(Magazine) The Biblical Archaeologist. Vol. 51. No 3

bli
APublication
ca lirchaeo
oist
SchoolsofOriental
of theAmerican Research Volume
51Number
3 1988
September
Biblical
Archa eologist
A Publication of the American Schools of Oriental Research Volume 51 Number 3 September 1988
Papyrus 132
Donald P. Ryan
Cyperus papyrus was one of the most versatile plants in antiquity.
In addition to its being made into paper, it was used to construct
boats, containers, and rope. It was also used medicinally, eaten,
and burned for its aroma. And there's more.
Dating PapyrusManuscripts
by the AMS Carbon-14Method 141
Thomas C. Lynn
Until recently the carbon dating of papyrus manuscripts was
limited because too much material had to be destroyed in the
process. The development of the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
method, however, has virtually eliminated this problem.
Page132 LiterarySourcesfor the Historyof Palestineand Syria
Contacts Between Egypt and Syro-Palestine
During the Old Kingdom 143
Mary Wright
Around 2700 B.C.E., at the beginning of its Third Dynasty, Egypt
seems to have severed ties with Palestine and focused its trade
relations on Syria. Did it also begin a period of extended hostility
towards Palestine?
BA Portrait
JamesTurnerBarclay:
Explorerof Nineteenth-CenturyJerusalem 163
JackP Lewis
Page163
In the 1850s this American played an early role in the reopening of
Palestine to Westerners.
LiterarySourcesfor the Historyof Palestineand Syria

Old AramaicInscriptions 172
Scott C. Layton
The language of the Arameans, Aramaic can be traced back to
about 1000 B.C.E.By the beginning of the sixth century B.C.E.it was
the lingua franca of the ancient Near East.
Introducingthe Authors 131

Biblical Archaeologist is published with the financial assistance of
the EndowmentforBiblicalResearch,a nonsectarianfoundationfor
the study of the Bible and the history of the Christian Church.
Page172
Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 129

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130 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

the Authors
Introducing
Mary Wright
Jack P Lewis
Donald P Ryan
Donald P. Ryan has a Ph.D. in archaeology from the cross-cultural study of divine kingship in the ancient
Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities in Near East, focusing on Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Israel
Cincinnati, Ohio, and he is currently ResearchAssociate (during the United Monarchy). She has taught such
andResident Scholarin the Departmentof Anthropology courses as "Old Testament Parallels to Ancient Near
at Pacific LutheranUniversity in Tacoma, Washington. Eastern Myths" and "EgyptianArchitecture and Royal
Dr. Ryan'sarticle on papyrusin this issue is an outgrowth Ideology"to members of the Institute.
of his study of ancient cordage,carriedout in the British
Museum, during which he encountered a variety of JackP.Lewis is Professorof Bible at the HardingGraduate
objects constructed of the plant. He has personally ex- School of Religion in Memphis, Tennessee. With Ph.D.s
perimented with making paper and cordage from papy- from HarvardUniversity and HebrewUnion College, Dr.
rus, and he and a colleague have conducted tests on its Lewis has authored numerous books, including Archae-
edibility and nutritional value, with samples taken from ological Backgroundsto Bible People (GrandRapids,MI:
a stand of it he cultivated himself in southern California. Baker Book House, 1981). He is also on the editorial
boards of Restoration Quarterly and the Journal of
While studying the Bible and the ancient Near Eastat the Hebraic Studies.
University of Michigan, Thomas C. Lynn became in-
terested in papyrus,especially the question of how it can With a Ph.D. in Northwest Semitic Philology from the
be most accuratelydated. Since his graduationin 1982he University of Chicago's Department of Near Eastern
has continued to be intrigued by the question, as wit- Languagesand Civilizations, Scott C. Laytonis presently
nessed by his paperin this issue. a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the
E Institute of Archaeological Research in
W. Albright
Mary Wright is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Jerusalem. His primary interest is the study of the
Near EasternLanguagesand Civilizations at the Univer- Hebrew Bible in light of Northwest Semitic literature.
sity of Chicago'sOriental Institute. Her dissertation is a

by Donald P Ryan
aytheword and
papyrus
images of scrolls, scribes,
and pens immediately come
to mind. Tobe sure, papyrus
paperhas left an indelible mark on
civilization, but there is far more to
its history than just paper.First and
foremost, papyrusis a plant, a plant
with a wide range of applications far
exceeding its celebrateduse as an
ancient writing material.
Rarely have the many uses of
papyrusbeen recognized. It is my
hope that a more complete under-
standing of this plant, which is the
focus of this article, will encourage
a broaderappreciationof its impor-
tance in the study of history and
culture.
The PapyrusPlant
Cyperuspapyrus is a member of the
Cyperaceae,or sedge,family of plants
(Metcalfe 1971: 191-98; Ragab1980:
21-52; Zohary 1982: 137),which
comprises nearly 4,000 species of
grass-or rush-like herbs (Tickholm
and Drar 1973:3). Cyperuspapyrus
is a robust perennial plant that grows
best in freshwaterswamps. Tall
green stalks, or culms, are supported
by a subterraneannetwork of tangled
rhizomes. The fibrous culm, which
was the most widely utilized part of
the plant, is triangularin cross
section and has a thin, green exterior
and a spongy,whitish, pithy interior.
The plant is cappedby an inflores-
cence of the umbel, or fountain-like,
type and is capable of growing to
almost 6 meters in height.
Papyrusonce grew abundantly
in Egypt,where the plant - and its
famous by-products - came to sym-
bolize ancient life. Ironically,and
with few exceptions, Cyperus papyrus
has become virtually extinct from
present-day Egypt as a naturally thriv-

Far left: The fountain-like umbel of Cyperus papyrus. Above: A thicket of modern-day papyrus Cyperus papyrus, adapted from the Harper's
at the Ragab papyrus plantation in Giza. Unless otherwise noted, all photographs in this Bible Dictionary (San Francisco: Harper &
article are by Donald P Ryan. Row, 1985).
ing plant. It persists in zoos, gardens, (Ragab1980: 185-88). Less notably, could be constructed easily and
and in commercial plantations smaller populations of the plant can quickly and then be disposed of
where it is grown primarily to pro- be found in Palestine (Feinburn- when they became waterloggedor
duce novelty souvenirs for tourists. Dothan 1986:358-59) and Sicily, otherwise unserviceable.
Its disappearancefrom Egyptcan be where it was intrnoiced (Lewis Huge bargesof papyrusmight
attributed to a variety of factors such 1974: 19-20; Ragab1980:91-94). have served well in the transportof
as climatic change,the disappearance heavy blocks of stone that were used
of Delta branches of the Nile during Non-PaperUses of Papyrus in the construction of many of
post-Dynastic times, the drainingof Cyperuspapyruswas exploited in a Egypt'sgreat monuments. Verylike-
swamps, the inability of the plant to variety of ways in addition to its use ly the shape of the early papyrus
compete with other species, and the as a source of writing material. boats was reflected in the design of
shrinking of the old papyruspaper The papyrusboat. One of the most the largepapyriformwooden ships
industry,which might have once well-known uses of the papyrus depicted in many Egyptiantomb
artificially maintained its growth plant in ancient Egyptwas in the scenes, funerarymodels, and in an
(Tackholmand Drar 1973: 139-45; construction of watercraftfor travel actual example of such a ship dis-
Ragab1980: 108-09).' on riversand swamps. The inherent- coveredin a sealed pit at the base of
Papyrus,though, is not and never ly buoyant papyrusstalks were tied the Pyramidof Cheops at Giza
has been an exclusively Egyptian into tight bundles and combined to (Landstr6m1970:26-34, 56-59,
plant. Its current distribution inform rafts or boats of various sizes 90-93, and 116-21; Jenkins 1980).
cludes central tropical Africa where that could be utilized for travel, In an interesting experiment
it is found in vast quantities in transport,hunting, and fishing that tested the durability of water-
watery locales such as the massive (Vandier1969:493-510; Landstrom craft constructed from papyrus,Nor-
Sudd Swampin the southern Sudan 1970: 17-19, 94-97). When dried, wegian anthropologist Thor Heyer-
and at many of the great African papyrusstalks are lighter than balsa dahl on two occasions built large
lakes such as Tana,Albert, and Chad (Ragab1980: 173),so small skiffs sailing vessels out of papyrusand

Papyrus barges might have transported
the heavy stone blocks used in pyramids.
ter 8, verse 4; see Hort 1968:348-49)
have commented on the role of papy-
rus in Egyptianrope-makingand
Herodotus referredto immense
Egyptian-madepapyruscables used
to span the Hellespont in orderto
facilitate the advance of Xerxe's
army into Europe(History,book 7,
chapters 34-36; see Godley 1963:
346-51).
In conducting replication ex-
periments I discoveredthat papyrus
cordagecould be easily manufac-
tured, first by crushing the stalks
with a mallet and then by twisting
the fibers into two or three strands
that could then be combined to
produce a finished rope. Future tests
of breaking-strengthshould reveal
the relative qualities of papyrusrope
when comparedwith those manu-
The constructionof a papyrusboat as depicted in the tomb of Ptahhotep,an Egyptianofficial facturedfrom other materials.
of the FifthDynasty (aroundthe middle of the thirdmillennium B.c.E.),at Sakkara.Photograph Papyrusas food. Severalclassical
courtesy of The Committee of the EgyptExplorationSociety, London. writers commented that the Egyp-
tians also used the papyrusplant as a
tried to cross the Atlantic from Afri- from grasses and palms, the papyrus food source. In his Enquiryinto
ca to the Americas. Noting certain plant was also exploited as a source Plants (book 4, chapter 8, verse 4;
cultural similarities between the an- of raw fibers for the manufactureof see Hort 1968:348-49), Theophras-
cient Near Easternand New World cordage(Lucasand Harris 1962: tus noted that the eating of papyrus
civilizations, including the use of 134-36; Ryanand Hansen, 1987). was practiceduniversally by those
reed boats, Heyerdahlset out to de- Many examples of ancient papyrus who lived in the Egyptiancountry-
termine if papyrusboats would be rope have survived to this day inside. He wrote that "theychew the
capable of sustaining such a long cluding gigantic specimens measur- papyrusstalk raw,boiled, or baked;
voyagein open water (Heyerdahl ing up to 7.6 centimeters in diameter they swallow its juice and spit out
1971, 1979:3-26). Heyerdahl'ssec- that were recoveredfrom the ancient the pulp"(Lewis 1974: 22). He also
ond voyagewas successful but crit- Turalimestone quarriessoutheast of noted that papyruswas a particularly
ics have arguedthat the Egyptians Cairo (Greiss 1949: 171;Ryanand sweet and nutritious food (Enquiry
never built papyrusships the size of Hansen, 1987). into Plants, book 4, chapter8, verse 2;
his or riggedthem for sailing on the SeveralEgyptiantomb scenes see Hort 1968:346-47).
high seas. apparentlydepict the manufacture Diodorus Siculus (Diodorus of
Papyruscordage.One of the most of cordagefrom papyrus,occasional- Sicily, book 1, chapter 80, verse 5;
essential technologies possessed by ly in conjunction with scenes illus- see Oldfather 1968:274-77) observed
the ancient Egyptianswas the manu- trating the construction of papyrus that the Egyptiansate the lower part
facture of a tough rope, or cordage, watercraft(Teeter,1987).Classical of the plant and that it was a "favorite
that was widely used in daily life authors such as Pliny (Natural His- and inexpensive food for children"
and in the construction of monu- tory,book 13,chapter22; see Rackham (Lewis 1974: 24), and Herodotus
mental works of architecture.Apart 1968: 140-43) and Theophrastus (History, book 2, chapter 92; see
from the usual materials derived (Enquiryinto Plants, book 4, chap- Godley 1966: 376-79) noted that

This scene, depicting the manufacture of rope from papyrus, is also from the tomb of Ptahhotep
at Sakkara. Photograph courtesy of The Committee of the Egypt Exploration Society, London.
Examples of large-diameter cordage from

ancient Egypt on exhibit at The British
Museum. Both pieces were discovered in the
Ttra limestone quarries southeast of Cairo.
"thosewho preferto enjoy the papy-

rus at its best bake it in a hot oven
before eating"(Lewis 1974:22). Pliny
(NaturalHistory,book 15, chapter
34, verses 116-17;see Rackham
1968:366-67) and Diodorus Siculus
(Diodorus of Sicily, book 1, chapter
80; see Oldfather 1968:274-77) like-
wise mentioned the edible qualities
of the plant.
In an effort to assess the quality
of papyrusas a food source and
determine the nutritional value of
Cyperuspapyrus,I, along with a
colleague, Sheri J.Tonn, conducted a
biochemical analysis of the plant at
Pacific LutheranUniversity (Ryan
and Tonn 1986).Surprisingly,the
initial results of the experiments subtly sweet taste may have proved words incorporatedpapyrussigns in
indicated that papyrusis very low in attractive.2 their spelling (Gardiner1957:480-
caloric content and generally poor in as
The papyrusplant symbol. Not 81). A scepter of papyruswas a com-
overallnutritional quality. Perhaps only did the papyrusplant serve mon iconographicalmotif (Tiickholm
papyrusservedbest as roughage,if numerous practical functions, it also and Drar 1973: 113-14), and large
the fibrous parts were consumed, served as a symbol of ancient Egyp- stone columns modeled after the
and, when eaten with other foods, tian culture. A hieroglyph of a clump plant can be found in many examples
nominally assisted in achieving a of papyrusrepresentedLowerEgypt of dynastic architecture (de Cenival
well-balanceddiet. In any event, its (the Delta), and many Egyptian 1964: 178-83).

This hieroglyphof a clump of papyrusrepresentedLowerEgypt(the
Delta) in ancient Egyptianwriting.
Hapy,the Egyptiangod of the

Nile inundation, was usually de-
picted with a clump of papyrus
sproutingfrom the top of his head.
Papyrusbouquets were apparently
populardecorations at banquets and
were used as religious offerings; S11
severalexamples of funerarygarlands
that incorporatedthe plant have
survived (Tackholmand Drar 1973:
106-10).
Miscellaneous uses of papyrus.
Cyperuspapyrus could also be used
as construction material in the I
manufactureof containers, sandals,
mats, and a wide variety of domestic
products (Greiss 1957: 150-51; Lucas
and Harris 1962: 137;Tickholm and r Ir
Drar 1973: 118-25; Lewis 1974:

24-29; Gourlay 1981,volume 2: 12,
23-24, 52, 127-29). Classical authors L l
have mentioned its use in making
sails and blankets and its roots as
firewood(Pliny,Natural History,
tug.: !?
i .I
book 13, chapter 22, verse 72; see

Rackham 1968: 140-43; Theophras- ,?
tus, Enquiryinto Plants, book 4,

chapter8, verse 4; see Hort 1968:
348-49). The plant is said to be
aromatically pleasant when burned
(Lewis 1974:96), and medical appli-
cations of papyrushave been noted
(Tackholmand Drar 1973: 104-05;
Lewis 1974:97).
Papyrusas Paper
It is not known exactly when Cyperus
papyruswas first used in the manu-
factureof paper,but the earliest
known example is a blank scroll that An unrolledsheet of papyruspapercontaining Egyptianhieratic writing (a cursive script
was found in a First Dynasty tomb derived fromhieroglyphs).Photographcourtesy of the Trusteesof The British Museum.
dating to around3100 B.C.E(Emery
1938:41). Severalpapyriare known
from Old Kingdomtimes, and there- Rackham 1968: 142-49) described suggested refinements (Cerny 1947:
after the number of surviving exam- Egyptiantechniques of papermaking 5-6; Lewis 1974:34-69; Ragab1980:
ples increases significantly. during Roman times. Severalcon- 130-50).
Pliny (Natural History, book 13, temporaryscholars have experi- A process that works well is as
chapters 13-16, verses 74-83; see mented with these techniques and follows: After mature papyrusplants

This scene, from the Theban tomb of Puyemre,depicts the harvestingof papyrus.Adapted
fromDavies (1922:plate XV).
are harvestedthe bottom of the stalk storage.The typical papyrusroll was Egyptcontinued to export papy-
and the umbel are removed.The composed of twenty sheets, which rus paperto Europeand the Mediter-
green exterior of the stalk is strippedwere pasted together at the edges ranean countries until at least the
away,leaving a core of white pith, (Cerny 1947:8-11, 14-17). In later end of the eleventh century C.E.
which is sliced into long, thin strips.times papyrussheets were often col- After that time, however,the use of
These strips are soaked in water and lated into book, or codex, form. papyrusas paperbegan to diminish,
then laid out in a rectangularsheet Apparentlythe Egyptiansdid eventually to the point of hardly
not comment much about their
of the desired size, each strip slightly being used at all. An increase in the
overlappingthe edge of the next. A paperindustry;that is, there are no use of other materials, such as parch-
second set of strips is then laid over known Egyptiantexts or scenes that ment and ragpaper,contributed
the first in a similar manner but at a specifically describe the paper- significantly to its demise (Lewis
right angle to the first layer.The making process. Literacy,though, 1974: 90-94).
double-layeredsheet of strips is was considered a virtue in ancient The remains of Greco-Egyptian
placed between cloth to absorbwater Egypt,and a comfortable class of cities have revealeduntold thou-
and then pressed. Pliny (Natural scribes was kept busily employed sands of scraps of papyrusdocu-
History,book 13,chapter23, verse 77; (James1984: 132-80). They wrote ments, mostly written in Greek and
see Rackham 1968: 144-45) claimed with pens made out of blunted reeds usually recoveredfrom the debris of
that the muddy propertiesof the and with black and red ink made ancient trash heaps. These scraps
Nile created the bonding agent, but from carbon and red ocher mixed contain accounts of trading,dis-
we have since discoveredthat natu- with gum and water (Cerny 1947: putes, and personal letters, as well as
ral substances within the plant itself 11-12). all manner of domestic and official
providedthe necessary adhesive to The Greeks were writing on documents and copies of the classics
bind the pressed strips into a single papyruspaperby the sixth century of Greek literature (Roberts1971),
sheet of paper(Lewis 1974:47-49; B.C.E. and during their tenure as thus providinga bonanza of data for
Ragab 1980: 151-60). Egypt'srulers and colonizers paper scholars. Ancient waste paperwas
After it was pressed the paper became a valuable commodity of ex- also put to use in the construction of
was dried and the sheet could be port to the Mediterraneanworld and mummy casings in a manner not un-
trimmed as necessary.Individual continued to be so through Roman like papier-machecalled cartonnage
sheets of papyruspaperrangedin times (Lewis 1974:84-94). As liter- (Baike 1971:231-34; Lewis 1974:95).
width from about 16 to 42 centi- ate Greeks colonized many areas of Modern scholars have been able to
meters with a maximum height of Egypt,especially in the Delta and the recoverancient documents by care-
47 centimeters. Severalsheets could Fayyum,the use of papyruspaperfor fully peeling awaythe papersheets
be combined and rolled in the classic written matters of all kinds increased from the insides of these casings.
scroll fashion for portability and dramatically. Around the turn of this century

There were papyri fragments of the Old
Testament among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
the discovery of vast amounts of suggested in both of these verses, papyrus,and papyrifragments of
well-preservedGreek papyriin Egypt one describing a basket that floats, the Old Testament and other books
inspired Europeansto lead expedi- the other describing seagoing water- have been discoveredalong with the
tions with the specific goal of re- craft. Containers of papyrushave Dead Sea Scrolls (Kenyon1958:
coveringthese documents from the been found in archaeologicalexcava- 114-19; Cross 1961;Harris 1980:
ruined cities (Baike1971).The British tions in Egypt,and the buoyancyof 1143-47).
were particularlyactive in this work; papyruswatercrafthas been well- There is a dearth of Hebrew
papyrus-hunterssuch as Bernard documented in modern times (Heyer- papyribut New Testament manu-
Grenfell (1869-1926) and Arthur dahl 1971;Ragab1980: 172-84). Any scripts written on papyruspaper
Hunt (1871-1934)retrievedtremen- vessel made from papyrusalone will have been discoveredin significant
dous quantities of whole and frag- absorbwater, though, and eventually numbers, especially in the dry envi-
mentary papyri,which have yet to be sink, so the mother of Moses was rons of Egypt,the primary source of
completely studied (Grenfell 1900; wise in daubing the basket with the material. Majordiscoveries at
Turner1982). pitch, which would have kept the sites such as Oxyrynchus and Nag
Fromthis wealth of information baby afloat and dry.The verse from Hammadi have providedpriceless
a specialized scholastic discipline Isaiah is descriptive of watercraft papyri,including early examples of
called papyrologyhas developedthat known not only from Egyptbut from the Gospels and an arrayof other
is devotedto the study of texts writ- other parts of the ancient Near East early Christian documents written
ten on papyruspaper.The papyrolo- as well (Heyerdahl1981).Gomec is in Greek and Coptic (Kenyon1958:
gist reconstructs, translates, and also mentioned in a blessing for a 185-90; Harris 1980: 1147-50).
interprets a variety of documents. bountiful environment in Isaiah35:7, It is interesting to note that
Though seemingly arcane,the papy- and the normal aquatic surround- papyrusis responsible for the word
rologist'swork is of interest to schol- ings of the growingpapyrusplant are "Bible."The Greek word biblos origi-
ars in many disciplines.3 noted in Job8:11. nally referredto the papyrusplant
In the New Testament,papyrus but its meaning eventually expanded
Papyrusand the Bible paperis indicated by the Greek word to denote written manuscripts and
Biblical Hebrew has severalwords chartes in 2 John,verse 12 (Lewis books. The word Bible as "theBook"
that denote swamp or riverineplants. 1974: 70-78; Balz and Schneider was thus derived (Lewis 1974: 14-15,
It has been suggested that one of 1983: 1106).The author of 2 John 78-79).
these words,gomec, specifically in- writes, "ThoughI have much to
dicates Cyperuspapyrus (Lisowski write to you, I would rathernot use Conclusion
1958:328; Zohary 1982: 137),or the chartes [paper]and ink, but I hope to Cyperuspapyrus, a plant of great
"paperreed"(Brown,Driver, and come to see you and talk with you versatility and importance to the
Briggs 1906: 167),or "bulrushes"as face to face, so that our joy may be ancient Egyptiansand their Medi-
this plant has often been called complete." terraneancontacts, has slipped into
(Anderson 1956: 28-29). Though it is noted only cursorily relative obscurity and is rarelyex-
The word gomec appearsonly in the Bible itself, Cyperuspapyrus ploited today.The minor, or less
four times in the Old Testament. In is very important to the biblical exalted, uses of the plant should not
Exodus 2:3 it is cited as the material scholar because it is one of the writ- be forgottenbut the invention of
used in the construction of the "ark" ing materials upon which religious paperhas had a lasting, far more
or basket that held the baby Moses manuscripts have survived. The vast important impact on the develop-
(tebat gomec). Isaiah 18:1-2 tells of a majority of extant Hebrew manu- ment of civilization: It provideda
land "beyondthe rivers of Ethiopia; scripts were recordedon parchment portable,relatively inexpensive
which sends ambassadors by the or vellum prepared from animal means of recording,preserving,and
Nile, in vessels of papyrus (izbikl&- skins (Haran 1985) but a few have sharing thought and deed and con-
gomec) upon the waters." survived on a papyrus surface. There tributed significantly to the dis-
It is interesting to note that the are several existing Septuagint semination of information that was
buoyant characteristic of the plant is manuscripts that were written on necessary for the advancement of

Grosset & Dunlap. Hort, A., translator
Cerny,J. 1968 Theophrastus:Enquiryinto Plants I.
1947 Paperand Books in Ancient Egypt. Series:LoebClassical Library.Cam-
London:H. K. Lewis & Co. bridge,MA, and London:Harvard
Cross, E M. University Press and Heinemann.
1961 The Ancient Libraryof Qumranand James,T. G. H.
ModernBiblical Studies. New York: 1984 Pharoah'sPeople.London:Bodley
Doubleday. Head.
Darby,W.J.,Ghalioungui, P.,and Grivetti, L. Jenkins,N.
knowledge and the maintenance of 1977 Food:The Gift of Osiris. New York: 1980 The Boat beneath the Pyramid.
complex societies. Academic Press. London:
Thames& Hudson.
Although books are no longer Davies, N. de G. Keimer,L.
produced from Cyperus papyrus, the 1922 The Tombof Puyemre,two volumes. 1927 Papyrusstengelals Genussmittel
New York:MetropolitanMuseum of Journalof the Society of Oriental
legacy of this ancient plant is re-
Art. Research 11:142-45.
flected in every modern page.
Emery,W.B. Kenyon,E
1938 The Tombof Hemaka. Cairo: 1958 Our Bible and the Ancient Manu-
Notes GovernmentPress. scripts.New York:Harper& Brothers.
Feinburn-Dothan,N. Landstr6m,B.
'Note, too, the disappearanceof a 1986 FloraPalaestina, part4. Jerusalem: 1970 Ships of the Pharaohs.London:
wide variety of animals such as hippopo- IsraelAcademyof Sciences and Allen & Unwin.
tami, crocodiles, and the ibis as well as Humanities. Lewis,N.
other plants from the Nile Valley (New- Gardiner,A. H. 1974 Papyrusin Classical Antiquity.
berry 1925:436-41; Butzer 1976:26-27). 1957 EgyptianGrammar,third edition, Oxford:ClarendonPress.
20Otherscholars who have studied revised.Oxford:Griffith Institute. Lisowski, G.
this topic include W.J.Darby,P. Ghali- Godley,A. D., translator 1958 Konkordanzzum HebriaischenAlten
oungui, and L. Grivetti (1977);Armand 1963 HerodotusIII, Books V-VII.Series: Testament,second edition. Stuttgart:
Ruffer(1919:67-69); and Vivi Taickholm LoebClassical Library.Cambridge, WurttembergischeBibelanstalt.
and Mohammed Drar (1973: 104-06). MA, and London:HarvardUniversity Lucas,A., and Harris,J.R.
Press and Heinemann. 1962 Ancient EgyptianMaterials and In-
LudwigKeimer (1927)has arguedthat 1966 HerodotusI, Books I and II. Series: dustries, fourth edition, revised.
certain plants illustrated in some exam- LoebClassical Library.Cambridge, London:Edward
Arnold.
ples of Egyptianart representedpapyrus MA, and London:HarvardUniversity Metcalfe,C. R.
stems as a kind of food offering. Press and Heinemann. 1971 Cyperaceae.In Anatomy of the
3The many challenges and joys ex- Gourlay,Y Monocotyledons, volume 5. Oxford:
perienced by the papyrologisthave been 1981 Les sparteriesde Deir el-Midineh, ClarendonPress.
excellently describedby E. G. Turner two volumes. Series:Institut Fran- Newberry,P.E.
cais d'ArchdologieOrientale 1925 Egyptas a Field for Anthropological
(1973)and HerbertC. Youtie (1963). Documents de fouilles 17.
4All Bible cited in this ar- Research.Pp. 435-59 in Annual Re-
passages Greiss, E. A. M.
ticle are taken from the Revised Standard port of the Regentsof the Smithso-
1949 Anatomical Identificationof Plant nian Institution, 1924. Washington,
Version (New OxfordAnnotated Bible, Materialsfrom Ancient Egypt.Bulle- D.C.:Smithsonian Institution.
Oxford:OxfordUniversity Press, 1973). tin de l'Institut d'Egypte31: 249-83. Oldfather,C. H., translator
1957 Anatomical Identificationof Some 1968 Diodorus of Sicily L,Books I and II,
Ancient EgyptianPlant Materials. 1-34. Series:LoebClassical Library.
Bibliography Mimoires de l'Institut d'gypte 55. Cambridge,MA, and London:
Anderson,A. W. Grenfell, B. P.,Hunt, A. S., and Hogarth,D. G. HarvardUniversity
1956 Plants of the Bible. London:Crosby 1900 Fayum Townsand TheirPapyri. Press and Heinemann.
Lockwood& Son. London:EgyptExplorationFund. Rackham,H., translator
Baike,J. Haran,M. 1968 Pliny:Natural History IV LibriXII-
1971 EgyptianPapyriand Papyrus-hunting. 1985 Bible Scrolls in Easternand Western XVI. Series:LoebClassical Library.
Freeport,NY:Books for Libraries JewishCommunities from Qumran Cambridge,MA, andLondon:Harvard
Press. (Reprintof 1925 edition) to the High Middle Ages. Hebrew University Press and Heinemann.
Balz, H., and Schneider,G. Union College Annual 56: 21-62. Ragab,H.
1983 ExegetischesW6rterbuchzum Neuen Harris,B. F. 1980 Le Papyrus.Cairo:RagabPapyrus
Testament.Stuttgart:W Kohlhammer. 1980 Papyriand Ostraca.Pp. 1142-50 in Institute.
Brown,F.,Driver,S. R., and Briggs,C. A. The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Roberts,C. H.
1906 A Hebrew and English Lexiconof edited by J.D. Douglas. Leicester: 1971 The Greek Papyri.Pp.355-89 in The
the Old Testament.Oxford:Claren- Inter-Varsity Press. Legacyof Egypt,edited by J.R. Harris.
don Press. Heyerdahl,T. Oxford:Clarendon
Press.
Butzer,K. W 1971 The Ra Expeditions. New York: Ruffer,A.
1976 EarlyHydraulic Civilization in Doubleday. 1919 Foodin Egypt.Mimoires de l'Institut
Egypt.Chicago:University of 1979 EarlyMan and the Ocean. New d'gypte 1.
Chicago Press. York:Doubleday. Ryan,D. P.,and Hansen, D. H.
de Cenival, J-L. 1981 The TigrisExpedition.New York: 1987 A StudyofAncient EgyptianCordage
1964 EgyptianArchitecture.New York: Doubleday. from the BritishMuseum. Series:

BritishMuseumOccasionalPapers62.
Ryan,D. P.,and Tonn,S. J.
1986 Papyrusas Food:A Nutritional BOOKS
Analysis of CyperusPapyrus.Pre- AVAILABLE
NOW
sented at the Annual Meeting of the FROM
American ResearchCenter in Egypt,
Washington,D.C.
THEAMERICANSCHOOLSOF ORIENTAL
RESEARCH
Tackholm, V.and Drar,M.
1973 Floraof Egypt,volume 2. Koenig-
stein: Otto Koeltz Antiquariat. AmericanArchaeologyin the Mideast;PhilipJ.King
(Reprintof 1950 edition) ISBN0-87959-508-3 xiv + 291 pages $15.00
Teeter,E.
1987 TechniquesandTerminologyof Rope- referencesand index.Illustrated.
Includesbibliographical
making in Ancient Egypt.Journalof
EgyptianArchaeology 73: 71-77. The Synagoguein LateAntiquity;LeeI. Levine,editor
Thompson, K., and Woolhouse,H. W ISBN0-89757-510-5 xiii + 218 pages $26.95
1979 PapyrusSwampDevelopment in the ISBN0-89757-509-1(paper) $15.95
Upemba Basin, Zaire.Botanical
Journalof the Linnaean Society
Includesbibliographiesand index.Illustrated.
78: 299-316
Turner,E. G. StephenK. Urice
QasrKharanain the Transjordan;
1973 The Papyrologistat Work.Series: ISBN0-89757-207-6(paper) xviii + 183pages $28.50
Greek, Roman,and Byzantine and index.Illustrated.
Includesbibliography
Monographs6.
1982 The Graeco-RomanBranch.Pp. 161-
78 in Excavatingin Egypt,edited by Scrollsfromthe Wildernessof the Dead Sea;FrankMooreCross,Jr.
T G. H. James.Chicago:University 30 pages $5.00
of Chicago Press. Illustrated.
Vandier,J.
1969 Manuel d'archdologie6gyptienne,
volume 5. Paris:A. & J.Picard. ORDER
INFORMATION
Youtie,H. C. These booksaredistributedforASORby The JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress.Orders
1963 The Papyrologist:Artificerof Fact. may be placedby telephone(toll-free,800-537-JHUP)or mailedto The JohnsHopkins
Greek, Roman,and Byzantine UniversityPress,701 West40th Street,Suite 275, Baltimore,Maryland21211.
Studies 4: 19-32.
Zohary,M. If a book is publishedin both hardcoverandpaperbackeditions,pleaseindicatewhich
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Dating Papyrus Manuscripts
by the AMS Method
Carbon-14
Am.
a
SlamRA&
jA4 - ~ ,qP-EP
&S 2
i'
r** I d13 *~g~S?
"
ImIt
r~ ir
;i-or Idt~gin-4
This segment of the Great Harris Papyrus, an official Egyptian document dating to the reign of
by Thomas C. Lynn Ramesses III (first half of the twelfth century .(:. .), is an excellently preserved example of
ancient papyrus paper. Photograph courtesy of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities of
The British Museum.
ne oftheprimary
goals known as papyrology. testing. This would require 17 grams
of paleographyis the In the past it was not technical- of papyrus,which would constitute
dating of ancient writ- ly feasible to try to ascertain the a papyrussheet totaling 216 square
ing. Dating can apply date of papyrusmanuscripts because inches in a 12-by-18-inchmeasure-
both to the time when an original the process destroyedtoo much of ment. With the AMS method, how-
composition was written as well the papyrussheet. That limitation ever, only 15 to 20 milligrams of
as to when it was copied. Of par- has been alleviated by the develop- papyrusmaterial are needed. De-
ticular concern to paleographersare ment of the AcceleratorMass Spec- pending on the thickness of the par-
the manuscripts that were written trometry(AMS)Carbon-14technique, ticular sheet, various surface areas
on papyrus.So important are these which requiresmuch less material may have to be tested, but the total
ancient manuscripts that their to ascertain a date. Even today the testing areamay cover as little as
study has led to the development best conventional (non-AMS)tech- a quarterof a square inch of mate-
of a separateacademic discipline nique requires 1 gram of carbonfor rial-or less.

The AMS method can be an important aid
to papyrologists, but care must be taken.
Since what is written on a piece themselves, but this would have Cyperus papyrus) is only about 6
of material cannot predateits manu- involved the destruction of a percent carbon (databased on pre-
facture,AMS carbon-14results indi- largepiece of one of them.' liminary studies), the written portion
cate the earliest possible composi- We can now add that the AMS tech- of a papyrussheet is very heavily
tion date of manuscripts written on nique makes this test possible3. carbon concentrated.This is because
papyri.Thus, the AMS method is a Carbon-14dating, a means of the ink is composed of severalcar-
very important paleographictool. dating ancient organicmaterials by bonaceous elements. Some of these
The limitations of previous detecting their carbon-14content, elements may vary in age, perhaps
carbon-14dating methods are high- has been in use for about forty years. by a few centuries; so, if we test an
lighted in this passageby Millar AcceleratorMass Spectrometryhad unwritten papyrussample we can
Burrows(1955): its beginning in 1939 but did not ascertain the date of manufactureof
New evidence bearing on the really arriveon the scene until 1977 the papyrussheet, but if we test a
dating of the manuscripts ap- when Muller suggested that a cyclo- written portion of the papyrustext,
pearedalso early in 1951.A piece tron, an acceleratorin which charged the carbon-14result will reflect a
of linen cloth found in the cave particles are propelledby an alter- potpourriof dates, including not
when it was excavatedwas sent nating electric current in a constant only the date of manufacture of the
by Hardingto America and sub- magnetic field, could be used in de- papyrussheet but also the harvest
jected to the carbon-14process tecting long-livedradioisotopes date for each of the carbonaceous
by ProfessorW.E Libbyof the (carbon 14 is one of these) and, espe- elements that make up the ink.
Institute for Nuclear Studies of cially, with subsequent reportsof Because of the potential for
the University of Chicago. The these measurements.3One spectacu- achieving unclear results, I advise
result of the test was reportedby lar example of the AMS carbon-14 papyrologists,paleographers,and
ProfessorLibbyto President method was the determination that others interested in the dating of an-
Kraelingof the American Schools Dima, a babywoolly mammoth dis- cient manuscripts to secure expert
of Oriental Researchon the ninth coveredin June 1977 during the ex- technical assistance when preparing
of January,and was published by cavation of the Magadanregion of papyrusor parchment for any scien-
ProfessorO. R. Sellers in Febru- northeastern Siberia,had died 27,000 tific test.
ary.The date thus established years ago.
for the piece of cloth was 33 A.D., Parchment manuscripts can Notes
plus or minus 200 years;i.e., also be tested by this method, since Pleasedirectanyinquiriesto Thomas
some time between 167 B.c. and carbon 14 is applicable to all ancient C. Lynn, 1101Brentwood,number 102,
233 A.D. Belding,MI48809.
organic matter, but great care has to
be taken when dealing with parch- 'Page52 of The Dead Sea Scrolls
While this did not establish the
ment. In antiquity,parchmentunder- (NewYork:TheVikingPress,1955).
age of the manuscripts them- 2Foranexcellentdiscussionof the
went considerablepreparationand carbon-14methodandthe test referred
selves, or provideas exact a date was
for their deposit in the cave as generally smoothed with chalk. to byBurrowsas well as othertechnical
Of particularconcern, therefore,is examinationsof the Qumranscrolls,see
might have been desired, it clear- the contamination of
results, as pages 89-92 of JohnAllegro'sThe Dead
ly indicated the general period of the skin of the animal and not only Sea Scrolls:A Reappraisal(Harmonds-
history to which the scrolls be- any of
the associated preparatoryagents worth,Middlesex,England:Penguin
longed, confirming what had al- such as chalk will Books, 1964).
yield a useful
readybeen inferredfrom other carbon-14date. 3SeeDavidElmoreandFredM.
considerations. Any ideas that Phillips,"Accelerator
MassSpectrometry
Forthat matter, one must also
the Dead Sea Scrolls were of forMeasurement of Long-Lived
Radio-
be careful to avoid contaminating
medieval origin thus became less isotopes,"in Science 236 (1 May 1987),
defensible than ever. It would the results of tests on papyri. Only pages 543-50.
the unwritten portion of a papyrus 4Seepage 61 of Principlesof Isotope
have been helpful to apply the
sheet should be cut and tested. Geology,secondedition,byGunterFaure
carbon-14 test to the manuscripts
Whereas papyrus material (the plant (NewYork:JohnWiley& Sons,1986).

Literar}' theHistorl'
Sourcesfbr andSyria
oJPalestine
Contacts Between Egypt series of articles examin-
ing Egyptianliterary
sources that document
and Syro-Palestine contacts between Egyptand Syro-
Palestine. The first article in the
During the Old Kingdom series (Wright1985)focused on the

protodynastic period (around3100 to
2705 B.C.E.).This article focuses on
the Old Kingdom, which, based on
by Mary Wright recent information concerning Egyp-
tian chronology,encompassed the
editedbyDennisPardee Third through Sixth Dynasties
(around2705 to 2250 B.C.E.)and was
contemporarywith the EarlyBronze
IIIperiod in Syro-Palestine.
Although the archaeological
recordof the Old Kingdom reveals
greater contacts between these two
areas than in the protodynasticpe-
riod, the number of written sources
concerning these contacts is small.
With the exception of the Eblatab-
lets, no indigenous Syro-Palestinian
written documents that date to the
EarlyBronzeAgehavebeen discovered.
The Egyptianliterary sources, there-
fore, are particularyimportant for
the reconstruction of this period of
Syro-Palestinianhistory.
As is the case with evidence
from the protodynastic period, it is
difficult to locate and identify Syro-
Palestinian people and places men-
tioned in the Egyptiantexts. Nearly
all identifications of Old Kingdom
Egyptianreferences to Syro-Palestine
are conjectural;most place-names
are too obscure or too ambiguous in
context to be positively located.
Consequently, scholarly opinion dif-
fers considerably concerning points
of contact and the nature of the rela-
tionships between Egypt and Syro-
Menkaure("Mycerinus"), fifth king of the

FourthDynasty and builder of the third
pyramidat Giza, is depicted in this stone
carving as a powerful rulerstriding forward
with confidence. Tohis right is Hathor,
goddess of the Egyptianroyalhouse. Tohis
left is a symbolic figure bearingas a head-
dress the standard of one of the nomes, or
districts, of ancient Egypt.Photograph
courtesy of KennethG. Hoglund.

Palestine during this period. In order
ChronologicalTable to evaluate the written sources, this

article will outline the relevant
OldKingdom genres of Old Kingdom Egyptian
(circa2705-2250 B.C.E.) literature, indicate the specific refer-
Third-Sixth Dynasties ences to Syro-Palestine in this litera-
Djoser Sneferu ture, and provide brief discussions of
the important secondary sources
where historical conclusions have
Third Dynasty
been drawn from the literature.
(circa2705-2630 B.C.E.)
1. Sanakht Nebka 2705-2687 The Old Kingdom
2. Neterikhet (Djoser) 2687-2667 The Old Kingdom marked the emer-
3. Sekhemkhet 2667-2660 gence of Egyptian culture into its
4. Khaba 2660-2654 classical form. From the wellspring
"Cheops""Chephren"
of political consolidation that oc-
5. Huni 2654-2630
curred in the protodynastic period,
when the first kings began ruling all
Fourth Dynasty of Egypt (Dynasties 0 through 2,
(circa2630-2524 B.C.E.) around 3050 to 2700 B.C.E.),Egypt
1. Sneferu 2630-2606 had developed into a highly cen-
2. Khufu ("Cheops") 2606-2583 tralized state under the rulership of
"Mycerinus"Sahure an absolute monarch who was con-
3. Radjedef 2583-2575
sidered a god. Directly beneath the
4. Khafre("Chephren") 2575-2550
king was a large bureaucracy of civil
5. Menkaure
("Mycerinus") 2550-2530
n0
servants who were, for the most
part, dependent on the king for their
6. Shepseskaf 2530-2526 positions and material wealth. This
combination of royal ideology and
extreme political centralization was
Fifth Dynasty Niuserre-Ini
expressed culturally in the construc-
(circa2524-2400 B.C.E.) tion of monumental pyramid com-
1. Userkaf 2524-2517 plexes. Surrounding these pyramids
2. Sahure 2517-2505 4&
were the tombs of the royal family
3. Neferirkare-Kakai 2505-2495 and administrative servants. Being
4. Shepseskare-Isi 2495-2488 buried next to the king was thought
to ensure the same privileged asso-
5. Neferefre 2488-2477
ciations in the afterlife.
6. Niuserre-Ini 2477-2466 Unas Teti
The height of the Old Kingdom,
7. Menkauhor-Ikauhor 2466-2458 as measured by the size of the indi-
8. Djedkare-Isesi 2458-2430 vidual king's pyramid complex and
0 its adjacent necropolis, was reached
9. Unas 2430-2400 0 in the Fourth Dynasty. The massive
Sixth Dynasty pyramids of Khufu and Khafre at
Giza demonstrate that Egypt's
(circa2400-2250? B.C.E.) human and economic resources
PepiI Meryre
1. Teti 2400-2390 were firmly under royal control.
2. Userkare With the advent of the Fifth Dynasty,
3. Pepi I Meryre 2390-2361 however, there was a steady diminu-
4. MernereI Antyemsaf 2361-2355 tion of the status of the king. Royal
5. Pepi II 2355-2261 powers began to be usurped by both
the priests of the cult of the sun-god
6. Memere II Antyernsaf 2261-2260
Re at Heliopolis and certain provin-
7. Nitocris 2260-2250 PepiII cial officials whose allegiances were
becoming more closely tied to their

own districts than to the king. Royal
pyramids were planned on a smaller
scale and were inferior in workman- Sources for Study
ship to those that had been built
ieroglyphic transcriptions of the Old Kingdom autobiographicaltomb
previously. By the Sixth Dynasty, inscriptions were published by KurtSethe in Urkunden des Alten Reich
after the unusually long reign of
(1933).English translations of many of the more importanttexts can be found
Pepi II, the central government in the first volume of JamesHenryBreasted'sAncient Recordsof Egypt(1906).
began to disintegrate; the govern- Although our knowledge of the Egyptianlanguagehas significantly increased
ment soon collapsed, and rulership overthe last eighty years,Breasted'stranslations of Old Kingdomtexts arestill
was fragmented in the hands of useful. Frenchtranslationsof manyof these texts were publishedby Allesandro
several rival provinces. Rocatti in La litterature historique sous l'ancien empire 6gyptien (1982).
This volume is particularlyhelpful because it lists where the individual texts
Old KingdomLiterature were found and notes some of the more important translations and most
recent commentaries.
In the protodynastic period, Egyptian
The standardeditions of the hieroglyphic transcriptionsof the Pyramid
hieroglyphic writing was limited to Texts areKurtSethe'sfour-volumeDie AltiagyptischenPyramidtexten (1908-
brief notations, usually consisting of
1922) and A. Piankoff's,The Pyramid of Unas (1968).Sethe's transcriptions
a few words to show possession or to were based on texts found in the pyramidsof Unas, Teti, PepiI, MernereI, and
identify a place or event. During the Pepi II,whereas Piankoff'swere limited to those found in Unas' pyramid.
Old Kingdom, however, Egyptian The major translations and commentaries include Sethe's six-volume
writing developed into a true litera- Ubersetzung und Kommentar zu den Altagyptischen Pyramidtexten.
ture in the modern sense of the term (1935-1962), Samuel A. B. Mercers'four-volumeThe Pyramid Textsin 7Tans-
and consisted of a variety of distinct lation and Commentary (1952),and R. O. Faulkner'sThe Ancient Egyptian
genres. Pyramid Texts (1969).Because of his untimely death, Sethe'scommentary is
incomplete; it does not include the first 212 spells, and it breaks off at
Autobiography. The first and earliest utterance 582. Mercers'translations and commentary are out of date, but his
Egyptian literary genre attested to, extensive cross-indices are particularly useful for those who cannot read
appearing at the beginning of the hieroglyphs, and they can be applied to Faulkner'smore recent edition.
Fourth Dynasty, is the autobiog- Faulkner'sEnglish translation is the best in the sense that it drawsupon more
raphy. During the Old Kingdom, current knowledge of Old Egyptian grammar and lexicography.Faulkner's
autobiographical information was short notes (which are, for the most part, philological in nature and reflect
inscribed in the funerary chapel of very little on the religious nature of the texts) often make it necessary to
the mastabas' and rock-cut tombs consult Sethe'smore extensive commentary,however.
of wealthy officials. By the Sixth The basic geographicalreferenceworks to Old Kingdom Egyptiantexts
are Henri Gauthier's seven-volume Dictionnaire des noms geographiques
Dynasty autobiography had reached Contenus dans les textes hieroglyphiques (1921-1931)and KarolaZibelius'
its fullest form and included the
Agyptische Siedlungennach Textendes Alten Reiches (1978).The latter refer-
names of the deceased's family, all of
ence, however,is concerned primarily with places within Egypt properand
the deceased's titles and official has few entries dealing with foreign locations. Although these geographic
appointments, self-laudatory procla- dictionaries list their entries in both hieroglyphic writing and Roman letter
mations of the deceased's exemplary transcriptions, those who cannot read hieroglyphs may find it helpful to
moral qualities (for example, that consult Sir Alan Gardiner'sEgyptianGrammar(1957).Informationconcern-
she/he had given bread to the hungry, ing the alphabetical arrangementof Egyptianhieroglyphs (lesson 1) and the
clothed the naked, and so on), a standardtranscription of most of the hierglyphic signs (sign list on pages
stereotypical list of offerings that 438-548) may help facilitate the use of the geographicalreferences.
the deceased was to receive (mostly
food, drink, and clothing), prayers
for the deceased's good reception in 1975: 815-21). Since few other writ- often contain detailed accounts of
the West (the land of the dead), and ings have survived from the Old not only domestic activities, such as
accounts of professional achieve- Kingdom, autobiographical tomb building projects, but also foreign
ments by which the deceased had inscriptions are used as primary expeditions and campaigns; several
gained the recognition of the king sources for the reconstruction of the foreign accounts are believed to in-
and his contemporaries. history and culture of this period. clude references to Syro-Palestinian
The use of autobiography was The most instructive parts of locations.
apparently limited to private indi- these autobiographical texts for his- Pyramid 'Texts.The second literary
viduals, as we have no examples of torical purposes are the narrative product of the Old Kingdom com-
Old Kingdom royal autobiographies passages commenting on the careers prises a corpus of religious writings
(Lichtheim 1975: 3-5; v.d. Walle of the deceased. These passages known as the Pyramid Texts. These

texts were meticulously carvedinto the modern sense of the term, such ships filled (with) c' pine wood."The
the interior chambers and corridors Old Kingdom inscribed artifacts origin of this shipment is not speci-
of the Sakkarapyramidsof king may be classified as a literary source fied, but it is generally accepted as
Unas, the last king of the Fifth for this time period as well. being the cargoof a commercial
Dynasty, subsequent kings and expedition returningfrom Byblos
some queens of the Sixth Dynasty, Byblos (Breasted1906:paragraph146;Ward
and king Ibi of the Eighth Dynasty. Egypt'sinterest in Syro-Palestine 1963:22; Jidejian1968: 17).This
Consisting of hymns, prayers,and during the Old Kingdom seems to entry also appearsto be the earliest
magical incantations, the Pyramid have been centered on the port city reference confirming that timber
Texts were compiled for the mortu- of Byblos.Locatedabout 25 miles imports were transportedby ship.
ary service of dead kings. The pri- north of modern Beirut on the Medi- Without the use of wheeled carts
mary purpose of these inscriptions terraneancoast,2Byblos was situated (which had not yet been invented),
was to ensure the kings' successful at the foot of the Lebanonand Anti- ships were a much more practical
resurrectionand safe ascent into the Lebanon(Sirion)mountains. This means of transportingheavy goods
next world. region providedmuch of the ancient than hazardousoverlandcaravans
The Egyptiansused lines or Near East with construction-grade throughPalestine (Ward1963:23-28).
special introductorywords to divide timber, particularlyconiferous trees Other indirect evidence of sea trade
the PyramidTexts into subunits and their resinous by-products. at this time includes the recent dis-
called utterances. Egyptologistshave Although Egypthad native trees, covery that the level of the Mediter-
further divided these utterances into such as the acacia and tamarisk, and ranean Sea rose significantly at the
standardizedindividual verses, or various species of fruit and palm beginning of the third millennium.
spells. (Forexample, PyramidText trees that could be used for crafts, This caused flooding of rivervalleys,
utterance 473 includes spells 793 domestic architecture,and small thereby creating deep inlets. These
through 808.) Not all pyramidscon- boats, wood suitable for making the inlets, along the otherwise smooth
tain the same texts; a king would long sturdy beams that were neces- Palestinian coast, could have pro-
omit certain utterances from his sary for the construction of monu- vided a link of natural harborsthat
predecessor'scorpus and add new mental architectureand seafaring facilitated sea trade between Byblos
ones to his own. To date, approxi- vessels had to be imported (Lucas and Egypt (Fleming,Raban,and
mately 759 differentutterances have and Harris 1962:439-48). Also, pine Goetschel 1978: 131).
been discovered. resins and oils were important ingre- More evidence of timber trade
Because the PyramidTexts are dients in the mummificationprocess3 has been discovered,in particularan
not historical in nature many his- and, therefore,were in great demand Egyptiancopper axeheadbearingthe
torians have glossed over their refer- by at least the wealthier classes of name of a royallumberjackcrew,
ences to Syro-Palestineor not in- Egyptians(LucasandHarris1962:319). which was found near the mouth of
cluded them in their investigations One particularproductimported the Adonis River,Nahr Ibrim (Mal-
of Old Kingdomforeign affairs. from Syro-Palestinecalled Hatet esh lon 1925;Rowe 1936:283, plate 36;
Nevertheless, referencesto Syro- (h3t.tc),4 the finest quality esh pine Porterand Moss 1951:386). Dating
Palestine in these texts yield impor- oil, was commonly included in Old from the Fourthor Fifth Dynasty,
tant information concerning how Kingdomfuneraryofferinglists in this axe may well have been lost
much Syro-Palestineinfluenced the tombs of private individuals while a lumberjackwas cutting logs
Egyptianculture. (Barta1963:48, 55, 56, 73). This in the Lebanesemountains. It is not
Other Texts.The Old Kingdom saw same oil is also mentioned in Pyra- known whether Egyptiancrews
the development of other literary mid Text utterance 77, spell 54, as actually cut the trees or merely
genres as well, such as instructions one of the seven important oint- supervised Syrian crews. The Egyp-
in wisdom and royal inscriptions, ments presented to the king as part tians called some of the inhabitants
including brief recordings of single of his funerary ritual. Given the reli- of the wooded area of Syro-Palestine
events, annals, and decrees (see Licht- gious significance of these products, Fenekhu6 (Fnhw), a word that prob-
heim 1973: v-8); however, existing their procurement was undoubtedly ably means "woodcutters" (Erman
texts representing these genres con- a primary motivation for Egyptian and Grapow 1926, volume 1: 576-77;
tain no direct references to Syro- trade relations with Byblos. Kees 1954: 36-40; Helck 1971: 23-24;
Palestine. Further, a great deal of An entry for king Sneferu (first Leclant 1984). A possible scenario is
Egyptian written material concern- king of the Fourth Dynasty, around that after the logs were cut they
ing Syro-Palestine consists of single 2630 to 2606 B.C.E.)in the Old Kingdom were transported by a river, such as
words or royal names and titles on royal annals known as the Palermo the Adonis, downstream to the point
artifacts. Though not literature in Stone5 reads "the bringing of forty where the river emptied into the

This copper axehead with a one-line inscription bearing the name of a royal lumberiack cretw
from either the Fourth or Fifth Dynasty is also evidence of a timber trade between Egypt and
Svro-Pales.tine. Note that it is covered by a dark patina anti the edges are slightly bent in
places. indicating use. Measuring about 20 centimeters in length and width. it has a hole near
the back for attaching a handle. Because it was discovered near the mouth of the Adonis River
in Syria in 1911. it could have been lost while a lumberiack was cutting logs in the Lebanese
Mountains. Photograph from Rowe (19361. courtesy of the Israel Department of Antiquities
andi Museums.
Mediterranean Sea near the port of tation is correct, it may be that

Byblos. From Byblos the logs would Kebenwentet was a Syro-Palestinian
have been loaded onto Egyptian or who had achieved some sort of status
Syrian ships destined for Egypt. in the royal Egyptian administration The Palermo Stone (so-called because it
Old Kingdom references from (Fischer 1959: 265; Helck 1971: 36). currently resides in the Palermo Museum in
A second reference to Byblos Sicily) contains what may be the earliest
Egypt that specifically name Byblos, record of timber imported into Egypt by ship
are however,quite scarce.The Egyp- dating from the late Fifth or early from Byblos. Carved during the Fifth Dynasty
tian name for this city duringthe Sixth Dynasty comes from a very tin the middle of the third millennium H.(..).
it lists the important events of all previous
Old Kingdomwas written as Keben short inscription of an official Egyptian kings. An entry for Sneferu. first king
(kbn7 and later kpn). One of the named Khui (Uwy) from his tomb in of the Fourth Dynasty: refers to "the bringing
earliest references to Byblos in Egyp- Aswan (Sethe 1933: 140-41; New- of forty ships filledtwith) c; pine wood." The
origin of the shipment is unknown but it is
tian records is an inscription on the berry 1938: 182). According to the in- generally believed to have been Byblos. Pine
lintel of a false door" of a Fourth scription, Khui and two companions, resins anti oils were important ingredients in
the mummification process and their religious
Dynasty9 official named Kebenwentet Khnumhotep (Unmw-htp) and Teti significance was undoubtedly a primary
(KbnWntt)found in the cemetery (Tty), travelled to both Byblos and motivation for trade relations between Egypt
adjoining the pyramid complex at Punt on several occasions. The in- and Syro-Palestine. Photograph by John Ross
Giza (Horn 1963: 52). The Keben from The Worldof the Pharaohs by Christine
scription does not state a purpose or Hobson (New f)rk: Thames and Hudson. 1987j.
portion of the name was inscribed specify any details of Khui's journeys,
inside a crenulated (or notched) but writing found in his companion
enclosure sign, which in Egyptian Teti's tomb, located in the same
hieroglyphs was used to depict a necropolis, states that Teti was "one
fortified city or settlement (Leclant who brings the products of the
1954: 73). Cemeteries near the pyra- southern foreign lands to the king"
mids were generally reserved for of- (Sethe 1933: 141).This suggests that
ficials. Therefore, if this interpre- Khui and his companions were in

some way responsible for commer- Quatre campaignes de fouilles 'i the sea and the resulting adverse
cial relations between Byblos (as Gebail 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924. effects of strong winds and high
well as other important outlets of Subsequentwork was carriedout by humidity. In addition, foundations
foreign trade)and the royal court of Maurice Dunand; his excavation of later buildings constructed by the
Egypt (Ward1963:27). reportswere published in 1939 in Romans and the Crusadersseverely
In his Sixth Dynasty Elephantine two volumes titled Fouilles de damagedthe structures and plans of
tomb inscription (Breasted1906: Byblos I and II. the early buildings. Compounding
161-64; Sethe 1933: 134, line 15)the Over the millennia, many of the this was the modern use of the site
nobleman Pepi-nacht (Ppi-nlht)refers ancient buildings in Byblos, par- as a quarry,not only for new build-
to a "Byblos"ship, which was to be ticularly on the west side of the ings nearbybut also for adjoining
used to sail on the Red Sea to the mound, have sufferedfrom erosion neighborhoods.These conditions
land of Punt. It is generally agreed because of the city's proximity to and intrusions have made accurate
that a "Byblos"ship referredto a sea-
worthy vessel as opposed to a small-
er boat used for Nile transportation.
It is uncertain, however,whether
these ships were constructed in RoyalNames Found at Byblos
Byblos in connection with the city's Fourth Dynasty Pepi I Meryre:Montet (1928:70,
timber industry or were built in Queen Hetepheris (wife of Sneferu number 47, plate 37; 71, number
and mother of Khufu):Dunand 48; 71, number 50, figure 2);
Egyptand so named because they Dunand (1939:93, number 1359,
were first used in the sea tradewith (1959:part 2, 929 and 931,
number 1753). plate 37; 161, number 2359; 169,
Byblos (Save-Soderberg1946:47, Khufu:Dunand (1939:322, number number 2466; 183,number 2865*;
number 5; Montet 1954). 4506). 309, number 4147; 309 and 310,
More informative evidence Queen Meritytis (wife of Khufu): number 4149, plate 36; 316,
about EgyptianSyro-Palestiniancon- Montet (1928:75, number 64, number 4366, plate 38; 345,
tacts has been discoveredin the city figure 23). numbers 5141 and 5191-three
of Byblos itself. Although the name Khafre:Dunand (1939:200, number fragments that fit together;417,
of Byblos was preservedin the Old 3074, plate 125). number 6496, plate 38); Nelson
Testament (calledgebal in Hebrew)o0 Menkaure:Montet (1928:68 and 69, (1934:20, number 3, plate 3; 20
number 45, figure 21*);Dunand and 21, number 6, plate 3; 21,
and in the works of severalGreek number 1, plate 4; numbers 7 and
and Latin authors," its exact loca- (1939:120, number 1794, plate
39*; 162 and 163, number 2367, 8, plate 3).
tion was not known until the city plate 39*; 169 and 170, number Pepi I or Pepi II:Dunand (1939:26,
was discoveredin 1860 by Ernest 2471, plate 39*;343, number 5120, numbers 1113and 1114,plate 36;
Renan. Later,in 1866, Frangois plate 39*; 418, number 6504); 27, number 1116;117, number
Chabas linked the Egyptianword Dunand (1959:text 1, 438, 1742; 240, number 3530, plate
Keben to the biblical name gebal as number 11327,plate 145). 37; 260, number 3972, plate 37;
referringto the same port city of Fifth Dynasty 331, number 4941; 373, number
Byblos.12 Sahure:Dunand (1939:272, number 5446, plate 147);Montet (1928:
Ernest Renan recordedthe find- 3920, plate 125*). 72, number 51, plate 45; 73,
Neferirkare-Kakai:Dunand (1939: number 57, plate 45); Nelson
ings of his surface excavations at (1934:22, numbers 3, 5, and 7,
Byblos (1864),but a more thorough 329, number 4909, plate 36).
Niuserre-Ini:Dunand (1939:280, plate 5); Dunand (1959:929,
investigation of the site did not number 17540, figure 1044).
number 4030, plate 37).
begin until PierreMontet, a French Djedkare-Isesi:Nelson (1934:20,
MernereAntyemsaf: Dunand (1939:
Egyptologist,visited the site in 1919. number 1;plate 3, number 1). 133, number 1940, plate 36).
During his first visit, Montet noticed Unas: Montet (1928:69 and 70, Pepi II:Dunand (1939: 132, number
that fragments of stone bearing Egyp- number 46, plate 39); Dunand 1927, plate 36; 162, number
tian hieroglyphic inscriptions were (1939:267 and 268, number 3867, 2365, plate 37; 185, number
located in one particular area. Starting plate 38; 278, number 3980, plate 2874, plate 36; 261, number
at this location in his first season of 36; 278, number 3981; 280, 3800, plate 38); Montet (1928.:72,
number 4029, plate 36). number 56, plate 40; 74, number
excavation in 1921, Montet discovered
62, plate 41);Nelson (1934:21,
the foundation of the temple of Sixth Dynasty numbers 1 and 2, plate 5).
Baalat-Gebal ("Ladyof Byblos"). RTti:Nelson (1934:20, number 2;
Montet (1928) published the plate 3, number 2);Dunand (1939:
results of the first four seasons of 258, number 3753, plate 37). *Uncertain.
excavations in Byblos et
l'Egypte:

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This alabaster vase, made of two fragmentsthat fit snugly together,was discoveredin the so-called Baalat-Gebaltemple complex near Byblos.
Measuring17 by 23 centimeters, it commemorates the heb sed festival of PepiI, an important royalevent designed to renew the king'spotency.
The hieroglyphsinscribed on the vase display the full titulary of PepiI, third king of the Sixth Dynasty (who ruled from 2390 to 2361 B.C.E.).
Line 1, the middle verticalsection, reads "Horus,belovedof the two lands."Line 2, to the left of line 1, reads "thetwo ladies"and "Horusof gold";
line 3, to the right of line 1, reads "kingof Upperand LowerEgypt,son of Re, PepiI."Line 4, the middle horizontal section, reads "givendominion
forever"and "givenlife and dominion forever." Line 5, the bottom horizontal section, reads "firstoccurrenceof the sed festival."Although hiero-
glyphic writing is made up of a series of pictorial characters,it is not just a visual language, as each characterrepresentsa particularsound.
Hieroglyphscan be read in severaldirections. In this inscription, for example, line 4 is read in the middle from both directions. Photographand
drawing from Nelson (1934),courtesyof the Museum of Archaeologyof the American Universityof Beirut.
stratigraphicreconstruction of Early coming most abundantduring the stationed in Byblos to oversee the
BronzeAge Byblos extremely diffi- Sixth Dynasty. During the Sixth Egyptiantrade accounts and records
cult (Jidejian1971: 1-7). Dynasty in particular,many vessels (Ward1964).It is likely that Nefer-
Most of the objects bearing commemoratedthe heb sed festivals'4 Seshem-Raplaced the valuable ala-
Egyptianinscriptions have been of Pepi I and/orPepi II. baster offeringplate in the Baalat
found in or nearbythe so-called In addition to royalinscriptions, temple because he had actually
Baalat-Gebaltemple complex.'3The an alabasterofferingplate inscribed travelled to Byblos and had impor-
majority of these inscriptions are on with the titles of an Egyptianofficial tant ties to the city. Since there is
fragments of alabasterand limestone named Nefer-Seshem-Ra(Nfr-Sim- only one piece of evidence, however,
vessels, which bear the names and Rc)has also been found in the Baalat- it cannot be summarily concluded,
titles of most of the kings and sev- Gebal temple complex (Montet as Amnon Ben-Torand others have
eral queens from the Fourththrough 1928:84-85; Dunand 1939:number done, that an entire community of
Sixth Dynasties (Montet 1928; 5366; Ch6hab 1968:3-4). Although Egyptianmerchants resided per-
Dunand 1939;Ward1963:22-25; severalof his five official titles have manently at Byblos (Ben-Tor1982:12).
Ch6hab 1969).The number of these not been well attested, it seems rela- The question has been raised as
inscriptions increased throughout tively certain that Nefer-Seshem-Ra to how the presence of these Egyptian
the course of the Old Kingdom,be- was a high-rankingscribe who was vessels in Byblos should be inter-

Al-
LoI ' -..V
4 1
.
?r ," ?
t
Also found in the Baalat-Gebal temple complex was this alabaster offering plate inscribed with the titles of a nonroyal Egyptian official named
Nefer-Seshem-Ra. Scholars are uncertain about some of the five titles given, but it is likely that Nefer-Seshem-Ra was a high-ranking scribe
stationed at Byblos to oversee the Egyptian trade accounts. It is also likely that Nefer-Seshein-Ra placed the offering plate in the Baalat temple
because he had traveled there and had important ties to the city There is not enough evidence, however, to conclude that an entire community
of Egyptian merchants resided in Byblos. Photograph from Ward (1964), courtesy of the National Museum, Beirut; drawing from Dunand (1939),
courtesy of Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
preted. Partof the difficulty in an- goddess Baalat,whom the Egyptians in the Old Kingdom, it is difficult to
swering this question is that we are worshippedin the form of their own assess Egyptianparticipation in or
uncertain about the exact relation- goddess Hathor.The implication of influence on the religious life there.
ship between the Baalattemple and this interpretationis that while Another possibility that must
its use by the Egyptians.It has been Byblos may have been politically be considered is that the ruler of
maintainedthat the originallyByblite independent of Egypt,the Egyptians Byblos could have hired Egyptian
temple was rebuilt during the Old nonetheless exercised considerable architects to design and rebuild the
Kingdomto serve the religious needs cultural influence over the city. Byblite temple. Thus, despite ap-
of the Egyptianmercantile agents Although this point of view is parent Egyptianinfluences, this
stationed in Byblos. Indeed, it ap- often asserted as fact, doubts remain temple may have been constructed
pears that the rebuildingof the about its certainty.In the Middle and intended for the worship of
temple in this period may have been Kingdom,Baalatwas associated Syro-Palestiniandeities by natives
inspired architecturallyby numer- with the Egyptiangoddess Hathor, of Byblos.
ous features found in king Sahure's who often served as a patron goddess An alternative suggestion is that
valley temple in Egypt(Saghieh1983: in foreign lands. To date, however, the stone vessels were, in reality,
121,number 33). Fromthis perspec- there is no hardevidence that this payment for the supplied wood
tive, the vessels can be seen as dedi- association was maintained in the (Stadelmann 1967:8; Helck 1971:21)
catory or votive objects that were Old Kingdom (Helck 1971:22).'~ and, as such, were donated to the
donatedby the Egyptiansto gain the Without definite evidence from temple as the personal propertyof
favorand protection of the temple Byblos connecting Hathor and Baalat the Byblite rulers. In a similar vein,

deity or two separateEgyptianwords
meaning "onewho appearsburning,"
this being an Egyptianparaphrase
for a Syro-Palestiniangod who was
deemed to have such a characteristic
(Stadelmann1967:8; Helck 1971:22).
In connection with the latter possi-
bility, the "onewho appearsburning"
is most frequently identified with
the Syro-Palestiniandeities Resheph
The most interesting feature of this stone cylinder seal (Stadelmann 1967: 8, number 2;
discovered at Byblos is the unusual spacing of the Xella and Scandone-Matthiae1981)
Egyptian hieroglyphs. In most royal inscriptions the and Tammuz (Helck 1971:23). These
hieroglyphs are carefully spaced, but the images on identifications are highly specula-
this seal, as seen in the handcopy of its impression, are
awkwardly spaced and thus difficult to read. The tive, however.
inscription probably reads "Ba'alat-ru-s-ms son ab(i) lu- Although this seal is often used
lum, the chief of the (foreign) land of Byblos, given life to demonstrate the large degree to
eternally, beloved by the foreign-sun (god), Ba'alat and
Khai-tau." The inscription essentially follows the which Byblos was drawn into Egyp-
pattern used in Egyptian royal seals and this seal is tian culture, such assessments
often used to demonstrate the large degree to which Byblos was drawn into Egyptian culture. should be made with great caution.
This assessment should be made with caution, however, as the origin and purpose of the seal
are unknown. Photograph and drawing from Chehab (1969), courtesy of the National It is not known whether the seal was
Museum, Beirut. manufacturedin Egyptor Byblos or
if it was commissioned by the ruler
Donald Redford(1981)has argued difficult to determine the intended of Byblos to emulate Egyptiancourt
that the vessels were personal pres- sequence of hieroglyphs (Goedicke style or was presented as a gift by an
ents, which played a central role in 1963b: 1-5; 1966;Albright 1964:44 Egyptian.If the seal were a gift, then
the Egyptiangift-givingeconomy. and following; Helck 1971:22). The it cannot necessarily be taken as
This analysis, however,is based on inscription probablyreadsas follows: proof that the ruler of Byblos was in
later New Kingdomanalogies where "Ba'alat-ru-s-m's son ab(i)lu-lum, the some way adopting Egyptiancourt
presents such as alabastervessels chief of the (foreign)land of Byblos, style, since there is no evidence that
served as "rewardsto faithful vassals" given life eternally,beloved by the he ever used it.
(Redford1981:8). foreign-sun(god),Ba'alatand Khai-tau There is also the question of
The validityof either explanation (Hc-t3w)"(Helck 1971:22). With the why Khai-tauwas included in the
cannot be determined by the present exceptionof naming the ruler'sfather, PyramidTexts. A plausible, though
evidence, but both may be correct in the inscription essentially follows weak, explanation has been put forth.
part. In any event, the presence of the pattern of Egyptianroyalseals First of all, one should recall that
some Egyptianstone vessels and the (Helck 1971:22). The three deities the primary function of the Pyramid
fact of some architecturalsimilari- mentioned on the seal - the foreign Texts was to guide the king through
ties to one Egyptiantemple are cer- sun-god(perhapsthe Semitic sun-god the various steps in the process of
tainly not sufficient evidence to sup- Shamash),Baalat,and Khai-tau- are his resurrection and ascent to the
port William F.Albright'spersistent definitelynot Egyptiangods,however. next world in the sky. Utterance 322,
claim that Byblos was an Egyptian With the exception of this cylin- where one mention of Khai-tau
colony under imperial domination der seal, Khai-tauis mentioned in appears,is one of the so-called ascen-
(Albright 1961:332-33). only three PyramidTexts:utterances sion texts, which were specifically
One of the most intriguing ob- 238, spell 242; 282, spell 423; and designed to aid the king in his ritual
jects discoveredin Byblos is a stone 322, spell 518. He is not attested passage to the heavens. In the ascen-
cylinder seal, ostensibly belonging to in any Syro-Palestiniantexts. In ut- sion texts the king often identifies
a city ruler, inscribed with Egyptian terance 322 he is said to "dwellin himself with other divinities or
hieroglyphs (Montet 1923: 180-83; Negau (Ng3w),"the Egyptianname animals, such as birds, so that he
1928:62-68, figure 20, plate XXXIX, for the region near modern Lebanon'6 might assume their various attributes
item 42). Unlike the carefully spaced (Montet 1923).Other than his ori- and use them to overcome any hin-
hieroglyphic writing found in most gin, very little is known about Khai- drances in the course of his ascent
Egyptianroyalinscriptions, the tau. It is uncertain whether the (Davis 1977: 167). One such hin-
signs on this seal are awkwardly name is an Egyptiantranscriptionof drance was the locked wooden gates
distributedon the surface, making it a Semitic-named Syro-Palestinian at the entrance of heaven. It has

been arguedthat the Egyptiansbe- the Near East (Matthiae 1980: 178). lands, King of Upper and Lower
lieved that these largegates were In 1977, duringthe fourteenth Egypt, Son of Hathor, Ladyof Den-
made from the pine trees of the season of excavationat Ebla,three dera, Pepi I."This piece must have
Byblos region in Syro-Palestine. fragments of stone vases bearing arrivedin Eblawithin a century of
Thus, by claiming himself to be Egyptianhieroglyphs were found its fabricationsince, as just men-
Khai-tau,the god of this wooded among the charreddebris of Royal tioned, RoyalPalace G was burnedin
region, the king would gain power Palace G. Beforethe discovery of connection with the general destruc-
overthe wood and cause the gates to these pieces, Bybloswas the northern- tion of the city by either Sargonor,
open for him (Stadelmann1967:9). most site in Syro-Palestinein which more likely, Naram-Sinof Akkad
Although it can be demonstrated documented Old KingdomEgyptian around2250 B.C.E.(PepiI's reign
that the Egyptianshad some knowl- foreign objects had been discovered. ended around 2361 B.C.E.)
edge of Syro-Palestiniandivinities at Two of these fragments are bad- Although this jarmay have
least by the time the PyramidTexts ly damagedpieces of a diorite vase, reached Eblathrough Byblos,the
were compiled, it cannot be inferred each of which bears portions of the possibility of direct contact between
that Khai-tauwas worshippedas a set of titles of the FourthDynasty Ebla and Egyptcannot be excluded.
deity in Egyptor that Syro-Palestinian pharaohKhafre(Khefren).These The primarydifficulty is that al-
deities significantly influenced Khafrefragments are from fine though severalhundredtoponyms
Egyptianculture outside of this quality vases that would have been (orplace-names)are mentioned in
special circumstance found in the greatly valued in the ancient world the Eblatexts, scholars are uncertain
PyramidTexts. (Matthiae 1978; Scandone-Matthiae about a largenumber of their identi-
1979-1980). To date, the only other fications (Archi 1980:4). It is there-
Ebla object with Khafre'sname that has fore difficult,particularlyin southern
One of the most important archae- been found in Syro-Palestineis the Syro-Palestine,to assess the geo-
ological discoveries in recent decades cylinder seal from Byblos mentioned graphicalboundaries of Ebla'ssphere
is the Northern Syriancity of Ebla in the previous section. of influence and how closely these
(modern Tell Mardikh), located ap- The question still remains:How boundariesmay have approached
proximately 140 miles to the north and when did these FourthDynasty Egypt's.Neither Egyptnor Eblamen-
of Byblos,midway between the pieces first appearin Ebla?Unfor- tion each other in any of their re-
Euphrates and the Mediterranean tunately, the archaeologicalcontext spective written documents from
Sea. The site was first excavatedin can only place their time of arrival this period that have been discovered
1964 by Paolo Matthiae from the somewhere after the beginning of to date. We are even uncertain
University of Rome. In 1973, after Khafre's reign, at about 2527 B.C.E., whether Byblos is mentioned in
nine years of excavations,archae- and before the destruction of Royal Ebla'stoponym lists (Archi 1980:3,
ologists began to uncover Royal PalaceG, about 2250 B.C.E.Therefore, Matthiae 1980: 11;Pettinato 1981:
Palace G, which dates to 2700 to it is possible that the vases arrived 226). Although it appearsthat Ebla's
2250 B.C.E.Over the next few years more than three hundredyears after main cultural and commercial inter-
nearly 17,000 clay tablets were dis- their manufactureand were pre- ests were directed more toward
in
covered the palace archives. The served for such a long time because Mesopotamia, its sphere of influence
preliminary analysis of these tablets, of their artistic value. in Syro-Palestinemay have been in
consisting of economic/commercial How they arrivedis an even proximity to Egyptduring this time
recordsand historical documents more difficult problem. Since Ebla so that a direct exchange would have
such as letters, decrees, and treaties, did not become an important com- been possible.
has greatly expandedour knowledge mercial center for another hundred
of Syro-Palestinian history from the years (Mardikh IIB1, 2400 to 2250 Wenet
third millennium. These texts reveal B.C.E.), it is generally believed that Wenet (Wn.t), a place-name often
that by the Mardikh IIB2 period the Egyptian pieces reached Ebla associated with Syro-Palestinian
(around 2400 to 2250 B.C.E.),Ebla indirectly through trade at Byblos. fortified cities or strongholds, is
was at the center of a great com- The third inscription from Ebla's mentioned five times in the Old
mercial empire. This city's strategic Royal Palace G is on a lid from an Kingdom Egyptian texts (Zibelius
position in Syro-Palestine between alabaster jar, which probably con- 1978: 67-69). The earliest reference
Mesopotamia and Anatolia enabled tained precious oil or some aromatic from the Old Kingdom is in the list
it to control the movement of trade substance. The inscription on this jar, of titles of an official named li-Kai-
goods, particularly timber supplies manufactured in the Sixth Dynasty Nedes (li-K,.i-nds). Inscribed on a
from western Syro-Palestine and under the commission of pharaoh tomb relief panel from Sakkara, one
metals from Anatolia, throughout Pepi I, reads, "Beloved of the two of this official's titles describes him

as a "recruiterof the desert guides of These scenes seem to be connected Bottero 1968: 45), they were less
Wenetand everyforeignland"(Fischer with funeraryrituals and therefore than efficient plunderers.It'shardly
1959: 263) or, accordingto Wolfgang providelittle information concerning lucrative to raid the same people five
Helck, "caravanleader to Wenet and Wenet'slocation. It has been noted, times within such a short time
all foreign lands"(Helck 1971: 17).In however,that in spell 150 of the Book frame (Sethe 1933: 104, lines 6-10).
either of these translations, the of the Dead'19(Fischer 1958:264) Weni'sarmy was levied from the
name Wenet seems to referto a for- these two names appearas the ninth breadthof Egypt, including peoples
eign place that one needed a skilled and tenth places in the Netherworld. from Nubia. His army'sjourney is
guide to find. One explanation proposedby Helck described as follows: "Iled them
The next Wenet reference is in (1971)is that, for the Egyptians,terri- from Northern Isle and/ofthe
the autobiographicaltomb inscrip- tories outside of the boundaries of Gate of ly-hotep in the district of
tion of a Fifth Dynasty scribe named Egyptbelonged to the sphere of Horus-Lordof Truth"(Sethe 1933:
Kai-aper(K3.i-cpr).One of his most chaos, as did the Netherworld. Thus, 102, line 18, through 103, line 1).
prominent titles describes him as Wenet and Idamay have been two Unfortunately, the three places
"scribeof the king's army in Wenet" foreign places that were transported underlined in the passage have not
as well as five other places: Serer into the religious sphere. yet been identified. Since none of
(Srr),Tepa(Tp3),Ida (Id3),Hetyu The last but most informative these names bears the foreign place
Fekat (Hty.w fk3. t; Terrace of Tur- referenceto date was found in the determinative, it is assumed that
quoise, the mining region of Wadi famous Abydos tomb inscription of they referto Egyptianlocations. It is
Magahara in the Sinai), and Hasut Weni, the governorof Upper Egypt not clear from the Egyptianpreposi-
Imenet Iabet (H3s.wt Imnt. t i3bt; the whose long careerspanned the tion used whether Weni led his
western and eastern deserts). The reigns of the first three kings of the troops "from,""in,""bymeans of,"or
locations of Sererand Tepa'7are un- Sixth Dynasty (Sethe 1933: 103). "into"the underlined sites. The fol-
known. The title "scribeof the army" The text relates how, under the lowing portion of the text, written
is not well attested to in the Old direction of king Mernere,Weni led in poetic meter, reads:
Kingdom, and, therefore, it is diffi- an army to the land of the Heryu-Sha This army returned in safety,
cult to graspwhat the duties of this the "SandDwellers,"who After it had ravagedthe Sand-
office included. Nevertheless, it is later on the text are associated
in
(H.ryw-'c), Dweller's land.
significant that Kai-aper'sinscrip- with Wenet strongholds.The pur- This army returned in safety,
tion links Wenet with the military pose of the military action is not After it had flattened the Sand-
(Fischer 1958:261). given. The text simply mentions Dweller's land.
In the Sixth Dynasty tomb of that "whenhe had formed an army This army returned in safety,
Mereri (Mrri),Wenet is also named of many tens of thousands ... 20 his After it had attacked its Wenet
in one of his official titles: imy-r majesty took action against the Sand strongholds.
wn.wt ("overseerof Wenets";Drioton Dwellers"21(Sethe 1933: 101,9-10). This army returned in safety,
1943:488). Here Wenet is rendered The text later mentions that After it had cut down its figs
plural by the placement of three en- Weni and his army took such action and vines.
closures, or house determinitives,'8 every time the Sand Dwellers "re- This army returnedin safety,
after the phonetic writing of Wenet. belled."Here "rebelled"might be After it had thrown fire in all of
This plural writing indicates that, in better translated as "actedup"or its [houses].
this reference at least, Wenet was "causeda disturbance,"which would This army returnedin safety,
not one particularplace. Although not imply, as Amnon Ben-Torhas After it had slain its troops by
these Wenets may have been strong- maintained, that the Egyptianshad many ten-thousands.
holds in foreign territory, it seems previously held political control This army returned in safety,
clear that they were administrative- over the area in question. (Ben-Tor After it had [carried off] many
ly under Egyptian control. 1982: 14). This language suggests [troops] as captives.
The fourth Old Kingdom refer- that the purpose of Weni's campaigns (Sethe 1933: 103, line 7,
ence to Wenet is in the Sixth Dynasty was to suppress actions of the Sand through 104, line 3).
tomb of Seneb (Snb) at Giza. The Dwellers, who for some reason were Returning to prose, Weni tells
name Wenet is used as a caption to a threatening or interfering with Egyp- how he had to return to suppress
group of scenes depicting three tian interests, rather than to conquer their rebellions five more times:
small boats and their oarsmen. The or loot (Albright 1961: 332-33). "His majesty sent me to lead this
name Wenet labels the first boat, Furthermore, if the Egyptian objec- army five times, to attack the land of
while Ida (Id3), also mentioned in tive was to seize property because of the Sand-Dwellers, as often as they
Kai-aper's tomb, labels the second. "greed for plunder" (Drower and rebelled, with these troops" (Sethe

1933: 104, lines 6 through 10). easternDelta in an effortto incor- 1977:25; Schulman 1979: 101),since
The precedingpassages supply poratethis 'Asiatic"areainto the the small promontory on the Pales-
us with severalimportant pieces of Egyptianstate seems unlikely tine coast forming part of the Bay
information concerning these (Goedicke1963a).Recentarchae- Haifa may (with a bit of imagina-
Wenets,but their locations still ological evidencefrom the eastern tion) look like a gazelle'snose. It
elude us. Weni'sdescription of the Delta datingfrom the predynastic should be remembered,however,
SandDwellers - a settled people of a periodthroughthe Old Kingdom that even if the name was originally
sizable population who lived in for- shows the materialculture to be en- related to a suggestive geographic
tified enclosures and practiced at tirely Egyptianwith a relativeabsence configuration, today,because of
least some agriculture,growing figs of examples of Syro-Palestinian changes in sea level and the effects
and grapes - has led a number of material from the Chalcolithic pe- of erosion over thousands of years,
scholars, both Egyptologistsand riod or the EarlyBronzeAge (Kemp the site may no longer exist or the
Syro-Palestinianexperts, to conclude 1983: 138). original shape may no longer be
that Weni'scampaigns must have Accordingto Fischer's(1958: discernible.
been directed at the people of 264) analysis of these various refer- Helck (1971:18)has proposed
southern Palestine. ences to Wenet, the term seems to that the landing of Weni'stroops
Central to determining the designate a specific place in the First must have taken place closer to
geographiclocation of the Wenets through Fifth Dynasties. Wenetmay Egyptianterritory,probablyon the
and, therefore,the site of Weni's have originally been the majorEgyp- southwestern coast of Sinai, and he
campaigns is the identification of tian garrisonon Egypt'seastern suggested Mount Casius. Hans
the so-called Sand Dwellers (literal- border,perhapsused to guardthe Goedicke (1963a)has posited that it
ly, "thosewho are upon the sand" frontier and serve as a rest stop for occurredin the WadiTumilat on the
Couroyer 1971).Many Egyptologists Egyptianexpeditions into the Sinai way to the Red Sea. ElmarEdel
have interpretedthe Egyptianname or EasternDesert along the Red (1981:10"--11*) has proposedthat the
for these people as meaning "inhab- Sea.23This would explain its connec- Egyptianuse of the word"nose"in
itants of the desert,"that is, nomads tion with the Egyptianarmy as well the place-name implies a mountain
or bedouins (Faulkner:1976: 175). as its later adoption by Egyptianreli- that was located not far from Egypt,
The textual evidence does not sup- gion as an undesirableplace in the possibly in Palestine. Since Weni
port this interpretation,however Netherworld.Fromthe Sixth Dynasty offeredno information concerning
(Redford1986: 126). on it seems to be a general term for the startingpoint of his campaign,
Besides Weni'sautobiography, such walled (garrison?)settlements what body of water he crossed, or
the only other document that in- and was usually associated with the length of time it took to reach
forms us of the Sand Dwellers with Asiatics (Fischer 1958:264). Gazelle's Nose, its location must
any detail is the previouslymentioned remain uncertain.
autobiographicaltomb inscriptionof Gazelle's Nose
a Sixth Dynasty Elephantineofficial After his five campaigns against the Nedia
named Pepi-nacht.In Pepi-nacht'sac- Sand Dwellers, Weni relates how "it One piece of evidence that is fre-
count, a narrationof his partin a was said that there were rebels in quently used to supportthe claim of
punitive mission againstthem, the regardto the affairwith these people Egyptianaggressionin Syro-Palestine
SandDwellers are presentedas a at the Gazelle'sNose. I ferriedacross in the same manner as Weni'scam-
settled people inhabitingthe Eastern in bargeswith these troops. While paigns is in the Sixth Dynasty25
Desert where limited cultivationwas fully half of this army was on the Dashesha tomb of an official named
possible (Kemp1983:121).22 There- road, I made a landing at the back of Inti (Petrie1898).Inti'stomb relief
fore, Weni's campaigns against the the height of the ridge, to the north depicts a fortified enclosure or a
people who had Wenet strongholds of the land of the Sand Dwellers" walled village under siege by Egyp-
cannot be accepted as necessarily (Sethe 1933: 104). tian troops. The shape of this forti-
taking place in southern Palestine. Speculations concerning the fied enclosure, an oval with round
One consideration in favor of Wenet's location of Gazelle's Nose24 are bastions at regular intervals, is simi-
being in Syro-Palestine, however, is numerous. For the most part they lar to the Wenet forts mentioned in
that, to date, no such fortified struc- involve various geographic sites that Weni's inscription and several other
tures have been found in the Eastern scholars believe in some way re- Old Kingdom texts.
Desert or the Sinai. semble a gazelle's nose. The favored The scene consists of four regis-
The suggestion that Weni's five site appears to be in the area of the ters, a pictorial style used by the
campaigns against the Sand Dwellers Mount Carmel Range (Gauthier Egyptians to narrate an event chro-
were directed against people of the 1921-1931, volume 5: 144; Aharoni nologically (Smith 1965: 149). The

It has been suggested that the rulersof Egyptin the Old Kingdomtook an aggressivestance towardSyro-Palestine.One piece of evidence given
in supportof this claim is a relief found at Dashesha in the tomb of a Sixth Dynasty official named Inti. The relief depicts a fortified structure
or walled village undersiege by Egyptiantroops.The oval shape of the enclosure with round bastions at regularintervals brings to mind the
Syro-Palestinianstrongholdsmentioned by Weni,an Egyptiangovernorwho led severalmilitary campaigns against a settled agricultural
people known as the Sand Dwellers. The scene is depicted in four differentregisters,which are used to indicate the propersequence of events.
The top threeregistersportrayclean-shavenEgyptiansbattling enemies who seem to have the characteristicbeards (suggestedby the pointy
chins) and dress (headbands)of Syro-Palestine.The last registershows the inhabitants of the enclosure in submissive positions and the
Egyptiansleading some of them away as captives. Note that the Egyptiansare not depicted as carryingoff plunder,however.Drawing from
Smith (1965),courtesy of YaleUniversity Press.
top three registersmostly depict the situation portrayedin Weni'sauto- Shasu

Egyptiansbattling enemies who ap- biographicaltext, this scene depicts Apart from the two private tombs at
pear to have beardsand dress charac- the Egyptianstaking a few live cap- Dashesha and Sakkara,the only
teristic of Syro-Palestine.The last tives ratherthan carryingoff booty other Old Kingdombattle scene
registershows the inhabitants of the or plunder. discoveredto date was found on a
fortressin positions of submission A second battle scene, from the stone block from the causeway of
and the Egyptiansleading many of Sakkaratomb of Kai-em-hesit(K3-m- king Unas' mortuary temple in
them awayas captives. The inscrip- hs. t) has been linked to either the Sakkara(Hassan 1955: 138;Smith
tion accompanyingthe scene is bad- same battle or the presumed uni- 1965: 148).The badly damagedblock
ly damaged;only a few words are versal Egyptianhostility toward depicts an Egyptianready to shoot
preserved.One of these words reads Syro-Palestinein the Sixth Dynasty one of the downed enemies and two
"Nedia"26 (Ndi3)and appearsto fol- that is representedin the tomb of figures struggling in hand-to-hand
low another place-name,which is Inti (Lapp1970: 122).This interpre- combat. At the top of the scene is a
entirely lost except for the crenu- tation is difficult to accept, however. broken off word that ends with the
lated fortressdeterminative contain- The village under siege in Kai-em- hieroglyphic signs for sw. Many
ing a bound captive. Unfortunately, hesit's tomb is drawnwith a single scholars reconstruct this word as
Nedia is not mentioned in any other smooth line without crenulations, Shasu (Ssw), a name later given to
written document; without a con- unlike the one in Inti's tomb. More Syro-Palestinianpeople living in the
text from the accompanyingtext, we important, the inhabitants inside desert region northeast of Egypt.
cannot be certain that the word rep- Kai-em-hesit'stomb are beardless, Notwithstanding the uncertainty
resents the name of the village de- which seriously casts doubts on their over whether or not the word actual-
picted in the inscription. As in the identification as Syro-Palestinians. ly was Shasu, it is plausible to inter-

Libyanruler in front of the latter's
wife and sons (Jequier1938:plate 8).
Next to this scene is a detailed list of
the Libyanlivestock that was taken
as plunder.At face value it would ap-
pear that Pepi II was a great warrior
who had recordeda historical vic-
tory over the Libyans.Historians
interested in Egyptianforeign affairs
would have undoubtedly written
about Pepi II's"battle"against the
Libyanshad it not been discovered
that the exact same scene was carved
two hundredyears earlier on Sahure's
pyramidtemple (Borchardt1913,
volume 2: plate 1)and again, more
than eighteen centuries after Pepi II,
on a monument of Taharka's(Maca-
dam 1955:plate 19)in Nubia. In
each case, the scene, the names of
the individual Libyans,and the list
of plunder are virtually identical.
Thus, instead of their being
seen as descriptions of historical
events, such depictions of foreign
conquests should be understood as
theological documents within the
context of Egyptiandivine kingship.
One of the primary ideological func-
tions of the Egyptianking was to es-
tablish and maintain orderagainst
the ever-threateningpowers of chaos.
The portrayalof the king subduing
an enemy was thereforea general
theological statement of the king's
efficacy in this role. The scene may
have originally been based on a his-
This battle scene, from the tomb of Kai-em-hesitat Sakkara,has also been cited as evidence toric incident, but this aspect played
of Egypt'suniversalhostility towardSyro-Palestine.Whatmakes this interpretationdifficult a relatively subordinaterole in the
to accept, however,is the fact that the inhabitants of this enclosure are beardless, which mind of the Egyptianartist (Moscati
stronglysuggests they are not Syro-Palestinians.Also, the village undersiege is drawn with a
single smooth line without the crenulations (representativeof bastions) seen in Inti's tomb 1963: 78-79; Frankfort1978:9). Pepi
relief. Drawing from Smith (1965),courtesy of YaleUniversity Press. II'smotive for copying a conquest
scene from a much earlier predeces-
sor was not merely the result of a
pret from this scene that the Egyp- structing Egyptian/Syro-Palestinian lack of imagination. Rather, this "is
tians were defending themselves or foreign affairsrelates to a more a clear illustration of what Wilson
their borderzone against these general problem scholars have in termed the 'royal myth' one major
people, as opposed to the more popu- evaluating royalideology and Egyp- aspect of which was that any partic-
lar interpretationthat the Egyptians tian historiography.There are several ularly noteworthy act of one king
were attacking Syro-Palestinians cases where Old Kingdomroyal automatically became part of the
(Drowerand Bottero 1968:45). monuments have provendistinctly royal persona and every succeeding
unreliable as historic evidence. The king felt constrained to repeat it."
A Note of Caution most famous example comes from a (Schulman 1979: 88).
An important issue concerning the scene in Pepi II'spyramidtemple A second aspect concerning
use of this sort of evidence in recon- where the king is shown slaying a Egyptian royal conquest scenes and

In addition to the tombs of Inti and Kai-em-hesit,this is the only other Old Kingdombattle scene known to date. It is on a badly damaged
stone block from the causeway of the mortuarytemple of king Unas at Sakkara.The scene depicts an Egyptianwith his bow drawn about to
shoot a fallen enemy while two otherfiguresstrugglein hand-to-handcombat. A brokenword at the top of the scene ends with the hieroglyphic
signs for sw. Many scholars reconstructfrom this the word Shasu,a name that has been given to Syro-Palestinianpeople living in the desert
regionnortheast of Egypt.Thus, the most popularinterpretationof the scene is that it shows the Egyptiansattacking Syro-Palestinians.It is
just as plausible, however,to posit that the Egyptiansare defending themselves or their borderagainst attack. It should also be kept in mind
that royalmonuments of the Old Kingdomhave provento be an unreliable source of historical evidence. Photographfrom Smith (1965),
courtesy of YaleUniversity Press.
inscriptions is that in some cases Egyptian/Syro-Palestinianrelations the Third Dynasty are particularly
these scenes were displayedto magi- is extremely meager,the most per- poor. Only one tenuous reference
cally protect the Egyptiansfrom hos- suasive analysis of the protodynastic has so far come to light: the mention
tile foreign enemies, not to com- corpus of written evidence, in addi- of Wenet in li-Kai-Nedes'titulary.
memorate an actual event. Since tion to other archaeological sources, Despite numerous references,Wenet
this genre of scene was often copied is that Egyptian/Syro-Palestinian or Wenets cannot be definitely placed
and could not, in principle, have contacts were primarily reciprocal in a Syro-Palestiniancontext. Before
been intended to depict any actual commercial ventures ratherthan ex- the Sixth Dynasty, Wenet was prob-
occurrence, all such scenes must be ploitive imperial conquests (Ben-Tor ably located somewhere on Egypt's
considered factually suspect. They 1982;Beit-Arieh1984). borderzone. In addition, archae-
thereforehave little value for the Evidence from the Old King- ological evidence for this period is
historical reconstruction of Egyptian dom, however,seems to indicate a limited to a few uninscribed stone
foreign affairs. complete severanceof Egyptianties bowls of Egyptianmanufacture
with Palestine proper.Not one single found at Byblos (Dunand 1939, vol-
Conclusion Egyptianartifact dating to the Old ume 1:number 1830; 1958, volume
At the beginning of the Old Kingdom, Kingdomhas been found in Pales- 2: number 12057)and some wood be-
the characterof Egyptian/Syro- tine, nor have any Palestinian arti- lieved to be of Syrian origin found at
Palestinian foreign relations under- facts from this period been found in Dzoser's Step Pyramid site at Sak-
went a fundamental change. In the Egypt.Fromthe Third Dynasty on kara (Ward1963:21).
precedingprotodynasticperiod their Egypttook control of the Sinai; no Documentation for Egyptian
of
points contact, as attested by writ- EarlyBronzeIIIevidence of Pales- Syro-Palestiniancontacts in the
ten documents, were centered in tinian copper exploitation in this FourthDynasty is more abundant.
southernPalestine,particularlyArad, areahas been found (Ben-Tor1982: Egypt'strade relations with Byblos
Tel Gath, and cEn Besor (Wright 21). At the same time, Egyptbegan became firmly established and ap-
1985).Archaeological evidence indi- to focus its trade relations with pear to have expandedthroughout
cates that Syro-Palestinianswere in Syriaat Byblos and, later on, pos- the course of the Old Kingdom.
control of the Sinai and exploited its sibly as farnorth as Ebla. With the exception of the Syrian
copperand mineral resources.Al- The literary sources for Egyp- wood, resinous by-products,and oil,
though the material bearing on tian contacts with Syro-Palestinein little is known about the actual

commodities that were traded, as no tine and Syria. The motive for their roundingthe Old Kingdompyramids,
business records or inventory docu- expeditions must largely have been particularlyat Giza and Sakkara.
ments have been discovered in either greed for plunder, and especially for Mastaba is the Arabicword for bench.
area. The question of what sorts of captives who would be brought back These tombs, each of which is for a
products Egypt exported to Syro- to slavery. The sight of Egyptian sol- single individual of the Old Kingdom
Palestine is speculative (see Ward period, are so named because their
diery pillaging and laying waste their
Ben-Tor It is land must have become familiar to rectangularshape with slightly inclined
1964; 1982). relatively walls resembles the benches commonly
certain, however, that commercial the Canaanites" (Drower and Bottero found outside of modern Egyptian
relations were effected by sea trans- 1968: 45). homes. Eachtomb consists of two parts,
portation, thus bypassing Palestine. Regrettably, such sweeping his- an undergroundburial chamber covered
Despite numerous Egyptian and torical conclusions are drawn despite by an above-groundchapel. The chapel
Syrian objects found in their respec- the fact that not a single Palestinian walls were often decoratedwith scenes
tive countries, little is known also place can be definitively located from everydaylife and inscribedwith
about the cultural influences that from Old Kingdom Egyptian texts. funeraryoffering lists and sometimes
resulted from their commercial rela- With the exception of Weni's cam- the deceased'sautobiography.
2In two recent publications, Ancient
tionship. After centuries of continu- paigns, which were probably directed
ous trade, Syrian products such as Egyptand Some EasternNeighbors
against a Palestinian city, all the
(1981)and Ancient Byblos Reconsidered
pine oils and resins were incorpo- remaining evidence can be seriously
rated as important ingredients in (1985),AlessandraNibbi contends that
challenged in regard to the represen- this is not the site of ancient Byblos
Egyptian funerary rituals. References tation of a Syro-Palestinian place or documented in Egyptianliterary records
to the Syro-Palestinian god Khai-tau battle. There is not one shred of evi- and considers other sites for its location.
in the Pyramid Texts suggest that the dence to indicate that the Egyptians The logic behind this claim, however,is
Egyptians had at least some knowl- took plunder from any Palestinian poorly argued,and her conclusions are
edge of Syro-Palestinian deities in city, and although captives may have unfounded. Forcritical reviews see
the Byblos area. been taken, there are no Egyptian rec- Kitchen (1983),Schulman (1984),and
We are even less certain as to the ords of slaves from the Old Kingdom. Lorton(1986).
effect of this city's contact with Egypt. Furthermore, as stated previously, 3Inthe Old Kingdomritual, melted
Egyptian architects undoubtedly pine resin was pouredover the body to
any evidence from royal monuments
help suppressbacterialgrowth and there-
played a role in the design of the that depicts Egyptian hostility against
by facilitatethe preservationof the corpse.
Baalat temple, but it is not known if foreign peoples must be viewed as 4cS wood, which is frequently trans-
the temple was in any way intended having more basis in theology than lated as "cedar,"was probablyappliedto a
for Egyptian use; neither is there in historical fact. As such, this evi- number of differentspecies of coniferous
proof that some Egyptians perma- dence should not be used without trees such as juniperand fir.
nently resided in Byblos and used question as a documentary source 5The PalermoStone is a fragmentof
such a temple. There is no evidence for Egyptian foreign affairs. an Old Kingdomroyalannal now housed
that Byblites had any knowledge of None of this is to say that the in the PalermoMuseum in Sicily. It con-
Egyptian divinities. It is question- Egyptians never attacked Palestinian tains recordsof noteworthyevents in the
able whether the cylinder seal of the cities, or plundered, or took captives reigns of individual kings from the pre-
ruler of Byblos does in fact show for slaves. At issue is the all too dynastic period to Nefirkere, the third
that Byblite royalty tried to copy common practice of accepting king of the Fifth Dynasty.
6See PyramidTextutterance 716,
Egyptian court style. tenuous pieces of evidence, without
spell 2223.
Although it is generally agreed reservation and often out of context,
7Allof the hieroglyphic signs (except
that Egyptian relations with Syria then drawing conclusions from this determinatives)representconsonants;
were based on reciprocal state trade, evidence and stating these conclu- Egyptianhieroglyphicwriting does not
the evidence for Egyptian contacts sions as historical truths rather than include any vowels. (Severalhieroglyphs
with Palestine proper is most often as hypotheses. There undoubtedly are often transliteratedas vowels be-
interpreted as indicating Egyptian were some hostile contacts between cause their approximatesound values
hostility toward the Palestinians. the Palestinians and Egyptians, but are closer to vowels than any of the con-
Not untypical of this point of view the frequency, nature, and motives sonants in the Romanalphabet.Never-
is the following statement from the behind such contacts cannot be theless, these signs still function as
consonants in the Egyptianwords.)
Cambridge Ancient History, which determined by the present evidence.
Egyptologistsartificially insert vowels
sums up the discussion of the rele- between the consonants of Egyptian
vant material: "In the years to come Notes words to make them pronounceable.(It
the Egyptians were to gain much 'Mastaba is the modern name for must be stressed, however,that the origi-
experience of siege warfare in Pales- tombs found in the necropolises sur- nal pronunciations of Egyptianwords

are almost entirely unknown.) Regret- deceased is identified as Tp3Snb.Since him... I slew the people among them
tably, there is no standardizedmethod the name appearson other parts of the (i.e. the Sand Dwellers) and the troop of
for the selection or placement of vowels door as simply Snb, it may be interpreted the army which was with me"(Sethe
in Egyptianwords.This accounts for the as "theman of 7T3,Snb"similar to Wnt..t 1933: 134, line 13 and following).
confusing discrepanciesin the spelling of Byblos (Fischer1958:265). The exact location of Punt is un-
of ethnic and geographicnames found in '8Determinativesare hieroglyphic known, but from the descriptionof items
various translations of Egyptiantexts. In signs that essentially function as pic- procuredthere, it is most certainly
this article,both the originalhieroglyphic tures. A determinativeis placed at the somewhere along the littoral of the Red
transcriptionsand transcriptionswith end of the word to help indicate its Sea, perhapsthe areaof Southern Arabia
vowels are given. meaning. Determinatives have no or the Somali coast (Kemp1983: 136-37).
8Thefalse door in Egyptianmonu- phonetic value. Thus, cn-ankht, at the time of his assas-
ments was an imitation, nonfunctional 19TheBook of the Dead is an as- sination, must have been building his
door often carvedinto the stone walls of semblage of funeraryspells that was ship on the eastern Red Sea coast. Since
the tomb through which the soul could written on papyrusand placed in the Pepi-nachtwas a resident official in
pass. The ritual funeraryofferingwas tombs of wealthy Egyptians.The Book of Elephantine (Aswan),he was probably
performedbefore such doors. the Dead was used from the New King- called on for this task because his dis-
9Porterand Moss (1974,volume 3, dom down to the Romanperiod. trict was closest to the incident on the
part 1:48), however,maintain that this 20Thisis probablyan exaggeration. Red Sea. Given the distance between the
false door dates from the Fifth or Sixth 21Goedickehas translatedthe phrase Red Sea and the Old Kingdomcapital at
Dynasty. "tookaction against"(hsfht n) as "to Memphis, at least severalweeks must
'0See 1 Kings 5:18and Ezekiel 27:9. seize the propertyof"and therebyinter- have elapsed before word of cn-ankh's
"See the extensive bibliographyof prets this military action as an offensive assassination reachedthe king and Pepi-
classical sourcesin Jidejian(1968:213-14). raid on the part of the Egyptiansto ob- nacht's subsequent journeyto the Red
12Forreferences concerning the tain booty (Goedicke 1963a:189;Ben-Tor Sea to punish the SandDwellers. The
Egyptianhieroglyphic transcriptionsof 1982: 14).The verb (hsf),however,is fact that Pepi-nachtwas able to find and
Semitic Syro-Palestinianplace-names, almost alwaysused in connection with kill the murderingSandDwellers weeks
see Albright (1934)and Helck (1971: defensive actions such as "torestrain," after the incident must mean that they
505-81). "topunish,""todrive away,""toredressa were settled in one place ratherthan
'3The Museum of Archaeologyof wrong,"and so on (Faulkner1976: 196). nomadic.
the American Museum of Beirut has Goedicke'sargumentwould be more per- The term 3amu, usually translated
purchasedseveralstone vase fragments suasive if it providedsome clear examples as "Asiatics,"is not justified in Old King-
inscribed with the names of Egyptian of this verb (hsf)being used in connec- dom contexts. This term has been applied
kings from the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties. tion with taking specific property.The by the Egyptiansto Libyans,Asiatics,
Although their original province is un- word (ht)can mean property,but it can and Nubians as well as to the inhabitants
known, these fragmentsundoubtedly also mean "matter," or "situation."
"affair," of the EasternDesert between the Nile
came from Byblos as well (Nelson 1934). In this usage the passageshould be trans- Valley and the Red Sea (Brovarskiand
14The heb sed was an important lated as "Hismajesty punished the ac- Murnane 1969:number 1).
royalfestival that was held to renew the tion (the matter) of the SandDwellers." 23Helcksuggests Raphia (Helck
king's potency. Sometimes it was cele- Furthermore,if Weni'smain objective 1971: 17).
bratedthirty years after the king's acces- was to "seizethe property"of the Sand 24Thetransliterationirt tp qhs is
sion, but some rulers celebratedit at Dwellers, one would expect him to list sometimes translated"Antelope'snose."
shorter intervals. the kinds and amount of propertyob- 25Petrie(1898)dated this tomb to
'5Forpossible circumstantial evi- tained in these raids.With the exception the Fifth Dynasty, but it must date to
dence of Hathor'sassociation with Baalat of taking some live captives, the text the Sixth (Baer1960:58).
in the Old Kingdom,see Schulman only mentions how Weni razedthe Sand 26Albright(1934:9, number 23) pro-
(1979:92-93). Dwellers'land and property.This beha- posed that Nedia is the Egyptianspelling
16Anotherreferenceconnecting vior is certainly more in keeping with for Laudi-El(LoziEl). Yeivin (1959:160)
Negau with the wooded region of Leba- punishment or retribution than with the believed it is a referenceto the mwty3
non is found in PyramidText utterance taking of plunder. people mentioned in a later groupof
357, spell 590 (also 367, spell 634; 468, 22Pepi-nacht'sinscription describing texts. Both suggestions are unlikely.
spell 903; and 690, spell 2107). Speaking his punitive mission against the Sand
about the deceased king (as Osiris), the Dwellers readsas follows: "Nowthe
text states that the king shall "notlan- majesty of my lord sent me to the coun- Bibliography
guish" (ng3)and "not groan" (cs). Clearly try of the 3amu people to bring him the Aharoni,Y andAvi-Yonah,
M
1977 The MacMillan Bible Atlas. New
this is a word play or pun using the sole companion [commander]of sailors, York:MacMillan.
region of Negau and the esh fir trees that the caravanconductor cn ankht who was
Albright,W
were most commonly exportedto Egypt building a Byblos ship (in orderto sail) 1934 The Vocalizationof the Egyptian
from Lebanon(Helck 1971:23). for Punt when the 3amu people belong- Syllabic Orthography.New Haven:
'7Anothermention of TP3may be ing to the SandDwellers slew him with American Oriental Society.
found on a false door at Giza where the the troop of the armywhich was with 1961 Apendix 1:The Roleof the Canaanites

in the History of Civilization. In The fundrairesde la VIedynastier6cem- Hassan, S.
Bible and the Ancient Near East: ment d6couvertesderrierela masa- 1955 The Causewayof Unis at Sakkhara.
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1969 Noms de personnalites6gyptiennes Goedicke, H. ume I: The Old and Middle King-
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1977 The Ascension-Mythin the Pyramid Instituts 19: 1-6. 1962 Ancient EgyptianMaterials and
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1925 Une hache 6gyptiennetrouvee en ume III, PartI: Abi Rawash to v.d.Walle,B.
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Saint Josephde Beyrouth 10:51-54. augmentedby J.Malek).Oxford: Agyptologie,volume 1, edited by
Matthiae, P. ClarendonPress. W.Helck and E. Otto. Wiesbaden:
1978 Communication. Recherchesarch&- Redford,D. O. Harrassowitz.
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administratifdu palais royalG. Services in the Old Kingdom. 1963 Egyptand the EastMediterranean
ComptesRendus de lAcademie des ScriptaMediterranea2: 5-16. from PredynasticTimes to the End
Inscriptions 1978:204-36. 1986 Egyptand WesternAsia in the Old of the Old Kingdom.Journalof the
1980 Ebla. An EmpireRediscovered. Kingdom.Journalof the American Economic and Social History of the
London:Hodderand Stoughton. ResearchCenterin Egypt23: 125-43. Orient 6: 1-57.
(Translatedby C. Holme from Ebla. Renan,E. 1964 The InscribedOffering-Tableof
Un ImperoRitrovato.Torino: 1864 Mission de Phinicie. Paris:Impri- Nefer-Seshem-Rafrom Byblos.Bulle-
G. Einaudi, 1977.) merie Imperiale. tin du Musee de Beyrouth 17:37-46.
Mercer,S. A. B. Rocatti, A. Wright,M.
1952 The Pyramid Textsin Translation 1982 La littdraturehistorique sous l'an- 1985 Contacts between Egyptand Syro-
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Montet, P. 1936 A Catalogue of EgyptianScarabs, 240-53.
1923 Le pays de Negaou pres de Bybloset Scaraboids,Seals,and Amulets in the Xella, P.,and Scandone-Matthiae,G.
son dieu. SyrieIV:180-82. Palestine ArchaeologicalMuseum. 1981 Hcyt'w di Biblio = Rasap?Rivista di
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1954 Byblos et les Navies giblites. Kemi Warminster,England:Aris & Phillips. Zibelius, K.
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Moscati, S. 1946 The Navy of the EighteenthEgyp- des Alten Reiches. (Beiheftezum
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Moving?
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1981 Ancient Egyptand Some Eastern beziehungenim Alten Yorderasien Please attach your magazine mailing
Neighbors.ParkRidge,NJ:Noyes vom 4. bis 1. Jahrtausendv. Chr., label to this coupon and send both to:
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1985 Ancient Byblos Reconsidered. Berlin. Hopkins University Press, 701 West 40th
Oxford:DE Publications. Schulman, A. Street, Suite 275, Baltimore,MD 21211.
Petrie,W.M. F 1979 Beyondthe Fringe:Sourcesfor Old Be sure to include your new addresson
1898 Deshasheh. London:The Egyptian the form. Thank you!
KingdomForeignAffairs.Journalof
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Pettinato,G. Antiquities 9 (2):79-104.
1981 The Archives of Ebla. An Empire 1984 Review article of A. Nibbi'sAncient
Inscribed in Clay.GardenCity, NY: Egyptand Some EasternNeighbors.
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Piankoff,A. Sethe, K.
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gious Textsand Representations. second edition, edited by G. Stein-
Princeton:PrincetonUniversity dorfed.Leipzig:J.C. Hinrichs. Name (please print)
Press. 1935- Ubersetzungund Kommentarzu den
YourNew Address
Porter,B., and Moss, L. 1962 Altigyptischen Pyramidtexten6
1951 TopographicalBibliographyof An- volumes. Gluckstadt:J.J.Augustin.
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Egypt.Oxford:ClarendonPress. sity Press.

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James Turner Barclay
Explorer of Jerusalem
Nineteenth-Century
by Jack P Lewis
A medical and
evangelistic
missionary,
Barclay explored
Jerusalem as
the West began
its rediscovery
of the Holy Land
in the nineteenth
century.
tine was not well known

in the West. Even though
it was veneratedas the
Holy Land, had been largelyisolated
it
from Westerneyes since the days of
the Crusades.Tobe sure, European
merchants tradedalong its Mediter-
raneancoast, but Catholic pilgrimage
was no longer common, and Western
visitors to Jerusalemwere far out-
numbered by their counterparts
from the East (Shepherd1987).
The opening up of Palestine to
op
the West, and to archaeological
study, was begun by the pioneering
.
"A efforts of a small groupof explorers.
Although their explorations were
unscientific and their site identifica-
tions have since been modified or
corrected,their role in providing
access to sites and making initial

the Westernworld with its first
glimpses of these sites (Barclay1858:
483-84).
Barclaysought to providehis
contemporarieswith a comprehen-
sive view of Jerusalemwith his
book, The City of the Great King
(1858).He divided the book into
three sections, discussing (as he
understood it) the city's past, pres-
ent, and future. Although Barclay's
exploration work is now all but for-
gotten, The City of the Great King
remains a basic source of informa-
tion on Jerusalemduring the mid-
nineteenth century.
The book's longest section pre-
sents a historical reconstruction of
the city from the days of Abrahamto
the Turkishperiod.Barclayattempted
In Barclay cday the view of the Mount of Olives, as seen here on the left fromSt. Stephen' to identify particular sites men-
Gate atop the Turkishcity-walls in Jerusalem,was unencumberedby the tall structuresand tioned in biblical, rabbinic,Hellenis-
urbansmog that frustratemodern viewers. The Churchof the Ascension is visible on the
summit of the mount. Unless otherwise noted, the illustrations in this article come from tic, and other sources (forexample,
Barclay'sbook The City of the GreatKing,published in 1858. the ancient Jewishhistorian Jose-
phus) but was often unsuccessful.
archaeologicalexpeditions possible 233) and reported that in some He also drew from the accounts of
was invaluable. native villages three-fourthsof the Christian, Jewish,and Moslem pil-
One such explorerwas an population had died from the disease. grims from various eras.
American by the name of Dr. James Not surprisingly,Barclayhimself The six chapters devoted to the
TurnerBarclay. contracted malaria, even after taking Jerusalemof Barclay'sday contain
Born in 1807, the scion of an extreme medical precautions, and it many illustrations, plans, and maps,
influential Virginiafamily, Barclay nearly claimed the lives of other which significantly improved
was the grandsonof Thomas Barclay, members of his family. knowledge of the city in his time.
first U.S. consul to Franceand, later, He first lived in Jerusalem's He described the state of many holy
consul to Morocco.After Thomas Moslem Quarter,and his work soon sites, providingmeasurements of
Jefferson's death in 1826, the youn- opened doors for him, as he later several buildings and sites, including
ger Barclay became owner and re- recalled: the Dome of the Rock. In great detail
furbisherof Monticello, the third I have severaltimes been called in he described the city's flora and cli-
president'sstately Virginiahome. to see the body (or at least one of mate, documenting averagemonthly
In February1851,at the age of the bodies), of an effendi (or Mos- temperaturesbetween 1851and 1855
44, Barclay was sent to Jerusalemby lem lord),whose house opens di- and monthly rainfall levels from
the American Christian Missionary rectly into the yardof the Mosque 1846 to 1854.
Society (Barclay 1858: 584; Grey of Omar (the temple area),and Barclayalso provideddemo-
1944:36). Along with his wife Julia havethus been permitted to enjoy graphicinformation on the religious
and their three children, Barclay the much-covetedsight of that makeup of the city's population
completed two terms as a medical (tabooed)inclosure, the Haram (Barclay 1854). He reported a total of
and evangelistic missionary, the first as Sherif (Burnet1853: 167). 30,000 Jerusalem residents, 4,518 of
from 1851 to 1854, the second Ultimately he was able to do much whom were said to be Christian and
between 1858 and 1861. more than just look at what is now 10,249 Jewish (the city had fourteen
Duringthat firstsummer,Barclay called the Haramesh-Sharif,the synagogues). The remaining 15,000
found himself in a city plaguedby sacred Moslem area.His medical were presumably Moslems; most
malaria. Although hinderedby a skills gained him entry to parts of were Turks, as the city was under
lack of medical supplies, he treated the mosque-complex that had been Turkish rule at the time, although
more than 2,000 cases of malaria closed to Christians since the Cru- between 100 and 200 residents were
during his first year (Burnet 1853: sades, thus enabling him to provide Arabs and between 300 and 400 were

West Africans (Barclay1858: 587).
No settlements existed outside
Barclay provided demographic the Turkishcity-walls. Mishkenot
information, constructed maps, Sha'ananim,the first Jerusalem
neighborhood southwest of the
and described many holy sites Hinnom Valley,was not built until
in The City of the Great King. 1860, and the Russian compound
area was not acquireduntil 1858
(Bahat1983: 8, 74).
Barclay'sExplorations
As has been indicated, Barclay's
medical skills enabled him to in-
spect many Moslem holy sites,
usually under the auspices of the
Nazir Effendi,a Turkish official sent
to Jerusalemas an architect to repair
the Dome of the Rock and other
sacredsites (Barclay1858:XV,477-78,
483). The Effendihad been treated
by Barclay,and the doctor believed it
was both out of gratitude and a self-
serving desire to learn how to use
his surveyinginstruments that the
Effendiallowed him access to this
closed-off area of the city.
Haram esh-Sharif.The following are
descriptions of some of Barclay's
more important explorations in the
Above:This engravingof the Haram,or temple-complex,was taken froma drawing by Barclays Haram.
daughterSarah.Below: Interiorof the Dome of the Rock. This mosque, which houses the rock Dome of the Rock. Barclay
from which the prophetMohammedis believed to have ascended into heaven, was one of described the Dome of the Rock as a
many Moslem holy sites that were off-limits to non-Moslemsin Barclays time. His medical true octagon, with each side measur-
work,especially his treatment of a 71Trkish
official sent to repairthe mosque, enabled him to
inspect many of these sites. ing 67 feet. The circular dome ap-
peared to be coveredwith copper,
and the lower story of the building
reached a height of 46 feet (Barclay
1858:495-96). The upper portion of
the building was decoratedwith six-
teen stained-glasswindows, the
lower section with fifty-six.
The buildingwas enteredthrough
the southern door, one of four en-
trances. It housed the rock from
which the prophet Mohammed is
believed by Moslems to have ascended
into heaven. Set under a silk canopy
of rich crimson, the rock was sur-
rounded by an iron railing. Barclay's
daughter completed a colored draw-
ing of the Dome of the Rock that
was published in The City of the
Great King. Barclay also described a
marble floor, leaving one to wonder
when the Oriental rugs that are now

Formore descriptionof Barclay'sGate,
see J.J.Simons (1952:13)and Nahman
Avigad (1975: 16).Note, however,
that Simons incorrectly ascribedthe
discovery of the gate to 1848.
Waterresourcesunderthe Haram.
Accompanied by the Effendiand his
party,Barclayand his sons explored
the substructures of the Haram.
There they found a largewater reser-
voir, which Barclayconjecturedto
be the "sea"referredto in the apoc-
ryphal book of Sirach (50:3)and
Aristeas (Letterof Aristeas, 89; see
Strutt 1985).
With a circumference of 736 feet
and a depth of 42 feet, the reservoir's
estimated capacity was 2 million
gallons of water. Channels from the
el-Aqsamosque and other areas of
the Haram supplied the reservoir
Whilesurveyingthe Haramprecinct Barclaynoticed a blocked-upentrance about 82 meters with rainwater,which was drawn
from its southwest corner.He thought this gate was one of the four mentioned in a description through any of the Haram'sthirty-
of the western wall by the Jewish historian Josephusin the first century c.E. Sometime afterit
was blocked up, the corridorinto which it led, shown here, was made into a cistern. two wells.
The Hummam esh-Shefa.Pre-
vious explorershad discovereda well
so prominent made their appearance. book 15, chapter 11,paragraph5; see located 124 feet from the entrance of
Barclaydescribed other struc- Marcus and Wikgren 1963: 199). the Haram called the Hummam esh-
tures in the temple-complex, includ- BenjaminMazarhas identified Bar- Shefa (Bathof Healing). Tradition
ing the el-Aqsamosque, the Dome of clay's Gate as the Kiphonos Gate of held that the well was supplied by a
the Chain, and the pulpit that stands the Mishnah (Middoth,chapter 1, fountain that some believed was
in the open air south of the Dome of mishnah 3; see Danby 1933: 590): related to Solomon'sTemple.
the Rock (Barclay1858: 500-03). Its tremendous single-stone sill, When EdwardRobinson visited
Barclay's Gate. While surveying twenty-five feet long and over Jerusalema decade before Barclay,he
the Haramprecinct, Barclaynoticed seven feet high (7.5 x 2.1 meters), was told by men who had descended
a blocked-upentrance, located 82 rests on the master course of the the 82.5-foot well shaft that in dry
meters from the area'ssouthwest cor- WesternWall,that is, at the level periods rooms and passagewayswere
ner. The lintel of this gate is below of the thresholds of several of its visible at the bottom. Robinson
the Maghrabigate, which tourists gates. The gateway (opening)is failed in his efforts to descend into
use today to enter the Haramfrom 28.7 feet (8.75 meters) high, but the well (Robinson1841:508-12), but
the west. It is abovethe women's area the threshold is missing. . . . In- in 1842 another explorer,Samuel
of the western wall, just over the side the gate, there was once a Wolcott, succeeded and discovered
stairway that leads into a room on its vestibule which is now blocked arched recesses in the rock abovethe
south side. Only a part of the lintel by a wall. Behind the wall a pas- water level. The water was about 4.5
is still visible. Some time after the sage leads through one or two feet deep at the time and flowed in
gate was filled in, the corridor into ancient cisterns with vaulted through a passage, but Wolcott had
which it led was made into a cistern. roofs which are situated under broken his compass and was unable
Barclay'sdiscovery of the gate the Haramplatform. Beforethey to determine the direction of the flow.
was confirmed by Charles W Wilson were convertedinto reservoirs, Four years later another explorer,
(1880:39, 41, 52, 79, 80) and later by they were stone hallways and a physician by the name of Titus
George Adam Smith (1907: 1, 211, formed an undergroundramp Tobler, also descended the shaft and
note 1).Barclayconsidered it to have leading in a southerly direction found the water to be only about an
been one of the four gates mentioned from the Kiphonos Gate to the inch deep (Robinson 1857: 245-46).
by Josephus in his description of the upper courts of the Temple area In 1853 Barclay explored the
western wall (JewishAntiquities, (Mazar 1975: 133-34). well himself. Although he was able

to follow the passagewayfor only
about 105 feet, until the ceiling met isiting Moslem holy sites in the nineteenth century could be a perilous
the water level, he was able to estab- experience. Often elaboratedisguises or bribes were requiredto secure
lish that the direction of flow was entry, and nearly all visits had a clandestine air about them. Those who,
from the south (Robinson 1857: through carelessness or misfortune, were discovered were faced with the
choice between "Koranand cimitar" (Barclay 1858: 477), between forced
246-47). He did not discover the conversionand death.
ultimate source of the well's water Explorerswho simply came too close to the entrance of a holy site risked
but determined that it was not sup- incurring the wrath of devout Moslems. Not a few outsiders were stoned or
plied by a spring directly below the otherwise accosted for such an offense. Even those persons who had permis-
Haram and that it probablyhad no sion from the ruling council of Jeruslemhad to carry out their expeditions
connection to Solomon'sTemple with extreme care, as sanction never came with protection.
complex. Followingareexcerptsfrom the reportsof three separateexpeditions that
Sites Outside the Haram.Barclay's Barclayincluded in his book, The City of the Great King (1858).
SarahBarclay'sVisit to the Tombof David."Myhair was takendownand
archaeological endeavorswere not braidedin scores of little plaits. A red cloth cap, with a blue silk tassel, was
limited to the mosque-complex. His
placed on my head, and around it a gauze turban, with gold tassels and
curiosity led him and members of embroidery.My robeand trowserswere of the finest Damascus silk, my girdle
his family to explore other parts of of cashmere, and tunic of light blue stuff, embroideredin silver flowers. My
the city. hands were alreadydyed with 'henna,'having undergone this process on the
Solomon's Quarries.Barclay occasion of a formeradventurein the Mosque of Omar,and still retainedthe
claimed credit for discoveringthe deep yellow hue; my skin was pretty deeply tanned, too, from residence of
cavernunder the north wall of the severalyears under a burning Syriansun, which was quite an addition to my
city near the Damascus Gate. Popu- Turkish appearance.The sheet, veil, and slippers came in due order;and
larly known as Solomon'sQuarries, having secretedmy pencil and sketch-bookin the folds of my girdle,we sallied
this area is called Zedekiah'sGrotto forth....
"Ourslave was despatched for the key, which she had no difficulty in
by Israelis in honor of the last king obtaining, on the plea that her mistress wished to prayon the holy spot. But
of Judah.Accordingto legend, Zede- what was my consternation on seeing another slave returnwith her! I confess
kiah is said to have fled Jerusalem that I trembled, and was thinking I had best leave my awkward slippers
throughthis cavernupon the Assyrian behind, in case of retreat, as they would greatly impede my progress, and
conquest of the city in 587 B.C.E. might therebycause me to lose my head!She peeredunder my veil, asked who
J.J.Simons,'who has identified the I was, and seemed satisfied with the careless reply of Turfendah,that I was
area as the RoyalCavernsmentioned merely a friend of hers from Stamboul!... The slave then left, to our mutual
by Josephus(TheJewish War,book 5, relief....
"The room is insignificant in its dimensions, but is furnished very
chapter4, paragraph2; see Thackeray
1961:245) estimated that 350,000 gorgeously.The tomb is apparentlyan immense sarcophagusof rough stone,
and is coveredby green satin tapestry,richly embroideredwith gold. To this a
cubic meters of stone were quarried
piece of black velvet is attached, with a few inscriptions from the Koran,
there (Simons 1952: 13). embroideredalso in gold. A satin canopyof red,blue, green,andyellow stripes,
When Barclayheard rumors of a hangs overthe tomb; and anotherpiece of black velvet tapestry,embroidered
cavernunder the north wall, he tried in silver, coversa doorin one end of the room, which they said, leads to a cave
to locate an entrance to it. He and underneath.... The ceiling of the room is vaulted, and the walls coveredin
his two sons conducted their search blue porcelain, in floral figures"(pages210-12).
at night in orderto avoid detection The Discoveryof Solomon'squarries(relatedby Barclay'sson, Dr.R. G. Barclay).
by Moslems, who would have op- "Onscramblingthrough and descending the inner side of the wall, we found
posed such an expedition. our way apparentlyobstructedby an immense mound of soft dirt, which had
been thrownin, the more effectuallyto close up the entrance;but, afterexamin-
The group made their way into
the blocked cavern through a hole ing awhile, discoveredthat it had settled down in some places sufficiently to
allow us to crawl over it on hand and knee; which having accomplished, we
started by the Barclay dog when it found ourselves envelopedin thick darkness,that might be felt, but not pene-
was digging for bones. Once inside tratedby all our lights, so vast is the hall. . . . There is a constant and in many
the cave they discovered Hebrew and places very rapiddescent from the entrance to the termination, the distance
Arabic inscriptions that were too between which two points, in a nearly direct line, is seven hundred and fifty
effaced to be deciphered (Barclay feet;andthe caveis upwardsof three thousandfeet in circumference,supported
1858: 461-62; Johnson 1858: 98-100). by greatnumbers of rudenatural pillars. At the southern extremity there is a
They also found crosses carved into very deep and precipitouspit, in which we received a very salutarywarningof
the walls, indicating the presence of caution from the dead-a human skeleton! supposed to be that of a person
Christian pilgrims from an earlier (continuedon page168)
period.

The Barclays were disappointed
that they found no outlet to the
who, not being sufficiently supplied with lights, was precipitatedheadlong Haram or the Antonia fortress but
and broke his neck, or rather his skull, I would judge, from the fractureI
noticed on picking it up! There is also near this pit a basin excavatedin the they were impressed by the vast
solid rock, about five feet in diameterand two and a half feet deep, into which piles of blocks and chippings over
the percolatingwatertrickles; but it was in vain we tried to quench our thirst which they had to clamber and were
with water of such bitter, disagreeabletaste. A little, however,was bottled for convinced they had discovered the
analysis. Waterwas everywhere droppingfrom the lofty ceiling, which had quarries from which the stones for
formed numerous small stalactites and stalagmites-some of them very Solomon's Temple were cut.
resplendent and beautiful, but too fragile to be collected and preserved.... The Tobmbof David. References
"Indeed,the manner in which the beautiful white solid limestone rock to the tomb of David were made by
was everywherecarvedby the mason'sroughchisel into regularpillars,proved
that this extensive cavern, though in part natural, was formerly used as the Josephus in the first century C.E.
grandquarryof Jerusalem....
(JewishAntiquities, book 7, chapter
"There are many intricate meandering passages leading to immense 15, paragraph3; see Thackerayand
halls, as white as the driven snow, and supported by colossal pillars of Marcus 1934: 569-71) and by a
irregularshape- some of them placed there by the hand of nature, to support twelfth-century-c.E. pilgrim,
the roof of the various grottos, others evidently left by the stone quarrierin Benjamin of Tudela (Adler 1907: 24),
quarryingthe rock to preventthe intumbling of the city. Such reverberations but its actual identification has
I never heardbefore!"(pages460-62). always been in dispute.
Barclay'sFriend,Bartlett, and his attempt to enter the Haram."Aftermutual In Barclay's time, like today, the
salutations, the business was opened by my interpreter.... As I wore neither tomb was believed to be located on
beardnor moustache, andbesides, had not been long enough in the country to Mount Zion. Today tourists can visit
get thoroughlybronzed,the old man at first proposedthat I should be dressed the area at will, but back then the
as a Turkish woman, and walk behind him about the mosk... . on further
tomb was jealously guarded by
reflection, he was struck with a most original idea.... I was to come to his
house after dark.... On arriving at his domicile, he would have a woman's Moslems. Jews and Christians could
costume all ready,in which I was to dress myself. ... I was then to accompany visit it only after paying a lavish
his wives to the mosk.... bribe called a bakhshish.
"Itnow suddenly struck me that I had embarkedin a rather hazardous Barclay himself was victimized
affair ... [and]it would be impossible, muffled up in female attire, to examine by the old sheikh, overseer of the
the architectural peculiarities of the mosk, even if the act of staring about tomb, who had a habit of showing
would not of itself be enough to betraymy disguise. In the event of discovery, off "atumulus of richly canopied
there hardly could be a doubt that death by stoning, or some more horrible stone and mortar on the floor of an
fate, would be the penalty inflicted upon me by the frantic mob, doubly
upper room" that he was "willing to
enraged by the violation of the sanctity of the place, and at the indecent
manner in which it had been effected .... swear by the beard of Mohammed is
"Atlength we reachedthe house. . . . The articles of female dressintended the veritable tomb of King David"
for my disguise were now produced,and I was invited to put them on. The first (Barclay 1858: 209).
difficulty occurredwith the boots of yellow leather. . . . These were so small As the result of her friendship
that it was impossible to get them on, and I had thereforeto content myself with a Moslem woman, Barclay's
with slipping my stockings into a pair of red shoes, which only half covered daughter Sarah was able to see the
them. My feet seemed alarmingly large and clumsy, and very likely to betray tomb without paying a bakhshish.
my real sex; but the Turkand servant said these would do. The next affairwas The woman was going to the tomb
to drawover my pantaloons a pair of female inexpressibles,which, though of to pray during the holy month of
very spacious width, turned out, like the boots, to be too small, scarcely Ramadan and invited Sarah to come
reaching down to the ankles, which stood out in strong development. Their
sole fastening was a pair of strings, intended to be drawnabout the slender along-Moslems who might have
waist, and to rest upon the swelling hips of the fair owner;but from the want objected to the visit were praying at
of any such supportin my case, they threatenedto slip bodily down upon the the Haram.
slightest movement. A darkveil was now put over my head, so as to entirely Disguised as a Turkish woman,
conceal the features, but through which I was enabled to see with tolerable Barclay's daughter spent more than
clearness; and, finally, a large white wrapper,but also too short, was thrown an hour inside the tomb and made a
over me, completely enveloping all but the face. Although I fancied this sketch of it (Barclay 1858: 210-12;
disguise far from complete, the old man and the servant, after studying it rohnson 1858: 182-83). Barclay
attentively..,. looked at one another with approvingglances, and authori- included a color print of her sketch
tatively pronouncedit to be 'taib'[good]"(pages472-75). in his book (1858), although he came
to doubt the authenticity of the
traditional site.

Although his
identifications
of holy sites were
often wrong,
Barclay was able
to correct many
misconceptions.
All who have
followed him are
in his debt.
Disguised as a Turkishwoman, Barclay'sdaughterSarahsneaked into and made a color

sketch of what some thought was the tomb of king David. Barclayincluded the sketch in his
book but doubted the authenticity of the site.
Barclay'sContribution Barclayalso predatedsuch land- great Byzantine emperor Justinian

Any evaluation of Barclay'swork mark expeditions as Fdicien de (Barclay1858: 500).
must consider two important fac- Saulcy'sclearing of the so-called Yet Barclaydid not hesitate to
tors: He was a self-proclaimedama- Tombs of the Kings (1863),Claude R. challenge what he considered to be
teur and precededby many years the Conder and Horatio H. Kitchener's incorrect site identifications. As we
prescientific archaeological survey of WesternPalestine (1865- have seen, he doubted the authen-
expeditions that took place in and 1877), and Charles Clermont- ticity of the traditional site of the
aroundJerusalemduring the late Ganneau'sinscriptional discoveries. Tombof David and rejectedthe
nineteenth century. (In 1871 Clermont-Ganneaufound a claim that the source of the Hum-
Although he and his family ar- stone inscription prohibitinggen- mam esh-Shefawas the everlasting
rived in Palestine after Jerusalem tiles from entering the Temple area; fountain coming from Solomon's
excavatorEdwardRobinson'sfirst in 1873 he recoveredthe Moabite Temple. These kinds of departures
visit in 1838, Barclaywas one of very Stone.) Sir Flinders Petrie'sexcava- from tradition, he predicted,would
few Americans residing in Jerusalem tion of Tel el-Hesi (1890),commonly cause his work to be "ina continual
during Robinson'ssecond visit in considered to have been the first state of antagonism"with the reports
1852. Robinson frequently mentions scientific excavation in Palestine, of tourists and other pilgrims who
him in his third volume, saying that did not take place until several de- had taken oral tradition as their
Barclaywas of assistance to him cades after Barclay'sexplorations. guide (Barclay1858:xvi).
(Robinson1857: 162, 177, 192, 201, Given the early date of Barclay's More important were the maps,
246, and 264). work in Jerusalem,it is not surpris- drawings,and site plans of Jerusalem
Barclayconducted his explora- ing that some of his assertions were that Barclayincluded in his work.
tions more than a decade before wrong. Forexample, because he had Barclay'smaps were entirely original,
Charles W Wilson'ssurvey of Jeru- no firm criteria for dating, he be- constructed from actual minute
salem (1864)and Charles Warren's lieved that Robinson'sArch and the surveys of the city. Prior to these
tunnel excavations (1866).Wilson is lower section of the Damascus Gate surveys, most of the maps that were
rememberedby Wilson'sArch, which area dated back to Solomon or his available to the West were full of
is located on the west wall north of successors (Barclay1858: 102, 132). errorsand were "little better than
Barclay'sGate, and Warrenis remem- He also was in errorwhen he thought caricatures"(Barclay1858: xviii).
beredby Warren'sShaft, which is that the el-Aqsamosque was one of Although he credited his predeces-
located on the Ophal hill. the Mary Churchesbuilt by the sors, Barclayclaimed that his map of

Barclay'swork is commemorated in Saint
George'sCathedralin Jerusalemby two
stained-glasswindows, gifts fromthe Peachtree
Christian Churchin Atlanta. The window to
the far left portraysJohnthe Baptist as an
infant (left)and as an adult preachinga
baptism of repentance. The second window
shows JohnbaptizingJesus(left)and in prison.
Photographscourtesy of JackP Lewis.
Jerusalemwas the only correct one Bibliography cal Library.Cambridge,MA, and

in existence at the time (Robinson Adler,M. N., translator London:HarvardUniversity Press
1857: 177;Barclay1858:xvii). 1907 The Itineraryof Benjamin of Thdela. and Heinemann.
EdwardRobinson also praisedit as London.(Reprinted,n.d., New York: Mazar,B.
Philipp Feldheim) 1975 The Mountain of the Lord.Garden
"thebest that exists, so far as the fea- Avigad,N. City, NY: Doubleday.
tures of the groundand the modern 1975 The Architectureof Jerusalemin the Robinson,E.
city are concerned"(publisher'snote SecondTemplePeriod.In Jerusalem 1841 Biblical Researchesin Palestine.
in Barclay1858). Revealed,edited by Y.Yadin.Jeru- London:JohnMurray.
salem: IsraelExplorationSociety. 1857 LaterBiblical Researchesin Pales-
Barclaywas equally careful in Bahat,D. tine. Boston:Crockerand Brewster.
collecting and presenting other in- 1983 Carta'sHistoricalAtlas of Jerusalem. Shepherd,N.
formation about the city. Wehave Jerusalem:Carta. 1987 TheZealous Intruders.SanFrancisco:
alreadymentioned that he recorded Barclay,J.T. Harper& Row.
averagetemperaturesand rainfall 1854 Letterfrom Dr. Barclay.Millennial Simons, J.J.
Harbinger(fourthseries) 4: 6. 1952 Jerusalemin the Old Testament.
levels, but he also accumulated a 1858 City of the Great King.Philadelphia: Leiden:E. J.Brill
wide variety of other data, both in Smith, G. A.
JamesChallen and Sons.
text and chart form, from building Burnet,D. S. 1907 Jerusalemfrom the Earliest Times to
measurements to evaporationrates 1853 The JerusalemMission. Cincinnati: A.D. 70. London:Hodderand
of water systems. American ChristianMissionary Stoughton.
Society. (Reprinted,1977,New York: Strutt, R. J.H., translator
Conclusion Arno Press) 1985 Letterof Aristeas.Pp. 7-34 in The
Barclay'swork, then, should be Danby,H., translator Old TestamentPseudepigrapha,
1933 Middoth("Measurements") Pp. 589- volume 2, edited by J.H. Charles-
judgedwith a measure of tolerance 98 in Fifth Division, Kodashim worth. GardenCity, NY: Doubleday.
and respect. One should not point
("HallowedThings"),in TheMishnah: Thackeray,H. St. J.,translator
out how wrong he was in certain Translatedfrom the Hebrew with 1961 JosephusIII:The Jewish War,Books
areaswithout also acknowledging Introductionand BriefExplanatory IV-VI.Series:LoebClassical Library.
how he correctedmany common Notes. Oxford:OxfordUniversity Cambridge,MA, andLondon:Harvard
misconceptions of his day.Not only Press. University Press and Heinemann.
did he reveala great deal about the Grey,N. Q. Thackeray,H. St. J.,andMarcus,R., translators
1944 Pioneeringin Missions: Beinga 1934 JosephusV:JewishAntiquities,
Jerusalemof his time, he gave future Biographyof JamesTurnerBarclay. Books V-VIII.Series:LoebClassical
scholars in a variety of disciplines B. D. thesis, ButlerUniversity. Library.Cambridge,MA, and Lon-
data on which to base comparative Johnson,S. B. don: HarvardUniversity Press and
studies. 1858 Hadji in Syria.Philadelphia:James Heinemann.
Challen. (Reprinted,1977, New Wilson, C. W
The significantsteps that Barclay 1975 Jerusalem.Jerusalem:Ariel Publish-
York:Arno Press)
took towardthe scientific study of Marcus,R., and Wikgren,A., translators ing House. (Originallypublishedin
Jerusalemwill keep his contribution 1963 JosephusVIII:JewishAntiquities, 1880 under the title Picturesque
to scholarship from being forgotten. Books XV-XVII.Series:LoebClassi- Palestine, Sinai, and Egypt)

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Sources
Literary andSyria
for theHistoryofPalestine
OSl Arama
Inscr tio ns
thelastquarter
uring of
byScottC.Layton the second millennium
edited
by B.C.E.a West Semitic
people fanned out across
DennisPardee the Fertile Crescent. These people,
known as the Arameans,gained a
foothold in Mesopotamiaand Syriaby
establishing a cluster of independent
Aramean states.
The first mention of the Ara-
means was recordedin the Assyrian
annals of Tiglath-PileserI (1112B.C.E.),
but it was not until after the begin-
ning of the first millennium B.C.E.
that their earliest epigraphsappeared.
By that time the Arameans had
achieved historical significance and
were a political force that threatened
the nascent kingdom of Israel.The
The latest addition to the corpus

of Old Aramaic texts can be
found on this life-sized basalt
statue, discoveredin 1969 at the
site of TellFakhariyeh(ancient
Sikan),about 2 kilometers east of
TellHalaf (ancient Gozan). The
inscription, which is written on
the front and back of the man's
skirt, recordstwo separatededi-
cations of the statue of Had-Yitci,
governorof Gozan, to the Hadad
temple of Sikanu. Thirty-eight
lines of Assyrian cuneiform script
are on the front of the skirt, while
twenty-threelines of Aramaic
scriptareon the back. Photographs
from Abou-Assaf,Bordreuil,and
Millard(1982),courtesyof Editions
Recherchesur les Civilisations,
Paris.

Bible recordsthat the early rulers of Scholars have sought to classify
the Israelite monarchy- Saul, David, the various phases of the Aramaic
and Solomon - fought against the languagebut, unfortunately,have
Arameankingdoms that lay across not been able to arriveat a common
the northernfrontier.Indeed,the Ara- terminology. Forexample, the term
means continued to vex Israeleven Old Aramaic is not the only label
after Solomon'sreign, as indicated in used to denote the earliest phase of
biblical and extrabiblicalsources.' the language.Furthermore,in sur-
The Arameans'most important veying the literature,one comes
contribution to the history of the across such terms as Standard Old
ancient Near East was the Aramaic Aramaic, Ancient Aramaic, and
language, which gradually became its Early Common Aramaic. Even the
lingua franca and eventually was use of the same term by two scholars
adopted as the official language of the does not guaranteeagreement in
Achaemenid (Persian)Empireabout definition; this, for a student inter-
500 B.C.E. ested in the study of Aramaic, is
The focus of this article will be bewildering.
the oldest phase of the Aramaic lan- I do not mean to imply, however,
guage. I will begin by brieflysketching that the disagreement among schol-
its history and the scholarly termi- ars is mere quibbling over terminol-
nology associated with it. I will then ogy. Behind the different terminol-
discussthe inscriptions,concentrating ogies is a fundamental issue: the
first on the major-that is, longer- chronological parametersof the ear-
ones and then on the minor ones, lier phase of the Aramaic language.
those consisting of two lines or less or Where one places the terminus ad
simply a list of propernames. The quem (latest possible date)of the
linguistic features of these inscrip- first phase either includes or ex-
tions as well as their contribution to cludes certain texts that lie near the
the political and religious history of earliest phase'ssharedboundary
SyriaandPalestinewill be highlighted. with the next phase. Therefore,one
(Forinformationon secondarysources needs to keep certain considerations
forthe study of these inscriptions,see in mind before settling on a rubric
the accompanyingsidebar.) and defining it.
First and foremost is the fact
History and Terminology that both the preservationand dis-
It is customary to divide the North- covery of these ancient Aramaic
west Semitic languages of the first inscriptions have been affectedby
millennium B.C.E. into two branches, chance. Forthe most part, the hos-
Canaaniteand Aramaic, which de- tile climate and environment of the
veloped separately.(The Hebrew of Near East did not present conditions
the Old Testamentbelongs to the that were favorableto the preserva-
Canaanitebranch.)We are not all tion of documents written on perish-
that clear on the situation that pre- able materials such as papyrusor
vailed during the last quarter of the leather? Only those inscriptions
second millennium B.C.E.,but it is that were engraved on durable sub-
reasonable to suppose that Aramaic stances such as stone or pottery have
was spoken as a distinct language at survived. Of the vestiges that have
least from the time the Arameans survived, only a small number have
were identified in the Assyrian been unearthed; more await dis-
sources. Aramaic is still spoken in covery by future archaeological ex-
various areas of Northern Syria, cavations. These discoveries will
Iran, Iraq, and other regions. Thus, it alter and supplement in varying de-
is the only Semitic language spoken grees our present understanding of
today whose history can be traced the earliest phase of the Aramaic
back to about 1000 B.C.E.2 language.

the seventh century B.C.E.are needed
in orderto clarify the lower limit of
Old Aramaic.
Sometime during the eleventh
or tenth century B.C.E.,Arameans
who lived in areas under the influ-
ence of Phoenicia borrowedthe al-
phabetic script of the Phoenicians.5
Consequently, the earliest Aramaic
inscriptions were written in what
JosephNaveh (1970)has described as
a Phoenician-Aramaicscript. It was
not until the mid-eighth century
B.C.E. that an independent cursive
script for Aramaic was developed
(Naveh 1970).
In adaptingthe Phoenician
script for the writing of their own
language,Aramaic scribes intro-
duced two important orthographic
innovations. The first arose out of
the discrepancybetween the phone-
Aramaic, a member of the Northwest Semitic group of languages, has a long history. Dating
at least as far back as 1112 when the Arameans, who spoke it originally, were first mic inventory (the various sounds)
mentioned in the Assyrian B..c.r.,
annals of Tiglath-Pileser I, it was by the beginning of the seventh of Old Aramaic on the one hand and
century i.u:.i. the lingua franca of the ancient Near East. The Jews adopted it after they were the number of graphemes (orsym-
defeated by the Babylonians in 586 iR.c.F., and it was the language spoken by Jesus. It is still
spoken in parts of Northern Syria, Iran, Iraq, and other regions. Of the two scribes pictured in bols) in the Phoenician alphabet on
this drawing of a wall-painting from Tell Ahmar (ancient Til-Barsip), which dates to the early the other. In Phoenician some Proto-
eighth century .:.C.I.,the figure to the left is probably an Aramean. He uses a brush to write on Semitic sounds had alreadymerged;
a piece of skin or papyrus. The bearded scribe on the right, presumably an Assyrian, uses a
stylus to make written impressions on the tablet held in his left hand. Drawing from Pritchard thus, there were no distinctive
(1969b), courtesy of the Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris. graphemes to representthese pho-
nemes. Some of these phonemes
were retained in Aramaic, so the
Another thing to remember is phases: Old Aramaic (925-700 B.C.E.); scribes adaptedthe Phoenician
that any attempt to classify the vari- Official Aramaic (700-200 B.C.E.); script by using certain signs for
ous phases of Aramaic into chrono- Middle Aramaic (200 B.C.E.-200 C.E.); more than one phoneme. Hence Old
logical ordermust be recognized for Late Aramaic (200-700 C.E.);and Aramaic d was graphically repre-
'
what it is - a provisional construct ModernAramaic (700 C.E.and later). sented by z; t by (exceptat Gozan);
to facilitate the study of the lan- With the exception of the term d by q; and t by s.
guage and providea mutual under- Official Aramaic, this is a purely The second orthographicinno-
standing among scholars. A hiatus chronological division. vation was the introduction of
in our documentation that presently Fitzmyer'suse and definition of matres lectionis into the script. Be-
serves as a boundarybetween phases the term Old Aramaic is a working cause Phoenician script was purely
may be filled in by future discover- hypothesis in this article. The termi- consonantal, there was no way to
ies, thus necessitating revision. nus a quo (earliestpossible date)of representvocalic sounds. The Ara-
Nevertheless, the attempt to classify the first period is not problematic;it maic scribes introduced the use of
the Aramaic language into different can simply be extended furtherback certain consonants (h, w, y) to de-
phases serves a useful purpose as in time should the future discovery note vowels, first at the end of words,
long as the provisional nature of the of texts requiresuch an extension. later in medial positions. When
enterprise is acknowledged. The terminus ad quem, however,as these consonants represent vocalic
A reconsiderationof the termi- Fitzmyerhas noted, should be under- sounds they are known as matres
nology used and a reclassification of stood broadly.Other scholars have lectionis ("mothers of reading"); that
the various periods of the Aramaic placed the lower limit of the phase is, they serve as guides to the correct
languagewas undertakenby Joseph at 625 B.C.E. (Kaufman1982: 146, pronunciation. In addition to the
A. Fitzmyer(1979;see also 1971:22, note 22) or even 612 B.C.E.(Segert foregoing orthographic characteris-
note 60), who divided it into five 1968: More texts dating from tics, Old Aramaic has certain mor-
282).4

phological and syntactic features
that have been isolated by Fitzmyer
(1979:65-66).
Over fifty years ago H. L. Gins-
berg (1933, 1936)posited the exis-
tence of dialects in the Old Aramaic
period. That dialects existed in the
early period is hardly surprising
when one considers the geographyof
the Near East- not to mention other
factors-which no doubt isolated
certain Aramaic-speakingcommu-
nities. It is unfortunate that so little
of this has survived, but it helps
explain the lack of concord among
Aramaists.
Stephen A. Kaufman(1982: 146,
note 22) has proposeda purely geo-
graphicdivision of Old Aramaic into
at least three dialects: Northern
(Samalian),Western(Zakkurand
Sefire),and Eastern (Mesopotamian).
He also classified the Deir cAlla
texts as constituting a fourth dialect,
Southern Old AramaicP.
J.C. Greenfield has discussed
the topic of Aramaic dialects on at
least three occasions (1967-1968,
1974, 1978a)and has distinguished
three dialects: Samalian Aramaic,
known from the Hadadand Panamu
inscriptions; EarlyStandardAra-
maic, from the Bar-Hadad,Zakkur,
and Sefire inscriptions; and Meso-
potamian Aramaic, from some of the
Bar-Rakibinscriptions, dockets, and
the two Nerab inscriptions. (Itshould
be noted that Greenfield'sdesigna-
tion of Mesopotamian Aramaic is
slightly different from Kaufman's.)
Accordingto Greenfield, Early
StandardAramaic is a literary dia-
lect that masks dialectal differences
and may have served as the base for
A carved representation of the Phoenician

god Melqart, chief deity of ancient Tyre,
dominates this commemorative stele that
was discovered near Aleppo. The five lines of
Aramaic at the base of the stele, dated on the
basis of paleographic evidence to 850 to 775
B.7:.I., read: "The statue which Bar-Hadad,
son of [ ........ I King of Aram, set up for
his lord Melqart, to whom he made a vow
and who heard his voice." Photograph by
Wayne T Pitard.

later Official Aramaic7At any rate, Alan R. Millard (1982),who gave a god, is offeredprayersfor health,
it is generally agreedthat Samalian description of the statue as well as a long life, and a successful reign.
Aramaic is a distinct archaic dialect. transcription and translation of both The inscription also contains
Much remains unclear, however,and the Assyrian and Aramaic texts, numerous linguistic features that
it is hoped that the discovery of addi- each with philological notes. The beg for comment. Forone, it is quite
tional inscriptions will providea Aramaic text has received far more surprisingto see the extensive use of
broaderdata base upon which to attention than the Assyrian one, and matres lectionis - in medial as well
posit dialectal distinctions.8 review articles supplement the cur- as final positions - at such an early
sory treatment of the latter (Geller date. A spelling innovation, this has
MajorInscriptions 1983;Greenfield and Shaffer1983; been plausibly explained as the re-
The corpus of major inscriptions Pardeeand Biggs 1984).The only sult of contact between Aramaic and
from the oldest phase of the Ara- thing that is noticeably lacking in Assyrian scribes (Zadok 1982: 121;
maic languageis not large. this otherwise satisfactory edition is Muraoka 1983-1984: 87).
Discoveredin
TellFakhariyeh. a handcopyof the Assyrian text. Another interesting linguistic
February1979, this bilingual dedi- Photographsof both versions of the feature of the inscription is the use
catory inscription is the latest addi- inscription are provided,though of the samek (s) to indicate the ety-
tion to the corpus of Old Aramaic their usefulness is limited by the mological t, as it has not been found
texts. It was unearthed, out of its rounded surfaceof the statue. in other Old Aramaic texts. Also,
archaeologicalcontext, at the site of The inscription has also been whereas the Assyrian text uses only
Tell Fakhariyeh(ancient Sikan) the focus of a good deal of additional one word for image/statue, the
about 2 kilometers east of Tell Halaf scholarship (Abou-Assaf,Bordreuil, Aramaic version uses two: dmwt'
(ancient Gozan). The HaburRiver,a and Millard 1981;Millard and Bor- (line 1)and sim (line 12).This is the
tributaryof the Euphrates,runs be- dreuil 1982;Dohmen 1983;Fales only extrabiblical attestation of the
tween these two sites, both of which 1983;Angerstorfer1984;Dion 1985; word-pairfound in Genesis 1:26and
are mentioned in the inscription. Greenfield and Shaffer1985;Gropp thus providesfuel for the debate over
The inscription is on a life-size and Lewis 1985; Sasson 1985a). the meaning of that verse. Finally,I
basalt statue that portraysa man The bilingual inscription com- should mention that the inscription
standing, hands clasped at the waist, memorates the rededication of the adds the verb cdn (line 4), meaning
and feet together. Text in two lan- statue of Had-Yitci,governorof "toluxuriate,"to the Old Aramaic
guages is engravedon both sides of Gozan, to the Hadadtemple of lexicon, and this providesa suitable
the man'sskirt; thirty-eight lines of Sikanu. An unusual feature of the West Semitic etymology for the bib-
Assyrian cuneiform script are on the inscription is that it recordstwo lical place-name Eden- "aplace of
front of the skirt, and twenty-three separatededications. Consequently, luxuriance"(Millard1984)?
lines of Aramaic script are on the it can be divided into two parts: Bar-Hadad.A commemorative stone,
back. The primacy of the Assyrian Aramaic lines 1-12 correspondto or stele, dedicatedby Bar-Hadadwas
text is indicated not only by its Assyrian lines 1-18, and Aramaic discoveredin the village of Breij,
frontal position but also by the fact lines 12-23 correspondto Assyrian about 7 kilometers north of Aleppo,
that the final two lines of the Ara- lines 19-38. Roughly speaking, each in ruins dating back to Roman times.
maic text are written under the part consists of a dedication, motiva- Its provenanceis unknown, though
cuneiform. tional clauses, and a series of curses. the nearbycity of Aleppo is a plau-
Though Naveh (1978-1979)has The Aramaic text should not be con- sible guess. The bulk of the stele
argued,on the basis of paleography, sidered as a slavish renderingof its consists of a carvedrepresentationof
for an eleventh-century-B.C.E. date, Assyrian counterpart,however.In the Phoenician god Melqart,the
other areas of evidence such as art fact, further study has indicated that chief deity of Tyre (Pritchard 1969b:
history (Abou-Assaf 1981) and his- the Aramaic text is the original of 499). Five lines of Old Aramaic are
torical circumstances (Abou-Assaf, the series of curses that concludes engraved at its base (Donner and
Bordreuil, and Millard 1982: 98-113) part 2 (Aramaic lines 18-23; Assyrian Rollig 1969-1973: 201; Gibson 1975: 1).
point to the mid-ninth century B.C.E. lines 29-37), as the curses contained A dedication by Bar-Hadad to
Some adjustment up or down may therein have no direct parallels in Melqart, the inscription, which has
prove necessary, of course, but the Mesopotamia. been dated on the basis of paleo-
Tell Fakhariyeh inscription is the The Tell Fakhariyeh inscription graphic analysis to 850-775 B.C.E.,
oldest Aramaic inscription of con- gives us a glimpse of the Assyrian reads as follows, "The statue which
siderable length. domination over Gozan in the ninth Bar-Hadad, son of[ ........ ] king
It was first published by Ali century B.C.E. In the area of religion, of Aram, set up for his lord Melqart,
Abou-Assaf, Pierre Bordreuil, and one notes that Hadad, the weather- to whom he made a vow and who

heard his voice."As is so often the restoredline 2 to read"sonof Hezyon, of the damagedline of the inscrip-
case, the most critical part of the son of Haza'el"and identified the tion. Pitardreads the patronym as
inscription, the first half of line 2, is Bar-Hadadof this inscription with ctrhmk (Attarhamek)and suggests
effaced and thus difficult to read. the Bar-Hadadmentioned in line 4 that the scribe left the end of this
Originally published by M. of the Zakkur inscription. line blank.
Dunand (1939),the inscription has In Lemaire'sscheme there are The implications of this reading
been the object of numerous studies, only two Bar-Hadads:Bar-Hadad1, are important. Recoveringthe name
but a scholarly consensus has yet to son of Tabrimmon,son of Hezyon; of Bar-Hadad'sfather makes it diffi-
emerge. Dunand, the original editor, and Bar-Hadad2, mentioned in Old cult to connect the Bar-Hadadof this
did not venture a restoration of the Aramaic inscriptions. He dated the stele with the Aramean kingdom of
missing patronym(s),but other Bar-Hadadinscription to approxi- Aram-Damascusbecause, although
scholars have suggested several mately 800 B.C.E.,which falls in the other Bar-Hadadswere associated
divergent restorations. reign of Bar-Hadad 2, and suggested with this Syriancity-state, they may
In accordancewith 1 Kings that the occasion of the erection of be distinguished from the Bar-Hadad
15:18,William E Albright (1942) the stele was Bar-Hadad'scoming to of this stele by different patronyms.
boldly restoredline 2 to read"sonof to
Aleppo negotiate with cAtarshumki Therefore,Pitardproposedthat this
Tabrimmon,son of Hezyon."This and persuadehim to enter into the Bar-Hadadruled severalAramean
reading,still preferredby JohnC. L. coalition against Zakkur. tribes in northern Syria sometime
Gibson, was popularizedbecause of Considering the disparity of during the last half of the ninth
its inclusion in JamesB. Pritchard's opinion that exists, one would be in- century B.C.E.
standardvolume (1969a),but Dunand clined to conclude that either the Zakkur.A basalt stele erected by
and others have arguedthat this res- portion of the line under considera- Zakkur,"now preservedonly in frag-
toration is impossible. Among other tion is so badly effaced that it is il- ments, was found at Afis, about 45
proposals,I should mention that of legible or the photographsupon which kilometers southwest of Aleppo, in
FrankMoore Cross (1972),who read the various proposals are based 1903. The inscription was published
line 2 as "sonof cEzer,the Damascene, simply do not permit a definitive several years later by H. Pognon
son of (the king of Aram),"a restora- reading.Therefore,two additional (1907-1908: 156-78 and plates IX-X;
tion that has received independent studies, which can be distinguished XXXV-XXXVI).Seventeen lines of
confirmation from G. G. G. Reinhold in
from the others that the readings Old Aramaic are preservedon the
(1986)and been accepted in part by they propose are based on an exami- lower part of the front (Donnerand
E. Lipifiski (1975)10and William H. nation of the stele itself, need to be Rllig 1969-1973: 202, tables XII-
Shea (1978-1979). mentioned. XIII;Gibson 1975: 5, plate 1, figure
In addition to the problem of On the basis of new photographs, 2). The inscription continues on the
effacement, interpretingthe Bar- casts, and a direct examination of left side with twenty-eight lines and
Hadadstele is made more difficult the stele, PierreBordreuiland Javier concludes with two more lines on
because of our lack of knowledge of Teixidor (1983)have restoredthe the right side. A relief of a figure,
the line of Aramean kings who ruled missing portionas reading"... cEzra', probablythat of the god Iluwer
in Damascus during the ninth cen- (the)king, the Rehobite ... " (czr' mentioned in line 1, adornedthe
tury B.C.E.Scholars disagree over mlk br rhb). They understood the front, but only the fringe of the
whether there were as few as two or continuing phrase "theRehobite, garment and the feet have been
as many as four rulers who bore the king of Aram"as being a dynastic preserved.The lines carvedon the
name Ben/Bar-Hadad.The problem title referringback to Bar-Hadad, left and right sides are poorly pre-
of the Ben-Hadadsof Damascus has and suggested that cEzra'could have served. The inscription is generally
been admirably summarized by been the son of biblical Hadadcezer dated to the first quarterof the
J.Andrew Dearman and J.Maxwell (2 Samuel 8:3, 5). They also posited eighth century B.C.E.
Miller (1983). that the dynasty of Hadadcezer- Zakkur was the king of Hamath
With this issue in mind I want to cEzra'-Bar-Hadad ruled the Aramean and Luash. This double kingdom
mention the study of Andr6 Lemaire state of Beth-Rehob. It should be was located in northern Syria, with
(1984), who, using new photographs, noted that their reading of the its capital at Hazrak (Hadrak of
proposed yet another reading of the patronym as cEzra' agrees with the Zechariah 9:1). In accordance with
damaged line as well as a different proposal by Cross. the kingship ideology in the ancient
historical interpretation of the inscrip- A second study based on a di- Near East, Zakkur claims that the
tion. Arguing that there is room in rect examination of the stele is that kingship was granted to him by Baal-
the lacuna for two names separated of Wayne T. Pitard (in press), who shamayn. Since Iluwer is only men-
by the Aramaic br ("son"),Lemaire took a series of close-up photographs tioned in line 1, it is natural to as-

r/'r
r C, - '
ANATOLIA
" iIMkadyeh Ninevn

I"sik "M
Eb.i 1.a *A.M.,
: •
Aie.o*
.:~~~li , • . ..• • ..
....
.....
...
,i ..
kil
-: : .
, , ,,
i .. ..... . .
,-,.- .. , - ,
/u tooe •:% ?:. .L.•i l:! ,•ii,:• ,!::L: f i:i:,Li : :

:i i:i:.:.i:i,
: ::!:-? i ::: :"•: L : . .....
:: i!ii
•*;:!i~i•!•:*?i:]•-
:•i,;:
:.•i•:ii~ .:, :.i- ::.. ]i•:i,:i(h)~_: ::• . .. .....
, :: ~: i::: ::::
•• L~~i
:-•!!:•
,:•:•?'.:•i i -•-:!',-
:::•,ii:!•i:i:~ :•:: • i::!.:i:?: :: •: .:: ! . ::
-..•~i~~i!:
••.,,:
;•.:':.:••ii i l
,.n. .
14:
zzl
'f
.ii-or. - •: •:
sume that Iluwer and Baalshamayn Greenfield (1969)has isolated (hzyn)and messengers (cddn)as the
are one and the same. several idiomatic expressions that intermediaries through whom Baal-
The occasion for the inscription have parallels in other Northwest shamayn answers Zakkur.The office
was the siege laid against the capital Semitic texts. Forexample, the ex- of seer is well known in the Old
city by a coalition of North Syrian pression "tolay siege against"(line 9) Testament (forexample, 2 Samuel
kings led by Bar-Hadad, son of Haza'el, is paralleledby the same phrase- 24:11),and the occurrence of several
king of Aram. The exact number of ology in Micah 5:1 (4:14in the propernames formed from the He-
kings in the coalition could be as few Hebrew text). Furthermore,Green- brew root cdd (which correspondsto
as twelve or as many as eighteen; field applied form criticism to this the Aramaic cdd) intimates that an
severallacunae in lines 5-8 frustrate part of the inscription and discovered office of messenger may have existed
attempts to settle the issue. Zakkur that it contains the basic elements as well. Ross also comparedZakkur's
praysto Baalshamayn,who in turn of the Danklied (thanksgiving prophets with similar functionaries
respondsand assures Zakkur of de- psalm):declaration (lines 1-3), nar- mentioned in the Mari texts.12
liverance from the North Syrian rative (lines 4-10), and acknowl- The Zakkur inscription is of
alliance. On the left side of the stele edgment (lines 11 and following). particularinterest for the history of
Zakkurboasts of building (rebuild- The "fearnot"formula (line 13)has prophecy,and it gives clear testi-
ing?)his capital and establishing a its Sitz im Leben in the salvation mony to the existence of seers
series of strongholds throughout his oracle (Heilsorakel),and Greenfield among the Arameans of Syria.
territory.The inscription closes traced its earliest occurrences to Sefire. Dated to the middle of the
with a curse on anyone who tries to Hittite material. eighth century B.C.E., the inscriptions
efface or remove the stele. In the other study,J.FERoss (1970) of Sefire constitute by far the longest
Two important studies of the in- focused on Zakkur'sprayerto Baal- Old Aramaic text yet discovered
scription deserve to be mentioned. shamayn and the god'sencouraging (Donner and Rollig 1969-1973: 222-
Both deal primarily with lines on reply (lines 11-17).Of particularin- 24, tables XV-XXIII;Gibson 1975:
the front of the stele. terest here is the mention of seers 7-9, figure 3, plate II, figure 4). The

p 10
4JJ
Threeinscriptions on steles believed to have

originated in the village of Sefire,about
S200 25 kilometers southeast of Aleppo, may con-
tain copies of the same, or a similar, treaty
with differentparts preservedon each. The
Sefireinscriptions thus constitute our longest
Old Aramaic text. The inscription shown
here recordsMaticel, king of Arpad,making
a pact with Bar-Ga'yah,king of an unknown
city or territorycalled Ktk (upperportion,
lines 1-6). Following this initial section is a
listing of gods called as witnesses to the treaty
(upperportion lines 7-13) and, continuing to
the bottom of the lower portion, a series of
curses against Maticel if he violates the treaty
(lines 14-42). The back, or face B, of the stele
contains the stipulations of the treaty
40M Photographand handcopies from Fitzmyer
(1967),courtesy of the Pontifical Biblical
Institute, Rome.
first two inscriptions were published are carvedon several sides or faces, against Matic'elif he violates the
as early as 1931,but efforts to study whereas the third stele, a flat slab, treaty (lines 14-42). Some of these
the texts were frustratedby inade- has text carvedon both sides. It is curses would have been accompanied
quate photographs. not easy to determine the relation- by magical rites with wax models. In
The need for a republication of ship of the three inscriptions, and orderto readthe stipulations of the
the first two inscriptions was met by missing portions of the text compli- treaty, one has to turn to face B of
AndreDupont-Sommerand J.Starcky cate the situation even further,but the first stele (lines 21-45).
(1958),whose fine study must be many scholars believe that these Two monographson the Sefire
consideredas the editio princeps. A three steles contain copies of the inscriptions are indispensible. One,
third Sefire inscription was acquired same (ora very similar) treaty,albeit JosephFitzmyer'sThe Aramaic In-
by the Beirut Museum in 1956 and with differentparts of the treaty scriptions of Sefire (1967),is a splen-
was subsequently published by the preservedon each. did work that includes bibliography
same two authors (1956;appearedin The basic constituent parts of a up to 1966. The text is presented in
1958).Takentogether, these three in- treaty are found in the Sefire inscrip- squareHebrew (Aramaic)characters
scriptions comprise approximately tions. The preamble,or title, identi- along with translation and commen-
one hundredlines of legible text, a fies Matic'el,king of Arpad,who is tary.Addingto its usefulness are an
sizable increase in the corpus of Old making a pact with Bar-Ga'yah,king appendix on the grammarof the in-
Aramaic. of an unknown city or territory scriptions, a glossary,and indices. It
The precise site from which called Ktk (stele I, face A, lines 1-6). concludes with handcopies and
these steles derive is not known. In This initial section is followed by a photographs.
all likelihood, however,they origi- list of gods who are invoked to serve The other, a full-length treat-
nated in the village of Sefire, about as witnesses to the treaty (stele I, ment of the Sefire steles, has been
25 kilometers southeast of Aleppo. face A, lines 7-13). The next section, published by Andr6Lemaireand J.-M.
The firsttwo steles, which areroughly which concludes face A on the first Durand (1984),who surveyedpre-
in the shape of truncated pyramids, stele, consists of a series of curses vious work on the inscriptions and

brought the bibliography up through
1983.la The bulk of the volume is
devoted to the historical background Secondary Sources for Study
and identification of Bar-Ga'yah.
Their main thesis is that Bar-Ga'yah material unearthed by the archaeologist's spade is usually
Epigraphic in
is to be identified with Shamshi-ilu, published periodicals, monographs, or books. As a result, original
an Assyrian turtanu (high official) of publications of Old Aramaic inscriptions can be found in widely scattered
sources. Fortunately, there are two standard collections of West Semitic
the early eighth century B.C.E., and
inscriptions that facilitate the study of these inscriptions.
that Ktk, of which he was king, is to The older of the two is by H. Donner and W.R6ollig,Kanaanaische und
be identified with Kit(t)a/i/uka, a Aramaische Inschriften (1969-1973),texts numbered201-32. This collection
partially preserved place-name in a (commonly referredto as KAI)has three volumes. The first presents each text
monolith inscription of Shalmaneser in square Hebrew (Aramaic)characters;the second contains bibliography,
III, that they consider to be another translation,andphilological commentaryforeach text; andthe third contains
name for Til-Barsip. The concluding glossaries, lists of proper names, and more bibliographical information, as
section of the volume includes a well as a few handcopies and photographs.
transliteration of the Aramaic text A more recent work, which should be viewed with caution accordingto
Dennis Pardee (1978), is John C. L. Gibson's Textbook of Syrian Semitic
accompanied by translation and notes.
In an important review article Inscriptions, Volume2: Aramaic Inscriptions, Including Inscriptions in the
Dialect of Zenjirli (1975), texts numbered 1-19. Gibson's format does not
W Von Soden (1985) questioned this differ materially from that of Donner and R6ollig,but his indexes contain a
identification of Ktk.14Von Soden scripture index and a table of scripts.
proposed that Ktk be identified with In the last two decades, two grammarshave appearedthat supplant the
the Neo-Assyrian place-name Kiski earliergrammaticalsketchof OldAramaicby G. Garbini(1956,1959).R. Degen's
where Adadnerari III marched in 786 Altaramidische Grammatik der Inschriften des 10.-8. Jh. V Chr. (1969)
B.C.E. This identification has a serious analyzes the extant Aramaicepigraphicmaterial dating from the tenth to the
weakness, however, namely the ren- eighth centuries B.C.E., excluding the Hadad and Panamu inscriptions from
dering of the Old Aramaic t by the Zenjirli as well as the shorter inscriptions. Though one might wish he had
included the two Nerab inscriptions, which date roughly to 700 B.C.E., this
Neo-Assyrian s. Von Soden agreed
with Lemaire and Durand's identifi- descriptivegrammarexcels in its attention to syntax and sentence structure.
Although the title is misleading, StanislavSegert'sAltaramiaischeGram-
cation of Bar-Ga'yah with Shamshi- matik mit Bibliographie, Chrestomathie und Glossar (1975) is a valuable
ilu and he advanced this identifica- reference grammar.In contrast to Degen, Segert'sconcept of "OldAramaic"
tion by suggesting that Bar-Ga'yah includes not only the oldermaterial (tenth througheighth centuries B.C.E.)but
was actually a son of Adadnerari III. also all of the various dialects of "OfficialAramaic,"as well as the "Prayerof
In addition to their importance Nabonidus,"an Aramaictext discoveredat Qumran.The usefulness of Segert's
for political history, the Sefire in- grammarhas been enhancedby two importantreview articles (Kaufman1977;
scriptions have provided a major Degen 1979).
source of data on West Semitic treaty Another useful tool in the study of Old Aramaic inscriptions is A
formulation. Treaty, or covenant, is Synoptic Concordance of Aramaic Inscriptions (Aufrecht 1975). Produced
one of the basic concepts used in the
study of the Hebrew Bible, and the
use of the Aramaic cdn/cdy'/cdy for Before discussing the next three J. Friedrich (1965) to view this dia-
treaty stipulations has shed light on inscriptions, I should make some lect as a separate Semitic language
the kindred Hebrew cd(w)t/ym. For general remarks about the language have not gained acceptance. Its lin-
instance, the Great Isaiah Scroll from in which they are written. guistic features have been the object
Qumran (1QIsa) supports the read- There is a consensus among of an intensive study by P.-E.Dion
ing cdym ("treaty")in Isaiah 33:8, Aramaists that the Hadad and Pana- (1974, 1978).16
which forms a better parallel with mu inscriptions were written in an All three inscriptions were dis-
bryt ("covenant")than does Crym archaic local dialect of Aramaic. The covered in the general vicinity of
("cities")in the Masoretic text. Also, so-called scepter inscription of Kila- modern day Zinjirli. The standard
one might point out the similarity muwa was also written in this dia- edition of the Hadad and Panamu
between the treaty curses found in lect, but there is a difference of inscriptions was published by F. von
the Sefire inscriptions and those opinion over its language. Known as Luschan and E. Sachau (1893: 44-84
found in the Hebrew Bible and else- Samalian Aramaic, the dialect was and tables VI-VIII);von Luschan
where (Sefire, stele I, side A, lines named after the Aramean city-state (1943: 102 and tables 47f-g) first
27-28; Deuteronomy 28:38-39). Sam'al, which was located in North published the scepter inscription of
Inscriptions in Samalian Aramaic. Syria.'s Recurrent efforts by the late Kilamuwa half a century later.

must offer sacrifice to Hadad and
with the aid of a computer, this concordance is based on all of the Aramaic the other gods and not fail to men-
inscriptions contained in KAI. In using this concordance, however, the tion the name of his predecessor.
student has to be able to distinguish the Old Aramaictexts from the Imperial The final section consists of a series
Aramaictexts, both of which are included in KAI.Another limitation of this of instructions directed to Panamu's
concordanceis that Old Aramaicinscriptions that postdatethe publication of
KAI (forexample, the cEnGev jar,the Tel Dan bowl, and Tell Fakhariyeh)are heir, apparently aimed at assuring
not included. an orderly transition, and the final
The primarydeficiency of tools in the study of Old Aramaicinscriptions line contains a prohibition against
is in the area of lexica. Unfortunately for the English-speakingstudent, the alteration or destruction of the stele
only lexicon devoted exclusively to the earlier phases of Aramaic (Old and (Tawil 1973).
Official, around the tenth to the second centuries B.C.E.) is that of I. N. Panamu. This twenty-three line
Vinnikov (1958-1965), Slovar arameiskich nadpisey (a dictionary of the inscription was engraved on the
Aramaic inscriptions). In the meantime, the general West Semitic (minus lower half of a statue, the top half of
Ugaritic) lexicon of C-E Jeanand J. Hoftijzer, Dictionnaire des inscriptions which, as well as much of the left-
simitiques de lbuest (1965),can be consulted with profit, though its revision hand portion of the monument, have
and updatinghave become a desideratum. not survived. The monument was
Mention should be made of several additional works that are helpful in
erected by Bar-Rakib to his father,
the study of Old Aramaic inscriptions. A bibliography on inscriptional
Aramaic has been compiled by F. Vattioni (1969).E. Y. Kutscher (1970)has Panamu II. The bulk of the inscrip-
surveyed the secondary literature on Old Aramaic and proferredcritical tion (Donner and R6llig 1969-1973:
annotations. In their Early Hebrew Orthography,A Study of the Epigraphic 215; Gibson 1975: 14, plate IV) is a
Evidence (1952): 21-34), Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman narration about the career of Pana-
discuss the orthographyof Old Aramaic.Despite minor flaws,their treatment mu II, which enables us to date the
is still valuable. inscription with precision.
E. Lipiniski'sStudies in Aramaic Inscriptions and Onomastics, volume 1 With the support of Tiglath-
(1975), treats problematic passages in the Bar-Hadad,Zakkur, and Sefire Pileser III of Assyria, Panamu over-
inscriptions. H. Tawil (1974) has compared various idioms and formulae came the opposing faction and became
attested in the introductory statements of the Hadad, Zakkur, and Nerab 2
king of Y'DY These events probably
inscriptions with their counterparts in Akkadian and Northwest Semitic
dialects. The Akkadian influence on Aramaic, from the perspectives of transpired during the former's cam-
lexicography,morphology,phonology,and syntax, has been discussed in detail paign against Arpad (743-40 B.C.E.).
by Stephen Kaufman (1974),who has also outlined the development of the The inscription tells of the death of
Aramaic dialects. Panamu, who accompanied Tiglath-
The readershould also be awareof English translations of several of the Pileser in his campaign against
more important inscriptions by E Rosenthal in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Damascus (733-32 B.C.E.).The end of
Relating to the Old Testament, third edition with supplement (Pritchard the inscription speaks of Bar-Rakib's
1969a).The companion volume, The Ancient Near East in Pictures Relating ascension to the throne, with the
to the Old Testament. (Pritchard1969b),contains photographsof some of the
artifactsupon which the inscriptions are engraved. support of Tiglath-Pileser, which
suggests that the statue was erected
in the early part of Bar-Rakib's reign
(about 730 B.C.E.).
Hadad.Dated to the mid-eighth mirably compared the opening sec- In addition to the historical in-
century B.C.E., this inscription tion (lines 1-4) of the inscription formation that can be gleaned from
comprises thirty-fourlines of Old with kindred formulae and idioms this inscription, the idiom "to grasp
Aramaic text that adornthe lower in Akkadian inscriptions. the hem/skirt" (line 11) describes
portion of the front side of a statue Panamu then boasts of the pros- Panamu's relationship with the king
of the god Hadad (Donner and Rdllig perity experienced during his reign of Assyria, and this has sociopolitical
1969-1973: 214; Gibson 1975: 13, (lines 5-14), followed by the record- significance. Its interdialectical
plate III).The original statue stood ing of a religious rite (lines 15-24), equivalent is found in Akkadian,
some 4 meters high, though the top which Greenfield (1973) has discussed. Ugaritic, Imperial Aramaic (for
portion has not been preserved.The This rite is paralleled by the kispu- example, Ahiqar), and Biblical He-
statue was erected to Hadadby Pana- offering (funerary offering) of cunei- brew (1 Samuel 15:27). The basic
mu I, the king of YDY,who, in the form sources, on the one hand, and notion underlying this idiom is that
opening lines of the inscription, by various West Semitic practices, of submission (Brauner 1977: 25-27).
speaks of the divine favor,election, such as the mrzh-banquet, on the Kilamuwa. Seven lines of Old
and aid bestowed upon him by his other. Both as a religious duty and a Aramaic (late ninth century B.C.E.)
gods. Tawil (1974:41-50) has ad- sign of legitimacy, Panamu's heir are written on a small gold sheath

15
10
o20
'5
Of the six inscriptions attributed to Bar-Rakib,an Aramean who became king of ancient Samal around 730 &.C.E., three are well preservedand
contributesignificantly to our knowledge of Old Aramaic as well as the history of the region.All of the Bar-Rakibinscriptions were discovered
in the late 1800s during the excavations at Zinfirli. Bar-Rakib1, consisting of twenty lines, is on a stele that shows the king in typical Assyrian
dress with his arms outstretched. The theme of the inscriptionis Bar-Rakib'sstatus as a vassal to Tiglath-Pileser,an Assyrian ruler whose title,
"lordof the fourquartersof the earth,"is shown in lines 3-4. Bar-Rakib'sloyalty is alluded to in lines 8 and 9, which say he had "runat the
wheel of"Tiglath-Pileser'schariot. Photographfrom Pritchard(1969b),courtesy of the Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul.
that at one time may have served as contention among Aramaists con- tions (Donner and Rollig 1969-1973:
the handle of a scepter.These seven cerns the language of this inscrip- 216-21, tables XII,XXXII;Gibson
lines (Donnerand Rollig 1969-1973: tion. Forexample, JosephFitzmyer 1975: 15-17, figure 11)can be dated
25; Gibson 1982: 14, figure 5) are has said (1979:67, note 79) that the roughly to 730 B.C.E., when Bar-Rakib
sometimes designated KilamuwaI inscription is completely Phoe- ascended the throne and became
to distinguish them from Kilamuwa's nician except for the word br ("son"). king of ancient Sam'al.Of the six
long inscription (KilamuwaII), P. Swiggers (1982)has restudied the inscriptions listed in Donner and
which is written in Phoenician. inscription and shown that the gram- Rollig, three (numbers219-221) are
The inscription can be trans- matical features-the third person poorly preservedfragments that are
lated as follows: "Statuewhich Kila- pronominal suffix h, the relative of little value for our purposes;the
muwa, son of Haya,fashioned for pronoun z, and the form other three (numbers216-218) are
Rakkab'el.May Rakkab'elgrant him to an Aramaic dialect. h.y-point well-preservedand contribute signi-
length of life."The primarypoint of Bar-Rakib.The Bar-Rakibinscrip- ficantly to our knowledge of Old

Aramaic and the history of the tions may have been written in the portion of the inscription, is called
region.'7 same dialect. Combination II.
All of the Bar-Rakibinscriptions The nine lines of text of the Bar- At present, JoAnn Hackett's
were discoveredin the excavations Rakib 2 inscription are engravedon published dissertation (1984a;see
conducted at Zinjirli in the late a largefragment of stone. The right also 1986)should be regardedas the
nineteenth century. Whereas the side of the fragment displays the definitive study of the Deir cAlla
Bar-Rakib1 (Donner and R6llig beardedface of a human figure with inscription.'8Hackett has personally
1969-1973: 216;Gibson 1975: 15)and an arm extendedand a drinkingvessel examined the plaster inscription as
Bar-Rakib3 inscriptions (Donner in his hand. The text occupies the well as profited from the insights of
and R6ollig1969-1973: 218; Gibson left side of the fragment, and the endother scholars. Articles by A. Caquot
1975: 17)were initially published in of each line is broken. As with Bar- and Andr6Lemaire(1977),BaruchA.
the excavation reports (von Luschan Rakib 1, this inscription is also con-Levine (1981),and P.Kyle McCarter
1911:377-80 and table LXVII;345-49 cerned with proclaiming Bar-Rakib's (1980)have helped greatly in clarify-
and table LX, respectively),Bar- loyalty to his Assyrian overlord. ing the arrangementof the frag-
Rakib 2, unearthed at the same Bar-Rakib3 (Pritchard1969b: ments and the general interpretation
time, was not published for almost 460) consists of two short lines in- of the text. In accordancewith the
half a century (Donner 1955). scribed across the top of an impres- suggestions of Caquot and Lemaire
Bar-Rakib1 (Pritchard1969b: sive relief. Bar-Rakibis pictured as (compareMcCarter 1980:49-60),
281) consists of twenty lines of Old seated on an Assyrian-typethrone Hackett has presented a slightly
Aramaic engravedbeneath the out- with his feet resting on a footstool. rearrangedtext that has resulted in
stretched arms of a profile of the Beforehim stands a scribe whose improvedreadingsand a renumber-
king, who is portrayedin typical right hand is upraised,perhapsas a ing of the lines.
Assyrian dress. The main theme of gesture of respect. The short inscrip- From the outset, the languageof
the inscription is that Bar-Rakibis a tion reads as follows: "MyLordis the Deir cAllh inscription has been a
loyal vassal of Tiglath-Pileser.The Baal Harran.I am Bar-Rakib,the son matter of considerabledebate. Some
Assyrian ruler'stitle, "lordof the of Panammu." scholars hold that the language of
four quartersof the earth"(lines 3-4), On the whole, the Bar-Rakibin- the text is Aramaic, albeit with
is a calque, or loan translation, of scriptions attest to the vassal statussome Canaanite forms. Others have
the Akkadian 'ar kibrat erbetti, a of the Aramean king of Sam'alto the arguedthat the language of the text
well-known Mesopotamian epithet. Assyrian empire in the eighth cen- is a Canaanite dialect-either Am-
As an indication of his status of tury B.C.E. monite (Greenfield 1980)or perhaps
vassal, Bar-Rakibmentions that he Deir cAllai.This enigmatic ink-on- even Gileadite (Naveh 1979).This
has "runat the wheel of"Tiglath- plaster inscription was found in problem has been tackled by Hackett
Pileser's chariot (lines 8-9). This 1967 by a Dutch expedition excavat- (1984b;1986),who concluded that
brings to mind a similar custom ing at Deir cAlla in the eastern the inscription has strong affinities
practiced in ancient Israelwhen Jordanvalley. The text is written in with South Canaanite dialects.
Absalom, and later Adonijah,plotted black ink, with the exception of There are, however,certain fea-
to overthrowDavid; each of them three red-inksections, and dates tures of the languagethat are in-
mounted a chariot and had fifty men roughly to 700 B.C.E. The surviving dubitably Aramaic:first, the third
run before it (2 Samuel 15:1, 1 Kings plaster fragmentswere found in two masculine singular suffix -wh, and,
1:5;see also 1 Samuel 8:11).Their majorgroupings in a small room. It second, the use of the graphq to
intentions were clear to all-they has been surmised that the intact represent PS d. Further,two minor
had assumed a royalprerogative. plaster inscription was once attached inscriptions from the same archae-
One of the linguistic features to a wall or, perhaps,to an object ological phase exhibit Aramaic traits
of this inscription appears to be a suspended from a wall. (the relative pronoun zy and the
dialectal trait. When two emphatic These fragments, as well as sev- emphatic case). The Canaanite
consonants occur within one word, eral others, were published by Jacob admixtures may be explained by the
the first is regularly dissimilated; Hoftijzer and G. van der Kooij (1976) fact that it was a peripheral, hence
that is, its less emphatic counterpart less than a decade after their original archaic, dialect (Kaufman 1980: 73;
is preferred (for example, line 19, discovery. In this editio princeps the see also Garr 1985: 229) subject to
kys' is less emphatic than group of fragments that apparently heavy Canaanite influence because
This same feature occurs in*qys.').
the made up the top of the inscription is of its location on the Syro-Palestinian
Nerab 1 funerary inscription (line arranged in what is called Combina- periphery.
11, ktl is less emphatic than *qtl), tion I, and the second group of frag- The overall thrust of the content
which suggests that these inscrip- ments, which constituted the lower of this inscription remains obscure,

,I
These two funerarysteles, found

go in the small village of Nerab,
about 7 kilometers southeast of
Aleppo, are roughlydated to 700
B.C.E., which forsome scholars
puts their inscriptions out of the
44 corpus of Old Aramaic. Nerab 1,
400 to the left, has fourteenlines
inscribed across the rounded
, I top of the basalt slab. The first
lot eight lines surroundthe head
and upraisedhand of Sinzerbani,
who is identified as "apriest of
401 Sahar at Nerab,deceased."The
|, : remaining six lines, written
across the lower portion of
Sinzerbani'spleated robe, warn
any would-be violator against
removing the stele from it place
and offer blessings for anyone
who guards the stone. Nerab 2,
to the right, is written on a simi-
larly shaped stone, but the en-
tire ten lines are across the top
gi / portion of the slab. Sigabbar,
?
. anotherpriest of Saharat Nerab,
.'
4~11" is seated at an offeringtable
and drinkingfrom a cup. The
40S- inscription contains motifs of
divine bestowal of fame, lon-
gevity, and mental endurance.
Photographsfrom Pritchard
(1969b),courtesy of the Reunion
des musees nationaux, Paris.
especially as it progresses.The first The importance of this text for in their distinctive characteras
combination begins by relating how biblical scholars is obvious. Here is funeraryinscriptions. It must be
Balaam,the son of Beor,is visited by the only extrabiblicalmention of noted that many Aramaists exclude
the gods in a night vision. Balaamis the famous non-Israeliteprophet them from the phase of Old Aramaic
told that a divine council was con- Balaam (Numbers 22-24), who ap- and, further,that they are roughly
vened and that it ordereda goddess to parently was a prominent figure in dated to 700 B.C.E., which is in the
withhold light from earth as punish- local religious tradition. He is de- latest part of the period. Neverthe-
ment. Unfortunately,the name of scribed as a "seerof the gods,"which less, Fitzmyer (1979:66-67) has
the goddess is not preserved.The suits well his prophetic role in the pointed to certain forms (forexample,
remainderof the first combination Hebrew Bible. in Nerab 1, lines 12-13, nsr is less
and the whole of the second com- Nerab 1 and 2. These two inscrip- emphatic than *ntr)and a syntactic
bination (the latter making frequent tions were found in the small village feature that justifies their inclusion
referenceto death and the grave) of Nerab about 7 kilometers south- within Old Aramaic.
have been subject to wide-rangingin- east of Aleppo. They were initially The Nerab 1 inscription (Don-
terpretations,a summary of which published by Charles Clermont- ner and R611ig1969-1973: 225, table
has been presentedbyHackett (1984a: Ganneau (1897).Their unique posi- XXIV;Gibson 1975: 18)consists of
75-85). tion in the Old Aramaic corpus lies fourteen lines of text engravedon a

basalt slab that is roundedat the top
(Pritchard1969b:280). The first
eight lines surroundthe head and
upraisedhand of a human figure at
prayer,undoubtedly that of Sinzer-
bani, the priest mentioned in line 1.
The rest of the inscription is written
acrossthe lowerportion of his pleated One of the minor, or shorter,Aramaic inscriptionsis written on this ivory inlay from a bedboard
robe.After a brief introduction, in that was discoveredat Arslan Tashin 1928. The inscription consists of one fragmentaryline
which Sinzerbaniidentifies himself that can be read as ".. . son of cAmma, for our lord Haza'el in the year . . "According to 2 Kings
8:7-15 Haza'elwas a usurperwho became king of the Aramean state of Damascus in the
as "apriest of Saharat Nerab,de- ninth century B.C.E. Photographfrom EncyclopaediaMikra'it(Biblical Encyclopaedia),The
ceased(!),"there is an imprecation Bialik Institute, Jerusalem.
directed against any would-beviola-
tor who might venture to remove
the funerarystele from its place. tion."This brings to mind similar translation. The Hamath Graffiti
Conversely,the last lines pronounce statements made in referenceto (Donner and Rollig 1969-1973: 203-
a blessing upon anyone who might Joseph(Genesis 50:23)and espe- 13;Gibson 1975: 6) consist primarily
guardthe stone. cially Job(Job42:16),"andhe saw his of propernames inscribed on bricks.
The Nerab 2 inscription (Don- sons and grandsonsto four genera- The use of Aramaic in the East is in-
ner and R6llig 1969-1973: 226, table tions."The inscription closes with dicated by the Nineveh Lion Weights
XXV;Gibson 1975: 19)is engraved the customary imprecation directed (Koopmans1962:number 13)and
on a similarly sized basalt slab, but towardany person who might vio- the LuristanBronzes 1 and 2 (Gibson
the entire ten lines of text are writ- late the grave. 1975: 11-12; Dupont-Sommer 1964:
ten across the top portion of the In summary,these two funerary 108-15, plates XXXIII-XXXVI).
stele. Carvedon the relief below is a inscriptions providefurther evi- M. Heltzer (1983)has published the
human figure seated before an offer- dence for Assyrian influence, which gypsum-cast of a jarhandle that
ing table and drinking from a cup followed the westwardexpansion of reads]mr', "belongto (the) lord."
that he holds to his lips (Pritchard that mighty empire. Though Ara- Three other short inscriptions
1969b:635). An attendant stands on mean by race,both priests bore are also relevant for the history of
the other side of the table with a fan Akkadian-typenames, which testify Syriaand Palestine. The Haza'elivory
in hand. to their devotion to the Babylonian inlay (Donner and Rollig 1969-1973:
The portraitis no doubt that of moon-god Sin. 232; Gibson 1975: 2, figure 6) was
Si'gabbar,another priest of Saharat discoveredat Arslan Tash in 1928.
Nerab (line 1).The initial element Minor Inscriptions Consisting of one fragmentaryline,
(Si')of this priest'sname, which Forthe historian studying Syria and it can clearly be read as " . . . son of
troubled earlier epigraphists,has Palestine, the minor ancient Ara- CAmma,for our lord Haza'elin the
been explained by Kaufman(1970)as maic inscriptions offer very little. year . . ."According to the Bible,
a West Semitic by-formof the Meso- Most are quite short and provide Haza'elwas a usurper who became
potamian moon-god Sin. Hence the little substantial information. They king of the Aramean state of Damas-
name means "Sinis a hero/warrior." do, however,attest to the use of the cus in the ninth century B.C.E. (2
Tawil (1974:57-65) has shown Aramaic languagein diverse regions Kings 8:7-15).
that the motifs contained in the in- of the Near East. Some of these in- During the excavations con-
troductorystatement of this inscrip- scriptions, those that were published ducted at CEnGev in 1961, a store-jar
tion (lines 2b-5) are best studied in between 1960 and 1965, have been was discovered,upon the shoulder of
light of kindred motifs in cuneiform assembled and commented upon by which was engravedan Aramaic in-
royal inscriptions as well as other JosephNaveh (1966). scription (Gibson 1975:3; Mazarand
Northwest Semitic texts. The motifs The Tell Halaf altar inscription others 1964: 27-28 and plate 13B).
of divine bestowal of fame, endurance (Donnerand R611ig1969-1973: 231; Dated on paleographicgrounds to
of mental faculties, and longevity Gibson 1975: 10)consists of one the ninth century B.C.E., it reads l]qy;
have striking similarities to Akka- undecipherableline, and neither the which should be translated"for(the
dian inscriptions, especially the original photographnor the inscrip- use of) butlers."A similar find is
Nabonidus inscription. Si'gabbar's tion exist today.The OrdekBurnu associated with the site of Tel Dan
attainment of long life is expressed stele (Koopmans1962:number 6), a (Avigad1968:Gibson 1975: 4). In-
in line 5 as follows, "with my eyes I ten-line inscription discoveredin cised on the base of a bowl was the
behold children of the fourth genera- 1898, has yet to yield an intelligible phraseltb[]y. The missing fragment

of the bowl most probably had the Greenfield (1978b),and Klaus Beyer Bar-Ga'yahas an Assyrian governor,and
letter hbet,and the line can be read (1984: 23-71). M. L. Barre(1985).
"for (the use of) butchers/cooks." 3Anexception is Egypt,which has a 14VonSoden restoredthe place-
These two chance finds may hot and dry climate that is conducive to name as readinguruKi-i[t?-te/ti?]-qa. In
the preservationof perishablematerials. orderfor the Lemaire-Durandidentifica-
point to more than just the use of tion to stand, the final cuneiform sign,
the Aramaic language in their re- 4Beyer(1984:25), who has his own
system of division, recognizes a major heretoforereadas qa, must in this in-
spective locations. Both CEnGev and break around 500 B.C.E.and smaller ones stance be assigned the phonetic value of
Tel Dan were located on the borders around 700 and 200 B.C.E. ka4. Whereasthe latter readingis com-
of Israel. At the beginning of the 5sThisstatement is true as far as it mon at Amarnaand Nuzi, it is quite
ninth century B.C.E.,Dan was con- goes. Formore detail see Stephen A. unusual in a Neo-Assyriantext. Further,
quered by the Aramean Ben-Hadad Kaufman(1982:143). Von Soden arguedthat Til-Barsipcannot
(1 Kings 15:20). Archaeological evi- 6Forhis earlier comments on the be equated with uruKi-i[t?-te/ti?]-qa.
dence from CEnGev suggests that it, development of the Aramaicdialects, see 5sTheuse of the term Ya'udicto
Kaufman(1974:7-9, 152-70). describe this dialect has little historical
too, fell under Aramean control dur-
ing the same century. These two ves- 7Accordingto Kaufman(1974:155), justification. Fora discussion, see Joseph
StandardOld Aramaic,whether or not it Fitzmyer(1967:62-63).
sels, both bearing Aramaic phrases, was nothing otherthan 16Thetwo most prominent, distinc-
was"standardized,"
may have been used in royal or other the native Aramaic of northern Syria. tive features of SamalianAramaic are
noble households and thus attest to 8Thetopic of Northwest Semitic the retention of case-distinction in the
the Aramean occupation, which is dialects has finally receivedthe attention masculine plural (w for nominative, y
known from other sources. it deserves in W RandallGarr'sDialect for oblique) and the absence of the
Geographyof Syria-Palestine,1000-586 emphatic case.
Conclusion B.C.E. (1985). 17Twoadditional Bar-Rakibinscrip-
It should now be evident that Old
9Attentionshould also be drawnto tions, one on a silver bar,the other on a
two striking morphologicalfeatures of seal, bring the total to eight. Both of
Aramaic inscriptions are an impor- the inscription:first, the pe'al infinitive these consist of one line, reading"be-
tant source for reconstructing the with the preformativem- (lines, 7, 9, 10, longing to Bar-Rakib,son of Panamu."
history of Syria and Palestine and, 14),and, second, the infixed t-conjuga- See von Luschan(1943:119-20and 73-74,
likewise, that they contain vital in- tion (ygtzr-23),forms heretoforeun- respectively).
formation on the religious practices known in Old Aramaic.Elsewherein the 18Add to her bibliographyM. Weinfeld
of the Arameans. Northwest Semitic family of languages (1978-1979),who classified the Deir
In general, the combined testi- the infixed t-conjugation is found in cAlhliinscription as an "oracleof rebuke,"
mony of the Old Aramaic corpus Ugaritic, Moabite, and Phoenician, but J.Koenig (1983),Andre Lemaire(1985),
not Biblical Hebrew.BeforeTell Fakhari- BaruchA. Levine (1985),Emile Peuch
points to an Assyro-Aramean sym-
biosis and a widespread use of the yeh, the pe'alinfinitive with preformative (1985),and Victor Sasson (1985b).
m- was known principally from later
Aramaic language throughout the
Aramaic dialects.
ancient Near East. To be sure, the
loForhis earlier view, now aban- Bibliography
limited number of inscriptions and doned, see Lipiniski(1971). Abou-Assaf,A.
the lacunae contained therein raise "iThespelling "Zakkur," as opposed 1981 Die Statue des HDYScY,Konigvon
intriguing questions that cannot be to the widely accepted"Zakir,"is assured Guzana.Mitteilungender Deutschen
answered at present. We have reason by cuneiform writings (Millard 1978: 23). Orient-Gesellschaft113:3-22.
to hope, though, that future excava- 12In supportof a connection be-
Abou-Assaf,A., Bordreuil,P.,andMillard,A. R.
1981 LastatuedeTellFekhery6: La
tions will expand the corpus and fill tween the propheticbackgroundof the
Zakkur inscription and Mari, Ross has premiere inscription bilingue assyro-
in gaps in our knowledge of the role arameenne.Pp.640-55 in Comptes
that the Arameans played in the his- proposed that the phrase ' icnh 'nh (line rendus de lAcademie des Inscrip-
2) be translatedas "Iam a man of Hana." tions et Belles Lettres.Paris.
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people who are frequently mentioned in scriptionbilingue assyro-arameenne.
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are out of date. Formore recent work see Greenfield (1969: 178-79). The scholarly Civilisations.
AbrahamMalamat (1973),Benjamin consensus is that the aforementioned Albright,W.F.
1942 A VotiveStele Erectedby Ben-Hadad
Mazar(1962),E. Lipiniski(1979),and phrase should be translated as "Iam a I of Damascus to the God Melcarth.
WayneT. Pitard(1987). humble man." From cuneiform inscrip- Bulletin of the American Schools of
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language,in its diverse and various that it was common parlance for a ruler Angerstorfer,A.
manifestations, can be found in F.Rosen- to speak of his piety toward his god. 1984 GedankenzurAnalysederInschrift(en)
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Caquot,A., and Lemaire,A. 1973 schriften, three volumes. Wiesbaden: Studies 46: 545-46.
1977 Les textes aramdensde Deir cAlla. Harrassowitz. Gibson, J.C. L.
Syria 54: 189-208. Dunand, M. 1975 Textbookof SyrianSemitic Inscrip-
Clermont-Ganneau,C. 1939 Stele aramdenned6dieea Melqart. tions, Volume2: Aramaic Inscrip-
1897 Les stles aramdennesde Neirab.Pp. Bulletin du Musee de Beyrouth tions, Including Inscriptionsin the
182-223 in Etudes d'archdologie 3: 65-76. Dialect of Zenjirli. Oxford:The
orientale, volume 2. Paris. Dupont-Sommer,A. ClarendonPress.
Cross, F.M. 1964 Troisinscriptions aram6ennes 1982 Textbookof SyrianSemitic Inscrip-
1972 The Stele Dedicated to Melcarthby inedites sur des bronzes du Luristan. tions, Volume3: Phoenician Inscrip-
Ben-Hadadof Damascus. Bulletin of IranicaAntiqua 4: 108-18, plates tions, Including Inscriptionsin the
the American Schools of Oriental XXXIII-XXXVII. Mixed Dialect of Arslan Tash.
Research205: 36-42. Dupont-Sommer,A., and Starcky,J. Oxford:The ClarendonPress.
Cross, E M., and Freedman,D. N. 1956 Une inscription aramdenneinedite Ginsberg,H. L.
1952 EarlyHebrew Orthography,A Study de Sfire.Bulletin du Musee de 1933 AramaicDialect Problems.American
of the EpigraphicEvidence. Series: Beyrouth 13:23-41. Journalof the Semitic Languages50:
American Oriental Series 36. New 1958 Les inscriptions arameennesde 1-9.
Haven:American Oriental Society. Sfir6.Pp. 197-351 in Mimoires 1936 AramaicDialect ProblemsII.Ameri-
Dearman, J.A., and Miller, J.M. prdsenties par diverssavants a can Journalof the Semitic Languages
1983 The MelqartStele and the Ben lAcadimie des inscriptions et 52: 95-103.
Hadadsof Damascus:TwoStudies. belles-lettres,TomeXV.Paris: Greenfield,J.C.
Palestine ExplorationQuarterly115: ImprimerieNationale. 1967- Dialect Traitsin EarlyAramaic.
95-101. Fales,E M. 1968 Leshondnu32: 359-68.
Degen, R. 1983 Le double bilinguisme de la statue 1969 The ZakirInscriptionand the
1969 Altaramdische Grammatik der de Tell Fekherye.Syria60: 233-50. Danklied. Pp. 174-91 in Proceedings
Inschriftendes 10.-8.Jh.v Chr. Fitzmyer,J.A. of the Fifth WorldCongressof Jewish
Abhandlungenfur die Kundedes 1967 The Aramaic Inscriptionsof Sefire. Studies, volume 1. Jerusalem:World
Morgenlandes, 38/3. Wiesbaden: Series: Biblica et Orientalia 19. Union of JewishStudies.
Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesell- Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute. 1973 Un rite religieux aram~en et ses
schaft/Kommissionsverlag Franz 1971 The Genesis Apocryphon of parall61es. Revue Biblique 80: 46-52.
Steiner GMBH. Qumran Cave I, second revised edi- 1974 Standard Literary Aramaic. Pp. 280-
1979 Review of S. Segert, Altaramaische tion. Rome: Biblical Institute Press. 89 in Actes du premier congr~s inter-
Grammatik mit Bibliographie, Chres- 1979 The Phases of the Aramaic Language. national de linguistique simitique
tomathie und Glossar. Gottingische Pp. 57-84 in A Wandering Aramean, et chamito-simitique, edited by A.
Gelehrte Anzeigen 231: 8-51. Collected Aramaic Essays. Series: Caquot and D. Cohen. Series: Janua
Dion, P.-E. Society of Biblical Literature Mono- Linguarum Series Practica 159. The
1974 La langue de Ya'udic: description et graph Series 25. Chico, CA: Scholars Hague and Paris: Mouton.
classement de l'ancien parler de Press. 1978a The Dialects of Early Aramaic.
Zen~irli dans le cadre des langues Friedrich,J. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 37:
simitiques du nord-ouest. Waterloo: 1965 Zur Stellung des Jaudischen inner- 93-99.

1978b Aramaicand its Dialects. Pp. 29-43 Maarav3: 137-75. XIV.Berlin.
in Jewish Languages,Themes and Koenig,J. 1943 Ausgrabungenin Sendschirli V Die
Variations,edited by H. H. Paper. 1983 Ladeclarationdes dieux dans l'in- Kleinfundevon Sendschirli. Series:
Cambridge,MA:Association for scription de Deir Alla (1,2).Semitica Mitteilungen aus den orientalischen
JewishStudies. 33: 77-88. Sammlungen,Heft XV.Berlin.
1980 Review of J.Hoftijzerand G. van der Koopmans,J.J. Luschan,F.von, and Sachau,E.
Kooij,Aramaic Textsfrom Deir 1962 Aramifische Chrestomathie,two 1893 Ausgrabungenin Sendschirli I,
cAlla. Journalof Semitic Studies 25: volumes. Leiden:E. J.Brill. Einleitung und Inschriften.Series:
248-52. Kutscher,E. Y Mitteilungen aus den orientalischen
Greenfield,J.C., and Shaffer,A. 1970 Aramaic.Pp.347-412 in Linguistics Sammlungen,Heft XI. Berlin.
1983 Notes on the Akkadian-Aramaic in South WestAsia and NorthAfrica, Malamat,A.
Bilingual Statue from Tell Fekherye. CurrentTrendsin Linguistics, 1973 The Aramaeans.Pp. 134-55 in
Iraq45: 109-16. volume 6, edited by T. A. Sebeok. Peoplesof Old TestamentTimes,
1985 Notes on the Curse Formulaeof the The Hague and Paris:Mouton. edited by D. J.Wiseman. Oxford:The
Tell FekheryeInscription.Revue (Reprintedin 1977 in Hebrew and ClarendonPress.
Biblique 92: 47-59. Aramaic Studies, edited by Z. Ben- Mazar,B.
Gropp.D. M., and Lewis,T. J. Hayyim and others, pages 90-155. 1962 The AramaeanEmpireand Its Rela-
1985 Notes on Some Problemsin the Jerusalem:The MagnesPress.) tions with Israel.Biblical Archae-
AramaicTextof the Hadd-Yithci 1971 Aramaic.Columns 259-87 in ologist 25: 98-120. (Reprintedin
Bilingual.Bulletin of the American EncyclopaediaJudaica,volume 3. 1966 in The Biblical Archaeologist
Schools of Oriental Research259: Jerusalem:KeterPublishingHouse; Reader,volume 2, edited by D. N.
45-61. New York:The MacmillanCompany. Freedmanand E. E Campbell,pages
Hackett, JoAnn Lemaire,A. 127-51. New York:Doubleday.)
1984a The Balaam Textfrom Deir cAlla. 1984 La stele arameennede Barhadad. Mazar,B., and others
Chico, CA: ScholarsPress. Orientalia 53: 337-49. 1964 cEinGev, Excavationsin 1961.Israel
1984b The Dialect of the PlasterTextfrom 1985 L'inscriptionde Balaamtrouvee a ExplorationJournal14:1-49 and
TellDeir cAlla. Orientalia 53: 57-65. Deir cAlla:6pigraphie.Pp.313-25 in plate 13 B.
1986 Some Observationson the Balaam BiblicalArchaeologyToday,Proceed- McCarter,P.K., Jr.
Traditionat Deir cAlla. Biblical ings of the International Congress 1980 The BalaamTextsfrom Deir cAlla:
Archaeologist49: 216-22. on Biblical Archaeology,Jerusalem, The FirstCombination.Bulletin of
Heltzer, M. April 1984, edited by J.Amitai. Jeru- the American Schools of Oriental
1983 An Old-ArameanSeal-Impression salem: IsraelExplorationSociety. Research239: 49-60.
and Some Problemsof the History of Lemaire,A., and Durand,J.-M. Millard,A. R.
the Kingdomof Damascus. Pp. 9-13 1984 Les inscriptions arameennesde Sfire 1978 EpigraphicNotes, Aramaicand
in Arameans,Aramaic and the et lAssyrie Shamshi-Ilu.Series:Pub- Hebrew.Palestine Exploration
Aramaic LiteraryTradition,edited lications du Centre de Recherches Quarterly 110:23-26.
by M. Sokoloff.Ramat-Gan:Bar-Ilan d'Histoireet de Philogie II,Hautes 1984 The Etymologyof Eden. VetusTesta-
University. Etudes Orientales 20. Genevaand mentum 34: 103-06.
Hoftijzer,J.,and van der Kooij,G. Paris:LibrairieDroz. Millard,A. R., and Bordreuil,P
1976 Aramaic Textsfrom Deir cAlla. Levine,B.A. 1982 A Statue from Syriawith Assyrian
Series:Documenta et Monumenta 1981 The Deir cAlla PlasterInscriptions. and AramaicInscriptions.Biblical
OrientisAntiqui 19.Leiden:E.J.Brill. Journalof the American Oriental Archaeologist45: 135-41.
Jean,C.-E,and Hoftijzer,J. Society 101:195-205. Muraoka,T
1965 Dictionnaire des inscriptions semi- 1985 The BalaamInscriptionfrom Deir 1983- The Tell FekheryeBilingualInscrip-
tiques de lbouest.Leiden:E. J.Brill. cAlla:Historical Aspects. Pp.326-39 1984 tion and EarlyAramaic.Abr-Nahrain
Kaufman,S. A. in Biblical Archaeology Today, 22: 79-117.
1970 Si'gabbar,Priest of Sahrin Nerab. Proceedingsof the International Naveh, J.
Journalof the American Oriental Congresson Biblical Archaeology, 1966 Old AramaicInscriptions(1960-
Society 90: 270-71. JerusalemApril 1984, edited by J. 1965).Annali dell'instituto orientali
1974 TheAkkadian Influences on Ara- Amitai. Jerusalem:IsraelExplora- di Napoli 16:20-36.
maic. Series:The OrientalInstitute tion Society. 1970 The Development of the Aramaic
of the University of Chicago As- Lipifiski,E. Script.Proceedingsof the IsraelAca-
syriological Studies 19. Chicago and 1971 cAttar-hapH, the Forefather of Bar- demy of Sciences and Humanities,
London: The University of Chicago Hadad II. Annali dell'instituto volume 5, number 1. Jerusalem:
Press. orientali di Napoli 31: 101-04. Israel Academy of Sciences and
1977 Review of S. Segert, Altaramiiische 1975 Studies in Aramaic Inscriptions and Humanities.
Grammatik, mit Bibliographie, Onomastics, volume 1. Series: 1978- The Date of the Tell Fekherye In-
Chrestomathie und Glossar. Biblio- Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 1. 1979 scription. Shnaton V-VI: 131-40.
theca Orientalis 34: 92-97. Leuven: Leuven University Press. 1979 Review of J. Hoftijzer and G. van der
1980 Review Article: The Aramaic Texts 1979 Aram et Israel du Xe au VIIIe Sidcle Kooij, Aramaic Texts from Deir
from Deir Bulletin of the av. N. E. Acta Antiqua 27: 49-102. cAlla. Israel Exploration Journal 29:
cAlli. 133-36.
American Schools of Oriental Luschan, F von
Research 239: 71-74. 1911 Ausgrabungen in Sendschirli IV Pardee, D.
1982 Reflections on the Assyrian-Aramaic Series: Mitteilungen aus den 1978 Review of J. C. L. Gibson, Textbook
Bilingual from Tell Fakhariyeh. orientlischen Sammlungen, Heft of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions, Vol.

2. AramaicInscriptions.Journalof Bibliographie,Chrestomathieund Weinfeld,M.
Near EasternStudies 37: 195-97. Glossar. Leipzig:VEBVerlagEnzy- 1978- The BalaamOracle in the Deir cAlla
Pardee,D., and Biggs, R. D. klopadie. 1979 Inscription.Shnaton V-VI:141-47.
1984 Reviewof A. Abou-Assaf,P.Bordreuil Shea, W H. Zadok, R.
and A. R. Millard,La Statue de Tell 1978- The Kings of the MelqartStela. 1982 Remarkson the Inscriptionof
Fekheyreet son inscription bilingue 1979 Maarav 1: 159-76. HDYScY from Tell Fakhariya.Tel
assyro-aramdenne.Journalof Near Swiggers,P. Aviv 9: 117-29.
EasternStudies 43: 253-57. 1982 The AramaicInscriptionof Kila- 1984 On the Historical Backgroundof the
Peuch, E. muwa. Orientalia 51: 249-53. SefireTreaty.Annali dell'instituto
1985 L'inscriptionsur platre de Tell Deir Tawil,H. orientali di Napoli 44: 529-38.
cAlla. Pp. 354-65 in Biblical Archae- 1973 The Endof the HadadInscriptionin
ology Today,Proceedingsof the the Light of Akkadian.Journalof
International Congresson Biblical Near EasternStudies 32: 477-82. TOO MANY BOOKS
Archaeology,JerusalemApril 1984, 1974 Some LiteraryElements in the ON YOUR SHELVES?
edited by J.Amitai. Jerusalem:Israel Opening Sections of the Hadad,
Zakir,and the Nerab IIInscriptions
The ASORPublicationsOfficeis
ExplorationSociety.
Pitard,W. T. in the Light of East and West Semitic building a referencecollectionof
1987 Ancient Damascus: A Historical RoyalInscriptions.Orientalia 43: books aboutthe ancientNearEast.
Study of the Syrian City-Statefrom 40-65. If you haverelevantbooks in good
Earliest Times until its fall in 732 Vattioni, F. condition,we would liketo add
B.c.E.Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. 1969 Preliminarialle iscrizioni aramaiche. them to our shelves.Wewill
in The Identity of the Bir-Hadadof the Augustinianum 9: 305-61. acknowledgeyourdonationin
press MelqartStela. Bulletin of the Ameri- Vinnikov,I. N. writing.Ourcollectionwill be
can Schools of Oriental Research. 1958- Slovararamejskichnadpisey (A dic-
1965 tionary of the Aramaicinscriptions).
sharedwith the ASORAdministra-
Pognon,H. tive Office.
1907- Inscriptionssemitiques de la Syrie, Palestinsky Sbornik3: 171-216;4:
1908 de la Mesopotamie et la region de 7: 9:
196-240; 192-237; 141-58; 11: Yourhelp in this endeavorwill be
Mossoul. Paris. 189-232; 13:217-62. greatlyappreciated.
Pritchard,J.B., editor Von Soden,W
1969a Ancient Near EasternTextsRelating 1985 Das NordsyrischeKtk/Kiskiund der ASORPublicationsOffice
to the Old Testament,third edition TurtanSam-i-ilu. Erwingungenzu Box HM,DukeStation
with supplement. Princeton:Prince- einem neuen Buch. Studi epigraficie Durham,NorthCarolina27706 U.S.A.
ton University Press. linguistici sul Vicino Oriente antico (919)684-3075
1969b The Ancient Near East in Pictures 2:133-41.
Relating to the Old Testament,
second edition with supplement.
Princeton:PrincetonUniversity
Press. OtherJournalsof the
Reinhold,G. G. G. AmericanSchoolsof OrientalResearch
1986 The Bir-HadadStele and the Biblical
Kings of Aram.Andrews University Bulletin of ASOR,firstreleasedin 1919,has become the largestand
Seminary Studies 24: 116-26.
Rosenthal,E
most widely circulatedEnglishlanguagequarterlyon the ancient Near
1939 Die aramaistische Forschungseit East.The Bulletinpresentstechnicalarticleson the history,languages,
Theodor.Noldeke's Veroffentlichun- cultures,and archaeologyof the Near Eastas well as syntheticarticles
gen. Leiden:E. J.Brill. on criticalissues in methodologyand theoryof the variousdisciplines
Ross, J.F.E represented.
1970 Prophecyin Hamath, Israel,and
Mari.HarvardTheological Review Journalof CuneiformStudieswas foundedin 1947.JCSpresentstechnical
63: 1-28. articleson the historyand languagesof the ancient Mesopotamianand
Sasson, V. Anatolianliteratecultures.Articles appearin English,French,and
1985a The Aramaic Text of the Tell Fakha- German.JCSis issuedbiannually.
riyah Assyrian-Aramaic Bilingual
Inscription. Zeitschrift for die ASOR Newslettercommunicatesnews to ASORmembersand other
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 97: interestedparties,includingannouncementsof variousscholarly
86-103.
1985b Two Unrecognized Terms in the
seminarsand fellowshipopportunities.A quarterlypublication,it also
Plaster Texts from Deir Pales- includes summariesof recentASORactivities.
cAlla.
tine Exploration Quarterly 117:
102-03. TO ORDER,CONTACT
Segert, S.
The JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress
1968 Review of J. A. Fitzmyer, The Gene- 701 West40th Street,Suite 275
sis Apocryphon of Qumran Cave I. Baltimore,Maryland21211 U.S.A.
Journal of Semitic Studies 13: 281-82. (301)338-6988 T'lex # 5101012198
1975 Altaramiaische Grammatik mit

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(Magazine) The Biblical Archaeologist. Vol. 51. No 3

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(Magazine) The Biblical Archaeologist. Vol. 51. No 3

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bli

LiterarySourcesfor the Historyof Palestineand Syria

Introducingthe Authors 131

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 129

P.KyleMcCarter,President W.E AlbrightInstitute of VS OF 0

Biblical Archaeologist (ISSN0006-0895)is Researchand the JohnsHopkins Univer- Advertising.Correspondenceshould be

130 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 131

132 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 133

134 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Examples of large-diameter cordage from

"thosewho preferto enjoy the papy-

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 135

Hapy,the Egyptiangod of the

Drar 1973: 118-25; Lewis 1974:

book 13, chapter 22, verse 72; see

tus, Enquiryinto Plants, book 4,

136 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 137

138 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 139

Author Title Price

140 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 141

142 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

During the Old Kingdom series (Wright1985)focused on the

Menkaure("Mycerinus"), fifth king of the

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 143

ChronologicalTable to evaluate the written sources, this

144 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 145

146 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Mediterranean Sea near the port of tation is correct, it may be that

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 147

148 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

-j? ~tr?- "~Sr~

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 149

LoI ' -..V

150 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 151

152 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 153

154 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

top three registersmostly depict the situation portrayedin Weni'sauto- Shasu

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 155

156 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 157

158 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 159

160 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 161

Designed to be used with any English

In an innovative and highly Other features include:

Two additional Harper Bible Reference Books

HARPER'S THE HARPER

162 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

tine was not well known

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 163

164 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 165

166 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1988 167