The Ain Nechma inscriptions, also known as the Guelma inscriptions are a number of

Punic language The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language, a Canaanite language of the Northwest Semitic branch of the Semitic languages. An offshoot of the Phoenician language of coastal We ...

inscriptions, first found in the 1837 in the necropolis of Ain Nechma, in the

Guelma Province Guelma Province ( ar, ولاية قالمة) is a province (''wilaya'') in eastern Algeria. Its namesake is its seat and most populous municipality: Guelma. History Its civilians suffered heavy casualties during the 1945 Sétif massacre by the Fr ...

of Algeria (ancient Calama). By the early 20th century, about 40 such inscriptions had been discovered - they had become well known in Semitic epigraphy due to their unique use of certain turns of phrase and unique form given to some letters of the Punic-Phoenician alphabet. A number of the most notable inscriptions have been collected in '' Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften'', and are known as are known as KAI 166–169. The inscriptions are in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, the Musée archéologique de Narbonne, and other locations.

Initial discovery

The first two inscriptions were discovered in 1837 by

Jean Guyon Jean Guyon ''du Buisson'' (Bapt. September 18, 1592 – May 30, 1663) was the patriarch of one of the earliest families to settle on the North shore of New France's St. Lawrence River. Guyon made his living as a master mason and, according ...

. Between 1843-45, Adolphe Hedwige Alphonse Delamare collected a greater number and published them in 1850. Most of the steles were sent to the

, and others to the public garden of the city of

Guelma Guelma ( ar, قالمة ''Qālima''; arq, ڨالمة; Algerian pronunciation: ) is the capital of Guelma Province and Guelma District, located in north-eastern Algeria, about 65 kilometers from the Mediterranean coast. Its location correspon ...

, to private individuals, and to the museum of

Constantine, Algeria Constantine ( ar, قسنطينة '), also spelled Qacentina or Kasantina, is the capital of Constantine Province in northeastern Algeria. During Roman Empire, Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honor of emperor Const ...

. The Guelma inscriptions were initially the subject of studies by scholars such as Auguste Celestin Judas, Heinrich Ewald and Moritz Abraham Levy.

Inscriptions

Two types of inscriptions are known: votive inscriptions and funerary inscriptions. The funerary inscriptions, with a few exceptions, show the usual formulaic of neopunic epitaphs. The votive inscriptions, however, contain a unique formula specific to the Ain Nechma inscriptions. The Delamare inscriptions in the Louvre are known as: * AO 5107 (Delamare 4 87 * AO 5108 (Delamare 5 87, on display in room 313 of the

* AO 5109 (Delamare 2 87 Lidzbarski 7) * AO 5110 (Delamare 1 87 Lidzbarski 6) * AO 5111 (Delamare 7 87 * AO 5112 (Delamare 6 85 Lidzbarski 5) * AO 5113 (Delamare 3 87 * AO 5114 (Delamare 6 87 * AO 5290 (Delamare 18 78 on display in room 313 of the

stèle, Lieu de découverte: Guelma, AO 5290
/ref> * AO 5291 (Delamare 9 78 * AO 5292 (Delamare 21 78 * AO 5293 (Delamare 10 78 Others: * Delamare 9 85 Lidzbarski 2 * Delamare 7 85 Lidzbarski 3

Gallery

File:Delamare's sketch of the Guelma Punic inscriptions 02.png, Delamare's sketch (plate 185), including the Guelma Punic inscriptions File:Delamare's sketch of the Guelma Punic inscriptions 03.png, Delamare's sketch (plate 178), including the Guelma Punic inscriptions File:Lidzbarski's Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik Table XVIII.jpg, A selection of the inscriptions in Lidzbarski's Handbuch der Nordsemitischen Epigraphik

Bibliography

Jean-Baptiste Chabot Jean-Baptiste Chabot (16 February 1860 – 7 January 1948) was a Roman Catholic secular priest and the leading French Syriac scholar in the first half of the twentieth century. Life Born into a viticultural family at Vouvray-sur-Loire, Chabot ...

Punica XI: Les inscriptions néopuniques de Guelma
1916 * * *

References

{{reflist Archaeological artifacts KAI inscriptions Punic inscriptions