The Kerak Inscription, also known as the Kemoshyat inscription, was discovered in 1958 in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, near

Wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

el-Kerak. It is a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

inscription fragment measuring high by wide. The inscription has been dated to the late ninth century BC. The inscription is known as KAI 306. The fragment shows a belt, a pleated skirt, and a navel; along the mid-line of the fragment are three lines of

Canaanite inscription 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, Ancient Hebrews, Hebrews and Arameans. Semitic ins ...

. The artifact is also known as the El-Kerak / Al-Karak / Karak Inscription.

Discovery

The stone was acquired by the

Jordan Archaeological Museum The Jordan Archaeological Museum is located in the Citadel of Amman, Jordan. Built in 1951, it presents artifacts from archaeological sites in Jordan, dating from prehistoric times to the 15th century. The collections are arranged in chronologica ...

in 1958. It was reportedly found by Falah Qaddur (or Fallah el-Baddour), a

bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

from the

Tafilah Governorate Tafilah ( ar, الطفيلة) is one of the governorates of Jordan, located about 180 km south-west of Amman, Jordan's capital. Tafilah Governorate is bordered by Karak Governorate to the north, Ma'an Governorate to the east and south, Aqab ...

. According to Reed and Winnett, Qaddur stated that he had found the stone "in a foundation trench that had been cut for the construction of a new building in

Al Karak Al-Karak ( ar, الكرك), is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of the Karak Governorate. ...

." A letter from Awni Dajani, then the head of antiquities at the Jordan Archaeological Museum, stated that the stone was found by Odeh Subh el-Khwalideh (a relative of Qaddur) in the house of Suleiman el-Mubayyedin, near the Roman Pool east of Kerak.

Inscription

The inscription contains 3 incomplete lines, comprising 8 complete words and fragments of 5 more, all written in the "

Moabite language The Moabite language, also known as the Moabite dialect, is an extinct sub-language or dialect of the Canaanite languages, themselves a branch of Northwest Semitic languages, formerly spoken in the region described in the Bible as Moab (modern ...

" known from only one other artifact - the

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

. The text of the inscription looks like that of the

, but there is one special feature: the letter ''He'' has four horizontal strokes going to the left from the vertical stroke, while a typical ''He'' in tenth to fifth century BC northwest Semitic inscriptions contains only three strokes to the left. This letter is present in the inscription at least 3 times, and each time it appears with 4 horizontal strokes. Another difference between the Mesha Stele and the Moabite inscription, is the separation between the words. In the Mesha Stele there are dots, and in the Moabite inscription there are small lines.

Transliteration and translation

Provided below is a transcription of the inscription, its transliteration in Hebrew letters, as well as an English translation."The El-Kerak Inscription"
at ''K. C. Hanson's Collection of West Semitic Documents'' website Words in brackets are not preserved in the inscription, but reconstructed, partly by comparison with the Mesha Stele. } , am (name), son of Che''mosh-yat, king of

Moab Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...

the Dib nite.. , - , 2 , align="right", he2, �בת''י כמש למבער כי אה �ני} , .. in the templ''e of

Chemosh Chemosh ( Moabite: 𐤊𐤌𐤔 ''Kamāš''; he, כְּמוֹשׁ ''Kəmōš'' ; Eblaite: 𒅗𒈪𒅖 ''Kamiš'', Akkadian: 𒅗𒄠𒈲 ''Kâmuš'') was the god of the Moabites. He is most notably attested in the Mesha Stele and the Hebrew ...

as a sacrifice, because I lo e..., - , 3 , align="right", he2, ..''נה והן עשתי את ..} , .. and beho''ld, I have made it...

References

{{reflist 9th-century BC steles 9th-century BC works 1958 archaeological discoveries Moab Moabite inscriptions KAI inscriptions Archaeological artifacts Ancient Israel and Judah Ancient Near East steles

Discovery

Inscription

Transliteration and translation

Further reading

References