beer”, “brew”, Hbr. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sobe’</i>, “strong drink” (beer?).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Possibly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sipiki</i> is also a word
for “beer”, in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZA 4a.6-7, 5b.2, 15a.5</b>,
all in a context with the wine sign (but not the beer sign); cp. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>pk</i>, “pour out”?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HT Zb 158b </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Pithos from Hagia Triada) <br />
su ki ri te i ya</span></i><span lang=""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">(cp. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">suqare</i>,
“beer”, in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TL Za 1</b> below; and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tai </i>BEER in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT 9ab</b>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IO
Za 16</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i><span lang="" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Offering table fragment from Iouktas peak
sanctuary</i>)<br />
. . . P157/AB123 . YA SA SA RA ME . U NA RU KA <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>AB123 BEER: this symbol seems to
represent a beer mug with a strainer on top It also appears with <i>suqare (</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span lang="">s</span></u></i><i><span lang="" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ikr) </span></i><span lang="" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“beer” in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TL Za 1</b>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unaruka:</i>“and
we shall collect” (root <i>lq<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">h</span>.</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, “take”?), a variation on <i>unakanasi</i> with
the same meaning.</span></span><span lang=""></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TL Za
1</i> (</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">Offering
ladle from Troullos, near Arkhanes</span></i><span lang="">)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">A TA I SO WA YA . AB123 (BEER) SU QA RE .</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">YA SA SA RA ME . U NA KA NA SI [. I PI ] NA
MA . SI RU [TE]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">“I bring my offering (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">atai sowaya</i>), beer (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">suqare</i>),
O Deity<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yasasarame</i>), and (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">u</i>)
indeed (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ipinama</i>) we shall collect (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nakanasi</i>) abundance (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sirute</i>).”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">suqare</i>: cp. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sukiri</i> in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT Zb 158b<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></b>above; connected with the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Semitic “intoxication” root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>kr; </i>presumably beer brewed from
barley. This word is usually transcribed as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">osuqare</i>,
where the </span><span lang="" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">logogram
BEER is misread as the syllabogram O (</span><span lang="">AB61, </span><span lang="" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">an eye).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
dedication formula here is basically the same as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KO Za 1 </b>(WINE), above, and the details are explained there. See
also <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SY Za 2 </b>(OIL), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AP Za2<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i></b>(CHEESE), and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SY Za 1 </b>(BLOOD)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SY Za 11</span></i></b><span lang=""> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Circular libation table from
Kato Syme rural sanctuary</i>) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">qaro</i>
(cp. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">suqare</i>, “beer”, in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TL Za 1</b>).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OIL</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">Two relevant logograns are: AB122 OLIVA and
A302 OLEUM</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KN Zb
35 </i></b>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pithos from Knossos</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">… YA … DI … PI … <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">OIL</i> 100<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">FIG</i> 2</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">It is strange to find two diverse products
itemised on the same container; the oil would presumably be olive oil, and not
fig juice; the remaining letters might be part of a dedicatory formula.<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ZA 1 </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Clay tablet from Zakros)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span lang="">Here again we
have the FIG symbol (1a.1), and a large ZA (1a.2), the Egyptian ‘ankh, which
might be an abbreviation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zati</i>,
“olives” (the word attested in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KN Zc7</b>,
below); the quantity is 5, which seems tiny, but West Semitic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zayt </i>can also mean “olive tree”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TY 3 </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Clay tablet from Tylissos)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is a record of oil of various types, and olives (once, 3a.4). using
the OIL and OLIV logograms. The sign ZA appears in 3a.1, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KN
Zc7 </i></b>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Small bowl from Knossos</i>)
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">akanu
zati</span></i><span lang=""> = <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">agganu
zayti</i>, “bowl of olives”; see VESSELS below.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SY Za 2</span></i><span lang=""> </span></b><span lang="">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Square
offering table from Kato Syme rural sanctuary</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">A TA I SO WA YA . YA SU MA TU OLIV (AB122)
.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">U NA KA NA SI <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">OIL</i> (A302)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">A YA</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">“I bring my offering, O Deity, olives, and
we shall collect oil, indeed.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This example is instructive, showing how the offering formula works:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">the first segment states that the person is
presenting an offering (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">atai sowaya</i>);
the second part is addressed to the recipient deity (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ya-sumatu</i>) and declares the nature of the offering (here olives,
represented by the logogram, a twig with three leaves); next the expected or
desired outcome, that the product (olive oil) will be obtained (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unakanasi</i>), assuredly (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aya</i>). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ya-sumatu,</span></i><span lang=""> “O
Deity”; this could be related to the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>-m-n</i>,
“oil”, with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">-n-</i> omitted, and
referring to a goddess with an oil-connection.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aya: </i>this might mean “any” (Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>h</u>mr yn ay</i>, “any wine”, KTU 1.23:
6), here “any oil”; or else “we shall collect oil, each”; or this is a particle
of affirmation, Arabic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">iy</i> (cp.
English <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aye</i>), “indeed”, and this
could be equated with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ipinama</i> in
other versions of the offering formula. Note also I YA on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KN Za 10</b> (libation table from Knossos).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PK 1.7 </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Clay tablet from
Palaikastro)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">SU MA
TI ZA I TE</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">sumati</span></i><span lang="">: this matches the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sumatu </i>of<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i>SY Za 2 </b>above, and could be a word for “oil”, though this
feminine form is not attested elsewhere; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zaite</i>
certainly corresponds to Semitic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zait</i>,
“olive”, and the combination <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>produces
“olive oil”; other occurrences of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zait</i>
are presented in section <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">10</b>.
Unfortunately, there is apparently a vertical stroke after the SU, which would join
it to the last syllable in the previous line, hence TUSU; nevertheless, a
scribal error of haplography is possible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CHEESE</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">HT
54a.2 </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Fragment of a tablet from
Hagia Triada)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">KU MI NA QE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">Is this cumin (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kuminon)</i> or cheese (Eteocretan <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KOMN</i>,
“cheese”, equivalent to Greek <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">turos</i>,
in Dreros 1 bilingual inscription)?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The same sequence of signs is found on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">HT Wc
3914a-b </i></b>with a goat ideogram (AB22), and this suggests goat-cheese; and
the supposed QE might be a depiction of a round block of cheese.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">HT
47a.1-2, HT 119.3</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> (clay tablets
from Hagia Triada)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">KU BA NA TU</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>kubanatu:</span></i><span lang="">
“cheese”; Akkadian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gubnatu</i>, Aramaic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gûbnâ</i>, Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gbînâ </i>(Job 10:10).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>AP Za2 </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Two fragments of a
cylindrical jar for offerings, from Apodoulou)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The latter part of the formula is
preserved:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">[U NA KA] NA SI . I PI NA MA [ . . . ]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KU
BA NA TU</b> NA TE [</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">] PI MI NA TE . I NA YA RE TA [ . . .]
QA<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ikubanatunate:</i> enclosed in this
combination is a word for “cheese” (Akkadian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gubnatu</i>, and presumably that is what the Linear A spelling KUBANATU
represents); see also <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">HT 47a.1-2 </i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> HT 119.3 </i></b>above.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">piminate: </i>preposition <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bi</i> (“in, as”), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">minate</i> could correspond to Arabic and West Semitic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">min<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">h.</span>at,</i> “gift, tribute, offering”. Note also <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">minute</i> (Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mn<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">h</span>.wt</i>,
plural), possibly “offerings” (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT 106.1,
86a.5, 95ab</b>).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>inaya: </span></i><span lang="">one faint
possibility would be “my wealth”; Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’ôn</i>,
“power, wealth”; or Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">h.</span>ên</i>, “grace,
favour”; or Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘ayin</i>, “eye”,
Akkadian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>inu</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>FISH</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HT 6b BI</span></i><span lang=""> </span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Clay
tablet from Hagia Triada) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>daki </span></i><span lang="">(Hebrew<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> dâgîm, </i>“fishes”) in a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kappa(qe) </i>document, with a word<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> sama </i>(fish?).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HT 34 </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">samuku (monogram) 100 </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">If this is the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">samk</i>, “fish”, attested in Arabic but not yet in West Semitic, then
this strengthens the hypothesis that the fish-sign in the early alphabet was S
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">samk</i>) rather than D (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dag</i>).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[12]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The number 100 may be compared with a later
catch of 153 (John 21:11). However, another possibility is Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">s.</span>mq(m), </i>Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">s.</span>immuqîm</i>, “raisins”
(2 Samuel 16:1).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">GRAINS</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">HT 86</i>
</span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Clay tablet
from Hagia Triada)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">KU NI
SU </span></i><span lang="">GRAIN<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">SARU</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kunisu:</i> “emmer wheat”, known from
Akkadian and Aramaic.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[13]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">saru: </i>possibly “barley”, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u></i>‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">r </i>in Ugaritic.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[14]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SAFFRON</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IO Za 6</span></i></b><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Crocus shaped bowl, for
saffron?)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[15]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">TANAI <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.
</b>SOUTINU <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">. </b>INATAIZUDISIKA <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">. </b>YASASARAME</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">We give our offering …<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>your (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">-ka</i>?)
…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">HT
110a </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Clay tablet from Hagia
Triada, broken)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">SI? DU KRA KU MI</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">CYP
20 </span></i><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KU
PA?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">KU RO <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">100</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>krakumi: </span></i><span lang="">Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">karkom</i>, saffron” (from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crocus sativus</i>) used for flavour and
colour. The unidentified sign *AB34 is here read as KRA (see the inventory of
syllabograms).</span><span lang=""><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2017/06/aegean-syllabic-signs.html">aegean-syllabic-signs.</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>kupa: </span></i><span lang="">perhaps related
to Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">koper</i>, “henna”, another
colouring agent.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[16]</span></span></span></span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BLOOD</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SY Za
1 </b>(Circular libation table from Kato Syme)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">A TA I <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SO WA YA <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b>
I DA MI <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.</b> YA [</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">“I bring my offering of blood, O…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>idami:
</i>“blood”; this could be a plural form, as used in Hebrew (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">damim</i>) for shed blood (Genesis 4:10);
the Semitic root is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’dm</i> “be red”, and
“blood” is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">adam(m)u</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">adamatu</i> in Akkadian; Hebrew has <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dam</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’adamat</i> (together in Deuteronomy 32:43);<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>cp. “blood of my sacrifice” (YHWH in Exodus 23:18); blood
libations are mentioned with disapproval in Psalm 16:4.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IO Za 2</span></i></b><span lang=""> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Miniature square libation
table from Iouktas)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">This has the usual offering formula (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">atai sowaya</i>), without specifying the
nature of the substance offered, but presumably fluid, and “blood” is
apparently mentioned at the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sirute</i> it adds:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">TA NA RA TE U TI NU <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">. </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I DA [</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">“You will fulfil our tokens” (?) “blood”
(?)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tanarute:</i> possibly from one of the two <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nlh </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>roots in Hebrew: “finish”, “obtain”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">utinu: </i>perhaps Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’ôt</i>, “sign”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ida</i>[: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">idami</i>, “blood”, as in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SY Za1</b>
above?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KY Za 2</span></i></b><span lang=""> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Ladle from Kythera)</i> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">DA MA TE (the entire inscription)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">damate: </i>“blood”, here as a feminine
collective noun; or these three inscriptions may be referring to “grape-blood”,
meaning the juice of grapes (as in Genesis 49:11, Deuteronomy 32:14 ), and they
would thus belong under the heading WINE, above.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ANIMAL</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">IO Za
3 </i></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Circular
table fragment from Iouktas peak sanctuary)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">A TA I SO WA YA . AU [</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">AU is a pig’s head</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IO Za 5</span></i></b><span lang=""> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fragment of a religious
object)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">iyarediya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>iyapa</i>[ “my beautiful young” (?)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>iyarediya: </span></i><span lang="">Hebrew
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yeled</i>, Arabic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">walad, </i>“boy” or “young animal”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">iyapa[: yp </i>refers to “beauty” in West
Semitic; but this could be Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ypt</i>,
“female calf” (Arabic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yafanat</i>).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The Phoenicians were known to practice
human sacrifice, of their young, but this is ambiguous.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">PK Za
11 </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Square offering receptacle)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">atai
sowae . adikitete dupure . piteri . akoane . asasarame.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">unarukanati
. ipinamina . sirudu . inayapaqa.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">This is a different dialect: for –<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ya </i>(“my”) we see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–e; </i>for<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> ya-(</i>O!<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">) </i>we find <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a-</i> (with two names of deities, apparently).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unarukanati:</i> “and we will receive<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">” </i>(perhaps <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lq<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">h</span>.</i>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>piteri akoane:</span></i><span lang="">
“the firstborn of my livestock”(?); Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">p<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">t.</span>r</i>, “firstborn”; root<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> qny</i>. “possess”, Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">miqneh</i>, Arabic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">qunwat, </i>“property”, “cattle”; the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">–e </i>on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">akoane</i> could be for
-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ya</i>, “my”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">inayapaqa: </i>root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pq</i> (Ugaritic), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pwq</i> (Hebrew),
“obtain”?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KN Za
10</i></span></b><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Square libation receptacle)</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">DAWA
[ ] DAWATO: </span></i><span lang="">the root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dwy </i>expresses “sickness” (Ugaritic, Hebrew, Arabic); hence “the
unwell person” and “illness”? The word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dwt</i>
(alphabetic: door, nail, cross) appears on Sinai inscription 376.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[17]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PR Za 1 </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Stone box, a libation
receptacle)</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">TA NA SU TE KRO? KE<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SE TO I YA A SA SA RA ME</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tanasute: </i>“is placed”, root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>s</u>yt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>kroke</i>: “your (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ke?</i>) receptacle” (Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kli</i>)?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">setoiya:</i> “my libation” (root <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">s</span></u>ty</i>).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>VESSELS</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HT 31</span></b><span lang=""> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Clay tablet from Hagia Triada)</i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[18]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">The tablet has a piece missing on the left
side; various kinds of vessels are depicted, with superscript words. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">puko: </i>cp. Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bk</i>, “goblet, large cup”; Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pak,
</i>which was the container for the oil that Samuel used to anoint Saul (1
Sam10:1); the pot (A<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">410</b>VAS) standing
next to it seems to have two handles and three legs, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">puko</i> may not be a caption for it after all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">qapa </i>(or<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> qaba):</i> presumably not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quppa</i>
(Akkadian, Hebrew, Arabic) “box”; the depiction (A<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">402</b>VAS) does not really suit that; Akkadian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kappu</i>, Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kap</i>, “bowl”
(in Exodus 35:29, made of gold and for pouring).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">supu:</i> written above<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a globular vessel with a stem and a base (A<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">415</b>VAS); Akkadian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sappu</i> and Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sap</i>,
metal bowl (Exodus 12:22 for the blood at the first Passover); cp. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sapa sa zeti</i>, “bowl of olives” (in
section <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">10</b>)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">karopa </i>(or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">karoba</i>): this container (A<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">416</b>VAS)
is similar to the previous one (A<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">415</b>VAS);
the name could correspond to Akkadian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">karpu</i>,
“pot” (cp, Ugaritc <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">krpn</i>, “goblet”).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next
there are three cases of A<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">402</b>VAS; if
the first had a caption, it is lost; the second and third are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">supara</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pataqe.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">supara:</span></i><span lang=""> Ugaritic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spl</i>, Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sépel</i>, “bowl”, in which Yael brought a milk-dtink to Sisera
(Judges. 5:25).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pataqe: </i>no clear counterpart, but cp.
Syriac <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pa<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">t.</span>qa.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sayama: </i>cp. Aramaic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sima</i>, meaning “silver”, or “hidden treasure”.<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>kidemapina: </i>Gordon and Best have WI for PI, but this sign is more
likely to be representing a bee (PI); WI and PI occur together in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KN Zc7</b>; the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kidem</i> part has been recognized as “gold” (Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ketem</i>); another word for “gold”
(refined, fine gold) is Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">paz, </i>Aramaic
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">piz</i>, Ugaritic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">p<u>d</u></i>; if the NA were the similar ZA (‘ankh symbol) or DI
(net), then we would have this; but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pina</i>
could lead us to corals<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>or pearls
(Proverbs 31:10).<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KE 1</i></b>
(Kea)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kasa</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">Possibly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kasu</i>: “cup” or “beaker”. Examples: bowl from Knossos (Tekke)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[19]</span></span></span></span></a>
with Phoenician inscription (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ks,</i> with
the name of the owner); and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kst </i>(plural)
on a document from Ugarit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PK Za 17, 18 </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Libation table fragments)</span></i><span lang=""></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>NODA, “bottle” (not IDA), Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nod</i>;
cp. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nodaa </i>in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KO Za1</b>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nudu</i> in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT41</b> (WINE).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KN Zc 7 </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Small bowl from Knossos) </i>AKANU ZATI “olive bowl”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[20]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">AKANU ZATI DURARE AZURA YASARA ANANE WIPI
[<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KN Zc 6 </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="">(Small bowl from Knossos) </span></i><span lang=""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KRATIRI (Greek <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">krater</i>) “bowl”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">KRATIRI ADIDAKITI PAKU NIYANU YUKUNAPAKU ….</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="">Taking these two objects together (and they
seem to be miniature versions of the larger vessels bearing their names) we
look at Exodus 24:6: “Moses took half the blood and put it in bowls” (Hebrew <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’agganot</i>, Septuagint Greek <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">krateras</i>). Both these texts seem to include a
deity, but the identities of the gods are not being discussed in this article. The
mixing-bowl (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">krater)</i> may have a Greek
inscription: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">niyanu</i> resembles <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">neion, </i>“new”, and <i>paku </i>suggests <i>pangkhu </i>"entirely"<i>; </i>though <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yukuna</i> looks like a Semitic word; and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">paku</i> could take us back to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">puko </i>in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HT31</b> .<br /><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><b>GOLD RING FROM KNOSSOS</b> <br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Knossos Zf 13 Gold Ring</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpGMtw0GOi4256YHridSfKCstS8vfM2Sx_vlBXNHQx5wT_cB4FBXSHcnOu0edhqCP-q3y2O7zMZH7OP9oCgbMs0fITsqMk3JjxqK8TrFA_pf2WHHWr9KaZt6-a83W7fqrTzvW-Q/s351/Kn+Zf+13+gold+ring.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpGMtw0GOi4256YHridSfKCstS8vfM2Sx_vlBXNHQx5wT_cB4FBXSHcnOu0edhqCP-q3y2O7zMZH7OP9oCgbMs0fITsqMk3JjxqK8TrFA_pf2WHHWr9KaZt6-a83W7fqrTzvW-Q/s320/Kn+Zf+13+gold+ring.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>A RE NE SI DI SO PI KE PA YA TA RI</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> I TE RI ME A YA U </b><br /></div><p>If
this is a Semitic inscription, we need to remind ourselves that more
than two dozen consonants have to be accommodated in the Linear A
inventory with one dozen consonants.<br /> Thus, R syllabograms cover R
and L, while S serves for a range of sibilant sounds (S S. Sh Th), and
the gutturals have to be ignored in transcription; P includes B, K
embraces G, and so on. Here am I trying to prove that most Linear A
inscriptions are West Semitic, and there are so many variables that my
readings look illusory, like confidence tricks. The words are not
separated by spaces or marks, but here is an attempt to find some, and
make a coherent statement out of them. <br /><b>ARE</b><i> `al </i>(The
`ayin guttural is ignored, the L is represented by R, and the final -e
should be treated as a "dead" vowel) "upon, about, by". <br /><b>NESI </b>(Hebrew <i>nasi'</i>) "prince, leader, ruler"<br /><b>DI </b>(WS <u><i>d</i></u>) "of"<br /><b>SOPI </b>(Hbr. <i>s.aba'</i>) "host, army"<br /><b>KEPAYATARI</b> (apparently lurking here is one of the names of Crete, that is, <b>Kaptara</b>,
Egyptian <b>Keftiu</b>, Hebrew<b> Kaptor</b>, named in the Bible as the previous
home of the Philistians, and presumably also of the Kaptorians and
Keretians; the YA in the middle is disconcerting; if it were misplaced
from the end of the word it would produce an adjective, <b>Kaptarian</b>)</p><p><b>"By the leader of the army of Kaptar"</b></p>For the rest, ITE could be <i>'et</i> "with" or "the". MEA might be "100". RIME, perhaps from the root <i>rwm</i>,
"be high". The final letter is probably U, though it may be AB34, which
I transcribe as KRA, and here perhaps standing for QRA, the root <i>qr'</i> "call, summon, decree". I would like to get something like "supreme command" out of all this. <br /><b> TERIME </b>could be "offering". <br /> <b>YAU</b> If it is not YAKRA but YA-U we could be looking at the god <b>Yahu</b> (Yahweh of Hosts/Armies, <i>s.ba'ot</i>); but it was the Philistian hordes who came from Crete (Kaptor), not the Children of Israel. However, I will quote this possibly relevant passage from the Bible (Numbers 31:51-53): <br />"Moses and Eleazar the Priest took the <b>gold</b> ... and the total (<i>kol</i>) of the gold of the <b>offering</b> (<i>teruma</i>) that was offered up to <b>Yahweh</b> by the<b> captains</b> of thousands and the captains of hundreds was 16,050 shekels; the men of <b>the army</b> (<i>s.aba'</i>) had taken spoil for themselves individually". <br />This gives us an example of <i>kuru/kol</i>, "total", and <i>teruma</i> "offering", and <i>s.aba'</i> "army".<br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang=""><br />Notice, by the way, that my reading runs spirally from the top to the centre. The Phaistos Disc has the same pattern, and some attempts at decipherment have chosen to start from the centre, while others have read it from the top. If my reading (outer to inner) is correct for the gold ring from Knossos, then the same pattern might apply for the disc from Phaistos.<br /></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Documents relating to Kaptar and Keftiu are examined in Davis 2014:
182-188,</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For an overview of the scripts, with tables of signs, see Davis 2014:
143-157; the Phaistos Disc and the Arkalokhori Ax (same pictorial script as the
Disc, or similar) are consigned to footnote 812.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Gordon 1971: 131-141,
for a concise account of the decipherment of Linear B by Michael Ventris and
others.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Gordon
1971:125-131, on the Cyprian syllabary.</span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Gordon 1971:
141-171, on Linear A and his own part in its decipherment.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The corpus of Cretan pictophonic (“hieroglyphic”) inscriptions is edited
in Olivier and Godet 1996 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Corpus</i>);
p. 19 has a table of possible matchings for various signs in the three systems
(P, A, B). </span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Fischer (1988) makes a case for a Hellenic origin for the two Cretan
scripts. His reading of the Disc has it as a call to arms (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eqe kuriti deniqe</i>, “Listen Cretans and Greeks”).</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Godart and Olivier
1976-1985 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Recueil</i>) 5 volumes
(photographs and drawings); Consani and Negri 1999 (transcriptions, and
glossary)</span><span lang="">.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></b></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[9]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Davis 2014: 3i9-390.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[10]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Gordon 1966: 27.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[11]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Mendenhall 1985: 36</span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[12]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;">Contra Hamilton
2006, 61-75, esp. 62, n. 50, where the fish Samek is denied any existence; this
can be refuted by the presence of a fish in the Samek position in the abagadary
on the Izbet Sartah ostracon, but this defining detail is not seen by the
supporters of D as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dag</i> (Sass 1988:
figures 175-177); the true D (Dalet, door) occurs together with the fish on
Sinai 376 (Sass 1988: figures 91-93).</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[13]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This was noticed by Cyrus Gordon (1966: 26), and elaborated by Jan Best (1989:
7-11), examining varieties of grains.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[14]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Best 1989: 9.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[15]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Davis 2014: 111, 329.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn16" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[16]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Best 1989: 10. In the same place, Best proposes that the presence of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">damu</i>, “blood”, in association with
grain, might refer to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Digitaria
sanguinalis.</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></i></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn17" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[17]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sinai 376 records the sickness of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’s’</i> (Asa) one of the metal-workers at
the turquoise mines; for a photograph see Sass 1998: Fig. 93. <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Colless 1990: 12.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn18" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[18]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Gordon 1966: 26, Plate VII; 1975: 152-154; Best 1989: 1-7.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn19" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[19]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sass 1988: 88-91, Figures 226-230.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn20" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[20]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang=""> </span><span lang="" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Gordon 1966: 27 and 36; he treated this as a magic bowl, bearing an
incantation against demons (one of his fields of expertise); he overlooked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zati,</i> but rightly related <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">akanu </i>to West Semitic ’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aggan, </i>“bowl”;<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> rare</i> could be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">layl, </i>“night”,
and so a night-demon is envisaged.</span><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
</div><p>
<br />
<b>Semitic inscriptions on offering-vessels</b><br />
<b>Apodoulou</b> <br />
<b>AP Za 1</b> Offering bowl<br />
YA TA I SO U YA......<br />
<b>My offering is brought</b><br />
<b>AP ZA 2 </b> Cylindrical jar<br />
... NA SI . I PI NA MA . . . . . .I? KU PA NA TU NA TE<br />
... PI MI NA TE . I NA YA RE TA . . . QA<br />
<br />
I<b>ouktas </b><br />
<b>IO Za <1> <!--1--><!--1--><!--1--><!--1--><!--1--></1></b> Ladle<br />
A YE SA<br />
<b>IO ZA 2 </b> Offering table<br />
A TA I SO WA YA . YA DI KI TU . YA SA SA RA [me . u na ka na] SI I PI NA MA .<br />
SI RU TE . TA NA RA TE U TI NU . I DA . . . . . . . .<br />
<b>I bring my offering, O DN, and we shal lcertainly gather abundantly</b><br />
<b>IO Za 3</b> Offering table fragment <br />
A TA I SO WA YA . AU (!) . . . . . . . <br />
(<i>au</i> is a pig's head, possibly the offering, or perhaps pig-blood)<br />
<b>IO Za 4</b> Offering table fragment<br />
... SO WA .......<br />
<b>IO Za 5 </b>Votive ladle or lamp fragment<br />
... I YA RE DI YA . I YA PA . . . . . .<br />
<b>IO Za 6 </b>Bowl (c. 5 cm diameter) with petaliform rim<br />
TA NA I SO U TI NU . I NA TA I ZU DI SI KA . YA SA SA RA ME<br />
<b>IO Za 7 </b>Offering table fragment<br />
A TA I SO WA YA . YA TI MO . . . . . (dmqt?)<br />
<b>I bring my offering, O DN</b> <br />
<b>IO Za 8 </b> Offering table fragment<br />
A NA TI SO WA YA . . . .<br />
<b>I give my offering </b><br />
<b>IO Za 9 </b> Offering table corner<br />
. . . YA SA SA . . . . <b>O DN</b><br />
. . . U NA KA . . . <b>and we shall gather</b><br />
<b>IO Za 11 </b> Offering table fragment<br />
>. . . NA [MI?] DA DA . . . . <br />
. . . U TI NU . I NA I DA . . . <<br />
<b>IO Za 12</b> Offering table fragment<br />
. . . YA SA || SA RA ME . I TI . . .<br />
<b>IO Za 13 </b> Offering table fragment<br />
. . . MA I . . .<br />
<b>IO Za 14</b> Offering table fragment <br />
. . . RU TE . I DI . . .<br />
<b>IO Za 15 </b> Offering table fragment<br />
. . . I PI NA MA . SI RU . . .<br />
<b>certainly abundantly</b> <br />
<b>IO Za 16</b> Offering table fragment<br />
. . . PG 157/AB123 . YA SA SA RA ME . U NA RU KA (rt <i>lqh.)</i><br />
123 AROMAT ? This symbol seems to represent a beer mug with a strainer on top (cp. Philistian examples?). Reference books do not explain it. The one PG instance has mesh-lines on the top part. Is it equivalent to <i>osuqare (shikr) </i>'beer' in TL Za 1? Yes, it has the same symbol, misread as the syllabogram O (an eye).<br />
<br />
<b>Knossos</b><br />
<b>KN Za !0 </b> Offering table fragments (restored)<br />
. . . <b>.</b> TA NU MU TI . YA SA SA RA MA || NA . DA WA [MI?] DU WA MU? . I YA . . . <br />
root n`m?<br />
<b>KN Za 17 </b>Offering table fragment<br />
YA QE <b>.</b><br />
<b>KN Za 18</b> Offering table<br />
... YA <b>.</b> . . . .YA <b>.</b> YA WA . . . . .<br />
<b>KN Za 19</b> Bowl fragment<br />
KE YU MI (L to R)<br />
A118 (DWO?) MI NA<br />
<br />
<b>Kythera</b> <br />
<b>KY Za 2</b> Ladle<br />
DA MA TE <b>Blood</b><br />
<br />
<b>Palaikastro (</b><b>Petsofas)</b><br />
<b>PK Za 4 </b>Stone cup fragment<br />
A SA SA RA . . .<br />
<b>PK Za 8 </b>Offering table <br />
.. NU <b>.</b> BA E <b>.</b> YA DI KI TE TE <b>.</b> A307 (DWO?) BU RE <b>.</b> TU ME I<br />
YA SA . . . . . . . U NA KA NA SI<br />
I PI . . .<br />
<b>PK Za 9 </b>Offering table pedestal<br />
... YA U? PA? MA I DA SO DI . . .<br />
<b>PK Za 10 </b>Offering table fragment<br />
. . SI <b>.</b> I PI NA MI <b>.</b> SI . . .<br />
<b>PK Za 11 </b>Offering table<br />
A TA I SO WA E <b>.</b> A DI KI TE TE <b>.</b> DU?<br />
PU? RE <b>.</b> PI TE RI <b>.</b> A KO A NE <b>. </b>A<br />
SA SA RA ME <b>.</b> U NA RU KA NA TI <b>.</b><br />
I PI NA MI NA <b>.</b> SI RU DU? <b>. </b>I NA YA PA QA<br />
<b>PK Za 12 </b>Offering table<br />
A TA I SO WA YA <b>. </b>A DI KI TE . . . . . .<br />
. . . SI RU . . . . . . RA ME<br />
A . . . A NE <b>.</b> U NA RU KA NA YA SI <b>.</b><br />
A PA DU PA . . . . . . . . . . . . . YA . . . . . YA PA QA<br />
<b>PK ZA 14</b> Offering table fragment<br />
. . . TU ME? I YA SA SA . . . . .<br />
<b>PK Za 15 </b>Offering table fragment<br />
. . . YA <b>.</b> YA DI KI TE TE KE? BU RE<br />
<b>PK Za 16</b> Offering table corner<br />
. . . TO? SA <b>.</b> BU<br />
. . . RE YA<br />
<b>PK Za 17</b> Offering table corner<br />
. . . I DA <b>.</b> . . .<br />
<b>PK Za 18</b>.Offering table fragment<br />
. . . TE <b>.</b> I DA <b>.</b> YA YA . . . .<br />
<b>PK Za 20</b> Offering table fragment<br />
. . . U NA KA . . .<br />
<br />
<b>Prasa</b><br />
<b>PR Za 1 </b>Stone box (offering receptacle)<br />
TA NA SU TE [DA/RO] KE<br />
SE TO I YA<br />
A SA SA RA ME<br />
<br />
<b>Psychro</b><br />
<b>PS Za 2 </b>Offering table fragments<br />
. . . -RE I/NO KE<br />
TA NA NO/1 SO TI . . . . . . YA TI <b>.</b> YA SA SA RA ME <b>.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Kato Syme</b><br />
<b>SY Za 1</b> Offering table (circular)<br />
A TA I SO WA YA <b>. </b>I DA MI <b>.</b> YA . . . . . <b></b><br />
<b>SY Za 2 </b>Offering table<br />
A TA I SO WA YA <b>.</b> YA SI MA TU OLIV<br />
U NA KA NA SI OLE<br />
A YA<br />
<b>I bring my offering, O DN, OLIVES, and we will gather OIL, indeed</b> <br />
<b>SY Za 3</b> Offering table fragments (circular)<br />
A TA I? SO WA . . . . SE? KA NA SI <b>.</b> TE? . . . . . SI RU TE<br />
<b>SY Za 4 </b>Offering table (circular)<br />
A TA I/NO SO WA YA <b>.</b> YA I NWA ZA <b>|<i> </i></b>BA NI WI<br />
<b>SY Za 5 </b>Offering table (circular)<br />
. . . MI/RA YA <b>. </b>YA WA BA<br />
<b>SY Za 6</b> Offering table (circular)<br />
DA SE/NO RA TE<br />
<b>SY Za 8</b> Offering table fragments (circular) (No <b>7)</b><br />
. . . I SO WA YA <b>.</b> YA YA? (I/NO has 4 fingers and thumb)<br />
<b>SY Za 9 </b>Offering table (circular)<br />
YA PA RA YA SE?<br />
<b>SY Za 10</b> Offering table (circular)<br />
QA SA RA KU<br />
<b>SY Za 11 </b>Offering table (circular)<br />
. . . QA RO/ZA (<b>beer</b>?)<br />
<b>SY Za 12</b> Offering table (circular)<br />
A (just like Cyprian I-I-I = A)<br />
<br />
<b>Troullos</b><br />
<b>TL Za 1 </b>Ladle<br />
A TA I/NO SO WA YA<b> . </b>BEER?/O SU QA RE <b>. </b>(NO PUPIL IN THE EYE)<b><br /></b><br />
YA SA SA RA ME <b>.</b> U NA KA NA SI<br />
. . . NA MA <b>.</b> SI RU . . . .<br />
<b>I bring my offering, beer, O DN, and we shall certainly gather abundantly</b><br />
<b>Vrysinas </b><br />
<b>VR Za 1 </b>Offering table (corner)<br />
I PI NA MA SI RU TE <b></b><br />
<b>certainly abundantly</b><br />
<br />
The Minoans who produced these inscriptions were West Semites; and somehow, they became Eteocretans (though this connection may be a modern mistake); they were really Neo-Cretans, and their genetic heritage may still linger in the population. <br /> It seems to me that some Linear A inscriptions are not Semitic, and an Anatolian language is present in them, and this is supported by personal names attested in documents (Margalit Finkelberg 1991, 79-84, L. Palmer 1965, Myceneans and Minoans)<br />
Nanno Marinatos has produced a book (2010) in which she argues that “palatial Crete” (Bronze-Age Kaptar) belonged in the Near East, comprising Anatolia, Syria, the Levant, and Egypt. She quotes Evans at the head of her Introduction: “Throughout its course Minoan civilization continued to absorb elements from the Asiatic side”. Marinatos reminds us that Kothar, the West Semitic god of arts and crafts, had his abode in Kaptar (and he was also at home in Egyptian Memphis, as Ptah, and perhaps in Mesopotamia as Heyan, if that is Ea/Enki). Accordingly, Marinatos proposes a religious koine of the Mediterranean world, and if Minoan religion was West Semitic, like the Minoan language, then she must be right. Deities and details of the religion have been set aside here, but there is no doubt that the West Semitic pantheon can be found in the Kaptarian documents.<br />
The possibility that one person could handle all these writing systems seems preposterous, and so the reader may justly be suspicious of what has been presented here; but this is the summation of sixty years of research on the scripts of the Mediterranean world. My desire is to give notification of all this before my time is up, and try to move the material from my websites into permanent print.<br />
<br />
Transcription System<br />
’(Aleph) <u>H</u> (Het, H., guttural) <u>K</u> (Kh, palatal fricative) T. (Tet) ‘(Ayin) S (Samek, Sin) Ç (Sadey, ts, ss) <u>S</u> (Shin) <u>T</u> (Th).<br />
<br />
REFERENCE BIBLIOGRAPHY<br />
ALBRIGHT, W.F. 1961. “The Role of the Canaanites in the History of Civilization”. In: G. E. WRIGHT (ed.), The Bible and the Ancient Near East. London, Routledge, pp. 328-362.<br />
BEST, J. 1972. Some Preliminary Remarks on the Decipherment of Linear A. Amsterdam, Adolf M. Hakkert.<br />
BEST, J. 1989. “The Language of Linear A”. In: J. BEST and F. WOUDHUIZEN. Lost Languages from the Mediterranean. Leiden, Brill, pp. 1-34.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1988. “Recent Discoveries Illuminating the Origin of the Alphabet,” In: Abr- Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) 26, pp. 30- 67.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1990. “The Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions of Sinai.” In: Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) 28, pp. 1-52.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1991. “The Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions of Canaan.” In: Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) 29, pp. 18-66.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1992. “The Byblos Syllabary and the Proto-alphabet.” In: Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) 30, pp. 15-62.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1993. “The Syllabic Inscriptions of Byblos: Text D.” In: Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) 31, pp. 1-35.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1994. “The Syllabic Inscriptions of Byblos: Texts C and A.” In: Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) 32, pp. 59-79.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1995. “The Syllabic Inscriptions of Byblos: Texts B, E, F, I, K.” In: Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) 33, pp. 17-29.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1996. “The Egyptian and Mesopotamian Contributions to the Origins of the Alphabet.” In GUY BUNNENS (ed.), Cultural Interaction in The Ancient Near East, Abr-Nahrain Supplement Series 5, pp. 67-76.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1997. “The Syllabic Inscriptions of Byblos: Miscellaneous Texts.” In: Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) 34, pp. 42-57.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 1998. “The Canaanite Syllabary.” In: Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) 35, pp. 28-46.<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 2010. “Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi Arabah.” In: Antiguo Oriente 8, pp. 75-96. http://bibliotecadigital.uca.edu.ar/repositorio/revist as/proto-alphabetic-inscriptions-wadi-arabah.pdf<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 2013. “The Lost Link: The Alphabet in the Hands of the Early Israelites”. In: The ASOR Blog. http://asorblog.org/the-lost-link- the-alphabet-inthe-hands-of-the-early-israelites/<br />
COLLESS, B.E. 2014. “The Origin of the Alphabet: An Examination of the Goldwasser Hypothesis”. In: Antiguo Oriente 12, pp. 71–104. http://bibliotecadigital.uca.edu.ar/repositorio/revist as/origin-alphabet-goldwasser-hypothesis.pdf<br />
COLONNA D’ISTRIA, L. 2012. “Épigraphes alphabétiques du pays de la Mer”. In: N.A.B.U. 3, pp. 61-63.<br />
CONSANI, C. and M. NEGRI. 1999. Testi Minoici Trascritti, con interpretazione e glossario. Roma, CNR.<br />
DARNELL, J.C. 2002. Theban Desert Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert, Vol 1. Chicago, Oriental Institute.<br />
DARNELL J.C., F.W. DOBBS-ALLSOPP, M.<br />
LUNDBERG, P. K. MCCARTER, B. ZUCKERMAN,<br />
and C. MANASSA. 2005. “Two Early Alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi el-Hôl: New Evidence for the Origin of the Alphabet from the Western Desert of Egypt”. In:
The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 59, pp. 67-124.<br />
DAVIS, B. 2014. Minoan Stone Vessels with Linear A Inscriptions. Peeters, Leuven.<br />
DIETRICH,
M. and O. LORETZ. 1988. Die Keilalphabete. Die
phönizisch-kanaanäischen und altarabischen Alphabete in Ugarit.
Münster, Ugarit- Verlag.<br />
DUHOUX, Y. 1977. Le disque de Phaestos: archéologie, épigraphie, edition critique, index. Louvain, Peeters.<br />
DUHOUX, Y. 1982. L’Éteocrétois: Les Textes, la Langue. Amsterdam, J. C. Gieben.<br />
DUHOUX, Y. and A. MORPURGO DAVIES 2008. A Companion to Linear B. Vol. 1. Louvain-La- Neuve, Peeters.<br />
DUNAND, M. 1943. Byblia Grammata. Beyrouth, Imprimerie Catholique.<br />
EVANS, A. 1909. Scripta Minoa. Vol. 1. Oxford, OUP.<br />
FERRARA, S. 2012. Cypro-Minoan Inscriptions. Volume I: Analysis. Oxford, OUP<br />
FERRARA, S. 2013. Cypro-Minoan Inscriptions. Volume II: The Corpus. Oxford, OUP<br />FINKELBERG, M. 1991, "Minoan Inscriptions on Libation Vessels". In: Minos 25, pp. 43-85<br />
FISCHER, S.R. 1988. Evidence for Hellenic Dialect in the Phaistos Disk. Bern, Peter Lang.<br />
GODART, L. and OLIVIER, J-P. 1976-1985. Recueil des Inscriptions en Linéaire A (5 volumes).<br />
GORDON, C.H. 1965. Ugaritic Textbook. Roma, Pontificium Institutum Biblicum.<br />
GORDON, C.H. 1966. Evidence for the Minoan Language. Ventnor, N. J., Ventnor Publishers.<br />
GORDON, C.H. 1971. Forgotten Scripts: The Story of their Decipherment. Harmondsworth, Penguin Books.<br />
GORDON, C.H. 1975. “The Decipherment of Minoan and Eteocretan”. In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1975), pp. 148-158.<br />
HAMILTON, G.J. 2006. The Origins of the West Semitic Alphabet in Egyptian Scripts. Washington, D.C., Catholic Biblical Association of America.<br />
HARING, B. 2015. “Halaham on an Ostracon of the Early New Kingdom?” In: Journal of Near Eastern Studies 74, pp. 189-196.<br />
HUEHNERGARD, J. 1987. Ugaritic Vocabulary in Syllabic Transcription. Atlanta, Scholars Press.<br />
HUEHNERGARD, J. 1989. The Akkadian of Ugarit. Atlanta, Scholars Press.<br />
MARRINATOS, Nanno 2010, Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess: A Near Eastern <i>Koine. </i>Urbana, University of Illinois Press.<br />
MASSON, É. 1974. Cyprominoica. Répertoires. Documents de Ras Shamra. Essais d’interprétation. Göteborg, Paul Åströms Forlag,<br />
MASSON, O. 1983. Les inscriptions chypriotes syllabiques. Paris, Boccard.<br />
MENDENHALL, G.E. 1985. The Syllabic Inscriptions from Byblos. Beirut, American University of Beirut.<br />
NAHM, W. 1981. “Studien zur kypro-minoischen Schrift”. In: Kadmos 20, pp. 52-63.<br />
OLIVIER, J.-P. and GODART, L. 1996. Corpus Hieroglyphicarum Inscriptionum Cretae. Paris, Éditions de Boccard.<br />
OLIVIER, J.-P. 2007. EHTC, Édition Holistique des Textes Chypro-Minoens. Pisa, Roma, Fabrizio Serra.<br />
RAINEY, A.F. 1996. Canaanite in the Amarna Tablets: A Linguistic Analysis of the Mixed Dialect Used by the Scribes from Canaan (4 volumes). Leiden, Brill.<br />
SASS, B. 1988. The Genesis of the Alphabet and its Development in the Second Millennium B.C. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz.<br />
SCHWARTZ, G.M. 2010. “Early Non-Cuneiform Writing? Third-Millennium BC Clay Cylinders from Umm el-Marra”. In: S.C. MELVILLE and A.L. SLOTSKY (eds.), Opening the Tablet Box: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R. Foster. Leiden, Brill, pp. 375-395.<br />
STEINER, R.C. 2011. Early Northwest Semitic Serpent Spells in the Pyramid Texts. Winona Lake, Eisenbrauns.<br />
VENTRIS, M. and J. CHADWICK. 1973. Documents in Mycenaean Greek, 2nd edn. Cambridge, CUP.</p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-90680608232937951662016-08-21T23:46:00.001-07:002024-03-22T01:53:44.090-07:00BYBLOS BOWL INSCRIPTION<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjox1qZnOYzazUCTZM_0ro4FKhoyxt9xaqaSkD0U-w0LURAG8ZL0OQCNL8yoo-tmFhDpJAHgF_f6m3K9JQzwpW1QtzE-krhuHq05AU2RPm1MtHppaJvv8gXiLidrAyKkl7pYGeZDg/s1600/Phonecian+Bowl+8.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQldsXiGYGSyHJZtOxIQ9o04FrOllv696eHKGCbx4DxX4ss5KgS2UCcNSjmTd8Vzcnw7Ox4gL-eaqzJsIzeHoj97r9XeIfu6O5Aq7BRbU56j3iOG5fkn1e6TpSQ_37wY90UvVz3Q/s1600/Phonecian+Bowl+10.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQldsXiGYGSyHJZtOxIQ9o04FrOllv696eHKGCbx4DxX4ss5KgS2UCcNSjmTd8Vzcnw7Ox4gL-eaqzJsIzeHoj97r9XeIfu6O5Aq7BRbU56j3iOG5fkn1e6TpSQ_37wY90UvVz3Q/s320/Phonecian+Bowl+10.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p> <br />This essay will encompass a number of inscribed objects that have been sent to me by their owners; they all appear to have proto-alphabetic inscriptions from ancient Phoenicia.<br /> The antique bowl was (reportedly) discovered at Byblos (Gubla, Gebal), an important maritime city of ancient Phoenicia, on the coast of Lebanon, 32 km north of Beirut. It was in a private collection (1950s) of Jack Colheart (USA), and is now in the possession of Wayne French (Cooranbong, New South Wales).<br />
Information and photographs are deposited <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j5pdoq3qfmqbn6y/AAAuJc_Xb4R0hLqhpb9u5Y6Ia?dl=0">here</a>:<br />
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j5pdoq3qfmqbn6y/AAAuJc_Xb4R0hLqhpb9u5Y6Ia?dl=0<br />
and more photographs here: <br />
<span face=""calibri" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 11pt;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nesl0xhxicz6tqg/AACzMWmpbiDkt0xNBSjADZ1Ra?dl%3D0&source=gmail&ust=1514631189720000&usg=AFQjCNFzeZmHMs7bv1eo57tyMMz2eXibnQ" href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nesl0xhxicz6tqg/AACzMWmpbiDkt0xNBSjADZ1Ra?dl=0" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/sh/<wbr></wbr>nesl0xhxicz6tqg/<wbr></wbr>AACzMWmpbiDkt0xNBSjADZ1Ra?dl=0</a></span> <br />
It has an inscription, in a recognizable form of the Phoenician alphabet. I would date it in the Bronze Age (before 1200 BCE) rather than the Iron Age (after 1200 BCE, the Biblical Period),<br />
This imprecisely provenanced object is unlikely to be a forgery, in my opinion, though a replica has been made, as shown here:<br />
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5P_7c9H1hyRXlS1lNdjShepSEmhtk1klBV1BA3L04TIDNsZGjOxxvccN1VxhMk8Lz_btOme35gC09ZXDCVimSA8UvCLrMXcObsDuaA-SKDPsWvgWNaMiGDwOvhDFy7kQRJF0svg/s1600/Middle+Eastern+Bowl+4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5P_7c9H1hyRXlS1lNdjShepSEmhtk1klBV1BA3L04TIDNsZGjOxxvccN1VxhMk8Lz_btOme35gC09ZXDCVimSA8UvCLrMXcObsDuaA-SKDPsWvgWNaMiGDwOvhDFy7kQRJF0svg/s320/Middle+Eastern+Bowl+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
In studying the inscription we can start with Paul Maloney's useful transcription of the text.<br /> Click once on the image to see an enlargement, and also to gain access to other pictures of the bowl):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvuVxvpCnTMcvxwA9nZIS7MUPQpIJnSGHku-HTygTSkfg3zMj96ViUqQGaNGolSInzrZcclt8xXtDZlEPKEtQ6krKy_QLbihvuzR5HekeWGwIEFxIXTPzxEA-kq1qt0a_X35YKw/s1600/Inscription+Written.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvuVxvpCnTMcvxwA9nZIS7MUPQpIJnSGHku-HTygTSkfg3zMj96ViUqQGaNGolSInzrZcclt8xXtDZlEPKEtQ6krKy_QLbihvuzR5HekeWGwIEFxIXTPzxEA-kq1qt0a_X35YKw/s320/Inscription+Written.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>
For identifications of the letters of the protoalphabet, refer to this essay: <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">Alphabet and Hieroglyphs.</a><br />
<br />
In our search for the various letters (assuming a maximum of twenty-two consonant-signs, which is typical for Byblos) we start with the rectangles (including the squares). These are both unusual forms for the letters they represent, especially as compared with the Phoenician alphabet as used at Byblos in the Iron Age.<br />
<b>[H.] </b>The double or divided rectangle (1, 6, 11, 15) is wide for the letter Het (H. or Kh), but we can safely accept this identification; its original form was a house with a courtyard.<br />
<b>[B] </b>The square (12, 14, 21, 26) must be Bet (B, Beta), showing the ground plan of a simple house, and this is very archaic.<br />
<b>['] </b>There is at least one ox-head (8, and also possibly 23) for Alep (Alpha, ', glottal stop); this stance is surprisingly archaic; in the standard Phoenician alphabet it is on its side, and in its evolution it can appear in an inverted form, as in Alpha..<br />
<b>[T]</b> The cross (29) is Taw (the signature mark of an illiterate person).<br />
<b>[M] </b>The water-wave sign is present, with two waves (9) or three (5).<br />
<b>[Sh]</b> One example (4) of Shin (originally depicting a human breast, <i>shad</i>) in an oblique stance.<br />
<b>[G] </b>Gimel (originally a boomerang) is there (7). <br />
<b>[N] </b>We look for a snake, and 25 and 28 are tempting in this regard, but the simple vertical stroke (2, 3, 13, 18) is also a possibility; there may be some faint heads and tails lurking on them..<br />
<b>[L] </b>25 and 28 could be Lamed, and they make a nice hypothetical sequence at the end: LB`LT, "to Ba`alat" ("the Lady", the title given to the chief goddess of Byblos).<br />
<b>[`] </b>`Ayin is an eye, and 27 seems round enough for that letter.<br />
<b> [W] </b>The Y-shaped character (17) would be Waw rather than Yod (which is not found in this text).<br />
<b>[S.] </b>23 is a good candidate for Sadey, which was originally a tied bag.<br />
<b>[T.] </b>Tet is usually a circle containing a cross, and 20 is the nearest sign to that formula; it actually matches the South Arabian letter for Z. (which is not in the Phoenician alphabet, but was in the longer form of the early alphabet). In the inscription of King ShPT.B`L of Byblos, the T. in his name has (anomalously) only one stroke in the circle, but in its second appearance it has two, though the circle is not clear!<br />
<b>[S] </b>Samek is normally a spinal column (--|-|-|, <i>samk </i>"support") but also a fish (<i>samk</i>); I suspect that 19 is the tail and 20 is the body of a fish (they are joined on the bowl, not separated as on the drawing).<br />
The missing letters are <b>P </b>(possibly there, in position 24), <b>K</b> (a strange absence, given its relative frequency, and the expectation of the word <i>ks, </i>'cup, bowl'), <b>R </b>(also abnormal), <b>H</b>, <b>W</b>, <b>Z</b>, <b>D<i>,</i></b> <b>Q</b> (but these five are in the less frequent half of the table). We might wish that the inscription had been longer to see what forms the writer had for these absentees.<br />
Interpreting the text has been a year-long process for me. In sequencing the continuous stream of letters (no separation of words by spaces or marks) many possibilities have been tried, but I offer here what seems to be the best division of the words that I can envisage, beginning and ending at the point where Wayne French sees an oblique line, indicating the end of the sentence; and I see the inscription as a single statement about the contents and context of the bowl.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvuVxvpCnTMcvxwA9nZIS7MUPQpIJnSGHku-HTygTSkfg3zMj96ViUqQGaNGolSInzrZcclt8xXtDZlEPKEtQ6krKy_QLbihvuzR5HekeWGwIEFxIXTPzxEA-kq1qt0a_X35YKw/s1600/Inscription+Written.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEvuVxvpCnTMcvxwA9nZIS7MUPQpIJnSGHku-HTygTSkfg3zMj96ViUqQGaNGolSInzrZcclt8xXtDZlEPKEtQ6krKy_QLbihvuzR5HekeWGwIEFxIXTPzxEA-kq1qt0a_X35YKw/s320/Inscription+Written.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<b>H.NN </b> <b>ShMH. </b> <b>H.G </b><b>'M</b> <b><br /> T.H.BN </b><b>BH.LB WN<br /> SB` N? S.P LB`LT /<br /></b></p><p> <b>H.NN</b>: the 'grace' root (as in the names Hanna and Johann).<br />
<b>ShMH.</b>: the 'joy' and 'rejoice' root (Deuteronomy 16:14, "you shall rejoice in your feast"); in Hebrew this is written with Sin rather than Shin, but Phoenician writing did not make this distinction.<br />
<b>H.G</b>: 'feast' or 'festival'. The H. is understood as serving for the final and first letter of the adjacent words: ShMH. (H.)G; or else it is an error of haplography.<br />
<b>'M</b>: 'mother', here presumably referring to a goddess.<br />
<b>T.H.B</b>: this looks like a scribal error for <b>T.BH.</b>, the 'slaughter' word, and the noun having the meaning 'meat for a festival offering' (attested in Mishnaic Hebrew). If the following stroke is N, it could make the word plural; but -<i>m<b> </b></i>would be expected, rather than Aramaic and Arabic <i>-n, </i>though this plural form is found in the Sinai inscriptions, in <i>rb ns.bn</i>, 'chief of the overseers'.<br />
<b>BH.LB</b>: the L sign and the B are at point where a triangular piece has been glued back into place; they are the same as the subsequent LB (25, 26) but here the L is lower; this could be H.LB 'milk', with the preposition B 'in' or 'with'; or else 'the cream/fat', meaning 'the choicest', as in 'the best of the oil, wine, wheat' (Numbers 18:12).<br />
<b>WN</b>: 'wine', and the <i>w<b> </b></i>is an indication of the Bronze Age; <i>wn</i> also occurs in the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">Wadi el-Hol </a>inscription (horizontal) in the phrase 'plenty of wine' (<i>rb wn</i>); it is found in its later form (w>y) as YN on the<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/winewhine"> Beth-Shemesh ostracon</a> (Iron Age I).<br />
<b>SB'</b>: the tipple root; here a noun, 'liquor', probably 'beer'; found as 'tippling' or 'carousing' on the<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/winewhine"> Beth-Shemesh ostracon</a>.<br />
<b>S.P</b>: the reading is not certain but appropriate, meaning 'overflowing', as in 'he made the waters overflow them' (Deuteronomy 11:4).<br />
<b>LB`LT</b>: 'to/for Ba`alat', that is, the Lady of Byblos (B`LT GBL) who is known from Byblian inscriptions of Iron Age II; 'Ba`alat' appears frequently in the inscriptions of the Sinai turquoise mines in the Bronze Age (example, Sinai 345, votive sphinx: <i>z nqy lb`lt</i>, "this is my offering to the Lady", identified with the Egyptian goddess Hathor).<br /> The leaning stroke after this marks the end and the beginning of the inscription.<br />
<br />
<b>Translation</b>: "<b>Gracious</b> (H.NN) <b>and joyous</b> (ShMH.) <b>is the Feast</b> (H.G)<b> of the Mother</b> ('M): <b>sacrifice-meat</b> (TBH.) <b>with</b> (B) <b>the finest</b> (H.LB) <b>wine</b> (WN) <b>and</b> <b>beer</b> (SB') <b>overflowing </b>(S.P) <b>for </b>(L) <b>the Lady</b> ( B`LT)".<br />
<br />
Notice that every word of this Phoenician text (including B`LT!) can be read with the aid of a Classical Hebrew dictionary, showing the closeness of the two West Semitic dialects or languages.<br />
<br />
This artefact is now highlighted in the journal <i>Damqatum</i> 12.<br />
<a href="http://bibliotecadigital.uca.edu.ar/repositorio/revistas/damqatum12.pdf">http://bibliotecadigital.uca.edu.ar/repositorio/revistas/damqatum12.pdf</a> <br />
See pages 6-7, and footnote 13 on p. 19.<br />
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<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2016/08/byblos-bowl-inscription.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2016/08/byblos-bowl-inscription.html </a><br /> <br />The importance of this inscription is that it supplies a rare example the proto-alphabet from Phoenicia in the Bronze Age. It is not clear whether it is a direct ancestor of the Phoenician consonantal alphabet of the Iron Age, or one of several types of the early alphabet script.<br /> Thus, three tablets from Phoenicia have come to my attention, which have a unique set of proto-alphabetic signs, notably:<br /> a triangle for <b>D</b> (like Delta), <br />a human head with an eye for <b>R</b>, <br />the house with a corridor on the left and a room on the right for <b>B</b>, <br />an eye with a large pupil (not a circle with a dot) for <b>`Ayin</b>, <br />an ox-head with an eye for <b>'Alep</b>, <br />a sun-symbol with two serpents, the disc, and three rays, for <b>Sh</b>,<br />a rearing snake with a bend in its tail for <b>N</b>,<br />X rather than + for <b>T</b>,<br />/\/\/\/\ for <b>M.<br /> </b> This collection of letters is different from the set of consonantograms on the bowl, and seems to be older, and definitely belonging in the Bronze Age; but both are not Proto-syllabic, or Proto-consonantal, but variant forms of the Neo-consonantary.<br /></p><div>The first question that arises is which side is the top of each tablet. The heads of the man, bull, and snake show the correct orientation.<br /></div><div>(1) The tablet with 7 lines possibly says (reading from right to left)<br /></div><div>LTTN | ' To TNT?<br /></div><div>DTN | B` our Lady<br /></div><div>LTQ?RBT Ba`alat (Mistress) Great One <br /> OR `lt qrbt '(lp) "whole burnt offering of a bull"?</div><div>' | ShLM a peace-offering?<br /></div><div>KShMR as protection<br /></div><div>L`BDB<br /></div><div>`LT for `Abd-Ba`alat (Servant of the Mistress)<br /><br /></div><div>The bovine head in the fourth line could be a logogram for "bull".<br /></div><div>The <b>K </b>in line 5 is a hand (kap, palm of hand), a circle with three fingers pointing downwards.<br />The two cases of <b>Sh</b> are surprising, as they represent the sun (shimsh), but the letter for Sh in the later Phoenician alphabet is \/\/, a human breast (shad, or thad). This is a case where the syllabic signs for a particular consonant in the the Protosyllabary (here SHA and SHI) are used in the proto-alphabet; another example is <b>K</b>, either kap (hand), as above, or kipp (palm branch), in the early inscriptions at the Sinai mines.<br /></div><div>Unfortunately, there is a great deal of ambiguity in the text! If the provenance of these artefacts was known, we would have more context to guide us. It seems that they come from a temple or a"high place" where sacrifices would be offered on an altar.<br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>For my theory of the "Early Alphabet" as the "Quadrinity",<br />E = 2M (monosyllabaries) + 2C (consonantaries) squared<br />[Protosyllabary > Protoconsonantary > Neoconsonantary > Neosyllabary]<br />refer to: <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/04/another-lakish-inscription.html">https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2021/04/another-lakish-inscription.html</a><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-47151582411101645702016-05-20T20:38:00.007-07:002023-10-03T17:40:40.707-07:00CRETO-SEMITICA<p><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;"></span><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2017/06/aegean-syllabic-signs.html">KAPTAR REVISITED<br />AEGEAN SYLLABIC SIGNS</a><a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2017/06/aegean-syllabic-signs.html"><br /></a></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Here I set out on a quest for a Semitic language in ancient Crete</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For Linear A, I am basically using: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Carlo Consani e Mario Negri, <i>Testi Minoici Trascritti con Interpretazione e Glossario</i> (Roma 1999). More readily accessible for us all is John Younger's relevant website<br /><a href="http://people.ku.edu/~jyounger/LinearA/">http://people.ku.edu/~jyounger/LinearA/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For Eteocretan: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Yves Duhoux,<i> L'Étéocrétois. Les textes, la langue </i>(Amsterdam 1982). An amazing monograph.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For the Semitic viewpoint on the evidence: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Cyrus H. Gordon, <i>Evidence for the Minoan Language </i>(Ventnor 1966)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">C. Gordon, The Decipherment of Minoan and Eteocretan, <i>Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society</i> 1975, 148-158.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Jan Best, The Language of Linear A, in Jan Best and Fred Woudhuizen, <i>Lost Languages from the Mediterranean</i> (Leiden 1989) 1-35. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Gordon and Best have numerous publications on the subject.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Of course, I am basically reliant on L. Godart and J.-P. Olivier, <i>Recueil des inscriptions en Linéaire A</i> (5 volumes).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The useful book that has stimulated me to look into this subject again: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Brent Davis, <i>Minoan Stone Vessels with Linear A Inscriptions</i> (Leuven-Liège 2014).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I have always been reluctant to use the term <b>MINOAN</b>, which was coined by Arthur Evans from the name of Minos, the legendary King of Crete, and is currently applied to an epoch stretching from around 3000, or else 2000, BCE, but certainly in the time when palaces were built. What I wanted to know was whether Minos reigned in the period of Linear A (before the 15th Century BCE) or Linear B (the era when Mycenaean Greek was the official language used at Knossos, as it was in the cities of the mainland, such as Pylos). Given the tradition that Minos lived a few generations before the Trojan War, the end of the Bronze Age seemed to be the correct time for him. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> The story of Minos and his Minotaur, in which young people from Greece were brought to Crete as a sacrificial form of tribute, suggests to me that Minos was a tyrant who had conquered Crete and was subduing Greece, and that the language and era of Linear A was his. Seeing that a Semitic language is detectable in Linear A documents, the question now becomes: was Minos Semitic or Hellenic?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Since Minos was traditionally associated with Europa and Kadmos (clearly from the Semitic East, <i>qadm)</i> he would not be Hellenic but Semitic.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> The terrm 'Eteocretan' (Duhoux <i>Étéocrétois</i>) seems to say echt-Cretan, original Cretan; Homer put the word into the mouth of Odysseus, to identify one of the ethnic groups in Crete, but it is now applied to the language of the late tablets inscribed with a Semitic language in Greek alphabetic letters (Cyrus Gordon). The implication seems to be that the original Cretans were Semitic. But I doubt this. The so-called Eteocretans may have been the dominant people of the Minoan period (17th century onwards) but they were Semitic interlopers who had invaded the island and imposed their rule. A possible reason for this invasion was the expulsion of the 'Hyksos' Semites from northern Egypt, though Crete might have become part of this empire even earlier. (Conversely, the Philistines who settled in Palestine at the end of the Bronze Age, and who reportedly </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">came from Kaphtor [Amos 9:7, Jer 47:4; cp. the Kaphtorim from Kaphtor in the region of Gaza, Dt 2:23] which is undoubtedly <b>Crete </b>[Kaptara] may have been Semitic; the Philistian language has not been clearly identified )</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> In this scenario a strong but not necessarily exclusive Hellenic presence pervaded Crete before the Semitic invasion, and there was a resurgence in the Mycenean period and beyond, to the present day. My suspicion is that the two logo-syllabic (unhelpfully called 'hieroglyphic') writing systems were constructed acrophonically on the basis of Hellenic.The northern script is found at Knossos and Mallia; the southern script is represented by the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/phaistos-disc.html">Phaistos disc</a> and a few tablets, and the disc has been read by Steven Fischer as an account of a naval invasion, written in a Hellenic dialect; and I suggest that it might well be the Semites who are attacking Phaistos. Thereafter, the </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">official </span>script is Linear A (which is a stylized form of the Knossos script, not the Phaistos script).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> With regard to Kadmos: he is said to have introduced writing to the Greeks, and this is usually thought to refer to the Grecian alphabet, which emerges in the 8th Century BCE, the time of Homer. Another possibility is that the model of the acrophonic logo-syllabary, as known from Byblos and elsewhere, was what came from the East, and was the basis for the two pictophonic writing systems of Crete, specifically the Knossos and Phaistos scripts.</span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>(1) Kingship</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Evidence for kingship is hard to find in Crete, and at this point I am struggling to detect a word for it in the Linear A and Eteocretan documents that are available at present. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> When the language is West Semitic (Phoenician, Hebrew, Arabic) the word is <b><i>malku/malik/melek</i></b>. In East Semitic (Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian) it is <i><b>sharru</b> </i>(<i>$arru</i>). In the decipherment of the Ugaritic cuneiform alphabet script, and in the cracking of the West Semitic (Phoenician) alphabet, and its predecessor the West Semitic (Byblian) syllabary, <i>mlk</i> was an important clue. See my summary article, which does not mention <i>mlk</i>!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><<a href="https://www.academia.edu/12894458/The_origin_of_the_alphabet">https://www.academia.edu/12894458/The_origin_of_the_alphabet</a>></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html</a>></span> <br /><span style="font-size: small;">My search for an instance of <i>m-r-k</i> (<i>r </i>represents <i>l</i> or <i>r</i>) in the Cretan texts has been fruitless, thus far. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Nevertheless, there may be a word for 'ruler' in Praisos 2 (Eteocretan): MOSEL, Hebrew <i>moshel</i> (Gordon 1966, 11). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">And <i>malik </i>can be seen (and also <i>sar</i>) in Cypro-Cretan (Cypro-Minoan) documents:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Enkomi cylinder, lines 2-3 <br /> <<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cypriancylinder">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cypriancylinder</a>>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Cyprian tablet from Ugarit (RS 20.25) line 19 <br /><<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/ccnamelist">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/ccnamelist</a>></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">On the Hagia Triada tablets a term SARU occurs (86, 94, 95, 123); also SARO (9, 17, 19, 42); and SARYA (11. 18, 28, 30, 32).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Jan Best (11-15) has studied HT 11b. one of the SARYA tablets (he transcribes SARA2 as <i>sari</i>, 'my king').</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">He notes that the two words accompanying it could be Semitic titles. My version of these would be: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">RUZUNA = Hbr <i>razon</i>, 'dignitary, potentate' (root <i>rzn</i>, 'have weight'); in Proverbs 14: 28 it is in parallel with <i>mlk</i>, 'king').</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">SAQERI = Hbr <i>sokher</i>, 'trader'; in I Kings 10:28, it refers to 'the king's buyers' (Solomon's agents).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The tablet ends with the KURO, meaning 'total', and that seems to correspond to Semitic <i>kullu</i>, Hbr <i>kol</i>, 'all'.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>(2) Numbers </b></span><br />
</p><div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "times new roman";">In
Creto-Semitica (1) Kingship, I struggled to find a Semitic word for
'king'. In Linear A texts, SARU was a faint possibility (East Semitic <i>sharru</i> 'king', or Hebrew <i>sar </i>'prince, officer, leader'), but no trace of West Semitic<i> malku</i>. However, Eteocretan <i>
MOSEL</i> (written in Greek alphabet letters) could be <i>moshel</i> 'ruler' (Hebrew). </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> We now begin a
quest for <b>numbers/numerals</b> in <b>Linear A </b>texts ('<b>Eteocretan A</b>', perhaps) and '<b>
Eteocretan H'</b> texts (Hellenic, in that they use the Greek alphabet,
but the language is the same as in some, if not all, Linear A
inscriptions). I must ask from the outset this serious question: if the
language is indeed West Semitic, why did they not use the Byblos
syllabary in the Bronze Age, and the Phoenician alphabet in the Iron
Age, since Linear A and the Greek alphabet are not suited to a language
which has so many different sounds needing to be separately recorded?<br /> But the Semites used a variety of foreign scripts, starting with their borrowing of the Sumerian system in Mesopotamia, for Babylonian Ccuneiform writing. This plethora of scripts (some Semitic, and some modeled on the West Semitic syllabary and consonantary, and some others, such as Egyptian scripts) is outlined here:<br /><a href="https://www.academia.edu/36973107/The_Mediterranean_Diet_in_Ancient_West_Semitic_Inscriptions._Damqatum_12_2016_3_-_20.Damqatum-The-CEHAO-newsletter-N12-2c-2016.pdf">The Mediterranean Diet in Ancient West Semitic Inscriptions</a><br /><br /></span></span>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> If
we could find the words for the numbers (the names of the numerals) we
could see immediately which language family we are looking at, whether
Afro-Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic), 'Euro-Asiatic' (Indo-European),
'Anatolic', 'Caucasic' (Hurrian), Finno-Ugric (it has been suggested
that Sumerian might belong here, although its numeral-names are entirely
different from Finnish), or an unknown unique tongue. In the latter case, it has been
said that what we see in the Linear A and Eteocretan documents bears no
resemblance to any known language (Yves Duhoux, Brent Davis); but practitioners of the
'discredited' etymological method of decipherment will beg to differ,
along several separate paths, of course, and mine will be the Via
Semitica.</span></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We know the signs of the Cretan numerical scheme: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">it is a decimal system, with digits (|) for 1 to 9, and horizontal strokes (--) </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
for tens; but these ideograms conceal the names of the numbers from us</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> We
accept that KURO introduces the total of the numbers in lists,
particularly on Hagia Triada tablets, but there is an example from
Zakros: Tablet ZA 15ab concerns wine, as the five occurrences of the VIN
ideogram testify. There are ten words in its list, and as usual we
wonder whether they are names of persons (anthroponyms), places
(toponyms), or things (common nouns); each has an accompanying numeral.</span></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The first line of ZA 15ab has: *47 ku na sa VINa (and no numeral).</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">SA is a simple Y-shaped representation of a cuttle-fish (<i>*sapia, sêpia</i>).</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">NA is an eye with a tear-flow (<i>nama</i>)</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">KU is dog-head, with an eye and a protruding tongue (<i>kuôn</i>).</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">AB 47 is a circle with X, and it might be YI, or a variant of AB46 YE, representing a person walking.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A sequence <i>yikuna</i> looks very Semitic, as a verbal form, from the root <i>kwn, </i>'be'; but the additional SA produces a possible word from the root <i>k-n-s </i>or<i> k-n-sh, </i>'gather, collect'. When we come to examine the formulas on offering-tables, we will encounter <i>unakanasi</i>,
and 'collect' would fit the context of giving and gathering that a
Semitic reading reaps from those inscriptions. Here the introductory
word might refer to the wine that has been collected; it is a heading
and therefore does not have a number.</span></span>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>ZA
4ab tells a similar story about wine, but it is damaged, and the first
line is lost; it shares two words with ZA 15ab: kadi and sipiki. ZA 5b
also has sipiki, again with a wine connection, but much of the text is
lacking on both sides. Hebrew <i>spq</i> denotes 'abundance' and has been used with reference to wine; </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
but Semitic </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><i>sh-p-k </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">has the meaning 'pour'; the universe is riddled with coincidences, and perhaps neither of these choices is valid</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">. WS <i>kad</i> 'jar'
or 'jug' was for liquids or grains. If these two items were containers
(for pouring wine), then the rest of the words would presumably refer to
vessels; but speculation is cheap. Incidentally, the <i>
-i </i>ending could be the indicator of masculine plural (<i>kadi</i>, 'jugs')</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Note also that the Zakros scribe distinguishes I and NO clearly (on ZA 6, for
example): the sign for NO is an upraised hand (in my view it symbolizes <i>kheirôn <b>no</b>mos</i>,
the law of force) with a prominent thumb on the right side; the
I-character might be a suppliant's olive branch wound round with wool ('<i>
<b>i</b>ketêria elaia</i>) with the end of the thread projecting on the
right. Also of importance for us is the sign AB34 (on ZA 6a.1) which, I
have long maintained, stands for KRA (it represents a side-view of an
eyeball with the pupil, <i>glênê</i>); and it is not a mere variant of AB35, KRO (<i>klôstêr</i>,
'thread' or 'line') which shows a cord wound on a stick, a measuring
'line'; this same character is the origin of Q in the alphabet (<i>qaw</i>, a 'line'). KRA appears in a Linear A legend </span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">on a bowl from Knossos (KN Zcb), in a word <i>kratiri </i> (=<i>kratêr</i>).</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Turning now to the KURO in ZA 15, the sum of all the numbers (57+10+3+6+2+5+4+5+3) is 95; but the <i>kuro </i>total is divided into two parts: VINa 78, RA VINa 17.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>HT 122b has an interesting addition to this practice (again there are two totals): </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>kuro</i> 31 (122a 8)<i> kuro</i> 65 (122b 5) <i>potokuro</i> 97(?) (122b 6).</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
The <i>potokuro </i>must mean 'grand total', or 'sum total' of the two totals. If it is a Semitic term, perhaps it is <i>bat</i> (Hbr <i>bath</i>) <i>kul,</i>
'daughter total'; but this could possibly imply that the new total is
less than its two parent-totals, but not necessarily; I have not found
an analogy for this.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Here is another thought: it says 'pan-total', 'all in all'. Could <i>
poto</i> be related to <i>pant- or pantô(s)</i>, as a Greek loan-word?
My suspicion is that there was a Hellenic dialect lurking in Crete
(before the Mycenians came) and it may even be recorded on the imprinted
disc from Phaistos, near Hagia Triada.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
KIRO</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> is
another word on the administration tablets; it is believed to mean
something like 'deficit'; at the moment I can only suggest a faintly
possible connection with Hebrew <i>kl'</i>, 'hold back, withhold')</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Is there an equivalent to <i>kuro</i>
in the late Eteocretan H inscriptions? These are not accounting documents, so there is no counterpart for </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">'total'</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">. But </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">on Praisos 1 and 3 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
there is a sequence KLES </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">(Kappa Lambda Epsilon Sigma)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><i>. </i>Cyrus Gordon understood</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
<i>kl es</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"> as West Semitic <i>kol 'ish</i>, 'every man'. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>One Semitic numeral that stands out in decipherment exercises is the <a href="http://The tablet [HT 11b] ends with KURO, meaning 'total', and that seems to correspond to Semitic kullu, Hbr kol. 'all'. That is how I concluded the first posting on the subject of West Semitic language in Crete, in the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.">number three</a> (3): <i><u>t</u>-l-</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
<i><u>t</u>/sh-l-sh. </i>My search in Linear A texts has not brought
anything like that to light. But Gordon has highlighted three possible
numerals in Praisos 2 (and Yves Duhoux did not take sufficient account
of these in his critique of Gordon's Semitic hypothesis): </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>SPhA[A] (Hbr <i>sheba`</i>) 'seven'; TSAA (Hbr <i>tesha`</i>) 'nine'; SAR (Hbr <i>
`eser</i>) 'ten' (or perhaps TORSAR, 'twelve').</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There
is enough material here already to show that these two Cretan media of writing
(Linear A, Greek alphabet) were not adequate for recording West
Semitic: S syllabograms and Sigma had to cover a batch of sibilants (s,
ts, shin, sin, <u>
t</u>, z); and 'gutturals' had no letters to accommodate them ('alep, `ayin, gh, h, h., <u>h</u>). This will also make it easy for the sceptical to dismiss my case.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><b>(3) Vessels</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">Words for containers have already been considered in section 2, namely kadi (jars?) and sipiki ('pourers', jugs?) in ZA 4 and Za 15. we move now to HT 31 (unfortunately one-third of its text is obliterated); it has depictions of various vessels with their names written above them, and these are probably Semitic. Actually, this tablet should have been saved for the grand finale of my presentation of the evidence, so that it could function as the verifying "tripod" (a </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">Linear B </span></span>tablet with a Greek word ti-ri-po-de, and a drawing of a three-legged vessel confirmed Michael Ventris's decipherment). By coincidence, this Linear A document (HT 31) also depicts a tripod vessel, but there is apparently no name above it. However, my climax will focus on reading sentences (see </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/creto-semitica.html">CRETAN SEMITIC TEXTS</a>), but at this point it is a matter of identifying Semitic vocabulary.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span lang="EN-AU">What <span style="font-family: "georgia";">I am offering on my websites</span> is a
contribution to the decipherment of some intractable West Semitic and Aegean
scripts: the West Semitic logo-syllabary,
the logo-consonantary <span style="font-family: "georgia";">(proto-alphabet)</span>, and the new
syllabary of early Israel; also
the Kaptarian Linear A syllabary of Crete ,
and the Alashiyan syllabary of Cyprus;
and finally some new ideas for reading Eteocretan inscriptions. The use of the
Greek alphabet for the West Semitic language of the Eteocretans is surprising,
given the existence of the Phoenician alphabet, which was entirely suited to
their needs. The same can be said of the Semitic “Minoans” and their adoption
of the Cretan syllabary (Linear A), with its scope for a mere dozen consonants,
when their language had at least twenty-two, and possibly twenty-seven (as
shown by the long and short Canaanian alphabets). Incidentally, this phenomenon
should be kept in mind by anyone attempting to describe the phonology of the
“Minoan” language.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><br /><br /><br />I will set down here a tentative hypothesis: The two main scripts of Crete, emanating from Knossos and Phaistos, are acrophonically based on Hellenic language ("Danaic", if Hellas is anachronistic here). Linear B texts are certainly Greek, and Linear A tablets are West Semitic, but some inscriptions and names must be Anatolic (L.R. Palmer, Margalit Finkelberg). Were the Anatolian inhabitants the Eteocretans?<br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eteocretan
should mean <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">echt</i> (or true) Cretan;
but accepting the Semitic Eteocretans as the original Cretans or Kaptarians is questionable:
possibly Hellenes preceded the Semites, but were subdued by them for a while, under
West Semitic rulers such as the archetypal Minos, and then the tables were
turned.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
In this regard, Homer’s list of ethnic groups in Crete (Odyssey 19.172)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
is either instructive or inscrutable: “Akhaians, great-hearted Eteokretans,
Kudonians, Dorians, Pelasgians”.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span lang="EN-AU">And he mentions Knôsos as the great city where
Minôs reigned; but he does not say in which group Minos belonged.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Are Akhaians placed first, because they were there first? Strabo (around
the beginning of the current era, CE) reports that the Dorians occupied the
east of Crete, the Kudonians the west, and the Eteokretans the south, at
Praesos where the temple of Diktian Zeus was.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
The Akhaians and Pelasgians have disappeared. Perhaps the mysterious Pelasgians
(the term is generally understood as meaning non-Greek and pre-Hellenic) were
the indigenes of Crete. But the “Akhaian” newcomers introduced the syllabary to
the island, under Phoenician influence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traditionally,
Kadmos (whose very name bewrays him as a Semite from the East, Phoenician <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">qadmu</i>) taught the art of writing to the
Greeks. This information could be applied to the invention of the pictophonic
syllabary in the Bronze Age in Crete, rather than the alphabet in the Iron Age
in Greece, though it is true that in each case the Phoenicians provided the
writing materials: first, the idea of a simple acrophonic syllabary with
pictophonic characters (as employed in Gubla, Greek Byblos); and second, an
alphabet (the Phoenician consonantary), to which the Greeks added vowel-letters,
using consonant-signs that were superfluous to their purposes (Alpha the
glottal stop became A, for example). But it was in Crete that the Phoenicians
taught <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Greeks</i> to write syllabically.
It seems that the two early writing systems of Crete (emanating from Knossos in
the north and from Phaistos in the south) are based on a Hellenic language<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
(and this idea has been tested in the inventory of Cretan syllabograms presented
here: </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2017/06/aegean-syllabic-signs.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2017/06/aegean-syllabic-signs.html</a></span>.<br /> Minos and his dynasty were interlopers, perhaps from the time of the
Hyksos empire in Egypt, when Phoenicians were scouring the world in their
ships.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
term “Minoan” was coined by Arthur Evans; it is like “Victorian”, referring to
an era and a culture, and named after a monarch; and perhaps the Semites of
Crete did consider themselves to be Minoans in some sense; and somehow they
became Eteocretans, but they were really Neo-Cretans, and their genetic
heritage may still linger in the population.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nanno
Marinatos has produced a book (2010) in which she argues that “palatial Crete”
(Bronze-Age Kaptar) belonged in the Near East, comprising Anatolia, Syria, the
Levant, and Egypt. She quotes Evans at the head of her Introduction: “Throughout
its course Minoan civilization continued to absorb elements from the Asiatic
side”. Marinatos reminds us that Kothar, the West Semitic god of arts and
crafts, had his abode in Kaptar (and he was also at home in Egyptian Memphis, as
Ptah, and perhaps in Mesopotamia as Heyan, if that is Ea/Enki).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>
Accordingly, Marinatos proposes a religious <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">koine</i>
of the Mediterranean world, and if Minoan religion was West Semitic, like the Minoan
language, then she must be right. Deities and details of the religion have been
set aside here, but there is no doubt that the West Semitic pantheon can be
found in the Kaptarian documents.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"> One very significant point about the Mediterranean <i>koine </i>(Marinatos, Chapter 9) is the place that the double ax holds in Cretan iconography. She presents a number of questions about this icon, and states that one answer fits them all.<br /><br /></div></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><div style="mso-element: footnote-list; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The double ax rises from the cosmic mountain.</b></div></div></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"></div><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"></div><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlzvclgENWNplpB06Q8t-877zQTe9Mt2GBQgGBlYbjhmdVMdsGZEK4PI-D9l1a1CO8DzMwGnvOrAW-599gyAoBouHcnMmLP4gfLIyHqpRyfM5mki60ZoeF_1VDNN8LJLZjHVX2A/s364/Ax+sun+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="364" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlzvclgENWNplpB06Q8t-877zQTe9Mt2GBQgGBlYbjhmdVMdsGZEK4PI-D9l1a1CO8DzMwGnvOrAW-599gyAoBouHcnMmLP4gfLIyHqpRyfM5mki60ZoeF_1VDNN8LJLZjHVX2A/s320/Ax+sun+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"></span></span><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">B</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">irds greet it as it appears between the two peaks.<br /><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> <b>It appears between the horns of a bovine head (boukephalion).</b></span></span></span></span></span></div><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVeljz_RMxymlQmyBJvLk_CULHOS_heyECfIlBfnAL7aB3FD08_5waNXJQVFx4wbGF0VBSnUDKfWDlEwc-7pbTwAJQc96XjKGLARMW7VC6uhhyphenhyphen3E1Guj0Oe-LUkpEUngXDSE6vQ/s443/Ax+sun+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="443" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVeljz_RMxymlQmyBJvLk_CULHOS_heyECfIlBfnAL7aB3FD08_5waNXJQVFx4wbGF0VBSnUDKfWDlEwc-7pbTwAJQc96XjKGLARMW7VC6uhhyphenhyphen3E1Guj0Oe-LUkpEUngXDSE6vQ/s320/Ax+sun+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgNx8hGcCJbakREOEvludaabSB_Z_dgAhmODKNHNY5zzog1mBninYvJxNFhUboqZ4FpBoT01mGQGn-jrCAlKsjT9_iag11dBXDWQbmiZwa1s62_bPZ8OyavC-bgng01-FLu_ENw/s410/Ax+sun+3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="410" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBgNx8hGcCJbakREOEvludaabSB_Z_dgAhmODKNHNY5zzog1mBninYvJxNFhUboqZ4FpBoT01mGQGn-jrCAlKsjT9_iag11dBXDWQbmiZwa1s62_bPZ8OyavC-bgng01-FLu_ENw/s320/Ax+sun+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A rosette between the horns is another symbol<br /></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><b>The double ax turns into a lily</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5BduhyElPizmLE5sUraWw-YS_BVkeNIyJkSL2jJW1vEWNS0WkUrVK8OnDfLBuTeXdw6nFTWiRrTkEBbX_SEm-s6jjTXwtd5JXTN9eBictqJmCt2uSSUjEV5FC1izDuFvM5j8FQ/s423/Ax+sun+4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="423" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5BduhyElPizmLE5sUraWw-YS_BVkeNIyJkSL2jJW1vEWNS0WkUrVK8OnDfLBuTeXdw6nFTWiRrTkEBbX_SEm-s6jjTXwtd5JXTN9eBictqJmCt2uSSUjEV5FC1izDuFvM5j8FQ/s320/Ax+sun+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></b>The lily is atop the ax between bovine horns. The horns would be equivalent to the peaks of the cosmic mountain.<b><br /> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRKIWoJIkS44RFH7G1rER26PO4yngmB9sN4fgLu8vucv7DAGi6_gE6BG5rrZsGAQzeg4TLBfqRDU9Ih1wqBMk4HED9ZUUY53ShAAJMJUP6t8HkRV-AyLLH42kuFzr0fr7pm8VS1Q/s474/Ax+sun+5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="474" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRKIWoJIkS44RFH7G1rER26PO4yngmB9sN4fgLu8vucv7DAGi6_gE6BG5rrZsGAQzeg4TLBfqRDU9Ih1wqBMk4HED9ZUUY53ShAAJMJUP6t8HkRV-AyLLH42kuFzr0fr7pm8VS1Q/s320/Ax+sun+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> </b>The double double ax is here seen with four rosettes (solar symbols).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Obviously the double ax symbolizes the sun in all the pictures we have seen here. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbug4UvKnEEd-JzWuBdu31OMmIj1Kg85T5YFFNBkAwTFUWMeC6syzv2ctWu72Pdsw4ZGnAEiO-TmQ0QmYq3fUy4Wh0_G032EKyyZdDv6yry6QgQ1VfPbUjYS7LXtSAebLxmKcBw/s284/Ax+sun+6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="260" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbug4UvKnEEd-JzWuBdu31OMmIj1Kg85T5YFFNBkAwTFUWMeC6syzv2ctWu72Pdsw4ZGnAEiO-TmQ0QmYq3fUy4Wh0_G032EKyyZdDv6yry6QgQ1VfPbUjYS7LXtSAebLxmKcBw/s0/Ax+sun+6.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>Everywhere else it was the sun disc with wings, but in Crete it was the double ax, doubled, like the parts of the wings.<br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhvETx7JKjpCuSv_YFpNJEtCSEa1_KSzbPSR05Moh0-Greu4xqVVqqH9OuZqgLGirZlHSRcXOnJz5Xm7xfubVal2uXlU2YrOk0xoyLPRIiIdV5Ju4JfbZcsaMUFITrmqXF3w59Jw/s444/Ax+sun+7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="444" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhvETx7JKjpCuSv_YFpNJEtCSEa1_KSzbPSR05Moh0-Greu4xqVVqqH9OuZqgLGirZlHSRcXOnJz5Xm7xfubVal2uXlU2YrOk0xoyLPRIiIdV5Ju4JfbZcsaMUFITrmqXF3w59Jw/s320/Ax+sun+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> What do we say? Did the Kaptarians make a deliberate choice to put a battle-ax in place of the sun with wings, or in the stylization process was an error made, and it persisted? (Nanno Marinatos does not consider these questions, and I do not know whether she has noticed this connection.)<br /><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> ENDNOTES</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Davis 2014: 193-268 (Linguistic analysis of Linear A).</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Marinatos 2010: 1-8 for a historical reconstruction of the Kaptar
period.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This and other ancient pieces of evidence are assembled in Duhoux
1982:9-12.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Duhoux 1982: 10.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Steven Fischer (1988) takes this stance, but he
calls the Minoans “Greeks” (“East Hellenes”, p. 69).</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt;">Marinatos 2010: 1;
Gibson 1978: 54-55, Wyatt 1998: 88-90, for the Ugaritic myth (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">KTU</b> 1.3, vi, 5-20) showing Kothar as
the deity connecting the various realms of the Near East, also including Gubla
(Byblos), and possibly Keilah (Gibson, citing1 Samuel 23:1, which has the
Philistines attacking this town in Israel) or simply “the summit” (Wyatt).</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt;">Gordon 1966: 31;
Best 1989: 12-24.</span><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
</div>
</div><br />
</span></span><br /></div>
Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-4827167143888902142016-05-20T18:21:00.000-07:002017-06-07T20:04:23.690-07:00PHAISTOS DISC<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is a printed document, from around 1700 before the current era,
long before printing was invented!</span></pre>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Detailed photographs are available <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaistos_Disc">here </a>(Wiki)</span></pre>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">My account of it is posted here:
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/phaistosdisc">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/phaistosdisc</a> </span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/phaistosscript">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/phaistosscript</a> </span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/PhDiscsigns.jpg?attredirects=0" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0pt none; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="420" src="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/_/rsrc/1267605361694/PhDiscsigns-large.jpg?height=420&width=340" style="border: 0pt none;" width="340" /></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The 45 characters on the Phaistos Disc (after Arthur Evans)</span></span></span></pre>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The Phaistos disc was discovered in 1908 in a Bronze-Age building,
a palace, at </span><span style="font-size: small;">Phaistos in SW Crete.
Could the Phaistos disc be a forgery?
That would be a very elaborate hoax to perpetrate: making 45 </span><span style="font-size: small;"> stamps
to imprint on clay, on both sides of the object, and printing </span><span style="font-size: small;">30 clusters
of signs (words or phrases ?) on one side and 31 on the other.
I know personally two different scholars (out of a host of hopefuls)
who have published confident attempts at decipherment (both read
it as Hellenic, but produce entirely different transcriptions and
translations).
My observations on it, after looking at all the other scripts of Crete
(and <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cyprusscripts">Cyprus</a>) is that it does <b>not</b> belong to the same family as Linear B
(used for </span><span style="font-size: small;">Mycenean Greek texts).</span></pre>
</div>
</div>
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"> There is a line of development in Crete from a set of pictographs to
stylized Linear A characters (language uncertain) and even more
stylizedLinear B; and on Cyprus a derived syllabic script from the same
source (through Linear A), used for a Greel dialect and other languages.
My judgement is that the Cretan pictographs and the Phaistos glyphs
(in spite of similarities and apparent correspondences) do not belong
to the same system. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">
There were two different but related writing systems on Crete:</span><span style="font-size: small;">
(1) the Knossos script (<b>northern</b>), a picto-phonetic syllabary >
Linear A and B;
(2) the Phaistos script (<b>southern</b>), a picto-phonetic syllabary.</span><span style="font-size: small;">
Looking at the 30 accountancy tablets from Phaistos (as distinct from
adjacent Hagia Triada, where the Linear A script was used, a stylized
form of the northern picto-phonetic script), most seem to be Linear A,
but some (<b>PH 8, 9, 13, 15, 17</b>, <b>26</b>) have signs known from the
Phaistos Disc, and notably <b>PH 12</b>:</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></pre>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/PH12.jpg?attredirects=0" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0pt none; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="344" src="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/_/rsrc/1267605362349/PH12-large-brt-54.jpg?height=344&width=420" style="border: 0pt none;" width="420" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">PhD sign 14 (fetter, Greek pedé, Linear B PE),
PhD 1 (striding man),</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">PhD 22 (cuttlefish, Greek sépia, Linear B SA),
PhD 27 ( hide, talent?).
<b><br />PH 13</b> has a fish (Phaistos Disc sign 35), which is not found in the <br />northern picto-syllabary or its descendant, Linear A. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Thus the Phaistos script has its own set of signs, but some of them are <br />shared with the Knossos syllabary.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/PhDiscsigns.jpg?attredirects=0" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0pt none; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="420" src="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/_/rsrc/1267605361694/PhDiscsigns-large.jpg?height=420&width=340" style="border: 0pt none;" width="340" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div>
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<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The 45 characters on the Phaistos Disc (after Arthur Evans)</span></span></span></pre>
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">If this is a discovery I have made, it will still not help us read the Disc!
<br />Or perhaps it will. If enough signs are common to both systems, and we <br />substitute the known values from Linear B, then we are on our way <br />with a flying start.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> I could argue for at least 20 correspondences out of <br />45 (the number of separate signs on the Disc). This was the approach of
<a href="http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=ofuuJTtHfmMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Steven+Fischer&source=bl&ots=3tO-BRDcGs&sig=B2o8uO-jYQk4_Y9AwwYl_Y3J8a0&hl=en&ei=Nl7WS7CnMore7AOGjfyDAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=16&ved=0CEAQ6AEwDw#v=onepage&q&f=false"><br />Steven Fischer</a> in his attempt at decipherment.</span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">And the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkalochori_Axe" rel="nofollow">Arkalokhori Ax</a> has 15 characters, some of them duplicates,
with apparent connections to the Phaistos Disk set of signs, and/or to
the Knossos inventory.
</span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"> For futher developments in my research on Aegean scripts
see the Creto-Cyprian section of</span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/phaistosscript">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/</a></span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">and for West Semitic presence on the island of Crete </span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/creto-semitica.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/creto-semitica.html</a> </span></pre>
<pre style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></pre>
Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-36915337330813853012016-05-06T00:32:00.004-07:002023-09-13T19:00:14.174-07:00PHOENICIANS IN TEXAS<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJxYu0DFKFslKa6cvm0ZXRc2MzahjU-AX7e6GJ8WV2pniBkQOGPXmUZ3WzD6c10IT4DoWCjT9348KW-UDiP7Sk0B9epyu7YHgYgOgJ7XLWxmX3TgpjOH52lngei57-P9_B3AhFg/s1600/TexasHanby+Stone+.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJxYu0DFKFslKa6cvm0ZXRc2MzahjU-AX7e6GJ8WV2pniBkQOGPXmUZ3WzD6c10IT4DoWCjT9348KW-UDiP7Sk0B9epyu7YHgYgOgJ7XLWxmX3TgpjOH52lngei57-P9_B3AhFg/s320/TexasHanby+Stone+.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
HANBY STONES</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWBWuDVSg-GzJP_CSL2q9jSTI23Gmb8jie6_JLKve4Fttg-Pj6Myn7NUMiu4jsscivxa0eNJtMSzhBsJ0HAgMnPgWNT6UJhghTkRj3-aPXFZfRDm-8lbug0c4Axb4O9tejxeR7Zg/s1600/Texas+Sanders+Stone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWBWuDVSg-GzJP_CSL2q9jSTI23Gmb8jie6_JLKve4Fttg-Pj6Myn7NUMiu4jsscivxa0eNJtMSzhBsJ0HAgMnPgWNT6UJhghTkRj3-aPXFZfRDm-8lbug0c4Axb4O9tejxeR7Zg/s1600/Texas+Sanders+Stone.jpg" /></a></div>
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SANDERS STONE</div>
Some interesting inscriptions on stone have been brought to light in Texas (USA). They were found in Rockwall, a town which has an ancient rectangular wall (6 x 3.2 miles); it had a hot spring and a cold spring inside the enclosed area. Situated near Dallas, it is accessible via the Trinity River, which flows down to the Gulf of Mexico. There is now no reason for denying the fact that three thousand years before Columbus and his little boats reached America, ships from the Mediterranean region were already crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The accumulation of evidence is overwhelming, although each piece is regularly dismissed as nonsense or coincidence.<br />
John Carr and John Lindsey have studied the archaeological evidence: they suggest that the wall has similarities to the infill walls of Canaan (Syria-Palestine) in the Bronze Age. They produced a book about it. <a href="https://www.resthavenfuneral.com/obituaries/John-Cecil-Carr/#!/TributeWall">John Cecil Carr </a>(1917-2014) was my source of information.<br />
The Sanders Stone was pulled out of the wall in 1955; it was 35 feet below the surface; it has now disappeared but photographs exist. In the middle of the line of writing is a clear ox-head with horns, which we may assume to be an Aleph/Alpha. At the beginning of the text (far right) is a W-shaped sign, the original Shin/Sigma. The penultimate character (on the left side) looks like a hand with fingers, and it might be Kaph/Kappa. <br />
At the bottom of the Hanby Stone on the left, there is another such <b>K</b>. Above it there is possibly a wavy line for the letter <b>M</b>. Reading from the top, the first character might be a snake, an erect cobra, and thus<b> N</b>; beneath it is <b>Q</b> (from <i>qaw</i>, a stick with a measuring cord wound around it); then <b>B</b>, a house (a simple square, showing the ground plan of the dwelling).<br />
These two Hanby stones were found under the Hanby house (built in the middle of the 19th Century). The one on the left has the shape of a round-topped stela, which is typical of the ancient civilization in the Mediterranean world, and is also found in the Olmec culture of Mexico; this is one of many indicators of contact between Americans and Mediterraneans in the Bronze Age (before 1200 BCE), together with pyramids and ziggurats, cylinder stamps and flat stamps, and writing systems.<br />
The script or scripts represented here could be West Semitic (syllabic or/and alphabetic).<br />
One question is: what was the attraction that brought Phoenicians to this particular place; was there a <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/phoenicians-in-scandinavia.html">silver mine</a>, as in Kongsberg in Norway? I am told that it was gold they were mining.<br />
In this regard, my tentative reading of the Hanby stela is:<br />
N Q B M K "mine tunnel"<br />
NQB: root meaning, 'bore, pierce', Arabic <i>naqb</i> 'tunnel', Syriac <i>neqba</i> 'hole'<br />
MK: root <i>mkk</i>, 'sink down'; the word <i>mk</i> is found on inscriptions at Sinai turquoise mines (Sinai 352, 354, 379)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBz7ujLo-dRTxunXXmwOSf6RtcpueRo4FMtZHuWEIQM0OLbyik3tNyk_cgkOxZhUu2wB52OcNrb-Ygkt4sy8QPBiuJbXPFxN69JhNzFU8k9i_L4Quc_0vuFJxh7gRroeQ15Nfjug/s1600/IMG_1883.lowres.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBz7ujLo-dRTxunXXmwOSf6RtcpueRo4FMtZHuWEIQM0OLbyik3tNyk_cgkOxZhUu2wB52OcNrb-Ygkt4sy8QPBiuJbXPFxN69JhNzFU8k9i_L4Quc_0vuFJxh7gRroeQ15Nfjug/s320/IMG_1883.lowres.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A FACE FROM THE PAST</div>
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<div>
Found about 4 miles south of the wall.</div>
14 feet below grade.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It originally had 4 radiating triangles </div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://planetrockwall.com/the_rock_wall_new_discoveries/">https://planetrockwall.com/the_rock_wall_new_discoveries/ </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1084940708224864&set=a.537857416266532">https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1084940708224864&set=a.537857416266532</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://rockwallcountymuseum.com/rock-wall/">https://rockwallcountymuseum.com/rock-wall/</a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The copper mines at Lake Huron were also frequented by them:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/huron-stone">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/huron-stone</a><br /></div>
Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-79827442161257371432016-03-09T04:25:00.000-08:002016-05-11T04:42:17.543-07:00RUNES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHmRsGgRjQU33vbFKztmYyKcJT44WUWmLSy5H4kh_VqqUrzSrUEw41VIDVhgCTJWy_hRtoP-CRYgeDscqnvPySUUvoyxZRj1LVPOmchRXpbV3Kd8GXzHTnO_RLLjiOpIttIbbAg/s1600/runes+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHmRsGgRjQU33vbFKztmYyKcJT44WUWmLSy5H4kh_VqqUrzSrUEw41VIDVhgCTJWy_hRtoP-CRYgeDscqnvPySUUvoyxZRj1LVPOmchRXpbV3Kd8GXzHTnO_RLLjiOpIttIbbAg/s320/runes+1.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ52JAKTg9NGqJ_MbPCT7V18jhsZHB7uDHSgyhh1nf29nVWe9QwrBdIWLtSFVmILU8BGFCAIlTJZeEQYLvxv3fR4FI7BD3NFmYRaKOcD_7_YeZZb6PhH8KrDtQP4IXFEDpI3XC1A/s1600/Runes+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ52JAKTg9NGqJ_MbPCT7V18jhsZHB7uDHSgyhh1nf29nVWe9QwrBdIWLtSFVmILU8BGFCAIlTJZeEQYLvxv3fR4FI7BD3NFmYRaKOcD_7_YeZZb6PhH8KrDtQP4IXFEDpI3XC1A/s320/Runes+2.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrLeSdl6zQd6g6Tv6fxobLd5Doc35dieS9eQ4nOTPP-FV4G58gT3XbbzFpXlQWCJhIXmR4gvnYhvxQ77HSQkkjZgST7Qn-z7D9jAktTq1yMGlXcIIyvKzzfqQbr1kPMBGCFWLXw/s1600/Runes+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTrLeSdl6zQd6g6Tv6fxobLd5Doc35dieS9eQ4nOTPP-FV4G58gT3XbbzFpXlQWCJhIXmR4gvnYhvxQ77HSQkkjZgST7Qn-z7D9jAktTq1yMGlXcIIyvKzzfqQbr1kPMBGCFWLXw/s320/Runes+3.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
<br />
Here are three views of an object that was brought to my attention in November 2000, by the Volcano Art Gallery in Auckland. I have never seen or handled the artefact, but details were supplied by Neil de Croz, the director of the gallery. Its age and origin are not known<br />
Dimensions are: 26" x 20" x 9". Weight: 78 lbs.<br />
The end bowl: 6.5" diameter, 3" deep (charred)<br />
The central bowl: 7" diameter. 2" deep, inscribed, black stone embedded in the centre .<br />
The bowl is in a six-pointed star (14" from point to point across) with 6 embedded stones.<br />
The star is within a circle: 16" diameter.<br />
An inscription runs round inside the circle, but does not intrude into the star.<br />
The letters are RUNES, from the Germanic Runic alphabet (futhark, th as in thing), having 24 characters..<br />
Runes are based on the Greco-Roman alphabet.<br />
Their use is attested from the 2nd century of the current era till early modern times.<br />
<br />
What purpose did this object serve? Divination? Burning incense?<br />
What are the messages in each inscription?<br />
You tell me!<br />
<br />
11/May/2016 <br />
The Germanic <i>futhark</i> had 24 letters; Scandinavia had 16; the Anglo-Saxon system had up to 31. The runes in the upper circle are arranged in six sections (formed by
the six points of the star) with four runes in each of the six fields.
That makes 24 (6x4). So it is the Germanic <i>futhark</i>. <br />
<br />
Expert opinion has come to our aid: the letters do not form words, apparently, but merely represent each of the signs.<br />
<br />
<i>James E. Knirk<br />Professor, Runic Archives, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo</i><br />
<i>The runes around the outside of the six-pointed star I was able to read, but it was not easy. I start on your blogspot picture with the runes to the right of due north, i.e. from 12 o'clock and on around. They read:<br /><b>ozhk</b> (or: oRhk, one uses both transliterations) <br /> <b>ïsjr</b> <b>ebfu</b> <b>wtpi </b> <b>ŋmgd</b> (the first an ng-sound) <b>aþnl</b><br /><br />This is then all 24 runes in the older rune-row, but in apparently random, at any rate not linguistically understandable or linguistically motivated order. It is very difficult for me to see this as anything other than a relative recent attempt to write runes. For me, this is confirmed by the form of the r-rune. In much of the New Age runic literature about runes as means for fortelling the future and other very popular presentations and the like, the r-rune has a special form that is basically unknown in genuine runic inscriptions, be it from the oldest times or even up to "modern" times (here meaning the Reformation, early 1500s). It is like our R, but the leg going obliquely down from the pouch is truncated, usually very short -- exactly like in this inscription. There is absolutely nothing that seems genuine (i.e. "old") about this piece.<br /><br />I hope you are not disappointed by the fact that this apparently is something maybe 20-40 years old, and of little or no interest to runology, and probably not to cryptology either.</i><br />
It seems to me that the inscription in the bowl is meant to be the same as the one around the star.<br />
One thing I was surprised and delighted to find about the runic system is that the characters can be used not only as simple single-sound letters, but also as syllabograms and logograms.<br />
Thus the M-sign can represent <i>mon</i> 'human' (logogram), and the syllable <i>mon</i> ('rebogram') in Solo<i>mon</i>.<br />
I have discovered that the pictograms of the proto-alphabet were used in those same three ways, as I point out in all my articles on the early alphabet in the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. This was how the Egyptian hieroglyphs functioned, too. But how did this practice carry over into the Runes, when the Greek and Roman alphabets (derived from the Semitic alphabet) apparently did not have this idea?<br />
<br />
My source has been R. I. Page, <i>Runes</i>, British Museum, 1987 Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-54491410594722351272015-12-26T03:06:00.000-08:002020-05-01T20:35:28.338-07:00LAKISH JAR SHERD (1)<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">S<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ee also <a href="https://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2019/12/lakish-jar-inscription-new.html"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">LAKISH JAR SHERD (<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2</span>)</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 790px; top: 684px;">THE LACHISH JAR SHERD: <br />AN EARLY ALPHABETIC INSCRIPTION DISCOVERED IN 2014 </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 481px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: 2px;"><i>Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research</i>, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<div class="ff2">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 1955px; letter-spacing: -1px; top: 5855px;">BASOR</span></i><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> 374 (2015): 233–45, Benjamin Sass et al.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="ff2">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">A copy is available on Sass's page at </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><a href="https://www.academia.edu/19611579/2015._Sass_B._Garfinkel_Y._Hasel_M.G._and_Klingbeil_M.G._The_Lachish_jar_sherd_An_early_alphabetic_inscription_discovered_in_2014._BASOR_374_233_245">ACADEMIA</a></span></span></span>. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">Obviously Sass is the author of the epigraphical section of the article (p.236-243; his name appears first on the otherwise alphabetical list of four contributors: Garfinkel, Hasel, Klingbell) and I will take this opportunity to respond to his views on the origin and early development of the alphabet, as I have done for <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">Gordon Hamilton</a> and <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html">Orly Goldwasser</a>. I give notice that I intend to be critical of his blinkered approach. We both published our own major study of the genesis of the alphabet in 1988, and I have constantly cited him in my subsequent articles. Unlike Hamilton and Goldwasser, Sass has never taken account of my research on this subject. Apparently he is unaware of the new instruments I have offered for classifying West Semitic proto-alphabetic documents and identifying their letters; and he ignores </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">(whether accidentally or deliberately) </span></span></span>my idea that the characters of the original alphabet could be used not only as consonanto<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">grams but also </span>as logograms and "rebograms" (or "morphograms").</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> An introductory article on the Lakish sherd appeared in the <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/at-biblical-site-researchers-discover-abcs-of-how-alphabet-came-to-be/">Times of Israel </a>(10 Dec 2015). Its photograph (click on it to see the whole picture) is large, but the <i>BASOR</i> article (p.235) has two clear photographs and three drawings.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> Notice that the letters were inscribed before firing (p.233b) so it is a<b> sherd</b> from an inscribed jar, <i> not</i> an <b>ostracon</b>, like the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/01/ancient-abagadary-abecedary-this-is.html">Izbet Sartah</a>, and<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2"> Khirbet Qeiyafa</a> ostraca, which are on sherds that are used as<b> tablets </b>(drawings of these and other relevant inscriptions are presented on pages 237-241). It therefore belongs to the same category as the Khirbet Qeiyafa jar.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> However, whereas the<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/qeiyafa-jar-inscription.html"> Qeiyafa jar</a> and the Jerusalem<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/jerusalem-jar-inscription.html"> Ophel pithos</a> yielded more than one piece of their pots to the excavators (but not enough to reveal the entire text in each case), the Lakish sherd stands alone, and </span></span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">apparently </span></span> its text is incomplete. It was found in a temple area, and this might give a clue to understanding its inscription and its connection with the artefact.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Note: I prefer to write <b>Lakish</b>, as the ancient inhabitants would have said it, rather than Lachish or Lakhish.<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> The two Qeiyafa texts (ostracon and jar) differ in the direction of their writing: the ostracon's lines run from left to right (dextrograde), and the jar's single line goes from right to left (sinistrograde). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> Let it be said at the outset that my recent research leads me to the hypothesis that these two ostraca (Izbet Sartah and Qeiyafa) have<b> syllabic writing</b>, that is, each letter has three different stances or forms for distinguishing their accompanying vowels (for example: bi, ba,bu); this may be designated as '<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html">the neo-syllabary</a>', which was constructed from the letters of the early alphabet, and those proto-alphabetic signs were originally borrowed (at least eighteen of them) from the West Semitic '<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html">proto-syllabary</a>' (the Byblos script<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, which</span> West Semitic epigraph<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ists</span> are reluctant to look into, terrified of having their reputation ruined).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> My term for the original alphabet is 'the proto-alphabet', as the prototype of the consonantal script that developed into the Greco-Roman alphabet, but it was used as a syllabary in early Israel<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> (</span>and later in Ethiopia, India, and Southeast Asia<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span>but this statement needs clarification and refinement). Sass (236a, <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">n.3) speaks of 'early alphabetic inscriptions', and he offers '<b>pre-cursive</b>' as a new technical term to cover the various labels <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">already in use<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, namely 'Proto-Canaanite', 'early Canaanite', and 'linear alphabetic' (as distinct from <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'</span>cuneiform alphabetic'); he makes no reference to my 'proto-alphabetic'; but <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'proto-alphabet'</span> is not meant to be a formal word. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> For the sake of precision, I would have to say that the original alphabet was a picto-phonetic system which functioned as a logo-morpho-consonantary<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">: </span>th<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">e </span>signs were pictorial, acrophonically standing for the first consonant of <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a</span> West Semitic word that goes with the image, but also allowing the picture to represent the whole word, or all of its sounds for use in forming other words in writing; thus the snake-s<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ign says N from <i>n-kh-sh </i>'snake', or 'snake' in any language (logogram), or as a rebogram with the addition of <i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-t (NKhSh-T)</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> 'copper'. That is how the Egyptian hieroglyphic script worked, and it should not be hard for us to accept that the first alphabet, although it was a major simplification, could carry those features (remembering that our earliest proto-alphabetic documents come from Egypt and Sinai).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> These ideas are not (yet) known in handbooks on the early alphabet, nor in articles such as the one under review here. This view of the history of early West Semitic ('Canaanian') writing systems is not yet acknowledged as 'received knowledge'.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> Now, the city of Lakish has bequeathed a valuable collection of inscribed objects from the Bronze Age (dagger, bowl sherd, ostracon, ewer, bowl, censer lid, sherd, bowl fragment, and the late epistolary ostraca from the 6th Century BCE) and we are glad to welcome this new one and any others that the current excavations may bring to light, including the missing parts of this one (233b). <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All t</span>hese brief but valuable documents show various stages of the development of the alphabet, from pictorial (the dagger) to cursive (the Lakish letters).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> For information on the Bronze Age items from Lakish, see:<br /> Benjamin Sass, <i>The Genesis of the Alphabet</i>, 1988, 53-54, 60-64, 96-100;<br /> Emile Puech, The Canaanite inscriptions of Lachish and their religious background, <i>Tel Aviv</i> 13-14, 1987, 13-25;</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Brian E. Colless, The proto-alphabetic inscriptions of Canaan, <i>Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)</i> 29, 1991 (18-66), 35-42.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibK32iw4qVk1DfbFomAzdx0QjMDcaEtXomoBqv0LPzkKc7F0jTMc1KUKzaDqs7xZrMd_aAmblBpRcLLljpd-6w4Dxe51RDcX2jVYnvp6aEyN-zQr0jB8EEH99FJV2o0tcVLPeWng/s1600/Lakish+sherd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibK32iw4qVk1DfbFomAzdx0QjMDcaEtXomoBqv0LPzkKc7F0jTMc1KUKzaDqs7xZrMd_aAmblBpRcLLljpd-6w4Dxe51RDcX2jVYnvp6aEyN-zQr0jB8EEH99FJV2o0tcVLPeWng/s320/Lakish+sherd.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span>
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The three lines on the new Lakish sherd can be transcribed thus (reading from right to left):</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <b> L K P</b> [</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <b> R P S</b> [</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <b> ` P/G </b>[<b>P?</b>] [</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">As a general rule it can be stated that Iron<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">-</span>Age neo-syllabic texts run rightwards, and consonantal alphabetic texts run leftwards. </span></span></span>It seems clear enough that the direction here is sinistrograde (right to left) and thus the script should be consonantal rather than syllabic (according to the hypothetical principle stated above, which is based on the available evidence). But the question remains whether this <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">practice was only Israelian, and not Canaanian, or Philistian. From their context and content, I read the two ostraca (Figs. 14 and 19) as Israelian<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">; the Gath Sherd (Fig.15) would presumably be Philis<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">t</span>ian. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> A tentative reading of the text as it stands might be:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <b> Pikol the scribe</b> (<i>spr</i>) .....</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Pikol is found in the Bible (Genesis 21:22) as the name of the commander of the Philistine army of Abimelek of Gerar. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> For the scribe (<i>spr</i>) there are numerous examples in the Hebrew Scriptures, but 'Ezra the scribe', alias 'Ezra the priest' (Nehemiah 8:1-2) is an interesting case, if the square sign below the <i>p </i>and <i>r</i> is an archaic Bet, and like the square on the Gezer sherd (from a cult stand) it could be a logogram for 'house' or 'temple', then Pikol could be a scribe of the sanctuary in which the object was found. Incidentally, Fig.8 (Gezer sherd) possibly has the drawing in the wrong stance: the hand should not be pointing upwards but to the right, the snake should probably be horizontal, and the house should have its opening at the bottom, as in the instances on Figs 4 and 5 (from Lakish) though both are different from each other and from the Gezer Bet; however, as it stands, it has a parallel in the drawing of Sinai 352 (Fig.10); note that most of the Sinai instances of Bet have no gaps in the four sides. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The point is that the Gezer sherd says <i>kn B</i>, 'temple stand', and here we might have <i>spr B</i>, 'temple scribe'. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Nevertheless, the supposed B here could be `Ayin, an eye, though we are told the apparent dot in it is illusory and therefore not included in the drawings. The third line might have been <i>pg` </i>(root meaning: 'meet' or 'strike') 'stricken' (with some infirmity?). A name</span></span><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>Pag`i'el </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">existed</span></span></span></span></span></span></span> (prince of tribe of Asher, Numbers 1:13).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The text is finally regarded by the authors<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>as "undecipherable" (236a), since, for example, <i>pr</i> could be 'fruit' or 'bull'. Indeed, we can play <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">many </span>games with it: 'the mouth (<i>p</i>) of every (<i>kl</i>) scribe (<i>spr</i>)'.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> One possibility needs to be examined: 'flask (<i>pk</i>) for (<i>l</i>, belonging to) the scribe (<i>spr</i>)' (unless it is 'fruit-juice flask', allowing the Samek to be Cretan NE, which derives from nektar, in my view; see below). We must always remember my guiding principle: only the writer of a text knew what it means! And since the words were added before the pot went into the oven, they would presumably state the purpose of the vessel, or identify the owner, or both. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The word <i>pak</i> denoted a flask or cruse, such as 'the cruse of oil' that Samuel emptied on the head of Saul on the occasion of his anointing as king (1 Sam 10:1). It is usually assumed that this vessel was small, but the reconstructed jar (Fig,2 f) is about 35 cm tall, though this is not certain, as they admit (236).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> So, it is worth proposing this interpretation:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b> Flask for the scribe [P]G`</b> <b>| </b></span></span><r and="" be="" br="" consonantal="" presumably="" r="" rather="" script="" should="" so="" syllabic.="" than="" the="" thus=""></r></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> For the remainder of the article(236-244) "palaeography is the principal subject". </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> The <b>Samek</b> in the middle line comes as a pleasant surprise: it is hailed as "the earliest secure occurrence of the letter" (p.242a). What we should say, however, is that here we see another example of that particular form of Samek which <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">depicts</span> a spinal column (</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">root <i>smk</i> 'support', denoting stability, as in the corresponding Egyptian hieroglyph R11),</span></span></span> as distinct from the other form, a fish<i> </i>(<i>samk</i>); in my <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">opinion</span> (not widely accepted) there are actually two allographs (alternatives) for Samek. Here Sass refers us to his 1988 discussion (p.126 on original Samek, and also p.113-115 on Dalet) where he reports that the fish had formerly been acknowledged as S, but Albright argued in favour of the value D (as in <i>dag</i> 'fish'), and, let me say, most have unfortunately followed this false lead. When they look at the alphabet on the Izbet Sartah ostracon (its bottom line) at the point where Samek should be they see neither the fish nor the spine, and they are puzzled at this 'nondescript' and 'unhelpful' </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">character </span></span></span>(Sass et al 2015, 244a); but it is a fish (as Emile Puech will also testify). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> The letter Dalet is a door; its name means 'door', and "D is for door" has always been the case, though originally it was "Dalt is for D", with the picture of a door representing the sound <i>d</i>, by the principle of acrophony. The trouble is that the door-signs, even though their door posts are clearly shown, have been regarded as fences (or sometimes even accepted as doors) and interpreted as Het (H.) (Sass 1988, 117-120). Thereafter the dominoes keep on falling and the truth about several other letters disappears. Gordon Hamilton (under the guidance of Frank Moore Cross) tries to have the fish and the door as allographs of D, but this argument is not helped by the occurrence of a fish and a door side by side on a Sinai inscription that Sass displays for us (Fig. 11, Sinai 376).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> Gordon J. Hamilton, <i>The Origin of the West Semitic Alphabet in Egyptian Scripts</i>, 2006, 61-75</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> The fish and the spine both occur on a tablet which shows the letters of the proto-alphabet, from Thebes<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">; however, </span> this is not a text but an abgadary: the spine and the door are together at the top, and the fish is below the spine (see section <b>17 S</b> <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">here</a>); in the cuneiform alphabet from Ugarit, there is a counterpart to the djed column, with three crossbars, standing for `S (as noted by Sass, 242a); a representation of a fish (apparently) was employed for cuneiform Samek as S; the cuneiform Dalet is unmistakably a door. See my study on the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cuneiformalphabet">cuneiform alphabet</a> as an adapted version of the pictorial proto-alphabet.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> Focusing again on the Samek on the sherd, it has to be <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">said</span> that there is a counterpart on the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/death-dagger">Lakish dagger</a>, though it lacks the bottom horizontal line, and it resembles a telegraph pole with only two cross bars.My reading of its four letters (bag, head, snake, spine) is S.R N S, which can say "Foe flee". By contrast, Hamilton (390-391) makes the Samek a double cross for an anomalous T, turns the tie of the bag into Dh, and the body of the bag into L, producing Dh L RNT, "this belongs to Rnt", a name that would correspond to Biblical Rinnah (1 Chron 4:20), which is a man's name , though it looks feminine </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">('Joy')</span></span>; but this is an unnecessary hypothesis, based on a stubborn refusal to recognize the tied bag as the letter Sadey (S.).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hamilton (2006, 197, n.254, uses the term 'bizarre' to describe my acceptance of this character as a bag and as Sadey; he wants it to be a monkey (<i>qop</i>), and he mistakenly identifies it as Qop, thereby rejecting the sane suggestion of Romain Butin (to whom the book is dedicated <i>in memoriam</i>) that it was Sadey, though Butin was not sure what the sign depicted.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Sass has conveniently provided (Fig. 9, Sinai 349) Albright's drawing of an inscription which contains the word that has caused all this confusion. The second line has this sequence: head, house, snake, bag, house, snake, that is, <i>rb ns.bn</i>, which means 'chief of the prefects', and he would be the supreme leader of the Egyptian turquoise-mining expedition. The erroneous view (with the bag as Q rather than S.adey) produces 'chief of the borers' (understood as 'miners'); but the miners were not the only members of the work force; the metalworkers were the essential part of the team, because they made and repaired the copper tools, and they were Semites (as we know from the Egyptian inscriptions on the mining site).This stela (<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html">Sinai 349</a>) refers to their equipment (<i>'nt</i> in the top line, and <i>`rk</i> in the third line).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> On the stela reproduced below it (Fig. 10, <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html">Sinai 352</a>) they describe themselves as <i>bn kr</i> ('sons of the furnace') and the letters accompanying the large fish (which is S not D) specify that they are 'pourers of copper' (<i>nsk N</i>) , with one of the snakes acting as a rebogram for NKhSh, not 'snake' but 'copper'(which does not always need a final -<i>t</i>). The two letters at the top of this column (an ox-head for Aleph and a sun-symbol for Sh, from <i>shimsh</i>, 'sun') say<i> 'sh</i>, 'fire', and this stela marks the spot where their fire burned. These examples show the true origin of Sadey as a bag, and Samek as a fish, but the fish did not survive into the Phoenician and Hebrew alphabet of Iron Age II.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> The simplified form of of the spinal Samek, with only two crossbars on a vertical stem, was already present in the proto-syllabary (the Byblos script), representing the syllable SI, together with a 'monumental' character that matched more closely the original hieroglyph (R11), and this should not be dismissed as inadmissible evidence, since there was a close relationship between that <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/westsemiticsyllabary">syllabary</a> and the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html">consonantary</a> (the proto-alphabet) that it engendered. I presume that it likewise stood for <i>si </i> in the new syllabary, though it is not yet attested. However, the legible and identifiable signs in this text (P, K, L) correspond to PI, KI, LI, though the presumed R has its head facing in the wrong direction</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> But there is cause for concern in the shape of the character on the Lakish sherd: comparing the drawing and the photograph (p.242a) we observe that the middle line is not perfectly straight but curls round on the right side. A counterpart can be found in the Linear A syllabary of Bronze Age Crete, in some forms of the syllabogram NE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> My work in progress on the syllabary of Crete (and Greece and Cyprus) is summarized here: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cretanscripts">The Cretan scripts</a>. <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I espouse t</span>he minority view (first proposed by Cyrus Gordon) that at least some of the Linear A inscriptions in Crete were West Semitic. I see the NE sign </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> (acrophonically derived from <i>nektar</i>, the divine drink) </span></span></span>as a libation vessel with a handle and a spout, and it has no connection with Egyptian hieroglyph R11 (the <i>djed</i>, a straight spine, a symbol of stability). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Here I must record that the writing of this essay was neglected while I looked again at the Linear A inscriptions on Cretan offering altars, and I realized that they are in Canaanian (Phoenician/Hebrew) saying:<br /> "I bring my offering of new wine/beer/olives/blood, O [name of a deity])". These ri<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">tes were performed at 'peak sanctuaries', equivalent to the 'high places' condemned by the </span> prophets of <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Israel. </span>Remember you heard it here .<span style="font-size: small;">The work in progress is viewable at </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/creto-semitica.html">CRETO-SEMITICA</a> and <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2016/05/creto-semitica.html">CRETAN SEMITIC TEXTS.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> In this connection, a Cretan syllabic inscription has been discovered at Lakish, and it is likewise dated to the 12th C. BCE (both from Level VI, apparently). It is described as a Linear A text, though this was the age of Linear B, a Hellenic script derived from Linear A, which itself was a reworking of an older set of pictorial characters; the RI sign (originally representing a human leg) is more like a Linear B form, though <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">reversed</span>. The sign for NE does not appear in its brief text.Note that it was a piece of a large limestone vessel which seems to have been made locally.(A thought: Linear A continued to be used for Semitic writing outside of Crete.)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">A Linear A Inscription from Tel Lachish (lach ZA 1), Margalit Finkelberg; <a class="entryAuthor defaultLinkDecoration" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Alexander Uchitel</a>; <a class="entryAuthor defaultLinkDecoration" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">David Ussishkin</a>; Yoram Eshet, <b><i><a class="searchResultJournal" href="http://www.maneyonline.com/loi/tav">Tel Aviv</a></i></b><span class="notRecommendedInfo">, Volume: 1996</span><a class="notRecommendedInfo" href="http://www.maneyonline.com/toc/tav/1996/2">, Issue: 2</a><span class="notRecommendedInfo">, </span><span class="notRecommendedInfo">Sep 1996</span>, pp. 195 - 207.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> On the potential significance of the Linear A inscriptions recently excavated in Israel. Gary A. Rendsburg, <a href="http://www.maneyonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/tav.1996.1996.2.195?journalCode=tav"><b><i>Aula Orientalis</i></b></a>, 16, 19<i><b>9</b></i>8, 289-2<span style="font-family: inherit;">91</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> However, the characters on the new sherd from Lakish are not Cretan: the K in the top line could be an Aegean TI (inverted), but we need not doubt that we are looking at the letters of the West Semitic alphabet, though th<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">is</span> Samek may have been influenced by the Linear A syllabogram NE, since the curl on the middle stroke is hard to explain. The bottom line of NE represents the base of the libation vessel (as can be seen from the pictorial versions), and this is true of the spinal Samek as derived from the Egyptian <i>djed</i>; but, as noted already, early forms (syllabic and consonantal) had a long stem with no base, and only two crossbars; but the standard Phoenician version had three bars on a vertical line which extended below the bottom bar. Sass (242b) shows the two cases of Samek on the Kefar Veradim bowl: one has a slight protrusion of the vertical at the top, and the other at the bottom; Sass ( 242a) regards these as "incidental", and "suggesting that at this stage the letter was still perceived as legless, just as in the Lachish jar sherd". It is his argument (notice the word 'still') that has no leg to stand on, since the protruding vertical stroke was already ancient. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> The sherd we are studying here is dated to the 12th Century BCE, but it has the letter forms of the Phoenician alphabet. And now we have two astonishing signature inscriptions from the Sealand (southern Mesopotamia), dated to the end of the 16th Century BCE (Late Bronze Age)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;">Their direction of writing is sinistrograde, as with the Phoenician alphabetic inscriptions from Iron Age II<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>and the letter forms are much the same as those in the Phoenician alphabet of the Iron Age (<a href="http://sepoa.fr/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/NABU-2012-3-FINAL.pdf">NABU</a> 2012 no.3, 61-63; there is no Samek for comparison, <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">though</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> L,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span>P, G, `Ayin, and other letters are attested; but not much can be said; these match their l<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ater counterparts, but for the Lakish sherd the Qeiyafa and izbet Sartah ostraca offer more examples</span>. In this respect, Joseph Naveh (1978, 35) is quoted (237b, n.11) to <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">warn us <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">about </span></span> the Izbet Sartah writer<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">'s "confusion of letters and his mistakes" which would be due to his "poor training or bad memory". Certainly we can see from his first words in line 1 that he is a beginner: "I am learning the letters" (<i>'lmd 'tt</i>), but it seems that his variations for each letter<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>(as compared with the models he presents in line 5<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">)</span> were intentional, and what he was learning was the new syllabic use of the alphabet as practised in early Israel.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"> Here is an opportunity to look at <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">my</span> neo-syllabary hypothesis, <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">using the drawings available in this BASOR article<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">: Izbet Sartah ostracon (Fig.19), Qeiyafa <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">o</span>stracon (Fig.14, Ada Yardeni), Qubur el-Walayda bowl (Fig<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.6); and pictures of them<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html"> here</a>). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> All three are dextrograde, and exhibit variant forms for their letters. From my observation<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">,</span> a<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">s a rough rule<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">,</span> the Izbet Sartah alphabet shows the <i><b>-a </b></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">syllabograms; the Phoenician alphabet has the forms that were used for <b><i>-i </i></b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">syllable-signs</span></span></span>; the <b><i>-u</i></b><i> </i>signs are the left-overs.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Consider</span> the case of the letter<b> Shin</b>. The first sign on the QW bowl is clearly a form of Shin (originating from a depiction of a human breast, <i>thad/shad</i>, according to my system): the breasts are pointing to the left.The Izbet Sartah Shin has the breasts on the right<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> (<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">s</span>ha</i>?). At the begi<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">nning of the second line of the Qeiyafa ostracon, there is an equivalent sign in a word that can be read as <i>sha-pa-t.a </i>('he judged'); and<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> at</span> the end <i>shi-pi-t.i</i> ('judgements'), where the breast is horizontal, as in the Phoenician alphabet; the QW bowl has a personal name<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, <i>Sh-m-b-</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>`-l</i> ('N<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">am</span>e of Ba`al'?), and <i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">s</span>hum </i>is the expected ancient form (Hebrew <i>shem</i>). So we seem to have successfully identified the three syllabic forms of <b>Sh</b> (<i>sha, shi, shu</i>). Notice there is no dot in the QW eye-sign (a<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> circle, incomplete) as in the Phoenician alphabet, so this should say <i>`i<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The preceding letter would presumably be <i>ba</i>, though it differs from the IS B-sign; nevertheless, in line 3 of the Q ostracon we have the sequence <i>ba`ala</i>, where the `<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A</span>yin has a dot (as on the IS alphabet), but here we see another verb ('he has prevailed') not the name or title Ba`al, in my view.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> For the record, here is my tentative reading of the</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Qubur el-Walayda bowl inscription ("12th-century context"<span style="font-family: inherit;">)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <i>shu mi ba `i li | 'i ya 'i lu | ma h.u</i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Ugaritic name ShMB`L (cp. shum-addi)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The second name is the patronymic, presumably ('son of I'). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The last word means 'fatling' (<i>mah.u</i>) and possibly refers to a sacrificial offering.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> This exercise will not be consummated here, but note in passing the two opposing <i>p-</i>forms in the 'judge' words in the Qeiyafa ostracon, line 2: one is <i>pa</i> (<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the IS form) </span>and the other i<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">s </span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">pi</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> (with the stance of the <i>P</i> on the Lakish sherd and in the Phoenician alphabet)</span>. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="color: #231f20; left: 2183px; letter-spacing: 1px; top: 5851px; word-spacing: -3px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Reverting to Sass's trea<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">tment of the Lakish sherd inscription, and the comparative material he employs, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sass dismisses <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">some known</span> inscriptions as pseudo or irrelevant, and others he tacitly ignores. possibly because they were discovered by unsuitable anonymous people (such as the two unprovenanced copies of the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">proto-alphabet</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> which Flinders Petrie obtained in Egypt<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">;</span> at the start of the twentieth centu<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ry; these could not have been forgeries</span>, as even the Phoenician alphabet was not well understood). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">One could <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">suggest</span> ignorance and arrogance <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">on the part of</span> some</span>
academics who set themselves up as experts in this field of research;
it is not a case of scientific scepticism and rational caution, but
wilful obfuscation and reprehensible avoidance of some parts of the
available evidence. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">T</span>here is</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">needless</span> agnosticism ("<i>samek</i> is still not identified with certainty in the Proto-Sinaitic inscription<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">s", </span>speaking for himself). There is doctrinaire dog<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">matism in dating the <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">W</span>adi el-Hol and Sinai inscriptions to the 13th Century BCE (237a, n.8), leaving little time for development of the letters from pictorial to stylized forms. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is his ultra-low chronology, putting ages in chaos; originally he had presented the case for <span style="font-family: inherit;">M</span>iddle Kingdom <span style="font-family: inherit;">versus</span> New Kingdom, and now his compromise is to put them at this impossibly late stage. The proper solution is to recognize that some are <span style="font-family: inherit;">M</span>K and others are NK.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>Even if <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sass</span> rejects my ideas, he must take account of the numerous inscriptions I have brought into the picture. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-75363821691645902452015-11-08T20:06:00.033-08:002023-02-06T23:51:34.571-08:00H-L-H.-M ORDER OF ALPHABET LETTERS<style>@font-face {
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8t0Ab4pvMcwa0sbT5VoTzZdpvhS0m5sZKL5BLBx9IPGj6NiUsXNnfzaI00qFa9-QIs9lkMoaTLo-KZmmtZ7r68dM11ttWMa8-BVa5mmygXILAMMiM2AVDisBWdDqwFu97x2-QQ/s1600/HLH.M+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8t0Ab4pvMcwa0sbT5VoTzZdpvhS0m5sZKL5BLBx9IPGj6NiUsXNnfzaI00qFa9-QIs9lkMoaTLo-KZmmtZ7r68dM11ttWMa8-BVa5mmygXILAMMiM2AVDisBWdDqwFu97x2-QQ/s320/HLH.M+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;"><b>Ben Haring</b>, <i>Halah.am </i>on an Ostracon<i> </i>of the early New Kingdom?<br />
<i>Journal of Near Eastern Studies</i>, 74,
2 (2015) 189-196.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">(<b>July 2018</b>) Other studies of the document are now available to me: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;"><b>Thomas Schneider,</b> A Double Abecedary? <i>Halah.am </i>and <i>'Abgad</i> on the TT999 Ostracon. <i> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;"><i>Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, </i>379 (2018) 103-112.</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;">For a revised version on a pdf go to his Academia page; at the end (p. 24) you will find photographs of each side; I recommend printing them, cuttng out the pictures, and pasting them together as a useful replica of the object.<br /><a href="https://ubc.academia.edu/ThomasSchneider">https://ubc.academia.edu/ThomasSchneider</a><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;"><b>H.-W. Fischer-Elfert, and M. Krebernik</b>, Zu den Buchstabennamen auf dem <i>Halah.am</i>-Ostrakon aus TT 99 (Grab des Sennefri). <i>Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde </i>143 (2016) 169-176.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;">(<b>November 2018</b>) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;"><b>Aren M. Wilson-Wright</b>, As Easy as ABC? A Review of Thomas Schneider's Study of the TT99 Ostracon<br /><a href="https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/sites/bibleinterp.arizona.edu/files/2018-10/TT99%20Bible%20and%20Intepretation.pdf">https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/sites/bibleinterp.arizona.edu/files/2018-10/TT99%20Bible%20and%20Intepretation.pdf</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">The document that Ben Haring and the other scholars are examining is Ostracon no. 99.95.0297 from Theban Tomb TT99,
the burial place of an Egyptian named Senneferi; and it is being hailed as “the
earliest known abecedary” (Universiteit Leiden News & Events). The use of
the term ‘ostracon’ is far removed from the original meaning (a potsherd with
names of people to be ostracized, or voted for). The news report from Leiden University
called it a”shard of pottery”, but it is actually a small piece of limestone
with an ink inscription on each side; thus it is a tablet with Egyptian writing
on it. Note carefully that Haring has a question mark in the title, and he is
asking whether the items in this<span> </span>text
are arranged in an alphabetical order, following the sequence that starts with
HLH.M, as opposed to the familiar ’Aleph Beth Gimel Daleth scheme (originally
’BG<u>H</u>D). Thomas Schneider is now suggesting that both systems are in evidence, with the 'ABGAD sequence on the other side.<br />
<span> </span>Anticipating the answer to Haring’s
question: what we find is a list of words (nouns rather than names, apparently)
with the first four having the initials HRH.M; this looks like a failed
hypothesis already, but in Egyptian writing there is no L-sign or <i>l-</i>sound available, so <i>r</i> is used for <i>l</i> (though we will need to keep in mind that<span> </span><i>l </i>could
also be transcribed by<i> n, nr, </i>and<i> 3 [’aleph]</i>). <br />
<span> </span>The HLH.M sequence-order for the
letters is not known before Hellenistic times in Egypt (4th Century BCE onwards; cp. Schneider 106b)
but it is attested in Syria-Palestine in the Bronze Age (before 1200 BCE) and in
Arabia in the Iron Age.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><br />
<span> </span>Is this an <i>onomasticon</i> (a list of names or words) or an <i>abecedary</i> (an inventory of alphabet letters arranged in a standard
order)? <span> </span>If it is an onomasticon, why is
it being hailed as the earliest known abecedary? Nevertheless, it could be
both, because each word has a symbol after it, and a few of them look like
letters (‘pictophonograms’) of the original alphabet. But the total number of
such symbols on this fragmentary document is twelve, a long way from the expected
double dozen or more; but Haring (195a) surmises that the ostracon was
originally twice as long as the surviving fragment; Wilson-Wright also supposes it was a complete HLH.M alphabet; </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";">but </span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";">I will argue that</span></span> these guesses are unlikely or impossible. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span> </span>It must be said at this point that none of these scholars mention the oldest complete copies of the
early alphabet in its pictorial stage (two inventories on three limestone
tablets) which also come from Thebes, and should be cited in any study of the infant
alphabet; but, astonishingly and deplorably, they are never consulted (though Émile Puech informs me that he has spoken about them in the past), even
though they may provide the solution to all the speculation that goes on in the
search for the original letters of the alphabet (by Gordon Hamilton, for
example)<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>. <span> </span>However, they have been examined by myself, publicly
though not ‘publicationally’, in connection with the theories of Colless and
Hamilton.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: x-small;"><span> </span><span style="font-size: small;">We now begin an examination of this
promising artefact. Photographs of each side are reproduced here (after Haring), and for my own use I have produced a paper facsimile of the objecr, by pasting photocopies of the two sides together back to back. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Since Haring (192) gives strong indications that “Group Writing”
(Egyptian “syllabic orthography”, a system for transcribing foreign words and
names) is present here, we might expect the texts to be Semitic; but he has little
success in taking this approach. However, I will presume at the outset (with hindsight) that the words
are West Semitic, and that the original pictophonograms that I have proposed
for the letters HLH.M (and some others) are there on the tablet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">
<span> </span>Haring identifies the sides as obverse
(A) and reverse (B), and he notes that the top of A corresponds to the bottom
of B; and so the writer must have turned the object over vertically to continue the inscription, rather than simply turning it around horizontally so that the top lines of each text are at the top of each side. The text on A is (apparently) broken off at the bottom, and B possibly (though not probably, if Schneider's interpretation is right) has some</span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> details</span> missing at the top. The question remains whether the tablet was originally much larger, containing the entire alphabet, and thus with twice the number of letters (22 or more).</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">SIDE A (obverse)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUNw5nVOrqIuiCoczowxKMXCyMUmmIhuH8NlB3bGMv6nAlfs4qEGV_6qvJWosPtdQjVFfI5iD9Pahaoa4EDGzr46IiGEZ5DdeGazF__0_LwxDum_7phpqJMatWnFpbAL1gkej9Q/s1600/HLH.M+jpg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUNw5nVOrqIuiCoczowxKMXCyMUmmIhuH8NlB3bGMv6nAlfs4qEGV_6qvJWosPtdQjVFfI5iD9Pahaoa4EDGzr46IiGEZ5DdeGazF__0_LwxDum_7phpqJMatWnFpbAL1gkej9Q/s640/HLH.M+jpg.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">
<b>[A1] <span> </span>H<br />
</b>The sign on the left is a hieratic form of Hieroglyph A28, which is believed
to be the basis for proto-alphabetic H /h/ and the origin of Greco-Roman
E. It represents a man rejoicing, and my long-standing hypothesis (1988:
35-36) connects it acrophonically with West Semitic <i>hll </i>(rejoice, exult,
jubilate, celebrate, as in <i>hallelu-yah</i>).
The various shapes it has in the Semitic inscriptions also relate it to A32 (man
dancing) and even A29 (man standing on his hands).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><b><br />
<span> </span></b>Haring's transcription of the
accompanying text (on the right, and reading from right to left) is <b><i>h3whn</i></b>; he supposes this is for
Egyptian <i>hy hnw</i> ‘rejoice’, and he sees it as a perfect match with the
rejoicing figure. Certainly, but perhaps we can find a Semitic word for this
slot. In this regard, Egyptian N (the water-wave sign that gives alphabetic M,
pictured further down on this tablet, though reduced to a horizontal straight
line in the hieratic script, as shown here immediately to the right of the
rejoicer) was also employed to transcribe Semitic <i>l</i>, and so the the two Egyptian letters at the end (HN) could
represent <i>hl</i>.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
Furthermore, the eagle-vulture representing <i>3
(’aleph) </i>could stand for<i> l</i>
(though it would normally be indicating a vowel, here <i>ha</i> or <i>hi. <span> </span></i>Haring mentions the possibility of another
N (and thus an additional <i>l</i>), and I
can almost find *<i>hillul</i>, which I see
as the word that gave HI in the West Semitic proto-syllabary and H in the proto-alphabet
(Colless 1992: 67). Still, the final <i>hl </i>might
suffice to make the confirmatory connection that I have been waiting for, since
1988. Haring follows the standard line that the name of the letter is Hoy (or
Hey, presumed to be what the man is shouting) and Hoy happens to be the
Ethiopic name of the equivalent letter. Another Ethiopic letter name will be
invoked in the next section. Notice in passing that the H-sign (hieroglyph O4,
a field house) was one of the models for the letter B (<i>bayt</i> ‘house’; Hamilton 2006: 38-52); indeed, it was the one that
survived into the Phoenician alphabet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Schneider thinks that a connection with Hebrew <i>hll </i>"praise", as proposed by Fischer-Elfert and Krebernik (2016:170), is unlikely, in the unattested form <i>hlhl</i> that appears here (apparently); instead he suggests a Semitic root <i>hny</i> "be pleasant", and here with causative <i>ha- </i>("make pleasant"); I would still cling to the <i>hll</i> "exult" connection (<i>hillulu </i>"jubilation"), as the original reference for the character depicted to represent H /h/; and whatever the scribe has intended here, he has certainly written a term beginning with <i>h</i> (hieroglyph O4). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> We should keep in mind and test the supposition that each Egyptian syllabic transcription covers a Semitic word, whereas the classifiers are Egyptian.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Accordingly, I think the symbol of the man rejoicing is meant to give us the sound of the first consonant in the series, perhaps by means of the Egyptian <i>hy hnw </i>"jubilate" (Gardiner, 493, with reference to A32 man dancing), though A8, with the man sitting, is even better, as it represents <i>hnw</i> "jubilation".<br /> An interesting detail must be added here: I am convinced that in some, if not all cases, the document does in fact provide the Semitic alphabet sign. In this instance I detect a faint representation of the letter H (man with upraised arms at right angles) in the space below the Egyptian hieratic H.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> <b>[A2]<span>
</span>L<br />
</b>Haring transcribes the text as <i>rw</i>
(<i>rawi</i>) and looks for a word to go
with the “curl or rope at the end”. Actually, it is a already a current idea that
the original letter L was a ‘coil of rope’, corresponding to hieroglyph V1
(Hamilton 2006: 126-127). Also, Egyptian <i>r</i>
was used to render Semitic <i>l</i> (more
usually than <i>n</i> for <i>l</i>, as proposed in A1 above); remember
that there was no <i>l</i>-sound in
Egyptian.<span> </span>If we are looking for a word <i>lawi</i>, we can find it in the Ethiopic
name for L, <i>Lawi</i>. Romain Butin </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";">
noted this </span>(<i>Harvard Theological Review</i> 1932: 146,
and also Colless, <i>Abr-Nahrain</i> 1988: 44), and Butin pointed to a root <i>lawa </i>‘wind,
coil’ (as in Arabic); Hamilton records this in a footnote (2006: 136, n. 157)
but he rejects the other possibility of a shepherd’s crook (S38, S39) as the
prototype (2006: n. 148). However, on the two alphabets from Thebes, neither <span> </span>L has a coil: one has a crook (like S38) and
the other has an inverted example of S39 (looking just like our <i>l</i>). It could be that they are
allographs: either the coil and the crook are both original, or else one
developed from the other. Note that the other four scholars (Sch, F-E, K, W-W) also invoke the root <i>lwy</i> here. In this case, we again have a transcribed Semitic word; and the glyph V1 presumably has its usual Egyptian function as a determinative for rope, though it does not have a phonetic role.<br />
<b>[A3]<span>
</span>H.<br />
</b>Here the text is transcribed as <i>h.rpt</i>
(note that when I place a dot after a letter it should be understood as
actually being beneath the letter, in accordance with the standard
transcription system for h., s., z., t., d.) The H. sign is M16 (clump of
papyrus) used in Group Writing instead of the normal V28 (hank or wick), which
became <u>H</u> in the proto-alphabet. Haring offers a proper name <i>h.rpt </i>in Ugaritic cuneiform sources, but
he wonders how this and his other suggestions would relate to the sign on the
left. He identifies it as “M22” (“a reed plant”) but the sign has two shoots on
each side, whereas M22 has single shoots, and so this is M23 or M26 (<b>sedge</b>). <i><span> </span></i>If we search for Semitic <i>h.lpt</i> we discover <i>h.lp</i>, as a species of rush with sharp edges (root <i>h.lp</i> ‘be sharp, cut’) (Marcus Jastrow, <i>Dictionary of Talmud etc</i>, 456f) and
‘shoot’ (plural –<i>ym</i> or –<i>wt</i>) (Jastrow, 472a); it is cognate with
Arabic <i>h.alaf </i>or <i>h.alfa’</i>, and it is especially found in Egypt; it is glossed as
‘Schilf oder Riedgras’ (Jacob Levy, <i>Wörterbuch
über die Talmudim und Midraschim</i>, II, 63a). ‘Schilf’ is ‘<b>sedge</b>’ (Germanic <i>sagjaz; sag-</i>‘saw’). I have now learned that Schneider, Fischer-Elfert & Krebernik, and Wilson-Wright also read <i>h.lpt </i></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><i> </i>"rush, reed", </span>and connect it with Semitic <i>h.lp </i>(also Akkadian<i> elpetu</i>)]<i>.</i><br />
<span> </span>The sedge sign that comes at the
end of the <i>h.lpt </i>sequence <span> </span>is not in any proto-alphabetic text that I
have seen, though M22 with single shoots does occur in the West Semitic syllabary,
apparently as <i>mu</i>, from <i>mulku</i>, ‘kingship’, after M23 <i>nsyt</i>, ‘kingship’ (Colless, <i>Abr-Nahrain</i> 1992: 82-83). </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">Additionally (smudged and faded, and unmentioned by the other researchers), the </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> Egyptian </span>mansion-sign (06,<i> h.wt</i>) is placed here to reinforce the fact that the third letter in the series is H. (Het in Hebrew). Note that the Ethiopic name for this letter is H.awt., and this may be significant. The sedge might have
served as an allograph for H. in the proto-alphabet, but my choice has always
been the mansion sign for H., acrophonically based on <i>h.z.r </i>(Hebrew <i>h.as.er</i>)
‘court, mansion’ (Colless 1988:38-41).<span>
</span>Its form in the alphabet in the Iron Age is an upright rectangle,
divided into two squares; in the Bronze Age, the earliest form has the mansion
with two rooms and a courtyard (sometimes rounded), but because it is a house it is usually, but
mistakenly, placed in the B (<i>bayt</i>,
house) category (so Hamilton 2006: 48). This character apparently occurs here, to the left of the <i>h.wt</i> hieroglyph and the rush sign, as faint lines and dots. I have waited a long time for such confirmation, while others
have been misidentifying H.et as a fence (Hamilton 2006: 97-102). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Also in the vicinity is a small circle with a dot, apparently the head of a snake, with its body represented by a line extending to the wavy line (M); the snake is the letter N in the alphabet, and in the Alpha-Beta order of the letters the sequence LMN is at the half-way point, but in this Ha-La-H.a-Ma system only N is at the centre of the line; but this scribe is perhaps reminding us that M and N really belong together, implying that he knew the alternative order. Or we are seeing MN, another transcription of the word for water (see notes on line A4).<br />
<span> </span>Note that at least 18 of the 22 letters
in the Iron Age (Phoenician) alphabet had a counterpart in the ancient
syllabary (which likewise represented only 22 consonants); but this form of H.
(mansion) is absent from the syllabary. It appears quite clearly in the top left corner
of Thebes alphabet 1, and in the same position on Thebes 2 (but indistinct). Those documents portray a longer alphabet, it needs to be said, and it will be necessary to ask whether this little tablet is presenting a long or a short consonantary.<br />
<b>[A4]<span>
</span>M</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><b>
</b>Here the text is transcribed <b><i>mw n3</i></b><i>.</i> The first character consists of three parallel lines (actually
wavy lines in the hieroglyph, M33b, “three ripples”, <i>mw</i>, ‘water’).<span> </span>The single
“ripple” is Egyptian N (from <i>nt </i>‘water’),
and in the West Semitic syllabary it functions as <i>mu</i> (an allograph of the rush sign for <i>mu</i>, as seen in section [A3] above); in the proto-alphabet it is M, and
now only two of its waves remain (Colless 1988: 44-45; Hamilton 2006: 138-144). The
proto-alphabetic sign, here with four waves,<span>
</span>could indicate that a word starting with <i>m</i> precedes it, or even the word from which M originates, possibly <i>mûna</i> (the plural ending <i>n</i>, as in Arabic and Aramaic, whereas Hebrew, for example, has <i>m</i>; cp. Arabic -<i>ûna </i>versus Ugaritic <i>-ûma</i>). Significantly, Wilson Wright transcribes the word here as</span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;"><span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">m</span></i></span></span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;">awūna</span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: "times","times new roman",serif;">. </span> </span></span></i>
In my reading of the Sinai proto-alphabetic inscriptions, both <i>-n</i> and <i>-m</i> are attested (nunation and mimation): <i>ns.bn </i>"prefects" (<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html">Sinai 349</a>), <i>s.btm </i>"handfuls" (<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/08/sinai-food-rations-sinai-inscriptions.html">Sinai 375</a>).<span style="font-family: "times";"> In this case the symbol has to be interpreted as the West Semitic letter of the proto-alphabet (M), not Egyptian N; the serpent is there perhaps to remind the reader that the Semitic letter N is the snake, or to provide another transcription of the word for water (<i>mn</i>). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span><b><span lang="EN-AU">[A5] Q<br />
</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">I am reasonably convinced that the
HLH.M sequence is present in A1-A4. But where does it go from here? In the
attested examples of this order (from Syria-Palestine and Arabia) the next
letter should be <b>Q</b>,
as recognized by Haring (193b, though Haring’s Table 1 erroneously shows O); <b>Q
</b>is followed by <b>W</b>,
and then <b>Sh</b>
and <b>R</b>. <br />
The text in this fifth line is damaged, and Haring's transcription
is <b><i>r/t/d ssh p3</i></b>.
The second sign is understood by Haring as scribal apparatus (Y3), including a
palette. The West Semitic word <i>r-sh-p</i> refers to
‘plague’ or the god of pestilence, or ‘burning’. The accompanying object looks
like a pot with a handle and a spout; it could be for pouring libations. By my
reckoning the letter Q was originally a cord wound on a stick (<i>qaw</i>, a line, a
cord used for measuring) sometimes with one end of the cord projecting at the
top (Colless 1988: 49-50, <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html">Sinai
345</a>, <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/07/asa-sinai-smith-photograph-and-my.html">Sinai
376</a>); this is widely attested in the inscriptions, and on both copies of
the alphabet from Thebes, but Hamilton overlooks this and argues for Qop as a
monkey, using the letter that is actually Sadey for his false guide in the chase (2006:
209-221). This is not an ape that is confronting us at this point on this
tablet, but it could be a human head, inverted, with ears and neck. The name of
the letter R is Rosh, ‘head’, and <i>rssh </i>might be a
transcription of that. Rather than hieroglyph D1 (head in profile) this would
be D2 (front view of head with neck and ears and eyes, <i>h.r </i>‘face’). However,
the initial R of the text is not certain, and the final <i>–p3</i> is left
unexplained. <br />
The symbol could even be F34 heart (Egn ’<i>ib</i>, WS <i>lbb</i>), and this
would lead to a whole new round of speculation.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";">
</span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Schneider introduces another possibility: the second character is Q (N29 hill), and hence the combination <i>qp</i><i>, </i>and I might suggest that here is our ape, to go with the letter-name Qop; but the accompanying symbol is difficult to relate to hieroglyph E32 (sacred baboon) or E33 (<i>gf</i> monkey) or any of the additional forms of "singe" (E32 - E71, in Jan Buurman et al, <i>Inventaire des signes hiéroglyphiques</i>, Paris 1988, 105-106). Nevertheless, a dancing figure with goggle eyes is faintly visible to the left of the pot, and this could well be a monkey; and so the simian name </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";">Qop </span>for the letter Q is possibly verified, but the standard character remains Qaw, Hieroglyph V24 (--o< cord wound on a stick, or on a carpenter's pencil in my culture); an example of this letter may be lurking among the dots and dashes beside the ape, or in the bottom left corner. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Wilson-Wright has <i>li-qôpi</i> ('to the monkey'), but the supposed <i>r q p 3 </i>is explained by Schneider as Semitic <i>qab </i>(a measure, with the vessel symbol as "classifier") preceded by the preposition <i>l</i>, so that the Q is the acrophonic agent in the sequence. However, ultimately we must accept that the accompanying symbol is a perfect match with hieroglyph W23 (jar with handles, Gardiner, 530), which is associated with an Egyptian word <i>qrh.t </i>"vessel", and conveniently and fittingly provides the sound Q. With regard to the accompanying word, West Semitic has <i>qb`(t) </i>"drinking vessel", but this has more sounds than allowed by the text on the stone. The monkey wins on two counts: <i>rqp</i> is Semitic <i>lqp</i>, 'for the ape', and the animal is pictured, apparently. <br /> Incidentally, the intrusive preposition could indicate that a statement is being made, or a story is being told, by the Semitic words in the sequence (Schneider). <br /><b>[A6] W</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">The text to accompany this sixth sign is lacking; possibly a piece of the stone has been broken off at this point; or else the scribe thought that A6 and A7 were self-explanatory.
Haring suggests, plausibly, that the glyph is a seated man with arms hanging
(hieroglyph A7, <i>wrd </i>‘tired’) but he does not pursue this possibility. I have
seen this in association with an early alphabetic inscription from Timna in the
Wadi Arabah (Colless 2010; <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2010/04/timna-inscriptions-copper-mines-at.html">Timna iscriptions</a>) and I took it to be an ideogram there.<span> Notice that the word <i>wrd</i> ("wearied"!) begins with the expected W in the series. Also, to the right of the weary man, is that a pair of lollypops, circles on stems, the sign for W, with WW saying <i>waw </i>('nail'), and giving the name of the letter?</span><br />
<b>[A7]<span> </span>Sh<br />
</b>The Beth-Shemesh HLH.M sequence of </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";">cuneiform </span>letters has a circle after W, and this is followed by R; this circle would represent the sun, which is the acrophonic source of the Sh-sign, <i>sh-m-sh </i>"sun", although this fact is almost universally unrecognized. The original character was the sun disc with a serpent (appearing in the </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2010/04/timna-inscriptions-copper-mines-at.html">Timna iscriptions</a>, and</span> twice on the Wadi el-Hol <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">vertical inscription</a>, though not perceived as such by other researchers; see Hamilton 327-330). Symbol A7 here could be an elongated version of the sun-hieroglyph. The example from Ugarit (RS 88.215) has (apparently) Th (<u>T</u>), but both documents (from Beth-Shemesh and Ugarit) are damaged. The circle-character usually indicates a short cuneiform alphabet. No text is available on the tablet for this last sign on side A.<span> </span>Haring proposes a phallus or an animal. If it
is a letter of the alphabet it could be a human arm (<i>yad</i>) with the hand pointing downwards (hieroglyph D41, determinative for arm), and hence Y. Incidentally, the Ethiopic name for Yod is Yaman ("right hand"); this word was the source of YI (<i>yimnu</i>) in the West Semitic syllabary. The next expected letter in the sequence would be Sh or Th, but Y is actually the final letter in the series (as attested at Ugarit, and apparently also Beth-Shemesh, but not in the Arabian and Ethiopian system); this may be significant, indicating that the scribe only intended to give an abbreviated list. This could mean that the other side of the tablet has a different purpose, and Schneider suggests that it represents the 'ABGD form of the alphabet. </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">Schneider's hypothesis has merit, since the words in B2-B4 have initial B G D. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> However, once again the faint marks can settle the matter: to the right of the W (wearied man) we can discern a sun-sign, and thus Sh (from <i>shimsh</i>, "sun"); referring to the original photographs in <i>JNES</i> and <i>BASOR, </i>rather than the blurred reproductions offered here, we see on the far right a circle, representing the head of a protective serpent, with its body to the left (like a </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">curved W), and the sun-disc is included, apparently</span>; or there may be a snake-head at each end. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">SIDE B (reverse)</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="font-family: "times";">
<span> </span>We now turn the tablet over to side B,
presumably the reverse side. Haring assumes this to be the final half of the end
of the inscription, and he posits six items.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4d5z-_7ZUv4DhQdovlYJX8rb6FfV1IwDv90NxFMJU3rQyDbMaG2bu87IDQI_annOZIn_Stcrs9PSnaibr49hGTZpFuRvZmc_fJ5p7-72Cgv7IKV1rGC4sBZ3ViYN_yHsTXVIicw/s1600/HLH.M+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4d5z-_7ZUv4DhQdovlYJX8rb6FfV1IwDv90NxFMJU3rQyDbMaG2bu87IDQI_annOZIn_Stcrs9PSnaibr49hGTZpFuRvZmc_fJ5p7-72Cgv7IKV1rGC4sBZ3ViYN_yHsTXVIicw/s640/HLH.M+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><b>[B0]</b> <span> </span><br />
This is “lost except for some traces” (Haring); or else there was never anything there. I think that the first line of the reverse side is B1.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span><span lang="EN-AU"> <b>[B1] [']<br />
</b>The tentative transcription is <b>t/r/d/n.w-t3…</b>(?);
the final cluster of three marks is left undeciphered. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">Wilson-Wright offers <b><i>rnttwj</i></b>, and suggests <i>daltu '</i>door', hence D. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Haring’s guess is the
name of the cobra goddess <i>Rnn.t</i>. </span><br /> </span><span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: 14pt;"></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span>However, 'Aleph (the glottal stop) would be expected, preceding B (which is certainly the next letter in the present sequence), and Schneider comes up with a reading that at least has a word starting with a (prothetic) vowel, but transcribed without an initial glottal stop: <i>(')elta'at</i> "gecko". If the marker is indeed a lizard, then Hebrew <i>'anaqa</i> provides an 'Aleph (listed with Schneider's word among prohibited reptiles in Leviticus 11:30); but it would be hard to find that sequence of sounds in the text. </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> The remains of the Egyptian symbol could be the tail and rear legs of the lizard hieroglyph (I1, <i>`<u>sh</u></i> 'lizard'; the initial consonant is used to transcribe Semitic `ayin, but is sometimes employed for Semitic 'alep, and that could be the case here. <br /> </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">With that in mind, I would now like to direct our attention to the horned bovine head at the far left of this line, faded but clear enough on good photographs; this is the original pictophone that became 'alep and Alpha. Thus we are left in no doubt that the intention is to present a sequence starting with the letter which stands for the glottal stop; and we would confidently expect the next sign to be Beta.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">
<b>[B2]<span>
B</span><br />
</b>Two ibises and two reed flowers, and a few more undecipherable marks, give
us <b><i>bby</i></b><i>… </i>. The symbol<b> </b>looks like a (four-legged) beetle or a bee. If it were an ox-head with a neck
(like the one on Thebes 2, or ’A in the syllabic texts from Byblos) and if there
were two Egyptian vultures (G1 <i>3, ‘aleph</i>)
instead of ibises, then <i>33</i> could
represent <i>’l</i>, but there is no <i>p or b</i> to produce<i> ’lp</i>. Still there are marks preceding the ibises, which could be
the true initial letter. If <i>3</i> for Aleph
were to fill the gap, we would have ’<i>bb</i>,
‘green ear of corn’, or the month of Abib, to go with the sedge shoots in [A3]
above, and we begin to wonder whether this could be a calendar of some kind,
with twelve months itemized. But Schneider offers Egyptian <i>bibiya-ta'</i> "earth-snail"as the solution, with the beetle as a classifier; he also adduces Berber <i>baybu</i> "snail". If it is a scarab-beetle (L1), it would be phonetically <i>kh-p-r, </i>but as a bee (an anomalous L2) it offers <i>bit, </i>with the desired B. <i> </i>If this were a long alphabet, the order would run 'A B G Kh(<u>H</u>) D; but we seem to be at the B-line of the sequence at this point (after all, the operative Semitic word starts with double <i>b</i>), and with hindsight I can find no place for <u>H</u> in this collection; this would indicate a short alphabet.<br /> Wilson-Wright proposes <i>bi-bayti</i>, 'in a house', which has the merit of giving the actual Semitic word that produces the letter B (<i>baytu</i> "house"). Again, the insertion of a preposition suggests a meaningful series: "There is a lizard in the house".<br />
<b>[B3] G<br />
</b>The first letter of the text is the Egyptian G (W11, a ring-stand for pots,
<i>nst</i> ‘seat’); it can transcribe
Semitic <i>g, q, k,</i><i> gh. </i><span> </span>Haring’s transcription is <b><i>gr(y)</i></b>, for which he
proposes ‘bird’, and the accompanying symbol is apparently a bird in
flight, though he tentatively identifies it as hieroglyph G47 "duckling", phonetic <u><i>t</i></u>.<span> Schneider decides on Egn <i>garu</i> "dove", and points out a connection with columba. Wilson-Wright suggests <i>gallu as </i>a reduction of <i>gamlu</i> 'throw-stick', which is the origin of the letter G. Are the lines to the left of the B2 symbol (and below the ox-head) depicting a boomerang? The intended word should be Semitic, but at least we can say it starts with G.</span><br />
<b>[B4] D <br />
</b>Haring gives <b><i>t3’ity(?) </i></b>and makes numerous suggestions for the symbol
(sarcophagus, shrine, temple door, vertical loom) and for the word (temple door, Tait
the goddess of weaving, bale of linen, loincloth, curtain). Wilson-Wright seeks the letter T.et here, proposing a vertical loom for the depicted object, and transcribing the syllabic text as <i>t.aytu. </i>The letter D is undoubtedly derived acrophonically from <i>dalt </i>"door"<i>. </i>The symbol reminds me of
the grapevine structure (cp. M42) which is the letter Gh(ayin) from <i>ghinab</i>, ‘grape’. But it is very close to hieroglyph O20, depicting a shrine. Schneider suggests it is a bird cage, and he identifies the word as <i>da'at</i> "kite" (Leviticus 11:14). But could the transcription represent <i>dalt ('alep</i> = <i>l</i>)<i>, </i>with the marker representing an elaborate door (Haring's "temple door")? Is there a simple door for D (with thick lines) to its left?<br />
<b>[B5] Z<br />
</b>The transcription<b> <i><u>d</u>r</i> </b>“seems inescapable”,
Haring says, and the symbol appears to be a vessel. It certainly looks like
a pot, but it could be a bag, which is the sign used for S. (Sadey). The <i><u>D</u></i> is a fire-drill
(U28), and <i><u>d</u></i> is also used for
Semitic <i>s. (Sadey). </i><span> </span>My long-held acrophonic source for S. is <i>s.rr</i>, ‘tied bag’ (Colless 1988: 48-49).
Am I having yet another Eureka experience here? However, the preference is for Z here, invoking <i>zir</i> "jar" (though the Hebrew word is <i>sir</i>, and Arabic <i>zir </i>is late, though in an addendum, F/K note Akkadian <i>zurru</i>, attested at Mari and Alalakh). The original Letter Z is attested as |><|, and such a combination of triangles might be found to the left of the B4 line.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><br />
<span> </span>As is ever the case, only the person
who composed this text knew for certain what it means. <br />
<span> </span>What could the significance of this
document be? Was it apotropaic, using Semitic signs and spells and names of
goddesses, to ward off evil in the tomb? The West Semitic serpent spells in
Egyptian royal tomb inscriptions (5th Dynasty) might offer an analogy here, but I can not see a clear connection (Richard C. Steiner, <i>Early Northwest Semitic Serpent Spells in the Pyramid Texts</i>, Winona Lake, 2011).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">It now appears that this tablet is a mnemonic guide to the two standard systems for arranging the letters of the alphabet: the HLH.M and the 'ABGD schemes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> The single-symbol "classifiers" (Schneider, 104) seem to be semantic and phonetic indicators. In some cases we see hieroglyphs corresponding to the West Semitic letters: A1 <b>H</b>, A2 <b>L</b>, A3 <b>H.</b>, A4 <b>M</b>, A7 <b>Sh</b>, B4 a door?.<br /> Additionally, actual letters of the Semitic proto-alphabet appear in relevant places: mansion (A3, H.et), monkey (A5, Qop), sun with uraeus serpent (A7, Shimsh, Shin), </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">ox-head (B1, 'Alep), house (B2 Bayt), throwstick (B3, Gaml) </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">are examples that I alone have identified, but I think they are there, and they add significantly to our understanding. Indeed, there are so many traces of proto-alphabetic letters on the far left area of each face of the tablet that it almost seems to be a palimpsest.<br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Connections with the names of Ethiopic letters seemed promising at the outset, but no consistent pattern has been found. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Apparently the aim was to give examples of the sounds represented in the West Semitic proto-alphabet, by means of the initial sounds of a set of words (preferably Semitic) arranged in the two standard orderings of the letters The words were possibly chosen to hang together in a pattern for memorisation purposes. The existence of such a tool was known from a later period in Egypt </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">(</span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><i>Merkvers</i>, </span>Schneider 106b - 107a)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Perhaps we can find a mnemonic ditty. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><b>(A) (1) Rejoice, (2) bender of (3) reeds, (4) water (5) in jar for (6) the weary (7) from sun. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><b>(B) (1) Lizard, (2) snail (or in the house), (3) pigeon, (4) kite, (5) in the pot.</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> However, more opinions are needed on the right readings for the hieratic texts and symbols in the inscription; and other suggestions for the purpose and purport of this intriguing artefact. Wilson-Wright has provided some promising new readings (2018, see below).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> This
is not a complete document, though it may be a copy of the beginnings
of two standard texts. However, the tablet itself is complete (or almost complete and
possibly unbroken). </span>There was no space for more writing on either side, and since the two texts are running in different directions (the top of side A is the bottom of side B), it can not easily be argued that this is a fragment of a larger broken tablet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Side A is the obverse; and side B is obviously the reverse side, since it omits H and W from the 'ABGDHWZ sequence, as they had already appeared on "the front page". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Side B has the shorter form of the alphabet, as shown by its omission of <u>H</u> between G and D. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Side A does not go far enough for us to determine whether its alphabet is long or short; HLH.M alphabets are usually long (South Arabia, Ugarit), but if A7 is the sun, and thus Sh, then this would indicate a short alphabet or a variant version; in the cuneiform alphabets known to us at present, Beth-Shemesh has a circle for the sun-disc [Shimsh]; the Ugarit tablet has a breast with nipple [Thad]; but both these tablets are damaged, and so the evidence is unclear. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"> Note that the two inventories of the letters of the alphabet from <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">Thebes</a> have no detectable scheme for organizing the signs; they differ from each other in their arrangement; but neither of the two systems portrayed on this tablet are evident there.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-family: "georgia",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
This is an important document<span style="font-family: "times";">, and although </span> <span style="font-family: "times";">t</span>here are still some
puzzles left for us to solve, Thomas Schneider has shown what it is:
a double abecedary, albeit abridged.</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> From my experience, I would say that the Alpha-Beta side gives the beginning of a <i>short</i> alphabet, since the <u>H</u>
is absent, between G and D; and if the Ha-La side has Sh (a sun-sign
with uraeus, equivalent to the sun-disk circle on the Beth-Shemesh
cuneiform tablet) after Q and W, then it would also be a <i>short</i> inventory or a variant version, as the<i> long</i> version from Ugarit has Th (from <i>thad </i>'breast')
in this position (Albright's <i>thann </i>"composite bow" for <u><i>t</i></u> is highly suspect, but must be mentioned here). The H and W are omitted between D and Z , presumably
because they have already appeared on the other side, and this would
indicate that the Ha-La face is the obverse, with the 'A-Ba list on the
reverse.</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia",serif;"></span></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>November 2018</b> </span></span>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: large;">Here is an attempt to show that the document has the beginning and end of a HALAH.AM alphabet, by Aren M.
Wilson-Wright<span> </span>Postdoctoral Researcher<span> </span>University of Zurich October 2018</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: large;">Table 3: Interpretation of the
TT99 ostracon (p. 8)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: large;">[additions in square brackets are by BE Colless]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 10pt;">Syllabic entry ||
Determinative || My Interpretation || Traditional Letter Name || Meaning of the
Letter Name</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Front </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">1 <b><i>h</i></b><i>3whn
</i>man with upraised arms <b><i>h</i></b><i>ô
han hôy
</i>an exclamation</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />han-represents
a form of the Semitic definite article attached to the following word.</span> </span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">2 <b><i>r</i></b><i>wy
</i>coil of rope <i> </i></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">l</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">āwiyu </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">lawi </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">or<i> </i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">lāwiyu </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">coil of rope</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">3 </span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">ḥ</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">3rpty </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">reed </span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">ḥ</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">alpata </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">ḥ</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">awt </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">or </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">ḥ</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">ayt </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">enclosure</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">4 <b><i>m</i></b><i>wn3</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">water <b><i>m</i></b></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">awūna </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">mêm </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">water <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />[with
snake for <i>mwn</i>, nunation instead of
mimation]</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">5 <i>r<b>q</b>p3</i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">jug <i>li-<b>q</b>ôpi
qôp </i>monkey [pictured] [also
>o-- ?]</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">[6 <b><i>w</i></b><i>rd </i>(BEC)</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">[7 sh or y
(BEC)</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Back</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">1 <i>rnttwj
</i>lizard <i>daltu dalt </i>door
[but ox-head, far left, for ’alp]</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">2 <b><i>b</i></b><i>3b3yt3</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">beetle <i>bi-bayti
<b>b</b>ayt </i>house [square for house pictured?]</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">3 <b><i>g</i></b><i>3rw </i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">bird <i>gallu <b>g</b>aml </i>throw-stick [pictured?]</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">4 <b><i>d</i></b><i>3jty
</i>vertical loom <i> </i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">ṭ</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">aytu <b> </b></span></i><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">ṭ</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">ayt </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">spindle</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia","times new roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">5 <b><i><u>d</u></i></b><i>3r </i>jar ??? <b><i>z</i></b><i>ayn </i>ax</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: large;">"If my
interpretation proves correct, then the entries on the back of the
ostracon approximate the sequence g-d-b-ṭ-z</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: large;">found toward
the end of some Ancient South Arabian halaḥam alphabets. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "palatino"; font-size: large;">The only
difference is that g follows d and b rather than preceding them: i.e., d-b-g-ṭ-z."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">
[BEC] For reference here is the <span style="font-family: "times";">H-L-H.M sequence (tentatively reconstructed from the damaged alphabetic cuneiform tablets of Ugarit and Beth-Shemesh):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";">H L H. M Q W Sh/Th R B T (<u>D</u>) K N <u>H</u> S. S´ P </span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-family: "times";">’ </span></span><span style="font-family: "times";">‘ D./Z. G D Gh T. Z (<u>D</u>) Y</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";">Where is the Y in the sequence on the reverse side of the TT99 tablet? There is no space for it (remember that the bottom of the verso is in the same position as the top of the recto, the front side). I could salvage his hypothesis by pointing to the possibility of a Yod at the bottom of the front side (unless it is Sh). However, there is less need for special pleading if we defend Schneider's 'BGD hypothesis for the reverse side. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"> Deficiencies in Wilson-Wright's case could be:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-family: "times";"> No known HLH.M system ends with D B G T. Z </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"> The faint icons (for 'A, H., N with M, monkey with Q, sun-icon for Sh) are not taken into account.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"> The last two signs on the front side (6 W, 7 Sh) are disregarded.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"> The question of long and short alphabets is not broached.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"> Erroneously connects fish and door as allographs of D (p. 9, after Hamilton, 61-63).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";">Somebody had to try that approach, but it does not seem to work satisfactorily. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";">The tablet is apparently complete, giving a mnemonic arrangement of the first few letters of the proto-alphabet in the two standard sequences: the HLH.M order on the obverse, and the 'ABGD (short version without <u>H</u> between G and D) on the reverse.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"> <span style="font-size: large;"> My summation of the contents of the document (setting aside the mnemonic aspect, and the identification of the Semitic words transcribed in Egyptian script) would be: </span></span></div><p>
<span style="font-size: large;"> Front: <b>H</b> (h) <b>L</b> (r) <b>H.</b> (h.) <b>M</b> (m) <b>Q</b> (q) <b>W</b> (w) <b>Sh</b> (sh, sun-icon)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Back: '<b>A</b> (bovine head) <b>B</b> (b) <b>G</b> (g) <b>D</b> (d) <b>Z</b> (<u>d</u>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-family: "times";">(Note again that when I place a dot after a letter it should be understood as
actually being beneath the letter, in accordance with the standard
transcription system for h., s., z., t. .)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> In reply to Wilson-Wright's criticism that the Z in fifth position "does not conform to the abgad order": the scribe has skipped over H and W on side 2 because they have already been played in another suite on side 1 of the recording.<br /> Similarly, the missing <u>H</u> between G and D might be explained as an indication that the scribe did not distinguish <u>H</u> and H. and considered that this sound had already been recorded on the HLH.M side of the tablet; or <u>H</u> had simply dropped out of the longer consonantary (the Protoconsonantary) and the shorter version (the Neoconsonantary) was being exhibited.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> </span></span><br />
</p><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-US">Haring
(193-195) conveniently summarizes the evidence for the use of the HLH.M and
’ABG systems of arranging the letters.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-US">Gordon
Hamilton, <i>The Origins of the West Semitic
Alphabet in Egyptian Scripts</i> (Washington, DC 2006). This book is dedicated
to the memory of Romain F. Butin, S.M. (1871-1937), but Hamilton follows the
teachings of the William Foxwell Albright school, particularly as transmitted
to him by his mentor Frank Moore Cross at Harvard University. To my mind,
Butin’s writings on the early alphabet (in <i>Harvard
Theological </i>Review!) should be the starting point for any research in this
field.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.com/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html"><span lang="EN-AU"> http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html</span></a></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-US">For my
views on this and the other letters of the original alphabet, see the essay
cited in the previous note, and also my response to Orly Goldwasser: </span><br />
<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html"><span lang="EN-US">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/goldwasser-alphabet.html</span></a></div>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=30508311#_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-US">Tables of
signs used by ancient Egyptians for transcribing foreign words are available
in:<span> </span>James E. Hoch, <i>Semitic Words in Egyptian Texts of the New Kingdom and Third
Intermediate Period </i>(Princeton 1994) 431-437, 487-512; Benjamin Sass, <i>Studia Alphabetica </i>(Freiburg 1991) 8-27.</span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span>[6] </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span>COLLESS, Brian E., "Recent Discoveries Illuminating the Origin of the Alphabet", <span style="font-style: italic;">Abr-Nahrain</span>,
26 (<b>1988</b>), pp. 30-67. A preliminary attempt to construct a table of
signs and values for the proto-alphabet, and to make sense of some of
the inscriptions from Sinai and Canaan.<br />
COLLESS, B.E., "The Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions of Sinai", <span style="font-style: italic;">Abr-Nahrain</span>, 28 (<b>1990</b>), pp. 1-52. An interpretation of 44 inscriptions from the turquoise-mining region of Sinai.<br />
COLLESS, B.E., "The Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions of Canaan", <span style="font-style: italic;">Abr-Nahrain</span>, 29 (<b>1991</b>), pp. 18-66. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span>An interpretation of 30 brief inscriptions from Late-Bronze-Age Palestine.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span>COLLESS, B.E., <b>1992</b>, "The Byblos Syllabary and the Proto-alphabet", <span style="font-style: italic;">Abr-Nahrain</span> 30 (1992), 15-62.</span></span>
<br />COLLESS, B.E., <b>1996</b>, "The Egyptian and Mesopotamian Contributions to the
Origins of the Alphabet", in Cultural Interaction in the Ancient Near
East, ed. Guy Bunnens, Abr-Nahrain Supplement Series 5 (Louvain) 67-76.<br />
And my other articles on the Canaanite syllabary ("Byblos
pseudo-hieroglyphic script") in Abr-Nahrain (now Ancient Near Eastern
Studies) from 1993 to 1998, culminating in:<br />
COLLESS, Brian E., "The Canaanite Syllabary", <span style="font-style: italic;">Abr-Nahrain</span> 35 (<b>1998)</b> 28-46.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span>The following two paragraphs from my first draft are now obsolete. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span> </span><br />
<span> {</span>Another possibility springs to mind,
with inversion once again (as for A5 above). Could this be hieroglyph M16,
“clump of papyrus” which was used in a hieratic form for <i>h.</i> at the start of section A3 above? Hamilton (2006: 196-209) invokes
this as his origin for Sadey, after having employed the true S. character for
Q (relating it to its Hebrew name Qof "monkey"; in his note 254 he labels my choice of V33, a tied bag,
as “bizarre”). In the
present connection, Hamilton (200, Fig. 2.61) provides drawings of early
hieratic versions of M15 (“clump of papyrus with buds bent down’) which match
the character here before us (without inverting it) and compares them with
South Arabian forms of S.; this is a very attractive idea.}<br />
<span> { </span>My very tentative suggestion is that
we have an inverted K here, and it stems from the identification I make for the
three-branched character which is taken to be S. by others, but in my scheme as
syllabic KI and alphabetic K, and it would derive from <i>kippa</i> ‘palm branch’, alongside a hand sign for KA and an alternative
K, from <i>kap</i> ‘palm of hand’ (Colless
1988: 43-44, modified in 1992: 78-79). However, this character could simply be
a hand sign with only three digits shown (the example on Thebes 1 is like this,
but it could be either animal or vegetable), but the bent middle figure is
puzzling. Yet again the writer’s intentions are not yet clear to us.}</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-41185836712375990672015-06-13T03:24:00.002-07:002024-01-19T18:45:59.016-08:00QEIYAFA JAR INSCRIPTION<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy5aZYpy93D1S__5JrvrrYjXqHZvMZRrl4ieumiTzoLPn3jgrNntcNW6ETpsPbEEAexwprXgiB2jjJIHMMCQcFrZKfxDFAYObFM6uNlvU9UVgr7qVzzn1qKl9ZaR07xLh4M6J6Q/s1600/Q2+drawing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy5aZYpy93D1S__5JrvrrYjXqHZvMZRrl4ieumiTzoLPn3jgrNntcNW6ETpsPbEEAexwprXgiB2jjJIHMMCQcFrZKfxDFAYObFM6uNlvU9UVgr7qVzzn1qKl9ZaR07xLh4M6J6Q/s320/Q2+drawing.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ff7">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;">The ʾIšbaʿal Inscription from Khirbet Qeiyafa</span><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1466px; word-spacing: -2px;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="ff7">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1466px; word-spacing: -2px;">Authors: Yosef Garfinkel, Mitka R. Golub, Haggai M<span class="w6"></span>isgav and Saar Ganor</span><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1565px;"> </span></span><br />
<ul class="breadcrumbs">
<li class="breadcrumb-journal">
<a href="http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=bullamerschoorie">Bulletin of the American Schools of Orie...</a>
</li>
<li class="breadcrumb-issue">
<a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.issue-373">No. 373, May 2015</a> pp. 217-233</li>
</ul>
</div><p>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 3014px; top: 1565px; word-spacing: -2px;"></span></span>A copy of the article can be purchased <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.373.0217?origin=JSTOR-pdf&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">here</a> (JSTOR).<br />
An account of the find is available from <a href="http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/biblical-name-eshbaal-found-outside-of-the-bible/">BAR</a>.<br />
A photographic history of the <a href="http://qeiyafa.huji.ac.il/eshbaal.asp">reconstruction</a> of the jar. <br />
A study of the <a href="http://qeiyafa.huji.ac.il/eshbaal2.asp">Eshbaal inscription</a>.</p><p>Please note that I will continue my deliberations on the two Qeiyafa inscriptions and their significance at these sites: <br />
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2 <br />https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-shaaraim<br /></a><br />
At long last we are allowed to gaze at another inscription from Khirbet
Qeiyafa, beside the important <a href="http://qeiyafa.huji.ac.il/ostracon2.asp">ostracon</a> (but there is still one that is being tantalizingly kept under wraps). <br />
As we can see from the Tal Rogozin photograph, even though the broken jar has been painstakingly reconstructed, important pieces containing parts of the text are missing.<br />
It appears that there are fourteen letters, and half of them are incomplete characters; but in the middle of the inscription we can read fairly securely(from right to left):<br />
<b> ' Sh B ` L</b> (Aleph, Shin, Beth, `Ayin, Lamed)<br />
This looks like a personal name, and if <span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;"> ʾIšbaʿal is the correct rendering of the word (as in the title of the article) then it is masculine, meaning "Man of Ba`al" (though this is certainly not certain).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;"> This happens to be the name of one of King Saul's sons, who had his own kingdom after his father's death. But the later scribes of the Bible had him as Ishbosheth (Man of shame): 2 Samuel 2 (11x). The Chronicler was allowed to call him 'Eshba`al (1 Chr 8.33, and 9.39) : "Ner begat Qish ... begat Sha'ul... begat ... 'Eshba`al". Accordingly, 'Eshba`al was the son of King Saul.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;"> But this Qeiyafa 'ShB`L apparently styles himself B[N] BD`. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;"> Is BD` another name of Saul? His mother's name? Is it really a personal name? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;">The first scholar to propose (publicly) a complete interpretation of the text is Gershon Galil, transmitted through <a href="https://zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/a-very-very-short-note-on-the-new-qeiyafa-inscription-from-gershon-galil/"><span style="color: black;">Jim West</span></a>:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;"> "In my opinion the correct reading of the second Qeiyafa inscription is:
</span></span><br />
KPRT 'SHB`L BN BD'[M] = The expiation of Ishba’al son of bdʿ[m]."<br />
I don’t see how we can know “the correct reading” when only half of
the letters are complete, and in any case only the writer really knew
what his message meant. Nevertheless, we must try. <br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;"> "Expiation" sounds a bit abstract for [K] [P] [R] [T] (all four letters
are incomplete). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;">We could suppose that <i> kprt</i> refers to the contents of the pot: bitumen?
henna? copra (coconut oil from India)?
</span></span><br />
Maybe the expiation was achieved by smashing the jar; or perhaps it was a victim of the rampaging destroyers of the town; but some other storage jars in the same spot were still intact. Perhaps it was the writing on it that enraged the invader: he recognized the name as that of an enemy, one of the Saulides in fact; if he was a Philistine, he could have read it, potentially, since the Gath sherd inscription used the same international alphabet as on this pot.<br />
<br />
(3/7/15 postscript) <a href="https://zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/abbreviations-in-inscriptions-a-guest-post-by-gershon-galil/#comment-68721">Gershon Galil</a> has added more fuel to his atonement fire, by adducing twelve pithoi from Kuntillet `Ajrud (ca 800 BCE); each bears the letter 'Aleph, presumed to be an abbreviation. He suggests it stands for <i>'asham</i>, "guilt-offering". This was usually a ram (<i>'eyl</i>, also beginning with 'Aleph, but not something that would fit easily into a jar); this was to be brought to the priests at the sanctuary (Leviticus 19.20-22, in connection with making atonement (yes, the verb is <i>kpr</i>) for sinful carnal knowledge of a betrothed slave-woman.<br />
The place where the jar was found (Room B of Building C11, 6x5 m) apparently had no roof, and with its central hearth and water-basin, it could have been a sanctuary for performing sacrifices. (A cultic chamber, with a standing stone, has been excavated elsewhere in Area C.)<br />
The sequence <b>' Sh B ` L</b> , if read as <span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;"> 'Eshba`al, could mean "fire of the Lord"; and if the Lord is not human but divine, he is not necessarily the weather god Ba`al Hadad, but Yahweh. <a href="https://zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/christopher-rollston-on-the-ishbal-inscription-a-guest-post/#comments">Christopher Rollston </a> (in his first account of this inscription) refers us to </span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">a Benjaminite in the service of King David with
the personal name “Ba‘alyah” (1 Chr 12:5/6), a name that means “Yahweh is Ba‘al</span> (or "Yah is Lord").<br />
<br />
(3/7/15) In this regard, Ryan Chew (see his attached comment) has asked whether the supposed BN sequence ("son of") might actually be BG. Let's play with this possibility.<br />
Below (that is, at an earlier time) I suggest that the final sequence (BD`) could be interpreted as "house of knowledge", referring to this Room B; and BG could be understood as <i>begaw</i>, "within" or "inside". Hence we have: "the fire of Ba`al within the house of knowledge".<br />
However, the reading BN can be defended: what looks like a G (an angle) is more likely to be the top part of a Nun, as represented on the Gerbaal arrowhead, and in the new inscription from Beth-Shemesh (it is N on its side, that is, like Z). <br />
<br />
(13/6/2015) I had thought the choice of <span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;"> ʾIšbaʿal </span></span>, with the vowel -i (as seen in
the title of the BASOR article) was premature, when the form 'eshba`al
offers other possibilities.<br />
The presence of a hearth in the
room where the storage jar was discovered suggests that it might be 'e$
b`l, "fire of Ba`al", and the container held fuel (oil?) or
air-freshener (pitch?!) for this fire-place. Or does the basin in the
room suggest the jar was for water? <br />
The form <span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;"> ʾIšbaʿal </span></span>seems
to be confirmed in Ugaritic documents, showing initial 'i. But 'i as
'man' has not been found at Ugarit, has it? Also, "fire" is <i>'</i><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;">š</span></span>t</i> (<i>'i</i><i><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;">š</span></span></i>at</i>) in Ugaritic, but <i>'e<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="a" style="left: 378px; top: 1368px; word-spacing: -2px;">š</span></span></i> in Hebrew.<br />
The idea of the
name meaning not "Baal's man" but "Baal is" or "There is a Baal" or " Baal
is really someone" is appealing; but in early Israel? Yes, since Ba`al could refer to Yah/Yahweh in those days, as already noted, above.<br />
<br />
(10/8/2015) Allow me to add a posthumous comment from William Foxwell Albright (1891-1971),<br />
<i>Archaeology and the Religion of Israel</i>, Baltimore, 1968 edn.<br />
'One of Saul's sons was called "Esh-Baal" (Baal exists)' (p. 113)<br />
'The usual translation, "Man of Baal," is linguistically difficult, and must, in my opinion, be replaced by the rendering in the text [Baal exists]. Note that in the Baal Epic of Ugarit the resurrection of Baal is greeted with the triumphant words, "And I know that triumphant Baal lives (<i>h.y</i>), that the Prince, lord of the earth, exists (<i>'i<u>t</u></i>, which would be <i>'ish</i> in later Canaanite)." Moreover, there are several passages in the Bible where <i>'ish</i> or <i>'esh </i>is employed instead of classical <i>yesh</i>.' (p.207, n.62)<br />
<br />
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<br />
Can Gershon tell us how his hypothetical [M] helps with the unknown name BD` ?<br />
The answer is actually provided in the BASOR article (p.230): it might be an abbreviation of <i>bd`m</i>, and this could mean "in the hand (<i>bd</i>) of the divine uncle (<i>`m</i>)"; or "in the hand of D`m" (a West Semitic deity, new to me).<br />
Alternatively, it is a hypocoristic (abbreviated) theophoric name with the deity's name dropped: "[God] has created" (the root BD` occurs in Arabic: produce, invent).<br />
Here's a thought: I have long maintained that the letters of the protoalphabet could be used as logograms; Beth represents a house (<i>bayt</i>) and could stand for "house" here, followed by <i>d</i>`; hence "house of knowledge", preceded by "son of", that is, a student of that school.<br />
Looking at that D again: it could have had a stem, which has been lost in the break; it would then be R, like the 6th letter in line 4 on the ostracon, or the second character in line 5. This is "stretching" it, literally and figuratively, but we are now looking at a word BR`. This could be "house of evil", but also a personal name. There is Bera` (King of Sodom, Gen 14.2), and four instances of <b>Beri`â</b>, one of whom belonged to the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chron 8.13), as did King Saul.<br />
In the current square Hebrew script, Resh and Dalet are easily confused (both are basically a right angle) but at this stage, in the Iron Age, it is Q and R that cause us grief. And the fourth letter here has a stem and a missing circle (Q?) or triangle (R?)<br />
So, the first word could be KPQT or KPRT; and since the P is represented only by a single horizontal stroke, a telegraph-pole Samek could be constructed. KS is found at the start of inscriptions with the meaning "cup"(written on bowls), but that does not seem applicable here.<br />
But KSRT and KSQT are possible as restored readings.<br />
<br />
However, let's explore some possibilities for the extremely uncertain reading <i>kprt</i>. <br />
The final letter is only half there, but it is probably T (a cross, +). It could mark the plural of a feminine noun, or singular <i>-at </i>(construct state).<br />
As a<b> toponym</b> it might be <b>Kepirâ</b>, one of the Gibeonite towns (Joshua 9.17). This is worth considering, as a place name is a likely word to appear as the source of the pot or its contents; and Gibeon is not far north of Khirbet Qeiyafa. If the H on the end of the Hebrew form indicates an original <i>-at </i>ending, then it would fit the presumed <b> KPRT</b> nicely.<br />
As a <b>substance</b> it could be <i>koper</i>, henna, though its plural is in -<i>im</i>, and likewise <i>koper</i>, bitumen. (Isaiah 34.9 "burning (b`r) pitch (zepet)". Any clues here?)<br />
As an <b>object</b> it could be a <i>kepor</i> (m), a bowl, or a <i>kepir </i>(m), a copper vessel, but it is neither.<br />
As an <b>idea</b> it could come from the root <i>kpr</i>, cover, make expiation, and we immediately think of Yom kippur, the Day of Atonement; and yet this word always appears as <i>kippur<b>im</b></i> in the Bible. Another term with the same connection is, yet again, <i>koper</i> (m), ransom<br />
There is one KPR noun that would fit <i>kprt, </i>and that is <i>kaporet</i> (f), a mysterious word, said to mean the cover or lid of the Ark of the Covenant, and then "the mercy seat" where a propitiatory rite was performed on Atonement Day.<br />
It could be a verb: "Thou hast atoned, O Eshbaal". Incidentally, that is how I see the beginning of the Qeiyafa ostracon: "Thou hast cursed" ('LT). But that was on an ostracon; a sermon or oracle would probably not be engraved on a storage jar.<br />
Actually, the first three letters of the supposed KPRT only have tiny remnants of their originals.<br />
We must draw a veil over the possibility of <i>kepir</i>, young lion, which would raise the spectre of the Lion of Judah (cp Gn 49.9).<br />
Another thought: if the final T (constructed from a remaining right angle) was in fact M, KPRM would suit <i>kippurim, </i>'atonement'. QED<br />
However, it needs to be said that the drawings made by Ada Yardeni (figs 15, 16, 17) are plausible in their reconstructing of the text. Here is one of them:<br />
<br />
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy5aZYpy93D1S__5JrvrrYjXqHZvMZRrl4ieumiTzoLPn3jgrNntcNW6ETpsPbEEAexwprXgiB2jjJIHMMCQcFrZKfxDFAYObFM6uNlvU9UVgr7qVzzn1qKl9ZaR07xLh4M6J6Q/s1600/Q2+drawing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy5aZYpy93D1S__5JrvrrYjXqHZvMZRrl4ieumiTzoLPn3jgrNntcNW6ETpsPbEEAexwprXgiB2jjJIHMMCQcFrZKfxDFAYObFM6uNlvU9UVgr7qVzzn1qKl9ZaR07xLh4M6J6Q/s320/Q2+drawing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Nevertheless, the three remaining strokes of the first reconstructed letter (<b>K</b> but possibly a horizontal <b>Shin</b>, though Shin is vertical in the following personal name) could accommodate the YYN (wine) that Gershon Galil proposed for filling the gap on the<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/jerusalem-jar-inscription.html"> Jerusalem pithos </a>inscription.<br />
<br />
Notice the strokes separating the words. They are horizontal when we read the text vertically, from top to bottom. But, reading from right to left, with the jar upright, these are vertical bars.<br />
In my experience of Semitic writing, I have heard that a text can be written vertically though it is intended to be read horizontally. Aaron Demsky thinks the Q1 ostracon should be read vertically. That would mean that the text is set out in columns, but this seems unlikely, because all the letters with upright stems are now reclining. We have this problem when we attempt to read the inscriptions on arrowheads": which way up?<br />
I wonder whether the scribe in this case had the (wet) pot standing or reclining.<br />
The idea of writing "ad stomachum" (written vertically but for reading horizontally) came to me from my Syriac studies, but we can ask whether it was practiced in ancient Israel.<br />
In the case of the Qeiyafa jar: vertical reading gives the Phoenician stances of 'A B D, and `ayin (!), but Shin (3) becomes M; the upright vertical stem of the Q/R settles the matter (as also the [K] and [P] !): read me horizontally, the text declares.<br />
The word-separators are a surprise, in that the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">Qeiyafa ostracon</a> (as far as I can see, and I study it every day!) has no word-separating spaces, dots, or bars (though some of the dots have been understood as punctuation, meaning pause-marks, but I see them all as fragments of letters).<br />
However, divider-strokes are found on the Qubur el-Walayda bowl (shu mi ba `i li | 'i ya 'i li | ma kh-, L > R);<br />
and also on the Gath (Safi) inscription ('lwt | wlt, L < R)<br />
(Both could be Philistine, but the language is "the lip of Kana`an" in the QW text, which also has a baal name.)<br />
You may have noticed my hypothesis about a "neo-syllabary" in Early Iron Age Israel and Palestine (Philistia), whereby the stances and shapes of the letters can indicate syllables (-i, -a, -u).<br />
<a href="http://asorblog.org/?p=6692">http://asorblog.org/?p=6692</a><br />
<br />
As a general rule:<br />
syllabic inscriptions run from left to right (Q ostracon, QW, Izbet Sartah and its abagadary); <br />
simple consonantal texts go from right to left (Tel Zayit stone abgdary, Gezer calendar).<br />
There can be no doubt about reading this Q2 inscription from right to left (the direction that became standard for West Semitic writing, including Arabic), since the name '$b`l gives a clear indication. <br />
I now have to consider the question whether the letters are used syllabically (as I feel sure they are on the Q ostracon, where
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</style><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt;">line 2 has <i>sha-pa-t.a </i>"judged” and
<i>shi-pi-t.i </i>“judgements”)</span> . Unfortunately there are not sufficient characters here on Q2 to determine that.<br />
Yes, the trouble is that there are not enough letters, and not enough of the letters that are there (in damaged states).<br />
What I can say is this, at least: none of the visible letters has the <i>-i </i>form,
as found in the Phoenician alphabet that was subsequently adopted in
Israel; there is a dot in the `ayin; 'aleph is in its original ox-head stance;
Shin is vertical, not horizontal; likewise Beth, with its early
house-form; Daleth is not triangular; but the reconstructed K and P correspond to <i>ki </i>and <i>pi</i> on the Q ostracon, and this might arouse caution in accepting them.<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2"><br /></a><b><br /></b>
<b>9/9/2016 </b> Let's set up a hypothetical scenario .<br />
This open but enclosed space was a sacred place, and it was called "the House of Knowledge" (B d`) because its devotees entered into trance states and achieved mystical knowledge there. The fortress and palace was the home of Prince Eshbaal (not King David). It had been built or rebuilt by King Saul, his father, as an outpost for surveillance over the Philistines of Gath and Ekron. Its name was apparently Sha`araim, which could mean 'two gates', and this is actually a feature of this walled town. After the death of Saul and Jonathan at the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, David ruled over Judah (2 Samuel 2:1-4) in Hebron (situated between Gaza and the Dead Sea); and General Abner installed Eshbaal (a surviving son of Saul) as King of Israel in Mahanaim (2 Sam 2:8-10); he was 40 years old and he reigned for two years.The name Mahanaim, meaning 'two camps', suggests that this was Qeiyafa, which had two camps in the Elah Valley for the battle between Philistia and Israel in which David won the day by felling Goliath (2 Sam 17). However, Mahanaim is East of Mount Gilboa, in Gilead, over the Jordan and north of the Dead Sea, far away from David and the Philistines. Nevertheless, he could have inhabited the Qeiyafa palace during the time when Saul was pursuing David. If Eshbaal had a mystical side, we might recall that his father Saul was "also among the prophets" (1 Sam 10:9-13) and even practised necromancy (1 Sam 28:5ff).<br />
<br />
<b>(14/10/2016)</b> <br />
Still pondering over <b><i>kprt</i></b><i>:</i> it can mean "henna bush" (Ugaritic), and perhaps that is what was in the jar. Would a man want to own such a shrub? Henna is an orange dye for use on the body (from the hair down to the toes). Or does this "cyprus flower", which grows wild in Israel, act here as a decorative indoor plant? Henna certainly has a place in the Song of Songs: a cluster in a vineyard (1:14); in the secret garden with pomegranates, nard, saffron, cinnamon (4:13); and out in the fields (henna rather than villages, <i>kprym</i>, 7:12).<br />
<br />
<b>27/1/2019</b><br />
A new reading of the first word has been suggested by Yariv Hachim<br />
<a href="http://ancienthebrewinscriptions.blogspot.com/">http://ancienthebrewinscriptions.blogspot.com/</a><br />
MGRT, granary, store<br />
It is difficult to build this into the setting of the vessel.<br />
Accepting the initial M, MRQ 'broth' is tempting, but the final T is a problem; if it is Het, we have MRQH. 'perfume' or 'ointment'; if the Het has been omitted accidentally, MRQH.T would yield 'pot of ointment' (Job 41:23, ET 41:31), which would be a very satisfactory solution! <br /><br />
And the struggle with the ostracon from the same archaeological site
continues. My deliberations on the two
Qeiyafa inscriptions and their significance are recorded at these sites: <br /><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2</a><br /><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-shaaraim">https://sites.google.com/view/collesseum/qeiyafa-shaaraim</a><br />
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/qeiyafa-ostracon-2"><br /></a>Go there for the idea that Ishba`al is "son of the Servant of `Ashtart", with <b>`BD`ShTRT </b>being a new designation for apostate King Saul, and the possibility that the text begins with <b>MShQT</b>, "drinking-water".<br /><br />May I remind readers that I treat all the essays that are published on
my websites as tentative explorations, and I may alter them at any time
with additions or deletions or corrections.<br />
I am sorry that I have to talk aloud on the web to disseminate my ideas,
but the fact is that I have officially passed my expiry date (b.1936)
and time is running out. Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30508311.post-5426571433095120212014-09-29T01:18:00.005-07:002023-05-31T00:00:13.959-07:00GOLDWASSER ALPHABET<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span lang="EN-AU">THE ORIGINS OF THE PROTOALPHABET</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-AU">Brian E. Colless </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-AU">Massey University</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-AU">New Zealand</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-AU">Note that this essay has been superseded </span><br />
<span lang="EN-AU">by an expanded published article:</span><br />
<span lang="EN-AU">The Origin of the Alphabet: </span><br />
<span lang="EN-AU">An Examination of the Goldwasser Hypothesis</span><br />
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Antiguo Oriente</i>, volumen 12, 2014, pp. 71–104.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.academia.edu/12894458/The_origin_of_the_alphabet">https://www.academia.edu/12894458/The_origin_of_the_alphabet</a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU">Since 2006 the discussion of the origin
of the Semitic alphabet has been given an impetus through a hypothesis
propagated by Orly Goldwasser: the alphabet was invented in the 19th century
B.C.E. by illiterate Semitic workers in the Egyptian turquoise mines of Sinai;
they saw the picturesque Egyptian inscriptions on the site and borrowed a
number of the hieroglyphs to write their own language, using a supposedly new
method which is now known by the technical term acrophony. Twenty-one propositions
from Goldwasser’s publications are examined critically here.<br clear="all" style="break-before: page; page-break-before: always;" />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br /><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> October 2021: I want to say somewhere that the obvious retort to her </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">guesswork (it is entirely speculative) is the similar situation at </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Wadi el-Hol near Thebes in Egypt: Semite soldiers have marked out</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">a place in the desert where they have banquets to celebrate the goddess</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> `Anat (the Ba`alat of Sinai, and the name `Anat also appears</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">there); the writer of this inscription was surrounded by Egyptian</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">hieroglyphic texts saying much the same thing with regard to the</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">goddess Hat-hor; if this Semitic inscription could be dated precisely, </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and if it was shown to be earlier than the oldest Sinai inscription, </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">then the Goldwasser construction would collapse. <br /><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 1916 Alan Gardiner published his theory on the origin of the
alphabet, plausibly proposing that the original letters of the alphabet, as
represented in the Semitic inscriptions from the turquoise mines of Sinai, were
borrowed from the Egyptian store of hieroglyphs.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>1</sup></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 2006 Orly Goldwasser went further, arguing that the Semitic workers
at the Sinai mines had actually invented the alphabet to write their own
language, employing the Egyptian pictorial signs they saw in the stela
inscriptions at the site, but with no understanding of the Egyptian writing,
and in the process they created the system of acrophony.<sup> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2</b></sup></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“I believe that the inventors of the alphabet did not know how to read
Egyptian. When they looked at the Egyptian sign [N35] (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">N</i> in Egyptian) they recognized the picture of water. In Canaanite
(their language) the word ‘water’ might have been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mem</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">maim</i>. From this
word they took the first sound alone – M; which became the letter <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mem </i>in the Canaanite scripts, and
finally the English letter <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">M</i>.” Orly
Goldwasser.</span><sup><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">3</span></b></sup></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">2021: This is a bad example; it weakens and waters down her case!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> /\/\/\/\ would suggest a mountain range to the uninformed viewer, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">rather than water-waves. The inventor of the proto-alphabet knew the</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">significance of this hieroglyph, as did the Semites who (hundreds of </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">years previously) invented the proto-syllabary, which already </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">included most of the letters of the proto-alphabet. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The letter \/\/ (SHA in the syllabary, and Th in the proto-alphabet, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">from shad or thad "breast", and the source of Hebrew Shin, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Greek Sigma, and Roman S) does not have a counterpart in the </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Egyptian system. The example that clinches the opposing case</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">is o-+, the Egyptian nfr glyph (as in Nefertiti) symbolizing goodness </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and beauty, though this is not patently obvious: it was applied </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">acrophonically to Semitic t.abu "good" to denote T.A in the syllabary </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121ff; font-family: Lato; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and t. (T.et) in the alphabet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We will here examine twenty-one points made by Goldwasser in the
presentation of her thesis,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>4</sup></b>
and confront them with findings from my own research on the same subject.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>5</sup></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><br /></sup></b> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">1.</span></b><span lang="EN-AU"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The alphabet was invented in Sinai, before year 13 of Amenemhet III</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This means that the invention (or innovation) took place in the
nineteenth century around 1840 B.C.E. It is true that the protoalphabet is
represented in inscriptions in Sinai in the Middle Kingdom period, but there is
no explicit evidence that it was invented there rather than elsewhere. A
scribal school in some city of Canaan or Egypt is a more likely setting, but
the place and time are still a mystery. Nevertheless, it is quite possible that
the oldest-known protoalphabetic inscription has been found in Sinai (perhaps <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenPrXIW2qEWB3iV4E5AjMKMAa7yi7CfqN3m5VesjO3TDj6hBcyk-3aHCzonCIN4pCwpMrwvoRrvIg_nb5q0c-F8_PMXCNk-7Pdg7L3tJ294xIVliH46YiUL_i-ByGSIVERoHN3g/s1600-h/S349+p.jpg"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">349=22</b></a>).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>6</sup></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><br /></sup></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">2.</span></b><span lang="EN-AU"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All hieroglyphic prototypes for the letters of the alphabet clearly
exist in the hieroglyphs of the Sinai inscriptions of this period</i></b> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This assertion may be true (excepting the signs that do not have an
Egyptian model, namely W, <u>T</u>, T, in my view) but it is not “clearly”
substantiated by Goldwasser, as her tables of protoalphabetic signs with
presumed Egyptian counterparts (“Graphemes of the Protosinaitic Script”) have
only 21 items (though she knows it had several more).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>7</sup></b> Her identifications of half of the signs on her table
are faulty, in my view. Het and Tet are not registered, but they occur in the
Semitic texts, and their prototypes are present in the Egyptian inscriptions at
the site. She singles out the letter He as a “special link”: it depicts a man
standing with his arms raised (each forming a right angle, at either side of the
head) and it will ultimately be the Greek and Roman letter E; in her opinion
the sign (a version of hieroglyph A28) probably represents a local title
related to the expeditions, since it is rare in Egypt; but she has chosen the
wrong hieroglyphic examples for the origin of He (see my discussion in section
12 below).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">3.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">About 30 Protosinaitic inscriptions were
found in the area of Serabit el-Khadem</i></span></b><span lang="EN-AU"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It should be added that one (Sinai <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">348=9</b>)
was found in the Wadi Magharah area but it is now lost, though two copies have
survived; and my tally is 44, not merely 30. The considerable number of items
is used as a weak argument for the origin of the protoalphabet in Sinai: “The
only reasonable explanation for such a ‘boom’ in this kind of writing in Sinai
is that Sinai was the site of its invention.” <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>8</sup></b> However, another way of looking at it is that stone
was readily available at this site, for writing Egyptian or West Asian
inscriptions, and they have survived, albeit damaged by weathering, though not
destroyed (as texts on perishable material would have been).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">4.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">but one of the texts show very early paleographical stages of the
script, and were probably produced during a rather short span of time</i></span></b><span lang="EN-AU"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The one exception she adduces is “Sinai 375c” (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">381=41</b> in my numbering scheme), attributed to the New Kingdom; but
others must also be NK. Gordon Hamilton has two main categories in his
chronological scheme for the Sinai texts: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">earliest</i>
(ca 1850-1700), and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">typologically
developed</i> (ca 1700-1500)</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU">9</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-AU">; by this criterion Goldwasser’s
“short span” is impossible, needing to encompass the centuries from the 19<sup>th</sup>
to the 16<sup>th</sup>; but certainly there are numerous examples from the 12<sup>th</sup>
Dynasty (Middle Kingdom, 19<sup>th</sup> C) and also the 18<sup>th</sup>
Dynasty (New Kingdom, 16<sup>th</sup> C); and the pictorial aspect is constant
throughout.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">5.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In Egypt only three such inscriptions are
known</i></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To arrive at this total, Goldwasser takes the Wadi el-Hol inscription as
two items (but it is a single continuous text, in my reading of it)</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU">10</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-AU"> and she adds the ostracon from the Valley of the Queens (see
section 12 below). There are more than three protoalphabetic inscriptions, plus
several syllabic texts; the three most important of them have copies of the
letters of the protoalphabet on them (they are not texts), and they are from
the New Kingdom period.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>11</sup></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><br /></sup></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">6.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Only a handful of early alphabetic
inscriptions are known from Canaan, scattered along the Late Bronze Age, from
the 18<sup>th</sup> to the 13<sup>th</sup> century B.C.E.</i></span></b><span lang="EN-AU"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually, besides fragmentary and minimal texts, there are more than a
dozen that make a statement, all on non-perishable materials.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>12</sup></b> None are extant on
papyrus or parchment, though such must have existed; absence of evidence is not
evidence of absence; in the Iron Age the situation is similar, since the writings
of the Phoenicians are lost, but we know they kept records (see also sections
19 and 20 below).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Goldwasser’s supposition is that the protoalphabet was not widely used,
and was the lowly person’s writing system; but the examples from Canaan are from
temples (on paraphernalia such as bowls, an incense stand, and a ewer), from
factories (on pottery), and from a tomb that did not belong to a pauper (on a
dagger). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">7.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The inventors were illiterate, that is,
they could not read or write Egyptian</i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, when they had invented the new script for writing their own
West Semitic language they would have become literate. But Goldwasser is
assuming that they had no knowledge or understanding of writing, including the
Egyptian system. As we progress through her propositions we will see reasons
for doubting this claim; a notable example is the use of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nefer</i> hieroglyph (F35) for Tet in the
protoalphabet, an icon that is rather opaque and not self-explanatory (see
section 15 below).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">8.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This illiteracy motivated them to
formulate new relations of sound and icon, and to come up with a new solution,
namely acrophony</i></span></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact the acrophonic principle was already established for them in
their West Semitic syllabary, dating back to the Old Kingdom in the Early
Bronze Age.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>13</sup></b> This
significant fact alone should invalidate Goldwasser’s basic hypothesis. The
acrophony (“summit sound”) principle was arguably a modification of the rebus
principle, and it was the mechanism for constructing the syllabary and
subsequently the consonantary.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>14</sup></b>
In the syllabary, a picture of a door evoked the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">daltu</i> (door) and acrophonically this yielded the syllable DA; in
the consonantary (the protoalphabet) it was D. In one case there was a
monosyllabic word: the picture of a mouth said <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pu</i> and then P. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">9</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Sinai protoalphabetic inscriptions consistently show the wrong
direction of writing according to Egyptian rules</b></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is the first of a number of alleged indications of the illiteracy
of the inventor or inventors of the protoalphabet. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Egyptian scribes arranged their texts either in blocks of horizontal
lines or in sets of vertical columns, and in both cases the preferred direction
was from right to left. With regard to horizontal <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lines</i> of writing, Egyptian scribal practice was to run the
characters from right to left (sinistrograde, as in Hebrew and Arabic), but
sometimes from left to right (dextrograde, as in English writing). Egyptian
signs with fronts and backs (such as birds and human heads) must look backwards
to the beginning of a horizontal line of writing. Most of these Semitic
inscriptions run down in columns; only one of them has a block of inscribed
lines: Sinai </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenPrXIW2qEWB3iV4E5AjMKMAa7yi7CfqN3m5VesjO3TDj6hBcyk-3aHCzonCIN4pCwpMrwvoRrvIg_nb5q0c-F8_PMXCNk-7Pdg7L3tJ294xIVliH46YiUL_i-ByGSIVERoHN3g/s1600-h/S349+p.jpg"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">349=22</b></a></span></b> (originally an immaculate member of the corpus, but now mutilated by weathering) has the bovine
and human heads facing towards the end of the line (that is, they are looking
where they are going); the direction of writing on 349 is sinistrograde
(running from right to left), and this is in agreement with the Egyptian
tradition, but the animals (ox, snake, human) are facing the wrong way.
Inscription <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">357=32</b></a> has a vertical
column leading into a dextrograde line (left to right); the latter has the
heads facing rightwards; this is opposite to Egyptian practice. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When an Egyptian text is arranged in vertical <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">columns</i> (with the text running from top to bottom in each line, and
the columns moving from right to left) fronts and faces are regularly turned to
the right; but in the previously mentioned vertical section of protoalphabetic </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">357=32</b></a></span> the oxen, the snakes, and the
fishes look leftwards, as do the animals on the two columns of <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">351=23</b></a> (with a drawing of the god Ptah
facing leftwards, the opposite of the depiction of Ptah on Sinai Egyptian Stela
92, a document which is central to Goldwasser’s thesis). These three texts
(349, 351, 357) are from Mine L; they are carefully inscribed and may be some
of the oldest on the site. They are deviant according to Egyptian rules, but
here is the important point: they are actually faithful to their own West
Semitic tradition of writing, which goes back to the time of the Old Kingdom;
the syllabic texts from Gubla (Byblos on the coast of Lebanon) have bees and
birds looking left along sinstrograde lines (Texts A, C, D) and looking left in
columns (Text G).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>15</sup></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note that there is at least one syllabic
inscription from the turquoise region of Sinai (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">526</b>); it moves from left to right, and the signs face that way,
contrary to the Egyptian style.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>16</sup></b>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What we have in these significant inscriptions is the work of scribes
who were apparently well acquainted with their own two writing systems
(syllabary and consonantary), and it is likely that they were always, on successive
turquoise mining ventures, bringing the protoalphabet with them from elsewhere,
rather than inventing it on the spot on one of these expeditions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, absolute consistency in orientation (note the word
“consistently” in Goldwasser’s statement) is hard to find in the rest of the
collection: on the block statuette from the temple (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">346=4</b>), the one fish and the two human heads look one way while the
three snakes face in the opposite direction; the fish and the ox on <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/08/grave-of-asa-as-we-have-been-attempting.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">363=16</b></a>, <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">352=28</b>,</a> and<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/death-of-asa-asa-semitic-smith-was.html"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">358=35</b></a> are
looking in different directions. Moreover, the heads on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">356=29</b> (from Mine L) are actually in conformity with the Egyptian
convention (whether by accident or design), as is the writing in the two
horizontal lines on the bilingual sphinx (<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">345=3</b></a>).
Some of these cited inscriptions would be from the New Kingdom period,
presumably, and would not be relevant to the question of the beginnings of the
protoalphabet. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In summary, the writers of the proto-alphabetic inscriptions (as also
the syllabic texts) show a fairly consistent tendency to observe their own
long-standing custom of writing from right to left, which was possibly
something they imitated from Egyptian practice; but they usually had letters
facing forward, in the direction of the line, which is (whether accidentally or
intentionally) the opposite of Egyptian practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">10</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Letters in one and the same inscription may show different stances</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As examples Goldwasser cites </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">357</b></a></span> (inside Mine L) and </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/death-of-asa-asa-semitic-smith-was.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">358</b></a></span> (inside Mine M,
which is joined to Mine L), both of which have already been mentioned here; in
each case, the two instances of the letter L are in a lying position on the one
hand and standing obliquely on the other; this is an interesting observation; a
possible explanation is that the two instances are considered to be in
different sorts of lines (horizontal versus vertical). In the <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">Wadi el-Hol</a>
inscription the only L (at the bottom of the column) is inverted, and this
makes a total of five variant stances for that letter. No such variety would be
permitted in the work of a trained Egyptian scribe, but the Semitic writers are
simply showing their individuality, not their ignorance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"> In later times (Iron Age I) the different stances of letters were significant: a new <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html" target="">three-vowel syllabary </a>was created in Israel, apparently.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">11</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In most cases, the writers do not follow any order in writing</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, Goldwasser’s generalizing is too sweeping. Her prize trophy is
the jumble of letters on one side of the block statuette (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">346=4</b>): the line of writing meanders. “No Egyptian scribe would
ever produce such an inscription”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
it alerts us to the need to take meandering and clustering into account when
reading some of the inscriptions: <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/09/sinai-camp-site-sinai-inscription-365.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">365=8</b></a>,
<a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/08/grave-of-asa-as-we-have-been-attempting.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">363=16</b></a>, <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">361=13</b></a>. Two examples of the line taking a sharp turn are </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">357=32</b></a></span></span></b> and </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/death-of-asa-asa-semitic-smith-was.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">358=35</b></a></span></b>); each begins as a vertical column and then runs sideways.
This is untidy, but sometimes the surface of the wall might be to blame for
such irregularities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, mining tools
were used for the task; this is stated in <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/asa-sinai-smith-photograph-and-my.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">376=1</b></a>;
it is on a rock face in the oasis where water for the expeditions was obtained;
its four columns are in boustrophedon style (“as the ox ploughs”, 1 down, 2 up,
3 down, 4 up) starting on the left; a large fish is standing on its tail to fit
into column 3 (certainly a “different” stance); the bovine and human heads are
facing right so we know which direction the text is taking (left to right).
These apparent anomalies have their own artistry and attractiveness (like
Arabic calligraphy), and generally the writers have aimed at setting their
texts down in orderly lines or columns.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -36pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">12</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Two different hieroglyphs may be
used as prototypes for a single letter</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Goldwasser rightly adduces <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">N</i></b>, which is found as a viper (I9, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">f</i>) and as a cobra (I10, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>d</u></i>); but she does not show an
example of the viper; the ideal cases for this purpose are the two similar
inscriptions <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">360=14</b></a> (Mine K) which
has a viper, and </span><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"> <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">361=13</b></a> </span>(Mine N)
which has a cobra in the corresponding position in the sequence of signs. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">R</b></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>is a human head, and she suggests that it is based not only on the
profile hieroglyph (D1 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tp</i>) but also
the frontal form (D2 </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">H</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">r</span></i><span lang="EN-AU">), which is perhaps evidenced on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">364=37</b>, </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/09/sinai-camp-site-sinai-inscription-365.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">365=8</b></a></span></b>, and <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/ancient-sinai-irrigation-sinai.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">367=17</b></a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">H</i></b>
(a man with upraised forearms, the forerunner of the letter E in the alphabet)
could be cited in this connection: Goldwasser has assumed that this is a high
officer shouting Hey or Hoy, but the more likely link is a person exulting or
jubilating (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hillul </i>celebration,
already used in the syllabary for HI). A28 (man with both forearms raised) is
more refined (and clothed) than the simple stick figures in the Semitic texts,
but as the determinative marker for high and joy it provided the semantic basis
for HI and H in the West Semitic scripts. The character for H is also found in
an inverted stance (standing on hands, as in hieroglyph A29) at the end of </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/death-of-asa-asa-semitic-smith-was.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">358=35</b></a></span></b></span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b>. It occurs on the Valley of the
Queens ostracon in Egypt;<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>17</sup></b>
it could be taken as an inverted K, but as H it produces the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’mht</i> (maidservants), and this goes with
the reading of the word below it as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">sh</span><span lang="EN-AU">t</span></i><span lang="EN-AU"> (women, though <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’<u>t</u>t </i>is the expected form in the Bronze Age) with the letter
Shin as the NK form of the sun with a single uraeus serpent and a tail (N6).
Furthermore, on the Wadi el-Hol inscription in Egypt, one of the three
instances of H (fifth in the vertical line) has only one forearm raised, and
Goldwasser tries A1 (seated man) and A17 (seated child with hand to mouth); but
the man is obviously dancing for joy, as with hieroglyph A32, likewise denoting
jubilation (but if he is kneeling, then A8 could be invoked, being yet another
jubilation sign).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rather than demonstrating ignorance of the Egyptian system, this
evidence indicates knowledge of its contents on the part of the Semitic users
of the protoalphabet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">13</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In some cases new iconic readings are given to Egyptian signs</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This statement is baseless, in my view. Goldwasser makes great play with
possible origins for the letter Waw (oar, mace, toggle-pin) but disregards the
fact that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">waw</i> means “hook” or “nail”
(WA in the syllabary, W in the consonantary); in the protoalphabet it was a
circle on a stem, and then in the Phoenician alphabet the circle was opened up
at the top, and this was an inverted version of the form it had in the
syllabary. This object had no counterpart among the hieroglyphs, and so it leads
into the next point.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">14.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Some letters have their origin outside of
the Egyptian hieroglyphic system</i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-AU">Referring to my
table of signs to see the forms (and notice the BS column for the syllabic
forerunners attested at Byblos, and elsewhere):</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">W </i></b>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">waw</i>) would fit
here, as just noted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">T</i></b> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">taw</i>, + or x,
meaning a mark or signature) has no Egyptian counterpart.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>T</u></i></b> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>t</u>ad</i>
breast) in frontal pose has no Egyptian prototype.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Goldwasser puts two signs into this category: hand and bow. The bow
(composite bow, *<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>t</u>ann</i>, the
supposed source of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>T</u></i> and/or </span><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">Sh</span></span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">)</span></b><span lang="EN-AU"> is a phantom, seen only in speculation.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span><span lang="EN-AU">18</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-AU"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">K</i></b>
as a hand finds little to compare with hieroglyph D46 (but fingers can be shown
in this character, to compare with the upright hand on </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenPrXIW2qEWB3iV4E5AjMKMAa7yi7CfqN3m5VesjO3TDj6hBcyk-3aHCzonCIN4pCwpMrwvoRrvIg_nb5q0c-F8_PMXCNk-7Pdg7L3tJ294xIVliH46YiUL_i-ByGSIVERoHN3g/s1600-h/S349+p.jpg"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">349=22</b></a></span></b></span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b>; but it has two different precursors in the syllabary (see
section 15).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">15</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lack of standardization</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>B</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU"> With
regard to the letter Bet,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Goldwasser
declares that there is a plethora of house forms in the Sinai Semitic
inscriptions, but she goes too far when she includes houses with multiple
rooms, such as the one with two rooms and a rounded courtyard in <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">380=11</b></a> at Mine G; this is actually the
sign for Het.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>H. </i> </span></b><span lang="EN-AU">Other examples of Het are: the two-part
dwelling in text </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">360=14</b></a></span></b> at Mine K,
and the three-section mansion in </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">361=13</b></a> </span></span></b>
at Mine N. These are based on Canaanian mansions, the relevant word being </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">H</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">açir</span></i><span lang="EN-AU">, and comparing this to hieroglyph O6 (mansion) is legitimate, given
the similarity to the Semitic forms in examples in Sinai Egyptian inscription <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">28</b>.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>19</sup></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <i> </i></span><i><u>H</u></i> </span></b><span lang="EN-AU">The original hieroglyph (V28) is one of
the single-consonant signs, representing Egyptian </span><i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">h.</span></i><span lang="EN-AU"> but
Semitic <u><i>h</i></u></span><span lang="EN-AU">. It is a hank of thread, or a wick, shaped like a double helix.
Sinai inscription 53 (dating from year 44 of Amenemhet III)</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU">20</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-AU"> is a splendid piece of Egyptian calligraphy (and it has a host of
hieroglyphs that are prototypes for the letters of the alphabet, though eleven
of them are missing by my calculation);</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-AU">but it shows inconsistency, having some cases
of this sign with the standard three loops (lines 1,4,7) and others with only
two loops (lines 4,8).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Sinai
protoalphabetic texts the form with three loops is found once (</span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/asa-sinai-smith-photograph-and-my.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">376=1</b></a></span></b>) and the remaining few instances
have two loops. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Likewise on Sinai <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">53</b>,
hieroglyph F35 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nfr</i>) shows variation:
it has one stroke at the top of its stem in lines 1 and 15, and two strokes in
line 6. Its equivalent (as Tet) in Sinai <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">351=23</b></a>
has only one stroke, though in the syllabary it could have two strokes (see the
BS column on my table of signs).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T.</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU"> Tet only
appears once in the Sinai corpus, in </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">351=23</b></a></span></b>,
but it was clearly a borrowing of the Egyptian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nefer</i> hieroglyph, which stands for goodness and beauty, and Semitic
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">t.ab </i>(good, beautiful)
provides the
acrophone (in the syllabary and the consonantary: T.A and T.). As this
hieroglyph does not readily yield up its meaning (the heart
and the windpipe perhaps expressing emotional reaction to goodness)
knowledge
of the Egyptian symbol would be required.</span></div>
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<br />
<span lang="EN-AU"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";"></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">16</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cases of two icons competing for the representation of a particular
sound</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again the accusation is lack of standardization. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">D<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></b>Goldwasser sets up a
false opposition for the letter D:<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> dalt </i>(door,
which is still obvious in the Roman form of D) versus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dag</i> (fish), though she knows that the fish sign could be (and
surely is, I would say) Samek.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>21</sup></b>
So there are two origins for<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> S</b> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">samk</i>): fish and spinal column (see the
table of signs). The fish occurs only in the south, apparently; the northern
form is the column, as also in the syllabary. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Two more instances can be offered; both come out of the syllabary.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">K</i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kapp </i>(palm of the
hand, KA) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kipp</i> (palm branch, KI).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">M </i></b>horizontal<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>waves<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>(water, MU) and vertical wavy line
(rain, MI).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These three examples prove that the formation of the protoalphabet was
basically a matter of choosing phonograms from the Canaanian syllabary, and using
them as consonantograms.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>22</sup></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><br /></sup></b></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">17</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The acrophonic script shows no signs of contamination from the complex
Egyptian ideographic system</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Goldwasser asserts that “its complicated semiotic mechanism escaped
them”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the contrary, its workings had
been understood by their scribes since the time of the Old Kingdom, when the
West Semitic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">logosyllabary</i> was
constructed. In the new acrophonic script, the protoalphabet, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">logoconsonantary</i> (possibly conceived
because the Egyptian system was already grasped and known) each sign could also
function as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">logogram</i> (for example,
house icon as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bayt</i>), and as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rebogram</i> (the consonants of the word
that goes with the picture could be employed to express homophones, or act as
components in another word). Examples have been collected and presented
elsewhere.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>23</sup></b> Such
extended usage of the letters seems to have been still operating in the early
Iron Age, in the text of the Izbet Sartah ostracon.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>24</sup></b> It is detectable in the Wadi el-Hol text.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>25</sup></b> Strangely, Goldwasser
allows a “classifier” sign into this inscription (letter 5 on the vertical
line);<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>26</sup></b> in my
interpretation it is a dancing man and a logogram (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hillul</i> “celebration”); she wants it to be a human male classifier
preceding a male personal name, but the name following it is ‘Anat, the goddess
who is pictured beside the name.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">18</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No clear case of borrowing from
the monoconsonantal repertoire</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is true, but eight of them do turn up in the inscriptions, with
different sound-values, not having the original Egyptian sounds: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">B (h) </i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";"><u>H</u>
(</span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";"><i>h.</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">) </i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">Y (‘) K (d) M (n) N (f) N (<u>d</u>) P (r).</span></i></div>
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<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"></span></i><span lang="EN-AU"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">19</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No hieratic signs mixed with
hieroglyphs</i> </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If stylized “hieratic” signs (in which the original image is almost
obliterated) were borrowed for the protoalphabet, this would require literacy
as a precondition, and she insists that the inventors “</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">interacted only with the pictorial meanings of
the signs”.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><span lang="EN-AU">27</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;"> However, others disagree with her,
she acknowledges. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously, Goldwasser would have no time
for the discredited idea that the letters of the Phoenician alphabet were newly
made from hieratic characters, instead of being stylized versions of the
original pictophonograms. However, this is an opportunity to point out that the
users of the protoalphabet did take note of current Egyptian symbols and the
fashion changes that occurred in the hieroglyphic script. For the sun-sign,
which functioned as </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">Sh</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">i </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">in the
syllabary and </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">Sh</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;"> in the consonantary, the hieroglyph
for sun (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">r</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">‘</span></i><span lang="EN-AU"> N5) was employed in the
syllabary (a circle, with or without its central dot), but it is not attested
in the consonantary (though it is known in the derivative cuneiform alphabet);
instead we have variations of N6, depicting the sun-disc with one uraeus
serpent (New Kingdom) or two serpents (N6B, found in the MK and NK periods);
the double-serpent sign is obviously the prototype for the Sinai version of </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">Sh </span><span lang="EN-AU">(with the sun disc omitted).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>28
</sup></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet another variant is found
twice in the Wadi el-Hol text; it has the sun-disc and the serpent, but it
lacks the tail that is part of the N6 form in the New Kingdom;<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup> 29</sup></b> a source for this
version can be found in a surprising place, on inscriptions in Sinai<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">85</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">87</b>, year 4 and 5 of the reign of
Amenemhet III) which relate to Khebded, the member of the Retenu royal family
who has played an important part in Orly Goldwasser’s research; it occurs as a
representation of the sun in the pictures on each stela, not as a hieroglyph in
the text, but it matches the protoalphabetic sign perfectly. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">20</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Not used by any institution or state for administrative purposes</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is an argument from silence, which ignores the possibility of lost
documents; civilized administration was recorded on papyrus, which only
survives in Egyptian settings. But it would be fair to say that a large number
of the protoalphabetic documents on stone were official, here in Sinai, under
the Egyptian government. Without being able to give a coherent and
comprehensive interpretation of the corpus of inscriptions, Orly Goldwasser
makes generalizations like this: it allowed the peripheral sectors of society
to write their names or the name of a god, or to present a short prayer. This
is true as far as it goes, but in the Semitic inscriptions at the Sinai
turquoise mines there are official texts as well as private statements, though
all are open to public gaze.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span lang="EN-AU">Four are concerned
with a man named Asa: <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/asa-sinai-smith-photograph-and-my.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">376=1</b> </a>records
“the sickness (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dwt</i>) of Asa”; </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/alphabetic-sphinx-of-sinai-this.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">345=3</b></a></span></b> is the votive sphinx from the
temple, with his signature on the left shoulder above the dedicatory line,
“This is my offering (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nqy</i>) to
Baalat”; </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/07/death-of-asa-asa-semitic-smith-was.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">358=35</b></a></span></b></span></b> inside Mine M is his
obituary, “Asa has done (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">p‘l</i>) his
work (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mlkth</i>)”; </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/08/grave-of-asa-as-we-have-been-attempting.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">363=16</b></a></span></b> is on his burial site, “This grave (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knkn</i>) is the resting place (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">n</i></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times";">x</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">t</span></i><span lang="EN-AU">) of Asa”. The block statuette from the temple (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">346=4</b>) bears a prayer to Baalat “for increase of pasture (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mr‘t</i>)” (for the donkeys and goats,
presumably). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The official announcements relating to Mine L, for example, were
inscribed in steliform (stela-shaped) panels on the outer wall of the mine. It
is reasonable to suppose that these were posted at various times and relate to
different expeditions to Serabit el-Khadim. Officers are mentioned in them:
“the chief prefect” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rb nçbn</i>, which
is commonly and erroneously read as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rb
nqbn</i>, supposedly meaning the “chief of the miners”, from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nqb </i>“pierce, bore a hole”) appears in </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenPrXIW2qEWB3iV4E5AjMKMAa7yi7CfqN3m5VesjO3TDj6hBcyk-3aHCzonCIN4pCwpMrwvoRrvIg_nb5q0c-F8_PMXCNk-7Pdg7L3tJ294xIVliH46YiUL_i-ByGSIVERoHN3g/s1600-h/S349+p.jpg"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">349=22</b></a></span></b></span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b>, and on the statuette <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">346=4</b>; “the prefect of the expedition”
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nçb wt.= </i>Egp <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">w<u>d</u>‘ </i>“expedition”) is on </span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/11/ancient-metal-melting-sinai-inscription.html"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">351=23</b></a></span></b></span><span lang="EN-AU"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b>,
and possibly on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">350=27</b>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The inscriptions concerned the equipment (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’nt</i>) for the metalworking (making and remaking the copper tools for
the mining operations) by the “sons of the furnace” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bn kr</i>), and also the vessels for watering the vegetable
garden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other places I have provided
a full account of the information and instructions in the inscriptions.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>30 </sup></b>However, in our attempts
to decipher these enigmatic documents, we must constantly keep in mind that the
only one who really knew what an ancient alphabetic inscription meant was the
person who wrote it.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU">21</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The cuneiform alphabet was a sophisticated reworking of the
protoalphabet</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Goldwasser accepts that the cuneiform signs of the alphabet that was
used for various purposes at Ugarit (and in other places) were based on the
pictorial consonantary. However, she surmises that the protoalphabet was a
despised script, which was only used by caravaneers and soldiers, but now
achieved respectability in new raiment. Let us not forget that the reason we
have so much written material from Ugarit is that it was preserved on clay,
unlike the lost royal records of Byblos and Tyre. Clay tablets are far less
fragile and perishable than papyrus rolls. If the scribes of Ugarit had chosen
to write their documents on papyrus, we would have at our disposal an adze with
a name and a title, another adze with the same title (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rb khnm</i>, chief priest), and a cylinder seal
with a personal name on it.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>31</sup></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup> </sup></b>Consequently, someone would
be asserting that this insignificant cuneiform script was only used for writing
owners’ names on their property.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fortunately some official documents have survived on stone and copper at
Byblos (Gubla) to show that the West Semitic syllabary was used there in the
Bronze Age.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>32</sup></b> Early in
the Iron Age (11<sup>th</sup> century B.C.E.) Wen Amon reported that Zakar-Baal
of Byblos brought out the daybooks of his forefathers and had them read out to
reveal past dealings with Egypt (was the writing syllabic or consonantal?); and
500 papyrus rolls were said to be part of the payment for a load of timber
(though these have now become “smooth linen mats”).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>33 </sup></b>At Megiddo the syllabic script is found on an
official signet ring (“Sealed: the sceptre of Megiddo”) from the Late Bronze
Age.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>34 </sup></b>At Beth-Shemesh a
scribe had made himself a copy of the cuneiform alphabet,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>35</sup></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and an
ostracon speaks (slurringly) of carousing in a wine tavern.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>36</sup></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is thus clear that all three West Semitic writing systems (syllabary,
consonantary, cuneiform script) were operating around 1200 B.C.E. at the end of
the Bronze Age, and the syllabary and the consonantary had flourished side by
side for many centuries. There was also a new <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/early-hebrew-syllabary.html">alphabetic syllabary</a> in use in Israel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU">S</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">UMMATION</span><span lang="EN-AU"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we think in evolutionary terms, the
consonantal protoalphabet was not so much an invention as a mutation of the
previous syllabic system.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>37</sup></b>
By the same token, the cuneiform alphabet was a modification of this
consonantary, representing its pictorial signs with clusters of wedges (as had
happened in the development of the Mesopotamian cuneiform logosyllabary).
Research on the signs of any one of these three systems must always take the
other two into account (as seen in the discussion of </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">S</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU">as the sun, in section 18 above).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the creation of the West Semitic scripts, evolution is the process;
simplification is the driving force; acrophony is the creative technique, an
offshoot of the older rebus principle; there is room for human intervention,
but the move from syllabary to consonantary was not a new start with a new
invention (acrophony) by a humble artisan who was ignorant of his own culture,
as Goldwasser believes. The bulk of the letters of the protoalphabet were
already functioning in the syllabary; and 18 of the 22 letters in the Phoenician
alphabet of the Iron Age<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>had an
ancestor in the Canaanian syllabary of the Bronze Age (the exceptions were Het,
Lamed, Sadey, Zayin). The reader should pause for a moment and ponder over this
striking fact. Note further that Sadey has not been detected in a syllabic text
yet, and if the tied bag (V33) was used, then it will be 19 out of 22. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The consonantal aspect of the Egyptian system had long been known to
educated Semites, but it could well be that in the Middle Kingdom period, when
many Phoenicians (“Asiatics”) were living in Egypt and were welcomed by the
rulers, the motivational influence was there to promote further simplification
in their writing, and produce the most compact system the world had seen. They
might not have called this unique species of script a consonantary (or a
vowelless syllabary?), but they knew how to operate the device. Its “genetic
code” or “genome” contained not only letters (pictophonograms, specifically
consonantograms, one of which was a double helix, incidentally) but also some
lingering benign viruses, namely logograms and rebograms. In this regard, it is
not necessary to suppose that the Semitic scribes focused on the
monoconsonantal signs as a model, since their letters would also function as
biconsonantal and triconsonantal phonograms when acting as rebograms. The use
of alternative signs for particular sounds is a phenomenon arising from
syllabary options (ka or ki for K, mi or mu for M; note that the signs with –a
were not always given preference) or hieroglyph choices (hi for H, but three
joy signs [A28, A29, A32] were available and were employed).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ultimately Orly Goldwasser’s hypothesis was a good one, because it was
falsifiable. Somebody needed to try this idea, but unfortunately it has proved
to be deeply flawed, groundless rather than groundbreaking, perilously
conducive to flights of fancy. Of course, the possibility remains that the
protoalphabet was indeed conceived at the Sinai mines, but not on a basis of
ignorance and illiteracy.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Goldwasser was striving to cause a paradigm shift in this field of
study, where the consensus was certainly in need of a shake-up. When the West
Semitic logosyllabary generated the logoconsonantary (the protoalphabet) there
was a species of paradigm shift, and now that the process and its results are
perceptible (starting with Mendenhall’s evolution insight and then the
realization that the signs in both systems could also function as logograms and
rebograms) we have a different approach to reading protoalphabetic inscriptions,
and a fresh paradigm in the grammatological sense, that is, a table of signs
and sounds which can exorcise the spectre of William Foxwell Albright, who with
his imperfect stone tablets misled his followers into a barren wilderness. Orly
Goldwasser was likewise misguided by the faulty chart from which the Albright
school would not deviate.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nevertheless, the things Goldwasser has achieved through the
promulgation and defense of her thesis are laudable. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">I have
personally been stimulated to go back to all the Egyptian inscriptions from
Serabit and Magharah, and simultaneously look for dating criteria to apply to
the protoalphabetic and syllabic inscriptions.</span><span lang="EN-AU"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Goldwasser’s colourful popularising article in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Biblical Archaeology Review</i> (2010) was enriched by helpful
illustrations, notably photographs of the bilingual sphinx (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">345</b>, with “beloved of Hathor” in
Egyptian hieroglyphs, and “beloved of Baalat” in the West Semitic script) which
paradoxically would seem to undermine her belief that the Semitic workmen could
not read Egyptian writing, but it is obviously from the New Kingdom not the
Middle Kingdom (for Q it has a very clear 18<sup>th</sup> Dynasty form of the
cord wound on a stick, that is, V25 not V24) and so it is not relevant to the
question of origins; that same article showed the Serabit temple ruins with
many of the monumental inscriptions still standing, and displayed a
reconstruction of this sanctuary;<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>it opened up the subject to the public,
and an enormous amount of correspondence was received by the editor; scholarly
response was opposed to her ideas, notably from Anson Rainey before his death,
and then Christopher Rollston (her 2012 publication, which has been scrutinized
here, was a reply to him).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One correspondent, namely James E. Jennings of the University of
California (Los Angeles), begged to differ on the grounds of what he had been
taught by “the brilliant linguist J. Ignace Gelb”: “The Canaanites did not
invent the alphabet.” <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>38</sup></b>
Right, I accept that assertion, if the emphasis is placed on the word “invent”
(it was a mutation rather than an invention); but his next point is not (as
Mendenhall, Hoch, and myself say) that they drew the signs out of their
existing syllabary, which had already employed Egyptian hieroglyphs acrophonically
for a new Semitic purpose, but this: “they extracted 22 signs from the already
existing 24 uniliteral signs found in Egyptian hieroglyphic writing” (and the
acrophonic principle had no part in this, according to Gelb); they produced a
script that can be described as “open consonantal uniliteral writing” (whereby
the sign represented a consonant plus an unspecified vowel or no vowel, and
this is what I was hinting at when I mentioned “a vowelless syllabary”
earlier).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The figure “24” for the
monoconsonantal signs is slightly suspect (24 is the number of sounds but there
are alternative signs for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">y,w,m,n,s,t</i>),
and I have already said that only eight of the “uniliteral” or
“monoconsonantal” hieroglyphs found their way into the protoalphabet (in
section 18 above). </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The great irony, as I see it, is that Gelb was one of the decipherers of
hieroglyphic Hittite (the Luwian syllabary), but he did not realize that it had
been constructed acrophonically, presumably following the pattern provided by
the West Semitic logosyllabary. These days Gelb’s most faithful disciple is
Barry Powell, and in his book entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writing</i>
(2006) he has a chapter on the origins of West Semitic writing, in which he
dismisses the “discredited” acrophonic principle as a factor.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>39</sup></b> This is quite easily done
(QED): by withholding Occam’s razor (entities should not be multiplied) and
regarding the “undeciphered” epigraphic material (such as our Sinai and Wadi
el-Hol inscriptions) as examples of other experiments in creating scripts, and thus
divorcing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>them from the Phoenician
alphabet, as evidenced around 1000 B.C.E. when there were no picture-signs. But
at that time they would be saying, so to speak, “D is for Door (Dalet)”,
whereas at the start it was “Door [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dalt</i>]
is for D” (or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’alp </i>[ox] is for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’ </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bayt </i>[house]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>is for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">b</i>) that is, practising acrophony.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ultimately, this is the great boon that Orly Goldwasser has bestowed on
her readers: people have learned that the alphabet was indeed formed by means
of the acrophonic principle.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>40</sup></b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">HYPOTHETICAL
ALPHABET ORIGINS</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">Egyptian hieroglyphs (F1 etcetera)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">West Semitic acrophone (</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">’alp </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">etcetera</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">Hebrew and Greek names of letters</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">’A </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">’alp </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(ox, bull) Alep (Alpha)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">F1 </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">B </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">bayt </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(house) Bet (Beta)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">O1 O4</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">G</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gaml </i>(boomerang)
Gimel (Gamma)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">T14</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">D</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dalt </i>(door) Dalet (Delta)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">O31</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">H</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hillul</i> (exultation, celebration) He
(Epsilon)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A28 A29 A32 (cp A8)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">W</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">waw </i>(hook,
nail, peg) Waw (Upsilon)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><u><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">D</span></b></u></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">d</span></u></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ayp</span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (eyebrow)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">D13</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Z</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ziqq </i>(fetter) Zayin (Zeta)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>H.</i> </span></b><i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">h.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">açir</span></span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (mansion) Het
(Eta)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">O6 </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><u><i>H</i></u> </span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">x</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ayt.
</span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(thread)
Hbr </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Hut. </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(thread, cord)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">V28</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">T. </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">t.abu </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(good) Tet (Theta)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">F35</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Z. </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">z.il </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(shade) Hbr<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> çel </i>(shade, shadow)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">S35</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Y</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yad </i>(hand, forearm) Yod (Iota)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">D36</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">K</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kapp</i> (palm, hand) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kippat </i>(palm branch) Kap (Kappa)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(D46) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">L</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> lamd</span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (training device) Hbr <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">malmad </i>(ox-goad)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Lamed
(Lambda)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">S39 (crook) V1 (coil of rope)?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> maym</span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> (water) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mu</i>
(water) Mem (Mu)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">N35 </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">N</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">na</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">H</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">a</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">S</span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(snake)
Nun (Nu) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I10 (cobra) I9 (viper)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>S </b>samk </span></i></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(</span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">fish) </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">K1 K3 </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">S</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> samk </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(spinal column) Samek (Xi)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">R11</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">‘</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> ‘ayin </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(eye) Ayin (Omikron)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">D4</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">G</span></u></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <u>G</u>inab </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(grape)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">M43</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">P</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> pu </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(mouth) Pe (Pi)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">D21</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Ç
S. </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">çirar </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(bag) Çade (San)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">V33</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Q </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">qaw </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(cord, line) Qop (Qoppa)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">V24 V25</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">R</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> ra’</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">sh</span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(head) Resh (Rho)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">D1</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i>Sh</i> </span></span></b><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">shamsh</span></span></span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(sun) </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">N6 N6b<span style="color: black;"></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><u><b><i>T</i></b></u><i> <u>t</u></i></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ad </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(breast) Shin/Sin
(Sigma)</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">T </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">taw </span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(mark) Taw (Tau)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Transliteration Times"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page; page-break-before: always;" />
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<span lang="EN-AU">CHART OF ALPHABET EVOLUTION</span></div>
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/ABTEVNTBL.jpg?attredirects=0" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0pt none; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/ABTEVNTBL-large.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click on the table for an enlarged view</span>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page; page-break-before: always;" />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">NOTES</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gardiner, 1916, </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Egyptian Origin of the Semitic Alphabet.”
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of Egyptian Archaeology</i>, 3:
1–16.</span><span lang="EN-AU"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Goldwasser, Orly 2006.
“Canaanites Reading Hieroglyphs,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ägypten
und Levante </i>16: 121-160. Note that I prefer to use a word “Canaanian” as a
synonym of “Phoenician”, since the term “Canaanite” has bad connotations from
its usage in the Bible; “West Semitic” is another way of referring to the
languages and scripts of Canaan (Syria-Palestine). In my opinion the terms
Protosinaitic and Protocanaanite are now obsolete.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is Orly Goldwasser’s
reply to a correspondent (Bonnie Long) who was wondering how the Egyptian
hieroglyph for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">N</i> became the letter <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">M</i>, in<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Biblical Archaeology Review</i>, 36, 5 (2010) 11. It has to be asked whether
the Egyptian N manifestly represents ripples of water (it could be a range of mountain
peaks); knowledge of its use would be required.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Goldwasser 2012, 12-14 for
the most succinct statement, and almost all of the propositions being
considered here are taken from there; earlier 2006, 130-156, and 2011, 263-296.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colless 1988, “Recent
Discoveries Illuminating the Origin of the Alphabet,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)</i> 26: 30-67; Colless 1990,
“The Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions of Sinai,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)</i> 28: 1-52; Colless 1991,
“The Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions of Canaan,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)</i> 29: 18-26; Colless 2010.
“Proto-alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi Arabah,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antiguo Oriente</i> 8: 75-96.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note that I use the
informal term “protoalphabet” or “proto-alphabet” to describe the West Semitic
prototype of the alphabet, which was an acrophonic consonantary, with no vowels
represented, as in Egyptian writing, and like the Egyptian system it was a
logo-consonantary (it had logograms) or morpho-consonantary (it had what I call
rebograms, signs used as rebuses), in my understanding of it. Two useful
manuals containing information on the early alphabetic inscriptions are: Sass,
Benjamin 1988, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Genesis of the
Alphabet and its Development in the Second Millennium<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>B.C.; </i>Hamilton, Gordon H. 2006. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Origins of the West Semitic Alphabet in
Egyptian Scripts. </i>With regard to the numbering system used for the Sinai
inscriptions: the Egyptian texts are numbered from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1</b> onwards; the Sinai Semitic inscriptions are included in the same
collection, beginning with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sinai 345</b>.
My additional numbering (1-44, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">372=19</b>
for example) allows easier reference to my drawings (Colless 1990, 8-11) and
descriptions (1990, 12-47), and so an endnote does not need to be provided
every time a Sinai inscription is mentioned. Also, Sass and Hamilton arrange
their illustrations and descriptions of the inscriptions from 345 to 375d, and
any particular item can readily be located in their handbooks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Goldwasser 2006,153-156.
Compare and contrast my table (attached to this article) with drawings of
signs, and proposed hieroglyphic prototypes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sinai presumed to be the
locus of the invention of the alphabet, because of the plethora of
inscriptions: Goldwasser 2006, 132-133. See also Goldwasser 2012, 17 (Protosinaitic
inscriptions at the mines), and 2012, 21, notes 70-73. For a larger number than
30, see Colless 1990, 8-11 (drawings of the 44 items), and 51 (table of the
texts and their provenance).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">9.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hamilton 2006, 289-311.
Notice that Hamilton is accepting (rightly, in my view) that the inscriptions
date from both the MK and the NK, but there has long been an either-or debate;
see Sass 1988, 135-144.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">10. Colless 2010, 91 and 95, Fig 4; <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">11. For an examination of these three inscriptions (from southern
Egypt) comprising two “abgadaries” (inventories of the protoalphabetic letters)
together with a criticism of Hamilton’s proposed identifications of the
protoalphabetic signs, go to Colless, cryptcracker, Alphabet and Hieroglyphs: <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2007/10/gordon-hamiltons-early-alphabet-thesis.html</a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">12. Protoalphabetic inscriptions from Canaan: Colless 1991, 19-20
(listed), 22-24 (illustrated); Puech 1986, 172-187; Sass 1988, 51-75; Lemaire
2000, 110-114; Hamilton 2006, 390-400.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">13. On the antiquity of the West Semitic syllabary, its use of
acrophony, and its influence on the formation of the protoalphabet, see: Mendenhall,
George E. 1985, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Syllabic Inscriptions
from Byblos</i>;</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;"> Hoch,
J. E. 1990, “The Byblos syllabary: Bridging the gap between Egyptian
hieroglyphs and Semitic alphabets,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal
of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities</i> 20:115–124;</span><span lang="EN-AU"> Colless, Brian E. 1992, “The Byblos Syllabary and the
Proto-alphabet,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain (Ancient
Near Eastern Studies) </i>30: 15-62; Colless, Brian E. 1998, “The Canaanite
Syllabary,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abr-Nahrain (Ancient Near
Eastern Studies)</i> 35: 28-46; and Colless, “The West Semitic logo-syllabary”
at: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/westsemiticsyllabary">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/westsemiticsyllabary</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">14. On acrophony as modified rebus writing, see Colless, Brian E.
1996. “The Egyptian and Mesopotamian Contributions to the Origins of the
Alphabet,” in Guy Bunnens (ed.), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cultural
Interaction in The Ancient Near East, Abr-Nahrain Supplement Series</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5: 67-76; and “The evolution of the
alphabet”: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/alphabetevolution">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/alphabetevolution</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">15. Drawings of the Gubla syllabic texts, showing the direction of
writing: Colless 1993, 4 for D; 1994, 60 for C; 1994, 73 for A; 1997, 42 for G.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">16. For Sinai 526 (a syllabic inscription) see Colless 1997, 47-48.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">17. Valley of Queens ostracon: Goldwasser 2011, 308, Fig 3a.; Sass
1988, Fig, 286.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">18. On the bow-sign as a figment, and the confusion it has caused:
Colless 2010, 92, and n.48.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">19. On Semitic forms of hieroglyph O6 (mansion) in Sinai 28:
Goldwasser 2006, 126, Fig 6, and 144, Fig 22.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">20. Photograph and drawing of Sinai inscription 53: Sass 1988,
Figures 291 and 292.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">21. On the fish sign as D (erroneous opinion) alongside the door
sign: Goldwasser 2006, 135-137; Hamilton 2006, 61-75; Sass 1988,113-114.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">22. A connection between the syllabary and the consonantary was
suggested some time ago, but few have dared to explore it: Mendenhall 1985,
23-25 (“From Syllabary to Alphabet”); Colless 1992, 96-99 (“the relation of the
proto-alphabet to the Byblian signary”); Colless 1998, 34-35 (comparative table
of syllabic, protoalphabetic, and hieroglyphic signs).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">23. Colless 2010, 82-83, 88-89, 91.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">24. Colless, <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/abgadary">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/abgadary</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">25. Colless 2010, 91 and 95, Fig 4; <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/2009/12/wadi-el-hol-proto-alphabetic.html</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">26. Goldwasser 2006, 146-150.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">27. Goldwasser 2011, 273-274, “</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-bidi-language: EN-US;">The Unnecessary Hypothesis of Hieratic Sources</span><span lang="EN-AU">”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">28. This point was kindly clarified to me by Stefan Wimmer (2010, 5,
where he recognizes that I had shown the sun-sign connection in Colless 1988,
50-51); N6B with the two serpents was also clearly the prototype for the
character on the Timna inscription, which we both studied (Wimmer 2010; Colless
2010). Incidentally, in a West Semitic logo-syllabic inscription from Thebes
(New Kingdom) there is a case of the sun syllabogram (which was normally a
simple circle) with a combination of serpent and disc, instead of one or the
other (Colless 1997, 48-50; 1998, 31-33).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">29. Wimmer 2010, 5, accepts that this is a sun-sign, and rejects the
proposed connection with a composite bow; but Goldwasser (2006, 142, No 19)
follows Hamilton (2006, 241-244) in this supposition that *<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>t</u>ann </i>(a double bow?) is the source of the letter Shin; it is
true that the sign for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>t</u></i>
became Shin, but it was the human breast, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>t</u>ad</i>
(Colless 2010, 90 and 92).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">30. For my first attempt at a comprehensive analysis of the Sinai
protoalphabetic inscriptions, see Colless 1990; more recently I have placed
several articles concerning the main texts on the cryptcracker website: <a href="http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/">http://cryptcracker.blogspot.co.nz/</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">31. See Goldwasser 2011, 292-293, “A Call from the Center: The Case
of the Ugaritic Alphabet”. This cuneiform consonantary (with three
syllabograms: ’a, ’i, ’u) is represented beyond Ugarit (sometimes in a reduced
form, a “short alphabet”): Dietrich and Loretz 1988; Puech 1996. For the three
brief inscriptions not on clay tablets, see Gordon 1965, 257 (inventory) and
159 (transcriptions). For my demonstration of the origin of the cuneiform
alphabet in the signs of the protoalphabet, go to: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cuneiformalphabet">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/cuneiformalphabet</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">32. Mendenhall 1985, 32-143; Colless 1993, 1994, 1997.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">33. Breasted 1905, 106-107 (“journals” and papyrus rolls); Lichtheim
1978, 226-227 (“daybooks” and “smooth linen mats”).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">34. Megiddo gold signet ring: Colless 1997, 45-46; 1998, 33; the
word “sceptre” is a logogram (with hieroglyph S44 as its prototype).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">35. Benjamin Sass 1991, “The Beth Shemesh Tablet,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ugarit Forschungen</i> 23, 315-326, provides
a good introduction to this cuneiform abgadary and its ramifications; also
Puech 1986, 197-213; Dietrich und Loretz 1988, 277-296.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">36. Beth Shemesh ostracon: Colless 1990, 46-49; <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/winewhine">https://sites.google.com/site/collesseum/winewhine</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">37. In this regard, Mendenhall 1985, 23, speaks of “the evolution
from syllabary to alphabet”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">38. James E. Jennings, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BAR</i>
July/August 2010, 10-12.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">39. Barry B. Powell, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writing:
Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization</i> (Chichester:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2006) 153-186, on West Semitic writing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<span lang="EN-AU">40. It needs to be added that doubt still remains whether the
Egyptians knew the acrophonic principle through their single-consonant signs.
Goldwasser (2012, 19, n. 1) says that these particular signs represented
monosyllabic words and “did not acquire their phonetic value, as far as we
know, by the use of an acrophonic procedure”. However, Jacques Freu (2000, 98),
after surveying the development of ancient hieroglyphic writing, concludes that
the Egyptians actually invented the alphabet, since the monoliteral signs were
the precursors of the Phoenician<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>alphabet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Freu maintains (2000,
94-95) that there was an Egyptian consonantal alphabet from the beginning, and
it was constructed by the application of the principle of acrophony: for
example the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">f </i>of the viper sign<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>was derived from the word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ft</i> meaning ‘viper’, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>d</u></i> from the cobra, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>d</u>t</i>; the water sign supplied <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">n</i> from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nt</i>, water; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">nine</b> of the
signs fit this model, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">five</b> are
not clear (m, g, w, k, s); the remaining <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ten</b>
would fit the pattern of being monosyllabic words. It is difficult to deny that
acrophony was at work here, and this principle could have been noticed by the
practitioners of West Semitic writing in the Bronze Age. At the same time, this
does not necessarily nullify my idea that in the evolution of West Semitic
scripts, the acrophonic syllabogram and then the acrophonic consonantogram were
extensions (or reductions) of the rebus principle; and these Canaanian signs
continued to function as full rebograms and logograms; in this regard, Freu
(2000, 95) reminds us that most of the single-sound hieroglyphs kept their
ideographic value, and this could be another connection between the Egyptian
and Semitic systems. Incidentally, in my estimation, only one of the
protoalphabetic signs goes with a monosyllabic word, namely P (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pu</i>, mouth).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, it is important to remember that
Charles Lenormant, in 1838, thought and taught that Phoenicians had borrowed
from Egyptians the alphabetic principle and the acrophonic method (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">méthode acrologique</i>), taking a selection
of hieroglyphs and applying new sound values to them; and he gave as examples,
the ox for ’alep, the house for B, and the eye for ‘ayin (Lemaire 2000,
105-106).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; text-indent: -21.3pt;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page; page-break-before: always;" />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU">BIBLIOGRAPHY</span></div>
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Brian Edric Collesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02829433847798847433noreply@blogger.com134