Amman Citadel Inscription

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The Amman Citadel Inscription is an inscription in the Ammonite language that was found in 1961 on the citadel hill of Amman , the Jebel al-Qala'a , in an Iron Age context. The inscription is now in the Archaeological Museum in Amman .

description

The inscription is carved into a white limestone block approx. 26 × 19 cm high and width of unequal thickness. All four sides are carved irregularly. Obviously parts of the original block have broken off. In the lower right corner there is a right-angled recess, which suggests planned removal for secondary use. The surface of the stone shows flaking, which may be due to the carving during that removal. However, most of the letters are easy to read. The stone shows no signs of erosion and was therefore probably hardly exposed to the weather.

The inscription still contains eight lines. Parts are missing to the left and right, and the bottom line doesn't seem to contain the end of the inscription either. However, since there is still space above the top line and the other line spacing is regular, the first line preserved is probably also the first line of the inscription.

palaeography

The eight lines of the inscription contain about 100 letters, which can be divided into about 33 words. Word separators are generally used, but the spacing between letters varies. In line 5 in particular, it is difficult to break it down into individual words.

The shape and size of individual letters vary considerably. Apparently the inscription comes from an inexperienced hand. Numerous letters have special shapes. The chet only has two crossbars, compared to the usual three. The Mesha stele or the statue of Jarich Asar also have only two crossbars. The Tet has instead of the usual cross only a crossbeam in a circle and resembling so already the Greek Theta . The Ajin is already slightly open at the top, which does not appear in Phoenician inscriptions until the 5th century, but earlier in italic fonts. The Tzade also shows a conspicuously different shape, although it also has a wide range of shapes in the other inscriptions in the region. Because of the parallels, the inscription is palaeographically dated around 800 BC. Or around 50 years earlier. This makes the Amman Citadel Inscription the oldest surviving evidence of the Ammonite language.

content

Due to the fragmentary nature of the inscription, its content is often uncertain. It is apparently a building inscription. Line 1 presumably offers an introductory formula according to which the god Milkom gave the literary self the commission to build the inscription. The following lines then specify the order, its execution and contain curse formulas (the latter in line 2/3).

literature

  • Walter E. Aufrecht : A Corpus of Ammonite Inscriptions (Ancient Near Eastern Texts & Studies 4). Lewiston et al. 1989, no. 59.
  • Frank Moore Cross : Epigraphic Notes on the 'Ammān Citadel Inscription. In: BASOR 193 (1969), pp. 13-19.
  • William J. Fulco: The 'Ammān Citadel Inscription: A New Collation. In: BASOR 230 (1978), pp. 39-43.
  • Siegfried H. Horn : The Ammān Citadel Inscription. In: BASOR 193 (1969), pp. 2-13.
  • William H. Shea: The Amman Citadel Inscription Again. In: Palestine Exploration Quarterly 113 (1981), pp. 105-110.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ On the other hand, see William J. Fulco: The 'Ammān Citadel Inscription: A New Collation. In: BASOR 230 (1978), 39–43, here p. 41, who recognizes three transverse bars at least for the first chet in line 3.
  2. ^ Siegfried H. Horn: The Ammān Citadel Inscription. In: BASOR 193 (1969), pp. 2-13, here p. 8.
  3. ^ Frank Moore Cross: Epigraphic Notes on the 'Ammān Citadel Inscription. In: BASOR 193 (1969), 13-19.