The Arslan Tash amulets are

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

s found at

Arslan Tash Arslan Tash ( tr, Arslan Taş "Lion Stone"), ancient Hadātu, is an archaeological site in Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, around east of Carchemish and the Euphrates and nearby the town of Kobanî. History The city was the center of an Ar ...

( tr, Arslan Taş, literally "Lion Stone") in northwest

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, the site of ancient Hadatu. They are to be distinguished from larger finds such as the

Arslan Tash reliefs The Arslan Tash reliefs are bas-reliefs of human figures and animals which adorned the city gates and temple portals of ancient Hadatu; the modern archeological site of Arslan Tash, literally "the Stone Lion". ( Turkish; Arslan - ''Lion'', Taş - '' ...

. The inscriptions on the tablets are known as KAI 27.

Discovery

In 1933, Robert du Mesnil du Buisson purchased from a peasant two inscribed limestone plaques "Arslan Tash 1" ("AT1") and the smaller "Arslan Tash 2" ("AT2") which are now in the Museum of Aleppo. His drawings and photographs of AT1 were published in 1939. Count du Mesnil du Buisson made gypsum casts of the tablets, though these are now lost.

Description

Since the small rectangular plaque had a hole in one end it was identified as an amulet. On the obverse is a

lamassu ''Lama'', ''Lamma'', or ''Lamassu'' (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: lammař; later in Akkadian: ''lamassu''; sometimes called a ''lamassus'') is an Assyrian protective deity. Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called ''La ...

(a winged lion with a human head, a talismanic figure) standing over a she-wolf with a scorpion's tail (a demonic figure) devouring a male or female figure. On the reverse is a marching god with late-Assyrian headgear carrying an axe instead of the expected lightning bolt. The limestone plaque "AT1" includes incantations meant to deter demons from entering the household, and the appeals to such deities as

Assur Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'a ...

Baal Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during Ancient Near East, antiquity. From its use among people, it cam ...

, Horon, and to Heaven and Earth. Nevertheless, rather than 'Assur', some scholars interpret the inscription as referring to the female deity

Asherah Asherah (; he, אֲשֵׁרָה, translit=Ăšērā; uga, 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚, translit=ʾAṯiratu; akk, 𒀀𒅆𒋥, translit=Aširat; Qatabanian language, Qatabanian: ') in ancient Semitic religion, is a fertility goddess who appears in a ...

. : "Although other scholars like T. Caster (1942) proposed reading the first god-name as Asur rather than Asherah, Cross and Saley (1970:46) support the "Asherah" reading..." Mesnil du Buisson and Caquot published AT2 in 1971. It shows a male demon, ''"m-z-h"''. It measures 53 by 33 mm. and contains short inscriptions on both sides that are written in the same language and script as the first amulet.

Translations

Working from du Mesnil du Buisson's photographs, and in some cases casts, the text on the plaque "AT1" was translated from the Phoenician by Dupont-Sommer (1939), Albright (1939), Gaster (1942) (1947) Torczyner (1947) Cross and Saley (1970) Texidor (1971) Caquot (1973), and Röllig (1974). Albright introduced some readings which have now been shown to be incorrect; modern scholarship now follows Caquot. The text includes a broken word ''lly-'' which with the addition of ''-t'' could possibly be analogous to the Hebrew

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, Wiktionary:לילית, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian Mythology, Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. ...

, or ''ll wyn'' "night and day".

Authenticity

The authenticity of the amulets AT1 and AT2 has been questioned, particularly by J. Teixidor and P. Amiet (1983), who examined the originals in the

National Museum of Aleppo The National Museum of Aleppo ( ar, متحف حلب الوطني) is the largest museum in the city of Aleppo, Syria, and was founded in 1931. It is located in the heart of the northern city on Baron Street, adjacent to the famous Baron Hotel and ...

. However Jacobus van Dijk (1992) defends the tablets as genuine. Dennis Pardee (1998) leaves the matter open to question. Most scholars accept the authenticity of Arslan Tash amulet AT1 at this time.Brown, W. (2019, February 26). Arslan Tash Amulet. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Arslan_Tash_Amulet/

References

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Literature