Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften (in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

, Canaanite and Aramaic Inscriptions), or KAI, is the standard source for the original text of

Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions The Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, also known as Northwest Semitic inscriptions, are the primary extra-Biblical source for understanding of the society and history of the ancient Phoenicians, Hebrews and Arameans. Semitic inscriptions may occ ...

not contained in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

and

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. It was first published from 1960 to 1964 in three volumes by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Orientalists

Herbert Donner Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

and Wolfgang Röllig, and has been updated in numerous subsequent editions. The work attempted to "integrate philology, palaeography and cultural history" in the commented re-editing of a selection of Canaanite and Aramaic Inscriptions, using the "pertinent source material for the Phoenician, Punic, Moabite, pre-exile-Hebrew and Ancient Aramaic cultures." Röllig and Donner had the support of

William F. Albright William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...

in Baltimore, James Germain Février in Paris and Giorgio Levi Della Vida in Rome during the compilation of the first edition.

Editions

The 4th edition was published between 1966-69, and a 5th edition was published in 2002. However, the 5th edition only comprised the first volume (showing the texts in modern Hebrew script), expanding the previous edition by 40 texts. An updated version of the third volume (a brief bibliography of all the texts in Volume 1) was proposed. The first edition was intended to represent all the known texts of significant importance, but not to be a complete collection to replace the

Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum The ("Corpus of Semitic Inscriptions", abbreviated CIS) is a collection of ancient inscriptions in Semitic languages produced since the end of 2nd millennium BC until the rise of Islam. It was published in Latin. In a note recovered after his d ...

. With respect to Aramaic inscriptions, all stone inscriptions until the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

were included, whereas

Imperial Aramaic Imperial Aramaic is a linguistic term, coined by modern scholars in order to designate a specific historical variety of Aramaic language. The term is polysemic, with two distinctive meanings, wider (sociolinguistic) and narrower ( dialectologic ...

inscriptions are only partially represented. Less emphasis was put on Aramaic papyri, ostraca and clay tablets, as such collections either already existed or were being prepared elsewhere. The included papyri and ostraca were chosen in order to provide and objective rounding of the picture, such as if they were published in a remote location. Nabataean and Palmyrene inscriptions were excluded, as were most of the

Elephantine papyri The Elephantine Papyri and Ostraca consist of thousands of documents from the Egyptian border fortresses of Elephantine and Aswan, which yielded hundreds of papyri and ostraca in hieratic and demotic Egyptian, Aramaic, Koine Greek, Latin and ...

. The inscriptions were ordered geographically, and then chronologically within each geography; a division was made between “Punic” and “Neo Punic” that was acknowledged to be subjective. In the second edition, four new texts were added - the fourth of the

Karatepe inscriptions Karatepe (Turkish language, Turkish, 'Black Hill'; Hittite language, Hittite: ''Azatiwataya'') is a late History of the Hittites, Hittite fortress and open-air museum in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey lying at a distance of about 23 km ...

(KAI 26), and the three new texts (KAI 277-279). In the fifth edition, 40 new texts were added, primarily because they were only discovered or published after the appearance of the original edition or - like the Agrigentum inscription (KAI 302) - were given a new relevance due to a recent interpretation. Two groups of new texts were not included in the fifth edition: new Hebrew inscriptions, which were considered to have been well summarized in J. Renz / W. Röllig, Handbuch der Althebraische Epigraphik (Darmstadt 1995-2002) and the Imperial Aramaic texts from Egypt, which were considered to have been well summarized in B. Porten / A Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic documents from ancient Egypt Vol. 1-4 (1986-1999).

Phoenician inscriptions

A.I: From "the Motherland" (KAI 1-22, 280-286)

Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...

* KAI 1: Ahiram Sarcophagus * KAI 4: Yehimilk inscription * KAI 5: Abiba’l inscription (RES 505) * KAI 6: Osorkon Bust * KAI 7: Safatba'al inscription * KAI 9: Son of Shipitbaal inscription * KAI 10: Yehawmilk Stele (CIS I 1) * KAI 11: Batnoam inscription * KAI 12: Byblos altar inscription

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast ...

* KAI 13: Tabnit sarcophagus (RES 1202) * KAI 14:

Eshmunazar II sarcophagus The Eshmunazar II sarcophagus is a 6th-century BC sarcophagus unearthed in 1855 in the "Phoenician Necropolis", a hypogeum (underground tomb) complex in the southern area of the city of Sidon in modern-day Lebanon. The sarcophagus was discover ...

(CIS I 3) * KAI 15-16:

Bodashtart inscriptions The Bodashtart inscriptions are a well-known group of between 22–24 Phoenician inscriptions from the 6th century BC referring to King Bodashtart.Bordreuil, 1990, "L'exemple le plus impressionnant est certainement celui des nombreuses dedicaces ...

(RES 766-767)

Tyre Tyre most often refers to: * Tire, the outer part of a wheel * Tyre, Lebanon, a Mediterranean city Tyre or Tyres may also refer to: Other places Lebanon * Tyre District * See of Tyre, a Christian diocese *Tyre Hippodrome, a UNESCO World Heritag ...

* KAI 17: Throne of Astarte Umm al-Amad * KAI 18: Baalshamin inscription (CIS I 7) Masub * KAI 19:

Masub inscription The Masub inscription is a Phoenician inscription found at Khirbet Ma'sub (also Masoub) near Al-Bassa/ Betzet. The inscription is from 221 BC. It is also known as KAI 19. It is considered to originate from Umm al-Amad, Lebanon Umm Al Amad ( ...

(RES 1205) Tel Miqne * KAI 286:

Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription The Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription, or simply the Ekron inscription, is a royal dedication inscription found in its primary context in the ruins of a temple during the 1996 excavations of Ekron.Gitin, Dothan, and Naveh, 1997, p. 1 It is known ...

A.II: From Syria and Asia Minor (KAI 23-29, 287)

Sam'al * KAI 24: Kilamuwa Stela

Karatepe Karatepe (Turkish, 'Black Hill'; Hittite: ''Azatiwataya'') is a late Hittite fortress and open-air museum in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey lying at a distance of about 23 km from the district center of Kadirli. It is sited in the T ...

* KAI 26: Karatepe bilingual Çebel Ires Daǧı * KAI 287: Çebel Ires Daǧı inscription

A.III: From the islands (KAI 30-47, 288-292)

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

Inscriptiones Citienses - Pococke Richard - 1745

* KAI 30: Archaic Cyprus inscription (origin unknown)Honeyman, A. (1939)
The Phoenician Inscriptions of the Cyprus Museum
Iraq, 6(2), 104-108. doi:10.2307/4241651 * KAI 31: Baal Lebanon inscription (

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

) (CIS I 5) * KAI 33 and 35: Pococke Kition inscriptions (CIS I 11 and CIS I 46) * KAI 32, 34, 36, 37, 288-290: Later

Kition Kition (Egyptian: ; Phoenician: , , or , ; Ancient Greek: , ; Latin: ) was a city-kingdom on the southern coast of Cyprus (in present-day Larnaca). According to the text on the plaque closest to the excavation pit of the Kathari site (as of ...

inscriptions * KAI 38-40:

Idalium Idalion or Idalium ( el, Ιδάλιον, ''Idalion'') was an ancient city in Cyprus, in modern Dali, Cyprus, Dali, Nicosia District. The city was founded on the copper trade in the 3rd millennium BC. Its name in the 8th century BC was "Ed-di-al" a ...

(KAI 39 = Idalion bilingual) (CIS I 89, 90, 93) * KAI 41:

Tamassos Tamassos (Greek: Ταμασσός) or Tamasos (Greek: Τἀμασος) – names Latinized as Tamassus or Tamasus – was a city-kingdom in ancient Cyprus, one of the ten kingdoms of Cyprus. It was situated in the great central plain of the is ...

trilingual * KAI 42-43: Lapathus (CIS I 95)

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

* KAI 44-45: Rhodes inscriptions

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label= Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, af ...

* KAI 46: Nora Stone

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

* KAI 47: Cippi of Melqart

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

* KAI 291: Tekke Bowl Inscription (

Knossos Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...

)

Kos Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...

* KAI 292: Hellenistic Greek-Phoenician bilingual

A.IV: From Egypt (KAI 48-52)

* KAI 48: Memphis inscription (RES 1) * KAI 49: Abydos inscription (CIS I 99-110) * KAI 50: Saqqara inscription * KAI 51-52 (origin unknown)

A.V: From Greece (KAI 53-60, 293)

* KAI 53-55: Athens inscriptions (CIS I 115-117) * KAI 56-60:

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Sar ...

inscriptions (CIS I 118-120) * KAI 293:

Demetrias Demetrias ( grc, Δημητριάς) was a Greek city in Magnesia in ancient Thessaly (east central Greece), situated at the head of the Pagasaean Gulf, near the modern city of Volos. History It was founded in 294 BCE by Demetrius Polio ...

inscription

A.Addition: From mainland Europe (KAI 277, 294)

* KAI 277:

Pyrgi Tablets The Pyrgi Tablets (dated ) are three golden plates inscribed with a bilingual Phoenician– Etruscan dedicatory text. They are the oldest historical source documents from pre-Roman Italy and are rare examples of texts in these languages. They w ...

* KAI 294: Seville statue of Astarte

Punic inscriptions

B.I: From the islands (KAI 61-68, 295-301)

B.II. From mainland Europe (KAI 69-72)

B.III. From Africa (KAI 73-116, 302-305)

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...

* KAI 74

Neopunic inscriptions

C.I: From Africa (KAI 117-171)

* KAI 137: Baal Hammon inscription ( Sanctuaire de Thinissut)

C.II: From Sardinia (KAI 172-173)

D. Moabite and Ammonite inscriptions (KAI 181, 306, 307-308)

* KAI 181:

Mesha Stele The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tells how Chemosh, the god of Moab, ...

* KAI 306:

El-Kerak Inscription The Kerak Inscription, also known as the Kemoshyat inscription, was discovered in 1958 in Jordan, near Wadi el-Kerak. It is a basalt inscription fragment measuring high by wide. The inscription has been dated to the late ninth century BC. The i ...

* KAI 307: Amman Citadel Inscription * KAI 308: Tel Siran inscription

E. Hebrew inscriptions (KAI 182-200)

* KAI 182: Gezer calendar * KAI 183-188: Samaria Ostraca * KAI 189: Siloam inscription * KAI 190:

Ophel ostracon The Ophel ostracon or KAI 190, is an ostracon discovered in Jerusalem in 1924 by R. A. Stewart Macalister and John Garrow Duncan, in the area of Wadi Hilweh (known as the City of David). It is attributed to the 7th century BCE. Discovery Macal ...

* KAI 191:

Shebna inscription The Royal Steward Inscription, known as KAI 191, is an important Proto-Hebrew inscription found in the village of Silwan outside Jerusalem in 1870. After passing through various hands, the inscription was purchased by the British Museum in 1871 ...

* KAI 192-199:

Lachish letters The Lachish Letters or ''Lachish Ostraca'', sometimes called ''Hoshaiah Letters'', are a series of letters written in carbon ink containing Canaanite inscriptions in Ancient Hebrew on clay ostraca. The letters were discovered at the excavations ...

* KAI 200:

Yavne-Yam ostracon The Yavne-Yam ostracon, also known as the Mesad Hashavyahu ostracon, is an ostracon containing a written appeal by a field worker to the fortress's governor regarding the confiscation of his cloak, which the writer considers to have been unjust. ...

F. Aramaic inscriptions

F.I: From Syria, Palestine and the Arabian Desert (KAI 201-230, 309-317)

Bureij * KAI 201:

Melqart stele The Melqart stele, also known as the Ben-Hadad or Bir-Hadad stele is an Aramaic stele which was created during the 9th century BCE and was discovered in 1939 in Roman ruins in Bureij Syria (7 km north of Aleppo). The Old Aramaic inscription is k ...

Tell Afis Tell Afis is an archaeological site in the Idlib region of northern Syria, and lies about fifty kilometres southeast of Aleppo. The site is thought to be that of ancient Hazrek (or Hazrach; Hatarikka for the Assyrians) capital of Luhuti. Histo ...

* KAI 202:

Stele of Zakkur The Stele of Zakkur (or ''Zakir'') is a royal stele of King Zakkur of Hamath and Luhuti (or Lu'aš) in the province Nuhašše of Syria, who ruled around 785 BC. Description The inscription was on the lower part of the original stele. The upp ...

Sam'al * KAI 214–215: Panamuwa inscriptions — in a distinctive language now known as Samalian.

As-Safira As-Safira ( ar, السَّفِيْرَة / ALA-LC: ''as-Safīrah''; Aleppo dialect: ''Sfīre'') is a Syrian city administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate. It is the administrative center for the as-Safira District. As Safīrah has ...

* KAI 222-224:

Sefire steles The Sfire or Sefire steles are three 8th-century BCE basalt ''stelae'' containing Aramaic inscriptions discovered near Al-Safirah ("Sfire") near Aleppo, Syria. The Sefire treaty inscriptions are the three inscriptions on the steles; they are known ...

Al-Nayrab Al-Nayrab ( ar, النيرب) is a town in Syria, to the south-east of the city of Aleppo in northern Syria. With the urban development, the village was gradually absorbed by the city of Aleppo thus becoming part of it as a district. Al-Nayrab i ...

* KAI 225-226: Sin zir Ibni inscription and Si Gabbor stele

Tell Fekheriye Tell Fekheriye ( ar, تل الفخيرية) (often spelled as Tell el-Fakhariya or Tell Fecheriye, among other variants) is an ancient site in the Khabur (Euphrates), Khabur River basin in the Al Hasakah Governorate of northern Syria. It is sec ...

* KAI 309:

Tell Fekheriye bilingual inscription The Hadad-yith'i bilingual inscription, also known as the Tell el Fakhariya Bilingual Inscription is a bilingual inscription found on a Neo-Assyrian statue of Adad-it'i/Hadd-yith'i, the king of Guzana and Sikan, which was discovered at Tell Fekheri ...

Tel Dan Dan ( he, דן) is an ancient city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, described as the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Israel, and belonging to the tribe of Dan. The city is identified with a tell located in Upper Galilee, northern Israel, known ...

* KAI 310: Tel Dan Stele

Deir Alla Deir Alla (Arabic: دير علا) is the site of an ancient Near Eastern town in Balqa Governorate, Jordan. The Deir Alla Inscription, datable to ca. 840–760 BCE, was found here. On 20 August 2010, it recorded a scorching temperature of 51 ...

* KAI 312:

Deir Alla Inscription The Deir 'Alla Inscription (or Bal'am Son of Be'or Inscription), known as KAI 312, was discovered during a 1967 excavation in Deir 'Alla, Jordan. It is currently at the Jordan Archaeological Museum. It is written in a peculiar Northwest Semitic di ...

— not generally accepted as Aramaic.

F.II: From Assyria (KAI 231-257)

F.III: From Asia Minor (KAI 258-265, 278, 318-319)

F.IV: From Egypt (KAI 266-272)

* KAI 269:

Carpentras Stela The Carpentras Stele is a stele found at Carpentras in southern France in 1704 that contains the first published inscription written in the Phoenician alphabet, and the first ever identified (a century later) as Aramaic. It remains in Carpentras, a ...

F.V: From the outlying areas (KAI 273-276, 279, 320)

* KAI 273:

Aramaic Inscription of Taxila The Aramaic Inscription of Taxila is an inscription on a piece of marble, originally belonging to an octagonal column, discovered by Sir John Marshall in 1915 at Taxila, British India. The inscription is written in Aramaic, probably by the Indian ...

* KAI 276: Stele of Serapit * KAI 279:

Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription The Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription, also known as the Kandahar Edict of Ashoka and less commonly as the Chehel Zina Edict, is an inscription in the Greek and Aramaic languages that dates back to 260 BCE and was carved by the Mauryan e ...

Appendices

Appendix I. Phoenician and Punic inscriptions in Greek script (KAI 174-177)

Appendix II. Latin-Libyan inscriptions (KAI 178-180)

References

Bibliography

* * * W. Röllig (1995)
Phoenician and the Phoenicians in the context of the Ancient Near East
in S. Moscati (ed.), I Fenici ieri oggi domani : ricerche, scoperte, progetti, Roma, p. 203-214