Pergamonmuseum - Vorderasiatisches Museum 046

The Kilamuwa Stele is a 9th-century BC

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

of King Kilamuwa, from the Kingdom of Bit-Gabbari. He claims to have succeeded where his ancestors had failed, in providing for his kingdom. The inscription is known as KAI 24. The Kilamuwa Stele was discovered in Sam'al during the 1888–1902 German Oriental Society expeditions led by

Felix von Luschan Felix Ritter von Luschan (11 August 1854 – 7 February 1924) was an Austrian doctor, anthropologist, explorer, archaeologist and ethnographer. Life Luschan was born the son of a lawyer in Hollabrunn, Lower Austria, and attended the Akademisches ...

and

Robert Koldewey Robert Johann Koldewey (10 September 1855 – 4 February 1925) was a German archaeologist, famous for his in-depth excavation of the ancient city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. He was born in Blankenburg am Harz in Germany, the duchy of Brunswick, ...

. At the time of its discovery, it was considered to be the only Phoenician text found in Sam'al (numerous Aramaic texts had been found) and the northernmost Phoenician text found in Syria. It is currently located in the

Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin The Vorderasiatisches Museum (, ''Near East Museum'') is an archaeological museum in Berlin. It is in the basement of the south wing of the Pergamon Museum and has one of the world's largest collections of Southwest Asian art. 14 halls distrib ...

Description of the stele

The stele is a 16-line text in the

Phoenician language Phoenician ( ) is an extinct language, extinct Canaanite languages, Canaanite Semitic languages, Semitic language originally spoken in the region surrounding the cities of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre and Sidon. Extensive Tyro-Sidonian trade and commerci ...

and written in an Old Aramaic form of the Phoenician alphabet. According to

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 its script, it resembles very closely 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 ...

that is very important in biblical archaeology. King Kilamuwa is shown standing on the upper left and addressing four

Mesopotamian gods Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore ''melam'', an ambiguous substa ...

with his right arm and finger, where he imitates his Mesopotamian lords in a gesture called "Ubanu tarrashu" which designates "you are my god". His left hand is draped at his left side holding a wilted

lotus flower ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as sacred lotus, Laxmi lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often ref ...

, a symbol of a king's death. He is dressed in king's regalia with hat, and his figure stands at the beginning of the first nine lines of the text.

Transcription

The transcription in square script:

אנך. כלמו. בר. חי �‏br> מלך. גבר. על. יאדי. ובל. פ �לbr> כן בנה . ובל. פעל. וכן. אב. חיא. ובל. פעל. וכן. אח
שאל. ובל. פעל. ואנ � כלמו. בר. תמל. מאש. פעלת
בל. פעל. הלפניהם. כן. בת אבי. במתכת. מלכם. אד
רם. וכל. שלח. יד לל ��. וכת. ביד. מלכם כם אש. אכלת
זקן. ו �ם.אש. אכלת. יד. ואדר עלי חלך. ד ��ים. ושכר
אנך. עלי. מלך אשר. ועלמת. יתן. בש. וגבר. בסות.

אנך. כלמו. בר חיא. ישבת. על. כסא. אבי. לפן. הם
לכם. הלפנים. יתלנן. משכבם. כם. כלבם. ואנך. למי. כת. אב. ולמי. כת. אם
ולמי. כת. אח. ומי. בל חז. פן. ש. שתי. בעל. עדר. ומי. בל חז. פן. אלף. שתי. בעל
בקר. ובעל. כסף. ובעל. חרץ. ומי. בל. חז. כתן. למנערי. ובימי. כסי. ב
ץ. ואנך. תמכת. משכבם. ליד. והמת. שת. נבש. כם. נבש יתם. באם. ומי. בבנ
י אש. ישב. תחתן. ויזק. בספר ז. משכבם. אל יכבד. לבעררם. ובערר
ם. אל יכבד. למשכבם ומי. ישחת. הספר ז. ישחת. ראש. בעל. צמד. אש. לגבר
וישחת. ראש. בעל חמן. אש. לבמה. ורכבאל. בעל בת.

Translation

The translation of the stele: :''"I am Kilamuwa, the son of King Chaya. '' :''King Gabar reigned over Ya'diya but achieved nothing.'' :''Then came Bamah, and he achieved nothing. Then there was my father Chaya, but he accomplished nothing. Then there was my brother'' :''Sha'il, but he also accomplished nothing. But I Kilamuwa, the son of TML, what I accomplished'' :''not (even) their predecessors accomplished. My father’s house was in the midst of powerful kings,'' :''and each put forth his hand to eat it; but I was in the hand(s) of the kings like a fire that consumes'' :''the beard or like a fire that consumes the hand. The king of the Danunians overpowered me, but I'' :''hired against him the king of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

. He gave me a maid for the price of a sheep, and a man for the price of a garment.'' :''I, Kilamuwa, the son of Chaya, sat upon my father’s throne. In face of the former'' :''kings the MSHKBM used to whimper like dogs. But I – to some I was a father, and to some I was a mother,'' :''and to some I was a brother. Him who had never seen the face of a sheep I made owner of a flock; him who had never seen the face of an ox, I made owner'' :''of a herd, and owner of silver and owner of gold; and him who had never seen linen from his youth, in my days they covered '' :''with

byssus A byssus () is a bundle of filaments secreted by many species of bivalve mollusc that function to attach the mollusc to a solid surface. Species from several families of clams have a byssus, including pen shells (Pinnidae), true mussels (Mytilid ...

. I grasped the MSHKBM by the hand, and they behaved (towards me) like an orphan towards (his) mother. Now, if any of my sons.'' :''who shall sit in my place does harm to this inscription, may the MSHKBM not honour the B’RRM, not the B’RRM"'' :''honour the MSHKBM! And if anyone smashes this inscription, may Baal-Tzemed who belongs to Gabar smash his head,'' :''and may Baal-Hammon who belongs to BMH and Rakkabel, lord of the dynasty, smash his head!''

Gallery

File:Stele of Prince Kilamuwa, Sam'al, Anatolia, 825 BC (28086809024).jpg, Stele of Prince Kilamuwa at the

Pergamon Museum The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of German Emperor Wilhelm II according to plans by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann in Stripped Class ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

File:Kilamuwa Stele sketch.jpg, Kilamuwa Stele sketch File:Detail, prince Kilamuwa on his stele of from Sam'al, Turkey. 825 BCE. Pergamon Museum.jpg, The Aramean king Kilamuwa on his stele from

Bit Gabbari The bit is the most basic Units of information, unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a truth value, logical state with one of two possible value (computer sc ...

, 825 BCE

References

Bibliography

*Halévy, J.,
L'inscription du roi Kalumu
" JA ser. 10, vol. 19 (1912a): 408–10. *Kerrigan, 2009. ''The Ancients in Their Own Words,'' Michael Kerrigan, Fall River Press, Amber Books Ltd, c 2009. (hardcover. )

External links

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Photo and write-up
Aramean kings Ancient Near East steles Phoenician inscriptions KAI inscriptions 9th-century BC steles 9th-century BC Aramean kings Archaeological artifacts