Byblos bronze spatulas explained

The Byblos bronze spatulas are a number bronze spatulas found in Byblos, two of which were inscribed. One contains a Phoenician inscription (known as the Azarba'al Spatula, KAI 3 or TSSI III 1) and one contains an inscription in the Byblos syllabary.

They were published in Maurice Dunand's Fouilles de Byblos (volume I, 1926–1932, numbers 1125 and 2334, plate XXXII).^[1]

Spatulas

The spatulas discovered in Dunand's Fouilles de Byblos volume I are as follows:

Inscribed

• 1125 (the Azarba'al Spatula) Large bronze spatula with a short stalk (9.5 x 5.6cm). Phoenician inscription of six lines on one side. On the other side, some chisel test marks. Published separately in 1938 as Spatule de bronze avec épigraphe phénicienne du XIII^e siècle (now dated to the tenth century). Text of the inscription:^{[2] [3] [4]}

• 2334. Bronze spatula (7 x 4.5cm), similar to no. 1125. Inscribed in the Byblos syllabary. Vertical lines apparently separate the words, as in archaic Phoenician inscriptions.

Uninscribed

• 1345 Small bronze spatula (6.5 x 1.5mm), badly ruined
• 2333 Bronze spatula (10.5 x 4.4cm), similar to no. 1125 but without inscription
• 3227. Narrow triangular spatula (8 x 2cm), in bronze
• 3313 Bronze spatula (7.7 x 2.6cm), with square stem

Bibliography

• Dunand, Maurice, 'Spatule de bronze avec épigraphe phénicienne du XIII^e [actually: X^e] siècle', in: Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 2 (1938) 99–107.
• B. Donnelly-Lewis (2021), The Azarba'al Spatula (KAI 3), A Debt Receipt from Ancient Byblos: Linguistic Notes for a New Translation and Interpretation, Semitica
• Shea, W. H. 1977 The Byblos Spatula Inscription, JAOS 97.2: 164-170
• Ranck, T. E. 1973 The Byblos Spatula, an Ancient Bribe or Peace Offering. Australian Journal of Biblical Archaeology 2: 45-50
• P. Kyle McCarter, Jr. and Robert B. Coote, "The Spatula Inscription from Byblos," BASOR 212 (1973): 19-21
• Christopher Rollston, "The Dating of the Early Royal Byblian Phoenician Inscriptions: A Response to Benjamin Sass." MAARAV 15 (2008): 57–93.
• Benjamin Mazar, The Phoenician Inscriptions from Byblos and the Evolution of the Phoenician-Hebrew Alphabet, in The Early Biblical Period: Historical Studies (S. Ahituv and B. A. Levine, eds., Jerusalem: IES, 1986 [original publication: 1946]): 231–247.
• William F. Albright, The Phoenician Inscriptions of the Tenth Century B.C. from Byblus, JAOS 67 (1947): 153–154.

Notes and References

1. Book: Dunand, Maurice. Fouilles de Byblos: Tome 1er, 1926-1932. Librarie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner. 1939. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique. 24. Paris. fr. The Byblos excavations, Tome 1, 1926–1932. none.
   • Book: Dunand, Maurice. Fouilles de Byblos, Tome 1er, 1926–1932 (Atlas). Librarie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner. 1937. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique. 24. Paris. French. The Byblos excavations, Tome 1, 1926–1932 (Atlas) . none.
2. Book: Donner . Herbert . Rölig . Wolfgang . Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften . 2002 . Harrassowitz . Wiesbaden . I, 1 . 5.
3. Book: Krahmalkov . Charles R. . Phoenician-Punic Dictionary . 2000 . Peeters / Departement Oosterse Studies . Leuven . 90-429-0770-3 . 238, 464, 499. Krahmalkov notes that the translation is "problematic" (ibidem, p. 327).
4. Book: Krahmalkov . Charles R. . A Phoenician-Punic Grammar . 2001 . Brill / SBL . Leiden / Atlanta . 978-1-62837-031-7 . 253.