Tel Siran inscription explained

The Tel Siran inscription is an inscription on a bronze bottle (or "situla") found at Tel Siran on the campus of the University of Jordan in Amman). It was first published on 27 April 1972. It is considered the first complete inscription in the "Ammonite language". The bronze bottle is now in the Jordan Archaeological Museum. It is known as KAI 308.

Description

The well preserved bronze bottle is about ten centimeters long and weighs about 280 grams. The clearly legible inscription is on the outside. The archaeological context suggests that the bottle was in use until the Mamluk period. The bottle is considered to have been made in the Iron Age II period, which would suggest use for 2,000 years.

The contents of the bottle were seeds of barley, wheat and grass, as well as unidentifiable metal remains. A C14 analysis found the content to be about 460 BC.[1]

The inscription

The inscription consists of eight lines of legible text. They are attached in the direction from the opening of the bottle to its bottom. Line four protrudes into this floor, while line 5 only contains a single word. It has been translated as:

Inscription of Tel Siran[2] [3]
InscriptionOriginal (Phoenician alphabet)TransliterationEnglish translation
Line 1Semitic languages: {{big| {{script|Phnx| The achievement of Amminadab, king of the Ammonites,
Line 2Semitic languages: {{big| {{script|Phnx| the son of Hiṣṣalʾel, king of the Ammonites,
Line 3Semitic languages: {{big| {{script|Phnx| the son of Amminadab, king of the Ammonites;
Line 4Semitic languages: {{big| {{script|Phnx| ‎the vineyard and the gardens and the pools
Line 5Semitic languages: {{big| {{script|Phnx|‎and the cisterns
Line 6Semitic languages: {{big| {{script|Phnx| May he rejoice and be happy
Line 7Semitic languages: {{big| {{script|Phnx| ‎for many days and for years
Line 8Semitic languages: {{big|{{script|Phnx|to come

F. Zayadine and H. O. Thompson, the first editors, referred to the script as Aramaic script and dated the inscription paleographically to the first half of the 7th century BC.[2] F. M. Cross, on the other hand, sees the inscription as the latest stage of development of the "Ammonite language" and dates it to around 600 BC for paleographic reasons.[4] [5]

Notes and References

  1. Joseph Azize: `` The Ammonite Bottle and Phoenician Flasks. In: `` Ancient Near Eastern Studies 40 (2003), p. 62 –79, here p. 63 f.
  2. Thompson . Henry O. . Zayadine . Fawzi . December 1973 . The Tell Siran Inscription . 1356304 . Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research . 212 . 5–11 . 10.2307/1356304 . 163378372 .
  3. Ahlström . G.W. . 1984 . The Tell Sīrān Bottle Inscription . Palestine Exploration Quarterly . 116 . 1 . 12–15 . 10.1179/peq.1984.116.1.12 .
  4. Frank Moore Cross: Notes on the Ammonite Inscription from Tell Sīrān. In: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 212 (1973), pp. 12–15, here p. 13-14.
  5. https://biblicalarchaeology.org.uk/pdf/ajba/02-3_125.pdf COMMENTARY ON THE TELL SIRAN INSCRIPTION, HENRY O. THOMPSON